The Small Workshop's Ingredients Are Too Fierce, Ying Zheng's Worries

Guo Kai was a descendant of the Zhao State nobility, having been immersed in the whirlpool of Handan's power struggles since childhood.

He was adept at reading the intentions of his superiors, his words always slick and his demeanor sycophantic.

Having served through two reigns, he had already been frequenting the inner palace as a reader during the time of the late King Xiaocheng of Zhao.

When the young King Daoxiang of Zhao ascended the throne, Guo Kai sensed the new monarch's suspicion toward the veteran generals and began cultivating his own political faction, weaving a vast network of connections throughout the court.

Through marriages, recommendations, and bribery, he stopped at nothing, extending his reach into every corner of the military and civil administration.

By means of his silver tongue, he even brought the Yin Mountain Spy Bureau under his control, turning this organization of Zhao State secret agents into little more than his personal retainers.

Instead of using them to gather intelligence on the Six States, he used them to collect the private secrets of officials, manipulate public sentiment, and establish a massive internal intelligence system.

Whenever a rival official attempted to offer counsel, he would always learn of their intentions in advance, allowing him to easily plant seeds of doubt in the ears of the King of Zhao.

He would then set traps step by step, hounding those loyal ministers and capable generals to their deaths, eventually meeting their ends in the dungeons of the Yin Mountain Spy Bureau.

This invisible power was sharper than any blade on the battlefield.

Because of this, the Zhao State gradually formed a civil official faction centered around Guo Kai, leading to a complete rupture with the military faction.

The once-famed general Lian Po, having sensed Guo Kai's conspiracy to sow chaos