The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

After entering the 1070s, Da Yan's condition was actually not good.

Emperor Vladimir of Ursus led his army across Terra for forty years without a single defeat. Although he was old and frail, his army remained extremely sharp—and only the Great Yan remained unconquered.

Meanwhile, the former vassal state, the Eastern Kingdom, is now sharpening its knives, attempting to challenge the Great Yan and shake off this mountain above its head.

Within the Great Yan Dynasty, although the court was relatively stable, the emperor was seriously ill, and people's hearts were unsettled. Fortunately, the crown prince was exceptionally talented and was still able to maintain the overall situation.

Everything changed after that war.

Ursus lost its ability to threaten Great Yan, the Eastern Kingdom lost its ability to become independent, and Great Yan's national prestige gained worldwide recognition. The people cheered and their patriotic enthusiasm soared to unprecedented heights.

This should have been a situation where Da Yan soared to great heights—but because of someone's love at first sight, Da Yan, after reaching the point of winning, completely destroyed all the cards in his hand, which can be said to have led to the entire game collapsing.

Did we win? Yes, we won.

Did we really win? If we did.

It wasn't until today that the Great Yan Dynasty finally reached the point it should have been in six years ago—for the entire six years in between, the Great Yan Dynasty had been paying off Wei Yanwu's debts.

“I have never betrayed the alliance, and the Great Yan has never done such a thing—why should we have to pay such a price?”

"I should indeed apologize for that."

To the old man's surprise, Qiao Yelan bowed to him formally to express her apology.

"Because I didn't foresee that Vladimir would betray me, my plan completely failed halfway through—and I wasn't in good condition at the time, so I didn't have time to leave behind many tricks, otherwise the Great Yan shouldn't have been stalled for so long."

"...What do you mean? What plan?"

The Grand Tutor nearly dropped his chopsticks and hurriedly asked.

“If Vladimir hadn’t used the internal defense in this war—in fact, I was planning to cede the Eastern Kingdom to Ursus, Lungmen, Kosice would have been able to establish himself there.”

Qiao Yelan said quietly.

pat.

The Grand Tutor ultimately failed to hold onto those two chopsticks tightly.

“…W-why?”

"Because I need the Great Flame to turn around, from north to south. On the demon side, let Ursus handle the fight, thus reducing one of your battle lines."

Qiao Yelan's explanations were always so unexpected.

"At that time, Vladimir's serf reform plan was only one step away from completion. All the wars he won were actually preparations for this final battle—Ursus needed to swallow the entire Eastern Kingdom whole, and with the help of the Eastern Kingdom's wealth and population, completely complete the elevation of the national system and eliminate the hidden dangers that had been accumulating before."

"Once this is achieved, Ursus will become a unified empire, and like the Great Yan, it will be a nation where the emperor is the state, rather than a fragmented empire where the tsar still rules over a large number of nobles."

"After annexing the Eastern Kingdom, Ursus will completely occupy the entire Northern Ice Plains—so they can replace the Great Yan and take over the front line at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion."

(You can go to the "Geography" section at the beginning of this book to find the geographical location of the Eastern Country).

Qiao Yelan sighed softly.

"At that time, the late emperor was seriously ill, the Eastern Kingdom harbored wolfish ambitions, and I had just discovered problems in the South—so I planned to promote Ursus, eliminate the Eastern Kingdom, and at the same time liberate the Celestial Master through the Internal Guard, allowing the Celestial Master to go south to deal with the [Year] that was about to return after the millennium, as well as the threats from the depths of the ocean."

"Under such circumstances, Ursus also needs a large influx of funds. Therefore, I will support Kosi's entry into Lungmen—she is the Grand Duchess of Ursus, and Lungmen is a city of Great Yan. With this balance, Ursus and Great Yan can share the profits of Lungmen currency equally, because you are both fighting for this land."

The Grand Tutor stared at the man before him, dumbfounded. Even he felt his CPU almost burn out after receiving so much information from those words.

"You—you're so sure that even if Kosei takes over Lungmen, you can still implement the Lungmen Coin plan?"

"Of course, Kosichek's dependence on me is even greater than Wei Yanwu's dependence on me—and Ursus's economic talent is not much better than that black serpent's. So in the end, the Lungmen currency, which is used as collateral for this trade route that runs through Terra from east to west, is still managed by Babel Tower."

Qiao Yelan spoke casually, but the Grand Tutor also felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said.

"As a result, Vladimir betrayed the alliance and used the inner guard. He crossed the line—Ursus proved that they are not trustworthy, so I must temporarily put the task of destroying Ursus's hope as the highest priority."

"As you can see, the situation has turned out like this—Da Yan is trying to shoulder the burden of three fronts, while I only had time to find one person to go to Lungmen so that Da Yan could monopolize the profits of Lungmen currency."

The Grand Tutor nodded silently, as if whoever sits on the throne can go to the Western Paradise to invite the Buddha Jojo—whoever resists the threat to Terra can reap the benefits of Lungmen Dollars.

fair enough.

"Then why Wei Yanwu?"

"As I said, I didn't interfere in the matter between Wei Yanwu and Princess Wenyue. It was truly an accident, only the later events were not accidental."

Qiao Yelan waved his hand.

"It doesn't matter whether the person who goes is Wei Yanwu or not, because I can make anyone take Longmen from Kosichie—whether he is the crown prince of Da Yan or an old man eating fish balls in the slums."

"As for why it was Wei Yanwu—it was simply because he happened to be there."

The Grand Tutor understood.

And it was precisely because he understood that he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Whether Wei Yanwu would fall in love with Wen Yue at first sight is not important.

Whether the Governor of Longmen was Wei Yanwu or not is not important.

Wei Yanwu simply happened to be there at the exact moment Qiao Yelan was about to make his move, and he fulfilled all the requirements of that piece.

—So, he became that pawn.

Qiao Yelan has made it very clear that his time is extremely precious—so he doesn't have the time to plan the life of a mere pawn.

Because flawless pieces are greatly overestimated, his key to victory lies in a vast number of usable pieces.

No piece is irreplaceable.

If you don't do it, there are plenty of pawns who will.

Chapter 140 The Last Person to Become Char Siu

"Is that all?"

The Grand Tutor sighed with a sense of loss.

That's all...

He had thought of many reasons and guessed many explanations—but he never thought of this one.

Or perhaps, he simply dared not think about it.

This means that, as the pinnacle of the Great Yan political machine, he has almost no right to resist Qiao Yelan.

Sometimes, pretending not to see the difference is a good way to maintain rationality.

The Grand Tutor looked at the man before him, whose expression remained completely unchanged.

Perhaps this is why Qiao Yelan doesn't care how many people oppose him openly or secretly...

You may object, but my game will not be affected by your objections, nor will they change my plans.

Even for Qiao Yelan, his opponents were merely pawns in his game.

He arrogantly guarded the Great Yan, wary of "external enemies" coveting the divine artifact—but the external enemies he was wary of didn't care about the artifact, and the people he wanted to protect were all on guard against him.

Thinking of this, the old man suddenly laughed.

"what happened?"

"I remember happy things."

"What happy thing?"

"I suddenly understand how those people from the Court of State Ceremonial felt."

Qiao Yelan: ?

What's there to be happy about?

Turning from an elite civil servant into a lowly employee seems like a step backward.

However, the Grand Tutor did not care. He picked up his chopsticks, rinsed them with some water, and began to eat the fish soup stewed with tofu.

Qiao Yelan is right. The water from Tianyue Spirit Spring is truly excellent, and this fish soup is indeed even more delicious than what I ate in the capital.

Qiao Yelan looked at the Grand Tutor who had suddenly become incredibly magnanimous and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

"Do you still have any questions?"

"That's all, that's all—I'll act as a double agent, covering for you with the Grand Commandant on one hand, and for you with the Grand Commandant on the other. Incidentally, I'll also carry out the preparatory work you mentioned, laying the groundwork for the work of the Year Minister."

The old man didn't even look up, carefully picking out the fish bones.

“You have no interest in ruling a country, or rather, any country you rule is nothing more than a prison that binds you. Since you pose no threat to the Great Yan, why should I make a big deal out of it and create a situation where I please neither side?”

Qiao Yelan raised an eyebrow; the other person's tone seemed somewhat familiar.

How come he looks a bit like Cha Shaoqing of the Court of State Ceremonial?

"Don't forget, you still need to pave the way for me to achieve this."

"Don't worry, I'll write to the Old Master as soon as I get back and let him know. Just do whatever you want, and don't hesitate to ask if you need my help."

The Grand Tutor was clearly engrossed in the pot of fish soup.

This was the first time he had felt so relaxed since the upheaval at the Sishuitai Archives, and his appetite had also returned.

"Since the Grand Tutor likes it, then this pot of crucian carp stew with tofu will be left to you. I will take my leave now."

Although she didn't know why the old man in front of her had suddenly become so indulgent towards her, Qiao Yelan still liked his current attitude.