That day, apart from explaining the whole incident to Yu Jifu and having a conversation with Yan Zilian, Yan Sikong hardly talked to anyone else.

They sat in the file room of Wenyuan Pavilion for an entire night. It was autumn, and the night was cold. Yan Sikong closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, but in fact he had no desire to sleep at all. One reason was that he was cold, and the other was that he was worried. He could clearly hear someone's teeth chattering. There were guards inside and outside, and no one dared to say a word. It was truly an extremely difficult night.

When the day breaks, there will surely be another disturbance during the morning court session, and their fate may soon be decided.

I wonder what Feng Ye is doing now...

The news of the new history must have spread throughout the capital. Feng Ye knew about it early on and promised solemnly to help him. If the situation deviated from his prediction, Yan Zilian would not be able to protect him, and Feng Ye would be his life-saving talisman.

Through this incident, he can also find out how many forces Feng Jianping has deployed in the court, and how many of them can be used by him.

——

At dawn, the first ringing of the Jingyang bell awoke the Dasheng Dynasty to a new day. Wenyuan Pavilion was not far from the Huangji Palace where the morning court was held. The sound of the bronze bell, which had withstood a hundred years of wind and rain, was like a muffled thunder, shaking the hearts of every minister and reminding them of the emperor's great grace and the majesty of heaven.

Yan Sikong closed his eyes, and he could almost see inside the Meridian Gate. The flags of the military were already lined up in a solemn manner. Hundreds of ministers filed in from the left and right side gates, and with the eunuchs in front of them whistling their whips, they walked across the Jinshui Bridge, entered the Huangji Palace, and performed the ritual of five bows and three kowtows to the emperor on the golden platform...

Once, that was his childhood dream, his father's dream, and the dream of generations of scholars in the Yan family. Once, he thought that the emperor was the emperor because he was granted the power of heaven and was favored by God. Once, he vowed to assist the emperor and be a wise ruler who loved the people and comforted all living things.

Later he realized that the emperor was just an individual. From the Zhou Emperor to Emperor Zhaowu, the world's surnames had changed countless times, and the emperor had changed countless individuals. A bandit could also become an emperor. As long as one held the military power, he could "dethrone the Mandate of Heaven" by removing the immoral emperor who "went against Heaven's grace." The emperor was just a trophy of the victor, and it had been like this since ancient times.

Having fully understood this truth, he and those loyal ministers who devoted themselves to the Lord were destined to take a different path.

Now it was time to start the court session. Yan Zilian would first impeach Wang Shengsheng as the Six Departments Censor, and then other important officials would make remonstrations together. No official of Wang Shengsheng's rank would be clean. He could list all the charges against him, such as corruption, bribery, selling official positions, and autocracy. He believed that Yan Zilian had already prepared all the "good stuff".

Emperor Zhaowu was still angry about the new history. Seeing that Wang Shengsheng had so many crimes and being provoked by his ministers, he might arrest Wang Shengsheng in court.

As long as Emperor Zhaowu questioned Wang Shengsheng about his crime at the morning court session, even if he was just detained pending trial, the matter would be settled, because no matter how Xie Zhongren pleaded for him afterwards, given Emperor Zhaowu's extremely face-conscious personality, he would never let Wang Shengsheng get away with it.

While Yan Sikong was calmly imagining, the other people in the room were becoming more and more nervous.

Especially Liu Zhaolin, who was silent for the whole night, and finally couldn't help but asked the guard for a glass of water.

The guard asked for instructions and poured him a glass of water.

Liu Zhaolin held the tea bowl, his hands shaking. When he brought the bowl to his lips, most of the warm water spilled out.

Shen Hexuan sat next to him, patted his leg gently, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Liu, calm down."

Liu Zhaolin nodded, his face pale.

Yan Sikong looked at Liu Zhaolin, his heart was calm. Liu Zhaolin was not very impressive among the batch of Jinshi. His talent, family background, and appearance were all ordinary. He did not have any outstanding words or deeds. Such a person was even less suitable for officialdom than Shen Hexuan. As for Lin Yue, he was just a small clerk who took the blame for others.

He no longer had many good thoughts in his heart, so he did not feel guilty. As long as he could achieve his goal, he could even sacrifice himself, so what did others matter to him?

The morning court session ended around noon, and more voices were heard from Wenyuan Pavilion.

After a while, the door was pushed open, and someone shouted, "Take the Imperial Academy Editor Liu Zhaolin to the Dali Temple."

The tea bowl in Liu Zhaolin's hand fell to the ground with a bang, and his face looked dejected.

Two imperial guards held him on each side and led him out of Wenyuan Pavilion. The remaining three people looked eagerly at the officer who came to deliver the message.

The man said, "You three are to return home temporarily. You are not allowed to go out or have contact with outsiders. Wait for your fate."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were not sent to prison, they would most likely escape this disaster.

Lin Yue sighed, "What should Brother Liu do?"

Shen Hexuan whispered: "The emperor will make his own decision, there is no need for us to say more, let's go back."

Yan Sikong stood up and walked out. When he left Wenyuan Pavilion, he ran into Yan Zilian and several great scholars who were discussing something in the conference room.

Yan Sikong naturally wanted to know what happened in the morning court, but he did not ask. He just bowed to the people and said meaningfully: "Student thanks the teacher."

Yan Zilian glanced at him and said, "If anyone should thank you, then the emperor should be the one to thank. You should go back first. Remember, do not say anything more about this matter and wait for the emperor's will."

"yes."

——

Yan Sikong did not return home all night. When Ali saw him, he was so excited that his face turned red. He probably thought that Yan Sikong would not be back for a while.

Yan Sikong looked exhausted: "I want to take a bath."

Ali nodded vigorously.

After preparing the bathtub, Yan Sikong dragged his tired body into the water. When his body was completely surrounded by the moisture and warmth, his tense brain instantly relaxed a little.

He closed his eyes and breathed, sinking completely into the water. The water was quiet and warm, and all five of his senses were blocked. It was so quiet that he could only hear his own heartbeat. He felt exceptionally safe in this small, cramped wooden barrel. Is this how people feel when they are born in the womb?

Yan Sikong surfaced only when he could no longer hold his breath. He gasped for breath, wiped the water off his face, and opened his eyes.

"Ah..." Yan Sikong was startled when he saw the tall man who appeared in the house out of nowhere.

Feng Ye couldn't help but chuckled twice: "I didn't mean to scare you."

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and said, "You didn't mean to scare me, so why were you so quiet?"

"I know you are under house arrest and cannot contact outsiders, so I can't go in through the front door and have to climb over the wall and break the window." Feng Ye walked over, rested his elbows on the edge of the bucket, and looked at Yan Sikong with deep and straightforward eyes.

His wet black hair was tightly attached to his cheeks, making his skin look white and translucent. His feathery eyelashes dotted with water droplets, his misty eyes, his rosy lips, and even his slender shoulders that were slightly above the water surface were all very alluring.

Feng Ye lifted a lock of Yan Sikong's hair and whispered, "Have you ever heard the story of the water spirit when you were a child?"

Yan Sikong was confused: "What water spirit?"

"I heard there is a kind of spirit that lives in the water. It is extremely beautiful and charming. It will use its beauty to seduce people passing by the water and drag them into the water..." Feng Ye's face slowly approached Yan Sikong and said ambiguously, "Have sex with it and absorb its essence."

Yan Sikong said calmly: "This is just a story to scare children."

"Yes, but..." Feng Ye's lips touched Yan Sikong's nose, cheeks, and chin like a dragonfly skimming the water, and he laughed softly, "If you are a water spirit, I am willing to go to hell with you." After he finished speaking, he held the back of Yan Sikong's head with his big hands and blocked his lips heavily.

Yan Sikong lowered his eyelids to conceal the emotions in his eyes and passively accepted the kiss.

Feng Ye kissed Yan Sikong intently and passionately, his tongue tip sweeping every inch of Yan Sikong's mouth. The rising heat and the hot kiss soon made him feel dizzy.

When Feng Ye let him go, he took a few deep breaths before he came to his senses.

Feng Ye said with a smile: "Do you want me to help you wash it?"

Yan Sikong said, "I'm not in the mood to hang out. I'm still under house arrest, awaiting my fate."

"This is why I'm here." Feng Ye splashed water, gently splashing it on Yan Sikong's shoulders, cheeks, and eyes. There was an unconcealable, naked desire.

Yan Sikong asked in surprise: "You... do you have any news?"

"Of course."

"Hurry up and tell me."

Feng Ye laughed: "You want to discuss things with me in this bathtub?"

Yan Sikong grabbed the towel and said, "I'll come out right away."

Feng Ye looked at him leisurely, his eyes clearly full of anticipation.

Yan Sikong stood up from the bathtub and wrapped his body with a towel.

Although it was only for a moment, Feng Ye was able to truly appreciate that slender, fair body.

Yan Sikong sneered: "You have what I have, what's so good about it?"

"My people..." Feng Yebi said with a smile, "They look good everywhere."

Yan Sikong shook his head, took another towel and wiped his hair.

Feng Ye took the towel and said, "You sit down, I'll do it." Then he pressed him on the stool and carefully wiped his long dark hair.

Yan Sikong looked at this extremely strange scene in the bronze mirror, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. It seemed that he was also moved by Feng Ye and felt that it was no big deal for two men to get along like this.

The most important thing is that nothing in this world comes for free. If you want to get something, you have to pay a price, and this price includes everything he can give.

Feng Ye was usually rude and overbearing, but his hands were unusually gentle when he was wiping Yan Sikong's hair. The two of them didn't speak for a long time. Yan Sikong stared at the two people in the bronze mirror, and became more and more unable to look away. The focused and delicate expression on Feng Ye's face made him feel particularly dazzling.

"Alright." Yan Sikong's tone suddenly turned cold, "Tell me what you know."

Feng Ye then said, "During the morning court session, four ministers impeached Wang Shengsheng. His Majesty was furious and had him imprisoned in court. Afterwards, Yan Ge Lao asked His Majesty what to do with Huo Li and several young Hanlin scholars involved in the new history compilation."

"What does your majesty say?"

Feng Ye smiled and said, "Your Majesty asked how to deal with Elder Yan Ge."

Yan Sikong had roughly guessed it in his mind.

"Mr. Yan Ge believes that all those involved in the case should be punished, but those who did it intentionally or unintentionally should not be punished together." Feng Ye stroked his hair and said proudly, "Then...how do you want to thank me?"

Yan Sikong glanced at him through the mirror and said, "Then you should tell me first what I should thank you for."

"I went to ask Minister Liu of the Ministry of Personnel and Left Vice Minister Meng Jun of the Ministry of Justice overnight, asking them to protect you, Huo Li, and Shen Hexuan, and to focus the case on Wang Shengsheng. Most of his subordinates were implicated, and only the chief writer was likely to be instructed by Wang Shengsheng."

Yan Sikong took a long breath. Although his expression was calm, a wave of turmoil had already surged in his heart.

If Yan Zilian had asked for a lighter sentence during the morning court session, the emperor would have thought that he was biased towards his student and might have been so angry that he would have charged him with a severe crime. However, Yan Zilian's answers were very restrained, and several important ministers pleaded for them, so the emperor did not bother to think about it.

At this time, Wang Shengsheng and Liu Zhaolin were imprisoned. Although the four of them could not escape responsibility for their crimes, they would certainly not be severely punished.

Yan Sikong then revealed a hint of a smile, and he said solemnly: "Feng Ye, thank you."

Feng Ye smiled and said, "I said I would protect you."

Yan Sikong turned around and looked up at Feng Ye: "Do you think Lord Wang can turn things around this time?"

"I don't care if he can turn over." Feng Ye threw down the towel and took Yan Sikong's clothes. "Put them on, or you'll catch a cold."

"He is a member of the eunuch clique and often contradicts my teacher in the academy. If I can defeat him in one fell swoop..."

"Don't worry about their affairs." Feng Ye interrupted him, his expression suddenly becoming a little serious, "Remember that you are just a small Hanlin, don't get involved in those bloody factions and party struggles."

Yan Sikong looked at Feng Ye quietly: "I am Yan Zilian's student and the prince's teacher. Feng Ye, do you really think I can stay out of this?"

Feng Ye was speechless for a moment, but he said again in a commanding tone: "I don't care what your official position or status is, I don't want you to take risks. The political world is complicated and you can't figure it out. Do you understand?"

Yan Sikong hesitated to speak. He looked at Feng Ye's serious expression and realized that Feng Ye must know something, but it was not appropriate to tell him. He could only nod and said, "I understand."