After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

After the feast, the storm also stopped. Pei Jiaoran had to re-examine his next move. He was thinking about how to contact all parties to dig out what he wanted.

The blazing summer sun hung over the Taiji Palace, dispelling the dampness that enveloped it. At the court meeting, the Emperor of Wei sent the Secretary of the Honglu Temple to announce the reward to Tubo. Although it was reduced from the past, Ran Gan was not dissatisfied, but happily accepted the reward given by the Wei court this time.

They said that Tubo was willing to pay tribute to the Wei court for generations, but few people in the court believed them.

After the court was dismissed, Pei Jiaoran judged the government affairs together with the officials on duty in the capital in the official housing of the Secretariat in other provinces before going to his own official housing.

He had just sat down for a while, holding a document that had just been delivered by his colleagues. The door slammed open and was pushed open from the outside.

Looking up at the blue-robed eunuch at the door, Pei Jiaoran sneered, "Oh, didn't anyone in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ye Ting teach you the rules? Yuan Zhengze."

"I……"

"Mr. Pei..." The servant who came from nowhere looked at Pei Jiaoran with a guilty look on his face. Seeing that she didn't say anything, he turned around and kicked Yuan Zhengze, "Where did you come from, you bastard? Can you come to the public room of the Minister of the Central Secretariat at will? Tell me where you serve, or I will let your steward beat you to death."

Enduring the beatings and kicks from the servants, Yuan Zhengze lifted his clothes and knelt down.

"Okay, you can go down." Pei Jiaoran waved to the servant, signaling him to leave.

Pei Jiaoran was looking through the documents on the desk, writing non-stop, "Why did you come to see me?"

"I saw Zhang Jue and his men leave the palace last night." Yuan Zhengze raised his eyes and quickly looked at Pei Jiaoran, "He came back at midnight."

"How do you know?" Pei Jiaoran paused and spoke calmly.

"I saw it last night when I was feeding the horses in the stable," Yuan Zhengze said.

Hearing this, Pei Jiaoran put down the case file in his hand and looked up at Yuan Zhengze. Taiji Palace is divided into four levels from outside to inside. There are two-foot-long nameplates hanging in front of the door, with a list of people who are qualified to enter and leave. Anyone who enters needs to check the sect record and personal belongings.

As Zhang Rang was a close attendant of the emperor, he naturally did not need to be so strict when leaving the palace. But the fact that the palace gates were open at night made it impossible to ignore this point. According to the standard, to enter and leave the palace after curfew, in addition to checking the gate register, the imperial edict must be sent to the Secretariat. The official on duty at the Secretariat summoned the city gate guard, the on-duty general of the gate, and the guards to come and jointly report. Only after the emperor's approval can he be allowed to leave the palace.

After the gatekeeper and the general inspector checked the seal, he could leave the palace. Zhang Rang left the palace before the gate was closed and returned after the gate was closed. He had to hold the imperial edict to notify the Jinwu Guard, the Censorate, and the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Thinking of this, Pei Jiaoran turned to the cabinet behind her and looked through the documents that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other provinces had processed recently. As she guessed, there was no backup of the imperial edict last night.

It was obvious that Jia Gonglu did not follow the formal procedures to leave the palace this time, and did not even let the Emperor of Wei know. The above was enough to prove that Zhang Rang's control over the power of the foreign court was far deeper than she could see.

Seeing Pei Jiaoran didn't speak, Yuan Zhengze swallowed and called softly, "Mr. Pei?"

Turning around and looking at Yuan Zhengze, Pei Jiaoran smiled and asked, "Why did you tell me this?"

"To repay the favor and also to avenge myself." Yuan Zhengze seemed to have made up his mind, and said in a clear voice, "I am willing to serve you, Lord Pei."

Upon hearing this, Pei Jiaoran folded his arms and leaned against the wooden cabinet behind him. He looked at Yuan Zhengze with a smile, tapping his forearms with his fingers.

"How do you want to help me?" Pei Jiaoran asked in a gentle voice.

"I can help you keep an eye on Zhang Juyuan and serve as your eyes and ears. My family was harmed by Zhang Rang, and I have been humiliated for many years. If I can't avenge him, I would be unworthy of being a son." Yuan Zhengze showed indignation.

It was as if at this moment he had vented all the anger in his heart.

"But why didn't you go to see Lord Cen, Lord Changli and others at the beginning? If you had gone, they might have helped you." Pei Jiaoran said softly.

"You are different from them, or the current situation is different from the past." Yuan Zhengze met Pei Jiaoran's scrutinizing gaze and said in a deep voice: "Since you entered Chang'an, I have watched you step by step rise to the pinnacle of power. I believe you can deal with Zhang Rang."

"So when I ran into you in the outer province of Zhongshu that day, it was you who did it on purpose?" Pei Jiaoran stopped smiling and said lightly.

It was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry in her tone. Yuan Zhengze wanted to explain the reason, but he saw the purple-robed man approaching and stopping in front of him. The purple robe was like clouds flowing down from the sky, with a sense of elegance.

"You are quite smart. But can you get close to Zhang Rang and become his confidant?" Pei Jiaoran gently stroked Yuan Zhengze's shoulder. "With your ability, how long will it take for you to achieve this?"

A confession from the heart may sound nice, but if it doesn't bring any practical benefits, it's meaningless loyalty. She doesn't need such a confession.

"I know what to do. Please trust me for once, Mr. Pei. I will go through fire and water for you." Yuan Zhengze kowtowed three times solemnly, then stood up and left.

Looking at Yuan Zhengze's back as he left, Pei Jiaoran shook her head and sneered. She suddenly looked forward to what kind of surprise he would bring her.

Thinking of what Yuan Zhengze had said just now, Pei Jiaoran frowned. It seemed that he needed to discuss this matter with Cen Xi and others.

Thinking of this, Pei Jiaoran walked towards the public housing of Menxia Province.

When he saw her, a hint of surprise flashed across Cen Xi's face.

"Why are you here, Mr. Pei?" Cen Xi raised his hand to signal the servant waiting at the door to come and serve tea to Pei Jiaoran.

Sitting down opposite Cen Xi, Pei Jiaoran lowered his head and glanced at the steaming tea, and smiled sarcastically, "I just learned an interesting story, are you interested in listening to it, Mr. Cen?"

Hearing her change of self-proclaimed name, Cen Xi's eyelids jumped. He lowered his eyes and said slowly, "What did Mr. Pei know now?"

"Someone came to tell me that Zhang Rang left the palace before closing last night, but returned at midnight. Doesn't that mean he treated the palace ban as nothing?" After saying this, Pei Jiaoran picked up the tea and sipped it.

"If he has an imperial decree, it's okay for him to come back at this time." Cen Xi said.

"That being said, did the Ministry of Personnel have a new imperial edict this morning? Lord Cen, we can't let our guard down." Pei Jiaoran smiled, "Please think about it carefully. In which coup in history books would there be no one who was in charge of the palace ban?"

At this point, Pei Jiaoran sneered, "From the Lü Rebellion, to the Witchcraft Disaster, Huo Guang's dethronement of Liu He, the Party Imprisonment Disaster, to the Gaopingling Incident, each one was related to the control of the palace. Today, Zhang Rang can order the generals of the gate guards to open the palace gates at night. If something big happens tomorrow, you and I will be on his chopping board."

Usually, the stories in the novels describe that as long as one controls important officials and a certain size of army, one can easily seize power. These are all imagined by people who have never seen anything.

Every time a coup d'état occurred in history books, it was not these things that had the final say.

For example, in the coup d'état during the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, you need to first control the arsenal to ensure that you have enough combat power. Then control the Sima Gate and cut off the connection between the inside and outside of the palace to ensure that your decree has the sole legitimacy. Only with a legal edict can you formally arm the army under your jurisdiction, continuously expand your strength, and occupy the political commanding heights to force the opposition to give up resistance.

What is written in the storybook is for outsiders to read, and those inside will only treat it as a joke.