"His Majesty is here!"

Ning Chen was getting ready to go on mocking Fan Taihe when Eunuch Quan's reedy voice rang out.

The Xuan Emperor had arrived.

"Your subjects greet Your Majesty. May Your Majesty's health be strong!"

The officials knelt.

"Rise, beloved ministers!"

The Xuan Emperor lifted a hand.

When they were on their feet, the Xuan Emperor let his eye pass over Ning Chen, the corner of his mouth lifted, and he came straight to the point.

"The Wu Kingdom has broken off the peace talks. The Nanyue Kingdom raids us again and again. The Tuoluo Kingdom already means to tear up its treaty of submission. Xiliang is eyeing us like a tiger."

"Beloved ministers, does anybody have a good plan to meet it?"

There was not a sound in the hall.

These matters had been gone over many times in the last few months, and no fitting answer had ever come out of it.

And now Old General Chen had been murdered, and the will of the army was coming apart.

The Great Xuan is having a bad year.

Li Hanru stepped out of the ranks and bowed with his hands together. "Your Majesty. Your subject begs that Ning Chen be taken back into service."

"What the enemy states are afraid of is the edge of our Great Xuan soldiers' blades — not certain persons' womanish tongues."

Fan Taihe's face changed. It took enormous trouble to drive Ning Chen out of the court. He absolutely must not be allowed back into power.

He stepped out of the ranks in a hurry. "Your Majesty. Your subject thinks this would be a mistake."

"The matter of Ning Chen's collusion with the Nanyue Kingdom has still not been cleared up. He absolutely cannot be taken back into service now."

A censor stepped out and bowed. "Your Majesty. Ning Chen was stripped of office only a few months ago. If he is taken back now, the subjects and the people of the realm may well conclude that Your Majesty wronged Ning Chen at the time. It would damage Your Majesty's authority.…