Early the next morning Ning Chen gave the order, and the army came up under the walls.

Inside Xiguan City the news reached Xing Shan and the officers with him, and the color went out of their faces.

"It seems Ning Chen was not only talking."

Che Mingzhe was sick with worry.

He had been Ning Chen's prisoner once, and he knew exactly what Ning Chen could do.

Xing Shan had taken Ning Chen for a bluffer, and now his own nerve was going.

Han Gaochi said, "Lord Xing, when can the Tuoluo Kingdom's army get here?"

Count Ning Chen's men generously and he had fewer than a hundred thousand.

They had a hundred and fifty thousand, and even so they did not feel steady with Ning Chen out there.

Tuoluo had allied with Xiliang and promised a hundred thousand men in support.

Let the Tuoluo army arrive in time and they would have something solid under them.

Xing Shan said, "Do not panic. It should be here within days."

Che Mingzhe and Han Gaochi both breathed out.

"Report—!"

A scout came running.

"Urgent news from the field, Lord Xing, Generals... word has just come in. The Wu Kingdom has moved against the Tuoluo Kingdom without warning, and the Tuoluo army cannot come to our support."

Xing Shan and the two with him all changed color.

Xing Shan said furiously, "Another of Ning Chen's schemes... Ning Chen's standing with the Wu Kingdom's woman emperor is no ordinary thing. He knew the Tuoluo army could not come, and that is where all this nerve of his comes from."

Xing Shan had guessed right.

Tuoluo was allied with Xiliang; of course Ning Chen had guarded against Tuoluo coming in.

Before he ever set out, he had Silence carry word to the woman emperor, to tie Tuoluo's troops down where they stood.

Beyond that, Ning Chen had sent Liang Jingwu out of Beilin Pass with fifty thousand men, straight for the Tuoluo Kingdom's North Royal Court.

Not to open a war, of course. Only to pin the King of the Left Court's strength…