The next morning, Yan Sikong had just gotten up and saw the beautiful spring scenery outside, so he wanted to stretch his muscles. However, before he could finish his set of punches, Feng Ye's close bodyguard came running over and said that the Wolf King had something important to tell him and ordered him to go over immediately.

Thinking about the "important matters" discussed yesterday, but it turned into an interrogation in the end, Yan Sikong didn't intend to pay any attention to it. But the guard's next sentence made him feel nervous: "The King of Chu has sent another envoy to the palace."

What if it's Yuan Nanyu...

Yan Sikong did not dare to delay and hurriedly followed the guards.

As soon as I entered the house, I saw Feng Ye pacing anxiously in the room.

"But what about the forgotten news?!" Yan Sikong asked anxiously.

Feng Ye turned around and said in a deep voice: "His identity has been discovered by Chen Yi."

Yan Sikong's eyes turned pale and the color on his face faded completely.

Forty-four days had passed since he left Pingliang. The fact that Yuan Nanyu had been able to hide under Chen Yi's nose for forty-four days was far beyond his expectations.

But now it has been exposed.

"What...what does he want?" Yan Sikong said with a trembling voice.

Feng Ye's eyes were cold and grim: "Chen Yi wants me to leave the Forbidden City within three days, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what!"

"Otherwise I will forget about it..." Feng Ye said fiercely, "Return it to me piece by piece."

Yan Sikong took a deep breath. His extreme panic made him unusually calm: "Wolf King, it's time."

"Listen carefully, I won't use you in exchange." Feng Ye narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "If I really use you to exchange for Que Wang, he will be extremely ashamed. Besides, Chen Yi will definitely harm you, and Que Wang will not agree to it."

"At least Chen Yi won't kill me."

"If I don't kill you, I can still torture you." Feng Ye gritted his teeth and said, "Have you forgotten the pain after your wound healed?"

Yan Sikong said fiercely: "In order to save him, I can do anything, you can't stop me!"

"Can you save him by giving up everything?!" Feng Ye asked sternly.

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and asked, "What's the Wolf King's plan?"

"I will postpone the new emperor's ascension to the throne, let the inner cabinet take charge of government affairs, buy time with Chen Yi, and send his grandfather to negotiate peace. If that doesn't work," Feng Ye said firmly, "I will send troops to attack the camp and use the death squad to find a way to rescue him."

Yan Sikong hesitated for a moment: "...Okay."

Feng Ye looked at Yan Sikong and said, "You are under my watch. Don't think you can make your own decisions. I won't let you go, especially not to find Chen Yi."

Yan Sikong turned his face away: "I want to interrogate Xie Zhongren in person."

As soon as they entered the capital, they placed Xie Zhongren under strict surveillance to prevent him from committing suicide. They had originally planned to wait until the Thirteenth Prince ascended the throne before dealing with the eunuchs and rebellious officials. However, in order not to anger Chen Yi, they had to maintain the status quo. In that case, there was no need for Xie Zhongren to live a few more days.

As long as Xie Zhongren died, he would have no reason to stay here.

"Okay." Feng Ye's eyes flashed with hatred, "I don't want to wait any longer."

——

Yan Sikong put on the Dasheng court robes that he had not worn for many years. They were black and ochre red, with a jade belt around his waist and a black veil on his head. He looked at the bronze mirror in front of him, and the young Hanlin and newly-appointed Jinshi who had stunned everyone with his talent and appearance at the imperial examinations in the past was reflected in the mirror.

Ten years have passed, and every wrinkle on his face tells of everything he has been through in the past ten years.

He brushed his sleeves and strode out of the door. The mask was no longer on his face, and it was not until this moment that he felt that he, Yan Sikong, had really returned to Beijing. Thinking of how surprised those people would be when they saw him, and then how they would turn to various glaring looks, the corners of his lips unconsciously curled up into a sneer.

Feng Ye forced Emperor Zhaowu to issue an edict to appoint him as Taifu, one of the Three Dukes. Otherwise, it would be inconvenient for him to move around in the capital. At least he had to review Xie Zhongren and have a decent title.

As far as he could remember, he was the youngest of the Three Dukes in the history of Da Sheng. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the status of the Three Dukes was second only to the prime minister, but by the time of Da Sheng, even the real prime minister system had been abolished. The rank of the Three Dukes was above the nine ministers, and they were the first among all the first-rank officials, but most of them were given to royal relatives or imperial tutors, and had no real power.

Of course, for Yan Sikong at this time, no title or power is important. He wants to rehabilitate Yuan Mao as soon as possible, execute Xie Zhongren, and then find a way to rescue Yuan Nanyu.

When he walked out of the inn and rode through the city in a carriage, he knew that the secret of his and Yuan Nanyu's identities was already known to everyone in the city.

When he arrived at the imperial prison, among the officials who came to greet him there was an acquaintance, who used to be a small official in the Ministry of Justice and now had apparently been promoted. The two had had official dealings before.

When Yan Sikong appeared in front of everyone, meaningful looks almost wanted to strip him naked on the spot, or even better, take off his skin and flesh to see what was inside out. The three words "Yan Sikong" were a legend known throughout the world - a notoriety. After all, he had stirred up trouble between the imperial court, the Wolf King and the King of Chu, and his figure was behind almost all major events. As Feng Ye said, he contributed greatly to the current situation.

"Your subordinates respectfully welcome Master Yan." Everyone said in unison.

Yan Sikong's face was cold and he said without saying anything. He knew that these people despised and envied him, and they must be maliciously slandering him. He was also too lazy to socialize. He never did anything meaningless, so he said bluntly: "Take me to see that bastard."

"Master Taifu, please come this way."

Yan Sikong stepped into the prison step by step, thinking that at the end of the dark corridor was the mortal enemy who had taken away everything from him. However, he no longer had the ups and downs of emotions he had before.

It was probably because, after the fall of the eunuch party, Xie Zhongren had been unable to make a comeback, and his revenge plan had been fulfilled. Now, he was just doing what he should have done long ago.

In the deepest and most secretive part of the imperial prison, there was a solitary cell, which was guarded day and night and held the most important criminals.

An old man with gray hair and a haggard face huddled in the corner of the cell, shivering. He was Xie Zhongren, the eunuch who once held sway over the government and enjoyed the emperor's favor. He once had factions all over the country, he once covered the sky with one hand, he was rich enough to rival a country, and the evil deeds he had done were too numerous to count and cannot be recorded in history.

Justice is clear and retribution will come. Now, he is just a death row prisoner in his seventies.

Yan Sikong glanced at Xie Zhongren coldly, sat on the armchair, and said, "Bring out the prisoner."

The jailer opened the cell door, dragged Xie Zhongren out, and threw him in front of Yan Sikong. His limbs were shackled and his mouth was shackled, obviously to prevent him from committing suicide.

Yan Sikong waved his hand, and the jailer took off all the torture instruments.

Xie Zhongren raised his head tremblingly, his messy hair covered his skinny face, and his eyes were covered with a layer of white mist, making him look like neither human nor ghost.

Yan Sikong looked down at Xie Zhongren: "Xie Zhongren, do you still remember me?"

Xie Zhongren opened his mouth and let out a strange, shrill laugh: "Yan... Sikong, Yan Sikong." Even his half-blind eyes could not hide his resentment.

"I want to thank you for living to this day. If you were sick and old, it would be a great relief for you."

Xie Zhongren shuddered and said, "Yan...thief, you are a treacherous villain who deceives the emperor...a treacherous minister who brings disaster to the country and the people. You...seek power and are willing to be a male favorite. You have no sense of shame. You are being ridden under the crotch of a man. Hahahaha, you are not a eunuch, but more like a eunuch. Hahahaha, how are you better than me?"

"I won, and you are going to die." Yan Sikong smiled cruelly, "This is enough for me to compete with you. You are not worthy of anything else."

Xie Zhongren was halfway through laughing when he suddenly coughed violently. He still trembled and said, "You have no sense of shame, you have no sense of shame, bah!"

Yan Sikong remained calm and unmoved: "Xie Zhongren, the three judicial officials have tried you clearly, so I will try what has not been tried yet. More than 20 years ago, you framed the then capable general of Liaodong and replaced him with your own confidant Han Zhaoxing. That dog thief, who was worse than an animal, single-handedly destroyed the seven states of Liaobei and committed such a heinous crime that will harm future generations and leave a bad reputation in history, but he still sits firmly in Liaodong." The more Yan Sikong spoke, the more his chest rose and fell. "In the end, when the Jin people attacked, it was my adoptive father Yuan Mao and the soldiers and civilians of Guangning who risked their lives to save the northern border of Dasheng. However, in order to gain credit, Han Zhaoxing conspired with you to kill him unjustly!"

Facing the tearful accusations, Xie Zhongren fell to the ground, trembling.

"When my father was beheaded, I was watching from the scaffold." Yan Sikong stared at Xie Zhongren, his eyes wide open, bloodshot. "I swore at that time that I, Yan Sikong, would take revenge at all costs. I would cut you into pieces, exterminate your entire clan, grind your bones to dust, and never let you be reborn!"

Xie Zhongren was shocked, and under Yan Sikong's fierce gaze, he stepped back unconsciously.

"You've done so many evil things, I'm afraid you can't remember them all. It doesn't matter, I'll remember them all for you."

Yan Sikong shouted, "Come here, write." He stared at Xie Zhongren without blinking, as if he was looking at the most disgusting thing in the world. "I want to add to his crimes the case of the wrongful murder of Guangning garrison commander Yuan Mao 20 years ago. Xie Zhongren, you must plead guilty."

Xie Zhongren shook his head in despair, and suddenly laughed crazily: "Yan thief, you deserve it, you are as poisonous as a snake and scorpion, everything is your... retribution, hahahaha, your family is destroyed, you will not die a good death, hahahaha——"

Yan Sikong looked at the crazy and frenzied Xie Zhongren, picked up the pen, and solemnly wrote down the charges on the paper to exonerate Yuan Mao.

Dad, did you see that? You, who have been wrongly accused for twenty years, will soon be vindicated, and the enemy who killed you will soon be executed. And that Han Zhaoxing has become a running dog of the Jin people. As long as Kong'er has a breath left in him, he will not give up and will tear him into pieces with his own hands.