Yan Sikong looked a little flustered, and his eyes kept avoiding Xie Zhongren.

Xie Zhongren chuckled twice: "The young master is embarrassing you now. When you marry the princess and become his in-laws, he will definitely control you."

"…What exactly does the father-in-law want to say?"

"In fact, we came to see you today because of His Majesty's order."

Yan Sikong cursed bitterly in his heart, this bastard looked calm as usual, it was probably not the first time he had falsely conveyed an imperial decree, was there anything else he wouldn't dare to do?

Yan Sikong acted surprised and asked, "Your Majesty?"

"You are His Majesty's future son-in-law. His Majesty is on your side. When His Majesty learned that Feng Ye was so arrogant and domineering, he was very angry, but it was inconvenient to reprimand him directly, so he asked us to comfort you."

"Your Majesty also knows about this?" Yan Sikong was a little uneasy, "Then...does the princess know about this?"

"How could the princess know these things? Besides, even if she knew, Feng Ye is the princess's cousin and you are the princess's consort. What can you do to her?"

Yan Sikong nodded awkwardly: "Your Majesty can understand my grievances, I am already satisfied."

"Tsk tsk, Master Yan, your temper... is so weak, no wonder Feng Ye thinks you are easy to bully."

Yan Sikong's expression changed slightly.

"Do you want to have to endure Feng Ye's anger for the rest of your life and have the princess look down on you?"

Yan Sikong pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Don't you want to take revenge?"

Yan Sikong raised his head and said in a deep voice: "What exactly does the father-in-law want me to do? Why not just tell me."

"As long as you do one small thing, not only will you be able to avenge your humiliation, but Feng Ye will never be able to ride on your head and humiliate you again in the future."

Yan Sikong gritted his teeth: "What's the matter?"

"List the questions." Xie Zhongren narrowed his eyes, his gaze cold, "You have made the most thorough preparations for the questions. You also have a deeper understanding of Datong's situation because of Master Yan Ge. Only you can come up with the questions that will hit Feng Jianping the hardest."

Yan Sikong was stunned, his eyes moving around restlessly.

"Why, you don't dare to do it?" Xie Zhongren sneered, "Feng Ye treated you as a prostitute first, then a coachman, and he might even trample on you like a cow or a horse in the future. He is the prince of Jingyuan, he can do whatever he wants to you."

"Father-in-law... stop talking..." Yan Sikong staggered back two steps, "I can't do this behind the teacher's back."

"Mr. Yan Ge will not know." Xie Zhongren took a step closer and said in his old and gloomy voice, "No one will know. You just need to hand over the questions to us, and no one will know."

Yan Sikong said anxiously: "But, I have already handed the list to Minister Liu, and Minister Liu has also submitted it to the cabinet and His Majesty for review. It is impossible to change it."

"You don't need to worry about this." Xie Zhongren said with a sinister smile, "Our family will not tell anyone, so no one will know that you came up with the questions. Liu An doesn't know, Yan Zilian doesn't know, and the Feng family doesn't know. Even if they suspect something, they have no evidence. But soon, our family will definitely avenge you."

Yan Sikong thought silently and did not speak for a long time.

"Master Yan, this is your only chance. Think about it. Even if you endure it today, what about tomorrow? What about the future? One day, when the crown prince ascends the throne, the Feng family will be so powerful that it will threaten the royal family. Your Majesty is also doing this for the sake of the country and the people. For both public and private reasons, you should help the court reduce Datong's military equipment."

"Your Majesty, is this really what you mean?" Yan Sikong looked confused and hesitant.

"Your Majesty has long regarded you as one of his own, which is why I am telling you these truthful words." Xie Zhongren coughed lightly, "Master Yan, I want to remind you again that your greatest support and only master is not Yan Zilian, but His Majesty. Your Majesty will remember your kindness."

Yan Sikong hurriedly bowed and said, "It is the duty of a minister to share your majesty's worries."

Xie Zhongren nodded with satisfaction: "I'm glad you understand."

Yan Sikong clenched his fists: "I can...come up with three questions and mix them into the existing questions. I will dictate them and you will write them down. Once you leave this door, I will not know anything about this matter and it will have nothing to do with me what happens in the future."

Xie Zhongren laughed and said, "You are very cautious. Good!"

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and said out the questions that he had prepared long ago. For the assessment of officials above the second rank, the questions must be based on the person's actual political performance. If the questioner intends to make things difficult, he will focus on the mistakes and deliberately set traps to make the answerer embarrassed in front of the emperor, and these are exactly what Xie Zhongren wants.

Of course, Yan Sikong also had a backup plan. If Yan Zilian failed to impeach Liu An, and Emperor Zhaowu insisted on using this list of questions to assess Feng Jianping, some of the content would deviate from the actual situation and could be exposed with a little scrutiny.

Seeing Xie Zhongren successfully being hooked, Yan Sikong did not feel happy at all. Yan Zilian's plan was to kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of his own. No one could predict what they would have to pay, but there was no better solution at the moment.

As the fear of being gradually consumed by darkness grew stronger, Yan Sikong even had the urge to kill Xie Zhongren outright. He was no longer obsessed with bringing Xie Zhongren to justice and holding him for public trial, because the closer he got to Xie Zhongren, the more powerful he felt. Just trying to protect themselves in this storm was almost enough to consume everything they had.

When leaving the harem, Yan Sikong felt a chill on his back. It was the sweat that came out of his body. After being crushed by the cold wind, it turned into a layer of frost that stuck closely to his skin. The shiver made his scalp numb.

Yan Sikong kept thinking, if Yan Zilian’s impeachment was successful, then what?

At most, it only solved the immediate problem, but Emperor Zhaowu would not give up the idea of ​​reducing Datong's military armaments, and Xie Zhongren would not stop his greed for power. He would definitely find other ways, and they might be unprepared.

Resolving Liu An's issue can only temporarily ease the crisis, but cannot truly resolve it. If they take it lightly, they will be finished. If they want to completely survive this disaster, they must trace the root cause back to the eunuch party, that is, Xie Zhongren.

Yan Sikong narrowed his eyes, his gaze was sinister. He understood Feng Jianping's indecision and Yan Zilian's worries, but any sensible person would know that supporting the crown prince to ascend to the throne was their only chance of survival.