That got a laugh out of Ning Chen. He rose slowly to his feet and asked the soldier beside him for a blade, then walked toward Qu Lang one step at a time.

"You want to go into the palace? That's easy enough. Have you gelded, and you can go into the palace."

"As for having the Xuan Emperor hand the throne over to you... that one might be a little difficult. I've never even thought that far myself."

Qu Lang watched Ning Chen come at him, blade in hand, and shivered.

"What are you going to do?"

Ning Chen smiled. "Granting your wish, of course. You wanted to go into the palace, didn't you? This prince will take the knife to you himself."

Qu Lang looked at the blade glittering cold in Ning Chen's hand. His face filled with terror.

Ning Chen's eyes narrowed. The blade went up and came down.

The head rolled away. Blood sprayed.

He tossed the blade back to the soldier and muttered, "Cut the wrong one. I was going for the little head and took the big one off by accident... Doesn't matter, though. A head's a head — what difference does it make where you cut?"

"Old Feng, take his head and tell those rebels... that old rogue Prince Rui has run and Qu Lang is dead. They are to lay down their weapons and surrender. Any man who gives himself up lives, and any man who fights is killed without pardon!"

Feng Qizheng nodded. "Yes!"

"But where do you think that old rogue Prince Rui has run off to?"

Ning Chen gave a faint smile. "Not hard to guess. We fought our way down from the north. The Great Xuan lies west, and he wouldn't dare go there. The sea lies east... He could only have run south."

"If I'm not mistaken, that old rogue Prince Rui has fled to Nanyue!"

"We'll talk about all that later. Pacify Xiangzhou first."

Feng Qizheng nodded, took Qu Lang's head, and went off at a run.

To begin with, the eastern frontier army had feared…