Kang Luo was silent for a long time. Then he said it slowly, one word at a time: "Ning Chen."

Gao Lifu's face changed abruptly. "Your Highness, isn't he dead?" he blurted. "Are you saying he isn't?"

"I'm not sure either..." Kang Luo paused, then went on. "I've dealt with Ning Chen too many times. This kind of scheming and trickery looks far too much like his work."

Gao Lifu said, "Isn't Your Highness overthinking this? We checked from every angle. Ning Chen really is dead. There's no way he's still alive."

Kang Luo's voice was grave. "Then how do you explain this? Without a master hand guiding them, the Great Xuan's little emperor and those brainless hotheads like Yuan Long would never have had the depth or the cunning for this.

A scheme that even this crown prince couldn't see through. Who under heaven besides Ning Chen could have thought of it?"

Gao Lifu looked at Kang Luo and thought to himself that His Highness was too fixated. Or more precisely, Ning Chen had left too deep a shadow over him.

"Your Highness, the world is full of wonders, and the Great Xuan is vast and rich, with more extraordinary men than anyone can count... It's only natural that some capable man offered them a plan. Clever as this scheme is, Ning Chen isn't the only one who could have come up with it."

Kang Luo thought it over for a moment, then gave a small nod. "You have a point. Maybe this crown prince is too fixated.

But whoever offered the plan, he has to be found.

Lifu, I'm putting you on it. Whatever it costs, find out who offered the plan. This crown prince doesn't want to get rid of one Ning Chen just to have a Wang Chen, a Li Chen and a Zhang Chen pop up after him."

Gao Lifu bowed. "This officer obeys. This officer will see to it right away!"

Kang Luo gave a grunt of assent.

Gao Lifu withdrew.

Kang Luo picked up a go stone from the floor, his eyes glinting.…