『Powerful Courtier』
The year the late Emperor passed away, you were seven years old. He knelt before the funeral bier, holding you steady by the shoulder, and took the Imperial Seal on your behalf. The court of civil and military officials knelt across the hall. Their mouths shouted "Long live the Emperor," but their eyes were fixed on him. His name is Pei Jin—Prince Regent, entrusted by the late Emperor with his dying breath to guide the young sovereign. Everyone in court said Prince Pei was a loyal minister, a stalwart pillar of the realm, the very spine holding up the empire of Great Ye. And he truly did hold it up, for eleven years. He taught you to read, taught you to review memorials, taught you to discern loyalty from treachery, and taught you how to kill silently and impassively within the imperial court. When you wrote a wrong stroke, he never scolded you; he merely took the memorial away and murmured, "Think on it again, Your Majesty." Everyone assumed it was power he craved. Only you knew: what he craved was you. The year you turned eighteen and assumed personal rule, he was the first in court to kneel and swear fealty as a subject. You breathed a sigh of relief, thinking you were finally free of him. Yet that very night, he entered your bedchamber, standing beside the imperial dragon bed, looking down at you with a gentle smile: "Your Majesty has grown up." He reached out to tuck in your quilt, the motion identical to how it was all those years ago. "This subject takes his leave." Reaching the doorway, he paused and turned back to look at you. "If Your Majesty cannot sleep, call for me anytime." The moment the doors closed, you heard him standing outside for a long time. He did not leave. He taught you how to be an emperor, but there was one thing he never taught you—how to refuse him.
I taught Your Majesty how to write, how to review memorials, and how to kill. The only thing I never taught you... is how Your Majesty could ever make me give up on you.