“I understand, Ninth Uncle. If I want to see Ninth Aunt… at least on the surface, it should be as a meeting between the rulers of two countries, not rushing over impulsively. Otherwise, if people with ulterior motives find out, they might make a big issue of it.”

“Especially…” Murong Li clenched her fists on her knees, “Having come out this time, I should act like an emperor controlled by the Regent. The Regent covers the sky with one hand and controls all court affairs – how would he bring me to see the Great Zhou Emperor?”

Murong Yan nodded. He reached out and patted Murong Li’s head: “Don’t be anxious. This time… you will see your Ninth Aunt.”

Murong Li nodded – she had been childish just now.

“Is Ninth Uncle going?” Murong Li looked up at her ninth uncle.

“Naturally, I must go.” He nodded slightly to Murong Li. “Great Zhou and the Yan Kingdom already intend to ally. The last time envoys were sent to our Yan capital, it was made very clear that I am the Regent who controls the Yan court. Naturally, I must meet with the Great Zhou Empress before the four-nation alliance begins, using this opportunity to discuss the alliance in detail, and also let the Tianfeng Kingdom and Xiliang know that Great Zhou and the Yan Kingdom are united.”

Just as Murong Yan had said, after the Great Yan Ninth Prince led a group of cavalry toward Pingyang City, within less than two hours, the news reached the tent of the Tianfeng Kingdom’s emperor.

In the tent, the brazier burning red-hot made crackling sounds as sparks burst forth. Li Tianfu, as the new Xiliang Emperor who had replaced Li Tianjiao, knelt beside a low table, tightly gripping the cup in her hands.

“I don’t care whether Great Yan and Great Zhou have already allied. When you imprisoned my sister and released me… to replace my sister as the new Xiliang Emperor, I already made it clear – I can let Xiliang listen to you, but you must help me destroy Great Zhou. Otherwise… don’t expect me to listen to you anymore!” Li Tianfu stood up and left the tent without looking back.

“This Xiliang Emperor!” A Tianfeng general slammed the table and stood up. “I’ll go drag her back!”

The Tianfeng ruler, sitting on the tiger-skin chair at the head of the tent, stared coldly at Li Tianfu’s departing figure as she left in anger. He rubbed the jade cicada in his hands and waved to signal his general to sit down, then lazily leaned back in the tiger-skin chair: “This woman seeks momentary satisfaction, while we seek the future. Our goals are different – why bother arguing with her? As long as she obeys, that’s enough.”

Hearing their ruler say this, the Tianfeng general finally swallowed his anger.

“If we want to plan for the future, first… we must let our Tianfeng Kingdom establish a firm foothold in this place. We have no land here and must face great powers like the Great Zhou and the Yan Kingdom, whose true strength we don’t know. We can only proceed step by step, slowly encroaching.” The Great Shaman’s chief disciple said.

“Our Tianfeng ancestors all lived by war, feeding on war. Fighting and fighting… land and slaves would all be ours. Kill those who don’t obey, keep the obedient ones to serve us – our Tianfeng Kingdom would still be powerful. Why make it so complicated!”

That Tianfeng general became more and more indignant as he spoke.

“Now we even have to buy grain at high prices from these inferior races! Not only are they giving us less and less, but the prices keep getting higher! Why not let our elephant army trample all these inferior races to death and steal their grain!” another Tianfeng general said indignantly. “We Tianfeng people are the strong ones! How can we bow our heads to inferior breeds?”

Thinking of the attitudes of the Zhou and Yan merchants these days, they wished they could kill these inferior races right now.

“War feeding war is indeed fast. How could I not know this is the quickest method! But the master chosen by the Heavenly God for this land is still alive. Do you want to defy the Heavenly God?” Another general looked toward the muttering general.

Hearing the words “Heavenly God” in the tent, everyone assumed respectful postures.

After a long while, the Tianfeng ruler finally said, “Recently, keep your subordinates in line. Don’t cause trouble during the alliance period!”

With that, the Tianfeng ruler looked toward the Great Shaman’s disciple: “Tomorrow, I trouble you to personally make a trip to the Yan Kingdom and the Great Zhou. Ask this Great Zhou Emperor and Great Yan Regent… since they both don’t want to let the Tianfeng Kingdom set the time and place for the alliance, see if they have already discussed the location and time after meeting today, and settle this matter quickly.”

For the Tianfeng Kingdom, this land was simply heaven-sent fertile soil. There was land for cultivation and people to work it! As long as the master chosen by the Heavenly God died, they could kill those who didn’t obey and make the people of this land fear them, then they could properly rule this land.

However, what troubled the Tianfeng ruler even more now was whether killing the master chosen by the Heavenly God for this land would also bring divine punishment.

Now that the Great Shaman had fallen under punishment, and the Great Shaman’s disciple was too inexperienced to hear divine oracles – how troublesome!

·

After nightfall, Bai Qingyan was leaning on a soft couch reading when Shen Qingzhu came to report that many citizens who had originally packed their valuables planning to leave Pingyang City temporarily to seek refuge had now settled their hearts. Previously, no cooking smoke could be seen from any household because the people had all prepared dry rations, ready to flee at any moment. But today, after Bai Qingyan arrived, the people relaxed and began lighting fires to cook. Cooking smoke now rose in wisps above Pingyang City.

Bai Qingyan set down the bamboo scroll in her hands, pinched the bridge of her nose, then picked up the scroll again to continue reading: “Good…”

“Eldest Miss, stop reading…” Shen Qingzhu felt sorry for Bai Qingyan, frowning as she said, “Eldest Miss is now carrying twins and has been traveling for so long. You need to rest more now.”

Bai Qingyan was amused by Shen Qingzhu and looked up at her with furrowed brows: “Not easy indeed. Our usually quiet Qing Zhu has been infected by Chun Tao… becoming so nagging?”

Though she said this, Bai Qingyan still obediently put down the bamboo scroll in her hands.

These books left by Empress Ji… contained more than one governing philosophy, but there was no framework. Even Bai Qingyan, who was well-versed in historical texts, could not find any Kingdom in history that had governed using these philosophies.

For example, the constitutional monarchy recorded in Empress Ji’s books – just the meaning of the two characters “constitution” meant establishing the fundamental laws of the state. While preserving imperial power, the constitution would protect people’s rights and limit the monarch’s power. The actual highest leader of the Kingdom would be the Chancellor, with the emperor becoming a ceremonial figure. This way, incompetent rulers could not harm the Kingdom.

Empress Ji’s books also mentioned another method of governance – republicanism… The highest leader of a republic would be elected, and republicanism was further divided into parliamentary republics and presidential republics.

Bai Qingyan had been reading these passages for a long time, as if trapped in some kind of bottleneck. She recognized every character, but when combined, they were like clouds and mist. She could roughly guess some of the meaning, but couldn’t fully comprehend it. Empress Ji’s books did not record detailed implementation methods – Bai Qingyan would have to grope forward and explore on her own.