Doctor Amnesiac, but not completely amnesiac

This is a bit confusing.

Look at Minister Gao, his expression is exactly the same as Prime Minister Cai - why are you, Lord Chen, so cool and relaxed?

Cai Yan also noticed this.

Originally, today was the last grand court meeting before the New Year. If he could get through today, he would have a full fifteen days of rest, and he could use the New Year greetings as an excuse to communicate with Chen Fan and others, and discuss ways to get through the current situation - he was slightly relieved because of this.

But when he saw Chen Fan's performance, his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

This is...he already has a solution?

Cai Yan just felt uneasy in his heart, because he still hadn't figured out how to help Chen Fan get through this difficult time without leaving any trace - and now the other party's behavior showed that he was no longer worried about it.

But if Chen Fan had this ability, then the power in the court should not be called the Cai Party, but the Chen Party.

He originally wanted to close his eyes and rest for a while so as to prepare for the next memorial and the emperor's possible questions - but now, he couldn't relax at all.

This uneasy feeling continued until the grand court meeting began.

After that, as if everything was just his illusion, the emperor was not angry, and no other accidents happened. The ministers of various ministries reported the results of this year's work and plans for the coming year step by step - everything went smoothly until the end of the grand court meeting.

Could it be that there is much more thunder than rain?

Just when Cai Yan breathed a sigh of relief, a leader of the Yulin Guards walked in from outside the door.

It stands to reason that this is against etiquette, but the Taifu of the Ministry of Rites was like a blind man, pretending not to see anything.

"Your Majesty, there have been new developments in the case that Your Majesty had us help solve, so I'm here to report."

"It's almost time for the grand court meeting, so go ahead and speak."

"Yes - Yulin Guards and Dali Temple received a report at 11:00 am today that another murder case has occurred in the capital. In this case, the entire family was killed and there are very few traces left. Only one child is missing. According to the investigation at the scene, he must have been abducted alive."

This one sentence made all the officials gasp.

The emperor's face turned gloomy again.

"Which family was killed?"

"Yes.....We arrested the whole family of the doorman at Prime Minister Cai's residence yesterday."

The commander knelt on the ground and said something shocking.

Everyone's eyes turned to Cai Yan.

Cai Yan stood there, dumbfounded.

He didn't do this.

He was sure of that.

But from the description, it seems that he did it.

The doorman was arrested, and Cai Yan was worried and had to silence him. However, since the doorman was in the camp of the Yulin Guards and could not be found at all, he also kept a child alive to threaten the doorman not to say things that should not be said.

This was such a smooth reason - so smooth that even the civil and military officials in the court thought it was reasonable.

It was also a case of annihilation of an entire family, and it was also done cleanly and efficiently, with even a child left behind - they all remembered that in the previous report from the Dali Temple, the bodies of Zhu Ronghui and his family had been identified, except for a five-year-old legitimate daughter, who was missing and had gone missing.

Apart from the shopkeeper Wang who was a commoner, the two families of Minister Wang and Zhu Ronghui were both left with a successor - you could tell at first glance that they knew the rules.

Now, the doorman of the Prime Minister's Mansion has also suffered the same bloody incident.

If the first three murders had gradually narrowed the list of criminals, then this final case was naming the mastermind behind the scenes.

After all, Cai Yan's motive for killing the doorman's entire family was the biggest one.

But Prime Minister Cai also had a motive to kill people from the first three families, or in other words, the Cai Party had this motive.

Chen Fan, a member of Cai's party who is not very obedient, has never been counted as one of Cai Yan's trusted subordinates like Gao Cheng. Therefore, relying on these means to suppress Chen Fan and the Ministry of Revenue and take him in as a dog, this approach seems very likely to outsiders.

"In addition, we found a large-denomination banknote in the concierge's home. After identification, we found that it had the same stamp as the banknote that Zhu Rong Shaoqing used to exchange a large sum of money at a private bank before leaving Beijing. Both were banknotes issued to Wang's Company."

The words of the commander of the Imperial Guards completely labeled this fourth bloody incident as a serial crime.

In other words, these four cases are connected.

Since they are connected, wouldn't it be fine if we just find someone who has the motive and ability to commit these four crimes?

There are certainly more than one suspect with motive and ability.

But there was no third person as a suspect.

Lift the veil of smuggling, plunge the Ministry of Revenue into turmoil, liquidate those who have taken the money, and threaten the concierge to consider what to say -

Cai Yan, count as one.

The second one is the emperor.

Then someone has to work hard to guide Cai Yan.

"Your Majesty, this series of murders are all aimed at me. Not only me, but the entire Ministry of Revenue has fallen into turmoil because of this. They even want to pin the stigma of murder on me - so I beg Your Majesty to investigate this matter thoroughly and clear my name!"

Chen Fan stepped out of the line, knelt on the ground, and cried loudly, with every word he said being full of tears.

Following closely behind were several assistant ministers from the Ministry of Revenue, who all followed suit, tearfully stating their innocence in the matter, and hoping that the emperor would not only not restrain himself but continue to intensify the investigation.

You know, Cai Yan just suggested that the emperor should be more restrained yesterday, and Chen Fan had already stood on the opposite side at that time. Today, he took the lead and directly knelt down to beg His Majesty to continue to take drastic measures.

This is a complete cut...

The officials in the court watched the performance of the Ministry of Revenue with different expressions. For a moment, the only sounds were the crying of these few people.

The Ministry of Justice immediately followed suit, and the Minister of Works naturally followed behind - at this time the Grand Tutor began to watch from the sidelines again.

But there is no need for his Ministry of Rites to intervene.

Gao Cheng looked at the scene in front of him, his heart beating fast.

This is deliberately putting pressure on Cai Yan - and at this time Cai Yan cannot stand up and speak himself. After all, no one is saying anything about you, they just want His Majesty to investigate thoroughly.

What? Why are you so anxious? Did you really do it?

"Your Majesty, I think it is better to take a long-term view at this time. It would be too much of an overreaction to have the Imperial Guard investigate the case. It would hurt the reputation of the court. It is better to just leave it to the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice."

He finally couldn't help it, stood up and tried to smooth things over.

What he said made Cai Yan shake instantly.

Gao Cheng couldn't see Cai Yan's expression at this time. If he could see it, he would know what a big mistake he had made by standing up today.

The most important thing to gain a foothold in the court is to follow the crowd.

Cai Yan knew very well that in this court, only a minority of people took sides, while most officials were the kind who went along with the trend.

This is also an important means for him to control the emperor - as long as he can win over the majority of these neutral people, he can use the voice of the court to suppress the emperor's decrees.

After all, most of what the emperor has to do are things that harm the interests of officials.

Now that the situation is so obvious and the fierce force is directed at me, then at this time, you must first establish a relationship with me, and then consider the rest of the matter -

Therefore, Cai Yan did not take Chen Fan’s seconding motion seriously at all yesterday, because that was the right approach.

But now, several other departments have taken the lead in launching the attack. Do you, Gao Cheng, still dare to stand up and sing the opposite tune?

I am the Prime Minister! I can withstand the pressure and the tide! Because I have been standing in the court of Da Yan for decades!

What kind of person are you, Gao Cheng?

If this wave suddenly turns around and hits you - can you withstand it!

"You are wrong, Mr. Gao! How can we take the long view on such a bloody case? If we cannot solve the case quickly, it will be a disgrace to our Great Yan!"

A man stood out from behind Gao Cheng and said coldly.

"Your Majesty, I am Zhang Jin, the Minister of Personnel. Although I am also an official in the Ministry of Personnel, I cannot agree with what Shangshu Gao said. I also think that this case must be investigated and dealt with as quickly as possible!"

After saying that, he knelt on the ground.

Cai Yan closed his eyes in pain.

Zhang Jin's words were equivalent to severing Gao Cheng from the Ministry of Personnel. Since he had already stood up and expressed his position, the remaining several assistant ministers must follow suit and express their attitudes.

At this time, if they did not stand up and agree with Zhang Jin, it would be equivalent to them standing behind Gao Cheng and thinking that Gao Cheng was right - there would not even be a chance for ambiguity!

But given the current momentum in the court, will they stand on Gao Cheng's side?

Can they stand on Gao Cheng's side?

Do they dare to stand on Gao Cheng’s side!

No, can’t, dare not.

Because they are only ministers and are not qualified to participate in this game, they can only go with the flow to barely survive in this court.

"I think what Minister Zhang said makes a lot of sense."

"I second the proposal."

"I also think that this case should be investigated immediately."

......

ended.

Under the leadership of Chen Fan, the Ministry of Revenue unexpectedly turned against the Party; and other people in the Ministry of Personnel who were originally under his control were also forced to stand on the opposite side - this meant that the core system of the Tsai Party had been completely dismantled.

Cai Yan originally thought that he could use the Chinese New Year period to gather people's hearts and work together to overcome the difficulties.

After the morning meeting today, who should he talk to?

Is it Chen Fan who is completely opposed to him?

Or is it Gao Cheng who has been expelled from the Ministry of Personnel’s circle of friends?

Gathering people's hearts...

Where is the human heart left...

Cai Yan's body swayed, and then he managed to stand up straight.

He had a sense of unreality.

Yesterday, the Grand Tutor said something that pushed the Ministry of Revenue to the opposite side.

Today, Zhang Jin said something that split the Ministry of Personnel in two.

After several years of painstaking efforts, it completely fell apart in just two days, just two court meetings, and just two sentences.

Before today, even before the commander of the Imperial Guards walked into the hall and told about the fourth bloodbath, Cai Yan actually thought that this was just aimed at the Ministry of Revenue, and that he should take the opportunity to suppress Chen Fan and gain some benefits.

He couldn't even see that this series of measures were all directed at him!

The frog was boiled in warm water, and I, the frog, didn't even react until the water boiled.

Such strength!

Such a scheme!

Such a plot!

who is it?

Who is it?

Cai Yan knew very well that he had been defeated and had no right to fight back - so at this moment he no longer cared about any misconduct in front of the palace.

He just wanted to see who was the person who plotted against him.

From his current position and direction, he can only see the emperor, but if the emperor had such ability, he probably would not have reached his current point.

So he turned around.

From left to right, from right to left.

The Minister of War was yawning, and it seemed that he did not sleep well.

The Minister of Rites still had an expressionless face like a stone statue - he was just a chess piece and could not have planned such a plan.

The Minister of Justice knelt on the ground with a stern face.

The Minister of Works' face was filled with excitement, and he was obviously happy for the Emperor.

Gao Cheng knelt there in a daze. This silly kid probably didn't know why he suddenly sent it.

Tsk, why is old man Chen Fan still crying? How much dogwood powder does he have hidden in his sleeves? At such an old age, isn’t he afraid of blinding his eyes?

One after another, familiar faces, or at least faces I've seen before, passed by.