Chapter 678: Eunuch Feng is Xiao Yan's man
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When Liang Guangyi returned to the mansion, court officials from other families were already waiting there. Even Wang Huailu, who had been promoted to the Secretariat because of Liang Guangyi's promotion, was in the front hall of the Liang family.
Seeing Liang Guangyi coming back, those people swarmed over him.
"Lord Liang, what's the situation in the palace?"
"Yes, Grand Master, how is His Majesty? Is he alive or dead?"
"What about that bastard Xiao Yan? Did he really control the palace? Doesn't His Majesty have Liu Tong'en by his side, and so many imperial guards? Could it be that Xiao Yan has captured all of them, too?"
Liang Guangyi was already bored after entering the palace, and the noisy chatter around him made his head buzz.
Seeing his gloomy face, Feng Qiuli quickly stopped the people around him and said, "Don't ask any more questions. It's freezing cold out here, and I'm afraid Mr. Liang might catch a cold if he goes out. If you have anything to say, go inside and talk."
Only then did everyone realize that Liang Guangyi's face looked strange, and they quickly dispersed.
After following Liang Guangyi into the house, Feng Qiuli personally poured him some tea: "Grandmaster, please have a sip of tea to warm yourself up first."
Liang Guangyi looked at Feng Qiuli, who was anxious but still calm, and his expression improved a little. His hands were cold, and he held the teacup for a while to warm them up. After taking a sip of tea and putting it down, he sighed and said to the people around him:
"The palace has indeed been lost, and all the guards near the palace gate have been replaced by Xiao Yan's men."
"Have you seen Xiao Yan?" Feng Qiuli asked.
Liang Guangyi shook his head: "No, the old man and Prince Ji and the others didn't even enter the palace gate. Only Xiao Yan's close confidants came out."
"That man hasn't denied that Xiao Yan had captured Your Majesty, and the palace guards are now under the control of Yu Yanfeng. Liu Tong'en must have met with the same misfortune as Your Majesty. Furthermore, Xiao Yan even ordered these things to be delivered. They were all left behind by those who, like my daughter-in-law, had come to the palace to tend to the sick."
Liang Guangyi collected several copied testimonies in front of the palace gate, handed them to Feng Qiuli, and then signaled him to distribute them to everyone.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment when they saw what was written on the paper.
"What Madam Liang said is actually true?"
Something happened in the palace, Xiao Yan suddenly forced the emperor to abdicate and captured Emperor An. When the news came out, many people found it hard to believe. After Madam Liang Shao, who had personally witnessed the incident, told the story, many people found it hard to believe. It was possible that Emperor An had murdered the prince, but it was too outrageous for the empress dowager to plot against someone else's life.
Madam Liang was also waiting in the hall. Upon hearing this, she whispered, "What I said is true. This matter also concerns the Liang family. How could I lie?"
Liang Guangyi took a deep breath, calmed down his emotions, and then said to her, "Tell me everything that happened in the palace in detail again. Don't leave out any details."
Madam Liang nodded: "Yes, father."
She stood up and walked forward, facing everyone's gaze and spoke.
"A while ago, I and the ladies of several other families in the capital suddenly received an imperial decree from the palace, saying that the Empress Dowager was seriously ill and asked us to enter the palace to serve her. After entering the palace, we found that the Empress Dowager's condition was not as serious as the rumors had said. We took turns to serve in Shoukang Palace for a few days, and the Empress Dowager suddenly got better..."
Madam Liang told them everything that had happened since they entered the palace, not daring to leave out a single thing.
She spoke in detail, starting from the first time they met in the palace when Qian Qiyue and the others had an argument with Princess Huan and Fu Jinrou was embarrassed, and then everyone took turns to tend to the sick, but the empress dowager treated Song Tangning and Rong Yue coldly. It was not until before the banquet in Shoukang Palace that she suddenly summoned her to tend to the sick and proposed to confer the title of Princess.
"The Queen Mother intended to have Song Tangning acknowledge His Majesty as her adoptive father, have her listed in the imperial family genealogy, and even bestow upon her the title of Princess Yongning. However, Song Tangning refused, so the Queen Mother brought up the matter of a banquet, saying that after rewarding us for attending to her and warding off the evil spirits that helped her recover, she would send us out of the palace."
"At the palace banquet, His Majesty and the Crown Prince arrived, along with Consort Xian and Consort Zhao. Everything was going well, but then the Queen Mother suddenly brought up the matter of a general election. She even said she wanted to select Qian Qiyue, a daughter of the Qian family, to accompany the Emperor and offer her the position of Priestess of Fengqi Palace..."
Mrs. Liang spoke seriously and explained the whole process clearly.
Everyone listened carefully, even Liang Guangyi frowned slightly and thought deeply.
When Qian Qiyue refused at the palace banquet, the empress dowager became angry. Later, the empress dowager left the table and Emperor An left. The prince stayed in Shoukang Palace on the pretext of visiting. Not long after, someone reported that Qian Qiyue had injured the prince. The empress dowager came forward to interrogate and punish the Qian family, but was stopped by Tang Ning. After the conflict between the two sides, the empress dowager vomited blood and told everything.
Madam Liang continued, "The Empress Dowager had bribed the Imperial Physician earlier to use secret medicine to forcibly stimulate her vitality. However, this actually cost her her lifespan in exchange for making her appear to be recovering."
"She deliberately used Qian Qiyue's matter to argue with Song Tangning, then pretended to be offended and contradicted by her, and was so angry that she vomited blood and fainted. Then, Your Majesty wanted to arrest Song Tangning for the crime of murdering the Queen Mother. After that, Xiao Yan suddenly appeared in Shoukang Palace with his men."
After listening to it, Liang Guangyi quickly extracted what he wanted from it.
"You mean, Yu Yanfeng and Concubine Zhao are both protecting Song Tangning?"
Madam Liang nodded. "Yes, although Concubine Zhao didn't directly help them, she defended Qian Qiyue several times. Later, Commander Yu disobeyed His Majesty's orders and protected Song Tangning. If he hadn't brought people to protect her, Song Tangning would have been captured by His Majesty's men before Xiao Yan arrived."
Liang Guangyi asked, "Does the virtuous concubine also know about this?"
"This daughter-in-law doesn't know."
Madam Liang frowned and whispered, "The virtuous concubine did give Song Tangning and Rong Yue a hard time, but she refused to admit the incident with the palace maid. She later kept crying foul, claiming she knew nothing about it. The eldest young lady of the Cui family also sided with Song Tangning and the others, clashing with the virtuous concubine several times."
The people in the room all looked uneasy upon hearing this. Some gritted their teeth and said, "Xiao Yan actually bribed Yu Yanfeng and Concubine Zhao so early on. He really has a long way to go."
"I'm afraid it's not just them. Even Feng Lai is Xiao Yan's man."
Liang Guangyi's words made everyone change color.
Liang Guangyi said in a deep voice, "Feng Lai has always been trusted by His Majesty and has never left his side. Logically, he should have been with His Majesty during such a major event today, but you heard what she just said. Whether it was during the trip to Shoukang Palace or the subsequent events, Feng Lai was nowhere to be seen."
An imperial eunuch like Feng Lai would never leave his post without permission, and Emperor An could not hide such a big thing from even the people closest to him.
There are only two possibilities for Feng Lai's absence. Either Emperor An did not trust him enough and kept it from him from the beginning to the end, or he did something that went wrong and that's why he was not by Emperor An's side.
But everyone knew that Emperor An trusted Feng Lai the most, so it could only be the latter.
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