Doctor Amnesiac, but not completely amnesiac

"This... We are definitely not doing this to deceive Your Majesty!"

"Does His Majesty know that you are doing this?"

The old man's deep voice cut off all of Minister Ning's struggles.

"You tell me, tell me yourself, given your Majesty's suspicious character, and the elation after the victory over the Cai Party, as well as the power and influence in the court. If your Majesty finds out what you have done, even if the web is not around your Majesty, what will be your fate?"

Minister Ning's face finally turned pale.

The Master sighed softly.

"It seems that you have never thought about why I suddenly promoted you to the position of Minister of Rites, but never changed your position in the past few years. I didn't even say that I would let you take over the position of Minister. I just let you stay in my shadow all the time?"

"That's because it will make His Majesty think that you are just a person who works quietly. You are a person with real talent and can do things, but I am just using you as a mouthpiece! In this way, even if His Majesty is hostile to the Ministry of Rites, he will only be hostile to me, and it will not be linked to you!"

Minister Ning's lips moved. The previous words did not move him, but when he said this, his eyes turned red.

"Thank you...thank you teacher."

The old man just shook his head.

"Your behavior makes me realize why you are being used by others. It's good to have a sincere heart, but it's a pity that others can also take advantage of it..."

"Do you still remember that at the end of last year's imperial court, Gao Cheng was directly stripped of his position as Shangshu. Where is he now?"

Minister Ning recalled for a moment and found the verdict.

"...After being demoted to the position of Vice Minister, the Dali Temple discovered that his family had large amounts of assets of unknown origin. The emperor was furious and ordered the confiscation of his property. Gao Cheng's entire family was beheaded in public, and within three years of mourning, all family assets were liquidated. If there were any unidentified assets, they would all be exiled."

"Then why do you think he died?"

"He...he was once a member of the Tsai Party, colluding with Tsai Yan and others, and he had no respect for his superiors."

"wrong!"

The Master sneered.

"He died because he was incompetent!"

inability?

This answer caught Minister Ning off guard.

"If someone who was once a member of the Cai Party must be liquidated in this way, then what about Chen Fan - how can a person who relies on betrayal to save his life still sit firmly in his position as the Minister of Finance?

"If one disrespects His Majesty, he will be punished like this. Then what's the matter with Cai Yan - how can an ambitious man who only had his arm cut off still sit on the position of Prime Minister and continue to be trusted by His Majesty?"

Minister Ning could not answer either of these two questions.

"Both of them are still in the court, and even sitting in their own seats. Although the power they exercise has been restrained, they still have the dignity of prime minister and the power of minister!"

The Master snorted coldly.

"Let me ask you again - how did that mediocre Gao Cheng die?"

Minister Ning instantly broke out in a cold sweat on his back.

"Your Majesty can forgive Cai Yan and Chen Fan, so how could he not forgive me? So I am not worried that Your Majesty will have a grudge against me, at least not before I die - but after I die, Your Majesty may open my coffin and mutilate my body, but that doesn't matter."

Having said this, Qiao Yelan raised his eyebrows and truly took Minister Ning into his eyes.

The Taifu's meaning was very clear. The reason why he promoted Minister Ning was because he really had talent and needed a higher level and vision to truly bring his talents into play, so he actually exercised the power of the Minister of Rites.

However, if the Grand Tutor promoted him blindly before the situation in the court became clear, he would be dragged into party disputes ahead of time. Therefore, in name, he would not give anyone any handle or covetousness.

In other words, this old guy really was training Minister Ning as his successor.

However, thinking about the Grand Tutor's performance from Qiao Yelan's perspective, this means that Minister Ning is already qualified to be a chess piece.

He looked towards the Master with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Sure enough, the anger expressed in the scolding was not real anger - the old man obviously wanted to protect his student sincerely.

Although it was a reprimand, such a detailed reprimand was more like teaching the other party how to do things rather than venting anger. His words were meant to ask Minister Ning to give up the order of the previous emperor and turn around to be loyal to the current emperor.

The matter of secretly replacing the original documents in the archives could have been a big deal or a small one, not to mention that it happened within the Ministry of Rites. It would have been easy for the Grand Tutor to suppress it alone and not let it leak out.

The old man knew that although he still had many years to live, a successor would always be needed. Moreover, the Ministry of Rites really needed someone to step forward - Minister Ning's qualifications and abilities made him an excellent choice.

The problem now is that Minister Ning's words are all about "the order of the late emperor", and he will inevitably be exposed in front of the emperor in the future, and that will be irreversible - that's why the Grand Tutor has to use such a violent method to pinch his student's head and shake it left and right to shake out the order of the late emperor.

The Grand Tutor was naturally confident that he could achieve this - but there was only one last question left.

Why don’t you let Qiao Yelan tell the truth?

So he revealed his intention to train a successor in front of Qiao Yelan. First, Qiao Yelan already knew about this matter, which was a handle in his hand. Rather than letting him hold it and causing trouble in the future, he and his students would have to bow their heads...

It would be better to sell Minister Ning to Qiao Yelan now.

This is not just the beginning, but a one-step approach - the Grand Tutor directly lets Minister Ning fast forward to become Qiao Yelan's chess piece, and then Qiao Yelan will definitely cover up and protect his chess piece, and the matter can be completely suppressed, and there will be no risk of being liquidated by the Emperor.

Secondly, for Qiao Yelan, saving Minister Ning not only means saving his chess piece, but also selling himself out. It is a win-win situation, and Qiao Yelan will definitely be happy to do it.

No one would think it is a loss-making deal if you can buy two items at one price.

——Except Qiao Yelan.

The reason is very simple - when did Qiao Yelan need to spend money to buy something?

Don’t people always pay him to buy it, and then let Qiao Yelan sell it to them?

So to put things one way or the other, the Grand Tutor hopes to be sold well and hopes that his successor will be taken as a pawn by Qiao Yelan - these are two prices, so the Grand Tutor has to pay twice.

Qiao Yelan didn't mind accepting a chess piece, nor did he mind doing the Grand Tutor a favor - but if the Grand Tutor thought this was a big deal and only planned to pay him once, then that wouldn't do.

So Qiao Yelan just looked at the tutor with a playful look.

This old guy, you want to play tricks on me, right? Look, I'm going to scare you.

No, you have to think faster.

Otherwise, if you don't realize that I'm scaring you, I'd feel a little embarrassed.

Qiao Yelan coughed lightly.

The Grand Tutor's voice suddenly stopped, and even Minister Ning was confused.

What's going on?

"The order of the late emperor is indeed more important than Mount Tai, but the late emperor is dead after all, and Minister Ning was just used by others. His respect and love for you are also obvious to all - so the real mastermind who tricked Minister Ning into working for him must still be alive."

Qiao Yelan chuckled and bowed to the tutor.

"You are already one of the Three Dukes. Apart from His Majesty, who else in the world would dare to do such a thing to you? Thinking from this perspective, the Grand Tutor will surely be able to find the real culprit - and then Minister Ning's innocence will be proven."

Minister Ning's pupils suddenly shrank. He had already lost his mind due to his teacher's words. At this moment, Qiao Yelan's heavy punch completely broke through his defenses, so that he couldn't help but reveal his flaws.

This flaw was immediately caught by the tutor.

The fact that his students reacted shows that what Qiao Yelan said must have a purpose, and the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes must be just as Qiao Yelan said, a person in a high position of power.

I am one of the three dukes... besides your majesty...

The old man's expression changed drastically in an instant.

The three highest officials are prime minister, grand tutor, and grand commander.

Now Prime Minister Cai Yan has become a lost dog, with the emperor holding him tightly by a rope. How could he have the energy to attack himself?

What's more, after the death of the late emperor, this guy dared to try to limit the imperial power and even openly formed a faction in the court - even if Qiao Yelan did not show up, this guy would still lead the Cai Party to stir up trouble. Would he really follow the orders of the late emperor?

Look at Minister Ning's expression. Does he look like an idiot who could be fooled by words from someone like Cai Yan?

That's a bit disrespectful of the Master's teachings.

Eliminate all impossibilities, and only one answer remains.

The Master's hands were clenched tightly together, changing constantly.

"How dare you...How dare you!"

This sentence seemed to be talking about Minister Ning, but also seemed to be talking about someone else.

"If it weren't for the fact that I discovered this and lifted the cloth, do you think you could--"

The Master's words suddenly stopped.

Minister Ning looked up in confusion, only to find that the anger on his teacher's face had disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by another emotion.

He wasn't even sure if that was the emotion he saw - because he had never seen such an expression on the Master's face before.

That emotion is – fear.

Minister Ning's guess was actually correct, because when the Grand Tutor was blasting his own disciple, he was suddenly awakened by his own words -

Was this matter really revealed by him, the Grand Tutor?

He suddenly turned around and looked at Qiao Yelan.

During the period from when Qiao Yelan came back to when he came to see me, how many times had he entered the palace and met the emperor?

Qiao Yelan still maintained that nonchalant expression, as kind and amiable as an audience member sitting under the stage, and the kind of audience that all actors liked very much.

Because no matter how the performance is, it seems that Qiao Yelan doesn't mind giving some tips.

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(36 chapters left)

Chapter 136: Old People Can't Stand Being Frightened

The old man forced himself to turn his head back and look at his student.

Even though his heart was beating like a thunderous war drum on the battlefield at this moment, his years of cunning and energy-cultivation skills prevented him from revealing too many flaws.

What exactly is Qiao Yelan going to do?

Did he disclose this matter in advance?

Did he come to me to use my help to lift the lid, or had he already discussed it with His Majesty and wanted to catch the three dukes in one fell swoop, including me?

Cai Yan no longer has the ability to resist. Now if I and that old Taiwei join forces, can we stop him?

Questions one after another flooded into Taifu's mind, making his heart grow colder.

He suddenly realized something -

In the eyes of the current Majesty, these three old ministers who stayed over from the previous dynasty did not seem to be good people.

Not to mention Cai Yan, the emperor probably hated him a little less than Cai Yan - maybe they were about the same.

After all, Prime Minister Cai just wanted to be a powerful official, and he had made it clear before that he hoped Wei Yanwu would come back to take over the position.

The Grand Marshal might be a little better, after all, the military still strictly abides by the rule of not interfering in government affairs, but also for this reason, if you want to say that he can provide any help to Your Majesty in the next few years... it seems that there is none.

The three of them stacked together now, I wonder how much weight they have in the emperor's heart. It's a question whether they can surpass Qiao Yelan's wheelchair.

If Qiao Yelan told the emperor that the Grand Marshal was secretly doing something and colluding with other people, and even the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Suiyuan were involved in the matter, and Minister Ning was the one who was colluded by the Grand Marshal - then at this time, with Qiao Yelan's current great favor from the emperor, even if the emperor would not take action immediately, he would still be biased towards Qiao Yelan.

At this time, as long as Qiao Yelan said that he would produce evidence, the emperor would definitely not stop him. Instead, he would send people to follow him secretly and collect the evidence that Qiao Yelan was looking for.

Thinking of this, the Taifu felt his scalp tingling.

He finally understood why he felt strange about the words Qiao Yelan said after meeting her!

He asked me questions that were usually asked by a supporting actor, in order to induce me to explain. Afterwards, he gave myself enough face in his behavior, not overstepping the boundaries in the slightest. He followed the rules to the point that it felt weird to me.

The Grand Tutor still remembered how he had characterized Qiao Yelan's behavior before -

[Just like a normal Minister of Rites. ]

Yes, Qiao Yelan is normal - so why does he act so normal?

That is of course to highlight the abnormality.

The old man's body swayed, and even with his stature, he felt a sense of emptiness under his feet.

It's all over.

When Chen Fan bowed to Qiao Yelan, he did not say anything because he was not a corrupt official.

When Cai Yan knelt down in front of Qiao Yelan, he did not say anything because he was not a powerful official.