Everyone had received the same news: Ning Chen was dead!

But everyone reacted to it differently.

Take the Xiliang royal house. The moment they heard Ning Chen was dead, their first thought was that nobody would ever threaten them again. No more acting, cards on the table: yes, we're the ones backing Leng Wenyan. Without Ning Chen, what can the Great Xuan do to us?

When Zhang Tianlun heard Ning Chen was dead, he was over the moon.

But when the Xuan Emperor and the An Emperor heard it, their first reaction was: impossible. How could Ning Chen be dead?

Still, they were worried, so they sent the Inspectorate to look into it at once.

But before the Inspectorate had any word, the victory report arrived.

Yuan Long had sent it back. It explained everything: Ning Chen had faked his death.

In the Emeritus Palace, the Xuan Emperor was on edge.

He didn't believe for a moment that Ning Chen was dead, but the Inspectorate still hadn't reported back, and it had him too restless to sit still.

"Her Majesty is here!"

The herald's call rang out from outside.

Right after it came the An Emperor's voice, bubbling with joy. "Father Emperor, Father Emperor... A victory report from Yangzhou! A great victory at Yangzhou!"

Surprised and delighted, the Xuan Emperor got up at once and headed out.

The moment he stepped outside, he nearly collided with the An Emperor as she came running up.

"Father Emperor, a great victory at Yangzhou..."

The An Emperor held out the report.

The Xuan Emperor took it quickly, opened it, read it through and burst out laughing.

"That brat. This emperor knew he'd be fine... But that fake death was a brilliant move. Yangzhou retaken, Nanyue's hundred thousand troops all but wiped out, Kang Luo with no army left... That means the southern frontier passes are as good as ours again, hahaha..."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations!"

Eunuch Quan was beaming too, grinning like a eunuch. No, wait—he was a eunuch.

He'd been worried sick at the news of Ning Chen's death—afraid there'd be nobody…