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

Chapter 153: Dali Temple's Secret Agent
"No." Feng Twelve said, "This is exactly why I doubt him."

In the palace, he was only good friends with Crown Prince Feng Yunxi, and Feng Yuyang had never had a close relationship with him. However, since the two met in Linshui County, Feng Yuyang treated him with extra warmth.

In his impression, the young Feng Yuyang had a face that smiled at everyone he met, but that kind of gentleness was different from Feng Yunxi. Feng Yunxi's gentleness came from his responsibility as the eldest son, but Feng Yuyang was always full of flattery.

Perhaps because he was born with a disease, the princes and princesses looked at him with either pity or mockery, and few people truly treated him as a normal person.

Feng Twelve was not close to him either, not because he rejected him, but because he was an unpopular prince and was also an alien in the eyes of others. He had no intention of making friends with anyone and devoted himself to martial arts and military books, not getting involved in the fun with other princes.

"Feng Yuyang has never been to my palace, and has never had any private contact with me," Feng Twelve said, "but he knows that I once kept a cat."

Back in Linshui County, Fang Tong was seriously injured and turned into a cat. Feng Twelve took her to the carriage to take care of her. When Feng Yuyang saw the kitten, he opened his mouth and said -

"You used to like these little things."

If he had never seen Feng Twelve raising a cat, he would never have said such a thing.

Fang Tong thought for a moment: "But this doesn't prove that there is something wrong with him."

Maybe Feng Yuyang was just like Feng Yunxi, who just happened to see or hear about Feng Twelve raising a cat, which didn’t mean that he had been paying attention to him.

Having said that, even if he was paying close attention to him, it would at most mean that Feng Yuyang had some quirks, and it couldn't be used to convict him.

"Yes," Feng Twelve nodded, "So I just felt it was a little strange, and didn't take it too seriously until you saw Liu Congwen being killed in Guzhou."

Hearing Liu Congwen's name, Fang Tong thought of the man lying in the alley covered in blood, and the note he slipped to her before he died.

"Have you found out who killed Liu Congwen?" Fang Tong asked.

"Not yet, but I gave the note to Lin Yue," Feng Twelve said, "the night before I left the capital."

Fang Tong remembered that night when she and Feng Twelve went to eat cold noodles under the Chui Liu Bridge, they happened to meet Lin Yue, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. Later, Feng Twelve asked Lin Yue to go somewhere else to buy fish sashimi. It must have been at that time that he handed the note to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue Lin Yue, Fang Tong kept repeating this name in his heart, and suddenly thought: "Lin Yue's last name is also Lin."

She looked at Feng Twelve inquiringly: "What is his relationship with General Lin?"

Feng Twelve smiled and said, "He is Master's only grandson."

Fang Tong suddenly realized: "No wonder he could become the Shaoqing of Dali Temple at such a young age."

"It's not all due to the protection of his family." Feng Twelve said, "He was smart since he was young. He passed the imperial examination before he was twenty and worked in the Dali Temple with his father. In the first two years, he solved several unsolved cases on his own. Later, his father died suddenly in office due to overwork. The court took pity on the loyalty of the Lin family and promoted him to the position of Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple."

Fang Tong listened intently: "So, Lin Shaoqing is very capable?"

Feng Twelve glanced at her and said, "He has liked to ponder strange things since he was young. The Dali Temple has several sets of secret language books, which were created by him."

Fang Tong understood now. She and Feng Twelve had suspected that the poem on Liu Congwen's note was a secret code, so Feng Twelve would ask Lin Yue to decipher it.

"How did you guess the Dali Temple secret language used in Liu Congwen's poem?" Fang Tong asked.

"My master showed me Lin Yue's notes before," Feng Twelve's eyes flashed with nostalgia, "He often said that Lin Yue was naughty, but every time Lin Yue came up with something new, he would show it off to me. That was when I saw similar secret words."

"When I first saw you and Lin Yue talking to each other in Xiaoyao Tower, I thought you were unfamiliar with each other," Fang Tong chuckled, "So you are from the same family." Feng Twelve raised his lips and shook his head gently, "Before I left the palace to start my own residence, I had never met Lin Yue. I first met him at Master's funeral."

At that time, Feng Twelve had returned triumphantly from Dongyi, but before he entered the capital, he heard that Lin Yang had passed away. He left the army without permission and rushed back to the capital, and saw his master for the last time before Lin Yang's coffin was buried.

When Lin Yue saw him in the funeral hall, the first thing he said was: "You shouldn't have come."

The second sentence is: "But Grandfather knew you would come."

The third sentence is: "He said 'It's good that he came'."

Each of the three sentences became more confusing than the last. Feng Twelve did not understand them all at the time. Later, because he returned to the capital without permission, the emperor relieved him of all his military posts and made him an idler again. Then he suddenly understood.

Why did Lin Yang say that it was good for him to come.

Lin Yang knew that he wanted to join the army. It happened that the Dongyi Rebellion broke out. The old man dragged his seriously ill body to make sure his apprentice led the troops.

Feng Twelve did not disappoint his expectations, he led the troops in the front and captured city after city. Those generals who looked down on him went from initial suspicion to admiration, and he gradually established a reputation in the army.

If the war continued like this, it would not be bad for Feng Twelve, but the war was finally over.

Victory is already decided, and the more brilliantly Feng Twelve performs, the more worried the emperor will be.

Feng Twelve was not a likable prince. When he had military power in his hands, the emperor would only become more dissatisfied.

The emperor is a man who cares about his reputation. If he suppresses Feng Twelve for no reason, people will inevitably think that this father is too cruel, so he will wait for Feng Twelve to make a mistake.

Such a mistake could be big or small, and if Feng Twelve is not careful, it could bring disaster upon himself.

And Feng Twelve did make a mistake.

In order to see his master for the last time, he left the army early. This was a mistake from a public perspective, but it was understandable from a private perspective.

After weighing his merits and demerits, the emperor did not do anything too drastic. He simply took away the power in his hands and made him an inconspicuous twelfth prince again.

Lin Yang was an old minister who understood the emperor's temper better than anyone else. He knew that if Feng Twelve returned to Beijing to attend the funeral, his military merits would be revoked, but he would be able to save his life.

The fact was just as Lin Yang expected. Feng Twelve and the emperor maintained superficial peace and lived in peace to this day.

Fang Tong wanted to comfort him, but seeing that he looked calm and didn't seem to need comfort, he was silent for a while and then got back to the topic: "What did Lin Yue say after reading the poem?"

"Liu Congwen is a spy from the Dali Temple." Feng Twelve said.

Fang Tong opened his mouth in shock.

"Dali Temple sent spies to lurk in Prince Jing's mansion?" She lowered her voice slightly, "Was it Lin Yue's idea or the emperor's idea?"

Feng Twelve glanced at her calmly and said, "Your Majesty never trusts anyone easily."

The meaning of this statement couldn't be clearer. Fang Tong immediately thought of institutions like the East Factory, the West Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They were responsible for monitoring court officials and eliminating dissidents on behalf of the emperor. Could it be that the same was true for the spies in the Dali Temple?
"Do you have spies in your house?" Fang Tong couldn't help but worry.