Your Highness

That’s right. The Emperor is the key element to everything. Song Lin Feng icily laughed: “Do you really think the Emperor is honestly so foolish? He is extremely clever….”

Song Lin Feng started from the beginning. As Lin Shan listened, the story started to unfold.

Although the Imperial Court appeared to be calm on the outside, there was actually a lot of internal conflict. Basically, there were three groups in power. The leading group was definitely Team Du Ye. This team mainly consisted of old officials and counsellors. They had a lot of power to rally supporters and often used their accomplishments for the late Emperor to get their way. Even the current Emperor didn’t dare to mess with them.

The next group was Team Du Hao. Most of the people in this group were the younger officials and counsellors. They had their own beliefs and were adaptive and innovative. However, they lacked strength. Without the Emperor backing them up, they would not be able to exist.

Under these circumstances, the third group was definitely crucial. It turned out the third group was Team General Yang Sui.

Yang Sui was born in the Capital. For many generations, his ancestors were Generals. By the time he had gotten the position, Yang Sui was at the highest position that had ever been. He had the biggest military power and he had cultivated countless of military leaders. Currently, all of them had very important positions in the Imperial Court.

If we include Yang Sui’s military power with his leaders, it would represent more than half of all the military power within the Imperial Court. Plainly speaking, the Emperor wouldn’t dare to touch the man.

Thus, Yang Sui was known as the “Lord of high accomplishments”. Although the Emperor appeared to respect and honour him, deep down, the Emperor saw him as a threat. The Emperor wanted to get rid of him in fear that he would go against him in the future. If Yang Sui decided to join Team Du Ye, the results would be inconceivable.

Therefore, the Emperor was troubled. How could he put Du Hao in power as well as control and limit Yang Sui’s power?

At this moment, an opportunity arose.

Princess Ming Yue suddenly stated she wanted to marry the Song Family’s son. The Emperor was smart. Right away, he could see the benefits of the marriage. Song Luo was Song Xian’s second son. Song Family’s eldest son Song Lin Feng had married Yang Sui’s only daughter, Yang Bi Yuan. Yang Sui was extremely satisfied with his new son-in-law.

Immediately after the marriage, Yang Sui wanted to breed Lin Feng as his successor. The Emperor saw this and sent out a marriage decree. On the outside, it would appear he was doing this for his daughter’s happiness, but deep down, he was using Song Luo to control Song Lin Feng and Yang Sui.

“So you’re telling me the Emperor purposely arranged the marriage?”

“That’s correct.” Song Lin Feng nodded, “Not only that. I suspect he knew early on that the Princess actually wanted to marry me. He only pretended to make the mistake. It was all part of his plan.”

After Song Lin Feng was finished talking, Lin Shan was in shock. If what her brother said was true, then it would explain why the Emperor refused to take back his words despite Du Ming Yue telling him that she wanted to marry her brother instead. Wow. So although the Emperor appeared to love his daughter very much, in reality, he put his power first. He was willing to sacrifice his daughter’s happiness in order to remain in power.

Thinking of this, Lin Shan suddenly realized why Du Ming Yue would rather roam around with He Lao San than return back to the Palace. Although she was loved, she couldn’t escape the fate of being a victim for power.

Lin Shan revealed an enlightened expression, “So originally, the Emperor could use my marriage to Du Ming Yue to control you and the General. But now that I’m gone, he has no one. Therefore, he decided to use Father, am I correct?”

“You’re not as stupid as I thought.” Song Lin Feng smirked as he knocked Lin Shan on the head.

Wow. The Emperor was despicable. Lin Shan gritted her teeth. However,  in order to hear more gossips, she decided to swallow her words and continued to listen on. As expected, Song Lin Feng continued speaking.

“Actually, this time, the Emperor’s motive is different. Now, the situation has changed. Back then, there were three groups in power. Although there were a lot of conflicts, there were restrictions on all sides. As a result, it appeared to be quite calm. However, currently the Eldest Prince is gone. There are only two groups in power now. In order to preserve his political power, the Crown Prince has gotten rid of all those associated with the Eldest Prince. Now, many are in the state of fear.

Under these circumstances, the Emperor obviously doesn’t want any more trouble. Therefore, he used Father. On one hand, he wanted to show off his mighty strength. On the other, he wanted to give us a warning; as long as you’re faithful to me, you’ll be fine. Hence, Father became the sacrificial victim of this power struggle.”

By the time Song Lin Feng was done talking, Lin Shan was so furious that she was biting her teeth: “Father is already so old, yet he has to accept this punishment just because of this old geezer. Too unfair!” Then, Lin Shan realized it wasn’t nice of her to call Lian Feng’s father an old geezer. She quickly turned to look at his reaction.

She noticed Lian Feng was more quiet than usual and his complexion didn’t look too good. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but her brother was a step ahead of her.

“Has Lian brother detected anything strange?”

Lian Feng’s face darkened but he didn’t say a word.

Song Lin Feng continued: “Now that I’ve heard about Lian brother’s background. Why don’t I make a daring hypothesis?”

Lin Shan could tell something was wrong. Why was her brother staring at Lian Feng so intently as he said this? And Lian Feng’s expression was turning darker and darker.

“If my thoughts are aligned with Lian brother’s, there’s no point in staying in the Imperial city. Just take the brat and go far away.”

Lin Shan couldn’t handle the suspense any longer: “What the heck is going on? Stop spinning in circles and get to the point. It’s making me sick!”

“Why are you in such a rush?” Song Lin Feng rolled his eyes at her, “Based on my opinion, the Emperor’s meeting with Lian brother was not a coincidence.”

“If it wasn’t a coincidence, then what was it?” Lin Shan was anxious.

“You have no patience! I can’t say for sure, but I’m just making an assumption. Right? Lian brother?” Song Lin Feng looked deeply into Lian Feng’s eyes, “Do you want me to continue? Want to see if our conclusions are similar?”

Lian Feng didn’t say a word but Lin Shan pressed: “Then say it!”

Song Lin Feng smiled and continued on: “At the time, the Emperor could see that the Crown Prince was losing power and control. He was afraid his Eldest son would take advantage of this situation and thus sent both sons to the borders to fight. He wanted to train their bodies and souls. Although it appeared to be fair, he just wanted to get rid of his Eldest son and foster the Crown Prince.”

Lin Shan’s mind suddenly snapped and realized what Song Lin Feng was about to say. She immediately wanted to stop but Lian Feng blocked her with his stiff face; indicating it was alright for her brother to continue.

“The Emperor found out he had another son, and sent people to find out the whereabouts of Lian brother. He shockingly realized the son that was living amongst the people was identical to the Crown Prince. As a result, he thought of a plan. In case something were to happen to the Crown Prince, he still had another son as a backup. Thus, he wouldn’t lose either way. He then coincidentally met Lian brother..and coincidentally was under attack….and coincidentally….”

“Say no more!” Lian Feng finally interrupted him. His expression was grim.

“I’m not finished yet. Why are you in such a rush?” Song Lin Feng continued on, “Actually, I had always thought it was strange. Based on the Emperor’s intellects, how could he not realized the brat was a woman? The only explanation was he wanted to use my stupid sister to control us. In addition, he could control you. Since the Crown Prince made it back alive, he no longer needed a backup….”

“Enough!” Lin Shan screamed, “Are you finished? What backup? Lian Feng is Lian Feng. He is not anyone’s backup!”