Ning Chen stared, struck dumb. He even wondered whether he had misheard.

The Xuan Emperor tampered with the histories for his sake?

Was His Majesty as willful as that?

"Tell me exactly what happened."

The Eldest Prince told him the whole thing!

"When Huai'an suggested it, Father Emperor flew into a thundering rage... And then somehow he did it after all."

Ning Chen said, "Tampering with the histories. If the historians ever find out, the stink of it will last ten thousand years... His Majesty is protecting the Ninth Princess."

"Remember, never speak of this to an outsider again."

The Eldest Prince nodded. "I understand. That is one of the reasons I came myself... I was afraid somebody else wouldn't explain it properly and you wouldn't be willing to come back."

Ning Chen glanced at him. "You think I'm willing to go back because you came?"

The Eldest Prince's expression stiffened.

"You aren't willing to go back to the capital?"

Ning Chen spread his hands. "Look at me. I have money, I have time, and my days pass in idle ease. What would I go back for?"

"And on top of that, if I go when you tell me to go and come back when you tell me to come back, doesn't that leave me with no face at all?"

The Eldest Prince said, "You mean to defy an edict?"

Ning Chen gave him a sideways look.

The Eldest Prince smiled bitterly and let it drop. "All right, forget I said it. You've defied plenty of edicts in your time."

"Ning Chen, we got along well enough at the imperial tombs, didn't we? Look, a prince has come in person. Give me a little face at least."

"You have no idea. I traveled day and night the whole way, terrified you'd have left Mangzhou by the time I got here."

Ning Chen smiled. "The Eldest Prince has had a hard time of it!"

The Eldest Prince: "???"

"You really won't go back?"

Ning Chen spread his hands. The meaning was plain enough. He was not going.

The Eldest Prince said,…