Ning Chen had finished making his arrangements and was about to go to the courtesans’ quarter to find Yudie when Eunuch Quan arrived.
“Old Quan. Give me two days. I will move out as soon as I find a new house.”
Eunuch Quan shook his head. “This eunuch has not come to turn the marquis out.”
“Stop calling me marquis. I am a humble commoner and nothing more.”
Eunuch Quan let out a long sigh. “Do not hold it against His Majesty. It was very hard for him.”
Ning Chen smiled. “How could I hold it against His Majesty? Without His Majesty’s favor I would never have had all that glory in the first place.”
“May I trouble Eunuch Quan to carry a message to His Majesty for me… His Majesty’s grace in knowing him is carved into Ning Chen, and he will never forget it as long as he lives.”
Eunuch Quan gave a slight nod. “Very well. I will certainly pass the words to His Majesty.”
“One other thing. By His Majesty’s order, you may go on living in this house.”
Ning Chen gave a slight start. “My thanks to His Majesty.”
Eunuch Quan smiled. “You have no post now and no salary. Have you silver enough to get by?”
“What is this? Are you offering to sponsor me?”
Eunuch Quan drew several silver notes out of his robe. “Take these and use them. They are all money you have pressed on this eunuch over the years.”
Ning Chen began to laugh.
“Old Quan. I did not expect you to still want to help me at a time like this… I take the kindness as given. Keep the silver. I am not short of it.”
He had more silver now than he could spend.
Eunuch Quan pushed the money into his hands. “Don’t be stubborn. You spend with an open hand. Keep it by you… This eunuch cannot be of much real help to you.”
Ning Chen pushed it back at him. “I truly am not short of silver.”
“Truly not?”
Ning Chen nodded.
“Very well then… If you run short, send word to this eunuch.”
“My thanks.”
Eunuch Quan smiled. “What is there to thank? You are the one who said that when this eunuch is old and can wait on His Majesty no longer, you would keep this eunuch in his old age.”
Ning Chen had indeed said it.
And it was because of that sentence that Eunuch Quan had been moved for a long time afterward.
He was the man at His Majesty’s side, and every official at court was courteous to him in the ordinary way of things… But he knew perfectly well that they were only keeping up appearances, and that behind his back they called him a gelded thief.
Only Ning Chen called him Old Quan, one sentence after another, and never once treated him as a man with something cut away.
Ning Chen smiled. “Very well. When you are old… I will keep you in your old age.”
Quan Sheng laughed, delighted.
“This eunuch has to go back to the palace and report, so I will not stay… If you run into any trouble, send word by somebody. This eunuch has no other talents, but he cannot stand by and watch you bullied either.”
Ning Chen gave a slight nod. “Old Quan, wait a moment.”
With that he turned and went back into the house.
When he came out he was carrying the python robe and the tally of command.
“Old Quan. Hand these back to His Majesty for me.”
“And there is one more thing I need your help with.”
Eunuch Quan said, “Tell me.”
“May I trouble you to ask His Majesty something. Yudie’s father was cleared long ago, and I am a humble commoner now and can hardly marry a princess… So I would like to ask His Majesty to pardon Yudie and give her back her freedom.”
Eunuch Quan nodded slightly.
Ning Chen had seen Eunuch Quan off and was about to leave for the courtesans’ quarter when Geng Jing and the others arrived.
“Ning Chen. Are you all right?”
The whole group of them looked at Ning Chen with worry in their faces.
Ning Chen smiled evenly. “What could be wrong with me? A man with no office has a light load. I can finally get some rest… Since I joined the Inspectorate I have not had one quiet hour.”
“Now I am free at last. I can enjoy myself as I please and go wandering among the hills and rivers.”
There was a great deal going on in their faces.
Yesterday he had been the Idle Marquis with all the glory in the world, and today he was a humble commoner… It must be sitting very badly with Ning Chen.
In fact they had guessed wrong.
Being reduced to commoner had not touched Ning Chen at all.
Because he was certain that before long the whole court would be asking him to come back.
And as it happened, it was a good chance to look at the people around him and see which of them was a man and which was a ghost.
Pan Yucheng said, “Come on. Let’s find somewhere and have a drink.”
“Never mind that.” Ning Chen waved a hand. “I still have a few things to see to. Shall we meet at the courtesans’ quarter this evening?”
“Geng the Purple Coat, chief… Ning Chen must be feeling very bad about this. The rest of you go back. I will stay with him.”
Feng Qizheng said it.
Ning Chen looked at him strangely. “What are you doing with a bundle on your back?”
Feng Qizheng grinned wide. “Coming to throw myself on you. I have been dismissed… From now on you have to keep me.”
Ning Chen gave a start and looked at Geng Jing.
“It was Feng Qizheng who took those stores to the black market and turned them into silver notes. If he stays in the Inspectorate, those censors will not let the matter rest.”
“So I dismissed him. From now on he goes with you.”
Ning Chen understood at once. Geng Jing was protecting Feng Qizheng.
If the censors were left to attack him as they pleased, Feng Qizheng’s punishment would be far heavier, and he might well lose his life over it.
“No trouble at all. The house is big enough. It is a matter of one more bowl and one more pair of chopsticks.”
Chen Chong looked at Ning Chen. “Have a word with Geng the Purple Coat and get him to dismiss me too.”
He had gone to offer his resignation and been roundly cursed for it by Geng Jing.
“Count me in.”
Gao Ziping said it straight after.
Pan Yucheng said, “I have been in the Inspectorate far too long. I have been wanting a few quiet days for a while now.”
The corner of Geng Jing’s mouth twitched.
“Get back to your posts, the whole pack of you… You want to leave the Inspectorate? Not a chance.”
Pan Yucheng looked at Ning Chen.
Ning Chen shook his head. “I am a humble commoner now. There is nothing I can do for you.”
Geng Jing said, “Get back, all of you… That is an order. Thirty strokes of the rod for disobeying it.”
These creatures, all of them thinking about resigning… Had they forgotten how many people they had offended?
Not everyone was Ning Chen.
Ning Chen had been reduced to commoner, but from the way His Majesty had shielded him the favor was still there… Nobody would dare touch him.
If any of the others left the protection of the Inspectorate, the cases they had worked and the people they had crossed would tear them apart alive.
Pan Yucheng and the rest slunk back to their posts.
They had barely gone when the Fourth Prince arrived.
Seeing Ning Chen, the Fourth Prince burst out laughing, plainly delighted.
Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “This humble commoner Ning Chen greets the Fourth Prince.”
The Fourth Prince waved a hand. “No ceremony.”
“I heard you had been reduced to commoner and came straight over.”
Ning Chen said flatly, “Has the Fourth Prince come to laugh at me?”
The Fourth Prince blinked. “I have no time for that sort of thing… Pack your things quickly and come with me.”
Ning Chen: “???”
“Come where?”
The Fourth Prince said excitedly, “Come to the western frontier with me. You have no office and no post now, and there is nothing left between you and Huai’an… You may as well come and fight at the western frontier with me.”
“My imperial father has only just stripped you, so I cannot give you an office… But don’t worry. You can come as my strategist, with the authority of my deputy.”
“Your resourcefulness and my courage… between us we will have the Xiliang Kingdom crying for their fathers and mothers.”
The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth twitched. “That is what you are so happy about?”
“What else?”
Ning Chen rolled his eyes. “I am not going.”
The Fourth Prince stared.
“Why not? Is the authority I am giving you not enough? At worst we can settle things between us when they come up. Equal authority, you and I. Will that do?”
Ning Chen shook his head. “I am worn out. I want a good long rest.”
“How long a rest? I will wait for you.”
Ning Chen had nothing to say to that. Could the man not see it was an excuse?
This great simple lump. There is simply no help for him.
“Let us do this. The Fourth Prince goes back to the western frontier first, and when I have finished what I have to do I will come to the western frontier and find you.”
(End of Chapter 375)