It wasn't that Ning Chen had never thought about contacting Prince Wu.

But he understood that the De Emperor would never trust Prince Wu. Putting him at the head of an army was only a way to hold Ning Chen in check.

So on the surface Prince Wu led the troops, but in reality someone else did.

If Ning Chen reached out to Prince Wu rashly, he was afraid it would only get Prince Wu killed.

He had been waiting for Prince Wu to reach out to him first, but after all this time there'd been no word at all.

If it really came to crossing swords one day, he would not hold back.

He didn't want to hurt Prince Wu, and he wanted even less to break the Xuan Emperor's heart... But he couldn't let down the more than a hundred thousand soldiers who followed him, either.

"Old Feng, I'm writing a letter. Have the messenger take it back to Kang Luo."

Ning Chen went to the desk as he spoke and dashed off a letter, then handed it to Feng Qizheng.

Feng Qizheng left with the letter.

He had barely gone when Xiao Yanxi walked in.

Ning Chen had brought Xiao Yanxi with him to Mangzhou this time. He needed her to gather intelligence on Lingzhou for him.

But Xiao Yanxi had been avoiding him, because every time Ning Chen saw her, he tried to talk her into going back to women's clothes.

"Little Xixi, if you've come to see this emperor, has something turned up in Lingzhou?"

Xiao Yanxi winced a little and gave a slight nod. "We have the full picture on Lingzhou now. There are a hundred thousand troops stationed there in all, and ten thousand of them are equipped with muskets and cannon.

On the surface, the army's commander is Prince Wu, but the one actually in charge is the Army Supervisor, Xun Ruiming... This Xun Ruiming is a protégé of the Right Chancellor, Zong Sibo.

My people found something interesting. Prince Wu has been trying to contact you, but Xun Ruiming watches him…