The Yan Faction Falls: Lin Yuxia's Finest Performance / The "Civil Officials' Brawl" at the Great Yan Court

"The Purists already had a certain degree of influence over Prince Yu, the future emperor, but the Yan Faction is now even more out of control than the Purists. They dare to deceive not only Yan Song, but even the Jiajing Emperor. If Prince Yu doesn't have the Purists to counter him, he might be completely sidelined by the Yan Faction!"

"Jiajing is so clever... would he really stage all of this?"

Theresis was starting to realize that although everything was tilting in favor of the Yan Faction, and even in the drama, the three leaders of the Clear Stream Faction were fighting to the death, and Prince Yu had even fainted from fright, Theresis still didn't think the Purists would really fall.

This does not align with Jiajing's balancing act. Moreover, the downfall of the Purists faction poses a greater threat to the Great Yan than the downfall of the Yan Faction. Yan Song is old, and Yan Shifan is incompetent and arrogant. If such a person were to lead the Yan Faction and become the most powerful person after the emperor, he would likely become a "regency" who completely usurps imperial power!

Could Jiajing really just sit idly by and watch all this happen? Theresis didn't think Jiajing would do that... Unconsciously, Theresis herself began to put herself in the shoes of a monarch and start thinking about this question.

However, Theresis, who was seriously considering this issue, did not notice Theresia's silent, smiling gaze. Now, Theresia, who was clearly recovering in the eyes of all the Sarkaz, was subtly handing over a lot of real power to Theresis.

Now, everything Theresis has done for the restoration of Kazdel has been seen by the Sarkaz of Londinium. Theresia's authority as the "Demon King" has not diminished, but the Sarkaz are slowly beginning to believe that Theresis can also lead them to a better future.

The calls for dual rule by the emperors grew louder and louder among the Sarkaz, and there was little opposition from the Sarkaz to Theresis's dictatorship. He, who was originally the much-criticized "regent," gradually became a position that was recognized by everyone.

More importantly, Theresia's prestige did not diminish. For some reason, the Sarkaz believed that it was Theresia's return that caused this change in Theresis.

"It seems that it's not feasible for my brother to directly assume the title of 'Demon King'... In that case, I wonder if my brother would be willing to take on the position of 'Prime Minister' of Kazdel?"

Theresia's eyes flickered slightly as she formed another idea. She decided to put this idea aside for the time being, planning to discuss it with Chen Qi and her brother when Kazdel was restored and she saw Chen Qi again.

PS: First chapter today!

Volume 1: Chapter 316: The Fall of Yan Faction, Lin Yuxia's Best Performance

Regardless of Theresis's doubts, the current situation still favors Yan Faction. Even after Wenyue, playing Zhang Juzheng, arrived with a memorial ordering the dismissal of Gao Hanwen and others and their removal from the capital, she and Yan Shifan could only barely stabilize the situation, preventing Yan Shifan from arresting anyone before midnight.

The situation escalated, and now, the Directorate of Ceremonial finally made a new move. When Lü Fang, played by Lee, arrived with Zhu Qi, the leader of the Imperial Guards, everyone knew that the imperial decree from Jiajing had arrived.

"Everything was ready!" Lin Qingyan, playing Chen Hong, upon seeing Lü Fang's arrival, perhaps for the first time showed such anticipation towards Lü Fang, and immediately said:

"Three groups of people: Gao Gong's group, Zhang Juzheng's group, and Godfather, are we still going to see Grand Secretary Xu?"

However, at that moment, Lee's expression turned somewhat strange. He randomly faced Lin Qingyan and answered in a peculiar yet questioning tone:

"Who told you they were going to arrest Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Grand Secretary Xu?"

"Yan Shifan, Luo Longwen, and Yan Maoqing have violated the Heavenly Laws. By imperial decree, surround their residences immediately! Do not let a single person or item escape!"

"I heard that these three still dare to lead the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to arrest loyal officials? The Imperial Guards and the Pacification Office should each send a small team to the residences of Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng and arrest Luo Longwen Yan Maoqing!"

"Zhu Qi... go and 'send' Yan Shifan back to his own home."

Lee deliberately emphasized those words slightly, and Zhu Qi, the leader of the Imperial Guards, understood immediately and led a group of Imperial Guards to Gao Hanwen's residence.

At this moment, Chen Hong, who was full of confidence in the drama, was dumbfounded. Huang Jin, played by Tai He, revealed a meaningful smile, which clearly said, "You think you are worthy of guessing the emperor's thoughts?"

Clearly, Chen Hong was wrong. Not only Chen Hong, but Theresis, who had just realized something was wrong, was also wrong. The regent was unusually stunned for a moment before grabbing the remote control and, under Theresia's strange gaze, pressing the "replay" button.

"Ah, Brother Wang, what are you doing?"

"Excuse me, Sister Wang, I need to carefully consider the details I might have overlooked earlier." However, Theresis, unusually, did not indulge Theresia's request on trivial matters, and began to seriously intend to read it again from the beginning. He suddenly realized that he seemed to have missed the foreshadowing of Yan's downfall that Chen Qi had planted earlier.

"Director Chen Qi wouldn't make such a basic mistake of abandoning logic, so it must be my problem. Wang Mei, let me watch it again from the beginning, please bear with me for now."

"Sure enough, the Emperor Jiajing deliberately sent Chen Hong to release a false signal to the Yan Faction to completely appease Yan Faction. He intentionally made Chen Hong the one to cause trouble, so that he would lose face in the eyes of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the Pacification Office, and the Garrison Command, all to prevent his authority from becoming too great."

Seeing this, Chongyue became even more certain that his idea was correct. He had already anticipated the actions of everyone, including Chen Hong, when Jiajing saw the memorial sent by the Yan Faction.

What surprised Chongyue even more was that Jiajing knew the Blood Scripture's origin was unknown, but he was undoubtedly shocked by the truth. Yet, in his rage, he could make a reasonable judgment so quickly... No wonder even the veteran minister Yan Song made a huge misjudgment in this matter.

No one can truly understand Jiajing's heart, just as the heart of an emperor is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

The scene shifts, and Zhu Qi has arrived at Gao Hanwen's residence with the Imperial Guards. Yan Shifan, seeing Zhu Qi arrive, feels even more reassured, completely oblivious to the fact that Zhu Qi is ignoring her. She takes the initiative to speak:

"Seventh Brother has come in person? This is Gao Hanwen. Shen Yishi's geisha is inside. Seventh Brother, you've come at the right time. Come with me to take the prisoner away!"

However, Zhu Qi completely ignored Yan Shifan at this moment. Instead, he glanced at the other party with a mocking yet cold look in his eyes, and then dryly uttered two words: "--By imperial decree!"

As soon as Zhu Qi finished speaking, Yan Shifan, Zhang Juzheng, and others knelt down. Unaware that he was about to die, Yan Shifan, played by Lin Yuxia, couldn't help but glance at Wen Yue, who played Zhang Juzheng, with a gloating look on her face. Wenyue looked guilty and had lowered her head.

However, to her surprise, Zhu Qi's icy words would drag her from heaven to hell in the next moment. Zhu Qi's cold voice immediately rang out:

"Take Yan Shifan back to the manor immediately to await further orders!"

As soon as Zhu Qi finished speaking, everyone on the screen saw Lin Yuxia's originally smug expression. She didn't even freeze for a moment, and it took her a while to react. But she didn't show any blankness; instead, she looked suspicious and puzzled.

Her expression clearly showed she was doubting her ears, even wondering if Zhu Qi's mouth had frozen solid from the snow. But Zhu Qi gave her no chance to react, simply saying coldly:

"Lord Yan, please come with us. We are acting on imperial orders, please don't make things difficult for us."

"I want to see the Emperor!"

However, Yan Shifan's first words after realizing what had happened still carried her strong personality. Just as Wei Yenwu and his group had previously commented on Yan Shifan's character, "Knowing her shortcomings, she used fierceness and arrogance to cover up her insecurity."

Zhu Qi showed no kindness whatsoever to Yan Shifan. His reaction, clearly driven by personal emotions, showed that he didn't care about Yan Shifan's shouts or clamor.

"I want to see the Emperor! I want to see the Emperor!"

Yan Shifan's voice grew louder and louder, but it still couldn't hide his guilty conscience. Zhu Qi then ordered his men to reorganize their ranks and transfer all the soldiers away. This final showdown between the Purists and Yan Faction, which had been making everyone's hearts race, came to an end in a somewhat anticlimactic manner.

There was no coup, no conflict, and not even any casualties. None of the armed struggles that often escalate into partisan conflict occurred.

However, this very scene left no one feeling relieved, only a sense of relief after surviving a catastrophe. Fate was never in their own hands; this match was a gamble, and the referee was only one person: Jiajing!

The will of Jiajing determined the outcome of this factional struggle, and that single decision decided the fate of everyone involved. This also reflects the terror of Jiajing. The Yan Faction was out of control, and the Qingliu faction fought Purists the death, but even in this situation, Jiajing still completely controlled the court, remaining the "god" who could kill whomever he wanted.

This time, although Jiajing was not directly involved in the scenes, he perfectly demonstrated to everyone that when an emperor with centralized imperial power wants to eliminate a monolithic faction, as long as the method is correct, it can be completely eliminated without any trace!

On screen, Wenyue, who plays Zhang Juzheng, was not at a disadvantage when confronting Yan Shifan. But now that Yan Shifan has been taken away, the mansion has become empty. Only then did she belatedly feel a chill and she couldn't help but tighten her cotton cloak.

Meanwhile, the car carrying Yan Shifan returned to the Yan Residence. The situation was largely settled, but Yan Shifan was clearly still unwilling to accept reality.

"Bring me the imperial edict!"

"We are not authorized to read imperial edicts, Lord Yan should know that we are only responsible for arresting people." Zhu Qi forced a response, suppressing her anger. However, this only further enraged Yan Shifan, who immediately shouted:

"Without an imperial decree, how dare you arrest me? And how dare you surround my home?!"

After saying that, Lin Yuxia rolled up the car window again. However, this time, Zhu Qi pressed down on the window with one hand, making it impossible for Lin Yuxia to roll it up no matter how hard she tried.

At this moment, Zhu Qi finally revealed the source of his "hatred" for Yan Shifan, played by Lin Yuxia: his former boss, a man named "Shen Lian".

Clearly, this was one of the officials persecuted and eliminated by Yan Faction back then. Lin Yuxia, playing Yan Shifan, immediately changed her expression, her tone suddenly weakening, and asked incredulously:

"You... you want to settle a personal score?!"

"That's right!" However, Zhu Qi answered so quickly that no one could react, as if it were a trivial matter for him. He could kill Yan Shifan here at any time without even worrying about the emperor's wrath.

"Shen Lian Zhu Qi was my superior back then, and he is also the superior of all the brothers here today."

"Back then, Lord Shen impeached you two dead rats in his memorial to the throne, and you died such a miserable death... Do you think we've all forgotten?"

As he spoke, Zhu Qi unconsciously reached for the car door handle. With a slight exertion of force, a crack appeared on the handle, a testament to the depth of his resentment.

Lin Yuxia's character, Yan Shifan, clearly realized this as well. She gradually understood that the situation was settled, and instead appeared somewhat fearless, feigning composure as she said:

"Fine... then kill me and avenge him!"

"... Yan Shifan! You and your father, you two dead rats, caused the deaths of so many loyal and virtuous people, and you just died like that? Wasn't that too easy?"

However, no sooner had Zhu Qi finished speaking than, after an eerie silence, a sudden loud bang erupted! Zhu Qi had violently ripped the entire car door open, revealing a horrified Lin Yuxia inside!

"Ha!"

"Bang!"

Finally, the moment Zhu Qi slammed his hand onto the car's hood, the car seemed to be instantly dismantled by countless invisible mechanical arms! Accompanied by a strong gust of wind, all the car's parts flew around suddenly, leaving only the back seat sofa and Lin Yuxia alone.

Under the strong wind, Lin Yuxia's official hat and cloak were all blown away. In an instant, as Lin Yuxia light purple hair was scattered in the wind, she seemed to wake up from a dream, her expression completely blank, desperate, and lifeless.

With Lin Yuxia's beauty, this should have been a stunning scene. However, now she was dressed in a robe, devoid of any arrogance, resembling a rat crossing the street, utterly lacking in prestige and appearing incredibly dejected...

"You bastard! Take him inside!"

As Zhu Qi finished speaking, it finally brought everything to a close. Yan Faction had been defeated, defeated without the slightest struggle, defeated in a muddle. It's likely that Yan Shifan will never understand why he was defeated.

Regardless, Chen Qi now knows that the beloved Emperor of Great Yan is surely following suit, waiting for his performance, and will carry out another purge of Great Yan.

At least for now, Chen Qi believes that the Great Yan Emperor will be extremely satisfied with this "reference answer".

PS: This is the second chapter today! As usual, there will be another update tonight! (Today is the second day of the college entrance examination! I wish all the candidates the best of luck~ I'll also do my best here, please subscribe and support me a lot~ I'm exhausted...)

Volume 1: Chapter 317: The "Martial Arts Battle" Among Officials in the Great Yan Dynasty

"So, with the Yan Faction fallen and Yan Shifan arrested, the next part of the story will show that the Clear Stream Faction is now in complete control of the officialdom of the Great Yan Dynasty. The situation in the Great Yan should be much better, right?"

Now that they have finished watching all the episodes of "The Great Yan Dynasty," Chen Huijie and the other young people of the Great Yan Dynasty, along with Chen Qi, are heading towards the main hall of the palace to pay their respects to the Emperor of the Great Yan and explain their upcoming roles.

With the downfall of the Yan Faction, the plot of "The Great Yan Dynasty" has now officially entered its second half. In the past, these young people, led by Chen Huijie, would have cheered for the fall of the Yan Faction, which preyed on the people and was greedy and insatiable. However, after experiencing a baptism of fire, none of them feel particularly happy now. Instead, they have all become more and more somber.

Clearly, they also knew that although the Yan Faction had fallen, it did not mean that all officials associated with the Yan Faction would be investigated—this would lead to a large-scale gap in the middle ranks of the court, and given Jiajing's personality and the Zhe City case, it was clear that he would never do such a thing.

"So, does that mean that even if the Yan Faction falls, the corruption problem will actually remain unchanged?"

Chen Huijie is gradually realizing that, given the state of officialdom in the Great Yan depicted in the drama, there are far too many officials who are complicit in corruption. Everyone is a beneficiary of the system, and unless there is a massive, reckless financial drain, it is simply impossible to change the officialdom environment.

Even Jiajing himself gave up. He only used the Yan Faction because, in such an official environment, the Yan Faction could extract more money from corrupt officials to replenish the national treasury.

Even with the immense power of Yan Faction, it couldn't control the corrupt practices of all its officials. Now that Yan Faction has fallen, will corruption disappear? Especially considering that it's impossible for all of these people to face reckoning.

"... At least now that the Purists has control of the court, the atmosphere of the Great Yan Dynasty can be somewhat more orderly." Zuo Le, standing to the side, also spoke with a relatively optimistic tone after some thought:

"The Purists at least prides itself on distancing itself from the Yan Faction. Although their political goal is to bring down the Yan Faction, they still possess a sense of righteousness... Even if they cannot stop the corrupt practices of court officials, they should be able to curb them."

"It seems that this is the only hope we can have." Lin Yuxia nodded in agreement, but she rarely shared Chen Huijie's opinion. She was not optimistic about the future of the Great Yan in the drama, and she was even more skeptical about whether the Clear Stream Faction could still change the atmosphere of the court.

After all, in Lin Yuxia's eyes, those Purists who were willing to sacrifice everything to defeat Yan Faction in the political struggle were hardly good people; they just wanted to replace Yan Faction. Even if Xu, Gao, and Zhang can uphold the bottom line of Purists now, can the future leaders of Purists do the same?

Moreover, the suspicion that the Purists faction was dominating and usurping imperial power still existed. While Jiajing could still maintain order, what about the next emperor Prince Yu? Judging from his reaction of being so frightened by his own father that he fainted, could he really control the Clear Stream Faction?

Each of the three harbored their own concerns, but without exception, they were all worried about the country and its people... Although their concern was for the country within the drama, they couldn't help but put themselves in the characters' shoes and think about what methods could be used to change the situation of the Great Yan within the drama.

However, as the three of them followed Chen Qi, remaining silent and deep in thought, and getting closer and closer to the magnificent golden hall, they heard a series of commotions and... sounds of fighting coming from the hall.

"There's fighting going on in the main hall? What's going on?"

Aside from Chen Qi, who was not considered strong, Lin Yuxia, with her racial advantage, was the first to notice the unusual situation in the main hall. Upon hearing this, both Zuo Le and Chen Huijie changed drastically.

"Something's happened in the main hall! Someone's trying to assassinate the Emperor?! Damn it! What are the Imperial Guards doing?!"

"No time to think about that, we have to hurry!" Chen Huijie immediately drew her Chi Xiao and rushed towards the palace without saying a word, while Zuo Le followed closely behind to protect the emperor.

However, Lin Yuxia remained relatively calm. After taking three or four steps, she suddenly noticed Chen Qi's leisurely demeanor beside her, so she stopped and turned to ask:

Why do you look so relaxed? Do you perhaps know what happened in the main hall?

"Uh... probably. His Majesty the Emperor is definitely fine, but the situation over there is probably quite chaotic."

Chen Qi glanced at the icons on his Mini-map, watching dozens of blue dots representing "friendly forces" constantly intersecting in the main hall, as if someone had stepped over someone else or collided with them. He could roughly guess the situation in the main hall.

"Let's hurry and go take a look. The emperor is alright, but this scene is a once-in-a-century event. I believe we won't regret it."

You are the one Yan Faction!

"You are the Yan Faction of the Great Yan!"

"You bastard! You, a Yan Faction, have the nerve to call me a Yan Faction?!"

Just as Chen Qi had said, the main hall was indeed in complete chaos. There were no assassins here, and the Emperor of Great Yan was surrounded by several Imperial Guards, so there was no threat to his life at all.

In contrast, the courtiers in the main hall were in complete chaos. They were dressed in red or blue robes and fighting each other. The imperial guards, who were on high alert, were at a loss and could only stand still and try to keep the fighting within the hall.

There was nothing they could do. Although they were imperial guards and strictly speaking only obeyed the emperor, the emperor hadn't given any orders to stop them. Even if a minister were beaten to death here, they wouldn't dare to do anything.

All of this was caused by the sudden investigation of the salt tax of the previous five years by the Emperor of Great Yan. Not only the salt tax, but also the household tax, capital tax, customs tax and other major taxes that affect the lives of the people of Great Yan were suddenly mobilized by the Emperor of Great Yan for a thorough investigation.

This thorough investigation lasted for half a month, during which the entire Ministry of Revenue was mobilized to recalculate and verify the tax amounts for the past five years. The Emperor of Great Yan quickly drew a conclusion that was remarkably similar to that in the novel "The Great Yan Dynasty".

"Who can explain to me why taxes are decreasing year by year? I have issued tax reduction policies, but why do the amounts reduced not match the accounts? Why are taxes still not being collected in some regions that have been exempt from taxes for several years, even after the expiration date?"

"Do you all think I'm blind? Do you intend to emulate Yan Song Yan Shifan?!"

"If you wish to join Yan Faction, I am not the Emperor Jiajing! If I wish to overthrow you, I will not allow you to grow powerful! Those who have come to their senses, step forward! Don't wait until I hold a knife to your throats! If you turn back now, I may still show you mercy."

In the imperial court, when the Emperor of Great Yan received these accounts, he was furious and reprimanded all the officials. Now, the Emperor of Great Yan had detailed evidence in his hands. Through a method similar to that of Jiajing, he had figured out at which stage the embezzlement had gone wrong, and thus, it was basically determined who to arrest.

However, this very action triggered a butterfly effect that even the Emperor of Great Yan hadn't anticipated. Before the Emperor could even say who he wanted to arrest, a minister stepped forward and said:

"No one is wiser than Your Majesty! I must submit a memorial to impeach you! Although our Great Yan does not have treacherous ministers like Yan Song and Yan Shifan, there are already those as greedy as the Yan Faction, and I intend to impeach one of them!"