The landscape thus becomes the empire, Lin Heng has a talent for assessing others' worth. If his desires have shifted, aiming for the rule of the empire, then naturally, the value of others in his eyes would change, too—like—everyone is a chess piece, all expendable.
Shangwen Yazhi was pointing out Lin Heng's current schemes for the empire, as well as his little maneuvers against the Shangwen family, revealing that they were no longer the old friends they once were.
If positions are adversarial, then they are enemies.
"Considering their ages, these three people must have been influential figures in the empire back in the day, so knowing each other or becoming friends isn't strange. But now it seems the boat of friendship has capsized several times, at least for Shangwen Yazhi and Lin Heng, it's beyond repair."
