Chapter 514: The Empress Dowager Card

With records of wizarding power surpassing even that of witches, Hermione easily joined the British lunar mission team and, thanks to her strong foundation in natural sciences and her Muggle-born background, quickly built rapport with several core team members—unsurprisingly, the chief engineer was Sir Travers, the most influential academic figure in the Prime Minister’s faction, whom Harry had met several times; perhaps this was one reason he took special care of Hermione.

Or perhaps it was because Sir Travers mentioned Harry too often, causing Hermione to unconsciously start talking to Harry more, making them seem like the kind of intimate, ambiguous lovers Muggles imagined.

With Zhang Qiu’s return from Tianchao, everything became clear—not only Harry’s relationship with the girls around him, but also the reason for Su Fang’s cold attitude, and even some technical hurdles were no longer obstacles.

“I dare say Yanayev never wanted to go to the Moon,” Zhang Qiu said, holding his cup like a typical middle-aged man discussing politics, confidently, “His real goal is to use lunar rocket development as an excuse to research more advanced intercontinental missiles—he doesn’t care whether connecting fifteen engines together is feasible, because he has no intention of reaching the Moon; he cares only about how to make his rocket land ‘without warning’ on another country’s head.”

“Then does that mean the plan is unworkable?” Harry said, disappointed.

“Who said it’s unworkable?” Zhang Qiu raised one finger, “It’s like how we planned to kill Draco—we kill Yanayev the same way: by actually going to the Moon.”

“But if he’s not genuinely trying to solve the technical problems...”

“Those aren’t technical problems,” Zhang Qiu waved his finger dismissively, “You know I brought someone with me—a real scientist, or rather, a chief engineer. He knows the Moon like the back of his hand; landing there is like going home to him.”

Harry didn’t know how to describe his feelings.

“So, by completing one lunar mission with him, we can pin Yanayev down,” Zhang Qiu brushed off the matter with casual ease, “Of course, Hermione’s involvement gave Draco some breathing room, but he still can’t stir up trouble. If we decide to back Pan Xi, then Pan Xi will definitely become Lady Malfoy.”

“Alright, your confidence is justified,” Harry felt the topic had finally returned to a domain he could control, and he relaxed slightly, “Now Draco has escaped the Moon topic, but he’s also lost any excuse to interact with Astoria—especially since he’s given up Quidditch.”

“What we need to watch out for most is Draco suddenly dropping the act, confessing he’s breaking up with Pan Xi and that he truly loves Astoria—we’d have no way to refute that,” Zhang Qiu said, “Fortunately, due to some power balancing, he’s still maintaining his relationship with Pan Xi. But we must act quickly—once Draco graduates and no longer fears that breaking up with Pan Xi will isolate him at school, his confession won’t be far off.”

“But how do we act?” Harry mused, “Did you bring another love master?”

“No, only Old Cheng—and strictly speaking, I didn’t bring him; he had nowhere else to go.”

“Cheng?”

“You can call him Charles—he has an English name,” Zhang Qiu pointed upstairs, “He was chief engineer at Guanghan Palace for over twenty years, retired and returned home, but he’s restless, constantly ranting about lunar revival and restarting new projects—the Cabinet is sick of him. Just as you wanted to go to the Moon, they sent him over.”

Harry imagined a nagging old man muttering about outdated rules—he immediately thought of Filch.

“Even crazier—the Cabinet couldn’t find a legitimate reason to send him, so they called him a dowry.” Zhang Qiu rubbed his face, “We’re supposed to be true lovers, aren’t we?”

“What?” Harry laughed in exasperation, “Come on, does one old man really affect our relationship?”

“You wouldn’t understand. Legally—or according to Master’s original plan—we were just an ordinary couple. If we fell in love, we’d marry peacefully; he never forced it,” Zhang Qiu sighed, “But he overdid it. Now you’re the undisputed new king of the magical world, and our Chancellor has just started craving relevance... Now they want to package our relationship as a political marriage, like Princess Wencheng.”

“Who’s Princess Wencheng?”

“A politically significant marriage in Tianchao’s history. Her union achieved long-term peace, cultural exchange, and ethnic integration—later, she was even deified in Tibetan culture. But no one cared whether she truly loved Songtsen Gampo,” Zhang Qiu sighed, “I understand princesses who enjoyed wealth and status had to bear the fate of political marriage—but our love is between two people. I don’t want such a beautiful bond turned into a cold cultural symbol in history books.”

“Oh, that’s a problem—unless we refuse the marriage, but that’s impossible. It reminds me of Ron’s campaign for Keeper—even if he competed fairly, he could’ve won, but people deliberately gave him the position, which upset him. Still, there was a solution: he played brilliantly, showed true skill, and won everyone’s respect,” Harry shrugged, “So I think this isn’t so troubling—just live our lives well, and the world will understand.”

“Your people might understand, but Tianchao people,” Zhang Qiu said just as a bottle crashed to the floor upstairs, “They have no time to care about my life. These ‘dowries’ are all sidelined, disgruntled figures—they’ll twist our love just to vent their own sense of unappreciated talent. Believe me, Tianchao people will fabricate anything to write essays proving they’re underappreciated.”

“We’ll always find a way to deal with them,” Harry rubbed his head, “Though while talking, I just thought of a good idea—how to make Pan Xi the true Lady Malfoy: package it as a political marriage.”

“But the Parkinsons have nothing of value,” Zhang Qiu frowned, “And compared to handling Lucius, I still think controlling Draco is easier.”

“If Lucius is an extremely difficult ambitious man, isn’t Narcissa different?” Harry thought hard, “If we can win her support—and I feel Draco listens more to his mother, just a feeling.”

“If we can play this card well, it’s excellent. The Empress Dowager card often beats the True Love card,” Zhang Qiu mused, “But again, even before Narcissa, Pan Xi has no standout qualities.”

“She’s shrewd and well-connected—skills forged from long-term club management. Even if we ignore this fragile network, her administrative abilities are real. For the Malfoys, who want to withstand pressure and maintain influence among pure-blood nobility, she’d be a tremendous asset. Moreover, our stance is itself her advantage: if the Malfoys cling to pure-blood supremacy, they face heavy pressure from the Ministry, which insists [you can’t rule Muggles without understanding them]; if they compromise toward broader wizard supremacy and acknowledge Muggle-borns’ role in ruling Muggles, they’ll face rejection from most Death Eaters.”

“So what exactly is our stance...?”

“You know I’m not just the Ministry’s favorite—I’m secretly the Dark Lord,” Harry said, slightly uncomfortable, “Many Death Eaters don’t know this, but Lucius certainly does; Narcissa probably does too. So our support, in Narcissa’s eyes, means backing from both sides of the magical world. She might assume Draco doesn’t know this, and dismiss his opposition as ‘immaturity.’”

“Alright, seriously—I think this is crucial. It creates an information gap: Narcissa will believe Draco refuses Pan Xi simply because he doesn’t understand Harry Potter’s dual life,” Zhang Qiu couldn’t help smirking, “And she may not be sure whether to reveal this secret to her son, so she stubbornly scolds him for being childish.”

“Of course not. Think how the Dark Lord treats those who dare speak his name aloud,” Harry said solemnly, “Narcissa has long been conditioned to avoid mentioning the Dark Lord’s true identity.”

“We might also worry Draco rebels more the more his mother scolds him—but that’s unlikely, given his White Side status,” Zhang Qiu sipped slowly, “And as for White Side influence, I suspect I’ll eventually match yours—if we truly handle these Tianchao ‘dowries,’ they’ll start writing endless eulogies. They’re equally skilled at that.”

“So short-term, our first move is to tell Pan Xi she has this card to play, and hint that we’re facilitating it,” Harry summarized, “Long-term, we should figure out how to handle your dowry.”

“It might be a bit too long—literally long,” Zhang Qiu said with a wry, slightly smug smile.