They knew they had been discovered because near the training grounds, fine strings were tied. The other end of the strings was connected to the valley floor, where bells were hung.
Different directions had different bells controlling them. The moment the bells rang, the people guarding the valley floor were immediately alerted and rushed up the mountain.
When the people on the mountain touched the strings, they knew they had been discovered and quickly retreated. Although they were also trained, they were not as fast as Huangfu Xingchen's men.
They were eventually captured. The captured men said nothing. For the sake of safety, An Feng ordered everyone to retreat quickly and effectively to the rear base. This so-called rear base was a fallback route prepared by Huangfu Xingchen for them, fearing that if they were discovered one day, they would be wiped out. Now it came in handy.
Of course, before leaving, they did not forget to eliminate a few black-clothed men. All were killed with a single strike and then they escaped through a secret passage.
What they didn't know was that as soon as they left, large numbers of people arrived. Looking at the empty valley floor and the few corpses lying on the ground, the leader of the black-clothed men angrily pounded the table in front of him, regretting that those people had reacted so quickly. They sent people to search the area, but found nothing but daily necessities.
Although their efforts were in vain, the leader of the black-clothed men still reported his findings to the Emperor, as they were the Emperor's secret guards.
Someone was privately training soldiers under his nose, which was intolerable. The Emperor quickly and publicly sent people to investigate.
Soon, they discovered the secret passage. However, the exit of the secret passage was on a mountain near a fork in the road. The tracks on the road had been cleaned up, making it impossible to investigate.
Of course, to avoid attracting attention, Huangfu Xingchen ordered his subordinates to stop all activities and hide temporarily.
Everyone in the capital was speculating about how many soldiers were hidden in the valley and who they belonged to. Although the Emperor had enfeoffed the eldest prince as crown prince after returning to the capital, historically, there had been many instances of deposed crown princes. Moreover, the crown prince had not yet ascended the throne. Who knew if he would live to see that day?
Therefore, the minor movements of various princes continued unabated. However, most of the ministers in the court were loyalists who firmly supported the eldest prince, which meant that all their actions could only be carried out in secret.
The capital was not peaceful, and the outside was the same. Currently, there were nine vassal kings. Although they appeared to be on good terms, there were already rumors that each of them was hoarding troops and supplies.
After all, they were all royal descendants. Why should that person sit on the throne and not them? They were all resentful. Furthermore, the Emperor was wary of them, forbidding them from entering the capital without an imperial decree and keeping the heirs apparent of various vassal kings in the capital as hostages, thus separating them from their kin. Many vassal kings dared not speak their minds and were already dissatisfied with the court.
The Emperor was reviewing documents with a splitting headache when he suddenly noticed Liang Wang's memorial. Upon seeing the content, he was so angry that he threw the memorial on the ground.
"Look, look, what does Liang Wang mean by this?" The Emperor, trembling with anger, pointed at the memorial on the ground and said to the grand eunuch beside him.
The grand eunuch quickly picked up the memorial from the ground and read its contents. He said with some concern, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It is not worth getting angry with those people. It breaks my heart to see you so angry."
"I don't want to be angry, but what does Liang Wang mean? He says his mother is seriously ill and wants to let Liang Wang's heir apparent return home for a visit. I'm afraid that once he leaves, he won't come back." The Emperor rubbed his temples, saying with a headache.
"They have ambitious intentions. What does Your Majesty plan to do?" Generally, eunuchs did not dare to pry into the Emperor's thoughts, but this grand eunuch was special. He had grown up with the Emperor and was a trusted confidant. The Emperor trusted him, so he dared to ask what he thought.
"Alas, I am also troubled. To be honest, I don't want him to go back. After all, I am well aware of their clandestine activities. Liang Wang has been particularly restless these years. I heard that Liang Wangfei and Liang Wang are deeply in love, and Liang Wang's heir apparent is their first child. It is conceivable that he holds a very important position in their hearts." The Emperor said with some distress.
After thinking for a long time, he continued, "If I let him go back, Liang Wang will have no scruples and might rebel. If only he rebels, it would be fine. After all, the troops they have amassed cannot compare with those of the court. But if those vassal kings stir up trouble, or even if some of them think of the mantis stalking the cicada, while the oriole is behind, there might be a melee, and it's uncertain whether the dragon throne can be kept."
"It will be even more troublesome if they join forces against the imperial court. Should I summon a few ministers to discuss countermeasures with Your Majesty?" The grand eunuch pondered and asked.
The Emperor nodded. He really couldn't think of any good solution, so he could only find a few confidants to see if they had any good ideas.
After several ministers arrived, they engaged in a heated discussion. After much deliberation, they decided to send an official with imperial physicians to Liang Wang's fief to treat his mother.
The Emperor thought this method was feasible and finally nodded. But who should be chosen? This became another difficult problem.
The next day, in the court, the Emperor publicly stated the problem, hoping that some minister would volunteer.
As a result, a fifth-rank official actually stepped forward. "This humble minister is willing to share Your Majesty's worries."
The Emperor frowned unconsciously when he saw him. Although this was not his ideal candidate, he felt relieved upon considering his abilities.
As for their grudges, it was when he was young and playful, sneaking out of the palace and going near the official's home. He encountered the official playing with clay figures at that time. The Emperor was captivated by the clay figures and directly tried to snatch them. The boy at that time directly beat him up. Afterward, although the Emperor felt that snatching other people's things was wrong, the other party should not have resorted to violence. This grievance had always been held in his heart.
Since he ascended the throne, he had remained in the fifth-rank position, unchanging for so many years. Both sides tacitly never mentioned it, nor did they ever meet alone. If he hadn't stepped forward today, the Emperor would have forgotten him.
After a moment of silence, seeing that no one else came forward, the Emperor directly instructed him, and then arranged for him to travel with Imperial Physician Li.
The Emperor thought that Liang Wang and his wife were using an excuse to bring their son home, but in fact, he was mistaken. This time, it was truly Liang Wang's birth mother who was seriously ill and on the verge of death, which was why he submitted the memorial.
Although Liang Wang had rebellious intentions, he was self-aware. He knew that his strength among the vassal kings was not outstanding, and he understood the principle of "the bird that sticks out is shot." He knew that the first to oppose the imperial court would have no good end. Therefore, he had not yet considered raising an army to rebel.