Although he was filled with turmoil, Yan Sikong had to suppress his surging hatred and bowed respectfully: "Junior... greets Eunuch Xie."

Xie Zhongren sat in the armchair, coughed softly, and said slowly, "Master Yan, there's no need to be so polite."

Yan Sikong stood up and stared at Xie Zhongren without blinking, taking in every wrinkle, texture, hair, and spot on the old gray face, as if the more carefully he looked, the better he would understand his opponent.

Xie Zhongren also looked at him with an experienced look, waiting leisurely for Yan Sikong to speak, although they both knew the purpose of Yan Sikong's visit.

"I am sorry for the intrusion of visiting you today. I have come to apologize to you, sir." Yan Sikong bowed.

Xie Zhongren laughed and said, "I don't understand what you mean. What crime did Master Yan bring against me?"

"Thank you for your appreciation, my father-in-law. Yesterday, my family received a generous gift from you. I was busy with official duties and had not had time to move. I was not at home yesterday. My servant was ignorant and took the initiative to accept it..."

"Oh, about this. Yan has been working in the Ministry of Personnel for more than half a year. He is diligent and fair, and has a good reputation. Now he is the future husband of Princess Wanyang. I really admire young talents like Yan and want to make friends with him..." Xie Zhongren smiled, "Could it be that Yan looks down on a person like me who has a deficiency?"

Yan Sikong said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "I have absolutely no such intention, but I cannot accept a gift without merit. I really cannot accept such a great gift, and I have ordered someone to send it back to the eunuch's residence. I am not a well-off family, and I know that I did not do it properly, so I came here to apologize to the eunuch."

Xie Zhongren uttered a long "hmm" and said in a sinister tone, "This gift has to be returned, Master Yan, you are slapping our family in the face."

"I dare not. I have always respected you, father-in-law. I beg you to be magnanimous and not to argue with me."

Xie Zhongren laughed softly, "As Master Yan's favorite student, do you really respect our family?"

"Your Excellency has served Your Majesty for many years and has helped share Your Majesty's worries. This is an invaluable contribution. For this reason alone, you deserve the respect of the world."

Xie Zhongren smiled and said, "I've always heard that Master Yan is good at speaking and is very good at dealing with people. Today I see that he is indeed amazing. Why are you still standing? Sit down."

Yan Sikong then sat down, and immediately a eunuch served him fragrant tea.

"Actually, whether this gift is returned or not is not a big deal. Our family has watched Princess Wanyang grow up, and this gift should be given to the princess as a dowry. Master Yan is unwilling to accept it, but is he afraid that Elder Yan will have objections?"

"If I say I'm not afraid at all, I'd be deceiving you. I'm Mr. Yan's student, and he has promoted me a lot. I think I should avoid suspicion."

Xie Zhongren snorted and laughed, "Whether it's you, me, or the cabinet elders, we all serve His Majesty and are loyal to the country. There should be no distinction between close and distant. Now the court is divided into factions and hindering each other. This is what His Majesty least wants to see, and I am also worried about this."

Yan Sikong cursed this eunuch in his heart for his shamelessness. If he had not been an eunuch but had interfered too much in government affairs, how could there have been party strife and opposition, and the court would have been in a state of chaos. Now he is "worrying about the country and the people", which is really a case of the thief crying "stop thief". He agreed cautiously and perfunctorily: "Your Excellency is right."

Xie Zhongren changed the subject: "As the head of the Ministry of Personnel, I heard that you were the one who made the list of questions for Prince Jingyuan. What do you think about the temporary reduction of Datong's military equipment?"

Finally got to the point.

Yan Sikong coughed lightly, then slightly modified his words to Liu An and repeated them. His words were flawless and did not reveal any personal opinions or emotions.

After listening to this, Xie Zhongren frowned slightly and said, "Minister Liu also said so. Could it be that he is afraid of taking responsibility and wants you to speak with one voice?"

Yan Sikong cupped his hands and said, "This list was decided after discussion between Minister Liu and me. We both have similar ideas on this matter."

"Haha." Xie Zhongren chuckled, "I don't believe that. Minister Liu has never been humiliated in person by Prince Jingyuan, right?"

Yan Sikong was stunned and remained silent for a moment.

This is exactly what Xie Zhongren wanted to take advantage of. Feng Ye opposed the marriage in public at the banquet. Later, when he asked for a meeting, he was left standing outside the mansion for two hours. And at Zhou Mixing's drinking party, Feng Ye was even more sarcastic and mocking towards him, even flirting with him as if he were a prostitute and humiliating him to the extreme. These were known to everyone in the city. Even if Xie Zhongren would not believe the message, his spy Ye Li in the red-light district saw it with his own eyes.

The vast majority of people would not believe such ridiculous rumors as the Broken Sleeve. They just thought that Feng Ye was born into a noble family and looked down on him because he was from a poor family. This was not uncommon among upper-class marriages.

Scholars are very concerned about their reputation. In the eyes of outsiders, Yan Sikong must be resentful of this great humiliation, but he dares not speak out.

Xie Zhongren wanted to use this to alienate them, and he might be able to use this to his advantage...

Xie Zhongren wanted to see the truth from his face, but seeing that he had no expression, he thought he was just pretending to be calm, and continued, "Master Yan and the prince were good friends, but he didn't expect that he would not remember their friendship at all. Even if you marry the princess in the future, I'm afraid you won't get any help from the Feng family."

Yan Sikong lowered his head and said, "I will just do my part, don't worry about anything else."

Xie Zhongren laughed secretly and said, "Is it inconvenient, or do you dare not? Can you really bear this?"

Yan Sikong pursed his lips and remained silent for a while before he said in a deep voice, "I wonder what the purpose of your words is?"

"Let's be frank." Xie Zhongren said in a light tone, "It's true that you are Master Yan's student, but who is your master? Your lord, your father?"

"……His Majesty."

"You respect your teacher and your superiors, and you only obey Master Yan. This is understandable, but now you are going to become a royal consort. To put it bluntly, you are going to become a family with His Majesty. You should be able to distinguish between close and distant relatives, right?"

Yan Sikong said in panic: "Junior...Junior doesn't understand."

"I am not afraid to tell you the truth. Old Master Yan has been against Your Majesty in everything. When Your Majesty wanted to establish the Second Prince, he ordered the ministers to protest in every way. When Your Majesty wanted to reduce the military strength of Datong, he colluded with King Jingyuan and refused to give up the military power. How can he be a minister at all?"

Yan Sikong's face turned pale, but he was not pretending. He realized that Emperor Zhaowu had already directed all his anger for the failures in establishing a crown prince and reducing military armaments towards Yan Zilian. In the past, no matter how foolish and incompetent Emperor Zhaowu was, he still respected and feared Yan Zilian. Now that Xie Zhongren dared to say such words in front of him, it proved that Emperor Zhaowu's dissatisfaction with Yan Zilian had reached its peak, and he probably wanted to punish him as well.

This news made Yan Sikong feel cold all over. It seemed that the Feng family was not the only one in deep crisis.

Seeing that his words had worked, Xie Zhongren persuaded him even more: "Master Yan is so smart, he should understand what our family means. If it were someone else, I wouldn't have to waste my words, but Master Yan is the consort chosen by His Majesty. His Majesty appreciates you very much. After winter, we will choose an auspicious day for you and Princess Wanyang to get married. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. You must not disappoint His Majesty's expectations."

Yan Sikong's face turned pale, and he said in a deep voice: "What the father-in-law means is..."

Xie Zhongren sneered: "If you can persuade Master Yan to stop, that would be the best. Otherwise, I advise you to plan for yourself. His Majesty does not want to abolish you and damage the princess's reputation. Do you understand?"

Yan Sikong clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly. He said softly, "I am loyal to Your Majesty and have no intention of disobeying you. I hope you can investigate this matter."

Xie Zhongren smiled with satisfaction: "Master Yan is a sensible person. I will report to His Majesty for you."

"Thank you, eunuch."

Xie Zhongren lowered his voice and said, "If Yan Gelao and Feng Jianping have any movements, should you also report it to His Majesty truthfully?"

Yan Sikong remained silent, looking embarrassed.

If he agreed too readily, Xie Zhongren would definitely become suspicious.

Xie Zhongren smiled and said, "It seems that Master Yan is still not clear enough."

"I……"

"Well, Master Yan might as well think about it carefully. I'm telling you this from the bottom of my heart for His Majesty and Princess Wanyang. If Master Yan doesn't turn back from his wrong path..." Xie Zhongren said coldly, "It would be a pity."

"…Thank you for your advice, Grandpa. Your words are very enlightening and I will keep them in mind."

Xie Zhongren smiled and slowly sipped his tea.

A hint of coldness flashed across Yan Sikong's eyes. Now, besides them, there were only two weak eunuchs in the house. It would be easy for him to kill this old bastard. He wished he could strangle the withered wood by the neck with his hands, watching the regret, fear and despair in the eyes of this bastard. He had imagined countless times that he could neither live nor die. Now that the two of them were so close, he could do nothing. He took a deep breath, suppressed the venom in his heart, and said with a bow, "Junior, I also have something to ask you, eunuch."

"Please speak."

"Your Majesty, do you really want to transfer troops to Liaodong?"

Xie Zhongren said calmly, "The Jin people are ready to make a move now. Even if we transfer troops to Liaodong, it is for the sake of the overall situation."

Yan Sikong secretly clenched his fists: "Junior...understood."

Xie Zhongren smiled faintly: "What do you understand?"

Yan Sikong paused and said expressionlessly, "I understand your majesty's determination."