Several days later, Ning Chen and the others reached the capital at last.
The officials of the court, civil and military, were not waiting outside the gate to meet him.
The Xuan Emperor had meant it that way to begin with, but on reflection, with Ning Chen a plain man with no rank now, having the whole court go out of the city to meet him would indeed have been unsuitable.
Ning Chen had Feng Qizheng escort Zisu and Yudie back to the Ning residence.
He and Geng Jing went straight to Old General Chen’s house.
Old General Chen’s funeral was already over. All Ning Chen saw was the spirit tablet.
Ning Chen knelt in front of Old General Chen’s spirit tablet, looking at the cold carved characters on the spirit tablet, his eyes red and the tears running down.
It was the first time he had wept since he came into this world.
Thinking that the old man who had doted on him was now parted from him for good, Ning Chen felt as though a knife were turning in his heart.
In front of Old General Chen’s spirit tablet he swore that he would find the true murderer and avenge Old General Chen with his own hands.
When he had made his offerings to Old General Chen, Ning Chen went with Geng Jing into the palace to be received.
The two of them came to the imperial study, were announced, and went in before the throne.
“Your subjects greet Your Majesty.”
Ning Chen and Geng Jing said it together and knelt.
“Get up.”
The two of them rose.
The Xuan Emperor looked Ning Chen over. “You have been crying.”
Ning Chen nodded. “I have just been to make offerings to Old General Chen.”
The Xuan Emperor sighed and waved Geng Jing out.
When Geng Jing had withdrawn, the Xuan Emperor looked Ning Chen over with a hint of displeasure in his face.
Some months without seeing him, and there had been times when the thought of Ning Chen put him off his food.
But the boy seemed to have put on weight. It looked as though he had been doing well out there.
The Xuan Emperor frowned. “How did you come to get tangled up with the Ghost-Shadow Sect?”
“Does Your Majesty remember Tao Qizhi?”
The Xuan Emperor thought about it, and plainly did not.
Eunuch Quan said quickly, “The jianghu bandit who killed the whole household of the former magistrate of Zhenyuan County.”
The Xuan Emperor made a sound of recognition and looked at Ning Chen. “This emperor has some memory of it. Why bring the man up?”
Ning Chen bowed and said, “Tao Qizhi was a man of the Ghost-Shadow Sect. He gave this humble commoner the gift of the art.”
Only then did the Xuan Emperor understand. So that was how it stood.
“Ning Chen, if it were not for what happened to Old General Chen, were you going to vanish from this day and never come back?”
Ning Chen nodded. “Yes.”
The Xuan Emperor’s eyes narrowed. “Do you still blame this emperor for failing to hold on to you in court that day?”
Ning Chen shook his head and said with a smile, “Your Majesty has it wrong. This humble commoner understands how hard Your Majesty’s position was… And besides, this humble commoner does not set much store by these things.”
“Your Majesty must have seen it too. This humble commoner’s nature does not suit him for office.”
The Xuan Emperor snorted. “It seems you have been doing well out there… Is there nobody in this capital you think of, then?”
The Xuan Emperor’s face was displeased, but there was expectation in his eyes.
Ning Chen said with a perfectly serious face, “In answer to Your Majesty. Of course there is… Old General Chen, for one. And Uncle Chai, the old servant in my house. And this humble commoner thinks about the roast duck at the Heavenly Blessing Tower.”
The Xuan Emperor’s face twitched, and he was less pleased still.
“And there is nobody else you think of?”
Ning Chen thought about it and said, “No.”
The Xuan Emperor could not bear it. He snatched a memorial off the dragon desk and threw it at Ning Chen.
“Wretch. Don’t you think of this emperor at all?”
The boy was insufferable. He had gone the whole way around — the old servant in his house, the roast duck at the Heavenly Blessing Tower — and never once mentioned his emperor. All that favor thrown away on him.
Ning Chen began to laugh, and said with the utmost seriousness, “The truth is that the one this humble commoner holds dearest in his heart is Your Majesty.”
“Truly?”
Ning Chen said with a smile, “If this humble commoner had not been thinking of Your Majesty, he would not have come back to the capital.”
The Xuan Emperor looked at him. “Meaning what?”
Ning Chen said with a smile, “The truth is that this humble commoner could make his offerings to Old General Chen anywhere. He did not have to do it in front of the spirit tablet.”
The Xuan Emperor gave a cold snort. “Are you saying you did not come back to the capital to find the true murderer who killed Old General Chen and to save the Ghost-Shadow Sect?”
Ning Chen shook his head and said with a perfectly serious face, “That is only part of the reason… The real reason is that this humble commoner heard from Geng the Purple Coat that Your Majesty has been low in spirits lately over the business on the frontiers, and that is why he came back riding hard.”
“Your Majesty saw this humble commoner at his lowest, without enough to eat or enough to cover himself… Your Majesty was the first person to be good to this humble commoner after he came to the capital. You gave me a meal, and you gave me clothes to wear.”
“Your subject will not forget Your Majesty’s grace in knowing what he was worth, to his dying day.”
“This humble commoner is a plain man with no rank now, but so long as Your Majesty needs him, this humble commoner is willing to climb a mountain of blades and go down into a sea of fire to repay Your Majesty’s grace in knowing what he was worth.”
The Xuan Emperor’s mood brightened all at once. “Do you mean that?”
Ning Chen said, “Every word from the heart.”
A smile came out on the Xuan Emperor’s face at last.
“If this emperor really had only sent down an edict, would you have come back?”
Ning Chen nodded. “Never mind an edict from Your Majesty. Send a man with a word of mouth, and this humble commoner would come to the capital at the risk of his life, though it rained knives out of the sky, to take a share of Your Majesty’s troubles.”
The Xuan Emperor was greatly pleased, and his whole face showed his satisfaction. The favor had not been thrown away on the boy after all.
Eunuch Quan rolled his eyes where nobody could see. The flattery on this one. Really.
Ning Chen looked at the Xuan Emperor. Happy now?
The truth was that from the moment Geng Jing began talking about the fighting on the frontiers, Ning Chen had been certain the Xuan Emperor knew he was at the Ghost-Shadow Sect, and that the whole performance was staged to force him back to the capital.
And he had guessed at today’s scene before he ever left the capital.
The fighting on the frontiers was what gave him the standing to return to court.
He had covered his tracks precisely to make His Majesty and the whole court anxious, and to make them understand how important he was.
Only by taking him back into service could they hold down the Tuoluo Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom.
And the Inspectorate finding out so quickly that he was at the Ghost-Shadow Sect was his own arrangement too… otherwise he would not have sent Gu Yichun and the others back to the capital.
But for all his calculating, he had never calculated on Old General Chen being murdered.
The Xuan Emperor looked at Ning Chen with satisfaction all over his face. “Ning Chen. Attend court tomorrow.”
Ning Chen bowed. “Yes. This humble commoner obeys the command.”
“Quan Sheng. Serve the meal. Ning Chen stays and eats with this emperor.”
Ning Chen: “???”
Fuck.
Was this a reward or a punishment?
When the meal was over.
The Xuan Emperor told Ning Chen to go see the Ninth Princess. Ever since Ning Chen had been reduced to commoner, her spirits had not been good.
Ning Chen took the order and came to the Fallen Phoenix Court.
The Fallen Phoenix Court.
The Ninth Princess sat at the stone table in the courtyard with her sharp little chin propped on her hand, looking at the plump, pale young man eating cakes across from her, her eyes wandering, her thoughts off somewhere nobody could say.
The plump, pale young man reluctantly picked up a cake and held it out to the Ninth Princess, a simple, honest smile on his face.
The Ninth Princess shook her head. “You eat it.”
The plump, pale young man hurriedly pulled the cake back, as though he were afraid the Ninth Princess might change her mind.
It made the Ninth Princess laugh. “To live simply, the way Fifth Brother does, is sometimes a blessing in itself.”
The Fifth Prince ate his cake and grinned foolishly. “Isn’t Huai’an happy?”
The light in the Ninth Princess’s eyes dimmed a little, and she said quietly, “I wonder where he is now. Whether he is doing all right.”
The Fifth Prince asked simply, “Who is Huai’an talking about?”
The Ninth Princess was about to speak when a little palace maid came over in a few quick steps, bowed and said, “A report for the princess. Young Master Ning begs an audience.”
The Ninth Princess sat bolt upright, her voice urgent. “Who did you say? Ning Chen?”
The little palace maid nodded. “Yes.”
The dimness went out of the Ninth Princess’s small face on the instant, and it turned bright and lovely. She said in excitement, “Ning Chen is back?”
“Heye, quick, come look at me. Do I look all right?”
(End of Chapter 399)