The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

Now, when Qiao Yelan rushed at him, he found that he had no way to resist.

The Grand Commandant was his old friend, and the two of them knew each other too well—this was a dead end, and even if they joined forces now, they would not be able to fight against Qiao Yelan.

Because His Majesty was standing behind Qiao Yelan.

Moreover, they no longer have the right to shake His Majesty's trust in Qiao Yelan.

What else could they do? Raise an army? Purge the court of corrupt officials?

What a joke—this matter is so egregious that even the Grand Tutor and the Grand Commandant would rather die than do it.

Even if the purge of corrupt officials succeeds, so what? If the Emperor of Great Yan cannot control his army and civil officials, then he will have to replace him in that position—otherwise, it would be pure rebellion.

Who else in the Great Yan royal family can take over now?

Wei Yanwu?

What the hell is the difference between that and the current situation?

Is there a significant difference between Wei Yanwu's trust in Qiao Yelan and the trust that His Majesty currently bestows upon him?

Another wave of dizziness washed over me.

The Grand Tutor, panting, grabbed the back of the chair and slumped down.

Even Vice Minister Ning can now see that something is very wrong with the Grand Tutor.

He was about to ask a question when he saw the Grand Tutor wave his hand weakly and lower his head.

Before leaving the capital, Qiao Yelan spent half a month crushing Cai Yan and his faction; after returning to the capital, he spent another half a month crushing himself and the Grand Commandant...

So, all three of them combined are only equivalent to Qiao Yelan's monthly performance—and that's after factoring in the contributions of the two ministers from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue.

How long did Qiao Yelan actually live?

How many months of sales performance did he achieve?

"That's none of your business. You can leave now."

"Huh? But teacher..."

"Get down—"

The Grand Tutor suddenly let out a heart-wrenching cough.

"roll!"

Ning Shilang trembled, withdrew his outstretched hand that he had wanted to help the Grand Tutor, bowed, and left the courtyard dejectedly.

Now, only Grand Tutor and Qiao Yelan remain in the archives—oh right, and Ace too.

The Grand Tutor caught his breath, raised his head, and stared at Qiao Yelan.

“We have already done as you said, whether it is the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion or the Jade Gate—what do you want in return for letting Great Yan go?”

"Your Excellency is too kind. Everything I have done is for the prosperity of the Great Yan Dynasty."

"This place is already isolated. Even if His Majesty sends someone, they won't hear a sound—just give me a straight answer."

The old man sat hunched over in the chair, his once upright posture gone.

"You have already captured Cai Yan for His Majesty. Among the six ministers of the court, Chen Fan is extremely respectful to you. The ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works, and even the Ministry of Justice all have a good impression of you because of your previous actions. His Majesty also relies heavily on you."

"I concurrently hold the positions of Minister of Rites, while the Minister of War serves under the Grand Commandant. Now, both the Grand Commandant and I will be implicated in this case, and the two who rise to power will undoubtedly have no connection to us and lack any real influence. Therefore, whoever they are, they will be grateful to you and try to curry favor with you..."

"The three dukes have all fallen, their wings have all been broken, and within the Six Ministries, half are grateful and respectful to you, and the other half are friendly and on good terms with you... Moreover, you have been in the Great Yan for less than ten months, and you have spent nine of those months traveling abroad. In fact, the diplomatic achievements you have made while you were abroad can be said to be the first since the establishment of the Court of State Ceremonial."

Qiao Yelan bowed humbly.

"You flatter me, Grand Tutor."

“Cai Yan has been entrenched in the court for decades, with disciples and former officials all over the country. He has also been painstakingly cultivating connections for several years since His Majesty fell seriously ill. But even at the height of Cai’s faction, it was not even one or two tenths as powerful as your current situation. Even so, he is still able to suppress His Majesty in the court.”

The Grand Tutor stared intently at Qiao Yelan.

"With your skills, it's naturally a piece of cake."

"These are words that strike at the heart; Your Excellency, you must not utter them again."

Qiao Yelan continued to speak in a calm and official tone.

Ace, standing to the side, was already tense, and with a slight shift of her body, she had subtly separated Qiao Yelan and the Grand Tutor.

He didn't understand what the two people were saying, but his sense of smell as a guard had already told him that the old man opposite him was acting strangely.

Are you going to answer me like that again?

"Why not?"

The old man frowned.

"You...you didn't inform His Majesty about this?"

"If I were to inform His Majesty of this matter, do you think I would come to see you with only one guard?"

Qiao Yelan countered with a question.

"We've been dealing with each other for quite a while now. If I were to really push you and the Grand Commandant into a corner, do you think you'd still be there for me?"

The Grand Tutor remained silent.

If the other party is truly plotting against me, I'm afraid I won't see Qiao Yelan's figure until the very moment the butcher's knife is about to fall on my neck.

"So what is the purpose of your visit?"

"I don't have much of a relationship with Grand Commandant Da Yan. We just had some tacit cooperation under Blood Peak six years ago. There aren't many people in this world who can cooperate with me."

Qiao Yelan smiled gently and elegantly.

"This time I have a rare opportunity to stay in the capital for a long time, so I would like to pay a visit to the Grand Commandant. However, I am short of money and cannot afford a gift that would allow me to enter the Grand Commandant's residence. Therefore, I have come to ask the Grand Tutor to borrow one."

The Grand Tutor remained silent.

Can't you just stop being a riddle maker? — You almost gave me a heart attack just by borrowing something.

"However, I noticed that the Grand Tutor seemed to be trying to take advantage of me, which made me quite uncomfortable. Although Babel Tower is a trading company, I disdain such coercive practices and naturally do not like others using them against me."

The old man's heart skipped a beat.

He originally thought he was giving Qiao Yelan a way out so that he could see Minister Ning, but he didn't expect Qiao Yelan to think that he was using him.

"...I had absolutely no such intention."

"I hope so."

Qiao Yelan said calmly.

"When will I be able to see the Grand Commandant?"

"...I need to plan this for a while longer."

"It's okay, he's the one who's running out of time, not me."

The other party's words made the Grand Tutor's heart skip a beat again, and the shadow in his heart returned.

"Five days later, on the ninth day of the ninth month, I will invite the Grand Commandant to climb the mountain. At that time, on the peak of Tianyue Mountain, the two of us will have a good chat."

"it is good."

Qiao Yelan said calmly, gesturing for Ace to push her away.

As the old man watched Qiao Yelan leave, he knew that today was finally over.

He felt like he was about to have heart failure. Was being with Qiao Yelan while using his brain really this terrifying?

Qiao Yelan, who had already left, casually tossed back a sentence.

“I know you’re looking for a good reason to keep it from His Majesty’s eyes—but you seem to have forgotten your apprentice’s personality. Judging from your reaction today, if you want to keep this matter within the Si Sui Tai, you’d better go find Vice Minister Ning quickly, otherwise he might resign and make a big fuss about it.”

Before he could finish speaking, the Grand Tutor had already darted out of the courtyard behind Qiao Yelan.

The old man swore he would always carry three bottles of quick-acting "educational pills" with him from now on!

---------------------------------------------------------

"Cough cough... cough cough."

"Is your cold still not better?"

The Grand Tutor's voice carried a hint of doubt.

"I guess it's not going to get better."

The other person said calmly.

"Move over there a bit, leave this sunny spot for me, let me bask in the sun a little longer."

"Then drink more tea later. This Tianyue Spirit Spring will be good for you."

However, the person speaking with the Grand Tutor was not interested in this.

"Speak, it's been five or six years since we last met outside those palace walls. Is there anything we can't say in the imperial court?"

Grand Commandant Da Yan stared at his old friend and took the initiative to start a conversation.

"So, the late emperor's order was issued only five or six years ago?"

The Grand Tutor did not look at the Grand Commandant, but instead looked at the scenery below the mountain.