Lin Cuo stared at that line for a while, then immediately completed a self-diagnosis in his head.
First, his real preference was clearly for mature older women, ideally the likes of Nagisa, Kokoro, Iroha Tamaki, and Veneto.
Jiang Lihua was still a child who had only just turned eighteen. That drop in stress could only have come from political and psychological mechanisms, absolutely nothing else.
Second, he currently had several sources of stress active at once: [Ambitious], [Diligent], [Burdened with the World], and [Secret Crisis Holder]. Every day, the moment he opened his eyes, he had to face the Mars Hive, the Lunar Hive, unrest in the regional military commands, Britannia, Indian autonomy, the Area 11 Government-in-Exile, and a man with a rolled-omelet hairstyle who stood ready to knead all of humanity into the World of C.
Whenever the civil and military officials at court saw him, they either hailed the Regent's wisdom or handed him a document requiring him to decide matters of life and death.
Only Jiang Lihua would tell him outright that he was spouting nonsense, that he was a treacherous minister. This was an exceptionally precious form of corrective feedback on power in Great Han.
The more Lin Cuo thought about it, the more airtight his logic seemed. The system, however, popped up another small line of text beside him.
[Self-justification complete.] [Credibility: average.]
"You don't know shit."
While the imperial decree authorizing his departure was still going through its final procedures at the Court of Imperial Ceremonies, Lin Cuo had already instructed the imperial lecturers and the court to compile a formal explanation of the legal and ritual basis for the Son of Heaven reprimanding senior ministers.
His requirements were very clear. "You must prove that this is proper Han ritual, an admonition