Chapter 467 Fear
Tang Ning's heart tightened. She didn't expect Feng Lai to ask this directly.
Those who can serve the emperor for many years and stand firm in the palace are indeed not simple characters.
Feng Lai seemed to be inconspicuous, but he actually knew that his brother was secretly interacting with the queen and her son.
Xiao Yan was also a little surprised. The "deal" between him and the queen was kept extremely secret. For the sake of Queen Anlu's favor, the people in the court who supported the Fourth Prince to maintain a "balance" between him and the Second Prince were not his people, but court officials who were secretly on good terms with Qian Baokun.
Even Emperor An and the people in the court didn't notice it, but Feng Lai actually knew it.
Seeing Xiao Yan remain silent, Feng Lai's expression darkened. "I've done my best to negotiate for Governor Xiao in the palace, risking my life to work for him. And can't I even get a single word of truth from him?"
Xiao Yan said quietly, "What do you want to know?"
"Who are you?" Feng Lai said coldly, "Why did you do all this?"
He stared at Xiao Yan, and before he could reply, he said in a deep voice:
"You don't need to deny it or deceive me. If you were just after power, you wouldn't have killed the Second and Fourth Princes and used all sorts of tactics against the noble families."
"You're alienating His Majesty from the noble families, disrupting the court, and ruining the prince's future. What exactly do you want?"
Feng Lai had some vague guesses in his mind, but those guesses were too outrageous, so outrageous that he found it difficult to convince himself.
A eunuch without roots could at best rely on the emperor to wield power in the court, but what Xiao Yan did clearly showed that he wanted to go one step further.
But for a eunuch, that was undoubtedly a pipe dream.
Feng Lai looked at him calmly, "I have treated Governor Xiao with sincerity, and I have placed my life and property in your hands. I left the palace today just to hear the truth."
He didn't want to be used as a knife for no apparent reason and end up losing his life inexplicably.
Xiao Yan could see the seriousness in Feng Lai's expression, and could also hear the subtle threat in his words.
If Feng Lai doesn't get the answer he wants from him today, he will probably never cover up for him in front of the emperor after returning to the palace, even if he has Feng Lai's handle and his "family members" as hostages. But if Feng Lai takes the risk.
If an old fox in front of the saint really wants to destroy himself, no one will have an easy time.
Xiao Yan looked at Feng Lai's determination, relaxed his brows, and turned to the inner room: "Tang Ning, come out."
Feng Lai was stunned for a moment. Song Tangning? He was startled when he heard a noise not far away. A moment later, a slender figure emerged from behind the screen.
He was surprised.
Why is Song Tangning here?
Tang Ning walked closer and saluted Feng Lai, and then Xiao Yan extended his hand towards her.
Seeing this, she knew what Xiao Yan meant. She walked over and placed her hand in Xiao Yan's palm, then sat down next to Xiao Yan. The two of them were very close, and the sight of their fingers intertwined made Feng Lai's pupils tremble.
"you……"
"As Eunuch Feng sees it."
Xiao Yan gently waved the hand they were holding towards Feng Lai, and then said to him in disbelief:
"I don't mean to deceive you, sir. It's just that there are some things you may not want to know. But now that you've asked, it's okay to tell you."
"My family's surname is He. My father is He Wenzhuo, and my grandfather is He Yin. When I was young, I was educated in the palace with the eldest son of the Crown Prince, Xie Chen'an. Eunuch Feng must still remember me."
“You…you!!”
Feng Lai's expression changed drastically. He stood up and stepped back, almost falling to the ground. He looked up at Xiao Yan as if he had seen a ghost.
He family.
He is actually a member of the He family? !
Seeing his fear, Xiao Yan smiled gently, "Come to think of it, I did meet Eunuch Feng in the palace back then. But back then, you hadn't yet entered the presence of the Emperor, and were a neglected eunuch in the Inner Court."
"You were once on the verge of being caned by the inner court for knocking over the then Imperial Concubine's favorite flower, Snow Coral. It was the Crown Prince's uncle who interceded for you, and the then Empress Dowager also spoke up, only then did the Imperial Concubine spare your punishment."
"Later, you were clever and by chance, you were favored by the eunuch Sun who served the late emperor. You were transferred to serve the late emperor. I didn't expect you to end up following Emperor An."
Feng Lai's original shock was instantly tinged with fear, and his face turned pale.
Not many people knew about the past events in the palace, and even fewer people remembered what happened when he went before the late emperor. After he followed Emperor An, no one mentioned those past events to him for a long time.
He originally suspected that Xiao Yan's identity was fake, but he even knew that the Grand Empress Dowager was still in the position of Empress Dowager.
Xiao Yan is truly a member of the He family!
Feng Lai's previous calmness and aggressiveness during the "confrontation" with Xiao Yan disappeared completely. He only took half a step back and looked up at Xiao Yan, his eyes full of fear.
Xiao Yan let go of Tang Ning's hand and raised his chin slightly: "Look, this governor said that you may not want to know the truth."
Feng Lai's lips trembled when he heard this: "What do you want to do when you come back?"
After saying this, he panicked again: "I... Although I followed His Majesty, I never harmed Prince Li or the He family. I was not aware of what happened back then."
The orphan of the He family returned to the court, and Xiao Yan acted ruthlessly again, leaving no room for mercy. He thought of the ending of the Lu family, the death of Queen Lu, and the current strange court situation.
Feng Lai was afraid that he, too, would be blamed for framing Crown Prince Li and the He family, and would be purged by Xiao Yan. He said anxiously, "I did use some trickery to gain His Majesty's trust, but it has nothing to do with Crown Prince Li and the He family."
"I know."
"You know?"
Feng Lai was stunned.
Xiao Yan's expression remained calm. "Back when the Eastern Palace burned, the Lu family and Emperor An secretly launched a murderous attack, intending to exterminate everyone in the Eastern Palace. I stayed in the palace to accompany my cousin, but my uncle's concubine, Xue, took advantage of the chaos and escaped with me. When the Eastern Palace later searched for the remains, no one noticed that a child was missing."
"There must be palace records of He's son entering and leaving the palace. It's impossible for Lu Chongyuan and Emperor An to not notice it, unless someone tampered with it and found the remains of another child and quietly sent them to the fire scene to cover up for Concubine Xue and me."
He was of the same age as He Yan, the third son of the He family, and had a very similar figure and build. Because they had a good relationship and He Yan was his study partner, he often went to the palace to accompany him.
On the day of the fire in the Eastern Palace, He Yan was indeed in his palace, but because he had to go look for his mother, she was not with He Yan, and he died unexpectedly in the fire.
After Xiao Yan escaped, the imperial guards chased him all the way, but he was easily led away by Concubine Xue. Afterwards, neither the late emperor, Emperor An, nor the people of the Lu family noticed that a child's body was missing from the Eastern Palace.
You have to know that the fire burned the person beyond recognition. Just looking at the bones, it is impossible to tell whether the dead person is him or He Jiazi.
If they really discovered that someone was missing, the palace would not give up and would dig three feet underground to find the person.
However, after Concubine Xue was discovered and brought to justice by the pursuers, the pursuit in the palace stopped. She was hidden outside the city by Madam Rong for more than a month, and no one came to search for her.
In other words, everyone believed that there was always someone missing from the Eastern Palace.
Both Xie Chenan and He Jiazi died in the fire.
Xiao Yan asked, "Eunuch Feng, who do you think was responsible for this back then?"
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