Shang Yechu took out her phone and showed Zheng Bohan the notes she had taken on her reading app.

"Then, I read these people's biographies." Shang Yechu scrolled through her phone, picked out a few notes, and showed them to Zheng Bohan.

"Let's start with Emperor Xuanzong of Wei. He was a fool for twenty years, outliving all his brothers, and was then supported by eunuchs to become emperor." Shang Yechu made a pushing motion.

"The eunuchs supported him because they saw him as a fool, easy to manipulate." Shang Yechu tapped her temple in the distance. "In this respect, she is very similar to Princess Pingzhao. Foolishness and cowardice—sometimes cowardice is worse than foolishness."

Zheng Bohan's eyes narrowed slightly. As a screenwriter with a wealth of knowledge, he naturally knew what was about to happen—

"Then, a miracle happened," Shang Yechu said with a smile. "On the day Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, he suddenly shed his former foolishness and displayed extraordinary wisdom and decisiveness. You, teacher, already know these things, so I won't presume to teach you."

Zheng Bohan not only knew it, but could recite it from memory. Emperor Xuanzong of Wei not only ushered in a golden age of peace, but also, not long after ascending the throne, he killed all the eunuchs who had supported him. In terms of perseverance and patience, he was second to none among emperors.

"Then came the Tianjing Emperor. The emperor had no sons or brothers, so the officials had no choice but to bring him, a distant relative, to the throne and force him to recognize the late emperor, who was only ten years older than him, as his father."

Zheng Bohan certainly knew these things.

Shang Yechu scrolled through her phone and read aloud: "In July of the same year, the emperor had twenty-three civil officials beaten to death at the Zhuque Gate." Of course, she was reading a vernacular version.

Zheng Bohan's brow twitched. "What are you trying to say?"

Shang Yechu stretched out a hand and wrote a "6" in the air. "From the time the emperor ascended the throne to the time when he beat the civil officials who supported him to death, it only took six months—that is, half a year! From then on, no matter what absurd things Emperor Tianjing did, the officials dared not speak out."

Zheng Bohan had already sat up straight. "Continue."

Shang Yechu put down her phone and said seriously, "Princess Pingzhao's situation is actually not much different from that of Emperor Tianjing and Emperor Wei Xuanzong."

"When a new emperor ascends the throne, his position is unstable. According to normal thinking, one would expect the new emperor to be extremely cautious towards the ministers who helped him to the throne. But that is not the case."

"The emperor's power is supreme. Once he legally occupies that position, it is very difficult to be removed from it legally. In other words, from the moment he ascends the throne, officials have already lost the right to compete fairly with the emperor."

"The struggle for power is not a back-and-forth affair, but a fight to the death! One step back means another. Therefore, the new emperor will not show weakness at this juncture—in fact, he must display a hundred times the majesty to intimidate these loyal ministers who have followed him!"

A slight smile appeared on Zheng Bohan's lips, then quickly disappeared.

He snorted through his nose: "Easier said than done! Then tell me, why didn't Emperor Wu of Southern Chen show his talents immediately upon ascending the throne, as you say, but instead lay low under the general for ten years before making his move?"

Shang Yechu said unhurriedly, "You said it yourself, he was lying low under the General."

Zheng Bohan could barely contain his smile. "Oh?"

"It's clearly written in our script, *The Tale of Yun Qing*, that the late emperor was inherently suspicious and thoughtful. Over the years, he gradually sent away all the veteran generals who had fought alongside him to conquer the empire. Before his death, he took one last group with him on his final journey." Shang Yechu coughed lightly. "A gun and a pen are two different things. If you're pointed at by a gun, you can only obediently submit. If you're pointed at by a pen, why not just break it?"

As Shang Yechu spoke, his eyes grew brighter: "Princess Pingzhao was supported by the civil officials to ascend the throne. As the saying goes, a scholar's rebellion will not succeed for three years. If Princess Pingzhao had been pushed to the throne by a group of generals, then of course we would have to endure it for now; but those old generals had long been killed by the late emperor, and the new generation of generals were hindering each other, and were terrified by the fate of their predecessors. They were all as quiet as chickens, no matter who was sitting on the throne, they could only shout 'Long live the emperor!'"

"In the novel 'The Tale of Clouds,' Teacher Qin is portrayed as the founding emperor who emerged from chaos. As a newly established dynasty that has only been around for twenty years, the civil service and aristocratic groups have not yet taken shape. Even if they were to strike as a group, they would be far from being able to paralyze the entire national machinery."

"The fact that the officials supported the weak Princess Pingzhao to become emperor was actually a way for the civil official group to extend their tentacles to imperial power while the throne was unstable after the death of the late emperor."

"Under such circumstances, what the new emperor needs to do is not to show weakness to the enemy, retreat step by step, and feed the ambitions of the high-ranking officials; on the contrary, the new emperor needs to show a more assertive stance to deter these restless insects!"

Zheng Bohan remained silent, while Shang Yechu was beaming with excitement.

"There are only emperors who are overthrown by violence and productivity, not emperors who are brought down by the spittle of civil officials!"

"Slap, slap, slap."

Sparse applause rang out in the dressing room, but it wasn't from Zheng Bohan.

Shang Yechu looked up in surprise and saw that Qin Tianye had appeared at the door at some point!

Qin Tianye clapped as he walked into the house, exclaiming, "Brilliant! Brilliant!"

"Teacher Qin? When did you arrive?" Shang Yechu quickly stood up, her face showing a hint of embarrassment.

"It's been a while." Qin Tianye replied to Shang Yechu with a smile, then patted Zheng Bohan's shoulder heavily a few times, saying meaningfully, "How about it, Lao Zheng? You lost."

Zheng Bohan reached out and covered his face. "So what? Go ahead and be smug."

"What did you mean, 'lost'?" Shang Yechu asked, looking puzzled.

Qin Tianye laughed and said, "I'll make a bet with your Director Zheng. I bet that your performance this morning was the most reasonable way to perform, while he bets that the 'restlessness' written in his script is the most reasonable design."

Shang Yechu held her breath: "So what Teacher Zheng just said..."

Qin Tianye patted Shang Yechu on the shoulder and laughed loudly, "Congratulations! You've convinced that stubborn old man Zheng! Comrade Yechu, you've successfully wrapped up your work!"