Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 538 Canary
Pei Yuan was having all sorts of thoughts in his mind, and had a vague feeling that something was not right about this trip.

After a while, Qian Yong took Pei Yuan to the guard room where the patrolmen were on duty, and then said to Pei Yuan, "Captain, please wait here for a while. When Commander Qian is free, I will come to discuss with you."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, will you stay in the harem tonight?"

Qian Yong's face flashed with an unnatural look, and he replied, "Your Majesty will not stay in the harem tonight."

Then he said goodbye and left without saying anything more.

Pei Yuan frowned slightly.

If I don't go to the harem, it will be difficult to deliver my letter.

But there are more important things right now, so I can only see how to deal with Qian Ning first.

This kind of thing will happen again once, and maybe I will have the opportunity to sneak into the palace at night again in the future.

The duty room where Pei Yuan temporarily rested was where the Jinyiwei military officers on duty were. From time to time, patrolmen from the Jinyiwei would come back to rest in the outer wing room.

Pei Yuan pushed the door open and took a general look at the surrounding terrain. Just as he was about to go back to his room, he heard a door next to him open. A captain in seventh-rank uniform asked with a respectful smile, "Are you Captain Pei?"

Pei Yuan did not answer. He looked at the people who showed up one after another. The captain suddenly realized and said quickly, "It's okay. They are all our people."

Pei Yuan understood a little.

These people should all be Qian Ning's confidants, no wonder they dared to meet with me in the palace.

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, I am Pei Yuan. It seems that you are all trusted confidants of Commander Qiandu."

The captain smiled and said, "I dare not. The commander was afraid that someone would cause trouble, so he asked us to help cover up. Actually, it's okay. Everyone knows that Captain Pei is one of our Jinyiwei."

"And I also heard that Captain Pei has an ivory waist badge and can rush to the palace to help at any time."

Pei Yuan ignored the question and casually inquired about the news, "Are the guards here all from the Jinyiwei?"

The captain shook his head, "This is where the eunuchs on duty live. We only occupy these few rooms."

Pei Yuan said "Oh" and pretended to ask casually, "I just happen to be free and have nothing to do. I am also curious about this palace. Can I take a walk around here?"

"This..." The centurion smiled bitterly, "Chief Husband, please don't embarrass us. After all, this matter is somewhat taboo."

Pei Yuan said disapprovingly, "This is not the harem. Besides, I am also a Jinyiwei, so what if I am just patrolling the night?"

Fortunately, Pei Yuan only tried a little, and then he covered it up and said, "Well, let's get down to business."

After saying that, he went back to his room.

When the captain saw Pei Yuan go back, he whispered from behind, "If the captain has anything to do, just call us and we will handle it."

Pei Yuan did not respond and returned to the duty room.

It was completely dark now, and only a dim oil lamp was lit in the duty room.

Pei Yuan thought about the various possibilities of this matter, and for a moment, his mind was a little confused.

Not long after, when it was time to eat, the centurion personally brought some wine and food.

The food was plentiful, but it was all cold.

Pei Yuan had no appetite, so he ate a little and asked someone to take it away.

After waiting for a while, Qian Ning still didn't come.

Pei Yuan looked at the lamp boredly, watching the oil in the lamp bowl slowly boil away.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to ask someone to add more people, so he simply lay down on the couch in the duty room and rested for a while.

But I'm so confused and can't sleep.

Pei Yuan was bored and thinking about random things, but the noise outside was clearly heard. The Jinyiwei who had just answered Pei Yuan seemed to have gone out for rotation after staying for a short time. The Jinyiwei who came back had not been making any noise for long when they heard snoring coming from next door.

About two hours later, it seemed that a new group of people had been rotated in, but from the noise, the centurion was not among them.

Pei Yuan believed in Qian Ning's methods. These people should all be his confidants, so he was not worried about anything going wrong.

From beginning to end, no one came to this duty room.

Pei Yuan was tossing and turning on the couch and was getting really uncomfortable. Just as he was about to sit up and wait, he heard a gentle knock on the window.

Pei Yuan was shocked, wondering if Qian Ning was here.

Although he had this thought, when there was another knock on the window, Pei Yuan subconsciously asked, "Who?"

Then a soft voice came from outside, "Is it Captain Pei?"

Pei Yuan realized that it was not Qian Ning's voice and immediately became alert.

He quickly glanced around the dark duty room, and with the help of the faint light he had already adapted to, he noticed a bench not far from the couch. The wood of the bench was very solid.

Pei Yuan gently reached out his hand to make sure he could take the bench at any time, but he asked the person outside the window in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

The person outside replied with a smile, "Our family..., of course, belongs to Captain Pei."

Pei Yuan was startled at first, then he guessed something, and replied decisively, "Come in and meet me."

After a while, the door was pushed open and moonlight leaked in.

Then, an old eunuch who looked a little hunched appeared outside the door and slowly walked into the duty room.

Pei Yuan looked at the old eunuch, alert, and asked again, "Who do you say you belong to?"

The old eunuch stopped at a distance that made Pei Yuan feel safe, and replied with a smile, "Of course, we belong to Captain Pei."

The old eunuch was standing in the moonlight, so Pei Yuan couldn't see his expression. He wanted to ask something, but was afraid of exposing some secrets.

Fortunately, the old eunuch seemed to understand Pei Yuan's concerns and took the initiative to add, "It was Eunuch Xiao Jing who helped me find the way. That's how I joined the Qianhu Sect."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard him reveal his identity.

Pei Yuan was afraid that the Jinyiwei who had returned to rest in other rooms would hear the noise here, so he said, "Come closer and talk."

He glanced at the oil lamp on the table and said casually, "There's no oil in the bowl, so leave a hole in the door."

The main thing is, in case something goes wrong, the door will be left open so Pei Yuan can move in quickly.

The old lady overheard and laughed, "It's okay, I'm used to serving people."

As he spoke, he first closed the door tightly, then reached into his sleeve and took something out as if it were a magic trick.

Before his hands left the sleeves, they were already shining.

Then he took out a burning oil lamp from his sleeve.

The cotton wick burned very brightly, and the small porcelain bowl was filled with lamp oil.

Pei Yuan took a glance, and then took advantage of the firelight to look at the old eunuch's face.

I saw that he had a sinister face and didn't look like a good person.

Seeing Pei Yuan looking at him, the old eunuch forced a smile and said, "My name is Li Zhang. If the captain sees Governor Xiao, you can ask him a question."

Pei Yuan said "oh" and remembered this name. This was indeed one of the key figures in the palace that Xiao Yan had mentioned to him.

Moreover, in addition to Xiao Yan's introduction, Pei Yuan vaguely remembered that this Li Zhang seemed to be Xiao Jing's best friend in history.

Later, after Li Zhang's death, the eunuch Xiao Tong wrote to the emperor, hoping to help Li Zhang's nephew, Deputy Captain Li Jinsheng, to get promoted.

Ok……

Yes, eunuch Xiao Tong.

All I can say is that Xiao Jing is indeed a ruthless person, and Xiao Yan managed to escape in the end.

In the end, it was Xiao Tong, the "third generation of prisoner", who took the knife and entered the palace to inherit this promising career.

Pei Yuan felt relieved knowing that Li Zhang was a staunch supporter of the Xiao family.

The Xiao family has invested too much in Pei Yuan, and the relationship between the two sides can no longer be completely removed. The level of trust between them is still relatively high.

At least Xiao Tong was involved in killing Zhang Yong. Many people in Xiao Jing's party were also implicated in helping Queen Xia pass on information in the palace.

Pei Yuan asked Li Zhang, "How did you know I was here?"

Li Zhang smiled while hunching over, "I happened to be patrolling with some guards tonight, and I heard some Jinyiwei talking about, ahem, saying that Captain Pei, who defeated Jiang Bin, was staying with them, so I got the news."

Pei Yuan cursed inwardly after hearing this.

Qian Ning's men are really unreliable. They swear solemnly in front of others, but then they brag to others later.

Pei Yuan could roughly guess what Li Zhang meant by the words about the Spring and Autumn style of writing.

I didn’t expect that there were also little black guys in the Jinyiwei.

Pei Yuan was more concerned about the extent to which the news of his entry into the palace had spread, so he asked, "Have many people heard about it?"

Li Zhang replied calmly, "You can't say it's spread everywhere."

Pei Yuan took a breath when he heard this.

Li Zhang consoled him, "Don't worry, Captain. These imperial guards who are capable of guarding the imperial city can still tell who to joke with and who to keep quiet about."

"We are all military families for generations, and we understand the relationship here."

"Besides, a Qianhu has the power to enter the palace at any time, and he is also a member of the Shangzhi Qinjunwei, so it's nothing."

During the day, Pei Yuan complained that the way Li Cong and others competed for favor with Qian Ning was too simple and crude, and they were unable to do any detailed work.

I didn't expect that the Jinyiwei was even more of a makeshift team.

When Pei Yuan was silently worrying about the hidden dangers here, he heard Li Zhang say again, "Besides, even if His Majesty heard about this, if he knew that it was Qian Ning who asked Pei Qianhu to come to think of a countermeasure, he probably wouldn't blame him for anything."

Pei Yuan listened to the meaning of Li Zhang's words, confirmed his guess, and asked calmly, "Why do you say that?"

A faint smile appeared on Li Zhang's sinister face. "Your Majesty is still young and energetic."

"He was originally happy to go and train with the four outer armies, but was forced to do so by the border troops. He had no choice but to fight Qian Ning."

"Your Majesty, don't you have any dignity?"

"If he doesn't get back this place, how can he face those four foreign armies in the future?"

"In this way, wouldn't his grand military exercise be a failure and become a laughing stock?"

"So, Your Majesty nominally reprimanded Qian Ning, but he was actually looking forward to resolving this conflict as soon as possible. It would be best if the border troops could bow their heads and let him regain his lost face."

Pei Yuan became more active after hearing this.

If the emperor is happy with this matter, it seems that there will be a lot of room for maneuver.

Pei Yuan then asked Li Zhang, "Do you know anything else?"

Li Zhang shook his head and sighed, "Since Eunuch Xiao passed away, my old self can only get a job as a night patroller. How can I have the chance to show my face in front of the emperor?"

Pei Yuan listened and subconsciously asked, "Is he just inspecting the front hall? What about the harem?"

"The harem?" Li Zhang was stunned for a moment, looked at Pei Yuan suspiciously, and then replied, "The harem will naturally have its turn."

Pei Yuan explained calmly, "You may not know that Eunuch Xiao Jing was sent to supervise iron smelting because he offended the Queen Mother. When you inspect the harem, remember to pay more attention."

After hearing this, Li Zhang sighed.

"Don't worry, Captain. We old slaves know the importance of this matter. When we patrol the harem, we are mainly looking after Queen Xia. Whether we old slaves can enjoy our old age in peace depends on when Queen Xia can get through it."

Seeing that Li Zhang was very proactive, Pei Yuan brought the topic to Queen Xia.

Taking this opportunity, he asked, "How is Queen Xia doing?"

Li Zhang said, "She is the queen. As long as the emperor is still alive, who dares to do anything to her? Even if there are some who want to please the queen dowager, they are only targeting those who help the queen."

"Earlier, Queen Xia was blocked from receiving any news, and she panicked for a while."

"Later, we contacted Queen Xia, and she gradually put her mind at ease. However, due to the Queen Mother's decree, she can only walk in a small courtyard in the palace every day and is not allowed to meet with other concubines and palace maids."

Pei Yuan deliberately sighed after hearing this, "What a canary."

After saying this, he calmly checked Li Zhang's expression.

Li Zhang seemed to be unaware of anything and just stood there with his head bowed.

Pei Yuan didn't get any useful feedback, and for a moment he didn't know whether he could explain that important matter.

Li Zhang observed the other's expression and after a moment, he slowly asked, "Does the captain have any instructions?"

Pei Yuan told the truth, "I have a very confidential letter that I want to send to the Queen."

As he spoke, he was still observing Li Zhang's expression.

Li Zhang had a calm expression on his face. He did not offer to help deliver the letter, or say anything to prove himself or express his determination.

Pei Yuan couldn't say he was disappointed.

Just as he was about to think of another way, he heard Li Zhang slowly say, "It's not easy to enter the harem. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Pei Yuan was taken aback. For a moment he could not tell whether Li Zhang was serious or joking.

He did not say what he thought, but asked, "Can this be done?"

Li Zhang asked, "Hasn't Qian Hu entered the harem before?"

Pei Yuan was startled and immediately remembered that the last time he framed the queen, the East Factory Governor Zhang Rui had taken him into the harem.

Pei Yuan said unhappily, "I have serious business to do, please don't tease me."

A smile appeared on Li Zhang's sinister face at this moment.

He seemed to have finally confirmed Pei Yuan's intentions, and slowly said, "In all dynasties, it was not easy for men to enter the harem, but our dynasty is an exception."

(End of this chapter)