"[Weakened State: Expired]*
*[Soul Power Restored: Rank 61 - Permanent Loss: 5% confirmed. Current Effective Rank: 58]*
He'd lost three ranks permanently. The system didn't apologize. Power had a price. But he was whole again, and Wei Lian was still his.
*[Current Influence: 140. Source: 2 days x 70/day]*
Enough to burn again, but he wouldn't. Not yet. Influence was a resource now. He needed to save it.
"Report," he told the air.
Wei Lian's voice answered inside his head. Mark Vision had evolved. Now it was Mark Voice. He could talk to any Marked, anywhere, anytime.
"The Emperor's sickness is not natural, Young King. It's a slow poison. Spirit-based. Devours soul power from the inside. He has six months. Maybe less."
"Source?"
"The Empress. She's been dosing his evening tea for four years. She uses a 'Health Petal' from a 10,000-year Flower Spirit Beast. It's undetectable. It looks like medicine."
"And you taste his tea."
"I taste the decoy tea, Young King. She brings the real cup herself."
Xiao Zhan closed his eyes. The Empress. Of course. The Emperor's sons were weak, but she had a nephew. A nephew from the Xue family. If the Emperor died without a strong heir, the Xue family could push their blood onto the throne.
"Can you prove it?"
"This servant can, but the proof would kill me. The Emperor would not believe his wife of thirty years over me. He would believe I'm a Star Luo spy."
"Then we don't prove it." Xiao Zhan stood. "We replace it."
*The Plan:*
Step 1: Ghost Blade steals a Health Petal from Spirit Hall's vault. They have three. One goes missing.
Step 2: Su Yin forges letters from the Empress to the Xue family. Details about dosage, timing, promises.
Step 3: Liu Feng "accidentally" gets caught by the palace guards with the Health Petal and one letter. He plays a panicked thief.
Step 4: Under torture, Liu Feng gives up "his employer" — a minor Xue family official.
Step 5: The Emperor finds the second letter in the Empress's private shrine. Wei Lian puts it there.
Result: The Emperor doesn't need to believe Wei Lian. He just needs to believe his own eyes and his own guards' torture reports.
It took eleven days.
On the twelfth day, the Empress was executed for treason. The Xue family was purged. The Emperor, already dying, gave all "provisional authority" to his only trusted servant: Eunuch Chief Wei Lian.
*[Major Event Completed: Empire-Level Disruption]*
*[Reward: +1 Mark Slot. Current: 6/6]*
*[Reward: Soul Power +3. Current: Rank 61 - Adjusted from permanent loss]*
*[Dynasty Lv.2 Unlocked: Marked in positions of official authority grant Host 'Proxy Authority'. Host may issue one Decree per month through Marked that will be treated as law by that nation]*
*[Current Influence: 140 + 210 from 3 days = 350]*
Xiao Zhan read the screen and laughed. It was quiet. Su Yin heard it and shivered.
He had a Titled Douluo running the Heaven Dou Empire. He had the Crown Prince of Star Luo. He had 350 Influence.
He was twenty-three.