Ning Chen checked for an instant. "Look for the cause in myself? Is it because I'm handsome?"

To his surprise, Silence nodded, his face perfectly serious. "That counts as one of the reasons."

The corner of Ning Chen's mouth twitched. "Stop talking bullshit."

Silence said, "Young Master Ning has gifts to spare. He is a master of war and stratagem, and his looks are not bad either... His bloodline would naturally be a good one."

Ning Chen stopped short. It sounded reasonable enough when it was put that way.

Shit!!!

He had very nearly lost himself in the praise.

"Stop talking bullshit. I'm asking you this. Did your master have any hand in my being stripped of office?"

Silence said, "I don't know. My master did not say. You can go to the Wu Kingdom and ask my master yourself."

Ning Chen narrowed his eyes. "You seem very keen to have me go to the Wu Kingdom."

"A man of rare gifts like the young master, of a kind the world rarely sees, would be treated as a treasure by any state with sense. The Great Xuan excepted."

Ning Chen rolled his eyes. "That's enough. Stop praising me... Look into something for me."

Silence nodded. "The young master has only to give the order."

"Do you know about the Moon-Shadow Army?"

Silence nodded. "I have heard a little."

"Their dead ashes have caught fire again. Find them for me."

"Very well."

Ning Chen fixed his eyes on him. "Don't make trouble in the middle of it. I know you're a Wu Kingdom man and you'd like to see the Great Xuan in an uproar... but this time put those little schemes of yours away. If you dare plot anything, don't blame me for turning on you."

Silence said, "I will do my best."

Ning Chen felt a headache coming on. It struck him suddenly that coming to Silence had been a mistake in the first place.

"Don't get any crooked ideas, or I really will turn on you."

Ning Chen was not easy in his mind, and said it over…