Chapter 389

Chapter 389: Does Immortal Qing Feng Want to Be State Preceptor?

With some time left before dawn, Yu Zhi Yi set up the formation by following the guidance in “Hundred-Flower Slaughter.”

She didn’t step in right away, but studied the formation manual for a while.

Fifteen minutes later, she put the book down and walked into the illusion formation.

While Yu Zhi Yi was studying the formation, the Empress Dowager burst into fury: “Immortal Qing Feng, is what you said true? My son wasn’t hurt by accident-someone harmed him?”

You Bing Yue wasn’t surprised; with a look that said “just as I thought,” she spoke softly: “I always found it strange. Everything the prince eats and uses is carefully chosen. A sedan chair, such an important tool for travel, must be checked all the time.” She shook her head, calling it absurd: “Not to mention the wood being completely rotten-even a single splinter would be picked out and thrown away. After it happened, I kept feeling it was too strange.”

She didn’t finish, because someone else did. Immortal Qing Feng’s bearing was extraordinary; simply sitting there, he made everyone feel a heavy pressure. Like a banished immortal, he looked down coldly at the world, and people couldn’t help but believe him. He tipped his chin and said: “Prince Xiao Yao was born with great fortune. By his original fate, he should have lived to eighty without illness or disaster. But now his fate has been changed. If nothing unexpected happens, he will lie paralyzed in bed until he dies.”

The Empress Dowager swayed, shocked, angry, and heartbroken as she demanded: “Who is so vicious as to harm my son like this?”

Immortal Qing Feng did not answer but asked in return: “Empress Dowager, haven’t you already reached a conclusion?”

The Empress Dowager’s breath caught as she whispered: “It’s really her?”

You Bing Yue bowed and spoke carefully: “Empress Dowager, although I don’t want to believe she would do such a thing, looking across the whole Great Sheng Empire, it seems no one else has the skill to harm a prince of such high status without anyone noticing. That sedan chair is the strongest evidence.”

The Empress Dowager slapped the table and snapped: “Outrageous! I trusted her, yet she harmed Prince Xiao Yao like this-truly hateful! I will punish her severely!”

You Bing Yue raised a hand to stop her: “Empress Dowager, you mustn’t!”

The Empress Dowager’s face darkened as she pressed her: “Why are you stopping me? Do you want to plead for that traitor?”

You Bing Yue answered, steady and respectful: “Please allow me to speak, Empress Dowager. It’s not that I want to plead for Official Yu. The problem is we have no evidence. The field of Mystic Arts is understood only by those of the Mystic Sect. But such things can’t serve as legal proof for ordinary people like us. Unless Immortal Qing Feng can prove that the sedan chair was damaged by Official Yu using Mystic Arts, His Majesty may not believe us.”

The Empress Dowager held her tongue, face still cold, but she knew You Bing Yue was right. The Emperor admired that woman’s skill in Mystic Arts. He had broken the rules to let her attend court without taking the Imperial Examinations and even made her a patrol prefect. What an honor! Students from poor families study for ten-plus years, and even their lifetime achievements may not match Yu Zhi Yi’s starting point. This showed how much the Emperor trusted her.

The Empress Dowager’s gaze shifted and fixed on Immortal Qing Feng as she asked, voice calm but heavy: “May I ask, Immortal, do you wish to become State Preceptor?”

…

When Yu Zhi Yi came out from the “Hundred-Flower Slaughter” formation, daylight had already flooded the sky.

By now, the Emperor and the court officials had likely been at court for some time. After court, officials would still have to handle their own duties.

Unhurried, Yu Zhi Yi stood outside the formation and summed up what she had learned. After breaking through to late Foundation Establishment Realm, her spiritual energy had grown more pure and dense. But she had few real fights, so both her movement and experience were still lacking. This time she used the yin energy inside the formation to train her footwork, and the results were clear. She felt that even if she hadn’t broken through, if she met Gao Yao Wen’s sneak attack again, with her current movement she could handle it calmly. If she had reached this level earlier, she wouldn’t have needed to use her strongest Heavenly Thunder Talisman to protect herself; Gao Yao Wen wouldn’t have died, and she wouldn’t have formed a private grudge with the experts of the Hidden Realm. [Sadly, it’s already too late.]

[Besides, even if she hadn’t killed Gao Yao Wen, the trouble might not have ended anyway. Who knows what kind of person he really was? If he liked to blame others for everything, this grudge would still have formed.]

Shaking off the messy thoughts, Yu Zhi Yi moved to take back the formation flag. Suddenly, Li Yu drifted out and asked: “Master, can I go inside to cultivate?”

Yu Zhi Yi paused. Li Yu had already evolved to the red-dress level; in the Mortal Realm she rarely met an equal. If she evolved again, even the pre-breakthrough Yu Zhi Yi might not have been able to control her. But now Yu Zhi Yi no longer had that worry. The enemy was too strong, so she had to grow stronger-herself and the people around her. She handed Li Yu the formation flag and gave a few firm instructions, telling her to come out at once if anything felt wrong. Then she set a two-way defensive formation at the door: it would stop outsiders from barging in and stumbling into the array, and it would also keep Li Yu-if the yin energy pushed her out of control-from rushing out and going on a killing spree.

As she reached the door, she happened to see Xiao Qing Xuan coming, so Yu Zhi Yi went to meet her. Xiao Qing Xuan looked anxious as she asked: “Didn’t you say you’d go into the palace this morning to report to the Emperor?” She had heard the Emperor liked beheadings and would sometimes have people dragged out and executed over the smallest thing. She had thought that, although her daughter had offended the Empress Dowager, with the Emperor as a backer the Empress Dowager would have to hold back. Who would have thought her daughter would be so bold as to skip court! If the Emperor didn’t see her, would he accuse her of deceiving the ruler?

Yu Zhi Yi answered calmly: “It’s fine. As long as I go report to the Ministry of Justice in a bit, it’s not late according to the proper process.”

Yesterday she had planned to enter the palace just to make things look good for everyone. But since someone didn’t want that, she would toe the line and let the Emperor be displeased. The Emperor was a reasonable man; even if he was unhappy, he wouldn’t act on impulse. When something was clearly off, he would calm down and look into the truth. So the Empress Dowager’s targeting yesterday was basically meaningless. [Oh.] [Not completely meaningless. At least now Yu Zhi Yi was sure she had found a Mystic Arts practitioner who might be stronger than her-she just didn’t know how strong, or what kind of person they were.]

After breakfast in the dining hall with her parents and Han Lian Qiao, Yu Zhi Yi used the time to draw ten more Heavenly Thunder Talismans. She gave three to each of the three and kept one for herself.

After reporting to the Ministry of Justice, Yu Zhi Yi handled the day’s three cases. She took Han Lian Qiao to Yiluan Charity. Xiao Qing Xuan and Jiang Liu Yun were both very interested in Yiluan Charity, so Yu Zhi Yi stayed with them for a while, and she also sent Red Luan a gift for her journey.

By the afternoon, Yu Zhi Yi returned to the residence and threw herself into a new round of cultivation.