Chapter 679: Something that only the royal family knows, but Xiao Yan knows it?
The others' expressions were particularly interesting after hearing Liang Guangyi's words. Some people gritted their teeth and cursed: "That eunuch really knows how to put on a show!"
At the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, everyone saw with their own eyes how Feng Lai risked his life to save Emperor An.
He fell with his head broken and bloody, and his body covered with wounds. In order to save his master, he wished he could sacrifice his life. At that time, no one in the hall dared to stand up for Emperor An, except Feng Lai, the eunuch, who risked his life to protect his master.
Therefore, after that palace banquet, everyone knew that Feng Lai was loyal to Emperor An. Even Emperor An regarded him as his confidant and relied on him in everything. It was likely that everything that happened later would go through Feng Lai's hands.
But who would have thought that such a loyal person had actually been Xiao Yan's man for a long time!
Wang Huailu, who had been sitting silently in the crowd, suddenly spoke up: "Grand Master, there is something I'm very confused about."
"When something happens in the palace, even if Xiao Yan orders his men to control the capital, it's impossible for no information to leak out. Many people saw Xiao Yan suddenly take people out of the capital yesterday, but they didn't see when he returned."
Liang Guangyi was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed.
Yes, everyone knew that Xiao Yan had left the city, but no one knew when he came back. Although the Beijing Patrol Camp and the city gate guards were Wenxinhou's men, they also had their spies among them. How did Xiao Yan return to the capital silently with so many people, and quietly surrounded the imperial city, captured Liu Tongen's men, and went straight into Shoukang Palace?
Everyone understood what Wang Huailu meant and couldn't help but gasp.
Feng Qiuli paused, then glanced at Wang Huailu, who Xiao Yan had deliberately sent to Liang Guangyi's side. Her expression darkened a bit, and as soon as she looked away, she spoke up, "Besides the four existing gates, there are probably other ways to enter and exit the capital."
"It must be a secret passage!"
"Could there be a secret passage in the palace?!"
Liang Guangyi frowned. He had been an official for so many years, and had been in the court since the time of Emperor Taizu. He had been in and out of the palace countless times. The ancestors of the Liang family had already taken root in the capital of the previous dynasty before Taizu entered the imperial city. However, whether it was when his father and grandfather were alive, or when he was in power for so many years later.
He had never heard of any secret passages in the palace, nor did he know there was such a place that could allow so many soldiers to enter and exit quietly.
How did Xiao Yan know about it? Could it be that he dug it out himself later?
No, that's not right.
Liang Guangyi subconsciously rejected this idea. Not to mention how much noise digging a tunnel would cause, there were patrols everywhere in the palace, and there were people everywhere in the capital. Even though Xiao Yan had been extremely powerful in the past two years, there were always people watching him. There was absolutely no way he could have created that secret passage without being seen by everyone.
Moreover, how could it be an ordinary secret passage that could allow so many black-armored guards to enter and exit? It could only be that it had existed in the capital for a long time, but very few people knew about it. The most likely possibility was that it was the last escape route left by the royal family for themselves, and such secret places were mostly passed on by word of mouth and would never be leaked.
But now Xiao Yan knows...
The strange thought that Liang Guangyi had had a long time ago surfaced again, and this time he couldn't suppress it no matter what he did.
Seeing Liang Guangyi's expression constantly changing, Feng Qiuli asked in a low voice: "Grandmaster, what's wrong with you?"
Liang Guangyi gripped the handle of the chair tightly, trying to remain calm: "Nothing, I was just thinking about things in the palace."
Feng Qiuli's eyes flashed. "What should we do now? Xiao Yan has captured Your Majesty, and the entire palace is in his hands. Should we..."
He made a gesture, his face hardening. Although he didn't explicitly say whether he wanted anything or not, everyone knew what he meant.
People from several other families nearby also spoke up.
"Grand Master, we still have some trump cards. Even if we fight to the death, we may not lose to Xiao Yan."
"Yes, Grand Master, we can't just sit there and wait for death!"
"I think we should strike first. Xiao Yan's forcing the emperor to abdicate is tantamount to treason. We can capture him in the name of defending the king. Then, we can make the matter public, and he won't be able to sit on the throne. We can choose a young and obedient prince to support..."
"Yes, it's better to give it a try than to wait to die here!"
The crowd was excited, and everyone believed that Xiao Yan was trying to usurp power. If he gained power, their families would have no place to stand. Instead of sitting and waiting for death, they might as well fight.
Several of their families have hidden some assets and have been secretly accumulating strength for many years. They may be able to join forces to fight Xiao Yan.
But Liang Guangyi remained calm: "Fight? What are we fighting for? Do you really think Xiao Yan will only take over the Imperial Palace and leave the capital alone?"
Everyone was stunned.
"Grand Master..."
Liang Guangyi said, "This isn't your first time dealing with Xiao Yan. You should know his character. He knew full well that the slightest misstep in plotting rebellion would lead to eternal damnation, yet he didn't even send anyone to keep an eye on us. He even allowed families in the capital to come and go freely. Do you understand what this means?"
Wang Huailu whispered, "The capital has probably already fallen into Xiao Yan's hands."
Liang Guangyi glanced at Wang Huailu and nodded, saying, "If he wasn't absolutely certain that we couldn't escape his control and that he could handle everything that happened next, he would have ordered people to forcibly seal us into the mansion or send people to capture us, instead of just sitting back and watching us come and go as we pleased and discuss things on our own."
"Believe it or not, the Imperial City is probably like a cage right now. Not even a bird can fly out, let alone people. Most of our so-called trump cards are hidden outside the city. Do you think he will give you a chance to bring people to capture him?"
"I'm afraid he'll kill you the moment you start."
Xiao Yan has always been cruel and ruthless. He seems to be lenient, but that is only on the premise that they are "well-behaved and sensible".
If someone dared to provoke him or test his bottom line at this time, he would not mind arresting that person and making an example of him to scare the others in the capital, so that others in the capital would know how to be quiet.
Those who spoke before were left speechless by Liang Guangyi's words.
"Then we're just going to wait here helplessly?" someone asked angrily.
Liang Guangyi took a deep breath and said, "Let's wait until tomorrow morning. Since Xiao Yan didn't directly threaten Your Majesty's life and even publicly said that he would let us personally question Your Majesty about what happened today, then he won't go back on his word. I don't think he has any intention of seizing the throne by force."
"Since he's still willing to explain to the ministers, it means he doesn't completely disregard his reputation. We'll discuss everything after tomorrow's morning court session."
Although the others were worried when they heard this, they could only remain quiet.
Wang Huailu looked at everyone with different thoughts, lowered his head to hide his frown, but did not notice that Feng Qiuli's eyes were always on him.
After a moment, Wang Huailu looked up and said, "Shall we go back home first?"
Liang Guangyi said "hmm" and said, "Let's all go back. Don't do unnecessary things, or you'll get into trouble."
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