The crown prince nodded. He had a fair idea of what his father meant by it.

This Lan Xing really was a man worth using.

The crown prince thought for a moment, took a dagger from his belt, and held it out to Ning Chen.

“Young Master Lan, I came out in a hurry and have nothing else on me. Take this dagger as a gift on our first meeting. I hope you won’t think it beneath you.”

Ning Chen went still for a second and looked at the dagger in the prince’s hand.

It was beautifully made, set with rubies, and obviously worth a great deal.

How can I take that? Can’t just grab it, though. Have to make a show of refusing first.

He shook his head quickly. “No, no, that won’t do. It’s far too valuable. I can’t accept it.”

The crown prince smiled. “Young Master Lan, I sincerely want your friendship… Please don’t refuse me.”

Ning Chen was in an awkward spot. With the man putting it that way, refusing seemed wrong.

Then the Xuan Emperor spoke. “Lan Xing, it’s a trinket. Take it. You young people should see more of each other.”

“In that case I’d better do as I’m told… Thank you, Uncle. Thank you, Young Master Xuan.”

Ning Chen took the dagger and thanked him again.

The Xuan Emperor stood. “That’s a long time to be out. Time to head back… Lan Xing, that polish you did just now was very fine. Call it two hundred taels.”

Ning Chen’s eyes lit up.

“Uncle, it was only a polish. Isn’t that too much?”

The Xuan Emperor said with a smile, “It isn’t. I’ll go on holding the silver for you. Come to me when you need it.”

“Thank you, Uncle!”

“That’s settled, then. It’s getting late. Time to go… Lan Xing, eat before you head home, same as always.”

Ning Chen thanked him over and over, a little embarrassed. Eating the man’s food and taking his money both.

In the carriage back to the palace.

The Xuan Emperor looked at the crown prince. “What do you make of this Lan Xing?”

The crown prince answered respectfully. “Lan Xing’s gifts are beyond the ordinary. He is quick, and he thinks strategically. Men like that are rare.”

“But talent is not character. Your child will need to watch him a while longer before saying more.”

The Xuan Emperor nodded, satisfied.

“Then the two of you should see more of him.”

“Your child obeys.”

The Ninth Princess rolled her fine eyes and made a sound in her throat.

The Xuan Emperor laughed softly. “Does Huai’an have some objection to Ning Chen?”

“Father, didn’t you hear what he said? Something about only a fool marrying a princess. That’s contempt for imperial authority… I don’t think much of his character. His nerve is another matter.”

The Xuan Emperor laughed. “He doesn’t know who any of us are. If what he says is hard to hear, that’s understandable.”

“Hmph. I don’t like him and that’s that.”

The Ninth Princess wrinkled her nose, thoroughly unhappy.

Ning Chen had no idea that his little tirade had offended the Ninth Princess past all repair.

“His real name isn’t Lan Xing, as it happens. He’s called Ning Chen. He’s the fourth son of Ning Ziming, the Minister of Rites.”

The Xuan Emperor had given away Ning Chen’s identity without any warning at all.

The Ninth Princess said excitedly, “Father, that’s the crime of deceiving the throne! Have him arrested right now and give him a beating.”

The Xuan Emperor laughed. “He concealed his identity. So did we.”

“The boy has not had a good time of it in the Ning household. This emperor has not yet established exactly why.”

“This emperor tells you who he is only so that you will know him. If a day comes when you have need of him, you will know where to look.”

“But remember this. Do not give away who you are lightly.”

The crown prince said quickly, “Your child obeys the imperial command.”

Something sly flickered in the Ninth Princess’s fine eyes, and there was no telling what she was thinking.

The Xuan Emperor glanced at her, and the corner of his mouth went up.

Ning Chen, at that hour, was eating with tremendous enthusiasm.

When he’d eaten and drunk his fill he went back to Old General Chen’s residence to train.

He had meant to pay his respects to Old General Chen first, but Qi Yuanzhong told him the general had gone into the palace.

So Ning Chen went straight to the drill ground.

Once the Xuan Emperor was back in the palace, the crown prince and the Ninth Princess left him.

He walked to the Hall of Cultivated Heart with Eunuch Quan and Nie Liang.

“Quan Sheng. What did you make of the poem after Ning Chen polished it?”

Eunuch Quan bent forward to answer. “This servant thought that once Young Master Ning had polished it, the poem rose several levels… It was an entirely new and beautiful thing.”

The Xuan Emperor said mildly, “Ning Gan is Ning Chen’s eldest brother.”

Something jolted in Eunuch Quan. “Does Your Majesty mean that Young Master Ning wrote the poem on his elder brother’s behalf?”

The Xuan Emperor made a cold sound. “If Ning Chen had wanted to help Ning Gan, the poem would not have two fine lines at the front and two at the back that don’t make a damn bit of sense.”

Eunuch Quan’s face changed. “Then did Ning Gan steal Young Master Ning’s poem?”

The Xuan Emperor laughed coldly and said nothing more.

Eunuch Quan stole a look at his face and spent a few silent seconds mourning Ning Gan.

His Majesty despises nothing on this earth more than a man of bad character fishing for a name he hasn’t earned.

The Xuan Emperor asked suddenly, “Nie Liang. Where does your investigation into Ning Chen stand?”

Nie Liang answered quickly. “Reporting to Your Majesty. Men have already been sent to Young Master Ning’s ancestral home. There should be word within a few days.”

The Xuan Emperor grunted, and they came to the door of the Hall of Cultivated Heart.

A young eunuch came out to meet them with small quick steps and dropped to his knees. “Your Majesty. Old General Chen begs an audience.”

“Where is he?”

“Waiting inside the hall, Your Majesty.”

The Xuan Emperor nodded once and went in.

Old General Chen was sitting on a small round stool, bolt upright.

At the sound of footsteps he got up quickly, leaning on his crutch.

“This old subject presents himself to Your Majesty.”

“No ceremony, Old General. Sit down and say what you came to say.”

Old General Chen said heavily, “Your Majesty. Somebody is trying to kill Lan Xing.”

“What?” The Xuan Emperor started. “This emperor saw him not an hour ago. What is this?”

“Somebody put a Black King of Hell inside Lan Xing’s bedding…”

Old General Chen told the whole of it.

The Xuan Emperor’s face was terrible to look at by the end.

“Worthless. To use a method as vicious as that on a frail boy. It is contemptible.”

Old General Chen bent forward. “Your Majesty. The Black King of Hell is found only in the Tuoluo Kingdom.”

The Xuan Emperor’s eyes narrowed. “Does the Old General suspect somebody of colluding with Tuoluo?”

“This old subject cannot be certain. It is only a suspicion.”

The Xuan Emperor nodded slightly. “Better to assume it is so than to assume it is not… Quan Sheng. Fetch Geng Jing to this emperor.”

Eunuch Quan’s heart jumped. This is going to blow up.

Geng Jing had charge of the entire Inspectorate.

The Inspectorate answered to the Xuan Emperor and to nobody else. Its business was watching the officials of the empire, and where the evidence against an official below the fifth rank was solid, it had the right to execute first and report afterward.

From the court at the top to the provinces and counties at the bottom, there was not an official anywhere who did not lose his nerve at the name of it.

And Ning Chen, at that hour, was still out on the drill ground with the sweat coming off him like rain.

“Young Master Lan. Take a rest.”

Qi Yuanzhong called over to him.

Ning Chen ran several more laps before he stopped.

Several days of training had made a visible difference.

He was still small and thin, but there was life in him now, and a good deal more hard muscle on him.

“Young Master Lan, my month’s pay came in. Let me take you to the courtesans’ quarter tonight… They say a new batch of girls just arrived. So young you could pinch the water out of them.”

One of the big men said it with a leer all over his face.

Ning Chen rolled his eyes and laughed. “Wastes your silver and wears out your body. Not a chance.”

“Young Master Lan isn’t still a virgin, is he?”

Ning Chen lifted his chin. “Who do you think you’re talking to? Back in my day I could take on several women in a night and never let the spear down. They called me the nine-times-a-night man.”

The whole yard roared.

Ning Chen said, “What’s funny? You don’t believe me? Do you even know what the six great pleasures of life are?”

“What are they?”

“The six great pleasures of life: viewing the flowers, scaling the peak, exploring the grotto, arranging the flowers, watching the tide come in, and burning the incense… Believe me now? Every one of them from my own experience.”

One of the big men said, laughing, “But Young Master Lan is only fifteen this year. Back in your day… does that mean you were managing it at seven or eight?”

“Uh… well, that is… what business is it of yours?”

Ning Chen had forgotten he was fifteen now. He’d oversold it.

He talked nonsense with them a while longer, and as the light started to go he made his farewells and left.

He had barely come through the gate of the Ning residence when a maid ran up to him. “Fourth Young Master. The master says you’re to go to the main hall as soon as you’re back.”

Ning Chen frowned. What does that old scumbag want now?

(End of Chapter 25)