In the Battle of Taiyuan, Yuan Nanyu was the first to break through the city gate. Although he broke through the city gate while the main army was holding back the enemy's main force, he was the first to enter the city, which was a great achievement. He became very famous under Feng Ye, and even Wang Shen, a veteran of the Feng family army, had to respect him.

However, Yuan Nanyu was a straightforward and upright person. He was courteous to his generals and caring and kind to his subordinates. Almost no one said anything bad about him. He had made many military achievements and most of the soldiers admired him. Of course, there were many people who flattered him, and Yuan Shaoxu was one of them.

Now that the situation in Qingyang is stable, Feng Ye does not plan to let Yuan Nanyu go back to defend the city, but to stay in Taiyuan and plan the capital with him. In this way, Yuan Shaoxu will finally have the opportunity to get close to his brother frequently.

Yuan Nanyu is a man of loyalty and righteousness. Even though he has lost his memory, even though in his mind, Yuan Shaoxu is not even his biological brother and he is just an adopted son, and he knows nothing about the "Yuan family's kindness", he still regards Yuan Shaoxu and Yan Sikong as brothers from the bottom of his heart, and therefore takes great care of both of them.

In order to gain Feng Ye's attention, Yuan Shaoxu hangs out with Yuan Nanyu almost every day, and is a bit weird towards Yan Sikong.

Yan Sikong was too lazy to argue with him, but still didn't want to see him pestering Yuan Nanyu. He knew that Yuan Nanyu was obviously in a difficult situation but he was not merciful, so he called Yuan Nanyu over and talked about the matter.

The two of them sat in Yan Sikong's room, sipping tea. Yuan Nanyu said, "You've also noticed that my elder brother has been coming to see me a lot lately."

"Of course, you have made many military achievements, and the Wolf King doesn't know what else to reward you with. It is only natural for you to ask for the promotion of your brothers at this time."

Yuan Nanyu looked at Yan Sikong and said, "What do you think about this?"

Yan Sikong smiled: "We three brothers follow the Wolf King together, so naturally we have to share weal and woe and help each other."

Yuan Nanyu raised his eyebrows: "Oh? Then you and your eldest brother are brothers. Why don't you help him and ask him to leave the near and far away and write to me in Qingyang?"

Yan Sikong chuckled: "When did you become so sharp-tongued?" He couldn't help but think of when they were little, Yuan Nanyu had never been able to win an argument with him.

Yuan Nanyu didn't seem to find it funny either: "When it comes to sharp-tongued talk, who can compare to you?" He frowned slightly, "Sikong, you're not... jealous of my brother because of our identities, are you?"

Yan Sikong quickly denied: "Of course not, Big Brother is Big Brother after all. Besides, we have agreed not to mention that matter again. Even Feng Ye and I have not mentioned it. How can I be bothered by it?"

Yuan Nanyu breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, we brothers must work together. In fact, if the eldest brother is just asking for a reward, I will naturally be willing to help him. As you said, if the three of us brothers can help, wouldn't everyone be happy. But Brother Shi He is so ambitious and repeatedly demands too much power. Whether this virtue is suitable for him is a big problem. Even if the Wolf King agrees to my request and gives it to him, not only the soldiers will not accept it, but the Wolf King will definitely have a grudge. On the contrary, it will harm him.”

Yan Sikong sighed, "That's what I'm worried about. My elder brother saw that you and I, as younger brothers, were valued by the Wolf King, and he was the elder brother. When he joined the army, we were still hostages. He felt that we were not appreciated and felt unfair. He had mentioned his requests to me before, and I was in a dilemma."

"So what do we do?"

"I have asked the Wolf King to appoint him as a military commander, but he is still not satisfied. He wants to replace General Zhang Rong and lead an army himself. However, General Zhang Rong's prestige in the army is far beyond his reach. Moreover, General Zhang Rong died on the battlefield. Many of the soldiers he brought from Shu can only speak the local dialect and must be led by generals from Shu. How can we give them to him?"

Yuan Nanyu said helplessly: "It is indeed inappropriate."

"You calm down Big Brother first, and then tell him that I will go and ask the Wolf King to help. Let me discuss this matter with the Wolf King."

Yuan Nanyu nodded: "In fact, big brother is not without talent. Don't let the wolf king have any prejudice against big brother. Give big brother a chance to make merit."

"Okay." Yan Sikong sneered in his heart. He decided to protect Yuan Mao's eldest son and let him live a comfortable life without being recognized for his talent. Otherwise, if such a person was given an important responsibility, who knows what the consequences would be.

From then on, Yuan Shaoxu really did not go to see Yuan Nanyu every day anymore, but the look in his eyes when he looked at him could no longer conceal his anger.

——

The spies that Feng Ye sent out to track down Wang Mei and Shen Hexuan reported back that they did not return to the capital, but went to Yongzhou. Yongzhou was where Chen Yi was.

After hearing the news, Feng Ye and Yan Sikong were silent for a long time. If the two had fled back to the capital, there would be nothing to worry about. Even if they failed to kill Shen Hexuan and lost Taiyuan City, the court would not let them have a good time. But they actually went to Chen Mi!

Since arriving in Taiyuan, Shen Hexuan's every move has been very different from before. From the Luo Wen case, one can still see his shadow back then, but he has become much more cunning and unpredictable, and now he has even joined the rebels?

Shen Hexuan's behavior was unusual. There were probably two possibilities. One was that Shen Hexuan knew that he would be punished if he returned to the court. He was afraid that not only would his career be ruined, but he might also be charged with crimes. So he took the risk and rebelled against the court to assist Chen Yi. The other was that Shen Hexuan wanted to redeem himself by serving his sentence and serve as an envoy of the court to negotiate with Chen Yi and deal with Feng Ye together.

Given Shen Hexuan's concern for his reputation and fame, the latter is more likely.

Yan Sikong had been afraid of one thing for a long time. This thing had been lingering in his mind like a shadow since the court sent Huo Li and Chen Yi's grandfather, who had retired for many years, to Yunnan to negotiate peace. He was only relieved at that time because Chen Yi was very firm, but now he could not be at ease.

For Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Yi was his own son after all. Even if he really entered the capital, the world would still belong to the Chen family. If he was willing to abdicate and let the throne be passed on to a virtuous person, he could preserve his wealth and glory. At least Chen Yi would not be able to commit treason and kill his father. But if Chen Yi and Feng Ye were to collude with each other, and Feng Ye was obviously more powerful, how could he not be afraid of changing the surname of the country and separating his head from his body?

If Shen Hexuan really has such an idea and can convince Emperor Zhaowu to retreat in order to advance, they will face a huge crisis.

He and Shen Hexuan fought for several rounds, each of them using a unique move, each one more ruthless than the last. But it must be said that if Shen Hexuan used this move, the situation would be reversed in an instant. They would not be able to taste the victory of conquering Taiyuan in a few days, and would probably be surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Although it was shocking to ask Emperor Zhaowu to depose Chen Chun first and then himself, Feng Ye was now dominating the Central Plains and Chen Yi was eyeing him covetously. He was not a man of strategy, but rather a hedonist. It was possible that he would do something that would be laughed at by future generations. However, Emperor Zhaowu doted on Concubine Wen and Chen Chun. He knew that if Chen Yi ascended the throne, both mother and son would not survive. This might be his biggest concern.

After Yan Sikong discussed with Feng Ye, he wrote letters to She Jun and Chen Yi respectively.

If there really was such a disturbance in the court, then the capital should have heard the rumor long ago. He must not let this plan succeed, otherwise he and Feng Ye would be in danger of death.

Not long after, She Zhun wrote back, saying that he had spent a lot of effort to find out that Shen Hexuan had sent a secret letter to Emperor Zhaowu, but he had no way of knowing the content of the secret letter. He estimated that it was the same as Yan Sikong's guess, that Shen Hexuan wanted to use this as a condition for him to persuade Chen Yi to surrender.

Judging from the time, Shen Hexuan should have arrived in Yongzhou long ago, and his letter might be delayed in appearing in front of Chen Yi. He didn't know whether this letter could calm Chen Yi's mind, but thinking that Shen Hexuan was negotiating with Chen Yi face to face at this time, this letter seemed even less important.

Yan Sikong was extremely anxious, but he had no idea what to do. If he were Chen Yi, he would also hesitate. If he could get the throne just like that, why would he waste thousands of troops?

Feng Ye was also anxious. Originally, after taking Taiyuan, the Yong Wang, who had been watching the situation from the other side, began to enthusiastically form an alliance with Feng Ye. Feng Ye wanted to give him a break to save some face. After hearing the news that Shen Hexuan went to Yongzhou, he immediately sent someone to find the Yong Wang. He was determined to tie him to his chariot before the Yong Wang learned more information, leaving him no way to retreat.

After the two of them had been anxious for several days, that night, Feng Ye suddenly called Yan Sikong back from the yamen.

Feng Ye knew that Yan Sikong was handling some military affairs, but he didn't know why he was suddenly called back in such a hurry. He had no choice but to put down what he was doing and rushed back to the mansion that Feng Ye had requisitioned in Taiyuan City.

Feng Ye prepared a table of food and wine, sat upright in a chair, and looked at him with deep eyes: "Come and sit down."

Yan Sikong felt a little strange, he knew Feng Ye had something important to tell him, and it didn't seem like a discussion. That firm, unquestionable solemn expression meant that Feng Ye was ready to give orders, not discuss matters, and the corners of Feng Ye's lips twitched slightly, revealing his inner turmoil.

Yan Sikong was full of doubts and sat down slowly: "I was checking winter needs with General Wang Shen. You asked me to come back, not just for dinner, right?"

Feng Ye whispered: "I have something to tell you."

Yan Sikong couldn't help but feel his heart beating faster. He secretly grabbed the collar of his clothes on his knees with both hands and said, "You say."

"I have received news that Shen Hexuan did persuade Emperor Zhaowu to retreat in a secret letter. Emperor Zhaowu is discussing with important ministers to depose Chen Chun in order to show goodwill to Chen Yi, and then Shen Hexuan will lobby and unite with Chen Yi to deal with me."

Yan Sikong took a deep breath. His worries were indeed confirmed. If Chen Chun was really deposed, then Emperor Zhaowu’s attitude was already very humble. Chen Yu would probably...

"I can't just sit there and wait for death." Feng Ye narrowed his eyes, "I've come this far, I have to get to the end."

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Feng Ye stared at Yan Sikong and said, "I have decided to marry the daughter of the King of Bravery."