My Lady Always Lacks Ambition

Chapter 1127 - 1097: Daoist Skill, If You Don’t Fight, You Fall Behind!

Qin Liuxi quickly learned from her puppet State Preceptor about Empress Dowager Zhou’s serious illness and coma. She was not surprised at all, nor was she moved in the slightest, since it was an old ailment and she was already old.

However, she encountered Wei Xie again, who had been missing for a while, and upon asking, found out he was the Impermanence Yin Cha responsible for retrieving Empress Dowager Zhou’s soul.

Wei Xie said, "I heard the Zhou Family made a deathly mistake and injured the old Taoist in the temple. Do you want me to take revenge for you and mess with the old lady on Yellow Spring Road?"

Qin Liuxi replied irritably, "Stop it. She’s the current Empress Dowager, seated in the Phoenix Position, with the nation’s fortune protecting her. You mess with her, don’t you want to be a ghost anymore?"

Wei Xie rubbed his nose sheepishly, "I just wanted to vent your anger."

"Vent? There’s no need to mess with an old lady’s soul," Qin Liuxi said. "How many days does she have left?"

Wei Xie flipped through the Book of Life and Death, "Two more days. I’m taking this opportunity to slack off. A lot of people have died recently, making me exhausted, my soul’s worn out. Quickly offer me some good incense candles."

Qin Liuxi burned Ingot Candle Incense for him and said, "I told you to consider your future, either as a Ghost Cultivator or continue as this Impermanence, accumulating more merit, then find a good reincarnation. Have you thought it through?"

Wei Xie’s heart skipped a beat, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

It felt ominous.

"I’ve got a lot of things coming up, might often go into seclusion, probably won’t be able to look after you, so..."

"Is it about the Evil Buddha Siluo?"

Qin Liuxi nodded, "This isn’t an easy matter to deal with; I need to spend more time figuring it out. You take care of yourself."

Wei Xie frowned silently, feeling oddly unsettled inside.

...

The past two days, Shengjing had felt rather tense.

Firstly, it was said that the Empress had disheveled hair and a pale face, kneeling at the Saint’s Qingqin Hall, requesting to step down to save her life, exposing her long illness as a result of someone using evil magic against her, pleading with the Saint to take charge.

Meanwhile, the Cheng’en Marquis’s two brothers also knelt before the Saint, crying pitifully, lamenting how they gave up military power back then so decisively, and now both branches of the family rely on a single heir. Yet, there are those who think they aren’t miserable enough and are trying to cut off their family’s bloodline, even wanting to pull down an empress with no descendants. This is not just sucking the blood of their Mu Family, but eating their flesh and pulling out their tendons, better to become common people to stay alive, they wail.

Moreover, they subtly suggested removing the Empress to let someone else take the Phoenix Position might be followed by plans to unseat the Saint.

The Mu Family, together with the Empress, caused the Saint a severe headache, making elixirs ineffective, and made him pay attention to the Marquis Cheng’en’s insinuations, first finding a reason to harshly punish the Crown Prince, then ordering the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Justice to thoroughly investigate the case.

Upon investigation, multiple factions seemed to have been involved; who exactly acted, who wanted the Empress’s position, further muddled the waters.

This was one of the widely discussed events, another naturally being the Empress Dowager’s serious illness and coma, with the entire Imperial Hospital helpless, infuriating the Saint to the point of threatening to execute the Imperial Physicians if not for the State Preceptor’s persuasion.

After dragging on for two days, Empress Dowager Zhou finally passed away.

The Imperial Uncle Zhou’s family felt as if the sky had fallen, even Noble Princess Consort Xian was somewhat stunned, feeling her support had collapsed just like that, and now the Empress seemed to have revived. Does this mean she can never have the Phoenix Position?

The Empress Dowager’s passing put the entire city in mourning, the nation grieved collectively.

Qin Liuxi, however, quietly visited Lin Xiang’s family.

In the study, the gold-plated incense burner’s top-grade agarwood emitted a heavy fragrance.

Sitting in the main seat, Lin Xiang wore a sallow expression.

Qin Liuxi asked in surprise, "Seeing your sallow face, could it be that the Prime Minister Mansion is too poor to even cook?"

Lin Xiang’s mouth twitched, eyes flashed, and he sighed, "Getting old, plus having to kneel and mourn in front of the Empress Dowager’s shrine, even though spring is near, it’s bitterly cold. How can these old bones endure?"

Qin Liuxi winced, "Are you trying to elicit sympathy from me? I can’t cry in your place."

Lin Xiang laughed, "Not to that extent. You know, if there were some good ginseng tea to drink, it would be easier, since it’s about rebellion... no, it’s about requesting justice for all living things, a strong body is key. What does the temple master say?"

Heh, you’re just appealing for ginseng tea through pity!

Qin Liuxi also gave a fake smile, "You’re right, the Prime Minister Mansion has plenty of good ginseng, right? I’ll give you a recipe, you can blend it yourself."

Lin Xiang fumed silently, orchestrating rebellion, no benefits at all?

Qin Liuxi rubbed her nose, "I’ll send someone to deliver it to you later, it’s the last bit, once it’s gone, it’s gone, use it sparingly."

The key is, she might not even have time to make tea.

Lin Xiang’s sallow face immediately flushed, no longer ambiguous, he passed the gathered information over, "You were right, there is indeed a mysterious patron highly regarded by Prince Xinyang. Apparently, this patron called Master Xuanming has been at Prince Xinyang’s side for over twenty years."

Qin Liuxi paused, taking the few sheets of paper, first looked at the basic information, flipped over to see a picture, her pupils slightly contracted.

"It’s actually him?"

Lin Xiang just lifted a cup of tea to blow on it, hearing this, he asked, "You know him?"

"Don’t know him, but I recently fought a spell against him. Empress Mu had a Yin Evil Needle pierced in her head, that needle came from his hand, it seems the true mastermind behind Empress’s illness is Prince Xinyang Mansion." Qin Liuxi pointed at the baby-faced drawing, "So he’s called Xuanming."

The Five Elements Formation set up by the Heili Family was Xuanming’s doing; preparing something for Prince Xinyang Mansion’s Five Elements Noble Son was also his handiwork; he was the one harming the Empress.

It seems Prince Xinyang Mansion truly harbors wolf-like ambition!

Lin Xiang frowned, "No wonder the Empress’s crisis now involves the Crown Prince and factions of Prince Zhao among others, seems like apart from the Mu Family, Prince Xinyang also dipped his hand in muddying the waters."

"According to the Empress, murky waters are easier to fish in, first sink those with legitimate claims so the illegitimate Qi Qian can rise to power. How to act, Lin Xiang, it depends on how you planners arrange it."

Lin Xiang nodded, let alone the infighting among princes, the actions of Prince Xinyang alone indicate he’s not as honest as he appears, but secretly plotting things, this tumor definitely needs removing first!

If not, internal and external troubles will cause big problems.

"And what about this Xuanming?" Lin Xiang looked at Qin Liuxi, should they just let him be?

Qin Liuxi tapped on Xuanming’s portrait forehead, smiling brightly, "In his position, do his job; Prince Xinyang Mansion’s wolf-like ambition needs loyal ministers like you to expose and convict. As for him, since we’re fellow practitioners, naturally I must make a visit, have a spar. Daoist Skill, if not fought, will regress!"

The just recovered Xuanming: Don’t come near, ah ah ah!