The Xuan Emperor looked at the great officers of the court in front of him and said gravely, "Beloved ministers, does anybody have a good plan?"

Li Hanru and the rest looked at one another.

"Your Majesty, we could send troops against him!"

Feng Gaojie, the Minister of Rites, blurted it out without thinking.

For now he was only the acting Minister of Rites.

In fact all he had needed to do was see the wedding of Ning Chen and the Ninth Princess properly done, and the seat of Minister of Rites would have been his.

But who could have known that trouble would land on Ning Chen? The wedding never happened, and so he became the acting Minister of Rites instead.

Still, becoming Minister of Rites in fact as well as in name was only a matter of time. His Majesty had not put Shen Min to death, but had sent him out of the capital in disgrace.

The others all turned and gave Feng Gaojie a strange look.

The Xuan Emperor was looking at him too. "Then who does Beloved Minister Feng think would be a fit commander in chief?"

"This..." Feng Gaojie hemmed and hawed for a long moment before a suitable candidate suddenly came to him. "Your Majesty, your subject thinks Yuan Long could be made commander in chief and sent to Xiangzhou with troops to put the rebellion down."

The Xuan Emperor thought it over, then waved a hand. "A commander in chief must have both courage and calculation. Yuan Long is certainly a fierce fighter, but he has courage to spare and no head for strategy."

That meant Yuan Long would do as a general but not as commander in chief.

Feng Gaojie froze. He had no idea who else to recommend.

"Beloved Minister Feng, think again... Our Great Xuan abounds in men of talent. This emperor refuses to believe a man with both courage and calculation cannot be found."

Feng Gaojie fell to thinking long and hard.

The Xuan Emperor looked at the others. "Do any of you have somebody to recommend?"

Li…