That afternoon, Ning Chen and the others set out for the capital.

Mo Yangshuo had to be taken back to the capital with them.

The Hidden Sword Manor's people were locked up in the Cangzhou cells.

Cangzhou was put under military rule for the time being.

Everyone who held office there, from the Governor down to the lowest yamen clerk, had been thrown out!

An imperial edict had come down the day after Ning Chen reached Cangzhou.

Every official in Cangzhou, great and small, was to be stripped of office and put under investigation.

For no other reason than this: the late emperor's remains had turned up in Cangzhou, the Hidden Sword Manor stood inside Cangzhou's borders, and so every official in Cangzhou, great and small, had failed to see what was going on under his nose.

In truth, the Cangzhou officials had gotten a raw deal. They were just caught in the fallout.

But what could anyone do? The emperor's authority stands above everything. If he says you're guilty, you're guilty.

Ten days later, Ning Chen and the others were back in the capital.

Ning Chen took the late emperor's skull into the palace.

He could picture it already. The Xuan Emperor would see that someone had taken his old man's remains apart, and the fury would come down like thunder.

For some time now, everyone in the palace had been living in fear and trembling. They all knew His Majesty was in a foul mood!

When an ordinary family's ancestral graves get robbed, blood spatters five paces — never mind when they're an emperor's.

"Greetings, my lord prince!"

Nie Liang had seen Ning Chen and come over to greet him.

Ning Chen waved it off. "Is His Majesty in there?"

Nie Liang nodded, then asked hopefully, "Did you find the late emperor's remains?"

Ning Chen patted the bundle on his back. "Just the skull."

Nie Liang went pale.

Those bastards actually took the late emperor's remains apart.

We're done for. His Majesty's going to be out of his mind with rage.

A young eunuch tiptoed into the Hall…