Never mind the assembled ministers — Ning Chen himself was blank.
Giving him command of the Dragon Guard and the garrison. Was His Majesty not afraid he would rebel?
But before he could think it through, one of the censors jumped out.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject thinks this is not proper… Ning the Silver Coat’s labors have been long and hard and his war record is a blaze of merit. Your subject has no objection to the marquisate. But command of the Dragon Guard and the garrison — that must not be, under any circumstances!”
“Your Majesty, your subject also thinks it is not proper. The Dragon Guard and the garrison are matters of the first importance and cannot be handed lightly to any man. Your subject asks Your Majesty to withdraw the order.”
“Your Majesty, Ning the Silver Coat is indeed loyal to his sovereign and devoted to his country, and his war record is a blaze of merit. Your subject does not dispute it… But he is only sixteen after all. He already commands the musket battalion, and he holds a silver coat in the Inspectorate on top of that. Add the Dragon Guard and the garrison, and your subject fears he will be pulled to pieces.”
“Your subject seconds it!”
“Your subject seconds it too!”
The Xuan Emperor’s brows drew together slightly.
The ministers’ worry was not wrong, either. Ning Chen was a marquis now, and if he commanded the Dragon Guard and the garrison on top of it he would be a marquis with an army at his back… his power would be so great that even the Right Chancellor would have to bow his head to him.
The Xuan Emperor spoke slowly. “The beloved ministers have misunderstood. This emperor gives Ning Chen command of the Dragon Guard and the garrison… but for now he does not receive the tiger tally.”
The ministers went quiet all at once.
If that was how it stood, there was nothing more to say.
Command of an army without the tally made Ning Chen a puppet and nothing more.
Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly. So that was it… Without the tally, his command was a name with nothing behind it.
Never mind, though. The tally mattered, certainly, but there were times when standing mattered more.
With the standing he had in the Dragon Guard now, tally or no tally, he could move the Dragon Guard.
Seeing that nobody objected any longer, Eunuch Quan looked at Ning Chen. “Marquis Ning, will you not receive the edict?”
Ning Chen came back to himself and said loudly, “Your subject thanks Your Majesty for this great kindness!”
Eunuch Quan came down and put the edict into Ning Chen’s hands.
The Xuan Emperor said with a light laugh, “Bestow the python robe!”
Marquises of the Great Xuan wore python robes too, but theirs were silver python on black.
A prince of the blood’s python robe was slate-blue, with a gold python.
A marquis’s python robe was black, with a silver python.
In this world, perhaps because of what dyeing and weaving could do, the lighter and brighter the color, the higher the rank it stood for.
A young eunuch came holding a vermilion tray, and on it lay a black python robe.
“Your subject thanks Your Majesty for this favor!”
Ning Chen gave thanks a second time, took the robe, and only then got to his feet.
He was a marquis at last, and Ning Chen was stirred by it.
The truth was that he would have preferred Champion Marquis.
His hero was Huo Qubing, after all.
What soldier does not want to seal Mount Langjuxu?
But His Majesty had made him Idle Marquis, and he could hardly change it.
The ministers looked at Ning Chen, and there was not one of them without envy.
A marquis at sixteen. Look through the whole of history and Ning Chen was the first.
And it seemed unlikely that anyone would ever surpass what he had done.
None before him, and none to come after.
What was more, Ning Chen was the first marquis the Xuan Emperor had created in his whole reign.
The Xuan Emperor glanced at Ning Chen standing there holding the python robe with a foolish grin, and the corner of his mouth lifted. Then he said:
“Is there anything else the beloved ministers wish to present?”
Li Zhixing, the Minister of Justice, stepped out of the ranks and bowed. “A memorial for Your Majesty. The attempt on Prince Duan’s life before the New Year set the whole capital talking… Your subject investigated it thoroughly by Your Majesty’s order, and it is now cleared up.”
“In that year, Yan Wenbo, the former Prefect of Xiuzhou, and Liu Zhichen, the Magistrate of Qinghe County, were put to the sword on a charge of embezzlement, bribe-taking and collusion with the grain merchants. It was a false case.”
“The men behind it were the murdered Prefect and Governor of Xiuzhou, and the one who killed them was Zisu, the daughter of the wrongfully executed Yan Wenbo.”
The Xuan Emperor let out a deep sigh and said:
“This emperor already knows of this case.”
“Some days ago Prince Duan sent up a memorial, and this emperor learned the reasons behind it… Yan Wenbo and Liu Zhichen were indeed wronged.”
“This emperor bears a part of the blame for it. Loyal and honest servants were wronged.”
Li Zhixing said quickly, “Your Majesty was blinded by treacherous men.”
Then he went straight on. “Your Majesty, the house of Yan and the house of Liu have one daughter left apiece.”
“The Liu daughter is held in the courtesans’ quarter. The Yan daughter is held in prison. Your subject asks Your Majesty to show mercy and pardon them both.”
Shen Min stepped out and bowed. “Your Majesty! Miss Zisu did kill the Prefect and the Governor of Xiuzhou, but she did it to avenge her father, and that is filial duty… Your subject holds that the law does not stand outside human feeling. Your subject asks Your Majesty to show mercy and pardon her crime.”
Li Hanru was about to step out when he saw Ning Chen give him a slight shake of the head.
His Majesty had already said Liu Zhichen and Yan Wenbo were wronged. If too many men pleaded for Zisu, it would work the opposite way.
Li Zhixing was the officer in charge of the case, and Shen Min had charge of rites and law. For those two to stand up and plead was reasonable and fitting.
The Xuan Emperor spoke slowly. “Allow this emperor to think the matter over. This emperor will issue an edict when the time comes.”
When he had said it, he glanced at Ning Chen.
Ning Chen could not help frowning.
The thing had been cleared up, and His Majesty had admitted they were wronged… To restore the names of Yan Wenbo and Liu Zhichen and pardon Zisu and Yudie was the work of a single sentence.
Why did His Majesty need to think it over?
Ning Chen turned it over for a while and more or less understood… The trouble, he was afraid, lay with himself.
His Majesty was afraid that the moment Yudie was pardoned, he would bring her home to the Ning residence.
His Majesty would not allow another woman through the gate of the Ning residence ahead of the Ninth Princess.
After the court broke up.
Ning Chen walked out with the rest of the officials.
“Marquis Ning, congratulations, congratulations!”
“Marquis Ning is a pillar of the state, and a blessing on our Great Xuan.”
“Marquis Ning is young and accomplished. If you have the time, come and sit awhile at this official’s house.”
Once outside, Ning Chen was surrounded.
Among them were more than a few who had memorialized against him and attacked him before.
How did the saying go? That was it: when you succeed, everyone around you is a good person.
He was the youngest marquis in the Great Xuan now, and nobody stood higher in the public eye. These men were pressing forward to make his acquaintance and show themselves friendly.
If the day ever came when he fell, these same men would throw stones on him in the well.
There is no shortage in this world of men who trim their sails to the wind.
Of course, the Ning Chen of today was not the hot-blooded boy of before. He had been through a great deal, and he had long since grown smooth.
He handled them all with a face full of smiles — man’s talk to a man and devil’s talk to a devil, the whole point being to offend nobody and give everyone all the face they wanted.
It took some doing to get free of them, and then he headed for the palace gate.
“Young Master Ning! Young Master Ning…”
Hearing someone call, Ning Chen turned to look, and saw a young eunuch coming after him at a trot.
The young eunuch reached him and said, out of breath, “Young Master Ning, His Majesty summons you to the imperial study.”
Ning Chen came to the imperial study.
The Xuan Emperor pointed at the screen inside. “Go and put the python robe on. Let this emperor have a look at you.”
Ning Chen: ???
Fuck!!!
You called me here just to have me change clothes for you? What am I, a stripper? Ning Chen groused inwardly.
“Yes!”
Grousing inwardly and looking perfectly obedient on the outside, he went behind the screen.
Before long Ning Chen had the python robe on and came out… The thing felt a little large, and the sleeves were too long.
The Xuan Emperor looked at Ning Chen in the silver python on black — young, sure of himself, carrying himself well — and for a moment his mind wandered… If the Second Prince were still alive, would he not have been as handsome and as fine as Ning Chen?
(End of Chapter 324)