Old Madam Qi didn’t mind that the little girl’s hands were covered in saliva, eating it in one bite. Seeing the little girl’s tender white face covered in pastry crumbs, she laughed and used a handkerchief to wipe Bai Wanqing’s mouth, lavishing endless terms of endearment on her.

Behind Old Madam Qi knelt a plump nanny, about fifty years old, wearing azure silk with gold thread. Though she was smiling and talking with Fifth Madam Qi Shi, she couldn’t help but constantly wipe away tears.

“Enough, Nanny! Am I not perfectly fine?” Fifth Madam Qi Shi comforted her. “I already told you that saying I was injured when giving birth to Eighth Sister was just to deceive them; otherwise, they would surely gossip. Nanny, stop crying.”

“Yes! Yes!” The nanny’s eyes were red as she dabbed at them with her handkerchief, repeatedly responding, “This old woman knows! Knows! These are tears of joy from seeing Miss!”

When Bai Qingyan entered, she didn’t have anyone announce her arrival. If Wei Zhong had called out, all the elderly ladies in Bishui Pavilion would have had to rise and bow. Since this was a family banquet, she didn’t want to create such a commotion.

Dong Tingzhen was the first to spot her cousin entering while supporting Chun Tao’s hand, and quickly rose saying: “Cousin has arrived!”

Hearing this, the old madams hurriedly tried to rise with the help of their daughters and daughters-in-law to bow.

“Distinguished elders, please don’t stand on ceremony. Today is a family banquet… Qingyan is the junior here.” Bai Qingyan smiled and first bowed to Old Madam Dong, Mother, and her two aunts, then bowed to the other old madams and their families as well as her aunts, before sitting down in the main seat alongside Dong Shi.

These old madams were all perceptive people. Previously, thinking that their daughters’ husbands were gone, they had wanted to seek divorce papers for their daughters. Even if their daughters never remarried, living at home under their fathers’ and brothers’ protection would be better than being widows in the Bai family. But now seeing… this Bai Qingyan had ascended as Emperor and truly treated their daughters well. They were not only relieved but also grateful to Bai Qingyan.

The day after, Bai Qingyan had just finished morning court and emerged from the main hall, someone came to report… the elephants brought back from Great Liang had arrived. Not only that… Duke Auxiliary Bai Jinxiu, upon receiving Bai Qingyan’s request for elephants, had also sent people to gather elephant trainers to accompany them.

However, while multiple elephants had departed from Great Liang, on the journey toward the capital, the weather became less warm than in Great Liang, causing some to fall ill… and some to die. The elephant trainers did everything possible, using cotton quilts and fur to keep the elephants warm. By the time they reached the capital, only nine elephants remained, barely alive. Due to their massive size, they were currently housed in military camps outside the city.

Bai Qingyan had Wei Zhong prepare carriages and horses. After meeting with Yue Shi, she would depart for the military camp outside the city to see these giant beasts.

She had just changed clothes and hadn’t yet had time to see Yue Shi when she received another message from Bai Qingqi in Nan Jiang… The Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army that Bai Jintong had mentioned had appeared in Western Liang but hadn’t directly engaged the Bai family army. They were only appearing along the border between the two countries. According to scouts’ reports, the Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army wore fur coverings that appeared to be pieced-together fur garments.

Bai Qingqi had already put all Bai family troops on alert and had sent word to Dengzhou. If anything unexpected happened, he would request aid from Bai Qingyan’s uncle, Dengzhou Prefect Dong Qingyue.

Bai Qingyan gripped Bai Qingqi’s letter tightly. Since Ah Qi had already sent word to Uncle, then… Uncle would surely find a way to get the message to Ah Yu. At this time, Ah Yu might already know about this matter.

She also thought about how Tianfeng Kingdom had previously needed fur, and Bai Jintong had used this… to make an issue in Western Liang, causing Western Liang’s people to abandon farming and focus all their attention on jade brocade and animal pelts.

Bai Qingyan still didn’t understand Tianfeng Kingdom’s specific terrain, but… didn’t Tianfeng Kingdom have animal pelts? Why would they need Bai Jinzhi to find solutions in Western Liang?

Now, seeing the message Bai Qingqi had sent back, she could roughly guess that perhaps at that time, Tianfeng Kingdom was already considering making fur coverings for their elephant army, to keep them warm against the cold, so the elephant army wouldn’t fear cold weather and could come to Western Liang, or even… to Great Zhou and Great Yan!

This showed that Tianfeng Kingdom’s ruler was not a monarch content with the status quo.

She was silent for a moment, then instructed Wei Zhong: “Send people to invite Grand Commandant Lu, Minister of Works Shen, Minister of Education Dong, Minister of War Zhang Duanning, and Minister of Revenue Wei Bugong. Have them wait outside the city in half an hour to accompany me to the military camp.”

“Yes!” Wei Zhong acknowledged.

Yue Shi had been waiting early in Bai Qingyan’s study. Seeing Bai Qingyan instruct the eunuchs and palace maids to wait outside while she entered alone, Yue Shi’s expression showed a smile. He stepped forward and bowed to Bai Qingyan: “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

Bai Qingyan nodded and asked Yue Shi, “Is he well in Yan Kingdom?”

She had heard that after Great Yan’s Ninth Prince Murong Yan returned to Yan Kingdom, he had put great effort into reforming the imperial clan, causing complaints throughout the Murong clan. There had even been an assassination attempt on Murong Yan. Finally, young Emperor Murong Li came forward to plead with Ninth Prince Murong Yan, so Murong Yan severely punished the family that had attempted to assassinate him while giving lighter sentences to the others, finally appeasing and settling the matter.

Though she knew it was Xiao Rongyan putting on an act with his nephew, Bai Qingyan was still somewhat worried.

“Your Majesty, rest assured. Master… is doing well, just missing Your Majesty and the little master in Your Majesty’s womb!” Yue Shi scratched his head with a simple smile.

Bai Qingyan drew out a letter she had already written from the desk corner, holding it as she said to Yue Shi: “There’s another matter that requires you to quickly return to Yan Kingdom to inform him. Tianfeng Kingdom… has decided to send troops to assist Western Liang. Tianfeng Kingdom has an elephant army unit that has surely now reached Western Liang, hovering along the border between the two countries in Nan Jiang!”

Yue Shi was startled, his expression immediately becoming solemn. He had heard his master mention this Tianfeng Kingdom before, saying that Tianfeng Kingdom’s weapons were invincible, and their elephant army was unstoppable.

“Once Tianfeng Kingdom, which possesses an elephant army… and masters the forging of invincible weapons, interferes in Western Liang’s affairs, whether for Great Zhou or Great Yan… It’s not good news!” Bai Qingyan stopped in front of Yue Shi and handed him the letter. “With Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army arriving early in Western Liang, tell him to be careful in his response… I suspect that Western Liang’s Female Emperor may have invited a wolf into her house.”

Yue Shi received the letter with both hands, gazing at Bai Qingyan. Ever since Bai Qingyan had guided them to help Great Yan bloodlessly recover Nan Yan through popular support, Yue Shi had complete faith in Bai Qingyan’s analysis of war situations and international affairs.

“If that’s the case, then… Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army won’t necessarily engage the Great Zhou first. After all, the Great Zhou is now the greatest power, rich and militarily strong. They wouldn’t dare act rashly and would surely choose Great Yan… or the Rong barbarians.” Bai Qingyan’s voice was steady. “Most likely, they’ll choose the Rong barbarians, but Great Zhou absolutely won’t allow anyone to touch the Rong barbarians.”

As for Great Yan, though it had first recovered Nan Yan and then destroyed Wei, its foundation was ultimately not as solid as Great Zhou’s. If they wanted to test their blade, they could only target the Yan Kingdom.