Qin Yun sat on the dragon chair and carefully looked through the family tree of the royal family. There were too many people inside and outside, including thirteen princes alone, not to mention some clan branches.
Among these thirteen princes, only three remained in the imperial capital.
They are the fifth prince, the eighth prince, and the ninth prince.
Qin Yun suspected that if there were people behind Wang Wei, they must be among these people.
But upon further inspection, he became even more confused.
The three princes who stayed in the imperial capital all bore the title of prince, and had no position or real power in the court!
Even in Qin Yun's memory, these younger brothers were all masters who lost their ambition by playing with things, living the life of rich people and never appearing in the court's sight.
"Your Majesty, could it be that the vassal kings from various places are secretly manipulating the imperial capital?" Feng Lao reminded softly.
Qin Yun pinched his eyebrows: "It's possible."
"But... I always feel that if there is someone behind the scenes, then most of them are by my side."
Qin Yun doesn't have much memory and is unclear about many royal family relationships.
Then he asked: "Mr. Feng, I've been too tired recently and can't remember many things clearly. Can you help me recall it? Is there anyone else with authority in the palace or the royal family?"
Feng Lao didn't think much and said directly: "Among the princes, in terms of power, the most powerful one is Lao Shi from Youzhou, Prince Shunxun."
"When the late emperor was still here, the prince with the best reputation was undoubtedly the sixth prince of Yangzhou, Prince Ning."
"Although the other princes have some military power and prestige, they are very limited. And they are not direct descendants. Only Prince Shunxun and Prince Ning are direct descendants."
Qin Yun nodded: "What about the palace?"
Feng Lao smiled bitterly: "In the palace, Wang Guifei has been relegated to the cold palace, and the most powerful people have fallen."
"If I must choose someone with authority, it would be the Crown Princess Dou."
Qin Yun frowned and searched hard for the Crown Princess Dou in his mind, but there was almost no memory of her.
I was born to the late Empress Dowager and a direct descendant, so I had no contact with the Dou family at all.
"Which princes were born to the Dou family?" Qin Yun raised his eyebrows.
Feng Lao said seriously: "Lao Wu, Lao Ba."
Qin Yun frowned and said decisively: "Send two shadow guards to monitor them closely now until Wang Wei falls!"
"I don't believe it anymore. I still can't find the mastermind behind the scenes. Even if I dig deep into the ground and try one by one, I will still find him!"
Old Feng nodded.
"By the way, there is also Mr. Dou, let's keep him under surveillance too."
"In these troubled times, I don't care about etiquette anymore," Qin Yundao said.
Hearing this, Mr. Feng showed a wry smile: "Your Majesty... the manpower of the shadow guards is limited. If you continue to monitor Dowager Dou, I am afraid that they will be removed from your bodyguards."
"I am worried about your safety."
Qin Yundao said: "Just smoke. With Mr. Feng, what should I be afraid of?"
Feng Lao smiled knowingly and nodded.
"However, the manpower of the Shadow Guards is indeed too small. There are only a dozen, which is shabby to say the least. Mr. Feng, please find a way to expand it. Whether it is money or official titles, I will support it unconditionally!" Qin Yundao said.
Old Feng smiled bitterly again, wondering: "Your Majesty, I'm telling you the truth."
"All the staff of the Shadow Guard are children adopted by the old slave from childhood. They are carefree and absolutely loyal."
"Moreover, training is extremely difficult and requires a lot of effort. Without systematic martial arts secrets, it is difficult to train on a large scale."
"So... Your Majesty, this is not a matter of money or official position."
"I can only say that I will do my best."
Hearing this, Qin Yun frowned and felt it was a pity.
If you have tens of thousands of shadow guards, you really don't have to worry about any conspiracy. Gods will kill gods if they block them, and Buddhas will kill Buddhas if they block them.
Suddenly he had a flash of inspiration and said with a sly smile: "That's right, Mr. Feng."
"If I bring Murong Shunhua into the palace, do you think she can systematically train a large number of shadow guards as the headmaster of Yue Palace?"
Feng Lao was stunned: "It should be possible. Yaoyue Palace has a high status in the world and must have a lot of martial arts secrets."
"but……"
An awkward smile appeared on his old face.
"But what?" Qin Yun raised his eyebrows and joked with Mr. Feng: "Why, Mr. Feng doesn't believe in my masculine charm and emperor's temperament?"
Feng Lao rarely showed a smile unique to the elderly, and his wrinkles were squeezed together.
"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't believe you. It's just that I've invited Yue Gong to pass on the past dynasties, and she won't even accept her as a disciple. I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to come up with secret books to train shadow guards."
"Besides, Your Majesty, you deceived Headmaster Murong today, or even took advantage of her. When the time comes, she will know that you are your savior, and I'm afraid she will go berserk."
Qin Yun showed an unkind smile, then curled his lips and said: "Who allowed this headmaster girl to be so presumptuous that she dared to come to the imperial capital to assassinate me? Chivalry is good, but it is a pity that it is used in the wrong place."
"If I don't suppress her temper that refuses people thousands of miles away, I won't be worthy of being called the Emperor!"
Old Feng smiled, he also hoped that His Majesty could take in more concubines to continue the bloodline.
Especially a woman like Murong Shunhua, once captured, it will be a great help to His Majesty!
"Your Majesty, are you going to see that concubine tonight?" Seeing that the two of them were almost talking, Eunuch Xi stepped forward and asked.
Qin Yun blurted out that he wanted to talk about Yangxin Palace, but then he thought of Pei Yao. He didn't know if the cold was healed.
"Let's go to Akiye Hall and have a look."
Eunuch Xi bent down and reported: "Concubine Yao sent someone not long ago to say that she has been feeling unwell recently and cannot serve His Majesty."
"Nothing, I'll just take a look."
Qin Yun stood up, put down the memorial in his hand, and went to the Qiuye Hall.
The deep palace is huge, like a maze.
It took half a stick of incense to walk from the Imperial Study Room to the Qiuye Hall.
In the palace, the lights are dark and the fire is dim.
In the courtyard under the moonlight, beside the lotus pond, the waves are shining.
Qin Yun walked in slowly alone and saw a woman squatting by the lotus pond. Her figure was slender, like the shadow of a butterfly under the moon, and she was particularly beautiful.
Who else could it be if he wasn't Pei Yao?
However, she was actually crying at this time, looking extremely helpless and sad in this night.
Qin Yun frowned, what happened to her?
After slowly approaching, Pei Yao was still crying, crying till her face turned red. She still held a letter in her hand and did not notice Qin Yun's approach.
"What's wrong?" Qin Yun said directly, his voice was low and magnetic.
Pei Yao was startled and almost fell into the lotus pond. Fortunately, Qin Yun caught her with one hand.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?" She wiped her tears, stopped sobbing, and her eyes were very complicated.
"I heard that you were feeling cold, so I came to see you and brought you some gifts." Qin Yun raised the sandalwood box in his hand, which he bought outside the palace today.
"I'm fine, thank you, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, you'd better go back first, I'm not feeling well." She lowered her head and said.
Qin Yun grinned and raised her cheek: "In this harem, I'm afraid you are the only one who dares to let me come and then go back."
"Your eyes are so red from crying. What happened? Tell me and I will make the decision for you." He stretched out his hand to wipe her tears.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It's just that my concubine's brother sent me news that..." Her eyes turned red again, and she bit her lip and said, "My mother passed away at home."