After the evening meal Ning Chen came to the side hall.

Jin Qingsheng was already waiting there.

"I greet my lord."

Jin Qingsheng knelt and made his bow.

Ning Chen lifted a hand. "Get up."

When Jin Qingsheng was on his feet, Ning Chen said, "How is the wine shop doing lately?"

"Reporting to my lord. The shop is doing very well... This small man is getting ready to bring out the thirty years in the cellar."

Ning Chen made a sound of assent.

He took a letter out of his robe. "It isn't enough for Immortal Dew to be the rage in the capital. It has to go out across the country... Send a man you can trust to Xiuzhou, to Prince Duan."

"Prince Duan handles the shops and we supply the wine... Give Prince Duan this letter. He will understand when he reads it."

Jin Qingsheng took the letter quickly. "Yes. My lord may set his mind at rest."

"All right. You may go."

After Jin Qingsheng had gone, Ning Chen gave Gu Yichun a few more instructions.

The next day, early in the morning.

Zisu and Yudie were still asleep. The two of them had worn themselves out the night before.

Ning Chen left the Ning residence quietly.

For this embassy to the Wu Kingdom he took nobody else, only Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng.

The three of them met.

Ning Chen looked Pan Yucheng over.

Pan Yucheng's face was full of puzzlement. "What is it?"

Ning Chen said, smiling, "Nothing puts a spring in a man's step like good fortune. Look at the color in your face. Domestic life with Miss Nanzhi must be very comfortable indeed."

A smile came over Pan Yucheng's face in spite of himself. "When we get back from the Wu Kingdom, I mean to marry Nanzhi."

Ning Chen laughed aloud. "That's good news. Congratulations, congratulations."

"If you need any help with it, just say the word."

Pan Yucheng nodded slightly.

Ning Chen said, "Let's set out, then."

To cut it short: they traveled hard, and more than twenty days later the…