Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Upon hearing this, Hai Shanyan pondered for a moment and shook his head: "It's hard to say. At the Millennium Dragon Ascension Banquet, 108 heroes and outstanding figures gathered together, and a hundred schools of thought contended. In such a grand public occasion, no one would be weak in the slightest, much less obey others, lest they tarnish their own reputation."

"I'm sure the Admiral is aware of the saying 'the taller the tree, the more the wind will blow.' By hosting the Millennium Dragon Ascension Banquet, the Admiral has already placed himself in the eye of the storm. There will likely be some who try to steal the show and deliberately sabotage it. I hope the Admiral will take precautions, otherwise, it will easily become a laughing stock for all time."

"You're quite cunning, Brother Hai." Zhou Qingfeng took a sip of tea and smiled at Hai Shanyan. He had heard too much official jargon and platitudes. Hai Shanyan's words sounded sincere, but they were completely useless. They were just empty words, and he had the air of a seasoned slickman.

Hai Shan Yan: "Just stating the facts."

Zhou Qingfeng smiled slightly: "Alright, since it's a factual account, let's continue. Who exactly should I be wary of?"

Hai Shan Yan: "Qin Xinsu, Huangfu Yunlan, and Yuwen Tuo, these three should be given special attention."

Zhou Qingfeng: "Tell me why."

Hai Shan Yan: "Qin Xinsu is a woman with an eccentric temperament, looking down on the world, and extremely domineering in her conduct. She will definitely overshadow the host."

Zhou Qingfeng: "Okay, continue."

Hai Shan Yan: "Princess Yunlan will most likely cause you trouble as well, because Huangfu Yunzheng died at the hands of the Admiral. Although the Heavenly Pride Competition is a contest where life and death are the responsibility of the participants, Princess Yunlan cannot kill you in the name of revenge due to the rules, but she will definitely take this opportunity to make you lose face."

Zhou Qingfeng asked, "What is the relationship between Princess Yunlan and Grandson Yunzheng? Are they very close?"

The Mangque royal family has many members, with princes and grandsons scattered throughout the empire. There are at least ten million princes, princesses, dukes, and dukes of all kinds. Their relationships vary in closeness and distance, and most of them never even meet once in their entire lives.

The death of a nominal relative is not a cause for much grief, and the idea of ​​avenging a relative is even more absurd. Perhaps only direct relatives such as the prince father, princess mother, and maternal uncle of the grandson of the emperor would hate Zhou Qingfeng to the bone.

Hai Shan Yan: "It's a bit complicated, and it involves a royal scandal, touching on the current emperor's private morality."

Zhou Qingfeng sensed the juicy gossip, grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the tea table, and said with great interest, "Tell me quickly, what's going on?"

Hai Shan Yan licked his lips and unconsciously lowered his voice, saying, "When he was young, Emperor Gengshi was diligent and wise, and he made good use of his virtuous ministers. He saved the empire from gradual decay and brought it to its peak, entering a true golden age."

"But as Emperor Gengshi grew older, he gradually became addicted to pleasure and became extremely licentious."

“They don’t even spare their daughters-in-law.”

"Yun Zheng and Yun Lan are the masterpieces created by Emperor Gengshi."

"The two are about the same age and appear to be aunt and niece, but they could also be siblings."

Zhou Qingfeng's eyes widened: "Huh? This generational hierarchy is a bit messed up."

Hai Shan Yan whispered, "According to unofficial history... according to unofficial history, I don't know if it's true or not, Admiral, just listen for fun, don't take it seriously."

"The Prince Guo and Princess Yang had a son, who was Huangfu Yunzheng."

"According to the rules, Prince Guo was to take Princess Yang and the grandson Yun Zheng to pay homage to the Emperor. It was just a formality and nothing serious. However, Princess Yang was born with a seductive nature and was a beauty that could topple kingdoms. After becoming a wife, she became even more charming and alluring."

"Emperor Gengshi only glanced at her before lustful thoughts arose within him, and he wanted to forcibly take Princess Yang as his own. However, due to the constraints of ethics and strict rules, Emperor Gengshi could not openly commit such incestuous acts, as it would be criticized by others. Therefore, he secretly hinted to Prince Guo several times."

"Prince Guo naturally disagreed. Even his own father couldn't let his wife sleep with someone else. So he refused outright, almost pointing his finger at his father and cursing him for being shameless and senile. This made Emperor Gengshi feel extremely ashamed, and he never mentioned the matter to Prince Guo again."

"To guard against his father, Prince Guo hid his beloved wife in the palace and never allowed her to enter the palace again."

"But afterwards, Prince Guo fell out of favor with Emperor Gengshi. He would reprimand Prince Guo for no reason, making Prince Guo feel like every day was a year. He wished he could take his beloved wife and leave the capital, give up the struggle for the throne, go to his fiefdom to be his king, and never come back."

"However, Prince Guo wanted to leave, but Emperor Gengshi refused. Every now and then, he would find fault with Prince Guo and make trouble for him. After two or three years of this back and forth, Prince Guo was completely plunged into despair and helplessness. He couldn't leave, and he couldn't win either way. He was stuck in a dead end."

"Later, Princess Yang realized that she had implicated her husband and did not want him to be forced to his death. After discussing with Prince Guo, she decided to divorce him and became a Taoist priest in the Jinshan Sect. Princess Yang thought that by severing ties with her husband, staying away from the court and joining the Jinshan Sect, the emperor would no longer make things difficult for her husband, and she herself would no longer have to compromise. In this way, she could get rid of Emperor Gengshi's covetousness and spying."

"But the matter did not end there. Not long after Prince Guo and Princess Yang divorced, Emperor Gengshi went to the Jinshan Sect. It was a stormy night, and no one knows exactly what happened. All that is known is that later, a female Taoist priest named Xian Gong Zhenren married Emperor Gengshi and gave birth to a daughter prematurely eight months later, named Huangfu Yunlan."

"There is much speculation about the details. Some say it was a play orchestrated by Prince Guo himself, in order to give Princess Yang to Emperor Gengshi in a roundabout way. Others say that Princess Yang coveted wealth and glory, found a reason to divorce Prince Guo, and changed her identity to become an imperial concubine."

"Moreover, it's really unclear who took the initiative and who was passive that stormy night. Anyway, according to insiders, the Emperor and Princess Yang had a deep conversation in the room all night, while Prince Guo was outside keeping watch."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng's scalp tingled: "Huh? Is it that explosive? Really? This unofficial history is too outrageous!?"

Hai Shan Yan said, "Who knows if it's true or not? Anyway, it's just unofficial history. Just take it as a story and don't spread it around publicly, or you'll be beheaded."

Zhou Qingfeng never expected that his casual question would lead to such a juicy piece of gossip. This gossip really excited him, because such juicy gossip doesn't come around often, nor does it come so easily: "Are Yunlan and Yunzheng siblings or aunt and niece?"

Hai Shan Yan shrugged: "I don't know."

Zhou Qingfeng was enjoying the gossip when it suddenly stopped, which disappointed him. He cracked some melon seeds and said, "What about Yuwen Tuo? Is there anything about him that I'm particularly interested in? Tell me some gossip, I love gossip!"