Human cultivators had a lifespan limit of two hundred years, and the Yan King’s opponent, Yun Ya, belonged to Great Wei, a powerful nation almost equal in strength to the Yan Kingdom. Who knew how many years it would take to conquer it?

Moreover, behind the Wei Kingdom stood New Summer. The Yan King knew that the Queen of New Summer also possessed something he desired. Thus, the time left for him to fulfill his wishes was truly limited.

Of course, the world didn’t know the true reason behind the Yan King’s military aggression. But Feng Miaojun knew. Since the Yan King had invested so much time, patience, and money, he was determined to obtain the altar fragments.

This meant that the upcoming war would likely be unprecedentedly violent and brutal.

Yun Ya pinched her cheek. “I’m leaving early tomorrow morning, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to come for some time afterward.” If the war reached a critical stage, he, as the State Preceptor, certainly couldn’t leave the battlefield.

With his departure, who knew how long they would be separated? Feng Miaojun grasped his hand and sighed, “Take care of your life. Don’t put yourself in danger, and don’t confront the Yan King directly.” Having been together for many years, she knew well that despite Yun Ya’s seemingly carefree demeanor, he was too fond of taking risks, whether it was blowing up Cliff Mountain or launching a surprise attack on Inzi City—he always chose to penetrate deep into enemy territory alone.

This was what frightened her the most.

Yun Ya kissed her slender fingertips and laughed softly, “The Yan King’s impatience to strike has something to do with you.”

“Me?” Feng Miaojun raised an eyebrow. “I’m innocent.”

“New Summer’s rapid development exceeded Yan Kingdom’s expectations, and the Yan King knows that Wei and New Summer intend to join forces,” Yun Ya explained slowly. “If he waits any longer, New Summer will grow even stronger, and the resistance he faces will be even greater.”

“Who’s growing stronger?” She would take that as a compliment.

“If New Summer’s national power were still at the level of three or five years ago, the Yan King wouldn’t have cared, and his main enemy would have been only the Wei Kingdom. But now…”

Now, no one dared to underestimate New Summer.

Yun Ya took the golden cup and sipped milk tea. After all, he wasn’t leaving until tomorrow, so tonight he could still enjoy the company of his beloved. This might be his last time to indulge in tender affection before the great war. “Years ago, when you implemented the new policy for the nobles of Yao territory, Xiao Yan laughed at your gentle approach, saying it wasn’t forceful enough. Who would have thought that method would have such miraculous effects.” So much so that years later, many countries quietly emulated it, although not as effectively as New Summer.

“Whether policies are good or bad must ultimately be tested by time,” Feng Miaojun smiled slightly. “What I excel at is getting others to give up their money, and making them do so willingly.”

The new policy introduced back then seemed unremarkable at first glance, and she even gained a reputation for being greedy because of it. But as time passed, its effects grew increasingly profound, like throwing a large stone into a calm deep pool, creating ripples that still hadn’t subsided.

Under the mandatory requirements of the edict, the nobles of Yao territory had to send their legal wives and eldest sons to Wusel City, which essentially meant relocating half their households to the New Summer capital. Each family brought at least several hundred people in a grand procession, and upon arrival, they needed to purchase property to settle down.

Imagine the scene: within a short period, the relatives of hundreds of nobles near and far descended upon Wusel City, with masters and servants totaling over a hundred thousand people. What a spectacular sight! And what was the most direct consequence?

Of course, there was competition among them.

For newcomers, the best way to display their status was to showcase their substantial wealth, especially since women were naturally inclined to compare. So having just one residence was not enough; the facade needed to be more imposing, the garden larger, and the architecture more exquisite. Settling in any random alley wouldn’t do; they needed to be as close as possible to the royal palace where the sovereign resided.

Living at the foot of the Son of Heaven was itself a symbol of official position and power.

Just living in the city wasn’t enough either; ideally, they should have villas in the suburbs and private hunting grounds, so their activities wouldn’t be limited.

So now Wusel City was filled with luxurious mansions, and the prices of houses and land had exceeded those in Jindu Zhaixing City, on par with the Wei capital. By the end of last year, according to statistics Feng Miaojun received, the nobles owned at least two mansions in Wusel, with some having more than ten.

These weren’t tiny plots but vast estates, gardens, and courtyards!

This was the nobles’ first bleeding of wealth. If having abundant financial resources made this not too painful, the Queen had a second move waiting for them.

That was the biennial audience with the sovereign and the right to invest in capital construction.

These two items, viewed separately, weren’t earth-shattering clauses, but together they produced a wondrous reaction.

Think about it: every two years, all nobles and prominent families had to come to the capital for an audience with the sovereign, and the Queen cunningly set this time around the New Year until before the Lantern Festival. That was a major occasion for everyone, a grand biennial event, an opportunity for countless distinguished individuals to shine.

All eyes in the capital would be focused on them, so which noble family wouldn’t stand tall and make a grand entrance?

Feng Miaojun knew that even salaried commoners would scrimp and save to buy a few luxury items for themselves. Everyone lived under the gaze of others, let alone these nobles with status and reputation.

The display had to be glamorous, the pomp magnificent, and there were countless social exchanges among the nobles and officials. In just these twenty or thirty short days, wasn’t money spent like flowing water?

At least during this period, Wusel City’s hundred industries flourished like oil in a hot pan. Just consider the major restaurants: although the price for banquet reservations more than doubled, they were fully booked from before the New Year until the Lantern Festival, without a single vacant slot.

This was just the beginning. The Queen then unveiled her final killer move:

Naming rights.

As long as nobles and prominent families paid to invest in Wusel City’s infrastructure, they could obtain naming rights for these projects.

The shimmering lake outside the small building where Feng Miaojun now lived was excavated and landscaped with money from a prominent family from the southwest of New Summer. Since their ancestral home was called Lotus Pond Manor, the lake was named “Lotus Pond” to honor their ancestors.

With the nobles of Yao territory doing this, the prominent families of New Summer naturally didn’t want to be outdone. After all, this was New Summer’s native soil, and Wusel was their territory, so how could they let outsiders steal the spotlight?

To date, over four hundred and twenty-seven facilities in Wusel City have been “named,” including road sections, gardens, and neighborhoods. For just the construction of a flood discharge embankment, the royal court received more than a hundred applications from nobles.

Wusel City quickly became saturated, so these opportunities extended to the Golden Trade Route. Having travelers see their family names in places with a constant flow of people and horses was also a chance for many prominent families to bring glory to their ancestors.

After this triple-kill combination, most nobles’ purses quickly emptied.

Yun Ya smiled, “I heard that two years ago, a minor noble from the southwestern border of Yao territory, to maintain his dignity during the audience at the capital, spent all his money in Wusel City, to the point where he couldn’t even afford the fare to return home. Later, you dipped into your pocket to cover for him?”

Feng Miaojun’s eyes sparkled, “When subjects face difficulties, the sovereign must resolve them.”