As the monarch of a nation, especially a fatuous one, Zhao Shun had no less than six palaces: four in the imperial palace, one in the summer palace in the western suburbs of the capital, and one in the Yang Palace in the southern suburbs.

The summer palace was for escaping the heat, and the Yang Palace was for hunting and sightseeing.

The four palaces in the imperial palace were also built according to the needs of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The summer palace was built beside an artificial lake shaded by grass and trees, while the winter palace, the one currently on fire, faced south and received sunlight 24 hours a day.

The spring palace was next to the imperial garden, and the autumn palace was on a low hill in the West Garden, convenient for viewing the autumn scenery.

Now that the winter palace had been burned down, it was certainly uninhabitable. The imperial guards of the Imperial City Division escorted Zhao Shun to the summer palace by the artificial lake in a grand procession.

Originally, the commander of the imperial guards disagreed because the assassin who had just escaped was clearly a water ghost. Living by the lake was like putting one's neck in front of the enemy, which was too dangerous.

However, His Majesty insisted, and the ministers had no choice but to obey.

Candles illuminated the luxuriously decorated palace, no less so than the winter palace. Zhang Yuanching lay with his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the roof with its crisscrossing beams.

He replayed the current plot of the instance:

The Northern Dynasty had resolved the issues with the foreign tribes on the grasslands and launched a large-scale southward invasion, attempting to destroy the Southern Dynasty. At this critical moment, the fatuous Zhao Shun favored the Empress and, despite the opposition of the old aristocratic Zheng family, appointed Yang Ce as commander.

This caused the Zheng family to feel a huge threat. After all, Empress Dowager Zheng had passed away many years ago, and Empress Yang was favored. Once Yang Ce defended Linxia City and returned to the capital with great military achievements, the Zheng and Yang families would inevitably switch positions.

Therefore, they simply colluded with Tuoba Guanghe, the marshal of the Northern Dynasty, to assassinate the emperor and usurp the throne.

As long as the Zheng family helped Tuoba Guanghe defeat the last defending army of the Southern Dynasty, the Southern Dynasty would be fish and meat at their mercy. At that time, whoever Tuoba Guanghe supported would be the emperor of the Southern Dynasty.

But this was too risky, equivalent to entrusting their lives to the enemy. What good could come from seeking skin from a tiger?

Although Zheng Longtu said that Tuoba Guanghe wanted to raise bandits to gain self-importance, even Zhang Yuanching found it unreliable, let alone the Zheng family, who had been immersed in officialdom for so long?

So, the Zheng family had other support that allowed them to collude with Tuoba Guanghe with confidence.

This support should be the national preceptor.

"The main quest is indeed very clear. The enemy on the battlefield is the army of the Northern Dynasty, while my enemies here are the Zheng family and the national preceptor. I just don't know who the national preceptor is."

However, there were still some things he didn't understand. Why would his teammates "turn against" him? Was it just the instance wanting to increase the difficulty?

Zhang Yuanching thought it was unlikely. High-difficulty instances usually had solid plot lines.

"Well, it may also be that the fatuous emperor is so unpopular that the rebellious forces behind them want to assassinate him. If that's the case, I hope the rebellious forces are just background characters, otherwise it will be too difficult." Zhang Yuanching sighed.

Gathering his thoughts, he sat up, summoned a palace maid, and ordered:

"The long night is sleepless, go and invite Consort Wan over. This emperor wants her to attend to me."

"Consort Wan?" The close-fitting palace maid hesitated for a moment, cautiously reminding, "Your Majesty, Consort Wan attempted to assassinate you today and was rescued by her accomplices..."

"Not her." Zhang Yuanching waved his hand, "This emperor is talking about another Consort Wan."

Another Consort Wan? Another Consort Wan! The palace maid seemed to remember something. For a moment, she couldn't control herself and revealed a ghostly expression.

Then came an expression of collapsing faith.

"What kind of expression is that? Guards, drag her out and behead her at the Meridian Gate!" Zhang Yuanching stared at her displeased. "Does this emperor need to repeat himself?"

He had just been assassinated, and the imperial guards of the Imperial City Division were guarding outside the palace. Some of them might be spies of the Zheng family. Summoning Consort Wan for no reason would definitely be suspected.

Therefore, attending to him was a seamless excuse. Zhao Shun had once been saved by Consort Wan. Now that he had been assassinated and lacked a sense of security, he craved the broad shoulders of the person who had once saved his life. It was reasonable.

She stammered, "Yes, yes, this servant will go and invite her immediately..."

She lowered her head and hurried away.

"If the palace maid is a bit of a blabbermouth, I'll be socially dead in the palace. But it doesn't matter, my pot is Zhao Shun's pot, and Zhao Shun's pot is not my pot..."

Zhang Yuanching yawned tiredly and fell asleep unknowingly.

It wasn't until he heard a muffled call in his ear, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, your concubine has arrived..."

Then, a large hand "gently" pushed his shoulder.

Zhang Yuanching woke up with a start, his eyes sharp. After seeing the honest figure kneeling by the bed, he relaxed his tense muscles with relief and said with a kind expression:

"Consort Wan has come!"

Consort Wan, with a square face and eyes like copper bells, lowered her eyes and said obediently, "Your Majesty, your concubine has come to attend to you."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanching silently moved his gaze away from Consort Wan's Eastern aristocratic face—her face always made Zhang Yuanching uncontrollably think of terracotta warriors.

"Cough cough!" Zhang Yuanching cleared his throat and said loudly, "Everyone retreat, this emperor wants to engage in carnal pleasures with Consort Wan."

The palace maids and eunuchs in the outer hall retreated in shock.

After everyone had left the palace, Consort Wan bounced up on her knees, strode to the bed with her thick legs, and sat down.

Zhang Yuanching moved back imperceptibly and said, "Consort Wan, what are you doing?"

Consort Wan revealed an "honest" smile: "Your concubine has come to attend to you, Your Majesty. So-called walls have ears, but speaking on your imperial bed, no one can hear."

"Then just sit by the bed and don't move. If you dare to mess around, I'll shout for help." Zhang Yuanching suddenly regretted his rash actions, but remained calm on the surface, saying:

"Where are those three female assassins?"

Consort Wan replied, "The three assassins have been suppressed by me at the bottom of the lake, and a barrier has been set up. Their lives are not in danger."

"Consort Wan, walls have ears." Zhang Yuanching reminded this tomboy to speak softly, and then asked, "Have you interrogated who is behind them?"

Consort Wan shook her head: "They didn't confess. Without your Majesty's permission, this concubine didn't dare to use torture. However, under this concubine's guidance, Consort Chu revealed the reason for assassinating Your Majesty."

"Speak quickly!" Zhang Yuanching urged.

Consort Wan said: "Consort Chu has already confessed that she was the culprit who poisoned Your Majesty a few days ago. Unexpectedly, Your Majesty was lucky and survived. That day, when Your Majesty went to inspect the harem, she was very guilty, fearing that her plan would be exposed, so she wanted to take advantage of attending to Your Majesty to assassinate you again."

Zhang Yuanching thought for a moment and said, "What about after the assassination?"

Consort Wan shook her head: "Consort Chu is dull-witted and not scheming. She couldn't say what to do after the assassination. This concubine doesn't understand, who would send such a foolish person to assassinate you?"

"Sent by the instance." Zhang Yuanching couldn't help but complain.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, tapping his knees lightly with his fingers, and fell into deep thought.

Consort Chu only knew that she had poisoned the emperor, but didn't know who was behind it, indicating that after she entered the instance, the information she received was "Consort Chu failed to poison the emperor," nothing more.

There was probably a side quest: assassinate the fatuous emperor.

Therefore, when she discovered that the fatuous emperor was inspecting the harem, Consort Chu panicked. She agreed to attend to him, partly because it coincided with the side quest, and partly because she was worried that if she didn't act, she would be investigated by the Imperial City Division and the fatuous emperor.

Then she would be doomed.

With this sense of crisis and the side quest, the three beauties didn't think that the "fatuous emperor," who was naturally on the opposite side, was an instance teammate.

After all, this was a team instance, not a factional confrontation instance. Teammates in the instance could not become life-and-death enemies in the plot.

Zhang Yuanching also recruited the three beauties to attend to him for this reason, but he almost capsized in a gutter.

Jiang Jingwei's confession suddenly opened up Zhang Yuanching's thinking and clarified many doubts.

In addition, although Green Tea Consort Wan and Wang Geji were tight-lipped, Jingwei's confession was, to some extent, also their confession, because the assassination behaviors of the three beauties coincided, and they were...

Zhang Yuanching boldly guessed that these two guys also participated in poisoning the fatuous emperor.

At the thought of this, Zhang Yuanching suddenly thought of what Li Changshi had said: Zhao Shun was poisoned with a strange poison mixed with multiple poisons. The effects were fierce, but they restrained each other, so he would not die immediately.

And tonight, Zheng Longtu revealed part of the truth in his elation: The strange poison you refined didn't kill you, who came up with the brilliant idea of using poison to fight poison? The imperial physicians in the palace don't have this level.

The information matched.

"I've almost sorted out the plot..." Zhang Yuanching exhaled, feeling greatly relieved. What he feared most when entering an instance was not a powerful enemy, but an unclear plot.

An unclear plot could lead to missed key information, and missed key information could easily lead to a crash.

And there was no room for error.

"Consort Wan, no, Concubine Wan, do you know the national preceptor?" Zhang Yuanching, who had sorted out the plot, began to gather information.

Linxia City, barracks.

Fu Qingyang woke up from a coma, feeling his head splitting and his muscles all over his body seemed to be torn apart. Every cell was wailing.

He endured the pain, frowned and sat up, seeing Xiahou Aotian squatting in the corner to boil medicine, Lingjun picking herbs, and Demon Eye Heavenly King standing in front of the map, pondering silently.

"How long have I been asleep?" Fu Qingyang asked weakly.

"You should say: when did I fall into a coma." Lingjun looked up at him.

Fu Qingyang thought about it, but couldn't remember.

Lingjun tsked and said, "After you pierced Tuoba Guanghe with a sword, you stood there motionless. The guards were cheering for you. I thought you were pretending to be cool, but after the Northern Dynasty withdrew its troops, I found that you had already passed out."

Fu Qingyang remembered and said lightly, "If I didn't do that, how could I scare away Tuoba Guanghe? The Enchantment Demon is cunning and despicable, and the battlefield is about deception. If Tuoba Guanghe broke the agreement, we would definitely lose."

So he stood there fainting, without even closing his eyes.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King beside him turned his head and said, "Just talk about Tuoba Guanghe, the Enchantment Demon didn't provoke you."

Xiahou Aotian by the stove commented, "You're not the protagonist, why are you showing off?"

After speaking, he picked up the hot medicine pot with his bare hands and said, "The medicine is ready. Drink it while it's hot. I guess you don't want to waste the source of life."

Lingjun very virtuously opened the bowl, poured the medicine soup, and even blew on it for Fu Qingyang.

Fu Qingyang didn't refuse. After drinking the medicine, he announced:

"I seem to have comprehended a new swordsmanship."

"Are you a freak!" The three of them had the same thought.

Lingjun sighed, "It's an insult to Young Master Qian to put you and the three of us waste together. In the future, there will only be three young masters officially, and Young Master Qian will be removed from the list."

Xiahou Aotian squinted at Young Master Hua: "Three of the four young masters have been promoted to Dominator. Shouldn't you be the one to be removed?"

Lingjun shrugged: "I'm a waste, but I never rely on others. It's more decent than someone lying down and being promoted to Dominator."

Xiahou Aotian was furious, feeling that Young Master Hua's taunt was even more despicable and serious than Han Xin's humiliation under the crotch.

Demon Eye Heavenly King looked at Fu Qingyang: "To what extent has your 'Skill Nearing the Dao' improved?"

Fu Qingyang shook his head slightly: "It's not an improvement in swordsmanship, but in sword intent. 'Skill Nearing the Dao' is already comparable to rules, and it's difficult to improve further. My slash has a fatal flaw: the sword energy is limited. Even with the cloak blessing, it can't support me to fight beyond my level. If I encounter an enemy whose level is higher than mine and who is good at defense, even if every sword hits, it can't hurt the enemy."

Lingjun sighed, "After all, not every swordsman is called Fu Qingxuan."

Demon Eye Heavenly King recalled the sharp sword light that pierced Tuoba Guanghe tonight and frowned:

"Such a strong sword intent, what is the price?"

Fu Qingyang glanced at him: "Life Depletion!"

This sword intent overdrafts spiritual power, essence, and burns lifespan.

Lingjun: "..."

Demon Eye Heavenly King clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful! In the future, you will be the Life Depletion Heavenly King under the Lord of the Sun."

"When did you become the dog of Yuanshi Tianzun?" Xiahou Aotian was shocked.

Demon Eye Heavenly King touched the sports headband on his forehead and grinned: "I only serve my ideal."

Fu Qingyang said lightly, "Before serving your ideal, serve me first. Lingjun, what time is it now?"

"It's almost dawn." Lingjun said.

Fu Qingyang immediately said, "Rest for a day, and tonight we will launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp of the Northern Dynasty army."

Lingjun's eyes lit up: "Wonderful! Tuoba Guanghe just promised not to attack the city for three days. In the eyes of the Northern Dynasty army, we will definitely relax our vigilance and rest for three days. This trick is to do the opposite and catch them off guard."

Demon Eye Heavenly King shook his head: "Although Tuoba Guanghe was injured by your sword, with the Enchantment Demon's recovery power, he has already recovered. It's still difficult to defend the city. Taking the initiative to go out of the city is tantamount to seeking death."

Fu Qingyang's expression was stern:

"Xiahou Aotian, I need you to make something that can fix six torches on a piece of wood. Demon Eye, after dark, you take five thousand men out of the city quietly, each carrying six torches, and attack the right wing of the Northern Dynasty army camp. Remember, make a big noise and let the Northern Dynasty scouts discover you in advance."

"Tuoba Guanghe will definitely lead his troops to meet you if you launch a surprise attack on a city with thirty thousand troops. You must delay him for twenty minutes, and I will lead the main force to attack the front of the Northern Dynasty army camp."

Demon Eye pondered for a few seconds and said, "If you delay him for twenty minutes, five thousand soldiers will probably die."

Fu Qingyang said coldly, "In battle, you must not only pay attention to using troops like a god, but also pay attention to using troops like mud. Tonight, I will make the Northern Dynasty's four hundred thousand troops lose their soldiers."

Next, he began to describe the detailed deployment, including arrangements such as setting fire to grain, slaughtering horses, and destroying siege equipment.

After the three of them chewed and digested it, Fu Qingyang said, "Summon the senior generals of the Southern Dynasty to the military conference hall to discuss matters."