The next day Ning Chen slept until the sun was three poles high before he could bring himself to get out of Yudie’s bed.

He ate with Yudie waiting on him, and only then rode to the Inspectorate.

There was a handsome carriage standing at the Inspectorate gate.

Several men in plain clothes were guarding it, well-built men with the temples standing out on their heads, and anybody could see they were no ordinary fighters.

Ning Chen was still wondering whose carriage it was.

The curtain over the little carriage window lifted, and a bright, lovely little face showed through.

Ning Chen blinked. It was the Ninth Princess.

He swung down from his horse, went over and bowed. “I greet the Ninth Princess!”

The Ninth Princess sent the guards around the carriage farther off and said with a bright smile, “I’ve come to tell you a piece of good news.”

“What good news?”

“My father has pardoned your second brother and your third brother from the death sentence. They are being sent to Beilin Pass to build the wall.”

Ning Chen’s eyes brightened.

Ning Xing and Ning Mao sent to Beilin Pass. He understood the Xuan Emperor’s meaning at once.

With the standing he had at Beilin Pass, and his connection with Liang Jingwu… once Ning Xing and Ning Mao got there, they would certainly be looked after.

His Majesty really had gone to some trouble over it.

“Your subject thanks His Majesty for his boundless grace!”

The Ninth Princess pushed out her red little mouth and said unhappily, “And me?”

Ning Chen pretended not to follow. “What about the princess?”

“You… hmph…”

The Ninth Princess turned her head away, like a little girl who has not been given her sweet.

Ning Chen laughed in spite of himself. “Thank you, Ninth Princess, for speaking up for my two brothers.”

Only then did a happy smile come onto the Ninth Princess’s face.

“And how do you mean to thank me?”

Ning Chen thought about it. “Well… that depends on what the Ninth Princess wants your subject to do.”

The Ninth Princess smiled sweetly. “Then buy me a meal.”

That was all?

Ning Chen was astonished. She was very easy to satisfy!

“Nothing simpler. What would the princess like to eat?”

The Ninth Princess said happily, “I want food from the Heavenly Blessing Tower, and there had better be roast duck.”

Her taste was much the same as his own. Ning Chen smiled. “Good, the Heavenly Blessing Tower it is!”

“Ning Chen, you drive!”

Men and women keep apart, and she was a princess. Ning Chen could not be let into the carriage… unless the crown prince were along, and then it would do.

Ning Chen drove, and brought the Ninth Princess to the Heavenly Blessing Tower.

When the manager of the Heavenly Blessing Tower saw Ning Chen come in, he shoved aside the waiter who was going up to greet him and came bowing and scraping over himself.

Last time Ning Chen had brought Miss Yudie of the courtesans’ quarter here to eat, he had left three sons of great houses with their heads broken open and torn the literary men of the place to shreds.

There were not many people left in the whole capital who did not know Ning the Silver Coat.

“Ning the Silver Coat honors us! This poor shop is lit up by it!”

Ning Chen smiled. “Get me a private room.”

“At once! This way, Ning the Silver Coat.”

“Miss Yudie, this way!”

The manager said it with a face full of smiles, bowing and scraping.

Ning Chen’s expression stiffened.

When the Ninth Princess got down from the carriage she had put on a bamboo hat with a light veil hanging around it, probably not wanting to draw the eye.

The manager had taken the Ninth Princess for Yudie.

Ning Chen badly wanted to kick him to death.

How could anyone mistake the two of them?

Even if he could not see the face, surely he could tell them apart by the shape?

Yudie had a willow waist and a high round backside, and a chest that outfaced every flower in the garden and looked ready to come out at you.

The Ninth Princess was evenly made and slender. A pair of A’s, and nothing to raise.

Fortunately the Ninth Princess said nothing and walked on inside.

Ning Chen let out a small breath of relief. She could not have heard it clearly.

They came up to the second floor and into the private room.

Ning Chen said, “Manager, send up everything you do best.”

“Right away! One moment, Ning the Silver Coat.”

“One moment, Miss Yudie!”

Ning Chen quietly put a hand over his face.

A waiter brought in the tea.

Ning Chen took the pot from him and sent him out, then poured himself a cup first, drank it, waited a while, and only then poured one for the Ninth Princess.

“Your subject has tried it. There’s no poison. The princess may drink it and be easy!”

The Ninth Princess picked up the cup, and then set it down again. “Who is Yudie?”

Ning Chen’s expression stiffened.

“Uh… that is… Ninth Princess, your subject has invented a new way of eating roast duck. You take a thin flour pancake, add shredded scallion and strips of cucumber, spread a special sauce on it, and roll the duck meat up in it. It is food fit for the gods!”

The Ninth Princess inclined her head slightly. “A very unusual way to eat it. So… who is Yudie?”

Inwardly Ning Chen smiled one bitter smile after another.

“Ninth Princess, your subject means to make something soon. It is refined out of sand and comes out as clear as a fine glaze. Your subject calls it glass… Set it in a window or a door and it keeps the wind out and lasts well, and it doesn’t stop the light.”

The Ninth Princess nodded. “Certainly a novelty. So… who is Yudie?”

Ning Chen went numb.

Hm? That isn’t right, though. His Majesty keeps working to match me with the Ninth Princess, but she has never shown any sign of that kind of interest in me, and I have no ideas about her either. So why am I feeling guilty?

Why does it feel like being caught out by the first wife?

There was no call for any of it. There was nothing here to hide.

Ning Chen smiled. “Yudie is my woman. I brought her to the Heavenly Blessing Tower once, and the princess has a veil on and her face can’t be seen clearly… so the manager mistook you for her. Your subject begs the princess’s pardon.”

The Ninth Princess did not speak for a long while, but the hand hidden in her sleeve closed into a fist.

After a time she said slowly, “So that’s it. Whose daughter is this Miss Yudie?”

Ning Chen smiled. “She’s a girl of the courtesans’ quarter, but—”

“A girl of the courtesans’ quarter, is she? Ning Chen, you should keep away from places like that from now on.”

The Ninth Princess’s voice was a good deal lighter.

“I’m afraid the Ninth Princess has it wrong. Yudie is not like the ordinary woman of that trade… She is the daughter of a convicted official. She was a well-born young lady once, and she is accomplished in the lute, chess, calligraphy and painting. Her nature is gentle and she understands people… When your subject met her, she was still a maiden.”

“You don’t mean to marry her, do you?”

Ning Chen nodded and made a sound of assent. “Your subject has thought about it. It’s only that she is on the slave register now, which makes it awkward.”

The Ninth Princess said nothing again.

The private room went dead quiet.

Heye stood frowning at Ning Chen.

Luckily the men began bringing in the food just then.

Very soon the table was covered with good things.

When the men had gone, Ning Chen picked up his chopsticks. “One moment, princess. Your subject will taste it first.”

Ning Chen took a mouthful of every dish, gathered them all onto one plate, and swallowed the lot down without stopping to chew.

He waited a while, made sure there was nothing wrong with the food, and then said, “Ninth Princess, the food is sound. Eat and be easy.”

The Ninth Princess said in a level voice, “You eat it. I have no appetite!”

“Hm?”

Ning Chen stared at her in astonishment.

The Ninth Princess looked at him through the veil. “What are you sitting there for? Eat… and don’t leave any.”

“Don’t leave any? Do you want to burst me?”

Ning Chen was struck dumb.

Heye looked at Ning Chen with nothing to say. “The Ninth Princess tells you to eat. You would dare refuse?”

Ning Chen smiled bitterly. “Ninth Princess, at least have a bite or two. It was all ordered for you.”

“Eat it for me. I have no appetite.”

There was no getting out of it. Ning Chen picked up his bowl and his chopsticks and turned himself into a rice-shoveling machine.

Damn it, is something the matter with this woman?

She makes you buy her a meal, and then when the food comes she has no appetite.

Never mind. She’s a princess. A rich woman’s fate and a rich woman’s ailments to go with it.

Ning Chen said it all inwardly and kept his head down and shoveled.

Then a thought went through Ning Chen’s head… The Ninth Princess hasn’t taken a fancy to me, has she?

No appetite. Is she jealous?

No, no… she’s a little kid, and she’s never shown a sign of that kind of interest. I’m certainly imagining it.

“Princess, your subject can’t eat any more!”

The Ninth Princess said flatly, “There’s this much left. Keep eating!”

A while later Ning Chen said with a pained face, one hand on his belly, “Princess, your subject truly cannot eat any more!”

The Ninth Princess said nothing.

Ning Chen had to keep eating.

Mother of pearl. Is it that time of the month for this woman? She’s behaving very strangely.

Then the Ninth Princess stood up. “You keep eating. This princess is going back to the palace. You are not to leave until it’s finished.”

Everything went black in front of Ning Chen. If he had to finish this he would burst.

“Your subject will see the princess out!”

“No need. Stay where you are and take your time!”

The Ninth Princess left with Heye. There were guards at the door and there was no need to worry about her safety.

Ning Chen looked at the table full of food, his eyes gone blank.

Holding his belly, he went to the window, eased it open a crack and looked down, and saw the Ninth Princess get into the carriage, and let out a long breath.

The Ninth Princess got into the carriage, tore the veil off, and set about the couch with her fists and her feet, howling with rage.

“He makes me so angry, he makes me so angry… praising a woman out of the courtesans’ quarter, and wanting to marry her, the scoundrel, the scoundrel… he makes me so angry. Ning the Silver Coat. Ning the Lecher Coat, more like.”

Heye hurried to soothe her. “Let the princess’s anger cool. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Hmph. If I weren’t a princess I’d have beaten him just now. He makes me so angry… that scoundrel. That great scoundrel.”

“Princess, let’s not be angry… You’ve already punished him. Let it go!”

The Ninth Princess blinked. “He won’t really burst himself, will he?”

Heye smiled. “No. Ning the Silver Coat isn’t a fool.”

“Hmph… He’s a great fool. The greatest fool under heaven.”

“This princess is very angry now… I have to get some of my own back.”

The Ninth Princess thought about it, and then her eyes brightened. She had had a wicked idea.

“Heye, when we get back to the palace, send someone to take him two big stone mortars, and have him lift them a hundred times… It will help him digest, too.”

A stone mortar is the same thing as a dumbbell, and it is what the fighting men of this world use to build up their arms.

“This handmaid will see to it as soon as we are back.”

“Come on, back to the palace!” The Ninth Princess put a hand on her stomach. “That great scoundrel. He’s left me hungry.”

Ning Chen saw the Ninth Princess’s carriage go, and only then made his unsteady way out.

He had eaten far too much. It felt as though walking any faster would bring it back up.

He went down the stairs holding on to the rail.

The manager came up with his face full of smiles. “Has Ning the Silver Coat eaten well? Why did Miss Yudie leave first?”

Ning Chen put a hand on the wall and beckoned him over. “Come here.”

The manager came trotting over.

Ning Chen raised a hand and cuffed him hard about the head.

He hit him and swore at him at the same time. “You and your mouth. You and that mouth of yours… Is your backside sitting on your eyes? Was that Miss Yudie? Yelling out any damned name that comes into your head, and nearly bursting me for it.”

The manager covered his head, straightened the hat that had been knocked crooked, realized he had called out the wrong name, and put on a smile. “This small one deserves to die, this small one deserves to die… Or would Ning the Silver Coat like a few more, to work it off?”

Ning Chen would have liked to hit him. But he had eaten too much, and moving that hard just now had nearly brought it up.

“I’ll put it on your account and hit you next time… The bill!”

The manager’s face was all flattery. “Ning the Silver Coat, listen to yourself. Your coming to eat at this poor shop is an honor to this small man. How could I take your silver?”

“Get out of here! If I don’t pay, doesn’t that make me a freeloader?”

Ning Chen pulled out a few taels of silver and tossed them to him.

“Ning the Silver Coat, that’s too much, you’ve given me too much…”

“The extra is your tip.”

“Thank you, Ning the Silver Coat. This small man will see you out.”

Ning Chen waved a hand. “Go and do your work. I don’t want to be sick down your front.”

With that he put both hands on the small of his back and made his unsteady way outside… A man who knew would have said he had eaten too much. A man who did not would have said he had been hollowed out.

(End of Chapter 192)