The next day, in the afternoon.

Wagon after wagon loaded with coal stretched away in a line farther than the eye could follow.

And cartload after cartload of cotton and cloth besides.

Ning Chen let out a small breath.

There had been no time to tally exactly how much had come.

But it was enough to meet the most urgent need of the people of Qingzhou.

Jin Dongxing had kept his word, and Ning Chen did not shortchange him either.

The Southern Frontier Army pulled out of Gaoan City to the last man.

When Ning Chen was ready to go, Jin Dongxing came out of the city himself to see him off.

"My lord prince, coal burns a long time, but it smokes badly and it is dangerous... Once it is lit, air the room out often and there will be no trouble."

Jin Dongxing made a point of the warning.

The words were out of Ning Chen's mouth before he thought. "I know. Carbon monoxide poisoning."

"What?"

Ning Chen caught himself and smiled. "Nothing. My thanks to Your Highness for your help. Come next spring this prince will march south and help the Gaoli Kingdom drive Nanyue back."

Jin Dongxing smiled. "Then let me thank you for it now... The next time we meet, you and I must raise our cups and not stop until we are properly drunk."

Ning Chen nodded. "Count on it."

Jin Dongxing went straight on. "Rest easy, my lord prince. I will send troops with the rest of the supplies to the Great Xuan's border."

"My thanks!"

Ning Chen waved a hand and gave the order to withdraw.

Jin Kuan watched the Great Xuan army go, wiped the cold sweat off his forehead where nobody would see, and said, still shaken, "We finally got that baleful star out of here... and that was only the Southern Frontier Army. If it had been Ning Chen's own Ning'an Army, there is no telling how bad it would have been. They say every last man in the Ning'an Army climbed up out of a pile of corpses."…