"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty. This old subject knows his guilt!

It is only that Ning Chen's Ning'an Army is simply too powerful. Lin Changsheng led his men in holding Beilin Pass for a day and two nights, but in the end he could not hold out!"

In other words: don't blame Lin Changsheng's ability. Holding out for a day and two nights was damn impressive!

In reality, Lin Changsheng hadn't held out for a day and two nights at all. He'd just been too scared to leave the wall for a day and two nights.

Zong Sibo was an old fox, and his acting deserved every award there was.

In his heart, he wanted nothing more than to grind the De Emperor's bones and scatter the ash. But every time they met, he put on a show of deep respect, which did wonders for the man's sense of his own majesty.

You curse me, I listen. You beat me, I take it. Then I go right on feeding you bad ideas and watch you ruin yourself one step at a time.

In fact, when the news had reached him, he'd been completely stunned.

Ning Chen turning up at Beilin Pass out of nowhere was something he had never dreamed of.

That bastard had fooled everyone!

He couldn't let Ning Chen come back to the Great Xuan. If Ning Chen took the throne, all his plans would go up in smoke... As long as Ning Chen was around, the Great Xuan would never fall.

Still, in a way this was an opportunity for him!

He could goad the De Emperor into a fight to the death with Ning Chen.

War takes silver. It wears out the people and drains the treasury. Soon the people's resentment would boil over, lords everywhere would rise in revolt, and the whole Great Xuan would sink into war, split apart and come down in a heap.

The De Emperor was wheezing with fury, his lungs about to burst.

"That despicable liar who goes back on his word—he wants to usurp power, he wants this…