Although Yan Sikong was far away in Yunnan, he was still well-informed of various news.

Liaoning is now stuck in a stalemate. Zhuoletai cannot attack, and Zhao Fuyi cannot drive out. The same was true of Datong and Oirat in the past. However, Datong's defense line is impregnable, and the people inside the pass live and work in peace and contentment. The soldiers fight on horseback and farm on foot, and most of the food is self-sufficient. But Liaoning is different. More than 20 years ago, the seven states in northern Liaoning were defeated and the people relocated, and the land has become a wasteland. The situation in the entire Liaoning is deteriorating. Military expenses are entirely dependent on the court. The daily expenses are huge, and it has become an abscess that the court cannot cure.

Han Zhaoxing was still a despised traitor in the Jin Kingdom. It was unknown whether General Zhao had any secret dealings with him.

Xie Zhongren was tried in prison for a year and confessed everything, including the plot to frame the Feng family. It was only because Feng Ye "changed his mind at the last minute" and did not accept the appeasement that Emperor Zhaowu certainly would not slap himself in the face and make the Feng family's unjust case public. Now Xie Zhongren is spared only because he is still of some use to Han Zhaoxing and Feng Ye.

All these situations in the capital came from She Zhun's secret reports. Of course, She Zhun also told him the speculations of the court and the people about him without reservation. There is no wall that is impenetrable in the world. The rumors that he turned against the king and secretly assisted the King of Chu in the rebellion had already spread everywhere. Except for the lack of real evidence, they were surprisingly well-reasoned and many of them were consistent with the facts.

Yan Sikong was not surprised. At least the people around Chen Yu, such as Qian Feitong, Hou Ming and some personal servants, had already guessed his identity, although on the surface, he was still imprisoned by Feng Ye in the Qianzhou Prison without seeing the light of day.

Even if the dog emperor knew about it, he couldn't do anything to him. His only family in the capital is the dog emperor's own daughter. Unless Wan Yang gave birth to a son, he could use him to threaten him. But now is a time of troubled times and he has no time to take care of him.

However, the court reacted quickly. As soon as the news of the King of Chu's rebellion reached the capital, the court sent two people to negotiate peace. These two people were very well chosen.

One is Bachelor Huo Lihuo, who was also Chen Yu's lecturer in those days. After Yan Zilian passed away, he was promoted from the second assistant to the first assistant of the cabinet. However, he could not bear the persecution of the eunuchs' party and retired to his hometown. He is now in his seventies. The other person was Chen Yi's grandfather. He was originally just a small clerk in charge of a post station in Jinan Prefecture. He sent his daughter into the palace to be a maid, but unexpectedly was favored by the emperor and gave birth to the eldest prince. Unfortunately, Concubine Hui was not favored, so he was only given a small official position. Even when Chen Yi was named the crown prince, he did not rise to fame with him. But now he has been promoted five levels to become a third-rank vice minister. Although it is a sinecure in the Ministry of Rites, his promotion was unprecedentedly fast, which shows that Emperor Zhaowu wanted to make up for his loss.

Sending these two people was obviously intended to appeal to the emperor's emotions. It seemed that Emperor Zhaowu had also come to his senses and no longer expected that Feng Ye, who bore the deep hatred of patricide and extermination of his family, could be appeased. However, there was still room for his own son to turn things around.

These two people made Yan Sikong feel a huge crisis.

It was not because the two of them really had any deep feelings for Chen Yi. One was a teacher in name only who had never taught Chen Yi many classes, and the other was a grandfather whom Chen Yi had only seen a few times since he was born. It was impossible for them alone to shake Chen Yi's determination. However, the appearance of these two people revealed a message - Emperor Zhaowu was showing weakness.

If Emperor Zhaowu realized that the current situation was serious, with internal and external troubles, and that he was already attacked from all sides and was struggling to hold on, he might be on the verge of despair. In order to protect himself, he would make up his mind to depose Chen Chun and re-establish Chen Yi as the crown prince. In this way, the reason for Feng Ye and Chen Yi to rebel would disappear, and when Chen Yi ascended the throne in the future, he would have to serve Emperor Zhaowu until the end of his life.

At that time, their only internal enemy was Feng Ye. If they used the power of the whole country, and Chahar attacked from both inside and outside, Feng Ye would become the target of everyone's attack and would surely die. Moreover, if Chen Yi really went back to be the crown prince, it was impossible to predict how he would be controlled in the future.

After Yan Sikong figured out the matter, he felt his hair stand on end and he had the idea of ​​assassinating Huo Li and the other two halfway. But after thinking about it, he felt that it was inappropriate. He had to make both Emperor Zhaowu and Chen Yi give up this idea at the same time. He had to let Emperor Zhaowu know that Chen Yi had resented him for many years, and he also had to let Chen Yi know that what they wanted was the throne, not the position of crown prince.

Not long after he got the news, Chen Yi came to see him and asked him directly, "Sir, have you got the news?"

Yan Sikong nodded: "The emperor sent Elder Huo and Lord Xu to persuade them to make peace, but Elder Huo is already 74 years old. I don't know if he can handle such a long journey."

"I really didn't expect that he would send my grandfather..." Chen Yu said coldly, "When my mother was alive, he ignored her and treated her with great indifference. Now he only remembers my family. It's ridiculous." His tone was full of resentment and satisfaction.

"This proves that Your Highness has truly made him feel threatened." Yan Sikong said, "Congratulations to Your Highness."

Chen Yu sneered, "Sir, you are right. He has never taken my mother and I seriously in his life, but now he is sending people to beg me."

"Your Highness, you must understand that the reason he is wary of you is because you have 50,000 soldiers and horses in your hands, and there will be more in the future. If you compromise with him and lose these, you will return to the past. He may even think that you have the intention of rebellion. Once he has the chance, he will not let you go."

"Don't worry, sir. I am very clear-headed."

Yan Sikong stood up and walked to the window, looking at the moonlight outside, and said softly: "Your Highness is naturally sober now, but Mr. Huo is well-educated and eloquent, and Lord Xu is your Highness's grandfather. These two people have come forward to persuade you with reason and emotion. I am worried that your Highness can't bear it."

"Sir, you underestimate my determination. I will treat them with full courtesy, but..." Chen Yu narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp, "No one should try to stop me from taking back the throne that belongs to me."

Yan Sikong nodded and stared at Chen Yi: "What if the emperor is willing to depose Chen Chun and re-establish Your Highness as the crown prince?"

Chen Yu lowered his eyelids.

Yan Sikong smiled faintly: "Your Highness is extremely wise. In fact, you have already thought of it, right?"

"Don't worry, sir. I won't be easily shaken."

"Your Highness is meeting with the elders and Lord Xu, so it is not convenient for me to come out. I will wait for news from Your Highness."

Chen Yu stood up and walked to Yan Sikong's side. "Sir, why don't you believe me? Sir, you made me have the military force to compete with the imperial court in less than a year. Sir, you have good intentions, and I see it all. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today. How could I let you down?"

"Of course I believe in Your Highness. Your Highness will not stop at small profits before he achieves his great cause." Yan Sikong looked at Chen Yi and said seriously.

Chen Yu also looked at Yan Sikong quietly for a long time, lost in thought, and then murmured, "The gentleman is so beautiful under the moonlight."

Yan Sikong frowned slightly: "Your Highness..."

"Sir," Chen Yu said, "Sir, you have done your best for me and worked hard all day long. I am grateful and love you. Since my mother passed away, no one in this world has treated me better than you. I trust you, rely on you, like you, and regard you as my closest person. How can you ask me to restrain myself?"

Yan Sikong said coldly: "Your Highness is a man who wants to achieve great things. How can you be a mother-in-law when it comes to the relationship between your son and daughter?"

"If I were obsessed with ordinary women, or doted on concubines like my father did, you can blame me. But you are different. You are my teacher, my counselor, and my prime minister in the future. Together, we can surely recreate the prosperous Kaiping era of Dasheng. I cannot live without you. I never want to be separated from you in my life, and no one can replace you in my heart."

Yan Sikong's face darkened. He took a step back and sighed heavily: "Your Highness, I am a man, and..."

"Feng Ye is also a man!" Chen Yu grabbed Yan Sikong's hand, his face full of reluctance, "Sir, you married the emperor's sister and gave birth to a little princess. If you only followed the common way and didn't get close to the dragon and the yang, I would never embarrass you for this in my life. But you can obviously do it, so why can't I? I want to be the emperor, I can give you the whole world, isn't this what you want?"

Yan Sikong said sternly, "What I want is a wise ruler and virtuous ministers, to assist Your Highness in governing the country and maintaining peace, and not to use my lifelong learning to please others and become a laughing stock."

Chen Yu said coldly: "Nonsense! When I become the emperor in the future, if anyone dares to say a bad word about you, I will kill all his clans!"

"Your Highness..." Yan Sikong wanted to pull his hand back, but found that he couldn't move. He said tiredly, "Your Highness, I am willing to go through fire and water for you, but I can't do this one thing."

Chen Yu gritted his teeth and said, "Is it because of Feng Ye?"

"No, whether there is a fence or not, I will never violate the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects."

"Sir, you are such a disrespectful person who dares to defy the world, yet you are talking about the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. Isn't that a bit too much!" Chen Yu said angrily, "Feng Ye once humiliated you, and now he is also using you. Why do you keep thinking about him?"

This sentence hit Yan Sikong's heart. He said loudly, "Your Highness is getting more and more absurd. I only have the interests of my country and my family in my heart, not the love between my children. When will Your Highness understand my painstaking efforts?"

Chen Yu pursed his lips, his expression was a little bit evil, but he was trying to restrain himself. He reluctantly let go of Yan Sikong's hand and said disappointedly: "I like you, sir, I can't help myself. If you want to be angry with me, I can't do anything about it."

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, please have a child with Madam Qi. This way, Your Highness will be more mature." What he meant was that he hoped Chen Mu would focus more on his concubine and stop thinking about him.

"...I won't let her have my child."

Yan Sikong was stunned: "Why? Your Highness must have many offspring."

"I will not let a woman of humble origin give birth to my prince." Chen Yu's dark eyes stared straight at Yan Sikong, and the emotions in them were deep and unpredictable. "Actually, I can understand my father now."

Yan Sikong was silent.

"If I ascend the throne one day, how can I pass on my kingdom to a helpless prince?"

"Your Highness, you are worrying too much. When Your Highness marries a wife in the future, the legitimate child will naturally be established as the heir."

"What if my wife has no children?" Chen Yu smiled grimly. "My tragedy won't happen to my son."

Yan Sikong was immediately shocked by the coldness in Chen Yin's eyes. Since when did this young man, who was just 20 years old and the little prince who had not yet fully grown up in his heart, have such eyes?