The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

Three seemingly unrelated bloody incidents have left Cai Yan completely baffled. The identities of the victims also leave him unable to discern who the attacks are aimed at. Perhaps, for now, he still believes that the emperor's target is merely the Ministry of Revenue, and that he is only using this opportunity to give him a warning, not that he has to fight to the death.

Qiao Yelan's idea was also very clear—to use these smoke bombs to confuse the other party, and take advantage of Cai Yan's lack of preparation for a counterattack to completely eliminate his subordinates, so that by the time Cai Yan realized what was happening, he would no longer have the qualifications or resources to make a final, desperate struggle.

This is like boiling a frog in lukewarm water; by the time the frog realizes what's happening, it's already too late to jump.

Wang Zhi refilled Qiao Yelan's and the Emperor's cups of hot tea and replaced the hot water bottle in Qiao Yelan's hand with another one.

"I'd love to hear what you're planning to do next."

“That would naturally add another great general to Your Majesty’s side—I will persuade Minister Chen to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, and stand completely on Your Majesty’s side.”

what?

Wang Zhiren, who was behind them, was completely bewildered.

Although he didn't dare to look directly at the emperor's expression, judging from the long silence that followed, he was clearly not the only one whose CPU had been burned out by Qiao Yelan's words.

"Your strategy... is truly unpredictable."

The emperor struggled for a long time before finally coming up with this one comment.

Previously, the Grand Tutor had no reaction to him whatsoever, but after Qiao Yelan went there, the Grand Tutor suddenly stood up for him in the court and even dragged the Ministry of War into the mess, which was how he dealt a heavy blow to Cai Yan.

Just moments ago, they were talking about splitting Cai Yan and Chen Fan to concentrate their firepower on Gao Cheng, but now it's suddenly become that Chen Fan is about to pledge allegiance to them.

What kind of succubus are you that you can bewitch the other person so much?

But the emperor was too embarrassed to ask.

His subordinates served him faithfully and devotedly, yet in the end, he couldn't even understand Qiao Aiqing's methods—

Even the emperor, with his thick skin, felt this was somewhat humiliating.

Even after Wang Zhi pushed Qiao Yelan away, the emperor was still sitting in the back garden, pondering what Qiao Yelan should do.

Until a palace servant came to find him.

"Your Majesty, it's time to eat."

The emperor's lips twitched as his thoughts were interrupted.

Oh no, I won't be able to eat lunch now.

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

As the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, he naturally couldn't ask Qiao Yelan about everything in order to save face. However, as a eunuch who was sent to learn from Qiao Yelan and master the new Shaofu, Wang Zhi didn't have this concern.

He has always been a good student who asks questions whenever he has them.

"Lord Qiao, this servant is truly curious, what exactly are your reasons for persuading Minister Chen to serve His Majesty?"

"It's still the same reason I gave His Majesty before—Minister Chen really has something on us."

Qiao Yelan explained calmly.

"Chen Fan's involvement in the Longmen smuggling is a done deal, and he has dragged almost the entire Ministry of Revenue into the mess. All that's left is for the Court of Judicial Review to dig deeper. Therefore, whenever His Majesty wants to deal with the Ministry of Revenue, there is a reason and evidence to follow. Minister Chen is naturally well aware of this."

"It is precisely because Minister Chen understands this fact that I was able to persuade him. Now, this third seemingly unrelated bloodbath has been linked to Zhu Ronghui, Manager Wang, and Vice Minister Wang by using a banknote from Wang's Trading Company, making the Ministry of Revenue even more turbulent as a result—so what do you think Minister Chen's current thoughts are?"

Wang Zhi pondered for a moment.

"Minister Chen must want to resolve this matter as soon as possible?"

"That's exactly right. Right now, all he can think about is how to protect his money while also getting off the ground safely. At this point, we haven't fully revealed that the real intention behind this series of actions is to deal with Cai Yan. On the surface, the emperor's main focus is still on the Ministry of Revenue, and he's only giving Cai Yan a warning. So what are Prime Minister Cai thinking at this time?"

"As for him... he probably wants to distance himself from the situation, right?"

"That's right, but that's only half true."

Wang Zhi was taken aback.

half?

"They both wanted to extricate themselves from this matter, but the latter part was different—Minister Chen wanted to step down peacefully, while our Prime Minister Cai was thinking about how to maintain his position and political capital."

"After all, our Lord Cai still feels that his chances of winning are still very high—he still wants to continue to control the court with one hand."

The man sat in his wheelchair, a cold smile playing on his lips.

This is the fundamental reason why he was able to completely split the Tsai Ing-wen faction's interests today—one wanted a peaceful landing, while the other wanted to continue stirring up trouble. Now that their interests are aligned, naturally, there is no longer any possibility of cooperation between them.

"But even if Minister Chen and Prime Minister Cai have no possibility of cooperating, how are you so confident that you can persuade him to pledge allegiance to His Majesty and turn against Prime Minister Cai?"

Wang Zhi still didn't understand this logic.

"Chen Fan wants to seek peace. Is it easier for him to ask Cai Yan to do this, or is it easier to ask the Emperor to do this?"

"Naturally, we'll go find Cai..."

The rest of the words suddenly stopped in my throat.

Yes, Cai Yan does have enough influence in the court and the ability to help Chen Fan get through this matter smoothly—but the question is, will he grant Chen Fan's request?

At this critical juncture when he needs the court's support the most?

Cai Yan wanted to regain control of the court. At this point, Chen Fan wanted to back down, but he would never agree to that—because he couldn't afford to lose the support of the Ministry of Revenue!

Especially today, after Chen Fan was forced into the opposite side of Cai Yan by the Grand Tutor.

Cai Yan could certainly understand Chen Fan's choice, but understanding did not mean he could condone it. As long as Prime Minister Cai's ambition did not disappear, he would not relinquish his power. The Ministry of Revenue was an indispensable part of his power, so he would never let go of it!

The reason is the same as before—Cai Yan doesn't have anyone who can replace Chen Fan.

Therefore, for his own benefit, he desperately needed Chen Fan to continue standing up for him and opposing the emperor at this critical juncture.

Even if the Court of Judicial Review had found evidence that could overturn the Ministry of Revenue, he would still insist on doing so.

Because their interests are no longer aligned.

"This is their fundamental contradiction, and what I want to exploit is that Chen Fan knows that the Dali Temple has found enough evidence, and with this evidence as an excuse, the Imperial Guards can confiscate his house—I had His Majesty send Eunuch Zheng with the Imperial Guards to surround the Prime Minister's residence, just to create a misconception for Chen Fan, so that he would think that the Emperor is not afraid to take action against them."

Qiao Yelan smiled and spread her hands.

"What Minister Chen doesn't know is that neither I nor His Majesty intend to touch him at this time—but he doesn't know this fact, and he is afraid of this happening. So this is the bargaining chip I can use to negotiate with Minister Chen."

"That means I can help him extricate himself from this matter, and even help him keep his position as Minister of Revenue."

Wang Zhi now understood and was deeply moved.

So this Lord Qiao is trying to get something for nothing.

"Your strategies are truly... intricately linked."

"Interlocking? No, not at all. The longer the plan, the more likely it is to go wrong. What determines which plan I use is the reaction of the person I'm scheming against—because for any reaction from them, I have corresponding countermeasures to turn the outcome toward the one I need."

Qiao Yelan corrected.

"For example—Eunuch Wang, if after I go there this time, Minister Chen is determined to take another gamble and fight alongside Cai Yan to the end, what would you do if you were me?"

Wang Zhi was dumbfounded. Qiao Yelan's analysis of interests had reached this level. Chen Fan had no reason or possibility to refuse to stand on the emperor's side, right?

"If, just hypothetically, you were faced with this reaction, what would you do?"

"I...this humble servant is dull-witted and truly does not know what to do."

"Actually, the answer is very simple: we should bribe those vice ministers and senior officials in the Ministry of Revenue."

Qiao Yelan laughed.

"Bribing the Vice Minister and the Chief Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Even Minister Chen Fan is thinking about landing safely. Do you think any of these vice ministers and doctors who have taken the money would dare not run away?"

The man's voice was casual, as if such a scheme was utterly insignificant to him.

"Just use His Majesty's name to protect a few people and tell them to go along with the crowd and contradict Cai Yan in court. Then everyone will realize that Chen Fan has actually lost control of the Ministry of Revenue—so Chen Fan's attitude can no longer represent the Ministry of Revenue, and he will lose his usefulness to Cai Yan."

"What's scary isn't being caught up in something, what's scary is being caught up in something and losing your value."

Wang Zhi carefully pondered this sentence.

Then he realized why Qiao Yelan wasn't worried about the Vice Minister and the Physician refusing to be bribed—

As everyone witnessed during today's court assembly, Minister Chen opposed Prime Minister Cai's proposal and sided with the Emperor.

Even superiors know to be opportunistic and side with the emperor when necessary. So how could these guys who have been in officialdom for so many years not know that it's time to find a way out for themselves?

Whether it's bribing Chen Fan or the Vice Minister, the result will be the same—the Ministry of Revenue will side with the Emperor and take advantage of the Cai faction's misfortune.

The least important aspect of this is probably Chen Fan's attitude towards this attempt to win him over.

Could Chen Fan have thought of this?

Perhaps.

But even if I think of it, what can I do?

Who knows what will happen next?

no difference.

Qiao Yelan said that when Minister Chen stood up at today's court meeting and said, "I second that," it was the final nail in the coffin of the Cai faction.

Now, he's going to drive the nail in himself.

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Ace pushed Qiao Yelan and arrived at the Chen residence.