"Everyone pack up. We leave at once!"

Ning Chen gave the order.

Apart from Pan Yucheng, everyone was left staring.

Li Hongzhuo might have been no good, might have had his elbow turned outward, but he was an envoy of Great Xuan after all... The man was dead. Were they to ask nothing, say nothing, and simply leave?

But they did not ask.

If Ning Chen was doing this, he had his reasons.

Everyone began packing at once.

About a quarter of an hour later, the party rode out of the Hall of Martial Honor, fast and light.

Fu Lu watched Ning Chen and the others go, and only then got into his carriage and set off toward the palace.

The Hall of Sacred Might.

In the court, the ministers had their heads together, and the hall was full of noise.

An envoy of Great Xuan was dead, and every thread pointed to the Prince Regent, Song Tiancheng.

Song Tiancheng's face was still as water.

Li Hongzhuo had indeed come to his residence last night, but how exactly the man had died, he did not know either.

What he did know was that he had been framed.

"Prince Regent. The peace talks are upon us, and now an envoy of Great Xuan lies dead in our Wu. What do you think should be done?"

The woman emperor spoke slowly.

Song Tiancheng's face was cold. "Your Majesty, this prince has been wronged."

The woman emperor waved a hand. "Wronged or not is no longer the point. The point is that a man is dead... and that Li Hongzhuo was President of the Secretariat of Great Xuan's Department of State Affairs — high in rank and heavy in power."

"We must give Great Xuan an answer that satisfies them, and quickly."

"Our treasury is empty as it is. The Tuoluo Kingdom gives us headaches enough... We simply have no silver left to fight a war with Great Xuan."

"The man died near your own residence, and the threads all point to you... This matter is handed to the Prince Regent to settle."