The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

"I reluctantly took this as a compliment."

The Grand Tutor's tone remained cold and hard, but his expression softened somewhat.

At least, this guy still has some principles.

"Alright, enough with the pleasantries. You went so far as to send a clone of that guy to see me in order to deliver a message—what is it all about?"

The Grand Tutor remained silent for a while.

"It's that matter."

"—No, it's been years, and you're still fixated on Wei Yanwu? Is this guy your biological son or the late emperor's?"

Qiao Yelan couldn't hold back anymore. So, you really want Wei Yanwu to come back and take this position?

"His Majesty today is far inferior to that one in terms of both aptitude and ability."

The old man sighed.

"Even when facing Cai Yan, who had gathered the power of both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel, he was unable to handle the situation effectively and even needed to introduce external forces to break the deadlock—the current situation of the Great Yan is not something that an ordinary monarch can handle."

"That's easy for you to say, since you're not in the same boat. If it weren't for you, old man, and a bunch of old ministers standing aloof, would the emperor be having such a hard time right now?"

Qiao Yelan glanced at him sideways.

"For the emperor to control the court, the most important thing is balance. The Ministry of War doesn't interfere, and you, along with the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department, keep to yourself. The Ministry of Justice and the Celestial Master only need to uphold the laws of the Great Yan. Of the remaining three ministries, the Prime Minister still controls two. The emperor only has the Ministry of Works left. How can he maintain balance in the court? How can he counterattack?"

The Grand Tutor remained silent.

"Furthermore, what do you mean by 'even requiring external intervention'? You're unhappy that the emperor summoned me back to help, aren't you? Why didn't you object five years ago? Why didn't you object forty years ago?"

The man was behaving in a somewhat aggressive manner.

The Grand Tutor remained silent.

"To put it bluntly, the fact that I came back without Wei Yanwu means that I'm here to help the current emperor—is that what's making you unhappy?"

“I help His Majesty control the court, and you know I have that ability, so the hope of Wei Yanwu’s return is even slimmer—but have you ever considered whether Wei Yanwu has ever had even the slightest intention of returning?”

"...Any prince who says he doesn't want to sit on the throne is lying."

The old man finally spoke.

"Hmph, I admit that His Highness the Crown Prince back then was absolutely ambitious and wanted to ascend to the supreme position, but now—I'm putting this out there, old man, if I don't come back this time, then Wei Yanwu will have truly ruined his own path."

Qiao Yelan gave a cold laugh.

The Grand Tutor frowned, looking at Qiao Yelan with a puzzled expression.

Do you know what he did?

"......What?"

"He married his sister to one of the most legitimate heirs to the Victorian Delacroix royal family."

The man's tone turned sinister.

“You heard me right, it’s ‘marry’, not ‘marry’—in other words, he married off a princess of the Great Yan Kingdom to a foreign royal family.”

The Grand Tutor's expression darkened. As someone who had been in charge of the Ministry of Rites for decades, he couldn't possibly misunderstand Qiao Yelan's meaning.

The meaning of "Shang Gongzhu" is that when a princess marries, the prince consort lives in the princess's mansion, and all matters in the household are decided by the princess, because the princess is the head of the household.

Marrying a princess is just like marrying a normal person; the princess lives in her husband's mansion, and the husband is the head of the household.

Princesses of the Great Yan Dynasty could marry or marry into the royal family, but marriages within the royal family were almost always arranged by the imperial family. However, there was one thing that was forbidden—

Princess of Great Yan will never be married off.

Regardless of whether Edward had a title, a fief, or a country, his bloodline destined him to an unchangeable identity—therefore, Wei Yanwu's actions need not be smeared or distorted; they can be directly characterized as a marriage alliance.

Because no matter what surname Wei Yanwu has now, he is not a simple Duke of Dayan, but a prince with royal blood.

If it were Princess Shang, and Wei Yanwu had arranged for his sister to marry Edward, there would be no reaction in the court. In fact, the generals in the Ministry of War would only praise Wei for doing a good job, gaining a legitimate claim for no reason. No one would say anything bad about Wei Yanwu.

But now, Wei Yanwu has married a foreign princess and married his sister to a foreign prince—the military will have to think twice about this.

"Did he really do that?"

"That's not the case anymore—I've already dealt with this matter. The foreign prince was a rumor, and the princess was just deceived into keeping a gigolo."

Qiao Yelan waved his hand, indicating that the Grand Tutor did not need to be too nervous.

"Now you should know what Wei Yanwu really thinks, right? Back then, if this guy hadn't stubbornly insisted that if he became emperor, Princess Wenyue must be empress, even you wouldn't be unable to speak up for him. To put it another way, even if Wenyue were just a concubine, the one sitting on the throne now would be this former crown prince."

“Essentially, these two things are the same. Wei Yanwu just wants to smear himself so that all six ministries of the court will distance themselves from him—marrying Wen Yue as his principal wife is to refuse your Ministry of Rites, and marrying his sister off to someone else is to refuse the Ministry of War.”

Although the old man's face was grim, he didn't say anything more to spite Qiao Yelan, clearly having come to terms with the truth.

"The reason I rushed back without informing you when the emperor didn't trust me is because this matter is too serious. Once it's confirmed, Wei Yanwu will completely lose his qualification to compete for the throne—this is the only thing neither of us wants to see."

"Therefore, before gaining the emperor's trust, I cannot show any connection with you, otherwise the emperor will see through my intentions—in that case, the content of the imperial edict that Zhu Ronghui received will be completely different."

The Grand Tutor nodded. The reason he still treated Qiao Yelan well this time was because he had heard about Zhu Ronghui's appointment and knew that it must have been Qiao Yelan's doing.

"Since you've done this, you must think more highly of Duke Wei—then why do you still help the emperor to control the court?"

"You'd better understand that my keeping Wei Yanwu's right to take office and my support for Wei Yanwu are two different things—I'm just keeping an extra card for myself out of habit, in case there's any assassination attempt and I can't find anyone to support me."

Qiao Yelan said coldly.

"The only thing I care about is the Tianji Pavilion in the northern frontier—this current emperor has never said anything about cutting the Tianji Pavilion's expenses to satisfy his own lust for power."

The old man remained silent. If anyone dared to talk to him about the succession to the throne of the Great Yan Dynasty being merely a pawn in his game, he would immediately strangle them.

But only this person truly has the right to say that.

"So you will help him to deal with Cai Yan."

“That Prime Minister Cai, seeing Chen Fan of the Ministry of Revenue making a fortune through smuggling, his eyes turned red with envy—although he could also get a share of the money, it was only a drop in the ocean. And Chen Fan, in recent days, has been paving the way with silver, and has already shown signs of shaking Cai Yan’s position.”

"Since he can't open up the source, we can only cut costs. But he shouldn't have bothered with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion—in that case, we'll have to ask this Prime Minister Cai to set off ahead of schedule."

Qiao Yelan's tone was calm and even, but the words she spoke were like a raging storm.

The Grand Tutor's face showed neither surprise nor sarcasm.

He just sighed.

"It seems that Lord Wei really has no hope."

"After hearing what I just said, you didn't have any ulterior motives?"

"Do you think I would deliberately mislead His Majesty into tampering with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion?"

The old man chuckled.

"I simply prefer Lord Wei, rather than being an ambitious person who would plunge the Great Yan into internal strife and turmoil for my own selfish reasons."

“Since Lord Wei himself is unwilling, and you have already acknowledged His Majesty, then I naturally will not interfere without reason. As I said, the situation facing the Great Yan is too complicated and too dangerous. Even a stable Great Yan cannot be said to be able to handle it with ease, let alone a turbulent Great Yan.”

At this point, he raised his head and glanced at Qiao Yelan.

"I've seen Ursus's condition over the past few years."

Qiao Yelan simply took the iron tongs and added another piece of charcoal to her hot water bottle.

"Since that's the case, you should take this opportunity to curry favor with the emperor and kick Cai Yan's faction while they're down. That way, I can have an easier time, and you can regain the opportunity to communicate with the emperor. I don't want to return to the capital of Da Yan next time just to deal with the mess after you're gone."

"No, I just don't want to get involved in factional strife, but that doesn't mean I won't—His Majesty will be willing to keep me."

The Grand Tutor said it casually, and Qiao Yelan did not refute it.

In the Great Yan court, the longer one lives, the more monstrous one becomes.

This Grand Tutor was just like that.

"What are you going to do next?"

"His Majesty will be very angry at tomorrow's court assembly. Under such circumstances, if the emperor says he wants to use the Imperial Guards to declare martial law, no official or courtier will dare to object. The trouble is the actions taken after martial law is declared."

"Who are you going to arrest?"

"No official position or post, but a sensitive identity."

A slight smile curved the corners of the man's lips.

"The gatekeeper of the Prime Minister's residence."

Is there any basis for this claim?

"Yes, at the first court assembly after Manager Wang's death, after the court session ended that day, Chen Fan took Vice Minister Wang to visit Cai Yan. The intelligence about this matter was kept by the Secret Service, and the gatekeeper had previously denied it, so the Court of Judicial Review did not know about it yet—but after the court assembly, the Court of Judicial Review will find out."

The old man nodded, as long as it wasn't an arrest without any evidence.

“After arresting the gatekeeper of the Prime Minister’s residence, Cai Yan will not let it go. He will definitely make a big scene at the subsequent court assembly, saying that the Imperial Guards are using this as an excuse to expand their crackdown, detaining and interrogating unrelated people without cause, and inciting the fear of being purged among the court officials, hoping that the emperor will restrain himself.”

“At that time, I will stand up and support the emperor as Grand Tutor. The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department will also do so, along with the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, as well as the Ministry of Works and the Imperial Household Department which were originally under His Majesty’s control. Cai Yan cannot be stopped by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel alone.”

Qiao Yelan nodded, a hint of relief on her face.

It's been a long time since I've chatted with a smart person; this feeling is truly refreshing.

"But capturing just one gatekeeper probably won't be enough to take down Cai Yan, will it?"

“I have no intention of taking down Cai Yan. The late emperor chose Cai Yan because he was truly capable and competent. The reason he got to where he is now is entirely due to his willful eldest son. So if we really want to say whose fault it is in the current situation of the court—first, Wei Yanwu; second, you; and only third, Cai Yan.”

“If Wei Yanwu hadn’t suddenly run away, Cai Yan’s ambition would have had no place to be born. If you hadn’t indulged him, this ambition would have had no room to grow. And when it comes to taking someone down, the first thing to consider is who can fill that position.”