Her body’s original owner still had deep impressions of Lu Bo City and the An Xia royal palace.
However, on the day the city fell, the palace was destroyed in the flames of war.
“It has been rebuilt,” Fu Ling Chuan gazed at her and said, “Especially to welcome your return. Princess Chang Le’s coronation was held in the Lu Bo Palace.”
He was referring to the false Princess Chang Le. Feng Miao Jun lowered her eyelids: “From here westward, are there any cities with large populations?”
“Yes,” Fu Ling Chuan thought for a moment, “The city called ‘Pearl City’ – Wu Sai Er City – is sixty li to the west, and there’s no larger city for hundreds of li around.”
“What’s the population?”
“About three hundred thousand permanent residents.”
The capitals of Wei, Jin, and Da had populations exceeding 1.3 million, while the population of Da Yan’s capital, Tai Ping City, reached an astonishing 2 million plus. Wu Sai Er City wasn’t even a fraction of these.
“Good, we’ll go to Wu Sai Er City,” she said calmly, “I remember, it’s where the three rivers converge.”
“Your Majesty, we need to hurry back to the capital,” Fu Ling Chuan frowned. As the Queen of New Xia, Chang Le should have returned to her country immediately after the Luo Fu Island incident, but instead, they went in the opposite direction to stay in Yan Kingdom for a month, then took two months to fly back to An Xia, making them three whole months late!
One was a sovereign, one was a State Preceptor, and both were extremely busy figures whose official duties must have piled up like mountains. Their subordinates must be frantic with worry, yet here they were, strolling through a border town!
Even with Fu Ling Chuan’s great patience, she was nearly worn out by her.
“I want to see how the people in the city live,” she raised her chin slightly, displaying a queen’s bearing and a queen’s willfulness, “Besides, it’s not far from here.”
At that moment, she saw Fu Ling Chuan clench his fist.
She guessed this fellow very much wanted to grip her neck that way, but in the end, he swallowed his anger and said: “Fine!”
Feng Miao Jun gave him a surprised look.
To be fair, this guy treated her—or rather, treated Queen Chang Le—well.
The latest battle report arrived, and Yun’s prophecy came true:
Yan Kingdom had declared war on Xi Kingdom.
The reason was fabricated: Xi Kingdom was persecuting and killing Yan citizens within its borders.
Xi Kingdom had indeed executed more than a dozen Yan citizens living in a border town, but it was because these people had been smuggling spirit stones out of the country. Spirit stones were among the scarcest resources in this realm, and individuals or groups smuggling spirit stones abroad were indeed punishable by death—this law applied universally across all nations.
But who cared? Yan Kingdom only needed an excuse to start a war.
“According to our estimates, Yan Kingdom’s attack on Xi should have been at least half a year later, but unexpectedly they moved up their timeline,” Xiao Yan said grimly. “Yan Kingdom’s eagerness for war must be because the Gao family scandal has grown increasingly serious, public anger is mounting, and even the royal court can’t suppress it. They have no choice but to launch a war to divert the people’s attention. Heh, on the day Gao Zhi Xing led troops to battle, someone even threw rotten eggs at his face.”
Yun suddenly asked: “How did the Queen of New Xia get involved in this?”
The origin of this series of events was the New Xia Queen rescuing villagers from the Qing River in Yu Ping County, which resulted in Gao family members sneaking into her residence to commit arson and murder. When this was exposed, even the Yan King had to address the matter.
The result was the revelation of a shocking corruption case, which led to the Yan Kingdom’s early war against the Xi Kingdom.
The chain reaction was dizzying to behold.
Yet as the initiator of this chaos, the Queen of New Xia had stirred up the waters but managed to extricate herself, returning to the An Xia region while the Yan Kingdom was in disarray. Most remarkably, Yan Kingdom had inexplicably suffered a setback yet had to swallow their pride and maintain good relations with New Xia.
Xiao Yan spread his hands: “With thousands of mountains and rivers between us, it’s already quite difficult for me to obtain this much intelligence.”
“The Queen of New Xia is merely a puppet. Her rescue of those people was Fu Ling Chuan’s doing,” Yun analyzed. “Fu Ling Chuan bringing a Yan Kingdom villager to their residence is already quite unusual. What was he trying to accomplish?”
Yan Kingdom had contributed greatly to the establishment of New Xia, providing significant funding, military equipment, materials, and talent. With the new nation just founded, Fu Ling Chuan should have continued seeking Yan Kingdom’s assistance. Why would he create trouble with them now?
Unless…
Unless a rift had appeared between New Xia and Yan Kingdom.
This wouldn’t be surprising. Yan Kingdom had interfered in the An Xia region’s situation with its considerations and demands. Now that Fu Ling Chuan and Princess Chang Le had established their country, they might not necessarily follow Yan’s every command.
“Whatever his intentions, it’s not our concern. Let Yan Kingdom worry about it,” Xiao Yan said, then laughed coldly. “I will eventually settle accounts with the Yan King for my father’s vengeance. For now, I only hope for his misfortune.”
The people sent to Luo Fu Fishing Village, including Jing Shun, had already returned from the Forbidden Sea and reported the changes there. Xiao Yan had no trouble deducing that his father’s killer was the Lord of Yang Shan.
And Yun knew the Lord of Yang Shan’s true identity.
Many years ago, the Yan King had dispatched spies and laid lethal traps, finally succeeding with one strike at Wu Fu Snow Mountain, taking the old Wei King’s life!
Although Xiao Yan had ascended to the throne as a result, he felt no gratitude toward this behind-the-scenes manipulator, only bone-deep hatred.
Yet this hatred remained buried deep in his heart, unable to be expressed as national vengeance, because the world believed that the murderer of the old Wei King was his eldest son, Xiao Jing!
Thinking of this, he turned to look at Yun, who was supporting his chin with his hand, seemingly lost in thought.
This State Preceptor had always been unpredictable, but Xiao Yan felt he had been excessively silent lately as if his mood had been consistently poor. When had it started?
Hmm, it seemed to have begun after Jing Shun reported back about the Luo Fu Fishing Village incident.
He couldn’t resist gossiping a bit: “Great State Preceptor Yun, are you thinking about An’an while we’re discussing matters of state?”
Yun raised his eyelids slightly: “I’m thinking about the Queen of New Xia. Jing Shun saw An’an on Luo Fu Island, and Fu Ling Chuan was by her side at that time…” Jing Shun hadn’t been seeing things, because he later brought back a Ghost-faced Nest Mother Spider. That thing had been obtained from An’an.
So, she had been eavesdropping on Jing Shun’s conversation with the Shark People’s King.
Fu Ling Chuan held a transcendent position in New Xia, so why would he accompany An’an? Xiao Yan made a curious sound: “Perhaps she was accompanying Fu Ling Chuan…” A cold light flashed in Yun’s eyes, and Xiao Yan suddenly felt a chill around him. He quickly forced a laugh and said, “…fine, fine, I was wrong. It was Fu Ling Chuan accompanying her. Please continue.”
“But Jing Shun didn’t see Princess Chang Le among that large group of people.”
Xiao Yan rubbed his chin and said: “Perhaps Princess Chang Le was resting in a cabin?”
Yun shook his head: “At that time, Luo Fu Mountain had already been claimed by Fu Ling Chuan as Yan Kingdom’s national treasure. The Shark People still had one slim hope of reclaiming it, which was to kill the New Xia sovereign. Fu Ling Chuan would have been aware of the danger—how could he leave Princess Chang Le at such a critical moment?”
Xiao Yan made a sound of surprise, his face filled with disbelief: “That can’t be… you mean… it can’t be what I’m thinking, can it?”