As the hidden head of the Grand Secretariat, Zhao Yan had always been meticulously diligent. The reason he was a hidden leader had to do with his background; on the surface, Grand Secretary Cao was the frontman, a fact everyone understood implicitly.
Everyone at court knew that Zhao Yan had come up under Grand Secretary Cao. To outsiders, this seemed rather stifling—despite his remarkable political achievements and the Emperor's favor, he still had to play second fiddle.
Little did they know that Zhao Yan thoroughly enjoyed this state of affairs. Having reached this position, he had long since lost any obsessive regard for absolute power. Of course, this was also his way of self-preservation; with the reigning sovereign on the throne, the more ambitious one was, the more one would be mistrusted.
Chapter 707