32: Chapter 32 No Cause, No Effect

Inside the Great Qian Dynasty palace, in the Imperial Study.

The night was deep, but the study was brightly lit.

Zhuge Jinyu sat upright behind a mountain of memorials, her moon-white Young Prime Minister robe draped loosely over her body.

The Imperial Study was a private space that only she and the "mirror" of Su Chen could enter.

Therefore, her attire was relatively casual.

Because it wasn't tied tightly, the upper part of her clothing had parted, revealing a glimpse of her ample cleavage.

Between the slits of the sheer fabric on her lower half, two slender, jade-like legs, which had long since matured, were naturally exposed.

Only her slender waist remained veiled in white gauze, offering endless room for imagination.

Su Chen, in the mirror, watched quietly.

Don't misunderstand; naturally, he was watching the Young Prime Minister's growth.

Her vermilion brush didn't stop, leaving annotations on document after document concerning the national economy and the people's livelihood; her handwriting was delicate yet powerful.

It had been over a year since she returned from the Southern Frontier.

Now twenty-one years old, Zhuge Jinyu handled state affairs with ease.

Though there was occasional fatigue and hesitation between her brows, there was more of the decisiveness and composure belonging to a person in power.

She no longer needed to ask for Su Chen's opinion on everything, nor was there any sign of the helpless girl who used to weep under the pressure of her family.

However.

"Xiao Yu has grown up quite a bit, it's just that she hasn't gained any weight, and she looks even thinner."

That originally stunning face had become a bit paler and thinner now.

Paired with those pitiful fox-like eyes that would always act coquettishly toward him, Su Chen, alone.

It was truly pitiful to behold.

"Sir."

She stopped her brush and looked at Su Chen in the mirror.

"Do you think the implementation of this 'Single Whip Law' should unify all land taxes, head taxes, and commodity taxes into silver, and then have the government collect and distribute them?"

"If implemented this way, will there be any hidden dangers?"

Su Chen provided some insights from the ancestors in the history of the Blue Star.

Sometimes reminding, sometimes supplementing.

Zhuge Jinyu could always grasp them quickly and integrate them perfectly into the current situation.

Her reforms were swift and decisive.

Using the strategies Su Chen had proposed earlier, such as "civil service examinations," "rewarding military officials based on merit," and "equal division of property among sons to weaken powerful clans" as the skeleton.

She filled in the detailed flesh and blood.

She established the "Hall of Talent Recruitment," hiring people based on talent regardless of their background.

She reorganized taxes, investigated hidden households, and brought a large amount of land and population concealed by powerful families back under the control of the imperial court.

She formed the "New Army," with children from humble families and meritorious soldiers as the core, gradually replacing the old, deeply rooted local militia system.

Every step touched the interests of countless old vested interests.

There was no lack of opposing voices; they were even surging.

But the Zhuge Jinyu of this moment was no longer the girl of the past.

She held the intelligence network, controlled entirely by Huang Ying, which was loyal to her personally.

She knew the situation within the imperial court and even between the Great Hao Dynasty and the Great Wei Dynasty like the back of her hand.

Her cultivation level also rose rapidly, soaring like a rocket from the late Nascent Soul stage to the mid Soul Formation stage.

At only twenty-one, she could undoubtedly be considered the undisputed number one of the younger generation among the three great immortal dynasties of the present.

Zhuge Jinyu was also very adept at "using force to strike force."

Leveraging the authority of Su Chen, the "National Teacher" behind her, she used both kindness and severity, dividing and winning over, to forcibly push through policies.

Having been in power for less than five years, the national strength of Great Qian was no longer something the Great Hao Dynasty could reach, and it even vaguely showed signs of overtaking the Great Wei Dynasty.

While feeling gratified, Su Chen also felt a bit conflicted.

His investment object was growing at an astonishing speed, almost no longer needing his detailed guidance.

This was certainly a good thing.

It meant the investment was about to see fruitful returns.

But looking at the young girl who used to blush at his teasing.

Now that the gentleness in her brows and eyes was decreasing, replaced by rationality and majesty, he also felt an indescribable sense of melancholy in his heart.

"Chancellor, Huang Ying requests an audience!"

"The matter you asked me to investigate last time has results!"

Zhuge Jinyu remained calm, tidied her clothes, and opened the door to welcome her.

"Chancellor, it has been verified."

"The Liu Family, the Zhao Family, the Chen Family, and four others are indeed colluding with the Great Wei Dynasty, and the evidence is solid."

"They not only passed our dynasty's military and political secrets to the Sima Family of the Great Wei Dynasty."

"They even secretly funded the remaining bandits in the east and south, intending to coordinate from the inside and outside."

"The Sima Family of the Great Wei Dynasty..."

Zhuge Jinyu muttered as she looked at the list.

The Sima Family in the Great Wei Dynasty was like the Zhuge Family in the Great Qian Dynasty.

The same loss of imperial power, the same chancellor with power over the court.

The Cao imperial clan of the Wei Dynasty had declined even more severely than that of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"Yes, Chancellor."

"In recent years, that mysterious ancestor of the Sima Family has been in closed-door cultivation, and the internal situation of the Sima Family is not good, so they have no time to take care of these internal collaborators in the Great Qian Dynasty."

"Because of this, we were able to peel away their identities entirely."

Zhuge Jinyu nodded, her gaze fixed on one of the names, her fingertips pausing slightly.

zhuge Yun.

Her own aunt.

After the three-move competition ended, the zhuge clansmen who were dissatisfied with Zhuge Jinyu, including the matriarch Murong Yue, were all purged from the Zhuge Family by her with thunderous means.

And zhuge Yun was one of the few clansmen who had given her a little warmth when the matriarch Murong Yue was making things difficult for her.

"Aunt..."

Zhuge Jinyu closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Even you..."

She did not hesitate at all, and her vermilion brush drew a bright red cross on the name.

"Arrest them."

"For everyone involved, regardless of status, throw them all into the imperial prison and interrogate them strictly!"

"Yes!"

The imperial city trembled.

Overnight, several immortal cultivation families that had been entrenched in the Great Qian Dynasty for many years were uprooted.

Their assets were confiscated, and their main members were all imprisoned.

The speed of the action and the cruelty of the methods were chilling.

Especially when zhuge Yun was taken from the residence of the Zhuge Family's branch and escorted to the imperial prison, it caused a huge uproar.

People in the Great Qian Dynasty almost all knew that Zhuge Jinyu's methods were ruthless and that she was merciless in doing things.

No one expected that this young Female Prime Minister would not tolerate even her own relatives.

Deep in the imperial prison, it was dark and damp.

Zhuge Jinyu dismissed everyone, taking only Huang Ying and Su Chen's mirror, and walked to the innermost cell.

zhuge Yun was wearing prison clothes, her hair disheveled.

She looked at Zhuge Jinyu, who walked in wearing the chancellor's uniform, her complexion and long hair unusually pale.

She did not sneer, just called out softly.

"Jinyu..."

Zhuge Jinyu looked at her quietly without speaking.

Huang Ying said sharply.

"zhuge Yun, you colluded with the Sima Family of the Great Wei Dynasty and betrayed the interests of the Great Qian Dynasty. The evidence is conclusive. Why don't you confess truthfully!"

Hearing this, zhuge Yun, who had been emotionally stable, suddenly acted as if she were crazy.

"What evidence?"

"Is complying with the Heavenly Dao considered evidence? Is winning the king and losing the bandit considered a crime?"

"Victorious troops are bound to be arrogant, arrogant troops are bound to be defeated, defeated troops are bound to be sorrowful, sorrowful troops are bound to win..."

She suddenly stopped laughing.

Staring fixedly at Zhuge Jinyu.

"Little girl, do you think you are going to win?"

"Relying on that National Teacher who only knows how to play tricks, you think you can defy the heavens, change your fate, and lead the Great Qian Dynasty to unify the world?"

"Let me tell you, this is a result I calculated using ten years of my life."

"The fate of the Great Qian Dynasty is already exhausted. The future world does not belong to the Qian, Wei, or Hao dynasties, but to the Sima Family!"

"Just like our Zhuge Family, throughout the ages, how many talented people have had a good ending?"

"Your father? Your brother? Or your short-lived mother?"

zhuge Yun's voice became sharp.

"Northern Expedition, unifying the three kingdoms? Hahaha... A joke! A huge joke!"

Zhuge Jinyu, Su Chen, and Huang Ying, none of them spoke.

Until zhuge Yun calmed herself down.

She then spoke slowly.

"Jinyu, listen to your aunt's advice, stop now."

"If you submit to the Great Wei Dynasty now, perhaps you can still save your life and leave some incense for the Zhuge Family."

"Otherwise, you will soon follow in the footsteps of your father and brother, dying halfway, and you will die even more miserably than them."

"The general trend of the world, some causes and effects, are not something you can touch."

"What's more... you were always a jinx."

"If you dare to hope for the Northern Expedition, just wait for bad luck to fall on your head!"

Huang Ying turned pale upon hearing this and couldn't help but look at Zhuge Jinyu.

The calculation result obtained by the Zhuge Family member at the cost of her life was not entirely without credibility.

But she saw that Zhuge Jinyu's expression remained calm.

"Are you finished?"

The Young Prime Minister's voice was like ten thousand years of cold ice, without a ripple.

"How I live my life is not something you need to worry about, Aunt."

Zhuge Jinyu stepped forward, approached the cell door, and looked down at zhuge Yun from a high position.

"As for the fate of the Great Qian Dynasty and the destiny of the Zhuge Family."

She paused, and a smile of extreme sarcasm curled up at the corner of her mouth.

"I would rather try and see what this heaven can do to me."

"You..."

zhuge Yun was intimidated by the aura of the person in power on her, and she was speechless for a moment.

"Mid Soul Formation stage, right? I want to see how much longer you can live..."

Before she finished speaking, a flash of fire swept through the cell.

When human eyes could see again, zhuge Yun was already lying softly on the ground.

Without a trace of breath left.