The Second Prince was very likely Ye Xingjue.

Xu Song, the man who'd shot him, had said Ye Xingjue didn't work and didn't trade, yet had more money than he could ever spend.

If the Second Prince had meant to fake his death, he'd surely have prepared in advance. Any one thing smuggled out of the palace would be worth a fortune.

Besides, Ye Xingjue was probably tied to the Myriad Nations Society, and the whole reason that organization had existed in the first place was to rake in money.

Suddenly something occurred to Ning Chen that he'd been overlooking all along: why would the Second Prince fake his death?

If he was Ye Xingjue and all he cared about was crossing back over, he didn't need to fake his death at all. He could have fought for the throne outright. As much as the Xuan Emperor doted on him, taking the throne wouldn't have been hard... And as emperor, with all the power in the realm in his hands, wouldn't finding a way to cross back over have been easier?

Ning Chen rubbed his brow. There had to be something in all this he didn't know, which was why he couldn't string the whole thing together.

"You think somebody stole the Second Prince's bones, like they did the late emperor's?"

Feng Qizheng's question broke into Ning Chen's thoughts.

Ning Chen looked at him, speechless. "That great filial son Prince Rui stole the late emperor's skeleton to threaten the Emperor Emeritus... Why would anybody steal the Second Prince's skeleton? It'd be no damn use at all."

Feng Qizheng scratched his head. "Then what happened?"

Ning Chen shook his head. "No idea. Time will give us the answer."

Time flew, and half a month went by.

Ning Chen led the army to Peak Forest Gorge.

He ordered the army to halt and rest.

Once they'd rested, they would go through Peak Forest Gorge and join up with Pan Yucheng, and then they could head straight for Xiangzhou. It would take twenty days at most.

Meanwhile, far away in Xiliang's Linxuan City...