Madam, please ascend.

Chapter 404 Conspiracy
Dressed in a scholar's robe and a hat embodying the spirit of a learned man, Lu Ziwei stood at the entrance of her humble abode, gazing intently at the outside world.

Witnessing this scene at night, Ye Lan inexplicably felt that his national advisor was tinged with sorrow, as if he had been betrayed by someone, which was why he was showing such a girlish demeanor.

This is truly strange. The Imperial Preceptor has always been upright and indomitable. Although she is a woman, she acts decisively and efficiently. When have we ever seen her show such exhaustion and a hint of bewilderment?

She inexplicably thought of that scoundrel named Yun Yi, who had impersonated Prince Xian, Su Xin, to tease her, causing her to suffer the backlash of his seductive arts and reveal her ugly side.

Being seen by that person wasn't the problem; the issue was that he didn't seem to notice and instead kept his distance, which left Ye Lan feeling frustrated.

Can someone who is both a friend and an enemy truly help the Great Yan Dynasty overcome this calamity?
Suddenly, a smile appeared on Lu Ziwei's face, looking rather sweet, as if she had finally welcomed her long-awaited lover.

However, Ye Lan wasn't sure if he was seeing things, because the smile vanished in an instant, and the Imperial Advisor quickly returned to his composed and confident demeanor.

Outside, Liang Shangjun rushed over with a man and a woman. He was always cautious and had been careful to avoid being followed on the way. He only dared to bring them here after confirming that it was completely safe.

His cultivation method was inherently strange. He left the Crown Prince's side silently without attracting anyone's attention, let alone knowing that he had secretly connected with the Imperial Preceptor's lineage.

Yun Yi and Su Qing entered the house one after the other. Looking at the dilapidated house, which, although simple, housed three Dao Integration Realm cultivators and two Void Return Realm cultivators, they couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

Lu Ziwei first bowed to Su Qing with an elegant demeanor, but her attitude was not so good when she looked at Yun Yi.

Are you secretly laughing at me?

Yun Yi smiled even more brightly: "I always thought you were the Grand Preceptor of the Great Yan Kingdom, so majestic and awe-inspiring, but I never imagined you were actually so down on your luck."

"My residence, the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, is far more magnificent than this place. It's a pity that someone set a fire on it out of ignorance, so you won't have the chance to visit it."

"Isn't this a kind of retribution? The Great Yan set fire to Dong'an City and then burned down the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion. They really have an addiction to arson."

Just as Yun Yi was about to bring up something, he saw Lu Ziwei shake her head almost imperceptibly at him, realizing that she was trying to hide her cultivation level, so he stopped talking.

Su Qing, watching the two of them with such tacit understanding, found it quite amusing. It seemed that intelligent people often understood each other perfectly; even though Lu Ziwei's eyes were covered by a strip of cloth, the two of them could still exchange glances.

After exchanging a few words, the two shared the information they had gathered with each other. After some careful examination, they quickly deduced Helian Haihai's motives and objectives.

Clearly, the Emperor of Great Yan made a deal with Mu Lang.

Shepherd Lang used the Heavenly Puppet Technique to help the old emperor prolong his life. As for how he did it, it was simply by replacing some of the nearly depleted organs with "mechanisms".

In this way, Helian Haihai did not engage in cultivation and thus did not violate the taboos of the Heavenly Dao, which can be considered as exploiting a loophole in the rules.

In addition, Mulang also provided the emperor with a method to turn corpses into puppet soldiers, which helped him secretly raise tens of thousands of tireless and fearless puppets, which had a miraculous effect on the world's war situation.

The valley Yunyi discovered at the border was a place used to raise puppets. Judging from its size, there were at least three or four similar troop garrisons.

The Great Xia must prepare for this in advance, otherwise, if it is attacked by them, it will probably be immediately routed and forced to retreat again and again.

As the puppet soldiers advanced, Helian Haihai transformed freshly killed soldiers from both sides into puppets from behind, ensuring an endless supply of troops.

Yun Yi put himself in General Tie's shoes and realized that this matter was indeed difficult to handle.

Of course, Mu Lang's help to Da Yan was not out of kindness; He Lian Hai Hai also needed to hand over the dragon remains that Da Yan had kept for hundreds of years.

Yun Yi: "What does he need this for?"

Lu Ziwei described the scene she saw before destroying Feiying: "The dragon's remains were being refined into a celestial puppet."

Su Qing was most shocked by this: "How could he be so heartless and insane?!"

Yun Yi: "What exactly is the origin of that dragon? Is there any connection between the underground palace in the Great Yan that contains the dragon's remains and the Panlong Tower in the Great Xia?"

Su Qing explained, "This all started when the previous dynasty was torn apart. During that dynastic change, a five-clawed golden dragon appeared out of nowhere. Legend has it that whoever can slay this dragon will be the true Son of Heaven."

Yun Yi had heard many similar rumors. For example, the founding emperor of a certain dynasty once killed a white snake and used the art of dragon slaying to gain a lifetime of fortune.

"Later, this dragon was killed by the first emperors of the Great Yan and Great Xia dynasties. One emperor took the dragon's essence, and the other took the dragon's body. Each emperor seized half of the dragon's fortune and established their own dynasties to rule over the nine provinces."

Su Qing: "The Dragon Essence is hidden in the Panlong Pagoda. My father was able to keep his breath and survive for so many years only because of the dragon energy and the jade coffin left by the immortal."

It is obvious that the dragon body that the Great Yan took is in the underground palace, which means that the Great Xia and the Great Yan each have half of it. No wonder these two dynasties don't like each other. It turns out that they have a blood feud.

Yun Yi recalled that when he entered the Panlong Tower, Fang Yuan, who had once slaughtered a dragon at the hands of Nangong Feitian, appeared full of fighting spirit, and this was the reason.

It sensed the lingering aura of a true dragon, and was naturally furious.

Yun Yi speculated, "It seems that the dragon skeleton is quite important to Mu Lang, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to do this."

Lu Ziwei: "That's what I can't understand either. He's already at the Ascension Realm, so what's the point of doing this?"

"The answer lies in the riddle itself. As an Ascension Realm cultivator, he has a limited number of opportunities to act, but the Heavenly Puppet he refines can do whatever it wants."

"You mean he's not at his peak right now?"

“Take Xiao Buyi, the Seven Killers of the Overturning Heaven Pavilion, as an example. I have personally witnessed him shatter the Heavenly Pillar twice. Each time, he had to exert all his strength, and afterwards, his spiritual energy could not be replenished, making him extremely weak.”

Speaking of all this, Yun Yi truly wanted to thank Zhao Wuxiang from the bottom of his heart, thanks to him for revealing a great deal of information.

Lu Ziwei's tone was filled with excitement: "If what you say is true, the remaining two Ascension Realm cultivators need to conserve their strength to attack the Heavenly Pillar, and they simply cannot go all out against us ants."

Yun Yi: "Therefore, Mu Lang also thought of this and wanted to refine a Heavenly Puppet True Dragon. It seems that this thing has a high level of cultivation, and may have already touched the threshold of the Ascension Realm, which is why it is worth his painstaking efforts."

"I have another question: why did he instigate Helian Haihai to start a war?"

"When the Heavenly Pillar shatters and the Heavenly Realm descends, the Overturning Heaven Pavilion will use the lives of billions of living beings in the mortal world to forge a divine weapon filled with the intent of death, and use it to slay the Heavenly Dao."

Although Lu Ziwei had been investigating the Futian Pavilion for some time, she was shocked to the point of being speechless because she did not know that their ultimate goal was so crazy.

Yun Yi: "Therefore, the Great Xia and Great Yan must not go to war, and the righteous path and the demonic sect must also live in peace. Otherwise, there will be great suffering and death, and we will fall right into the trap of the Overturning Heaven Pavilion."

"Heh, it seems this game is far more complex than I imagined, using the Three Realms as the chessboard." "This is also the fundamental reason why I have traveled thousands of miles to help you. The situation in Great Xia has been stabilized, and Great Yan must now restrain its sharpness and avoid stirring up conflict."

As Lu Ziwei got more into her story, she couldn't help but remove the cloth strip, staring intently at Yun Yi, as if trying to find out if he was lying.

If you are deceived by him, you will be condemned to eternal damnation.

Under the gaze of the Eye of Truth, Yun Yi remained unmoved, his expression indifferent.

Lu Ziwei asked, "Has the old emperor of Great Xia really woken up?"

Yun Yi retorted, "You can't be that out of touch with the news, can you?"

"Of course I received the news, but I just found it unbelievable..." Lu Ziwei turned to look at Su Qing, "However, seeing that Fairy Su's cultivation has also improved, I feel that this matter is not so unbelievable."

If it can make someone in the Returning Void Realm advance to the Dao Integration Realm by leaps and bounds, what's so great about saving Su Chengqian?

These two must have had another extraordinary encounter!
Lu Ziwei herself had entered the Dao Integration Realm by chance, so she had no doubt about Su Qing's realm. She just wanted to personally confirm whether Great Xia had welcomed back their true "Heaven".

Yun Yi nodded and said, "The old emperor has already begun to reorganize the court. To be honest, even if Helian Haihai has puppet soldiers to help him, I don't think he can defeat Su Chengqian. In the end, it will only be a situation of mutual destruction."

He not only had great confidence in Su Chengqian, but also indirectly indicated that he and Su Qing would not stand idly by.

In a secular war, the cultivation level of the Dao Integration Realm is a terrifying force that can influence the course of the battle. It is hard to say who will win or lose, but the casualties will definitely be extremely heavy.

After hearing this, Lu Ziwei fell into deep thought and remained silent for a long time.

If she were still the Grand Preceptor of the Great Yan Kingdom at this time, for the sake of the Great Yan Kingdom, she would realize that Helian Haihai's life was related to the fate of the country, and even those puppet soldiers must be preserved.

Otherwise, once the Great Xia has resolved its internal troubles, it will inevitably turn its attention to the Great Yan, an external threat.

After all, the Great Yan has frequently invaded the borders of the Great Xia over the years, committing countless massacres, and the conflict between the two countries has become irreconcilable.

However, Lu Ziwei is no longer the Imperial Advisor, and her vision and perspective have reached a much higher level.

She said, "If the Great Xia can be restored to its former glory, the Great Yan can abolish its dynasty and become a vassal state."

Liang Shangjun and Ye Lan were extremely surprised upon hearing this, but they managed to remain silent.

Lu Ziwei continued, "This way, we can minimize casualties. However, Great Xia doesn't need to rush to unify Great Yan. We can wait until the Futian Pavilion incident has passed before making our plans."

Liang Shangjun grumbled, "Imperial Advisor?"

Even in the dead of night, he would wink and make faces.

Lu Ziwei laughed and said, "Do you think that if the Great Yan didn't have a powerful figure to help it, either Helian Haihai or Helian Ran would be a match for Su Chengqian of the Great Xia? You two should know very well how riddled with problems the Great Yan is inside."

As expected, the two fell silent, tacitly agreeing to the matter.

Lu Ziwei: "Although admitting defeat is not a glorious thing, the goal now is to minimize casualties."

Yun Yi exclaimed in admiration, "The Imperial Preceptor is indeed magnanimous!"

"I am no longer the Grand Preceptor of the Great Yan Dynasty. I don't care at all whether Helian Haihai's imperial power is stable. I only hope to stop the people behind the scenes from treating the people of the Great Yan Dynasty like ants."

Even Su Qing felt a sense of admiration for Lu Ziwei at this moment. She had been fighting with Qin Dingfeng for many years, but now she could let go so easily. It was no wonder that she could enter the Dao Integration Realm with such a temperament.

Su Qing said, "I can make a promise on behalf of my father that on that day, we will treat the people of Great Yan kindly, regardless of their social status."

In Yun Yi's view, Lu Ziwei's proposal was undoubtedly the most conducive to the stability of the secular world. Helian Haihai was already "terminally ill," and it was impossible to expect him to maintain peace.

Su Chengqian, being a wise and benevolent ruler, was also easily swayed by his daughter's advice, so it was possible that he would cooperate.

Yun Yi: "So, what we need to do is to seize the Great Yan imperial power from Helian Haihai and hand it over to Helian Ran? Is that crown prince trustworthy?"

Lu Ziwei said, "It's worth it because he, like me, was also forced into a dead end. At this point, as long as he grasps a straw, he will never let go."

Upon hearing this, Liang Shangjun breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had secretly left the Eastern Palace, he was still actually part of the Crown Prince's faction. Therefore, he didn't care about the fate of the Great Yan Kingdom; as long as the Crown Prince was safe and sound, they could continue their cooperation.

Yun Yi finally got to the crucial question: "So what are your plans next?"

Lu Ziwei replied, "I had made many plans, including to play a game of chess with that person behind the scenes, using the Great Yan Dynasty as a chessboard. But since you've come, and brought the extra joy of the Eldest Princess, I think things don't need to be so complicated."

Yun Yi asked with a smile, "Your 'dismemberment plan' back then seems quite suitable for the Great Yan Dynasty now."

Treating serious illnesses naturally requires strong medicine, and when faced with a boil, it should be eradicated completely without leaving any room for remission!
Lu Ziwei: "If this is the arrangement... Yunyi, can I trust you?"

Yun Yi said with dissatisfaction, "Why ask me and not the Princess?"

"Because the princess doesn't need to ask any more questions; this matter will only benefit her. Moreover, I trust her character, so there's absolutely no need for her to go through all this trouble."

Although Lu Ziwei and Su Qing were once enemies, they had a mutual respect for each other.

The most crucial point is that, setting aside their worldly identities, they are both righteous immortals with their own sects as their backgrounds, so they can naturally trust each other.

It's impossible for Tian Shu Academy and Fu Yao Sect to turn against each other and attack each other.

Yun Yi said, "To put it bluntly, you're still wary of my Demonic Sect's identity?"

Lu Ziwei couldn't deny it. There was no romantic relationship between her and Yun Yi, and their positions were quite different. How could she trust the other person without reservation?
Seeing this, Ye Lan thought that the Grand Preceptor had made a mistake. Why didn't you just become his concubine? The princess had obviously already been won over by him, so it wasn't anything shameful.

Lu Ziwei raised an eyebrow and said, "Once this matter is resolved, I'll help you take care of that Demon Extermination Conference, how about that?"

"It's a deal," Yun Yi readily agreed.

It should be noted that the Demon Extermination Conference in the previous life was orchestrated by Lu Ziwei, which brought utter destruction to the Demon Sect. If she were willing to lend a hand, the Demon Extermination Conference would certainly not cause much of a stir.

(End of this chapter)