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=//=

Ning Ren unfurled the message from his father that had arrived via the imperial post. It was odd that his father would not just scribble on some parchment and send it. He was sitting in the Jungpi capital slowly peeling the skin off a young pear. He didn't eat it, but just kept peeling them.

Ning Fan came over, "I thought cook said he had enough pairs? Did I interrupt your morning brood?"

Ning Ren dropped the pear into the peeled pile. "I'm not feeling well over what father sent. He wants me to return to the palace in Caiwong. Last year he asked everyone to return but me, to bide your time to learn the weakness of Jungpi. Another excuse to let me rot in forgotten places."

"But isn't it good he wants you back? To put you back in the fold?"

"To ask as a buffer against Ning Zhuo so he doesn't kill father. I have been tracking sightings of the setting sun assassin. It's interesting wherever he's seen, not even half a league away is one of the beautiful palaces of the crown prince of Caiwong."

Ning Fan took the basket and walked back to the kitchen.

Ning Ren burned the missive before throwing the pieces to the wind. As he did this he caught something white in his hand that left a chill on his palm. He looked up and saw it was snowing.

Ning Fan returned. "Your highness."

"Do you know they say something wicked is brewing when there is snow in summer?"

"I have heard the phrase, but that is an old wives tail. You should not listen to rumors."

"Ready my carriage."

"Yes, sir."

=//=

Ning Zhuo bowed before Imperial Consort Yu. She was not his birth mother, who had been such a low concubine, her name had not been recorded before she died. She had raised him at the behest of his grandmother as she could not have children of her own.

"Ning Zhuo, have you killed off the whole of the Chu family?"

Ning Zhuo looked up at her, "No, honored mother. I have not succeeded in the task you presented before me so I deserve to be punished."

She turned to one of her maids, "Rong-er take him outside to be whipped."

"Mother, I have followed your orders to the letter."

"Oh why is Ning Ren still alive? Why is the Official Chu who opposed my political mechanisms still alive? We must look after the self interests of the Yu Clan."

"Official Chu and the Chu family although they are of a ducal line, they have not been making much advancements. All they have is their ancestors accomplishments of which they only maintain."

"The daughter is dead, correct. You stood over her dead body and made sure it was hers correct."

"Yes, I murdered all the women in the Chu complex."

"You must have missed something. I cannot have any of the Chu line still alive."

"Mother, will you tell me why? Then I can redouble my efforts to please you. I have the title of crown prince. I have the skill and resources to do anything you need--"

Consort Yu laughed in his face and turned to the eunuchs. "Drag him out and make sure his back is bloody after the whipping. He cannot fail now he has the crown in his hands. Make sure he remembers not to let it slip."

"Mother-" Ning Zhuo reached a hand out as his view of her became smaller and smaller until his feet felt the hard wood of the hallway outside. The door was closed in front of him and the familiar scene of the head eunuch with a serene expression as he brandished the whip greeted him.

The eunuch bowed, "Highness, you now have the authority to refuse as you outrank the consorts at the present."

Ning Zhuo looked shocked at this. But he shook his head, "I failed her. She is the reason for my success. If this is how I must repay for my mistake then so be it. Do not be lenient. Make me feel her disappointment."

The eunuch bowed, "As you wish, highness."