During the Chinese New Year, Yan Sikong hardly had a single day to rest, as he spent most of his time greeting each other and visiting people.

He also found time to write a letter back to Shen Hexuan, a letter he had just received a year ago. In the letter, he first talked about his local affairs, lamented the inaction of some officials, and his own ambitions, then thanked Yan Sikong for taking care of his wife and children, and said in a roundabout way that everything seemed fine in the letter from home, and wondered if his wife only reported good news and not worries.

Yan Sikong found it funny. He guessed that Shen Hexuan must have racked his brains, trying to use the most refined words to minimize his longing for and worry about his wife and children. For someone like Shen Hexuan who was strict with himself and clearly distinguished between public and private affairs, it was indeed hard to understand.

In fact, Shen Hexuan could have brought his wife and children with him to take up his post, but the little boy was still an infant and could not stand the fatigue of the journey. After repeated consideration, he decided to leave the mother and son in the capital. Yan Sikong thought that his decision was very wise. Even in the capital, the family lived in poverty. Why should he take his wife and children thousands of miles to suffer in the countryside?

In his reply, Yan Sikong comforted and praised him as usual, saying that Yan Zilian and his colleagues missed him very much and that the emperor also had high hopes for him. He then talked about the recent situation of the Shen family and told him not to worry.

It was common to give Mrs. Shen and her son some food, clothing and other daily necessities. Any work in the Shen Mansion was done by servants sent by the Yan Mansion.

Yan Sikong knew that Madam Shen was a gentle woman with a strong heart, otherwise she would not have been so compatible with Shen Hexuan. Therefore, he never went to the Shen Mansion in person to avoid damaging her reputation. He was also very particular about sending gifts. He usually gave her a few prepared meals and snacks instead of directly sending rice, flour, vegetables or meat. He also asked the embroiderers in the mansion to send one or two pieces of sewn children's clothes and shoes every now and then, saying that they were for the future little master to practice.

Mrs. Shen was a kind-hearted woman, and she would sometimes help the servants write letters and polish their pens. In return, Yan Sikong thought she had taken good care of them and their son after Shen Hexuan left Beijing.

He just wanted Shen Hexuan to owe him this favor. No one could win over this genius with a very difficult temper, and he was even disliked by many people. Only because he kept a low profile and was courteous and submissive, he became friends with Shen Hexuan.

He imagined that one day Chen Yi would ascend the throne, and this man would be a good candidate for governing the country, but of course, he would have to be under his control.

——

The seven-day annual leave passed in the blink of an eye. According to the Da Sheng law, officials usually have a rest every five days. Only during the Chinese New Year can they take a seven-day break. However, these seven days are usually more tiring than being on duty. The mutual exchanges of gifts and favors not only cost a lot of money, but also make people physically and mentally exhausted.

For Yan Sikong and others, these seven days were extremely torturous, because they knew that Xie Zhongren must have been busy during these seven days.

He soon heard the news that the imperial examination for Feng Jianping had officially begun. Feng Jianping had to "listen to the questions" first and then be "introduced". Listing the questions meant answering and explaining the questions given by the Ministry of Personnel, which were mostly related to political performance. The Ministry of Personnel had to write down every word and submit it to the cabinet and the emperor. The emperor would then "introduce" him in person, listen to his teachings, and answer his questions.

When the list of questions completed by Feng Jianping was sent to the inner cabinet, Yan Zilian would find that the list of questions was different from the version that had been reviewed in advance. Liu An would not have dared to change the list of questions himself, so this action must have been authorized by the emperor.

In the career of every chief minister of the inner cabinet, it is inevitable that the emperor will issue orders without the inner cabinet. Although this is against the law, the emperor himself is the law, and there is nothing that can be done. The emperor himself knows the severity of the matter, and abusing the imperial power will inevitably lead to adverse consequences, so he is also very cautious in this regard. If the matter is not serious, the inner cabinet will turn a blind eye. Otherwise, it may be resisted by the ministers, such as the dispute over the succession of the eldest son or the favorite son.

For the current matter, it should be regarded as the former. Even if Yan Zilian really felt that it was inappropriate, he should have discussed it with the emperor in private.

So when Yan Zilian fiercely impeached Liu An in the morning court, not only Xie Zhongren was dumbfounded, but Emperor Zhaowu was also at a loss for what to do. This was because Yan Zilian's action was openly accusing the emperor of abusing his power. Although he did not say a word directed at Emperor Zhaowu, the ministers knew what was going on as soon as they heard it.

The surprising thing about this matter is that everyone knew that Emperor Zhaowu was not right, but Yan Zilian publicly revealed it in the morning court, disregarding the emperor's face. This is not something that a senior official with more than 40 years of experience and deep calculations would do. This is tantamount to digging his own grave. Moreover, Liu An and Yan Zilian had no grudges against each other, and they were not members of the eunuch party. Yan Zilian suddenly wanted to kill him, which was too cruel and not Yan Zilian's usual style.

Yan Zilian produced the cabinet draft and the document approved by Emperor Zhaowu on the spot to prove that Feng Jianping's list had been tampered with without permission. He accused Liu An of abusing his power for personal gain and being extremely bold. He deliberately made things difficult for the meritorious general with a list that was unfounded and should be executed according to the law.

Liu An fell to the ground in fear. He could not defend himself, and could only weakly beg Emperor Zhaowu to "look carefully". He could not refute Yan Zilian's accusation, but he did not dare to expose Xie Zhongren. If Emperor Zhaowu really wanted to use him as a scapegoat, he would probably dismiss him out of guilt, but if he said something wrong, his life would be gone.

Yan Sikong heard that Emperor Zhaowu was extremely ashamed that day. Facing the criticism from Yan Zilian and many ministers, he had no choice but to put Liu An in prison first, saying that he wanted to "thoroughly investigate the matter."

Although things were going according to Yan Zilian's plan, Yan Sikong became more and more worried. If the dispute over the throne had made Emperor Zhaowu dissatisfied with Yan Zilian, then this time, Yan Zilian had completely offended Emperor Zhaowu. Not only did he embarrass Emperor Zhaowu, he also firmly expressed his desire to protect Feng Jianping. This move was a desperate move.

However, even if they got rid of Liu An and regained a city, as long as Emperor Zhaowu was determined to weaken Datong, this bloodless battle was far from over.

There was no suspense in this case. The evidence was solid. Liu An was disheartened and quickly admitted that he was confused for a moment and had chosen the wrong question.

Such an absurd and ridiculous excuse was accepted by everyone from top to bottom. After all, no one cared how he had "gotten it wrong". Emperor Zhaowu dismissed him from his post and sent him back home to farm.

On a sunny day with melting spring snow, the Minister of Personnel, who had led the Ministry of Personnel for four years but had achieved nothing but failure, left the capital in disgrace.

As three officials of the Ministry of Personnel were removed in the imperial examination last year, the Ministry of Personnel was already short of staff. As soon as Liu An left, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel took over immediately, and Yan Sikong was naturally promoted to a fifth-rank doctor.

It seemed that Yan Zilian had won a move, but Emperor Zhaowu's attitude towards him had obviously changed in the court. In the next month, half of the memorials submitted after being drafted by the inner cabinet were rejected. Yan Zilian also became more cautious, knowing that if he made a mistake now, he might be powerless to recover.

Feng Jianping also completed the imperial examination using the original list of questions. Even if Emperor Zhaowu deliberately made things difficult for him, the offenses that came to light were all minor ones, which were not enough to justify drastic measures and military cuts.

But no matter what, the issue of reducing Datong's military was once again shelved. Feng Jianping had twice submitted a petition requesting to return to Datong to reorganize the military before and after the New Year, but both requests were rejected.

Previously, the reason for delaying the wedding was the imperial examination. Now that the imperial examination has passed, if Feng Jianping petitions to return home, I am afraid that only the wedding of Yan Sikong and Princess Wanyang can be postponed for a while. But Emperor Zhaowu has not announced the wedding date. Although the Empress Dowager said at the funeral that Wanyang is in her prime and there is no need to observe mourning for three years, it would be too unfilial if he did not observe mourning for even one year. However, there is still half a year before autumn, which is really a stretch.

It happened that the spring hunt was about to begin, and Feng Jianping expected that Emperor Zhaowu would definitely let him participate in the hunt, so he did not mention returning to Datong for the time being.

The capital city was peaceful for a while, but Yan Sikong never dared to take it lightly.

That day, he went to the palace to meet the prince. He was hesitating all the way whether to bring Chen Yi deeper into their chess game. This game was definitely not over yet, but now all the pieces were on hold. He did not give up the plan of forcing the prince to abdicate, but it seemed that he did not have the conditions at the moment. If he told Chen Yi rashly, it might backfire.

After much consideration, he decided to just give lectures as usual, and then teach Chen Yi the real art of being an emperor whenever he could.

Coincidentally, this time he ran into Zhu Lanting again. After all, the Spring Hunt was coming up, and as the crown prince, Chen Yu could not lose to the other princes in the Spring Hunt.

Zhu Lanting saw Yan Sikong from a distance and kept staring at him, with a look in his eyes that was a little different from usual.

Yan Sikong noticed it sensitively, but that inquiring look flashed by again, and he wondered if he had seen it wrong.

The two of them still exchanged polite greetings in a distant manner. Yan Sikong said politely, "Commander Zhu has been very busy with official duties recently, but you still came early to teach Your Highness martial arts. You are really hard-working."

I heard that a few days ago a fat drunk urinated on the palace wall, which became a laughing stock in the capital. This was probably the fault of the guards on duty, which also made Zhu Lanting lose face. More people were sent to patrol the night, which must have been very busy.

Zhu Lanting also responded with a polite "it's my job".

The two of them had never been familiar with each other, so the conversation usually ended there. Yan Sikong was about to go into the house with Chen Yi to study, but Zhu Lanting stopped him again.

"Lord Yan."

Yan Sikong turned around.

"I heard that... Lord Yan has a feud with Prince Jingyuan."

Yan Sikong raised his eyebrows, and even Chen Yu showed a hint of surprise. After all, Zhu Lanting was not one of those people who liked to gossip. Yan Sikong replied cautiously: "It's just a misunderstanding. I wonder if Commander Zhu has any advice?"

Zhu Lanting stared at Yan Sikong with his clear and sharp eyes, and said calmly: "I just want to remind Lord Yan that if this is the case, stay away from the prince at the Spring Hunt. After all, the hunting grounds are chaotic and it is easy for someone to take advantage of the situation."

Yan Sikong was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you, Commander Zhu, but I am just a scholar. At most, I can admire you from a distance. Why would I go to the hunting ground? The prince's bow and arrows and horse hooves are not enough to reach me. Besides, it is not good to make malicious assumptions about the prince, hahaha."

Zhu Lanting narrowed his eyes: "Lord Yan, do you really not want to go to the hunting ground to stretch your muscles? That's a pity."

Yan Sikong was shocked, he realized that Zhu Lanting had seen through his kung fu skills.

If someone has a good kung fu foundation and a more experienced eye, he can tell from the actions of others whether this person has practiced kung fu. The more shallow the kung fu is, the less likely they are to conceal it. Women change their body shape more than men to practice kung fu, which makes it more difficult to hide, such as Ye Li. He has practiced some actions many times to disguise himself, and he usually stands or bows respectfully when meeting Zhu Lanting. Unexpectedly, he still couldn't escape the sharp eyes of the first master of the palace.

Chen Yu didn't understand why, so he said, "Commander Zhu must be worrying too much. However, I will send someone to watch over you, sir."

"That's great." Zhu Lanting bowed and said goodbye.

Yan Sikong's face turned pale. He guessed that Zhu Lanting should have figured it out on the first day. Maybe he had figured it out since the first time they met. But he had never shown anything unusual for such a long time. Why did he suddenly say such a thing today? What was his purpose?

"Sir?" Chen Yu waved his hand in front of Yan Sikong's eyes, "You're not really scared, are you?"

Yan Sikong came back to his senses and said with a smile, "How could that be?"

Chen Yu said seriously: "Don't be afraid, I will definitely protect you, sir."

"Thank you, Your Highness. However, Your Highness is also worried too much."

Chen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go inside and talk."

The two of them entered the house, and Chen Yi dismissed everyone as usual. He asked in confusion, "What did Commander Zhu mean just now? Why did he let you go to the hunting ground to stretch your muscles?"

"Maybe... he wants me to go riding a horse."

"How's your riding skill, sir?"

“It’s OK.”

"If you really want to go and have fun, then come with me and stay by my side. Feng Ye will never dare to act rashly."

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "It's so cold today, I'd rather stay in the tent."

Chen Yu also laughed: "Sir, don't stay in the house reading all day, you should move more. I think you should follow me during the spring hunt. I didn't think much of it, but after Commander Zhu said that, I felt uneasy. The spring hunt is so chaotic, what if Feng Ye really wants to cause trouble for you? No, you have to stay by my side."

Although Yan Sikong was unwilling, he could not refuse, so he said, "It is up to Your Highness to decide."

Chen Yu happily took Yan Sikong's hand and said arrogantly, "Then I'll ask you to see my archery skills. Feng Ye can shoot two crossbows, so I'm not bad either."

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "Your Highness is so brave and heroic, he will definitely win the Spring Hunt."

Chen Yu stared at Yan Sikong, with a strange light flashing in his eyes.