Something flickered in Ning Chen's eyes. This Prefect of Qingzhou was a strange one.

He could have quietly done away with Shen Min without anyone ever knowing, and yet he'd gone out of his way to report it to the court.

Either His Honor the Prefect was a fool, or he had some other game in mind.

Ning Chen turned to the constables. "Find Lord Shen somewhere warmer to stay."

Shen Min said quickly, "My lord prince, you can't do that. I have to go back to the cells... By the law of the Great Xuan, until the matter is cleared up, I am a prisoner. I cannot leave the cells except to be brought up for questioning."

"If the censors hear of it, they will surely impeach my lord prince for bending the law for his own people."

Ning Chen frowned slightly. Let them. Is there a day that goes by when somebody isn't impeaching me?

Shen Min went on. "My lord prince, Qingzhou has suffered a great disaster and the officials have sat by and done nothing. The people no longer trust the government at all... Now only my lord prince can save the people of Qingzhou. You must not bend the law on this humble commoner's account and lose their trust."

Ning Chen thought it over and gave a slight nod, and had Shen Min taken back to the cells.

"Old Pan, let's go meet this Prefect!"

Ning Chen left with Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng.

The Qingxiang Pavilion was a pleasure house, and no place for Tantai Qingyue, so she stayed behind.

With a constable leading the way, the three of them came to the Qingxiang Pavilion.

As pleasure houses went, the Qingxiang Pavilion was a fairly big operation.

Inside and outside were two completely different worlds.

Outside, the world was ice and snow, bitterly cold.

Inside, it was as warm as spring... Even in broad daylight, the place was packed and bustling.

"Oh my, what handsome young gentlemen! Do you three sirs have a girl you know here?"

The heavily made-up old madam came to…