The news stunned Prince Wu.

The eunuch and the guards of the imperial presence looked guilty.

Prince Wu said, "Let me see it."

He knew the emperor's token was gilt bronze, but this one matched the real token exactly in workmanship and weight.

He was a prince of the Great Xuan, a subject of the throne... Naturally he would never dare do what Tantai Qingyue had just done: wreck the token without a second thought, just to tell real from fake.

Damaging the emperor's token was a crime that cost a man his head.

Tantai Qingyue tossed the token to him.

Prince Wu caught it and studied it for a while, and his face went livid. "It really is a fake."

Tantai Qingyue said, "Mm." She walked over, took the token back out of Prince Wu's hand and put it away as naturally as anything... It was pure gold, after all.

The corner of Prince Wu's mouth gave a faint twitch. For some reason, Tantai Qingyue reminded him an awful lot of Ning Chen just then.

But his face soon darkened. He stared coldly at the eunuch. "Who the hell are you people? You've got some goddamn nerve, posing as palace staff and counterfeiting an imperial edict."

The eunuch's eyes turned vicious. He had just opened his mouth when a sword rang.

Tantai Qingyue looked at him. "Think carefully before you speak," she said flatly. "If you dare give the order to attack, your life is over."

The eunuch went white.

Tantai Qingyue spoke calmly. "So you know who I am... Then let me guess. You are from the Myriad Nations Society, and Kang Baobao sent you, I would think?"

The eunuch said nothing.

Tantai Qingyue gave a cold laugh. "Ning Chen once said there is a kind of fool in this world who thinks his bones are very hard. He could be spared the pain, but he insists on being tortured half to death before he will talk... It seems you are the kind of fool Ning Chen meant."

Prince Wu said sharply, "Men! Seize them!"

The eunuch couldn't…