Ning Chen patted the false emperor on the shoulder and said mildly, "This prince is giving you three days... If the Xuan Emperor is not dead inside three days, then you die. Is that clear?"

The false emperor nodded again and again.

Ning Chen looked up at the dragon throne and said under his breath, "That seat belongs to me at last."

The false emperor looked at Ning Chen with the spirit gone out of his face... He had schemed down to the last device, and the winner at the end of it was Ning Chen.

Ning Chen turned his head sharply and looked at him. "The Grand Commandant is in this with you, isn't he? How much does he know?"

The false emperor had barely opened his mouth when Ning Chen said, "It makes no difference... he is a dead man either way."

The false emperor's face changed all at once.

"Remember. You have three days and no more!"

Ning Chen looked at the false emperor as he said it, then put his hands behind his back and walked toward the doors of the hall.

Outside the Golden Hall, Ning Chen exchanged a few words with the Eldest Prince and Eunuch Quan, who were waiting there, and then he left.

Once Ning Chen was gone the Grand Commandant came quickly into the Golden Hall, and the sight of the false emperor slumped on the floor changed his face completely. He dropped his voice at once. "What happened?"

The false emperor pointed at the cut on his neck, still shaken. "He came close to killing me... We took far too much for granted. Ning Chen means to be emperor himself."

The Grand Commandant was open-mouthed and staring. "How can that be?" he got out. "If he meant to be emperor, why would he have waited until now?"

Bitterness filled the false emperor's face, and he told the whole thing through.

The Grand Commandant was stupefied. The muscle at the corner of his eye would not stop twitching.

"Could Ning Chen be playing a part? On the face of it he…