The next morning Gao Ziping and Feng Qizheng took a sealed letter out of the city.

At the same time, Pan Yucheng and Geng Jing went into the palace together.

In the imperial study Pan Yucheng laid out Ning Chen's reasoning.

The Xuan Emperor was deeply shocked.

The Moon-Shadow Army had been hiding in the army camps all along?

Eunuch Quan was struck dumb and staring too.

The Xuan Emperor thought for a while. "By his reasoning, is the Moon-Shadow Army hiding in the Dragon Guard's camp or in the garrison's?"

Pan Yucheng said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, he does not know that either. There may be men of the Moon-Shadow Army in every camp... How many of them there are is hard to guess, but certainly not a few."

The Xuan Emperor said heavily, "Quan Sheng, go and call Nie Liang in to this emperor."

"The men of the Moon-Shadow Army all carry a mark of their own. They will not be hard to find."

Pan Yucheng said quickly, "Your Majesty, there is no knowing when the Moon-Shadow Army got into the camps or how many of them there are. To search them outright could well set off a mutiny."

"Ning Chen guesses that for the Moon-Shadow Army to have stayed hidden so long without being found, somebody of high standing must be sheltering them."

The Xuan Emperor looked at Pan Yucheng. "Then what does he mean to do?"

Pan Yucheng laid out Ning Chen's plan.

The next day, at the morning court.

Li Hanru made his report. "Your Majesty, the floods in Yunzhou have barely passed and now there has been heavy snow. The people are in hardship, and roving bandits have appeared in numbers and are plundering them."

"These bandits have grown into a force of their own. The local house guards are busy with the relief and have no men to spare. Your subject asks Your Majesty to send troops to put them down."

The Xuan Emperor was in a towering rage.

"Issue the edict. Yuan Long is to lead the Ning'an Army and set out…