Mysterious mirror hanging high

Shendingtian, inside the imperial palace of the capital

Zhao Yuanxi opened his eyes and slowly got up from the bed in his bedroom.

It was just dawn at this time, not even the hour of Yin, but the court meeting of the Immortal Dynasty officially began at the hour of Mao. As the Empress Dowager who was in charge of the government from behind the scenes, Zhao Yuanxi could only get up so early every day.

Zhao Yuanxi just celebrated his 900th birthday a few days ago. Now he has formed the [Three-Aperture Nascent Soul] and become a genuine Nascent Soul True Lord. Logically, he should no longer need sleep.

However, in order to imitate the daily life of the empress dowager in a mortal dynasty and create the image of an empire, the necessary superficial work must be done. Just now, Zhao Yuanxi seemed to be sleeping, but in fact he was just lying on the bed to cultivate his magic power and absorb his inspiration.

After changing into the formal attire he wore for daily court meetings, Zhao Yuanxi carefully examined himself in the bronze mirror before him for a while, confirming that there was nothing wrong with his manners. Then he softly called out,

"Xiao Yunzi."

"Your servant is here." A middle-aged eunuch in a dark robe walked in. It was obvious that this person was of high official rank. He responded respectfully:

"What are your orders from the Queen Mother?"

Zhao Yuanxi smiled slightly and said, "I'd like to trouble Senior Yunding to pass on another breath of Netherworld Qi to Yuanxi."

Little Yunzi slowly stood up straight, his face somewhat helpless. "This old man's Netherworld Qi is a great tonic for ghost cultivators, but it is of no benefit to immortal cultivators like you. Inhaling it over the years will harm your foundation and is not a good thing."

"I want to do harm." Zhao Yuanxi rubbed his brows and whispered, "I've been feeling uneasy these past few days, feeling like something's going to happen in the court... I just want some peace of mind."

"If your identity is exposed, and you are constantly being infected by the Netherworld's aura, others will think you are deliberately hiding your identity to harm me, and they will naturally remove me myself."

Yunding Tianjun grinned and said, "You're really too cautious... I wonder who you inherited this personality from? Your uncle is much more tolerant than you."

"My uncle is a man of heaven, how can Yuanxi compare to him?" Zhao Yuanxi sighed. "Every step in the palace is a dangerous one, and I've fallen out with the emperor due to some misunderstandings. It's always best to be cautious."

After the two of them left the bedroom, they resumed their duties as master and servant. Zhao Yuanxi sat in the carriage and slowly headed towards the Golden Palace where the court meeting was held.

When he arrived at the hall, the ministers were already in place. Zhao Yuanxi sat on the assistant seat to rule the country from behind the curtain. He just closed his eyes and rested for a quarter of an hour, and then he saw the contemporary Divine Cauldron Immortal Emperor [Ying Changsu] also came to the hall.

Many years have passed, and Ying Changsu, who was just a child back then, has grown into a gentle and polite young man. Holding in his hand an imperial seal with the words "Mandate from Heaven, Live Long and Prosper", he has a bit of the majesty of an emperor.

"Mother." Ying Changsu had a faint smile on his face. He bowed respectfully to Zhao Yuanxi, then walked leisurely to the real dragon throne and sat down.

"Now that Your Majesty has arrived, the court meeting will begin." Zhao Yuanxi said in a gentle voice.

"Your Majesty, Queen Mother, I have something to report..." An old minister with white hair and beard stepped out of the line of ministers and said respectfully.

Zhao Yuanxi listened attentively to the old minister's report and had already made a plan in his mind, but out of respect, he still asked Ying Changsu:

"Your Majesty, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Ying Changsu still only smiled faintly and said in a gentle voice: "It is entirely up to the Queen Mother to decide. I have no other opinions."

Zhao Yuanxi frowned, then nodded, waved his hand to let the old minister withdraw, and another person stood out from the queue:

"I have something to report."

"Your Majesty, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

Ying Changsu lowered his eyes and said calmly, "No."

Zhao Yuanxi frowned even deeper. After that, several ministers reported to him, but Ying Changsu did not make any suggestions. The decision was entirely up to Zhao Yuanxi alone.

At last, Zhao Yuanxi glanced over and clearly saw that many of His Highness's censors in the Censorate could no longer hold back and were probably already gathering all their strength to impeach the Empress Dowager who was in charge of state affairs!

"Ugh……"

Zhao Yuanxi let out a faint sigh.

Her relationship with Ying Changsu, the contemporary Immortal Emperor, was not as harmonious as it seemed, and Ying Changsu was naturally not as respectful to her as he seemed.

The way she let herself be controlled at this moment was more like a pretense rather than pushing all the state affairs onto herself, giving the Empress Dowager Zhao Yuanxi an excuse to accuse her of excessive interference in government affairs.

He is going to kill himself!

Zhao Yuanxi felt helpless.

In fact, she could fully understand Ying Changsu's hatred for her.

On the one hand, the Immortal Emperor has been on the throne for hundreds of years, but during these hundreds of years, all the major national affairs of the Immortal Dynasty have been in charge of by Zhao Yuanxi alone... He has been on the throne for hundreds of years but has never personally governed the country. The Immortal Emperor Ying Changsu has long been a unique case since the establishment of the Divine Tripod Dynasty.

But this is not because Zhao Yuanxi is unwilling to give up power... She has suggested many times to the group of pseudo-god-transforming monks behind the Shending Immortal Dynasty to give up the responsibility of ruling the country from behind the scenes, but those pseudo-god-transforming monks have repeatedly refused.

It’s nothing—it’s simply because Zhao Yuanxi is so useful!

During the hundreds of years that Zhao Yuanxi was in power, the Shending Xian Dynasty was a country with abundant national strength, stable politics and harmonious people. Zhao Yuanxi managed the entire Shending Xian Dynasty with his superb talents in general affairs and political skills, and it prospered.

It is no wonder that the incarnation cultivator of the Shending Immortal Dynasty is unwilling to return power to the Immortal Emperor. After all, compared with her "queen mother", Ying Changsu is extremely mediocre in governing the country.

But can Ying Changsu be blamed for this?

Zhao Yuanxi sighed inwardly. When it comes to the ability to govern a country, she knows better than anyone that it is not something that can be achieved overnight.

Back in Wushan Market, she was just a Qi-cultivating cultivator. How could she have the talent to govern a country? She was just an ordinary person with a little more intelligence.

Later, when he reached the foundation-building stage, he entered Xiaoyao Fairy City and even became the deputy leader of Xiaoyao League. At that time, he was only a hundred miles away at best, and it was still a bit difficult for him to manage the miscellaneous affairs of a city. It took him a few years of hard work before he gradually became proficient in it.

Afterwards, she wandered to Shendingtian and entered the Ningyuan Palace as a housekeeper. Later, when the Ningyuan Prince ascended the throne, her status also rose. She gradually became the queen and began to get involved in national affairs.

Naturally, there were many omissions in the beginning, but after hundreds of years of experience, I am no longer the same as before, and I can truly be said to have the ability to govern a country or even a continent.

Zhao Yuanxi pondered silently. Since ancient times, wise ministers and wise rulers have all been like this. How many geniuses have truly possessed exceptional intelligence since childhood? Many of the great statecraft that have gone down in history can ultimately be summed up in four words: practice makes perfect.

She thought that there should be few people in this world who could have hundreds of years of experience in serving as an emperor. Now she handled government affairs as naturally and smoothly as breathing. She was afraid that there would not be much objection to saying that she was the most capable candidate to be an emperor in the world.

Ying Changsu wanted to portray herself as an ambitious empress, making the God of Transformation behind her dissatisfied with her, so as to kill someone with a borrowed knife... But how could she know that she, Zhao Yuanxi, was just a tool pushed to the stage by those high-ranking Gods?