He Must Not Disappoint Emperor Ivan's Expectations! (Please Subscribe and Vote with Monthly Tickets)

At that moment, Matvei paced back and forth in the Imperial Study as though sitting on a bed of needles, his face full of unease and anxiety.

He looked nothing like an emperor who ruled the world. Instead, he resembled a young eunuch waiting for his master to return, terrified of botching his assignment.

The instant Li Chen appeared in the doorway, he hurried over as though he had finally found his anchor, his urgent voice tinged with ingratiation. "Master! You're finally back! How did it go? What did the Empress Dowager say?"

He only knew that his master had gone to "persuade" the Empress Dowager to support him. He had no idea what methods of "persuasion" had actually been used.

His master had been gone for more than twenty hours, and he could not help worrying-not only that his master might have failed, but, even more, that the Empress Dowager might have endangered him or made things difficult for him.

As he saw it, the Empress Dowager held an exalted position in the Imperial Harem, while her Lineage was a towering tree with deep roots and a tangled web of influence.

Among the favored consorts in the Imperial Harem, which one did not exhaust every means to secure official posts for her fathers, brothers, sons, and nephews, elevating her family's standing?

As the woman most beloved by the previous emperor, Ivan, the Empress Dowager's Lineage had ridden that favorable wind to occupy numerous key posts in the Imperial Court. Its influence could not be underestimated. Without her support, gaining real power would undoubtedly be harder than hard.

Li Chen secretly laughed at Matvei's hopeless display, but his expression remained unchanged as he leisurely walked over and sat down.

He lifted the hot tea a palace maid had served him