Moreover, the Wei Kingdom still had Yun Ya.

Calculating the days, this fellow had left Wuser City not long ago. Based on Feng Miaojun’s understanding of him, the possibility of him appearing on the central battlefield was extremely high. Last year, Miao Fengxian had employed an unexpected move, using the Golden City to transport an entire army, which intercepted the old Wei King’s forces. But even then, Yun Ya had killed the State Preceptor of the Yao Kingdom in a highly disadvantageous situation for Wei. Had it not been for the Yan King’s planted agent assassinating Xiao Pingzhang, the outcome of the Wufu Snow Mountain battle might have been different.

This time, the Wei Kingdom was the one making the surprise move, and now they were advancing with unstoppable momentum. The Yao capital was in peril!

Feng Miaojun cursed silently. She had thought Yun Ya came to Wuser specifically for her this time, but it seemed she was flattering herself again. He had strategic intentions, and seeing her was just something he did along the way.

Just along the way.

What was more infuriating was that his mouth was tighter than a clam shell. She had tried to pry information from him so many times, even using feminine charm, but he never revealed the slightest hint about attacking Yao!

“Mistress, what’s wrong?” When no one else was around, White Board, who had transformed into an earring, twisted his body to ask her. Since becoming the ruler, her emotions had become increasingly less visible on her face. For her to be this visibly upset, it was most likely because of the master.

But the master wasn’t here right now.

“Nothing.” Feng Miaojun walked outside. The fresh air blew away the slight displeasure in her heart. For such a national-level secret matter, it would have been strange if Yun Ya had told the Queen of New Xia.

That day, the Yao envoy rode a crane southward but didn’t fly directly back to the capital city of Yinzi, instead taking a detour.

Just over ten hours later, the Pu Ling Kingdom, together with another immortal sect force, sent troops directly across Yao Kingdom’s northern border, caught up with Yao’s border garrison, joined forces, and headed straight for the Wei army!

The three combined forces totaled more than twenty thousand men. Although they didn’t have a numerical advantage compared to Wei’s seventy thousand elite soldiers, their advantage lay in being almost entirely elite cavalry, swift as the wind.

Before the Wei army reached Chichuan Plain, they were intercepted and harassed relentlessly day and night. When Wei pursued, they fled, never engaging in prolonged battles; when Wei set up camp, they disturbed them at night.

Soldiers marching quickly during the day were extremely tired, and if they couldn’t sleep well at night, their mobility would decrease the next day. Of course, the Wei army wasn’t helpless. They set several traps, caught and killed many enemies, and used divide-and-conquer tactics to cause internal strife within the guerrilla force.

But regardless, the Wei army’s pace was indeed slowed down, wasting the most precious opportunity!

In the Wei military headquarters, Xiao Yan was also gritting his teeth in anger, repeatedly accusing New Xia of betrayal. These two forces from the Pu Ling Kingdom coming to aid must have been connected to New Xia. New Xia had signed an agreement with Wei and couldn’t send troops to help Yao directly, so they adopted an indirect approach, “tacitly approving” their vassal state to enter Yao territory to help fight.

Great Wei was so powerful that although Pu Ling Kingdom was famous for its nation of thieves, they still only picked on easy targets. Without New Xia’s instructions, how would they be willing to provoke a behemoth like the Wei Kingdom?

However, since heaven had not sent down divine punishment, Feng Miaojun’s actions didn’t seem to violate the agreement. Even if the Wei people were angry, they had no grounds for complaint.

Battle reports from Yao territory flew in like snowflakes.

These past two days, the rainy season had arrived in Wuser City. Feng Miaojun gazed at the fierce wind and rain outside, her heart again filled with vague unease as if she had missed some important clue.

Yao Kingdom had already won a chance to breathe.

Crown Prince Miao Fengxian of Yao had extremely keen intuition. As the Kingdom’s State Preceptor, after the Wei-Yao war broke out, he hadn’t been led by the nose to the southwest by Wei forces. Instead, he remained stationed in the capital city of Yinzi. This way, after Xiao Yan entered from the northwest and crossed the Miansha Ridge, he could respond from the center, quickly mobilizing troops near the royal capital to intercept the Wei army that had penetrated deep into their territory.

Because more than half of the country’s elite forces had been diverted to the southwest by the diversionary tactic, Miao Fengxian had few troops he could gather in haste—just the four major camps defending the capital and one legion stationed around the capital.

Almost no country allowed generals to bring troops into the capital, and the Yao Kingdom was no exception. In the current emergency, Miao Fengxian’s manpower was quite stretched. So the Yao King assigned half of the city garrison to him, barely assembling thirty thousand men.

No matter how quick Yao Kingdom’s emergency response was, by this time, five days had already passed since the Wei army crossed the Flowing Sand Formation. Xiao Yan had personally led his army across two passes and reached the Chichuan Basin.

If they successfully passed through here, ahead lay a hundred-li stretch of flat land with no natural defenses to attack. This would bring them one step closer to the Yao capital, nearly within three hundred li. For the Yao army, it meant no terrain to defend, an extremely disadvantageous position.

Therefore, the time left for the Yao Kingdom and Miao Fengxian was truly pressing—the phrase “an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time” wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

Fortunately, after a tense mobilization, Miao Fengxian still managed to gather enough troops.

In warfare, speed is paramount. At this point, slowly traveling on four legs to meet the enemy wasn’t realistic. So Miao Fengxian once again employed the Golden City, placing his army into this miraculous magical tool, and flew to Chichuan Plain to intercept the Wei army.

This scene was so similar to what happened at Wufu Snow Mountain two years ago!

According to the intelligence Feng Miaojun received, Miao Fengxian did indeed intercept the Wei army midway before they could leave Chichuan Plain.

A bloody battle thus began.

If Xiao Yan lost, the original goal of a quick victory would be ruined. The invasion of Yao might evolve into siege warfare, a war of attrition, requiring vast amounts of manpower, resources, and… lives. Worst of all, the Yan Kingdom, after defeating the Xi Kingdom, might free up forces to attack in coordination with the Yao Kingdom, which would directly drag the Wei Kingdom into the quagmire of war, unable to move.

If Miao Fengxian lost, Yinzi City might be taken by a lightning strike from Wei, and Yao Kingdom would follow in the footsteps of An Xia from years ago.

This battle was a matter of life and death, with responsibilities as heavy as mountains on both sides’ shoulders. Neither could retreat a single step.

Feng Miaojun looked at the two armies facing each other on the sand table, her right eyelid twitching continuously.

This wasn’t a good omen. Had she missed some important clue? More importantly, had the Yao Kingdom missed it too?

Thinking of Yun Ya’s skill in employing plots and schemes, she became even more uneasy and suddenly asked: “Where is the State Preceptor of Wei? Where is he?” It seemed as if she hadn’t heard any news about Yun Ya. This itself was very unusual—how could such a high-profile and flamboyant figure willingly keep a low profile?

A general pointed out to her: “According to yesterday’s new intelligence, he’s with the Wei King’s army.”

Feng Miaojun frowned: “He’s following Xiao Yan’s troops?” The intelligence transmission at this time wasn’t very efficient. Even with urgent messages traveling a thousand li, the news would take several days to reach her hands, causing serious delays.

“Yes. Many among the Pu Ling cavalry have seen him accompanying the Wei King. They wanted to shoot him off his horse, but the distance was too great.”