Over the past half year, this eastern pearl of a city had seen an influx of people. Their arrival wasn’t abrupt, especially since each had found a job as cover. Baiban would slip out of the royal palace to communicate with them, relaying messages to his mistress.

Intelligence was one of her most important assets, and her eyes and ears connecting to the outside world could not be cut off. Otherwise, she would truly be confined to the depths of the palace with no way out!

Feng Miaojun rubbed her forehead.

She knew what Baiban said was true, but she missed Madam Xu and the Feng Family business. With Lu Chuanying taking care of things, the Feng business should have successfully reached the Taoyuan Realm and taken root by now, with a grand opening, right?

And what about herself? She and the Feng business were worlds apart, separated by more than just mountains and waters. It was a journey of tens of thousands of miles—even riding a crane spirit would take over a month!

Heh, over these years, she had founded the Feng business several times, hoping to live a peaceful life with her foster mother, but each time her wishes went unfulfilled. Fate seemed to particularly enjoy toying with her, each time separating her further from the Feng business.

Fu Lingchuan’s countermeasure was quickly revealed:

He did not directly announce plans to relocate the capital but instead proclaimed that the Queen had fallen ill after her long journey, collapsing upon reaching Wuse’er City and needing several months of recuperation here.

When Feng Miaojun heard this approach, she couldn’t help but applaud in approval.

His plan did not directly challenge the other noble families but showed considerable flexibility, avoiding the sharpening of contradictions between them.

Most power holders knew that the Queen of New Xia was just an ordinary person who had followed Fu Lingchuan from An Xia to the Forbidden Sea’s Luofu Island and then back to An Xia… This back-and-forth journey of tens of thousands of miles, with countless hardships along the way, combined with the physical burden of the heaven-worshipping ceremony on mortal rulers—it was quite possible that the delicate young Queen of New Xia would suddenly fall ill from exhaustion.

External injuries and acute illnesses were easy to treat, but ailments resulting from accumulated fatigue took the most time to recover from. Wuse’er City was originally the location of the summer palace built by the An Xia royal family. With its lush vegetation and pleasant scenery, it was perfectly suited for recuperation.

It was legitimate for the Queen of New Xia to recuperate here.

Fortunately, Wuse’er already had an established system where edicts could be smoothly passed down. As for the important court officials, if they wanted their voices to reach the imperial ears, they had to temporarily relocate to Wuse’er City to be near the royal presence.

Even though some noble families voiced objections, they were suppressed by Fu Lingchuan.

Zhao Hongyin and several other senior officials arrived first, followed by the heads of noble families from the central and western regions.

With the influx of dignitaries, Wuse’er City began to bustle with activity. More than a hundred taverns and guild halls opened within a month, and shops gradually prospered.

Indeed, wherever the capital was, wherever the powerful gathered, that place would begin to flourish. The royal court also resumed normal operations. With both the Queen and State Preceptor absent earlier, too many matters had accumulated. Now they had to sift through and discuss them one by one. Fu Lingchuan once handled state affairs for forty-eight hours straight, his eyes bloodshot when he left court.

Feng Miaojun, however, was at leisure. The Queen of New Xia had no real power to begin with; her presence in court was merely symbolic. Now that she was allegedly recuperating from illness, the officials rarely disturbed her.

Feng Miaojun was happy to use this time to observe the court officials and familiarize herself with state governance.

The first to receive the Queen’s radiant light were the four cities of Mituo. After discussion, the court established a trading port here for commerce with various countries.

Initially, this area was merely a trade route connecting Qu and Jin, with New Xia collecting only a small passage fee. Now these cities had specially designated trading areas, becoming transfer and trading stations for goods from various countries. Merchandise from the north and south began to be traded here.

At the establishment of the trading port, officials proposed that the commercial tax and agricultural tax in the border cities should be the same—one-thirtieth—to encourage merchant trade. Light taxation had always been the mainstream practice during the initial period of nation-building. This idea gained general approval, but when sent to the monarch for signature, it was uniquely stopped by Feng Miaojun.

She refused to sign.

Fu Lingchuan approached her to ask why, and Feng Miaojun expressed her displeasure: “The tax rate is too low; it’s not even enough to cover the cost of collection.” To collect commercial taxes required tax officials and brokers; with such meager tax revenue, there would barely be any copper coins left after covering labor costs.

Commercial taxes and customs duties had always been among the most important sources of national fiscal revenue, and New Xia desperately needed this money.

“If the tax burden at the trading ports is too heavy, merchants will find another place for free trade,” Fu Lingchuan had to explain the principles of commerce to the intelligent but commercially inexperienced new Queen. “A specialized area called Tiger Market has already been established in the Red Cliff Forest, specifically for merchants from various countries to trade. It’s located sixty li south of Mituo City. That area is in the border region where we have no authority to eliminate it.”

“Oh? There’s such a place?” Upon hearing this, she immediately recognized it as the embryonic form of a black market and became greatly interested. “Have you been there?”

“I haven’t.” He had been continuously busy recently—where would he find the time? Besides, how could someone of his stature visit such a place?

“I want to take a look.” She had stayed in Wuse’er City for several months, and no matter how beautiful the local scenery was, it lost its initial charm after seeing it for too long. She admitted that she enjoyed mingling in places where commoners gathered, as it allowed her to experience vibrant vitality.

He coaxed her: “Sign this document, and I’ll take you there.”

“That won’t do.” She wouldn’t easily fall for his trick. “I’ll decide after I’ve seen it. A delay of a couple of days won’t matter anyway.”

Fu Lingchuan habitually yielded: “All right.”

The next day happened to be a court holiday. The State Preceptor of New Xia took the Queen in disguise and headed straight for Tiger Market.

By now, Feng Miaojun had passed through countless cities and had even visited the capitals of Qu, Wei, and Yan, so she had naturally seen the most prosperous markets. This Tiger Market was about the size of a town. Not having official recognition, it was temporarily hidden in a forest at the border.

But it had already taken shape. Tiger Market didn’t have established roads originally. Last year, a lightning strike followed by a large fire burned out a large clearing here, which had now been built upon with simple structures. The ground had undergone the most basic leveling, and as Feng Miaojun and Fu Lingchuan walked, their shoes made rustling sounds.

This place had already become a wild goods market where numerous merchants haggled. Even before Mituo City was designated as a commercial port, Tiger Market already existed—a spontaneously formed marketplace. The goods here appeared diverse; Feng Miaojun asked the price of a bottle of fish oil, finding it much cheaper than in Mituo City since no tax was paid. However, as for quality…

She casually strolled around and discovered over forty small fly-infested eateries, all doing good business, though green-headed large flies buzzed over the tables. There were seven or eight post stations, varying in size. Just from these two observations, she could judge the bustling degree of a commercial area.