The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

"You mean...replacing the Prefect of Jingzhao?"

"This case has always been handled by the officials of the Jingzhao Prefecture. Now that the Jingzhao Prefecture has been replaced, it is understandable that they would be in turmoil. If they were to add fuel to the fire, the complete transfer of this case would be delayed by another day."

Cai Yan put down his teacup, his expression calm and composed.

"If two days, including today and tomorrow, are not enough for you to return everything that Manager Wang has—then Vice Minister Wang, you are so incompetent that you should die."

"I understand! I understand! Thank you for your guidance, Prime Minister! Thank you for saving my life, Prime Minister!"

The previously dejected Vice Minister Wang disregarded his superior's expression and directly expressed his gratitude to Cai Yan, bypassing his superior's level.

"Your Excellency, then this humble official will—"

The conversation abruptly stopped when Vice Minister Wang saw the expressionless face of his direct superior, Minister of Revenue Chen Fan.

"Go."

Chen Fan said calmly.

"Yes, I will take care of it now."

After saying that, Vice Minister Wang fled the Prime Minister's residence as if he were escaping.

At this moment, only Cai Yan and Chen Fan remained.

"Do you think that, according to your method, Minister Wang can really escape this calamity?"

“Man proposes, God disposes.”

"What if he can't escape?"

"If he can't escape—that's when His Majesty will seize the opportunity to make trouble."

Cai Yan's words startled Chen Fan.

"you mean......"

"Our Emperor, though young and having not spent much time with the late Emperor, has an exceptionally keen sense for power and intrigue."

Cai Yan sighed softly.

"First, they used the late emperor's name to bring someone back from the outside world. This person has no foundation, no background, and has never been in contact with us—in other words, there is no one in the court who is cleaner than this newly appointed Director of the Imperial Household Department."

"His Majesty is using a lot of money to buy talent from a commoner to promote him from a lowly position to a third-rank official – he wants to clearly tell everyone that as long as you have the ability, His Majesty will give you enough trust and a platform. In this way, he can skip the imperial examination and directly issue a recruitment order to talented people all over the world."

Chen Fan's face darkened.

The imperial examination system was the biggest proof that this group of civil officials, once united, became increasingly unscrupulous.

The emperor could not bypass them to control the imperial examination because, in the end, a person's energy is limited. The emperor could not pay attention to so many scholars. After passing the imperial examination, these scholars entered the officialdom, and those who "cultivated" and "tempered" them were all seasoned senior superiors.

Perhaps these people all had a heart to serve the country and save the world before entering officialdom, but the emperor is only one person and he cannot see them all. Moreover, they did not have the extraordinary talent to break free from the cage - in the end, they still obediently became part of the huge bureaucracy.

Now, the emperor wants to personally remove this obstacle by directly promoting his confidants into officialdom, in order to suppress them directly.

Chen Fan didn't reply; he simply picked up his teacup and pondered to himself.

If the emperor wants to prove his judgment, then the newly appointed Director of the Imperial Household Department must immediately produce results; only then will the "buying horse bones" process be complete.

Therefore, since taking office, Qiao Yelan has been traveling around trying to expand the Shaofu (Imperial Household Department), clearly intending to accomplish great things.

With the title of Junior Minister of the Imperial Household and the financial backing he received, expansion was only a matter of time. However, business matters were clearly not something he could openly pursue.

After all, scholars and officials were "ashamed to talk about money".

Therefore, killing all of Manager Wang's family members who had no intention of selling their businesses was a brilliant move at this time. If Qiao Yelan continued to acquire businesses after Manager Wang's family was wiped out, everyone would think that Qiao Yelan was the one who did it, and everyone would think that this was breaking the rules and lacking morality.

The emperor's actions will also be questioned—does someone like Qiao Yelan really deserve such importance?

So after this incident, Qiao Yelan could not continue making acquisitions, nor did he dare to—he would even return everything he had previously acquired in order to prove that he hadn't done it.

Even the most skilled cook can't cook without rice. No matter how talented Qiao Yelan is, without people, carriages, or shops, he simply cannot expand the Shaofu.

As a result, the emperor's scheme of "spending a thousand pieces of gold to buy a horse's bones" could no longer continue.

The massacre of the entire family was undoubtedly a calculated conspiracy, so Qiao Yelan had no choice but to accept her fate.

Therefore, upon realizing that the play could not continue, the emperor immediately took matters into his own hands and transferred the case to the Dali Temple. Rather than watching Qiao Yelan step down in a sorry state and then being embarrassed himself, it was better to escalate the matter and make it known throughout the city, so that there would be a reason to publicize the case to the world later.

Because if this case is investigated further, no matter what is found, it will ultimately be a dirty secret of the civil service group, not a problem on the emperor's side.

Now, Xu Fan is considering one thing—who exactly orchestrated this open conspiracy to kill Manager Wang?

Judging from the cause, the planners clearly saw through the emperor's methods at a glance, so they immediately fabricated this incident, ruining the emperor's plan and forcing the emperor to bring it to the Dali Temple.

Everyone knows that the Celestial Masters of the Dali Temple are unaffected by power or money, and act solely for the sake of the Great Yan Dynasty and justice.

This is a double-edged sword.

Therefore, the emperor's choice to use the Dali Temple meant that his plan had failed. Rather than admitting defeat at this point, it was better to let the Dali Temple into the game and fight a lose-lose situation.

The fact that the planners chose Manager Wang instead of someone else clearly indicates that they had other motives—they must have intended to drag the Ministry of Revenue into the mess as well.

The true nature of Wangji Trading Company's business operations is extremely secretive, with only a few people knowing the truth—and clearly, the planners knew it, otherwise, wouldn't it have been easy for Qiao Yelan to just randomly choose one of the many trading companies he visited?

Why Manager Wang of all people?

He glanced at Cai Yan almost imperceptibly.

He had thought about this problem when he was in his own residence, so he deliberately brought Vice Minister Wang to see the Prime Minister, wanting to see what his plans were.

Cai Yan offered a completely useless suggestion with just two sentences, which Minister Wang treated like a treasure.

Even a fool could figure it out: the Dali Temple couldn't possibly be held back. So, whether it was Vice Minister Wang transferring the valuables or coming back later, the more he moved, the bigger the flaws would become, and he would eventually be dragged out.

And once he's dragged out, the first one to bear the brunt will be himself, the Minister of Revenue. And if the Court of Judicial Review uncovers even more...

Clearly, Cai Yan was happy to see this happen.

Gao Cheng of the Ministry of Personnel was a student of Cai Yan. It was through the collaboration of these two that the imperial examinations held by the Ministry of Personnel were transformed from selecting officials for the country to selecting servants for themselves.

Although he, as the Minister of Revenue, was in the same faction as the other side, he was ultimately still an outsider.

“Your Excellency, Vice Minister Wang is, after all, a member of the Ministry of Revenue. If His Majesty makes a move against us, targeting the Ministry of Revenue directly, I will be left to fend for myself.”

Chen Fan continued to probe subtly.

"I will naturally speak up for Minister Chen. There's no need to elaborate on that. I understand the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'."

Cai Yan gave a perfunctory verbal promise.

"In that case, I can rest assured."

Chen Fan smiled, but inwardly he was cursing.

You don't know anything!

This guy is clearly planning to sit back and relax first, and then intervene to break up the fight based on the emperor's and his own actions.

He bowed and left the Prime Minister's residence, his suspicions now even more certain.

The person who killed Manager Wang's entire family must be targeting the emperor. In this entire court, besides my family Chen Fan and your family Cai Yan, who else would target the emperor like this?

Who else has the vision to devise this plan?

Who else has the capability to execute this plan?

more importantly--

Who else profited from the smuggling activities of Wang's Company and was fully aware of it?

A dark crack appeared silently in this alliance bound together by shared interests.

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

"This humble official, Yu Cheng, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, greets Lord Qiao."

A middle-aged man, around forty years old, bowed to Qiao Yelan.

"I have met Yu Shaoqing."

Qiao Yelan also bowed to the other party.

"His Majesty has ordered the Court of Judicial Review to take full control of the Wangji Trading Company's massacre case. As someone who had contact with them within the twelve hours prior to the incident, does Lord Qiao have any objections to my investigation and questioning of you?"

“I have no objection. His Majesty has already conveyed the imperial edict in court, and everyone in the Imperial Household Department will cooperate with the Minister of Works’ investigation.”

Qiao Yelan's answer did not change Yu Cheng's expression at all, clearly indicating that whether Qiao Yelan agreed or not would not affect Yu Cheng's behavior.

"When did Lord Qiao meet Manager Wang that day?"

"I don't remember the exact time, but it was probably between 1-3 PM and 3-5 PM. After I met with Manager Wang, I saw that it was still dark, so I went to meet another manager."

Yu Cheng made detailed notes. It was nearing the end of the year, and the days were short in winter. Qiao Yelan's statement matched their inquiries on the street.

"What did Lord Qiao and Manager Wang discuss?"

"It's about the acquisition of Wang's Trading Company—I've been busy these past few days acquiring talented people like shop assistants and managers for the company in order to expand the Shaofu (a government agency). When I discussed this with Manager Wang, he was only willing to sell a few shops, not the people in the company."

"After that, did Lord Qiao ever return to Wang's Trading Company or see Manager Wang again?"

"That's all. I'm going straight to the next shop."

After Yu Cheng had thoroughly inquired about Qiao Yelan's whereabouts and activities in the two days before and after the incident, he paused for a moment and then made a somewhat strange request.

"Lord Qiao, could you arrange for me to have a rough check-up on everyone in the Shaofu?"

The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review said with a serious expression.