These words contained too much intimacy and suggestion. She could feel Yun’s body suddenly tense: “If I were to ask for your hand, would An’an marry me?”

“In what capacity, as the State Preceptor of Wei?” she spoke deliberately slow. “No.”

Ignoring the surge of anger that rose in him, Feng Miaojun continued: “The Queen of New Xia marrying the State Preceptor of Wei would cause more than just an uproar. I must consider my people.” If she truly did this, it would greatly wound the feelings of the New Xia people.

Yun’s gaze turned cold: “Is there no solution?”

“Of course there is,” she said slowly. “If you’re willing to relinquish your position as State Preceptor, then you would have no private grievance with New Xia.”

A hint of amusement flashed in his beautiful eyes: “If I resign as State Preceptor, you would marry me?”

Feng Miaojun spoke softly: “Marriage would certainly be no problem, but I am now the sovereign of New Xia, so I would be taking a royal consort.”

Yun narrowed his eyes: “What do you mean?”

He was already showing displeasure, but Feng Miaojun continued: “I am the Queen, so the husband I take would naturally join my family.” She sighed. “And the royal consort would have to reside with me in New Xia.”

With each additional condition she mentioned, his expression darkened further, now as black as the bottom of a pot: “You truly don’t want to marry me!”

“And you cannot marry me,” Feng Miaojun felt inexplicably dejected, but she tried not to show it on her face. “So, State Preceptor Yun, please name another condition.”

He ignored her, his face still full of displeasure: “Who are these conditions prepared for? Fu Lingchuan?” Only Fu Lingchuan among those around her could meet these conditions.

Feng Miaojun sat up straight: “It has nothing to do with him.” She felt no attraction to Fu Lingchuan, regarding him only as a partner and opponent in the political arena.

“But he has intentions toward you,” recalling what Xu Guangxiang had just said, he felt somewhat blocked in his heart. “You won’t be able to maneuver around him for long before he loses patience.”

Men generally had little patience when facing such a peerless beauty. “Living alone in the deep palace without helpers, aren’t you afraid of falling into his trap?”

Feng Miaojun smiled, revealing teeth like strung pearls: “I’m not a helpless weak woman. Besides my supernatural abilities, I also have your spiritual power.”

He snorted: “I won’t lend it.”

“What shall I do then?” she sighed softly, her eyes revealing cat-like cunning. “What if he makes a move against me?”

“Why don’t we make a private agreement?” Yun caught her small hand, playing with it in his palm, his earlier anger vanishing to who knows where. “I’ll help you deal with Fu Lingchuan and take over the great power of New Xia, how about that?”

He had seen through her predicament at a glance. Feng Miaojun’s heart trembled: “How would you accomplish that? You cannot stay long in New Xia.”

“I’ll send some people to you, who will be remarkably effective if used well,” the light in his eyes was bewitching; Feng Miaojun dared not look too long. “I will also come over frequently.”

Espionage and assassination? She believed that with this schemer plotting and advising, her burden could be greatly reduced: “Since it’s an agreement, what do you want me to do?”

“When the time is right, eliminate Fu Lingchuan, or at least strip him of his power,” he said seriously. “If you don’t take him down, he will move against you. An’an, Fu Lingchuan is the State Preceptor; only by marrying you can he legitimately monopolize New Xia’s authority.”

No matter how powerful Fu Lingchuan was, he and the entire court of officials all understood deep down that his current actions lacked a legitimate basis. A State Preceptor was just that—a State Preceptor not concurrently appointed by the monarch had no legitimate right to rule as regent. Unless he married the Queen and became the royal consort, making all of New Xia jointly owned by him and the Queen, he would naturally have the right to govern.

This legitimacy would be Fu Lingchuan’s next target after resolving current troubles.

“The time left for you is quite limited,” his voice carried an indescribable persuasiveness. “Only by making the first move to eliminate him will you be the true Queen of New Xia in name and reality.”

Feng Miaojun turned her head to look at him: “Is this how you persuaded the old King of Wei and Xiao Yan to seize power?” This man had quite a talent for bewitching people’s hearts; even she felt somewhat tempted.

A gleam flashed in his eyes as he shrugged: “More or less.”

She lowered her gaze, noncommittal: “I need to think more about it.”

At that moment, footsteps came from not far away, and a palace servant called: “Your Majesty?”

She had stayed by the water too long. Feng Miaojun stood up and said softly: “I’ll go first.” Her enchanting eyes glanced at him one last time before she departed through the flowers and willows as if walking into the depths of the Milky Way.

Yun remained motionless, watching her silhouette disappear, his gaze profound.

This girl was becoming increasingly adept at dealing with him. Tonight’s main battlefield of this game had been within this picturesque scenery.

The implementation of the new law quickly encountered surging public resentment, especially when people heard that New Xia’s fiscal revenue could increase to seven million taels after the tax reform.

In Mituo City, an old woman had hidden her grain under the floor tiles, only to have it seized when tax officials came to her door. She clutched the bag of rice, refusing to let go, crying and shouting: “You murderous lot, why don’t you go collect money from the Wei Kingdom instead of stealing an old woman’s life-saving grain!”

Such scenes are repeated across the country.

The land tax was particularly high, even more than what commoners paid. The rural gentry and local wealthy could no longer sit still, frequently petitioning the states and prefectures, hoping the royal court would lower the tax rate to prevent riots. But the response was brutally simple: the treasury was empty, war required money, and taxes could not be reduced.

At this point, people began to recall the conditions offered by the Wei Kingdom. Newly established New Xia’s annual revenue was only six to seven hundred thousand taels, yet the Wei Kingdom had agreed to pay sixty million taels in compensation! The difference between hundreds and thousands was tenfold—a gap even an illiterate old woman could understand.

In other words, if New Xia accepted this compensation, it would equal ten years of harsh taxation from the people!

Previously, when the Wei Kingdom proposed an alliance and offered compensation, the citizens found it satisfying to hear but weren’t particularly moved, knowing the money would go to the national treasury and wouldn’t benefit them personally.

What good was money that wouldn’t go into their own pockets? So they rejected it with particular firmness.

But this time was different.

With war, the country was instead taking money from its pockets.

Who wouldn’t feel the pain of parting with money?

But if New Xia accepted this compensation from the Wei Kingdom, they would immediately have abundant funds—would they still have the face to covet the few copper coins in the people’s pockets?

So in Mituo City and six other major cities, local prestigious village elders, wealthy gentry, and even prominent families took the lead in submitting petitions to the government offices, earnestly requesting the Queen to reconsider Wei Kingdom’s compensation matter.

They didn’t mention the alliance, only the several tens of millions of taels in compensation.

Due to taxation, the relationship between government offices and local people was somewhat sensitive. Upon receiving the petitions, officials expressed great difficulty, so they issued widespread announcements and clear notices: for petition letters to reach the royal ears and make public opinion known to Her Majesty, they must be signed by a sufficient number of local people; those who couldn’t write should add their fingerprints.