I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 718 The Duo's Battle of Wits Against Thin Air! (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)

A deep meaning flashed in Li Chen's eyes. He picked up Valentina and carried her into the inner room, where they had a deep conversation until dawn.

Valentina didn't wake up until late the next day. The events of the previous night felt like a dream, a real dream.

Then she felt that she shouldn't be able to imagine herself doing those things with the wizard.

But when she suddenly looked at Li Chen, who was standing calmly beside her, her pretty face turned pale instantly, and she was dumbfounded.

"My Lord Wizard! I...I drank too much yesterday and made a terrible mistake. It's not your fault, it's all my fault."

She stammered and apologized hastily, her heart filled with panic and shame.

Li Chen, however, appeared very magnanimous, even with a hint of considerate helplessness, and said softly, "Madam, there is no need to blame yourself. Last night, I also couldn't control myself. This matter is between you and me, and I will never let a third person know."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Mikhailovna's voice came from outside the courtyard, saying that she had come to visit her daughter-in-law.

Valentina was terrified. If her mother-in-law saw Li Chen in her room, especially in this state, she would be completely finished!

She hurriedly replied through the door, her voice filled with undisguised panic and weakness: "Mother! I caught a cold after returning from the mountains last time, and I'm not feeling well. I'm afraid I might pass on my illness to you. You should go back first, and I'll be fine after a rest."

To everyone's surprise, Mikhailovna was unusually "concerned" about her daughter-in-law today. Instead of leaving, she spoke in an even more kind tone: "When you're sick, you need someone to take care of you. You should lie down and rest. Your mother will be here watching over you and will personally cook medicine for you."

Valentina was almost in despair; her mother-in-law was guarding outside, and Li Chen couldn't get out at all!
She looked nervously at Li Chen, only to see him give her a reassuring yet meaningful smile, as if to say, "It's alright."

To Valentina's astonishment, Li Chen not only failed to conceal himself, but instead moved closer once more.
Thus, in this eerie atmosphere, separated by a thin door, and listening to the occasional movements of the mother-in-law outside and the sounds of her instructing the maids to brew medicine, the secret and profound exchange within the inner room was once again staged amidst extreme tension.

After these several in-depth exchanges, Valentina's mind and body had been completely conquered by Li Chen.

The half-hearted resistance when sober, and the half-hearted resistance when drunk, all seemed powerless in the face of the established facts.

She simply stopped struggling, and deep down she even began to crave the intense impact that Li Chen brought her.

Li Chen thrived in the Shufsky family's backyard, his mysterious wizard identity and superb skills making these noble and beautiful women almost oblige his every request.

Tonight he spends his night in Valentina's boudoir, and tomorrow night he may be enjoying the tenderness of another noblewoman's bedchamber, turning this aristocratic courtyard into his own private garden for unrestrained indulgence.

However, Grand Prince Ivan and General Romanov, far away in the holy city, were in a completely different and anxious situation.

Their carefully planned scheme, the document that bluntly presented the crisis at the front and the problem of the shaman's missionary work to the "shaman," had been submitted to the palace for many days. However, the Holy Palace remained as still as a deep pool, without a ripple or any clear response.

The atmosphere in the command room, decorated with military maps, was heavy. Ivan paced restlessly, the jeweled scabbard of his sword occasionally clinking against the corner of the table with a dull thud.

"What exactly did the ancestral witch mean?"

He stopped abruptly and looked at Romanov, who was sitting to the side with a furrowed brow.

"Will he agree to our demands or not? Is this silence an indication that he intends to ignore us?"

Romanov took a deep drag on his pipe, slowly exhaling smoke, trying to clear his mind: "I suspect he's most likely stalling. He's publicly claiming to be in seclusion, pretending to know nothing about it."
After all, the battle at the front was perilous, and the Tian Ce Army was gaining momentum. If he were to personally lead the army, and something were to happen to him, he valued his life highly and dared not take that risk.

His analysis was tinged with disdain for the cowardice of the "ancestor of witchcraft".

"Are we just supposed to stand here and wait? Watch helplessly as Tian Ce gradually erodes our territory?" Ivan's tone was filled with resentment and helplessness; he felt as if his powerful punch had landed on empty air.

“Calm down, Ivan,” Romanov said in a deep voice. “His purpose in controlling the new emperor and forcing you to leave the Holy Capital is obvious: he wants you to fight Tian Ce to a standstill on the front lines so he can reap the benefits. The more eager we appear, the more we will fall into his trap.”

He paused, his fingertips tracing across the areas marked as lost or fiercely contested on the map, a calculating glint in his eyes.

"Since he's pretending to be deaf and dumb, let's add fuel to the fire and force him to show himself!"

Ivan immediately pressed, "Ancestor, since he's so afraid of death, what can we do?"

Romanov pointed heavily at several places on the map: "These areas that are currently being captured by the Tian Ce Army, or are in the midst of fierce fighting and on the verge of collapse, shall be formally granted to the Witch Ancestor in the name of the Imperial Council and the Royal Family, as his direct territories! Proclaim to the world that he has 'meritorious service in protecting the country' and is hereby granted fiefdoms as a reward for his efforts!"

Ivan was taken aback at first, then clapped his hands and laughed, his eyes shining: "Brilliant! Brilliant indeed! This plan is brilliant! Since he bears the title of the empire's guardian deity and the new emperor's tutor, and now the empire has bestowed upon him fertile lands, if he still cowers in fear and dares not reclaim 'his' territory,
His prestige among the imperial soldiers and civilians would plummet, and the myth of the so-called 'Ancestor of the Witch' would crumble on its own! Then, let's see what face he'll have left to control the court!

The two men looked at each other and smiled, thinking they had found a brilliant way to break the deadlock. They immediately set about drafting the edict and spreading the news.

They were completely unaware that the "Ancestor of Witchcraft" Li Chen, whom they believed to be in seclusion deep within the Holy Palace, playing power games, was not in the Holy Capital at all, but was enjoying himself in the gentle embrace of the Shuvsky family.

Their painstaking calculations were essentially a battle of wits against thin air.

What they never expected was that the "Witch Ancestor" they had painstakingly tried to force to the front lines was actually Emperor Tian Ce, whom they considered a major threat!
This edict, which "granted" Li Chen the title of "conferred" upon the war-torn land, was tantamount to directly and legitimately "gifting" the empire's territory to the monarch of an enemy state.

One can imagine the strange yet delighted expression on Li Chen's face when he learned of this news.

This unexpected "benefit" was a pleasant surprise that caught him off guard. They were completely unaware that the "Witch Ancestor" Li Chen, whom they thought was in seclusion deep within the Holy Palace manipulating power, was not at all enjoying himself in the gentle embrace of the Shuvsky family in the Holy Capital.

(End of this chapter)