The Ninth Princess could not bear the shame of it, and raged to no purpose at all.
Heye seized the moment. “Princess, he had to have a death wish. He dared take liberties with the princess, and dared put his hand there. This must be reported to His Majesty.”
The Ninth Princess nodded hard, and then asked, “Heye, does the gold pin look good on me?”
Heye: “???”
“It does!”
The Ninth Princess thought about it. “Never mind. Since he gave me the gold pin, I won’t complain to my imperial father after all.”
“It wouldn’t do any good anyway. My imperial father favors him so much… the most he would get is a scolding.”
“And saying a thing like that out loud would be too shaming to bear.”
In fact, being kissed by Ning Chen just then had actually been pretty nice.
Heye was dumbfounded. That was the end of it?
She dropped to her knees with a thud, her voice thick with sobs. “Princess, save this servant… This servant doesn’t want to marry Butcher Zhang.”
“What Butcher Zhang?”
“Princess, Marquis Ning said that once he and the princess are married he will marry this servant off to Butcher Zhang.”
“What? Did that happen?”
Ning Chen’s kiss had left her so light-headed that she had not heard a word of what Ning Chen said to frighten Heye.
Heye: “…”
“Princess, this Butcher Zhang never washes and never brushes his teeth, and Marquis Ning says he likes to eat human flesh, and likes young women like this servant best of all… Princess, save my life. This servant doesn’t want to be eaten.”
The Ninth Princess snorted with laughter. “Are you simple? Ning Chen was frightening you.”
Heye sniffed, still frightened. “The marquis said it very seriously.”
“You really are stupid. He says it and you believe it? Do you remember the Empress’s brother? Ning Chen killed him for bullying the common people… If this Butcher Zhang really ate human flesh, Ning Chen would have killed him long ago.”
“He was only frightening you… And anyway, you belong to this princess. What right has he to marry you off to anyone? If you are to be married, this princess has to nod first.”
Heye blinked, and thinking it over, found that it was so.
She did not have to marry Butcher Zhang after all. That was wonderful… Heye wiped her eyes and called Ning Chen a bastard where nobody could hear.
The Ninth Princess said, with her face red, “Heye, get hot water ready for me. I want to bathe.”
Heye was surprised. “Didn’t the princess bathe only this morning?”
The Ninth Princess’s legs rubbed together without her meaning them to, and she was half ashamed and half angry. “You go when you’re told to go. Is this princess not allowed to like bathing?”
For the next two days Ning Chen’s feet barely touched the ground.
The wedding to the princess was on top of him and there was no chance of an idle hour.
The residence had to be laid out afresh, and the betrothal gifts had to be made ready.
Ning Chen went back and forth between the residence and the Ministry of Rites.
An imperial wedding could not afford a single mistake.
In Shen Min’s words, the least thing going wrong was a matter of losing heads.
That evening Ning Chen squeezed out a little time at last and came to the courtesans’ quarter.
In the first half of the night, Yudie lined the road to welcome him.
In the second half, Zisu came at him with mouth and hand.
Early the next morning Ning Chen was sleeping soundly with Yudie’s soft body in his arms, when Zisu came in and shook Ning Chen awake.
Ning Chen shifted over to make room and gave her a dirty grin. “Come to bed?”
Zisu shot him a glare. “Get up. Geng the Purple Coat is waiting for you outside.”
Ning Chen gave a slight start. For Geng Jing to come for him at this hour, it had to be something serious.
He rolled out of bed, dressed, and went out to the outer room.
“Lord Geng. Did you come here just for me, or did you stay the night and never go home?”
Geng Jing said sourly, “Don’t be clever. Get to the palace, quickly.”
Ning Chen asked, curious, “Has something happened?”
Geng Jing shook his head. “I don’t know. His Majesty sent word by edict summoning you to court at once… I went to the marquis’s residence and you weren’t there, so I thought you would be here.”
Ning Chen made a sound.
The two of them went out and rode hard for the palace.
In the Golden Hall the Xuan Emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, turning over several secret letters in his hands, his brows locked.
There was not a sound among the ministers, and the air was heavy.
Then a young eunuch came in and knelt. “Your Majesty, Marquis Ning and Geng the Purple Coat beg an audience!”
The Xuan Emperor set down the letters and said coldly, “Send them in.”
“Yes!”
The young eunuch withdrew.
A little while later Ning Chen and Geng Jing came in.
The officials turned to look, one after another, and their faces were not all the same.
Shen Min, Li Hanru, Li Zhixing and the rest looked at Ning Chen with worry in their eyes.
Of the other officials, some showed nothing at all, and some were pleased at another man’s misfortune.
Ning Chen saw that something was wrong, and uneasiness rose in him.
“Your subject, presenting himself to Your Majesty!”
Ning Chen and Geng Jing cried it out together and bowed at the same moment.
The Xuan Emperor looked at Ning Chen, his brows drawn into three deep furrows.
He handed two memorials to Eunuch Quan. “Take these to Ning Chen.”
“Yes!”
Eunuch Quan came down and gave the memorials to Ning Chen, his eyes full of worry.
Ning Chen opened the first memorial, read it through, and his face went grave.
It was a battle report, and a report of a defeat.
Nanyue had sent troops without warning.
The men of the southern frontier had been beaten, with more than twenty thousand dead and wounded.
When Ning Chen opened the second memorial, his face changed altogether.
It was a memorial impeaching him.
It said that he was in league with Nanyue, that he had leaked the map of the southern frontier’s defenses to the Nanyue Kingdom, and that this was why the battle in the south had been lost.
The man impeaching him was Fan Taihe, the Censor-in-Chief.
Ning Chen knew of the man.
He knew of him because of the Left Chancellor.
The Censor-in-Chief was the Left Chancellor’s second, and was also called the vice-chancellor… As head of the Censorate, the Censor-in-Chief had, like the Inspectorate, the duty of watching every official in the realm.
Ning Chen knew of him, but did not know much about him.
The man had been away from the capital the whole time. When the Left Chancellor fell, he was out carrying His Majesty’s comfort to the soldiers on the frontier.
The Left Chancellor had fallen.
Two men now stood likeliest to take the Left Chancellor’s place.
One was Li Hongzhuo, the dead President of the Secretariat.
The other was Fan Taihe, the Censor-in-Chief.
The Xuan Emperor frowned at Ning Chen. “What have you to say?”
Ning Chen closed the memorial and looked around the assembled officials. “Which of you is Lord Fan, the Censor-in-Chief?”
A man of about fifty came out of the ranks — in a scarlet official’s robe, not tall, thin in the face, wearing a beard — and bowed to Ning Chen. “Greetings to the marquis.”
Ning Chen looked him over and lifted the memorial in his hand. “Is there bad blood between us?”
Fan Taihe shook his head. “This minister acts on the matter and not against the man. The marquis will forgive me.”
“On the matter and not against the man, indeed… Do you know this memorial is enough to put me past all saving?”
Fan Taihe bowed. “The safety of the southern frontier is at stake, and more than twenty thousand men have died for nothing… If this minister shut his eyes to it, he would fail His Majesty’s trust and fail the robe on his back.”
Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’ve impeached me. You must have evidence.”
Fan Taihe was perfectly composed and spoke without haste. “The evidence has been submitted to His Majesty.”
Ning Chen raised his head and looked at the Xuan Emperor.
The Xuan Emperor had Eunuch Quan take the secret letters to Ning Chen.
Ning Chen took them, opened one, and his pupils contracted slightly.
Then he opened the others.
The letters were all evidence of correspondence between him and Kang Luo, the Fourth Prince of Nanyue… They spoke of the map of the southern frontier’s defenses, and of other exchanges of benefit.
And the writing in them was his own hand.
The letters were forged, of course.
But not even Ning Chen himself could find a flaw in the hand.
Now he was in real trouble!
(End of Chapter 370)