That day Ning Chen and his party reached Lingzhou.

"Come on, let's find an inn and rest our legs first... Later I'll take you all for Hu's folded flatbread."

Ning Chen said it with a smile.

The last time he was in Lingzhou he had eaten it — mutton soup and folded flatbread — and it had tasted wonderful.

"What's going on over there? Look at the size of that crowd."

As the party passed, a crowd a little way off stood packed several rows deep.

Feng Qizheng said, "I'll go and have a look!"

Feng Qizheng ran over, watched a little while, then ran back.

"It's Jiang Zhengyang. He's cutting a prisoner apart by inches."

Ning Chen was taken aback. "Wait here for a moment. I'll go and say hello!"

Ning Chen squeezed through the crowd.

Four posts stood on the execution platform, a man stripped naked and tied to each.

Jiang Zhengyang looked up at the sky. He was really checking the hour.

He snatched up a sentence tally and flung it down. It is also called the life-and-death tally.

"Carry out the sentence!"

The executioners had traded their broad blades for small ones, and the cutting apart by inches began.

Shrill screams rose into the sky.

Far from being frightened, the common people shouted their approval.

"My — my lord prince?"

Ning Chen was watching the execution. Hearing the voice, he turned his head.

One of the constables holding the crowd back was staring at Ning Chen, his own face full of worship and excitement.

That caught Ning Chen off guard.

He had been made Prince Who Holds the Realm, and the imperial edict had gone out to every prefecture and county long ago.

But how many people knew he had resigned his office? The court had never issued a proclamation about it either.

Ning Chen did not explain.

"This small man presents himself to my lord prince!"

The constable knelt and bowed.

Once he was down, how could the other constables dare hang back? They hurried to kneel and bow with him.

The common people, hearing…