Madam, please ascend.

Chapter 402 The Death of the Imperial Advisor
As Yun Yi had predicted, Lu Ziwei was in an extremely difficult situation and had reached a dead end.

The problem lies with Emperor Helian Haihai of the Great Yan Dynasty. This emperor was already very old, but for some reason his health suddenly improved, and his energy and spirit were extraordinary.

If that's all there is to it, it's actually a good thing for the Great Yan.

Helian Hai once trusted Lu Ziwei implicitly and wanted to follow her every instruction.

However, the emperor's temperament has changed drastically, and his fear of Lu Ziwei has deepened, to the point that they are now irreconcilable.

If the emperor were Su Chengqian and the imperial advisor were Qin Dingfeng, even if they had a major falling out, they wouldn't have completely broken off relations. Qin Dingfeng had already considered retiring from court after his emperor fell ill and went into seclusion.

As a disciple of the Tian Shu Academy, Qin Dingfeng aims to use the human world as a chessboard to find an opportunity to achieve harmony with the Dao.

The same principle applies to Lu Ziwei. Faced with Helian Haihai's suspicion, she could have chosen to retreat gracefully and simply leave the mess to Dayan, letting them fend for themselves.

However, Lu Ziwei noticed the presence of the Futian Pavilion. This female teacher was very proud and could tolerate losing to her senior brother Qin Dingfeng, but she would not allow herself to lose to a mastermind she had never met.

Therefore, she will not only refuse to back down, but will also no longer care about the fate of the Great Yan Dynasty. What she wants is the outcome of the other side of the chessboard, no longer whether Great Yan or Great Xia is stronger or weaker.

Since Helian Haihai began targeting Lu Ziwei, the court has been sending people every day to impeach her, but the accusations against her are all baseless.

Fortunately, Lu Ziwei has always acted with integrity and has never left any evidence against her. Therefore, the impeachments were ineffective, and many people in the court even felt that the Grand Preceptor was far better than the muddle-headed emperor and chose to side with him.

Most interestingly, even Crown Prince Helian Ran chose to remain on the sidelines during this struggle, rather than continuing to serve as his father's pawn.

We're all adults here; nobody's a fool. Back then, Helian Haihai used the throne as bait to lure Helian Ran into implementing the "dismemberment plan," which nearly cost the crown prince his life in the Great Xia Dynasty.

After returning to China, Helian Ran felt increasingly uneasy and eventually had to admit that the Grand Tutor's warning was entirely correct.

The Emperor wanted Helian Ran to assassinate Su Qing and die in the capital of Great Xia. If the people on the Great Xia side couldn't do it, Shan Changqing would stab him in the back to complete the plan.

At that time, the Great Yan and Great Xia will become mortal enemies, and war will break out at any moment!
Helian Ran thought to himself, since his father didn't care about blood ties at all, then he didn't need to play along with his act of filial piety.

In this scene, he appears to be neutral, but in reality, he represents the Eastern Palace faction. Not helping the emperor is a crime, which is equivalent to helping the Grand Preceptor.

As a result, the court was divided into three factions: the emperor's faction was also a pro-war faction, the national advisor's faction was a conservative faction, and the crown prince's faction was neutral.

Lu Ziwei and Helian Ran had many private interactions, and neither of them understood why the emperor insisted on attacking the Great Xia.

As the most esteemed person in the Great Yan Dynasty, he knew better than anyone that the Great Yan was currently weak and could not withstand such turmoil.

Although the Great Xia Dynasty was in chaos a few years ago due to the loss of Su Chengqian and internal and external troubles, the situation on the Great Yan side was not much better, and was even worse.

After several years of severe drought, the sacred land of the Hundred Wilderness Clan in the north was destroyed, and large numbers of alien races frequently invaded the borders of the Great Yan.

At first, Lu Ziwei was also unaware of what was going on, but later she learned that a Heavenly Pillar had been destroyed by the Overturning Heaven Pavilion, and that their own Holy Maiden had died, plunging them into complete chaos.

No matter how you look at it, you can't get around the behemoth that is Futian Pavilion.

Helian Haihai's insistence on starting a war in the human world must be due to their instigation.

Some things don't need evidence at all; just seeing who the biggest beneficiary is enough.

Lu Ziwei secretly investigated several times and finally discovered the secret dealings between Helian Haihai and Futian Pavilion.

This discovery sent chills down her spine.

What was initially thought to be merely a "battle for Dao Integration" unexpectedly involved the Ascension Realm. Fortunately, Yun Yi had Qin Dingfeng deliver a message warning them to be wary of a ruthless character skilled in puppetry.

Lu Ziwei, quick-witted, soon combined the clues she had with the information brought by Yun Yi. The Tian Shu Academy's forte was to unravel the threads of history and find a coherent thread.

Heavenly Puppet Sect, Shepherd.

Futian Pavilion, Pojun.

These two people are the same person, and they have taken deep root in the Great Yan Dynasty, making it impossible to eradicate them completely.

Faced with such an unprecedentedly terrifying opponent, Lu Ziwei felt no fear whatsoever; on the contrary, her fighting spirit soared.

Since we are both "chess players", let's have a showdown on the chessboard!
That night, Lu Ziwei stayed up all night in the Imperial Preceptor's residence, busy managing state affairs. The emperor only knew how to annoy her, and knew very little about the situation in various parts of the Great Yan Dynasty. This was why there were many voices in the court supporting the Imperial Preceptor.

Some even say that a country can be without a ruler for a day, but it cannot be without a national advisor for a day.

This shows that Lu Ziwei has gained a lot of prestige over the years, and it also makes it easier to understand why Helian Haihai insisted on attacking Daxia, which was to establish his prestige.

The oil lamp crackled, and the Imperial Preceptor's residence was unusually quiet tonight, but Lu Ziwei seemed completely oblivious. A young boy beside her softly read the contents of the memorials to her, and she dictated her replies, which the boy then wrote down in his own hand, finally affixing a seal.

The Imperial Advisor has always worked in this way. Her eyesight is naturally not very good, and although she is tall, she still evokes sympathy.

It's a pity he's blind.

Her opponents thought the same way.

Helian Haihai felt that it was utterly ridiculous for Lu Ziwei, a blind woman, to hold such a high position and dare to oppose the imperial power.

Little did they know that this Grand Preceptor was not blind at all; on the contrary, she had clear vision and, after entering the Dao Integration Realm, possessed extraordinary abilities. She deliberately concealed this fact to feign weakness to her enemies.

The shepherd's whereabouts have remained unknown. He hasn't made a move against Lu Ziwei, which is probably because he underestimates her.

What can someone at the Void Returning Realm possibly accomplish? It would be better to keep her in the fight against the Emperor; the Great Yan would only become more vulnerable as a result.

Therefore, Lu Ziwei is portrayed as someone who, in the eyes of outsiders, is only somewhat learned but physically weak.

Finally, on this night, the person she had been waiting for arrived.

The night was as dark as ink, and the oil lamp flickered on the desk, casting a long shadow of Lu Ziwei sitting upright on the wall.

The child's soft reading of the memorial suddenly stopped, as a faint sound of cracking tiles came from the eaves outside.

Lu Ziwei tapped the table lightly with her fingertips. "What's that noise?"

The child glanced outside and casually remarked, "It's probably just a passing kitten."

"Oh, then you continue."

The young boy dipped his brush in ink and buried himself in reviewing memorials.

However, Lu Ziwei did not seem to have completely dispelled her doubts and asked, "Speaking of which, it should have been A-Guang on duty here tonight, so why did it change to you?"

The boy replied, "Ah Guang got an upset stomach and insisted that I take his place."

"Is it serious?"

"That's alright, it's just that I can't get out of bed."

Lu Ziwei smiled, seemingly mocking her servant's gluttony. But her eyes, hidden behind the cloth, opened slightly, and she immediately saw the bedroom where A-Guang was. The usually docile servant was now lying face down on the bed, seemingly suffering from severe diarrhea, but in reality, he was already lifeless.

The key point is that, apart from Ah Guang, the entire Imperial Preceptor's residence had been secretly sabotaged.

Unfamiliar faces replaced the familiar servants, clearly indicating that this group had ill intentions and was determined to take advantage of the fact that the Grand Preceptor was blind.

Several dark figures silently entered the study, but Lu Ziwei seemed unaware, as if she truly couldn't see anything.

Lu Ziwei said gently, "Where were we? We've added three more clauses to the resettlement terms for the refugees in the Northern Territory..."

The child slowed down his writing slightly, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes.

“You’ve been with me for several months now. I took pity on you and since you could read and write, I kept you by my side. Thinking about it carefully, I haven’t mistreated you during this time.”

Lu Ziwei suddenly sighed, feeling quite emotional for some reason.

A look of fear flashed in the child's eyes, and he immediately signaled the assassins to take action.

Lu Ziwei continued, "Alas, upon closer reflection, there's only one possibility left: you were already a suicide soldier long before you even got close to me. Our Emperor is truly ruthless, thinking of training a page to be a suicide soldier."

"I used to laugh at the Great Xia for colluding with the Heavenly Remnant Sect, but now looking back, the Great Yan has also done a lot of stupid things."

She extended a finger and touched the boy's forehead, preventing the evil magic planted in his body from being used. Although his flesh and blood were blasted apart, he was enveloped by an invisible energy shield.

Therefore, it did not affect Lu Ziwei at all, but instead caused a "collapse" phenomenon inside the enclosure, which shows that its power was considerable.

The assassins behind him attacked almost simultaneously, their movements as unpredictable as marionettes, their blades sharp and deadly, intending to cut the Grand Preceptor into pieces.

In a flash, Lu Ziwei feigned panic and leaned back, accidentally knocking over the oil lamp as her sleeves fluttered.

The next moment, the room was instantly ignited by flames, and from the outside, it looked as if a sun had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the Imperial Preceptor's mansion at night!
Before the assassin could even get close to Lu Ziwei, he was reduced to ashes by the blazing sunlight.

However, the danger wasn't limited to just them; countless assassins were rushing in from outside.

These assassins seemed to have lost their minds, unaware of fear, and surged into the formation set up by Lu Ziwei like a tidal wave, risking their lives to deplete her magical power.

Lu Ziwei's eyes, hidden beneath the cloth strip, gleamed purple. Facing the overwhelming killing intent, she smiled coldly, her fingertips forming a magical array that clashed with the assassins.

Every attack and counterattack was calculated with the precision of a chess move.

The two dragons were about to become entangled, and they were at a critical juncture.

Suddenly, a spark fell into the study, and then the fire of ignorance and karma exploded!
Lu Ziwei was caught off guard, her robes were set ablaze, and she looked utterly disheveled. She never imagined that the karmic fire she had used on Dong'an City would now be used on her.

This truly shows how unpredictable life can be.

After the array in the study came into contact with the karmic fire of ignorance, it became indiscriminate in its formation. Knowing that she could not stay there for long, Lu Ziwei flew out of the study and rushed towards the outside of the Imperial Preceptor's mansion without stopping.

Just when they were about to escape, they were stopped on the spot by someone they knew quite well.

The man standing there with his sword drawn was none other than Crown Prince Helian Ran.

"Imperial Preceptor, please wait."

Lu Ziwei's eyes were filled with disbelief: "You actually intend to be an accomplice to evil?"

"He is my father after all."

"There is no kinship in the royal family, only interests."

"Therefore, I need to borrow the head of the Imperial Advisor. I hope you will grant my request."

Although Lu Ziwei was in a sorry state, she still laughed nonchalantly and said, "Even if you use my life to buy you a moment of peace, does that mean you can rest easy for the rest of your life?"

Before she could finish speaking, Helian Ran beheaded her with a single stroke.

The crown prince held the imperial advisor's head in his arms, not by his hair, as that would be disrespectful.

He looked sad, but since things had come to this, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and move on.

As Helian Ran carried the Grand Preceptor's head to the palace to report back, the assassins in the Grand Preceptor's mansion also retreated like the tide, leaving only ruins behind.

Lu Ziwei's remaining body then turned into a burst of light and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

She had already become a cultivator at the "Harmony Realm" and possessed the Heavenly Pivot Academy's treasure, the "Book of Ten Thousand Generations," so of course she wouldn't die easily.

At this very moment, in a small courtyard in Xijing City, Lu Ziwei, Ye Lan, and Liang Shangjun were all present.

Lu Ziwei stroked the book cover, feeling extremely distressed. She had just torn out another page to create a lifelike fake corpse for herself.

This precious item is becoming increasingly rare with each page used. If Master Qiu were to find out how she was using it, he would surely be heartbroken.

Liang Shangjun, feeling uneasy, asked, "Is the Imperial Advisor truly confident that he can deceive His Majesty?"

Lu Ziwei calmly said, "It's easy to fool Helian Haihai, but it's most likely we won't be able to fool the mastermind behind him."

Ye Lan exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't the Crown Prince in considerable danger on this journey?"

“What danger could there be? He just can’t see through my trick. Besides, I suspect the person behind it all won’t tell the emperor about my faked death.”

"Why?"

"Because he wanted Xijing City to be in turmoil, and for the Great Yan Dynasty to be in chaos from top to bottom."

Liang Shangjun and Ye Lan didn't quite understand. They didn't understand why the struggle between the Imperial Advisor and the Emperor had involved a mastermind behind the scenes.

Who exactly is that person? He has never shown himself from beginning to end, or perhaps he doesn't even exist and is just a character imagined by the Grand Tutor.
Lu Ziwei noticed the confusion in their eyes, but was too lazy to explain further. As a pawn, sometimes it's unnecessary to know too much; simply following the plan is enough.

Her eyes shimmered with a purple light, as if she could already see how bustling Xijing City would be after the sun rose tomorrow.

The beloved Grand Tutor died so mysteriously. How will Helian Haihai explain this?

To accuse the Imperial Advisor of colluding with the Great Xia? That's probably not a good idea.

After much deliberation, he was left with only one choice.

What Lu Ziwei really wants is for you to take this step, and for me to go from the light to the shadows.

However, she still lacked confidence in fighting against the person behind the scenes on her own, and couldn't help but wonder how far Yun Yi had come.

Could it be that he owes someone a favor and doesn't want to repay it, so he didn't even show up?

(End of this chapter)