Ning Chen did not touch the wine.

A fall in the ditch makes you wiser.

He had been played by the Wu Kingdom’s woman emperor last time.

A thing like that happening once can be put down to carelessness. Twice is stupidity.

Prince Duan smiled slightly and let it go.

“Ning Chen, you are a genius. Brimming with talent, skilled in arms and in stratagem. This prince has read those poems of yours many times over and has them by heart… This prince thinks very highly of you.”

Ning Chen smiled. “Your Highness flatters me.”

Prince Duan set his cup down, and then asked, suddenly and very seriously, “Is there bad blood between us?”

That stopped Ning Chen for a second. He thought about it and shook his head slightly.

“Then since there is no grievance and no feud, why fight it to the death?”

“You are making difficulties for this prince for no other reason than to save the daughters of Yan Wenbo and Liu Zhichen… You had only to say so. This prince could have helped you. Why go to all this trouble?”

Ning Chen looked at him and said nothing.

Prince Duan smiled. “Ning Chen, you are very clever. But you believe too much in your own ability, and too much in His Majesty, and neither is a good thing.”

“If you bring this prince down, your own end is not far off.”

Ning Chen raised an eyebrow. “Meaning what?”

Prince Duan poured himself another cup and said evenly, “Prince Fu. The Empress. The Left Chancellor. The Grand Tutor. All of them died at your hands, directly or otherwise.”

“The Third Prince was dragged down with them. The crown prince was deposed—not killed yet, but in a cell… And the crown prince was the heir His Majesty had set his hopes on.”

“You cut your way clean through the North Royal Court and took the King of the Left Court alive, and now you have taken Mangzhou and recovered the frontier… You made a Wu army of a hundred and fifty thousand withdraw with nothing asked in return. Do you know what that means?”

Ning Chen looked at him. “What does it mean?”

Prince Duan lifted his cup and said it one word at a time. “Your ability is a terrible thing. It means you are already out of control.”

“Ning Chen, a man who lacks ability can be trained… but a man whose ability is too great, and who does not take direction well, and goes his own way—that man makes people afraid.”

“The Empress, Prince Fu, the crown prince… all of them imperial kin. Now add me, Prince Duan, to the list, and what do you suppose His Majesty will think?”

“He will think: who is next? The Fourth Prince? The Fifth Prince? Some other prince? And when the imperial bloodline is all dead, who is the empire to be handed to?”

Ning Chen’s face changed a little.

Prince Duan went on. “Perhaps His Majesty believes in your loyalty now. But later? Very well—say His Majesty is willing to go on believing in you. What about the hundred officials of the court?”

“Three men make a tiger. One man says it and His Majesty may pay no attention… but ten men, a hundred men, saying it again and again and again—will His Majesty still sit unmoved?”

Ning Chen’s face gave nothing away. The truth was that what Prince Duan was saying had occurred to him.

Otherwise he would not have left Yuan Long and Qi Yuanzhong on the frontier, and he would certainly not have privately held back the treasure the Left Chancellor left behind, against a rainy day.

“Ning Chen, I hear you are to marry the Ninth Princess shortly, and that His Majesty has it in mind to make you a marquis.”

Ning Chen was still silent. The reason he had gone to the battlefield and piled up war merit was exactly that—a marquisate, and his own skin.

But what Prince Duan had said made him see he had been in too much of a hurry… He had forgotten that a big tree catches the wind.

Prince Duan took a sip and went on to himself, “What His Majesty can give you, he can take back just as easily.”

“Do not underestimate this Majesty of ours. In every dynasty there has ever been, which emperor’s throne was not stained with the blood of his own kin?”

Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Prince Duan looked at Ning Chen. “This prince has no interest in the throne. So in the year His Majesty came to it, this prince asked to be posted out of the capital… An idle prince has a far easier time of it than an emperor.”

Ning Chen spoke at last. “No interest in the throne, and you plant that much of the immortals’ flower?”

Prince Duan smiled. “This prince said he had no interest in the throne. He did not say he had no interest in silver.”

“This prince grows the immortals’ flower and sells all of it to the Xiliang Kingdom. He has never harmed a commoner of Great Xuan.”

Ning Chen laughed coldly. “You made the common people plant the immortals’ flower and left them with no way to live, and you still say you haven’t harmed the people of Great Xuan?”

“And the immortal powder in the capital. Don’t tell me that wasn’t your doing.”

Prince Duan smiled. “That’s right, the order to plant the immortals’ flower was this prince’s… But this prince made it up to them. It was only that the crop failed year after year, and so the silver got less and less—but it was certainly enough to live on… As to why they cannot live, you would have to ask the sesame-seed officials down below.”

“The immortal powder in the capital did indeed come from this prince’s hand… but the business had nothing to do with him.”

“And speaking of that, this prince owes you real thanks… You brought down Prince Fu and the Empress and took a weight off this prince’s heart.”

Ning Chen looked at him. “By the sound of it, you weren’t giving them the immortal powder willingly?”

“This prince is not sick in the head. That is silver. Why should I hand it to them for nothing? They found out this prince’s secret and made him supply it under threat.”

Ning Chen: ???

“The great Prince Duan, with a whole prefecture in his charge—is he so short of silver?”

Prince Duan waved a hand. “It has nothing to do with being short of it. I simply like it… Don’t you like silver?”

“Uh!!!”

What a stupid question. Who the hell doesn’t like silver?

Prince Duan laughed. “It seems Ning the Silver Coat and this prince share a taste.”

The words were out, and he brought a roll of silver notes out of his sleeve and set it down in front of Ning Chen. “Since you don’t care for this prince’s wine, you ought to care for this.”

Ning Chen picked it up and glanced at it. Nothing showed on his face, but inwardly he was howling. Good God. A hundred thousand taels, straight off.

“Prince Duan does things on a grand scale.”

Prince Duan smiled. “You are worth the price… And this is only the gift on first meeting. If we work together, this prince will give you four parts in ten of the profit from here on.”

Ning Chen raised an eyebrow. “You want me growing the immortals’ flower with you? I do have a line I don’t cross.”

Prince Duan waved a hand. “No more growing. You’ve spoiled that business for good… This prince has business enough. If you are willing to work with him, he won’t promise the moon, but he guarantees you will see several hundred thousand taels a year, or better.”

Holy shit!!!

That much?

Ning Chen was perfectly calm on the surface, wearing the look of a man who does not bow his back for five pecks of rice.

“What can I do for you?”

Prince Duan smiled. “Every year His Majesty sends men of the Inspectorate to inspect Xiuzhou. Your Inspectorate men are the most detestable of all—there is no crack they cannot get into, and they have cost this prince no little silver.”

“What the court is moving toward, what the Inspectorate is moving toward—you need only get word to this prince in good time.”

“On paper you are only a silver coat, but even the gold coats do as you say… With you covering us, we will certainly be taking in gold by the bushel.”

Ning Chen looked at him. “Why should I trust you?”

Prince Duan said, “Even this prince, a prince of the blood, is not afraid. What are you afraid of? You have this prince’s evidence in your hands. You may keep it.”

“Yangping County, Xichuan County, Dongle County, and everyone concerned in it… this prince has already had them dealt with. It all counts to your credit.”

“Every part of the blame goes onto the dead Prefect and Governor of Xiuzhou… And this prince can submit a memorial to clear Yan Wenbo and Liu Zhichen too.”

“Ning Chen, this is a thing where agreement wins for both sides… You may treat this prince as your own line of retreat later on. Do you know how much silver this prince has put by in Xiliang and in the Wu Kingdom?”

“I don’t mind telling you. Wherever this prince goes, he can live very well… If you won’t agree, this prince gives the order to kill you and runs for it himself, and the end of it is that we both come off badly.”

Ning Chen fixed his eyes on him. “Why trust me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll sell you out?”

Prince Duan said, entirely seriously, “First, there is no grievance and no feud between us to begin with.”

“Second, you are a clever man. You know how a choice ought to be made, and what serves your own interest.”

“Third, a man’s value and his ability are equal to each other. If you were a useless idiot, this prince would never have wasted this much breath on you.”

Thud!!!

Ning Chen brought his hand down on the table and stood up, hard enough to knock the wine pot over.

Prince Duan jumped, and stared at Ning Chen.

“I, Ning Chen, would never bow my back for five pecks of rice…” As he said it, he put out his hand. “But for a hundred pecks I would give it serious thought… Your Highness, a pleasure doing business.”

(End of Chapter 315)