The weather gradually grew hotter. Sunlight flowed like fire, and the majestic imperial city seemed to be frozen in motionless time by such scorching heat.

Not a breath of wind stirred in the imperial palace. The palace attendants held up sticky poles, carefully catching the incessantly noisy cicadas to avoid disturbing His Majesty, who was already in an irritable mood.

Sounds from the Imperial Study leaked out faintly. The palace attendants exchanged glances, their eyes filled with alarm.

“Outrageous!” The Tiansheng Emperor threw down a memorial, viciously hurling it at someone’s face. “What a brilliant idea you came up with!”

The kneeling figure raised his head with a face full of consternation—it was Qiu Shangqi, the Commander of the Five Armies.

Because the “horse market” strategy had failed, the Great Yue seemed to have discerned that the Tiansheng court had no time to attend to them and became even more unbridled. The border people, unable to endure the harassment, fled en masse toward the interior. Large numbers of border residents surged into inland towns, bringing countless hidden dangers to local security. The Great Yue further assembled their troops with signs of launching a major invasion.

The Tiansheng Emperor had nowhere to vent his rage and blamed it all on Qiu Shangqi, who had originally suggested the “horse market.”

Qiu Shangqi secretly lamented his suffering but had nowhere to shift the blame. He raised his head to look at Feng Zhiwei, who stood before the Tiansheng Emperor’s desk with an expressionless face writing summaries of memorials from various regions, and silently sighed.

He very much wanted to shirk responsibility, but this strategy had indeed been his own. That day when Master Wei had come to visit his residence and sat in his study for a while, flipping through a few books before leaving, when he tidied up afterward he saw in the open book a method the previous Great Cheng Dynasty had used to deal with border barbarian tribes. His heart stirred, and thus he had conceived this strategy.

Now, what could he blame the man for? Blame him for flipping through his books?

“This subject bungled the task.” Qiu Shangqi kowtowed repeatedly. “That the mere Great Yue dares to offend our Tiansheng—I beg Your Majesty to allow this subject to atone for his crimes through merit. Let me lead our Tiansheng sons and cut down these presumptuous bandits beneath our horses, so they may know that our heavenly might cannot be violated!”

The Tiansheng Emperor narrowed his eyes, noncommittal, and after a long while said, “Withdraw for now.”

Qiu Shangqi carefully withdrew. Looking at the sky where storm clouds rolled, he wondered if at his advanced age he would still have to garrison the distant border and lead troops into battle.

Inside the Imperial Study, the Tiansheng Emperor remained silent for a long time before suddenly asking, “What do you think?”

The several Grand Secretaries in the study looked at each other, then one after another said, “Your Majesty, it is inadvisable to lightly initiate warfare…”

“As for the peoples beyond civilization, it is best to pacify them with kindness and majestic virtue…”

“The case of the former Crown Prince’s treason is not yet concluded. To initiate warfare again would wound the people’s sense of stability…”

The Tiansheng Emperor’s expression grew increasingly gloomy. The crowd gradually fell silent, looking around uneasily.

Sitting in the seat of honor in the Imperial Study was Ning Yi. He had originally come to report on the capital region’s water conservancy affairs but happened to arrive during a meeting and was kept to observe. The jade-crowned man with raven-black hair maintained a calm expression, listening with a smile.

Feng Zhiwei stood not far to his side at a desk, helping the Tiansheng Emperor grind ink, eyes lowered and expression composed, her demeanor even more serene than his.

Since Ning Yi had stepped into the Imperial Study, neither of them had glanced at the other even once.

At this moment, with the Tiansheng Emperor’s expression unfavorable, Ning Yi suddenly spoke up with a laugh, “Why doesn’t Imperial Father listen to the opinion of the National Scholar?”

Everyone’s gaze swished toward Feng Zhiwei in the corner. Some wore sneering expressions—Prince Chu’s use of the term “National Scholar” truly sounded rather ambiguous…

Feng Zhiwei remained composed. She set down her brush, stood up, and said quietly, “Fight, yet do not fight.”

“What do you mean by this?” The Tiansheng Emperor’s eyes lit up.

“The people of the Yue nation have an unruly temperament and have never been willing to submit. For many years there has been no warfare with the Central Plains, so they have long forgotten the humiliation of being driven out of the Central Plains by our Tiansheng in the past. They only remember that this magnificent world was seized by the Tiansheng imperial dynasty. Their restless stirring is natural. Those who refuse to submit must be subdued with might—a lesson must be taught.”

“Mm, continue.”

“However, the Yue nation originated as a nomadic people. Their cavalry is unmatched under heaven, coming and going like the wind. While defeating them in one battle is not difficult, wanting to completely uproot them and wound their vital energy is not easy.”

Chief Grand Secretary Yao Ying frowned and said, “Wei Zhi, you’re going in circles—every sentence is empty talk.”

Feng Zhiwei glanced at this veteran Grand Secretary. This old minister of Prince Chu’s faction already had a grudge against her because of his son’s matter. Now working in the same room, he constantly targeted her at every turn, wishing he could kick her out as soon as possible.

“Yes, honored minister.” She smiled gently with a humble attitude. “Wei Zhi is shallow in talent and learning and dares not show off before all of you.”

“Those shallow in talent and learning need training all the more—continue.” The Tiansheng Emperor frowned. “Yao Ying, you are a venerable elder of the heavenly dynasty, a Chief Grand Secretary—how can you have not a shred of patience or magnanimity?”

Yao Ying suffered a rebuff and resentfully fell silent, secretly cursing that this boy had successfully cultivated connections through Princess Shaoning’s door and coaxed His Majesty into viewing him with special regard.

“A centipede remains active even after death; wild grass burns completely only to grow again next spring.” Feng Zhiwei said, “Troops can be conscripted again, weapons can be manufactured again. A few battles cannot make the fierce Great Yue lose heart. It would be better to… weaken their people! Destroy their weapons! Control their nation!”

The Tiansheng Emperor’s brow twitched. He said urgently, “Speak!”

“Rather than defending to the death, we should throw open the borders.” Feng Zhiwei said, “Commander Qiu’s suggestion of a horse market was actually correct in direction, just wrong in timing. The Great Yue have become arrogant and negligent in recent years. Opening a horse market would only make the Yue nation think our dynasty is showing weakness, further inflating their arrogant hearts. We should fight first! Deploy heavy troops in formation, defeat their will in one battle, and then establish trade.”

“More and more absurd!” Yao Ying was visibly displeased and rebuked her, “Since we’ve already fought, what’s the point of trading! If we don’t press our advantage and pursue, won’t we miss an excellent opportunity?”

“Minister Yao, His Majesty just said to broadly solicit opinions and let the young people gain experience.” The secondary Grand Secretary with a goatee beard, Hu Shengshan, interjected with a smile.

Feng Zhiwei smiled and expressed her thanks—the old fellow was none other than Master Hu from the political discussion class at Qingming Academy that day. Though he was also of Prince Chu’s faction, he rarely made things difficult for her.

“We must trade.” She smiled sweetly, infuriating without compensation. “Once the Great Yue submits, we must vigorously trade—silk, porcelain, medicines, grain. Except for weapons, we should generously provide everything the Great Yue lacks. At the same time, relocate criminals from the interior northward and permit intermarriage with the Yue nation.”

“Nonsense!” This time everyone rebuked her in unison. “Our Tiansheng people are of noble bloodline—how can we mix with barbarian savages beyond civilization!”

“For many years, the Great Yue have lived on barren land, struggling against heaven, against poverty, and against the endlessly harassing steppe tribes, developing an unruly, brave, and combative nature. But these men who call themselves descendants of the Great Roc deity—once they marry gentle Central Plains women, experience the stability and prosperity of the Han people, learn farming and commerce, possess their own property, grow accustomed to rich Central Plains food, and become dependent on various medicines… will they still possess their original fierceness and endurance? Will they still be able to fight on the battlefield until death, sparing not their own lives?”

Silence filled the room. Everyone was deep in thought. Tiansheng had learned from the lesson of the chaotic late Great Cheng Dynasty when rival powers arose to throw the nation into disorder, and for many years had committed to isolating Great Yue influence from infiltrating. Now this move would completely overturn the Tiansheng Emperor’s national policy of many years. This Wei Zhi dared to think it, and dared to say it!

Surveying the six hundred years of Great Cheng’s national policies for dealing with barbarians, everyone present were capable ministers of the current dynasty and naturally understood that the cultural dissemination, war-and-peace strategies, and economic exchange that Feng Zhiwei proposed were the three great means of pacifying steppe tribes. However, each method had its limitations. The threat from the steppes perpetually loomed over the Central Plains. The fierce tribes that fought year after year for territory were like wild grass on the plains—impossible to burn away, blown to life again. After conquering and assimilating one people and power, very quickly an even more cruel and savage tribe would rise on the steppes, rising and falling in succession, difficult to eradicate.

And once warfare was rashly initiated, what might follow could be prolonged and continuous war, risking the consequence of suppressing one regime only to face another even more ferocious one. Did those in governance truly have such resolve? And in Tiansheng’s southwest, there was also the wealthy maritime nation of Xi Liang with developed salt and commerce industries. If the war became entangled, would Xi Liang take advantage of the chaos to attack?

This responsibility—no one dared bear it. Though the strategy was good, no one dared support it.

“Have you considered that once a nomadic nation receives the civilizing influence of Central Plains culture, learning our technology, our legal system, our national policies, it might very well become even more prosperous?” After a long while, Hu Shengshan asked leisurely.

“Intermarriage and trade naturally take a long time to show results, and emulating our Central Plains culture is also not the work of a single morning or evening.” Feng Zhiwei wore a hint of a smile. “Moreover, the three great tribes of Tiele, Gu’a, and Duoshu, located in a corner of the Great Yue’s Hulun Grasslands, have never been peaceful for many years. After defeating the Great Yue in one battle, with appropriate support and necessary restraint, within ten years the Great Yue will certainly be unable to cross Hulun Pass.”

“Furthermore.” Feng Zhiwei smiled, and in an instant all warmth vanished, replaced by spirited brilliance. “This subject has two excellent items that can ensure the Great Yue will henceforth be controlled by our dynasty—transforming wolves into dogs!”

“Oh?” The Tiansheng Emperor’s expression had already shifted to one of keen interest, while Ning Yi beside him suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Feng Zhiwei’s gaze turned. She suddenly walked to Ning Yi’s side and bowed lightly.

“Your Highness, would you mind lending me something?”