In the fourth month of the 372nd year of the Great Wilderness calendar, Daimao tribal chief Ming Yan’an was buried in his own mausoleum within Shangyuan Mountain in Shangyuan City. According to the customs of various kingdoms and tribes, Ming Yan’an had begun constructing his mausoleum since becoming tribal chief, but by his death, this magnificently designed mausoleum remained unfinished. With no one left to complete it, after Jing Hengbo ordered his coffin carried in, the entrance was directly sealed with massive stones. This underground darkness was left forever to the previous Daimao king who had been greedy for exclusive enjoyment.
Some advised her to keep this mausoleum for her own use, but Jing Hengbo scoffed disdainfully—she planned to be buried together with Gong Yin in the future, and Gong Yin would never consent to staying in someone else’s place. She would naturally accompany him.
Opening the mausoleum served another purpose: using the bracelet Chai Yu had obtained. It was said that Ming Yan’an’s greatest reliance wasn’t merely the high walls and strong soldiers of Shangyuan City, but the real key lay in this mausoleum connected to Shangyuan Palace by underground passages.
Using the key hidden within the bracelet, they opened the back of the mausoleum, waded through the deep passage, and walked toward that black gate.
Fearing she might encounter danger, Yelu Qi insisted on walking ahead, but nothing happened—Ming Yan’an’s underground treasury was meant for his exclusive enjoyment. Even Chai Yu, who had rendered him great service and earned his favor, had never been able to approach his person during that long period. His world was determined never to open to anyone. After his death, he would take all treasures with him, so naturally there was no need to design mechanisms.
In that underground palace, Jing Hengbo saw countless precious armor made from Black Water Marsh exotic beast hides, countless pills refined from Black Water’s rare flowers and herbs, treasures obtained through trade with neighboring small kingdoms, and all the things in the world that exhausted imagination and exceeded imagination.
Ming Yan’an, who had cowered in one city, had devoted his life’s energy and wisdom to collecting and storing treasures, only to end up making wedding clothes for others.
If he knew this in the afterlife, would he come back to life from anger?
Looking all the way through, Jing Hengbo’s eyes were dazzled, and the corners of her mouth never stopped curving upward. She thought about finally being able to open chain women’s markets nationwide, equip the Horizontal Halberd Army with new gear, replenish troops, and even use this to build a truly elite force. Ming Yan’an had cowered in Shangyuan City, guarding a treasure mountain but unable to use it, while her gaze was on the entire Great Wilderness, where it was perfectly useful.
Walking through easily all the way with nothing happening, treasures filling valleys and hills, her mood becoming increasingly cheerful, so when she saw the final closed gate, she instinctively reached out to push it.
Yelu Qi suddenly grabbed her shoulder from behind and pulled her back.
At this moment, Jing Hengbo also noticed the anomaly. She discovered this door was particularly heavy, as if something massive was pressing down on it, but when she had just pulled lightly, she also felt a kind of elasticity. As if something was stretching and contracting inside the door, waiting to rush out at any moment.
Yelu Qi was very cautious, pulling her back beyond the door’s range, using a golden thread to open the door just a crack.
The moment the door opened a crack, mechanical sounds immediately rang out, as if mechanisms had been activated. But Yelu Qi remained unhurried, listening to those sounds while continuously shooting out golden threads. The threads crisscrossed behind the door, and with each shot, one strand of sound was silenced, until the mechanism activation sounds stopped completely.
Jing Hengbo asked somewhat strangely: “Is the Yelu family very skilled with mechanisms? Why haven’t I heard of this before?”
“Not really,” Yelu Qi answered. “I’m a foundling my sister picked up. Naturally, the Yelu family’s essential martial arts and skills wouldn’t be taught to me. Everything was stolen from various places by my sister for me to learn. As for mechanism studies, it was after my sister became a maid in the Third Young Master’s study that she stole a book for me to self-study. Strangely enough, the Third Young Master’s study seemed to be an important place, but it was always open, because supposedly the books in his study came from sectarian inheritance and couldn’t be learned by ordinary people. They said ordinary people would suffer divine retribution if they learned them. I thought it was ridiculous too.”
“Naturally ridiculous,” Jing Hengbo smiled. “The Snow Mountain charlatans are best at falsely invoking heavenly mandate and playing ghost tricks, often just to intimidate people. Look, aren’t you perfectly fine now? Just now, if not for you, I might have accidentally triggered the mechanisms.”
Yelu Qi just smiled. Her life and safety were his responsibility—nothing to claim credit for.
Seeing his smile tinged with melancholy, Jing Hengbo knew in her heart he was lamenting his background or missing his sister again. She thought she should help Yelu Qi inquire about this when she had the chance, and also wondered how Xun Ru was doing now. Inadvertently approaching the gate, she suddenly looked up and couldn’t help crying out “Ah!”
Mechanisms!
The entire room was filled with mechanisms!
As if all the mechanisms that hadn’t been installed before were placed here, or perhaps all the world’s mechanisms were gathered here. This hall was several zhang long and wide, with that one enormous mechanism packed tightly, looking like a massive dinosaur skeleton. Some silver giant arms extended long into the underground depths, with no visible path.
Jing Hengbo craned her neck until it ached, but still couldn’t figure out what such a large mechanism could be used for. Mechanisms should be secretive and ingenious as standards—such a large mechanism had already lost the meaning of being a mechanism.
But she still had to feel awed by such a vast project. Such a mechanism, once activated, would definitely not move just one or two people, one path, one door.
Yelu Qi swept back and forth over the mechanism, carefully avoiding touching any threads or mechanical structures. After a long time, he finally swept down, his expression grave.
“Once activated,” he said, “the entire mausoleum, the Shangyuan Palace above, and possibly half of Shangyuan City, would all sink underground.”
Jing Hengbo drew in a sharp breath.
She finally understood why Chai Yu would rather have Pei Shu withdraw troops than find a way to lure Ming Yan’an out of Shangyuan City—Ming Yan’an wouldn’t hand over his realm to others. Once Shangyuan City was breached, he would make Shangyuan, the treasures, and Jing Hengbo who had come to seize his throne all accompany him buried deep underground.
Such thoughts made even Yelu Qi lose color. Jing Hengbo stared at that enormous mechanism, which would have required the lifelong efforts of tens of thousands of craftsmen to create, for a long time in a daze. In her heart, she sighed that Ming Yan’an, who treated women like worn shoes, ultimately was destroyed by women; she was glad that because she disliked killing, she had inadvertently chosen the smartest and safest method.
She had originally wanted to destroy this terrible mechanism, but somehow had a flash of thought and ultimately abandoned the idea.
Unable to explain that moment’s thinking—whether she couldn’t bear to waste such a vast project, or whether there was unseen divine will—she sealed this room and issued a prohibition order, forbidding anyone from approaching.
When leaving the tunnel, she looked back once. The massive bronze door was tightly closed, glowing dimly in the darkness’s end. She had a strange feeling in her heart, as if seeing through the dust’s end, the bronze door opening, silver-white mechanical skeleton moving with grinding sounds, inch by inch tearing down dome arches, thousand-layered palaces, myriad human phenomena, prosperous brocade, endless ambitions, all turning to dust…
After leaving the mausoleum, she had all the treasures inside transported out, arranged equipment for the Horizontal Halberd Army, reorganized the Shangyuan army, conducted a new round of purging among the ministers, and incidentally arranged funding to open women’s markets—having land alone wasn’t enough; money was also needed. The Great Wilderness’s national structure was too scattered; she hoped to connect it in some way to obtain more resources and information.
Currently busy without rest, for safety she ordered the blockade of Daimao’s border checkpoints. After Shangyuan matters concluded, she planned to free her hands to deal with the fifteen gangs, so she didn’t know that shocking news was continuously approaching.
One battalion of the Shangyuan army had rebelled, attempting to rely on their familiarity with Black Water Marsh terrain to cross the marsh and flee to neighboring small kingdoms, seize power in those militarily weak small countries, and establish themselves as kings. Jing Hengbo personally led troops aboard the Sky Star treasure ship, pursuing them across Black Water Marsh, intercepting these people halfway. Ignoring their pleas for mercy, she ordered all of them thrown directly into the Black Water swamps, using their blood and flesh as a grand sacrifice to the marsh’s fierce beasts.
This act was truly brutal, so brutal it shocked everyone. No one had expected the smiling, lazy female king to be such a cold-blooded tyrant when ruthless. From then on, the Shangyuan army became much more compliant.
No one knew that when those people were thrown into Black Water Marsh, Jing Hengbo stood at the ship’s bow, listening to those screams, staring at the blood and flesh churning, appearing motionless but actually with her heart in turmoil.
She wasn’t cold-blooded, nor was she cruel. Coming from modern times, she always remembered that life should be respected. However, walking to this point, she finally understood that governing chaotic times required severe laws. To protect herself and those she loved, she had to first consolidate her rule with an iron fist.
Without a stable Daimao, how could she claim kingship? How could she pressure Di Ge with strong power?
At that time, Yelu Qi accompanied her, gently grasping her wrist, helping her calm her churning, nauseous breath, telling her that sometimes death and cruelty could bring permanent peace.
Black Water Marsh’s black waters churned, gray mist rising. In the cold mist, she felt the warmth of Yelu Qi’s fingers, but in her heart missed that person with slightly cool palms.
After suppressing the rebel troops, she learned that because Ming Yan’an had consumed drugs, some Shangyuan army officers had also been affected, and Pugan Kingdom west of Black Water Marsh, which produced golden silk and longevity pills, was the behind-the-scenes manipulator.
This batch of rebel soldiers had also become addicted and wanted to take the opportunity to break away from Shangyuan, head to Pugan, seize that warm small country producing “wonderful golden silk,” and permanently enjoy earthly paradise, a utopia beyond the world.
Jing Hengbo always felt something fishy about this matter and immediately sent people to blockade west of Black Water Marsh while arranging for people to infiltrate Pugan to gather intelligence. The news transmitted later indeed didn’t disappoint her expectations—this matter bore Dong Tang’s handiwork. It was said to be some Dong Tang prince’s “weak kingdom” plan targeting Daimao and the Great Wilderness.
Everyone dismissed this, feeling it was just some drugs and a small country—not enough to shake Daimao, yet daring to claim influence over the Great Wilderness? Really boasting and laughable. But Jing Hengbo broke out in cold sweat.
Only she, coming from modern times, knew the harm of drugs. If that Dong Tang prince truly started from Daimao, slowly cutting toward the Great Wilderness with drugs as soft knives, what would the Great Wilderness become?
Great Wilderness people, living in harsh environments yet surrounded by precious stones, wealthy in money but poor in materials, were most easily controlled by such spiritual attack substances.
This far-sighted Dong Tang prince with vicious thoughts—if she hadn’t guessed wrong—should be that brocade-clothed person who had fought her countless times and made her quite embarrassed.
Thinking of him made Jing Hengbo furious. That obsessive-compulsive troublemaker with too much time on his hands—the Great Wilderness was self-governing and had nothing to do with Dong Tang, yet he wouldn’t let it go. Did he really think she didn’t dare cross Black Water Marsh to harass his borders?
She immediately ordered the permanent blockade of borders at Black Water Marsh’s end, permanently prohibiting commercial relations with small countries like Pugan. Once anyone was discovered smuggling in, carrying even a single golden silk thread, they would be killed without question.
The scout sent to gather intelligence, however, presented her with a letter.
“Your Majesty,” the scout said, “when this subordinate went to Pugan to investigate, someone gave me a letter. The other party left a note saying if the female king ordered border blockade, this letter should be delivered to the female king.”
Jing Hengbo doubtfully accepted the letter—how could someone in Pugan have prophetic knowledge that she would send people there to investigate, even leaving a letter there waiting for her?
The letter paper was very light, with a strange smell. She put on gloves to read the letter and saw the handwriting was extremely elegant, as if it might break through the paper at any moment and soar to the ninth heaven.
Seeing this handwriting, she knew who had written it.
“Respected Your Majesty the Female King:
First, congratulations on seeing this letter, which means you indeed gained control of Daimao within one year. I think I must end my business in Pugan.
Second, I feel regret for you, because you’ve forced me to abandon my long-term plans for Daimao. I’m a little displeased, so I’ll leave a gift for you. I hope you like it.”
Jing Hengbo frowned. Why was this brocade-clothed fellow using vernacular language? This tone was also very practiced—could he also be a time traveler? Unlikely. Though this guy was a lunatic, she could be 100% certain he was definitely an ancient person.
Also, what was this gift he mentioned? Jing Hengbo’s alertness immediately made her hair stand on end. She hurriedly examined the letter paper back and forth, while congratulating herself for wearing gloves to read the letter and having someone quickly fetch a mask.
This person was too terrifying, the world’s number one troublemaker—one couldn’t be too careful.
“…Because you could gain control of Daimao within one year, and because we could be said to have spent a period of relatively harmonious days together, this king has decided to give you a small piece of good news—Wen Zhen is in Dong Tang and is about to become my princess consort. How about it? Can you come to observe the ceremony?”