[...The court is very weak]
Gu Yunzhi did not directly answer his granddaughter's question. He merely stroked his beard and said calmly, [Chenli's internal strife has been severe for the past several thousand years. It has long ceased to concern itself with affairs beyond its borders, and the Northern Region is remote as well, so it knows nothing of the disturbances in Shenjing and the south. Had I not become a general, I too would know nothing of the Imperial Dynasty's current state.]
[There is no use saying more. You only need to know that as early as the Former Emperor's time, there were three great factions at court... the civil officials led by Grand Preceptor Hong, the military officers led by Governor Yi, and the old guard of Zhen Kings led by Eastern Prince Yun Yue Che and Southern Prince Chu Xuan Guangzong.]
[Beneath these three great factions stood the major aristocratic families and garrisons, the younger generation of Zhen Kings, and the lesser powers. You are in me, and I am in you... it has become impossible to tell them apart.]
[What ruined our Imperial Dynasty was precisely this. Things were still manageable when the Former Emperor lived, but now that the young emperor has ascended the throne, there is no one to check them, no one to suppress them. These factions grind against one another, shaking the very foundations of the state. Though the Grand Preceptor and Governor, those two honored ones, remain clear-headed, those below them have already been swept along by the tide. They have no choice but to fight, no choice but to contend.]
[Now, the entire court is like a nine-headed colossal demon, tearing at itself, fighting and harming one another... So long as the Emperor Lord does not attain the Lingxiao Realm,