[...The court, is very weak]
Gu Yunzhi did not directly answer his granddaughter's question; he merely stroked his beard calmly and said, "[Dust Li has been plagued with severe internal strife in recent millennia, long neglecting affairs of other regions, hence the Northern Domain is a remote place, unaware of the changes in Shenjing and the south. If I weren't a general, I wouldn't know the current situation of the Imperial Dynasty either.]"
"Beyond that, saying more is useless; you only need to know that back in the Late Emperor's era, there were three major factions in court... led by Grand Preceptor Hong for the civil officials, Governor Yi leading the military officials, and the old Town King faction headed by King Dongyun, Xuan Yueche, and King of Nanchu, Xuan Guangzong."
"Below these three major factions are various families guarding their interests, young generation Town Kings and small powers intertwined... difficult to distinguish."
