Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 128 Return Alive
"Captain Zhou, please stand up."

Feng Twelve helped him stand up, "Your Majesty ordered us to come here only to issue an order to question Sui Yongdao, and he did not intend to implicate more soldiers."

Captain Zhou nodded, still unable to hide his worry on his face.

Feng Twelve saw this and said to the side without further explanation, "Zhao Heng."

"Hey!"

Lord Zhao, who had been stabbed, ran over, holding his shoulder.

"How serious is the injury?" Feng Twelve asked.

Zhao Heng loosened his hand, revealing the white cloth bandaged on his shoulder: "It's just a flesh wound, it's nothing serious."

"Yes." Feng Twelve said, "Captain Zhou and I will go to each camp to appease the generals. You stay here to guard Sui Yongdao's body and wait for the generals to arrive before announcing the decree."

Zhao Heng nodded and looked around: "This open space is large enough, perfect for announcing the decree, but Captain Zhou, is there an incense table in the camp?"

"Yes!" It was Guo Yin who replied.

He showed a flattering smile: "Your Highness, Lord Zhao, General Sui... Sui... Sui Yongdao has an incense burner in his tent."

"Thank you, Deputy General Guo." Zhao Heng called a colleague over, "Go look in Sui Yongdao's tent. If there are any other ritual objects besides the incense burner, remember to bring them along. After all, this is a decree, and the scene can't be empty. It won't look good without some things."

"Hey, I'll look for some paperweights, flower arrangements, or something."

"There's no flower arrangement in the army. If that doesn't work, go pick some wild flowers nearby."

Although Zhao Heng survived the disaster, he was in very good spirits. He pulled his colleagues aside to talk to them and called on the surrounding soldiers to clean up the corpses and bloodstains on the ground.

Captain Zhou looked at everyone busying around and his expression gradually calmed down.

"Your Highness, I will accompany you to explain to the soldiers what Sui Yongdao did."

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Guo Yin shouted from behind the two men, "I know who participated in the conspiracy. I am willing to hand over the list and atone for my crime."

However, Feng Twelve ignored him and left with Captain Zhou.

Seeing the two men walking away, Zhao Heng came up to Guo Yin with a smile and said, "Deputy General Guo, you forgot that with Captain Zhou here, no one who has been close to Sui Yongdao will be able to escape."

"You, when did you guys..."

"Well," Zhao Heng gave him a mysterious smile, "I don't know either."

This was not a lie. He really didn't know when Feng Twelve made the arrangements. He only knew that he and his group traveled in the middle of the night, and after everyone changed a few horses, they finally arrived in Luozhou in the evening of the day before.

They disguised themselves, went their separate ways, and entered Luozhou City with forged passes.

Next, Feng Twelve went out alone, which lasted the entire night.

Zhao Heng was not without worries at first. Even though they were not clear about it when they first left the capital, they had understood along the way the emperor sent them to Luozhou.

Although he was mentally prepared to never come back, when he really entered Luozhou, he still felt a sense of sadness and hopelessness in his heart.

They are of low status and have little influence. If they die like this, they can only accept their fate. But Feng Twelve is different. He is a prince. No matter how unpopular he is, he is still a member of the royal family. How could he be willing to bury his life here?

Zhao Heng did not sleep all night. He was worried that Feng Twelve would abandon everyone and run away. He was also afraid that after he left, he would be the only one left to take up the important task of being the imperial envoy.

No matter how ready he was to die, he admitted that he was not up to the task.

Fortunately, Feng Twelve did not abandon them and returned to where they were staying at dawn.

He summoned Zhao Heng to his side and told him to bring a few people with him to enter the camp today in the name of an imperial envoy.

When Zhao Heng heard his instructions, he felt unexpectedly calm.

"Where is His Highness?" He believed that Feng Twelve's arrangement definitely had its purpose. He no longer worried that he would leave them alone. If Feng Twelve wanted to leave, he didn't have to come back today. Hearing this, Feng Twelve said, "I have an insider in the army. I made an agreement with him last night. He will take you into the barracks. When you meet Sui Yongdao, I will have people create chaos in the barracks and take Sui Yongdao down."

Seeing that he told the truth, Zhao Heng couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, tell me all the plans. Aren't you afraid that I will escape from the battlefield?"

"You won't." Feng Twelve seemed to have seen through him long ago. "The fact that the Crown Prince asked you to take over the position of Minister of Examinations proves that you are trustworthy."

Zhao Heng was shocked.

"Your Highness knows that I am the prince's man?"

“I wasn’t sure before, but now I know.”

Feng Twelve’s answer left Zhao Heng stunned.

When the prince recommended Meng Xuanyi to the Ministry of Personnel, everyone guessed that Meng Xuanyi was the prince's man. After Meng Xuanyi's death, the prince stopped recommending candidates to avoid suspicion. Zhao Heng originally worked in the Ministry of Personnel, and his superiors saw that he had similar seniority, so they promoted him to take Meng Xuanyi's place.

On the surface, he and the prince had never had any contact, and no one would have thought that he was related to the prince, but Feng Twelve only said one sentence and made him reveal his identity.

Zhao Heng secretly regretted it. Thinking of the friendship between the Crown Prince and Feng Twelve, he forced a smile and said, "Don't blame me, Your Highness. I am not someone the Crown Prince deliberately planted in the Ministry of Personnel. I just received the Crown Prince's kindness."

Feng Twelve did not comment on his explanation, but only asked, "Did the prince give you any instructions before you left?"

"Yes." Zhao Heng said, "The Crown Prince told me to just follow His Highness' orders. He said that as long as we follow His Highness, we will surely return victorious from Luozhou."

To be honest, when he first heard this order, he didn't take it seriously.

He believed in the prince's vision and also believed that Feng Twelve was very capable, but Luozhou was Sui Yongdao's territory, and he could not think of any way to get back to Beijing alive.

Perhaps, the prince was just comforting him, or perhaps, he wanted him to protect the Twelfth Prince at the critical moment.

A gentleman will die for his confidant. He had received the prince's kindness and was willing to repay it with his own death, but he didn't expect that Feng Twelve had already made arrangements.

"Don't worry, Your Highness," Zhao Heng said excitedly, "Let alone entering the camp to lure the enemy, even if I were to die——"

He paused.

"How?" Feng Twelve raised his eyebrows.

Zhao Heng's old face flushed and he cleared his throat: "With Your Highness here, I believe we can all return alive."

Feng Twelve smiled slightly.

"I told Lord Zhao that you and your wife will meet one day." The twelfth prince was thinking of something, and his eyes became warmer. "We can all return to the capital safely."

Now that the dust has settled, Zhao Heng thought of what Feng Twelve said yesterday and couldn't help but grin.

"Haha..." This smile pulled the wound on his shoulder, Zhao Heng groaned, and supported the passing soldier, "Please find me a stool, let me sit down and rest."

Half a day later, the news that Sui Yongdao had harmed the imperial envoy and plotted rebellion spread to the various camps of the Beihe Army.

Several of his trusted men wanted to resist, but were captured by Captain Zhou who was well prepared.

Although the other generals were suspicious, they all gave up their dissatisfaction after hearing the emperor's imperial edict of punishment.

Sui Yongdao's headless corpse was still lying aside, and Feng Twelve had been slow to order anyone to collect the body. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that he did this to intimidate the entire army.

The main culprit of the treason is dead, and the other generals do not have a nephew who is a prince in the palace, so they cannot be charged with treason for a guilty minister.

This is a serious crime of confiscation of property.

After everyone calmed down, they were glad that Feng Twelve arrived in time, otherwise, once Sui Yongdao raised the banner of rebellion, they would never be able to escape.

Seven days later, an urgent report was delivered to the capital. The emperor read the letter and remained silent for a while.

"Go, call the prince to the imperial study."