Chapter 170: Hold On, Imperial Advisor! I, the Emperor, Have Recovered 7

Chapter 170: National Preceptor, Wait! I Have Recovered 7

Watching Lin Huaiqing get put on the spot, Qin Hanyue, who had been standing silently nearby and had almost never spoken in court, voluntarily stepped forward.

"Your Majesty! I believe that what the Prime Minister has said will not resolve the current predicament, but will instead plunge Great Yue into crisis. Please think this through, Your Majesty!"

The moment Qin Hanyue spoke, the whole court went dead silent—you could've heard a pin drop.

The National Preceptor, who rarely concerned himself with court affairs, had openly refuted the Prime Minister's remarks in front of the assembly.

Now that was something you don't see every day.

On the dragon throne, Lin Huaiqing shot Qin Hanyue a grateful look.

He hadn't expected anyone but Lin Cheng to dare speak the truth—let alone Qin Hanyue stepping up to speak out of a sense of justice.

Zhao Ge clearly hadn't expected Qin Hanyue to side with the Little Emperor. He'd figured Qin Hanyue would just stand there and do nothing.

It seemed their new sovereign did have some tricks up his sleeve, winning over their reclusive Grand National Preceptor so quickly.

But so what? The National Preceptor had no real power anyway. He shouldn't even be butting into state affairs.

"National Preceptor, are you sticking your nose into court matters too? Isn't that overstepping your bounds?"

"Prime Minister, what if I told you I read the stars last night and found the Qiang nation's fate isn't spent yet? If Great Yue goes to war now, we'll definitely lose. Would the Prime Minister still insist on going through with it?"

Qin Hanyue's words sent shockwaves through the court.

The veteran ministers all knew that even in the cultivation world, Qin Hanyue was famous—able to split mountains and fill seas, revered by countless cultivators as the Immortal Venerable Han Yue.

He understood all things, knew the past and present, and could even foresee the future.

So his words carried weight.

Only Lin Huaiqing knew the real truth—Qin Hanyue was doing this to help him.

Besides, peeking into the secrets of heaven came at a cost to one's own dao. How could someone like Qin Hanyue, who cared so much about ascending, risk his own dao over something like this?

He'd just made it up on the spot. Since Zhao Ge said he was overstepping, he'd just say something that didn't overstep.

But since the guy had already gone this far to put on a show for him, Lin Huaiqing played along and returned the favor.

"Is the National Preceptor telling the truth?"

"I am, Your Majesty."

Lin Huaiqing put on a look of great regret:

"Ah, what a shame to waste the Prime Minister's heartfelt concern for the people. In that case, let's temporarily relocate the border folks somewhere else. We'll discuss attacking the Qiang nation another day."

"Speak now if you have matters to report. If not, court is dismissed!"

"Long live Your Majesty!"

After court ended, Lin Huaiqing deliberately held Qin Hanyue back. Once the ministers had filed out, Lin Huaiqing teased:

"I didn't think you cultivators could lie too. You're pretty good at fooling people! Why didn't I think of that excuse?"

"Your Majesty, don't say such things carelessly. I did not lie—the fate of the Qiang nation truly has not run its course. I only spoke the truth."

Even when Lin Huaiqing joked with him, Qin Hanyue stayed as cold as ever, like some dried-up old man with no desires left.

If he didn't already know the plot and have a bird's-eye view of everything, he might've actually believed this sly daoist.

"By the way, Qin Hanyue, how old are you? I mean your actual age."

"To answer Your Majesty, I've turned two hundred after the New Year."

Whoa! Damn! Even though he'd been mentally prepared, hearing Qin Hanyue say something so shocking with that twenty-something face still felt totally surreal.

"Exactly two hundred?"

"Mm."

No wonder the original owner couldn't outsmart Qin Hanyue in the original plot—this two-hundred-year-old ageless monster was nothing but schemes and cunning.

He might help you out of a jam now, but the moment you let your guard down and fall for him, he'll send you straight to hell just to secure his own ascension.

He was saying this to the original owner, but it was also a warning to himself—no matter what Qin Hanyue did or said, he couldn't afford to develop any feelings for him.

Qin Hanyue's only value was in being used by him.

"Oh, and about Your Majesty's illness—I've made some progress. Let me make some preparations. Come to Penglai Pavilion tonight, and we'll talk in detail." With that, Qin Hanyue hurried off.

Lately, he'd received at least ten memorials urging him to hold the imperial selection, all claiming it was for the sake of royal succession.

But whether they were really thinking of him or just looking for something to hold against him—only those scheming ministers knew.

As the Empress Dowager had warned, the longer he put off the selection, the easier it'd be for people to catch on that something was off.

Since Qin Hanyue said he had a solution, he might as well let the Imperial Household Department handle the selection and shut everyone up.

As soon as dusk fell, Lin Huaiqing showed up at Qin Hanyue's place.

"National Preceptor? Qin Hanyue?" Lin Huaiqing called out several times but received no response.

This Qin Hanyue—was he messing with him on purpose? Telling him to come for a talk and then being nowhere to be found.

Since he had time to kill anyway, Lin Huaiqing headed straight for Qin Hanyue's bedroom in the back courtyard.

He'd heard Qin Hanyue had no maids or eunuchs, and that even the huge Penglai Pavilion was just him alone. Turned out the rumors were true.

Lin Huaiqing walked straight to Qin Hanyue's bedchamber without a single obstacle. Seeing no one around, he snuck inside.

When the door swung open, he was greeted by all sorts of magical tools and spirit pills he'd seen in the cultivation world—easily rivaling the treasure vault of their Xuantian Sect.

Looks like Qin Hanyue had really planned to outlast him, even moving his entire stash into the palace.

Just as he was about to go deeper in, Lin Huaiqing slammed into an invisible barrier—hard enough to nearly rattle his brain.

Oh, great. This Qin Hanyue had actually set up a barrier inside the palace!

Ordinary people couldn't even see this kind of barrier, but it kept them out. As for someone with cultivation—who knew if it could be broken?

At that thought, a barrier-breaking technique he'd memorized back in the cultivation world suddenly popped into Lin Huaiqing's head.

He remembered the system telling him his spiritual power was rated 5. Sure, it was out of a hundred, but it was still better than nothing.

Maybe he could actually break this barrier that was meant to keep mortals out. Lin Huaiqing suddenly got curious. He didn't care at all what was behind the barrier—he just wanted to test whether this body could actually use techniques.

Steadying his mind and calming his breath, he silently chanted the mantra in his mind, gathering spiritual energy into his fingertips, his hands quickly forming hand seals.

"Break!"

Plainly visible, a barely perceptible beam of light burst from Lin Huaiqing's fingertips and struck the barrier.

Though the effect was minuscule, basically having no effect on the barrier, Lin Huaiqing was still overjoyed.

Excellent! Although it had little effect, it at least proved that this body of his was capable of cultivation.

How far he could actually cultivate was anyone's guess, but in any case, he was certainly far stronger than an ordinary person.

"Who?! Who's in there?"