The expression on Lord Clarendon's face betrayed no annoyance when Palmerston pierced through all his thoughts with a single remark. Seated in a chair, he maintained a usual demeanor as he asked Palmerston, "Mr. Palmerston, if I stand with you, what can I gain?"

"Gain what?" Palmerston glanced at Lord Clarendon, gently stroked his chin in thought for a moment, and then replied, "I can assure you, once I assume the position of Cabinet Prime Minister, you may remain in the Cabinet as the Foreign Minister!"

Lord Clarendon was slightly taken aback upon hearing Palmerston's promise, as he did not expect Palmerston's offer to be so generous.

"What? Are you dissatisfied with the position of Foreign Minister?" Palmerston inquired of Lord Clarendon.

"No, no, no!" Lord Clarendon waved his hand, responding with an awkward smile, "I am quite satisfied with the conditions you have laid out! For someone facing imminent failure, being able to retain this position after the reformation of the Cabinet is already rather favorable!"

"As long as you are satisfied, our deal is preliminarily reached!" Palmerston nodded slightly with a smile toward Lord Clarendon.

"Well then, Mr. Palmerston! May I ask you a question, though it may be somewhat offensive?" Lord Clarendon cautiously inquired of Palmerston.

"I could refuse to answer that question, couldn't I?" Palmerston joked half-seriously with Lord Clarendon.

"Of course!" Lord Clarendon immediately replied, "If the question makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to answer."

"Ask away, then!" Palmerston made a welcoming gesture towards Lord Clarendon.

"It's like this!" Lord Clarendon cleared his throat, rearranged his words carefully, and asked, "I originally thought that once you reformed the Cabinet, Minister Russell would take my place! But now it seems you haven't considered Mr. Russell."

Upon hearing Lord Clarendon's words, the smile on Palmerston's face immediately vanished, and he spoke to Lord Clarendon in a solemn manner, "If it were you, would you want to work alongside someone with opposing views?"

"I would kick him out ruthlessly!" Lord Clarendon responded to Palmerston without hesitation.

"Exactly! That's exactly how I feel!" Palmerston promptly replied to Lord Clarendon.

"But, Mr. Palmerston!" Lord Clarendon asked once more, "Without Mr. Russell's help, it seems difficult for just the two of us to bring down Prime Minister Aberdeen!"

"Who says it's just the two of us?" Palmerston queried, then pointed out into the dark night sky through the window, "Aren't they all our people?"

"What do you mean?" Lord Clarendon seemed to grasp Palmerston's meaning somewhat, but he felt as if something intangible isolated his thoughts.

"The voters are precisely our strength!" Palmerston explained to Lord Clarendon, "As long as they are willing to support us, the Aberdeen Cabinet will inevitably collapse!"

Palmerston's words plunged Lord Clarendon, who was originally curious, into a dispirited state, as he had initially thought Palmerston had some clever strategy, only to find his explanation mirrored what he had already said to Aberdeen.

"Mr. Palmerston, in this regard, we are probably no match for Prime Minister Aberdeen! The power he holds is far greater than ours!" Lord Clarendon murmured in despondence.

"On the traditional governmental level, Aberdeen indeed holds much more power than us!" Palmerston first acknowledged Lord Clarendon's words, then shifted the topic, saying to him, "Fortunately, Aberdeen has not noticed another kind of power quietly rising! This power, when used properly, is sufficient to externally alter a government's policy direction!"

"What power?" Lord Clarendon eagerly asked Palmerston.

"The power of the London and indeed the entire British press!" Palmerston conveyed to Lord Clarendon, "In Britain, news reporting is not merely a mouthpiece for different factions within the ruling class but an aggregation of national wisdom, a tool for critiquing and controlling the ruling class. It is indeed the 'fourth power,' not merely a reflection of the third power through words and sound."

"You mean to use the press to exert pressure on the government?" Lord Clarendon immediately grasped Palmerston's intention and hastily asked him.

Palmerston shook his head in response to Lord Clarendon, "No, no, no, it's not about using the press's power, but about directing news reports in a way that favors us! Make the public believe that we represent their interests! Now that you've mentioned it, I have a question for you!"

"Please, go ahead!" Lord Clarendon was momentarily stunned, then replied to Palmerston.

"What do you think are the national characteristics of Britain? Or rather, what is the Britons' ideal?" Palmerston questioned Lord Clarendon.

"Balance on the European Continent? A forever strong Britain?" Lord Clarendon responded tentatively to Palmerston.

"No, no, no! What you said is merely what politicians think!" Palmerston shook his head, then spread his hands toward Lord Clarendon, "Based on my understanding of them, the ideal image of Britons should be: believers in Protestantism, lovers of freedom, full of vitality, adventurous, self-confident, bold, unhesitating to fight to protect the weak, feeling proud to be British, and despising foreigners, especially Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church followers.

They believe it is the government's mission to bring the English way of life to those unfortunate foreigners, which is a unique thought among Anglo-Saxons. We only need to leverage this thought to transform the upcoming war in Sinop into a despicable Eastern Orthodox invasion of unfortunate Turkic people. Those justice-loving British voters will surely support us!"

"But will the press publish the messages we send out?" Lord Clarendon asked Palmerston again.

"Why wouldn't they?" Palmerston retorted with a question, then revealed a pleased smile, "I know them too well. Those folks who thrive on chaos won't miss any hot news! They will never heed warnings from the British Government, not even if the government shuts down their press!"

Then Palmerston glanced at Lord Clarendon and said, "However, Minister Villiers, you must be the one to fire the first shot!"

"I understand!" Lord Clarendon nodded to Palmerston, understanding that Palmerston wanted him to hand over a "certificate of allegiance."

After all, if Clarendon didn't take some shares, how could he earn Palmerston's trust?

Subsequently, Lord Clarendon and Palmerston exchanged opinions on some diplomatic issues, deepening their mutual understanding.

As they talked, the time gradually approached one o'clock in the morning. When Mrs. Palmerston entered the study, the still-unfulfilled Palmerston had to end the conversation, "Alright! Minister Villiers, it's getting late, and both of us should rest!"

"Sorry to have troubled you!" Lord Clarendon bowed once again to Palmerston.

Afterward, accompanied by Palmerston, Lord Clarendon left the mansion.

The carriage parked on the opposite side of the street from Palmerston's mansion quickly drove up to Lord Clarendon upon seeing him.

Lord Clarendon slowly stepped into the carriage, waving goodbye to Palmerston as he sat inside.

Under Palmerston's watchful gaze, Lord Clarendon gradually moved further away until he disappeared at the end of the street.

"There will be a good show to watch!" Palmerston said to himself with a mischievous smile on his face.

After finishing, Palmerston turned and entered the mansion.

...

The next morning, a fine drizzle fell under the dim sky, enveloping all of London in a curtain of rain.

In such bad weather, Prime Minister Aberdeen was about to receive news in his office that could shake his cabinet to its core.

"Knock knock knock!"

With a quick knock coming from outside the Prime Minister's office, Prime Minister Aberdeen slowly raised his head and said to the person outside, "Come in!"

The door opened, and standing outside was his chief permanent secretary (referred to as chief secretary), the leader of the entire British civil service system.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I must report bad news to you on such a terrible day!" The chief secretary closed the office door with a serious face and quickly came to Aberdeen with an air of importance.

"Sit down and speak!" Aberdeen said to the chief secretary in front of him.

The chief secretary sat opposite Aberdeen and, under Aberdeen's gaze, handed over The Times, which he had been protecting from the rain by holding it close to his chest.

"Please take a look at this!" The chief secretary pointed lightly at The Times and said to Aberdeen.

Aberdeen was briefly stunned, then took the still-warm Times in his hand.

"The first news on the second page!" The chief secretary reminded Aberdeen.

Aberdeen turned the pages to read the content on the second page of The Times.

After reading all the content on the second page, Prime Minister Aberdeen's face turned ashen, his lips trembling with rage.

"Who is it!" Prime Minister Aberdeen said furiously, looking at the chief secretary. "Who leaked this news to The Times!"

"Your Excellency, it's not just The Times! Almost all the newspapers reported the same content!" The chief secretary continued to inform Prime Minister Aberdeen.

"Go! Call Minister Villiers over here. I need to ask him in person how this Minister of Foreign Affairs managed to let Jiang disclose such vital intelligence to those scoundrels who only wield pens!" Prime Minister Aberdeen's face reflected disgust for the newspaper reporters. Perhaps out of hatred, he also barked orders at the chief secretary who reported the matter to him.

"Yes, Prime Minister!" With a slight frown, the chief secretary bowed to Prime Minister Aberdeen and left the office.

After the chief secretary departed, Prime Minister Aberdeen was once again alone in his office. He looked at The Times in front of him with intense disgust, then crumpled it up as if dealing with an archenemy before tossing it into the trash bin.

Through the crumpled up copy of The Times, one could vaguely see a headline, named "Save Ossman!"

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