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

Chapter 98: Unable to Escape Investigation

Xiaonian took a closer look and said, "Your Highness, he looks like a eunuch from the palace."

Before he finished speaking, their group also attracted the other party's attention. The leader of the other party looked towards them and his expression suddenly changed.

"The twelfth prince?"

The leading man had a white face and no beard, and had a shrill voice. He looked to be in his early thirties. Feng Twelve saw his face clearly and recognized him as Yuan Bao, a second-class eunuch beside the emperor.

The person the emperor trusts most in the palace is the old eunuch Chao En, but Chao En is old, so the task of traveling outside falls on others. Yuan Bao has been highly appreciated by the emperor recently, and it seems that he was ordered to travel.

Yuan Bao called Feng Twelve, and suddenly his expression changed again. He gestured to his left and right, "Bring us the imperial edict."

The accompanying eunuch brought up a brocade box.

Yuan Bao opened the brocade box, took out a scroll of yellow silk, and strode towards Feng Twelve.

"His Majesty's handwritten edict is here. Prince Twelfth, please accept the order!" Yuan Bao said loudly.

Feng Twelve's eyes darkened as he looked at the scroll in his hand and dismounted from his horse.

The guards behind him stopped their horses one after another and jumped down with their stirrups.

More than ten people knelt down at the street corner and listened to Yuan Bao read out the imperial edict.

"Edict 12: I ordered you to inspect the southern border as the Crown Prince's vanguard. Why did you neglect your duties and cause the Crown Prince's whereabouts to remain unknown? I am now dismissing you from your position as inspector. Upon seeing this edict, return to the capital immediately."

After reading it, Yuan Bao looked coldly at Feng Twelve on the ground and stretched out his hand: "Your Highness, please accept the decree."

He placed the emperor's handwritten edict in Feng Twelve's hand and raised his chin proudly: "I was just about to go to Guzhou. Since I met Your Highness here, it just saved me a lot of trouble. Please follow me back to the capital immediately."

Feng Twelve stood up and looked at the eunuchs he brought with him: "You can go back to Beijing, but I have to go to Fuyao Mountain first."

Yuan Bao sneered, "Your Highness wants to go to Fuyao Mountain to look for the prince? The prince has been missing for many days. What's the point of waiting for you to arrive?"

Feng Twelve looked at him without saying much.

Seeing this, Yuan Bao signaled to the eunuch beside him: "Go, unload His Highness's luggage."

"What are you doing?" Xiaonian and others stepped forward to stop the eunuch, holding the hilt of the knife with one hand, "Don't be rude to His Highness."

When Yuan Bao saw that the people he brought were stopped, he angrily said, "Didn't you hear the emperor's order? His Majesty ordered the twelfth prince to return to the capital."

"Let's go back to Beijing," Xiaonian retorted, "The imperial edict doesn't say you should touch a hair of His Highness."

Yuan Bao snorted angrily: "I am a third-rank eunuch in front of His Majesty, and you are a fifth-rank guard. What qualifications do you have to talk to me here?"

He looked at Feng Twelve with a gloomy expression: "Your Highness, are you going to disobey my order?"

"I'm not disobeying your order," Feng Twelve said, "The road back to the capital has to pass through Fuyao Mountain. Could it be that Eunuch Yuan wants to take me on a detour?"

Yuan Bao choked, tilted his neck, snorted, and flicked the whisk under his arm: "I'm afraid I won't have the time to trouble His Majesty the Twelfth Prince."

Seeing that the two sides were in a stalemate, a man walked out of the inn. It was Prince Jing Feng Yuyang.

He saw the scene outside the door, and was stunned for a moment, surprised and happy: "Little Twelve, why are you here?"

After that, he said to Yuan Bao, "Eunuch Yuan, I just checked and found that your rooms are all tidy. Come in and have a rest."

Yuan Bao looked at him, her expression softened a bit: "I don't deserve your hospitality, Your Majesty. I won't rest any more. I want to take His Majesty back to the capital." Feng Yuyang's eyes flickered between the two of them, and he laughed: "I see you two are exhausted, you have come from a long way. Even if you can bear it, your horses can't. Listen to my advice, rest here tonight, it won't be too late to leave tomorrow."

Yuan Bao had just arrived at the inn, and had not yet checked in when he met Feng Twelve. In a hurry, he took out the handwritten letter to calm him down. As for returning a day earlier or later, it was not so important. After hearing what Feng Yuyang said, he pretended to consider it and said slowly: "I am afraid that His Highness the Twelfth Prince will not be willing to go with me."

"How could that be?" Feng Yuyang walked up to the two of them. "I just heard you two arguing inside the door. Little Twelve just wanted to go to Fuyao Mountain. He has always been loyal to the prince, so how could he be willing to go without seeing him in person? Eunuch Yuan, please don't argue with him about this for my sake."

Seeing that he had given up, Yuan Bao curled his lips and said, "Whether you can go or not is not up to me. If Your Highness wants to go, you can report to His Majesty when you return to the capital, and then make plans."

"Okay, okay, let's report everything to His Majesty first," Feng Yuyang advised kindly, and winked at Feng Twelve, "Little Twelve, I see that you are tired, do you want to go into the city to rest?"

"Yes." Feng Twelve said, "But I'm afraid the inn can't accommodate so many people."

The last time they came, they occupied all the rooms. Today, with Yuan Bao and the others added, there would definitely not be enough room.

When Yuan Bao heard this, he became anxious: "Your Highness, we can squeeze in together, but please don't leave."

As he spoke, he felt a little regretful. If he had known this would happen, he should not have rushed to take out the imperial edict. What if Feng Twelve turned around and left? They would not be able to catch him with just a few people.

Feng Twelve smiled without commenting: "Of course I will stay at the inn."

He turned to Xiaonian and said, "Take everyone to the inn."

"Okay," Xiaonian nodded, "I'll leave half of my men to accompany Your Highness."

They quickly allocated the personnel. Half of the guards followed Feng Twelve into the inn, while Xiaonian took the other half to the inn to book a room.

Seeing that they had made all the arrangements, Feng Yuyang smiled and called out to Feng Twelve and Yuan Bao, "Little Twelve, Eunuch Yuan, please come in."

"Where's Gao Tiancai?" Feng Twelve asked as he entered the room, "Why are you the one arranging things here?"

"He broke his leg and is recovering at home."

"Why are you injured?" Feng Twelve asked.

"Excessive joy brings sorrow," Feng Yuyang raised his jade staff and pointed in the direction of the government office, shaking his head and laughing, "This literary gathering helped him earn half a year's worth of tax revenue. On the day it ended, he went on stage to give a speech, and he fell without noticing."

"No wonder." Feng Twelve smiled.

Yuan Bao had nothing to talk about with the two of them, so when he arrived at the courtyard, he said goodbye and returned to his room. Before leaving, he winked at a eunuch, asking him to keep a close eye on Feng Twelve.

His brows and eyes fell into the eyes of Feng Twelve and Feng Yuyang. Feng Yuyang smiled and led Feng Twelve to the other side. When they were alone, he said softly, "I have been keeping an eye on the matter you entrusted to me. There is no news from Luozhou."

"No news means the other party has taken action." Feng Twelve walked into the room.

Feng Yuyang followed him, looked back, and closed the door: "Could the prince's disappearance be related to Luozhou?"

"The Crown Prince went south and took the route I have patrolled before," Feng Twelve said, "If anyone knew where I had been, they could set up an ambush in advance."

"But there are so many people following the prince," Feng Yuyang said hesitantly, "How could they be completely defenseless?"

"The more people there are, the bigger the loopholes will be." Feng Twelve said, "I sent secret letters to the prince wherever I explored. The prince trusted me too much, which led to this disaster."

"I think he's not the only one in danger," Feng Yuyang said with a worried look on his face, "From what His Majesty said, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape prosecution either."

(End of this chapter)