"Then you and Old Meng be very careful. The believers in the madness know no kin."

Ning Chen could not leave it alone.

Zisu and Meng Jianbai nodded.

Ning Chen was about to say something more when a Ning'an Army soldier came running up. "My lord prince. There is a man outside asking to see you. He says he has something very important and has to put it before my lord prince himself."

Ning Chen asked without thinking, "What sort of man?"

"My lord prince, he looks like an ordinary commoner."

Ning Chen thought for a moment, and something seemed to come to him. He told Zisu again to be careful and went out of the cells fast.

In the main hall of the prefectural office, Ning Chen found the man who wanted to see him.

He was worn down to skin and bone, his clothes were thin, and the cold had turned his face blue.

The Ning'an Army soldier who had brought him in said, "This is the Prince Who Holds the Realm."

The man dropped straight to his knees. "This humble commoner knocks his head to my lord prince!"

"Get up. Never mind the ceremony."

Once the man had thanked him and got to his feet, Ning Chen looked him over. "What do you want with this prince?"

The man looked at Ning Chen in terror. "Are — are you really the Prince Who Holds the Realm?"

That made Ning Chen laugh. "I am. I don't think there's a man alive who'd dare impersonate this prince... Say what you came to say."

The man hesitated, then lifted the hem of his coat, felt around inside it for a while, and drew out a rolled-up slip of paper.

"A soldier sir gave this to this humble commoner. He said he was Ning'an Army, and that my lord prince would understand, and that I had to get the paper into my lord prince's own hands."

Something jumped in Ning Chen. He took the paper, opened it, and his eyes tightened.

There were only a handful of words on it: Fengshou…