The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

"They investigated Manager Wang and found out about the Imperial Household Department. As for Vice Minister Wang, besides the Imperial Guards, they will also find out about his whereabouts after the court assembly that day—he went to Minister Chen's house, but then came out of the Prime Minister's residence."

"Now, the people and departments they are investigating are: Manager Wang, me, the Minister of the Imperial Household, Vice Minister Wang, the Imperial Guards, Minister Chen, Prime Minister Cai, and they will definitely trace all the way to the Ministry of Revenue from Vice Minister Wang."

These cups are dazzling just by being placed on the table, not to mention what each cup represents.

"The saying 'great hermits live in the city' is exactly like this—if the Dali Temple wants to find out the truth, it must find clues from this vast sea of ​​people and events. And among those being investigated, there will definitely be people who conceal or mislead the Celestial Masters because of their own dirty deeds, which will continue to add useless suspects and directions for their investigation."

Qiao Yelan bowed to the emperor again.

"This is why I hope Your Majesty will grant power to the Court of Judicial Review, but not increase its manpower by even a single bit—Your Majesty can use the former to demonstrate Your Majesty's attitude, while I can use the latter to conceal my actions."

The emperor nodded, his opinion of Qiao Yelan rising to a new level.

"You did a great job. So, what are your plans for the next step?"

"Your Majesty, the Dali Temple's attention has already been diverted. Now is the time to strike while the iron is hot and completely shut out any suspicion of this matter from the palace."

"Oh?"

Qiao Yelan's smile was still as warm and comforting as ever.

"Let your servant bleed a little more, and it will seem more real."

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[A month ago, rumors suddenly spread in Longmen that the orphan of the former Victorian royal family had been seen there. This has now been investigated and found to be false. However, since this matter concerns diplomacy between the two countries, a formal notification by envoy is necessary. Therefore, I hereby appoint Zhu Ronghui, the Commander of the Palace Guards, as the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, to go to Victoria to handle diplomatic affairs. He shall immediately take his family with him to his post.]

"Your subject, Zhurong Hui, receives the imperial decree."

After receiving the imperial edict, the man stood up, read it over to confirm it was correct, and then looked at Qiao Yelan with a hint of doubt.

"Your Excellency, the Emperor has decreed that I can no longer protect you."

“I know that His Majesty sent me to summon you because there are some things he wants to tell you.”

Zhu Rong Hui bent down, then almost knelt down.

"The plan to suppress the Prime Minister and the civil official group has reached its most critical moment, and you are the third family to be wiped out—the purpose is to cause losses to His Majesty as well, so that people will think that this group of bandits has nothing to do with His Majesty's family."

When Qiao Yelan's voice reached Zhu Ronghui's ears, it was like a death warrant from the King of Hell.

"...This humble official understands. Zhu Rong has received countless favors from the Emperor, and today he should repay His Majesty with his life."

He said through gritted teeth.

"My daughter, Huang, is only five years old and is my legitimate daughter. I wonder if it would be possible for her to be betrothed to the Director of the Imperial Household Department and stay in his residence until she comes of age, when she will marry you, sir—whether as a wife or a concubine. I only ask that you treat her with kindness."

Qiao Yelan was stunned. He hadn't even finished speaking yet. How come this guy was already so close to entrusting his daughter to someone else?

And why are you guys so enthusiastic about marrying my five-year-old daughter, whether it's Adams or you?

Do I look like that kind of person?

"Ahem, Commander Zhurong, I haven't finished speaking yet—His Majesty is a man who cherishes old friendships and would not be so harsh on an old minister."

"Therefore, this imperial edict was issued. Its purpose is to get you out of the Great Yan territory as soon as possible during these days when the case of Minister Wang's family massacre is unfolding. I have a business called Babel Tower, which has some influence outside of Great Yan, so it is convenient to make arrangements."

"At that time, the scene will be staged as a bandit ambush, and a batch of death row inmates' corpses will be dumped there, along with your and your family's identification documents, which will be enough to prove that your family has been wiped out. Of course, you will never be able to return to Da Yan again, so you will stay in my business and continue to expand overseas trade routes for the Shaofu."

Having experienced such dramatic ups and downs, Zhu Ronghui's mind had almost stopped working. Now, as he held Qiao Yelan's hand, his previous aloof expression was gone.

"Thank you, Your Majesty—thank you, Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Household Department! I will do my utmost to serve Your Majesty faithfully outside of the Great Yan!"

"Alright, Lord Zhurong, get up quickly—His Majesty said that in order to avoid arousing suspicion from the outside world, you should not go to the palace to express your gratitude. You must pretend that you know nothing and start preparing to take up your post immediately."

"Understood! I'll do it right away!"

Finally, Zhu Ronghui bowed to Qiao Yelan, forcibly suppressing the expression on his face, pretending that he had only received an imperial edict, and returned home.

"Let's go, Ace."

"Yes, doctor."

Qiao Yelan's wheelchair swayed and wobbled as it made its way toward the Shaofu residence.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhi, who had been in charge of this matter, was still waiting in the Shaofu residence on Qiao Yelan's orders.

What old feelings did the emperor have for Zhu Ronghui? He was just a palace commander and a small family. It was no big deal to destroy him. The imperial edict was just to draw attention to him.

Qiao Yelan simply needed this Zhu Rong family head as another trump card for countermeasures, so he fabricated this story to ensure that Zhu Rong Hui would stay wholeheartedly in the Tower of Babel and would not have the idea of ​​"going back to the Great Yan to visit".

So he sent Wang Zhi away and had Ace push him to Zhu Rong's house to read the imperial edict.

Besides, there was another intention behind having someone other than the Minister of the Imperial Household push his wheelchair.

He glanced at a person on the street corner whose face was covered by a straw hat. When the person saw Qiao Yelan turn his head, he immediately pretended to be just a passerby.

The Dali Temple seems to be really short-handed, so when they are monitoring people like me who are less suspicious, they send in novices.

Chapter Eighty-Six: Startling the Snake

"Teacher Cai."

"Yunshan has arrived. Please sit down and have some tea."

Minister of Personnel Gao Cheng respectfully bowed to his teacher before sitting down in the chair.

Cai Yan continued to peruse the documents in his hands until the waiter who served tea left, leaving only the two of them in the study, before putting down what he was holding.

"The Ministry of Revenue is in complete chaos right now. Since Vice Minister Wang died, everyone's morale has plummeted, and most of the Ministry's administrative affairs have ended up in my hands."

Cai Yan rubbed his forehead wearily.

Originally, he was supposed to unify the six ministries and participate in all their work. Now, with the end of the year approaching, there are even more and more complicated matters to attend to. The Ministry of Revenue is currently in a state of chaos due to two consecutive cases of family massacres. The officials who have "business dealings" with Vice Minister Wang are all somewhat panicked, and naturally, no one is handling the matter.

"Where is Minister Chen?"

"Chen Fan has been investigated. It is said that before Wang Shilang's family was wiped out, he had entered his residence and was also severely punished by the Dali Temple."

Gao Cheng frowned. The Celestial Master only cares about evidence and not official rank. Clearly, Chen Fan was also corrupt, which is why the Dali Temple was cracking down on him.

"It seems that Minister Chen is also having a run of bad luck. He just wanted to make some changes to his front man, but he ran right into the Emperor's attempt to turn things around by using the Imperial Household Department. This is really going to be tough for him."

"He was blinded by greed. In the past few years, he took advantage of the internal strife in Longmen to make a fortune through smuggling. But he didn't think about how much money he made. Wei Yanwu would take a cut from it according to a certain percentage. In just three months, he went from a stalemate to a complete victory. Our 'Deposed Crown Prince' is as shrewd as ever."

Cai Yan was very dissatisfied with Chen Fan's behavior. What was clearly a large business that could have been profitable in the long run had been ruined by this guy's exploitation, and in just a few years, the situation had changed drastically. Next, the business in Longmen would have to revert to being a "legitimate business" under the supervision of the Great Yan royal family.

Prime Minister Cai was able to wield absolute power in the court not only because of the imperial examinations, but also because of the vast sums of money he received. Now that Chen Fan has made a mistake, the Dali Temple has suffered a setback. Not only has a large amount of illicit income disappeared, but the Ministry of Revenue may even be taken over by the emperor.

"What a fool!"

He couldn't help but curse.

Cai Yan can still keep his mouth shut, which shows how much self-control he has – heaven knows how lucky he is to have obtained such power.

Originally, he had never had such an idea. Both the late emperor and the Crown Prince were extremely capable political animals. During the transition between the two generations, Cai Yan never thought of colluding with court officials to control the government.

But the unexpected happened so suddenly—His Majesty the Crown Prince was suddenly seduced by a princess from the Eastern Kingdom and lost his mind. He even abandoned his position as Crown Prince and ran to Longmen, claiming he was going to guard the border for the Great Yan.

The late emperor, whose health was already poor, was so angry that he almost couldn't catch his breath. He could only hurriedly choose the tallest among the short ones and promote the crown prince. Before he could pave the way for him, he passed away.

This left the court officials completely bewildered—we had all been persuaded by His Majesty to curry favor with Wei Yanwu, and now you've suddenly replaced him with someone else on the throne, what are we supposed to do?

The original rules of the Great Yan Dynasty were that when the Crown Prince was in charge of the country, he would gradually cultivate his own people in the court. Then, after the emperor changed, the old ministers would gradually begin to retire, and the people would be replaced by those cultivated by the new emperor.

Emperors and courtiers, generation after generation, tacitly played this game of sitting in a row and eating fruit. Except for the exceptionally talented, there were also those who were particularly good at hiding their abilities. That was basically the rule.

Now, things are different. After the emperor ascends the throne, the newly appointed ministers are all confidants of the previous crown prince, who are naturally wary and distrustful of the new emperor. The older generation of ministers are all shrewd and capable, and this poorly educated new emperor simply doesn't have the means to control him.

So when Cai Yan discovered this problem, he immediately realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He won over the old ministers who were still in office by promising to guarantee his power, stabilized the core ministers by distributing real benefits, and threatened the newly promoted ministers with the fear of being suppressed and excluded by the new emperor—thus setting up a huge net that covered the court and kept the emperor out of the court.

As the new court became more and more proficient, everyone soon discovered that it didn't matter whether there was an emperor or not; the work was still the same, and the Great Yan was still just as strong—while they were able to earn more and more.

As a result, this network became increasingly robust, and Cai Yan's power became more and more consolidated.

But recent events seem to have created cracks in this network.

First, Longmen was pacified in a short time, and the smuggling route came to an abrupt end. After Wei Yanwu completely took control of Longmen, his attitude towards them immediately became ambiguous.

Then the emperor suddenly wanted to expand the Shaofu (Imperial Household Department) – this was undoubtedly aimed at the soon-to-be-formalized trade and circulation in Longmen.

The emperor was well aware that even if the amount of commercial tax in the Great Yan returned to normal, the Ministry of Revenue would still be able to keep perfect accounts and spend every last penny of the excess money.

So in order to get this money, he used the Imperial Household Department, a commercial department directly managed by the royal family, and even went so far as to promote a commoner to the third rank, determined to get a share of the pie.

Actually, there's not much to say up to this point. Cai Yan could see that the reason the emperor promoted him so exceptionally was to skip the imperial examination system for selecting officials—but once this was stopped, there was no further follow-up.

Therefore, Cai Yan was not in a hurry at all. A young man, who had risen from humble beginnings to high-ranking official, was easy to control in both the business and political arenas. As long as he was kept in check and prevented from bringing money back from Longmen, the anxious emperor would surely kill this "favored minister of the emperor" himself.

As a result, when Vice Minister Wang was washing his gloves, he accidentally washed a family to death, which inadvertently implicated Qiao Yelan. Qiao Yelan also showed political wisdom beyond his years, and in order to shift the blame, he directly brought the matter to the forefront.

No matter how inexperienced the emperor was, he knew this was an opportunity—so he immediately declared that this was a deliberate slap in the face to the royal family and that it had to be investigated thoroughly. He not only used this as an excuse to eliminate the Prefect of Jingzhao from his own camp in court, but also dragged the Court of Judicial Review into the mess.

That's why Cai Yan gave Minister Wang a chance to commit suicide when Chen Fan brought his men to find him.

Chen Fan's intention in bringing his men was clear: he couldn't protect Minister Wang by himself; either everyone should come together to protect him, or they should just make things simpler.

Cai Yan was still thinking of maintaining the rules of the game, which meant throwing Wang Shilang out as a scapegoat and then placing another Shilang in the Ministry of Revenue for the emperor. This way, both sides could get off the hook, the emperor wouldn't investigate, and the court officials wouldn't resist, and the game of officialdom could continue.

As it turned out, Chen Fan probably didn't trust Vice Minister Wang's integrity at all, thinking that if this guy went to the Dali Temple, he would definitely confess everything, so he went straight for the kill.

That's fine, after all, if it's like Manager Wang's case, it's just an unsolved mystery. Once the New Year is over, the fifteen-day holiday is over, and then there's a heavy snowfall, all the evidence will be gone.

This guy's worst move was deliberately leaving one survivor and then trying to frame the Emperor's Imperial Guards.