Initially, nobody thought much of Wei Kingdom, since its opponent wasn’t the impoverished and corrupt Xi Kingdom, but the prosperous and powerful Da Yao. Without divine weapons to assist, it would be nearly impossible for Wei to end the war before Yan Kingdom did.
Fu Lingchuan further remarked: “The Wei army has been capturing cities and territories with lightning speed as if they know the local environment, terrain, population, and garrison numbers like the back of their hand. Their intelligence must be extremely thorough.”
The Yao court was caught completely unprepared and now scrambled in chaos. Almost simultaneously with the intelligence report, Princess Hanyue, the Crown Princess of Yao, had sent a personal letter to Feng Miaojun.
She begged New Xia to dispatch troops to help the Yao Kingdom block the Wei forces!
This time, the Wei people launched a surprise attack from the northwestern border of Yao. Geographically speaking, their ally Jin Kingdom was too far away to provide immediate help. Only New Xia in the north and a few small countries could intercept the Wei army. Princess Hanyue could only seek help from her former close friend, her words particularly earnest.
Yao Kingdom wasn’t asking New Xia to defeat the Wei army—just to delay them for even six days, preventing them from directly threatening the capital. This would allow the Yao people to mobilize their forces and block the enemy again, turning this lightning war into a positional battle.
Once it entered this phase, Yao Kingdom, being on home ground, would certainly regain the advantage. Therefore, even knowing about the agreement between Wei and Xia, Princess Hanyue still had to try to persuade her friend to help.
Upon receiving this plea for aid, Feng Miaojun felt caught in a dilemma.
The agreement signed between New Xia and the Wei Kingdom was certified by heavenly law. If she dared to send troops from her country to aid Yao, she would surely face divine punishment, even without Wei taking action.
But could she just sit by and watch the Wei people invade Yao without doing anything? New Xia and Yao Kingdom had always maintained friendly relations as neighbors. When New Xia was established and Pu Ling invaded, the Yao Kingdom lent a hand, although relations had become somewhat strained after the Wei-Xia agreement.
More importantly, if the Yao Kingdom were annexed, New Xia would directly face the Wei Kingdom alone, with no strategic buffer between them. Feng Miaojun deeply understood the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. Having the restless Wei Kingdom as a neighbor required extreme caution.
Finally, she summoned Fu Lingchuan: “What do you think?”
“If we offer help, whether or not it violates the agreement, Wei Kingdom will be furious,” Fu Lingchuan had thought for several days and had a clear perspective. “Wei Kingdom would never allow us to use their money to fight their people.” The treasury still held the ten million taels of silver given by the Yao people. Xiao Yan wasn’t a fool who would give money to New Xia for nothing.
This money was meant to buy New Xia’s compliance with the rules. If Feng Miaojun dared to send troops to help Yao now, Wei Kingdom would likely turn hostile immediately.
The envoy sent by Princess Hanyue had an audience.
“Not supporting military actions against Wei Kingdom’s opponents is clearly stated in the agreement,” Feng Miaojun told him explicitly. “As long as the order to provide aid comes from me, it would violate the agreement and incur divine punishment.”
The contents of the Wei-Xia agreement had long been known throughout the world, and the Yao envoy also knew this trip was just to try his luck: “I understand, Your Majesty.”
She placed her intertwined fingers on her knee, maintaining a dignified posture: “If other countries are willing to send troops, I would be pleased to see it.”
The Yao envoy smiled bitterly: “The Wei Kingdom is fierce. What small country would dare to obstruct them?”
“Without trying, how would you know? It’s not summer yet, the grain hasn’t been harvested, and some countries have plenty of idle time.” After speaking, Feng Miaojun looked at Fu Lingchuan, who understood and said to the Yao envoy: “Master Lin, please step aside.” As the ruler, there were some things Feng Miaojun couldn’t say directly. It was best for him to provide instructions privately.
Naturally, these hints were quite subtle, but Princess Hanyue didn’t lack capable people around her, so it shouldn’t be difficult to grasp the meaning.
Two days later, an envoy from Jin Kingdom sought an audience, requesting New Xia to allow Jin forces passage through the Chikan Forest.
Since the Yaishan passage had closed, going around Chikan Forest was the shortest route connecting Yao and Jin. The two countries watched over each other, and the Jin Kingdom knew the Wei Kingdom harbored wicked intentions, so they had long stationed troops in the Baixiang Lake area. When Wei’s forces invaded the southwest this time, Jin’s army was ready for battle, prepared to provide strong support, not knowing Wei’s strategy was to divert the tiger from the mountain—their real attack was in the great northwest!
This time, the Jin army was too far away—unless—
Unless they bypassed the Chikan Forest in New Xia’s territory, which would shorten their journey and hopefully intercept the Wei army.
Feng Miaojun refused to meet the envoy, sending Fu Lingchuan to reject their request.
The Wei-Xia agreement clearly stated that New Xia could not support military actions against the Wei Kingdom’s opponents. “Not supporting” naturally included not allowing the Jin Kingdom’s army to pass through, as their subsequent activities would have a tangible impact on Wei’s military operations.
The Jin envoy had no recourse and returned to his country angrily to report. Predictably, relations between the Jin Kingdom and New Xia would not be good going forward.
Upon receiving this feedback, Feng Miaojun sighed several times.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to accommodate the Jin army, but that she couldn’t—she couldn’t even turn a blind eye.
How could New Xia pretend not to see a force of tens of thousands passing through? That would be taking the heavenly law guarding the contract too lightly.
At this moment, she once again experienced Yun Ya’s malicious intent when he sought her to sign the contract.
This was a two-birds-with-one-stone plan: not only preventing New Xia from taking action but also locking down the fastest troop transport route between Yao and Jin, delaying reinforcements from Jin Kingdom!
The infuriating part was that New Xia had to be the gatekeeper.
In terms of far-sighted planning, she was still far behind Yun Ya. This fellow had practically put her and New Xia on the hot seat.
Due to New Xia’s inaction, from now on, relations with both Jin and Yao wouldn’t be good. Add to that Fu Lingchuan’s previous offense against the Yan Kingdom, and it seemed New Xia only had the path of aligning with the Wei Kingdom left.
Thinking of how Yun Ya had spent time with her under the moonlight in Wuser while his mind was calculating all this, she felt her teeth itch with hatred!
Well, she had been calculating against him at that time too, hadn’t she?
Feng Miaojun pondered for a moment, then issued another order: “The thirteen hundred fine horses to be delivered by the Taohong Kingdom this summer have poor coloration and are not robust enough. The Border Inspection Department is to refuse acceptance.”
Someone recorded this immediately and swiftly relayed the order. Prime Minister Wang Yuan praised: “Your Majesty shows great concern.”
Taohong Kingdom was just west of Pu Ling Kingdom, with vast grasslands and excellent horse farms. After establishing diplomatic relations, New Xia purchased large numbers of good horses from them annually. However, this place was close to Yao Kingdom’s border, where Yao maintained a military town with a standing army of four thousand men, including less than a thousand cavalry. The Yao troops stationed there would now certainly be rushing toward the central region to intercept the Wei forces, but their progress was slow. With New Xia refusing Taohong Kingdom’s horses, they would have to sell them elsewhere. If the Yao forces got this news and bought them, their mobility would greatly improve.
Yet Feng Miaojun’s face showed no smile: “I fear this battle will not be easy for the Yao people.”
Wei Kingdom had prepared for more than two years before launching this war. The current king was younger and not as impatient as the old Wei King Xiao Pingzhang. Rather than being blinded by a single leaf, he could operate more freely.