When Feng Miaojun received the military report, she exchanged a glance with Fu Lingchuan. Amid their great joy, both let out a long sigh of relief. This tangled mess had finally been slowly resolved.

Feng Miaojun smiled: “Open the city gates wide! I will personally welcome the triumphant return of our army!”

Though the Puling Kingdom was small, this was the first foreign war won since the establishment of New Xia, making it tremendously significant.

Sure enough, forty days later, the south gate of Wuseier City opened, and the Queen of New Xia personally welcomed the army returning to court, creating a grand and lively scene.

The subjects all remembered the splendor of that day, as well as the Queen’s magnificent beauty.

In truth, only Feng Miaojun herself knew that when she rejected Wei’s offer to send troops to resolve the border troubles, she had been sweating cold bullets. But she and Fu Lingchuan had their principles:

Although the foreign invasion caused enormous losses, from another perspective, it was also a rare training opportunity for the newly born New Xia. War is the best teacher. After more than half a year of warfare, the newly formed army had been tempered, giving it future fighting capacity and cohesiveness.

Most importantly, the participating armies came from the western, northwestern, and south-central regions—troops and personnel were drawn from almost every part of the country except the northeast. Under the grinding and permeating effects of war, the barriers and boundaries between military units disappeared, making it more conducive to coordinated commands and unified operations.

As for how to deal with the defeated nation, there was fierce debate in the royal court, with half supporting annexation and half favoring continuing its status as a vassal state.

Most of the Puling Kingdom consisted of barren land where crops couldn’t grow and good horses couldn’t be raised. Even if incorporated into New Xia’s territory, it wouldn’t be of much use and would require effort to manage and maintain the local people’s livelihood. Wouldn’t that essentially mean New Xia was supporting these people, allowing them to enjoy the welfare benefits meant for New Xia citizens?

Just thinking about it was infuriating.

Yet if they let them off this time, allowing the Puling Kingdom to continue as a vassal to New Xia, their treacherous hearts might not be deterred, and who knew when they might again take advantage of the chaos to cause trouble. After all, the Puling Kingdom had a long record of past offenses.

This issue was debated for several days, and even Fu Lingchuan couldn’t think of a good solution.

On the fifth day, Her Majesty the Queen finally spoke.

She said just one sentence, ending the debate:

“Puling will remain a vassal of New Xia, with five trading markets established within its borders to facilitate commercial exchange between Jin, Wei, and New Xia.”

As people carefully considered her words, they all had to applaud its ingenuity.

Soon after, trading markets were indeed established in the Puling Kingdom, distributed across multiple locations.

Puling Kingdom’s position happened to be right between Jin, Wei, and New Xia, making commerce a tradition since ancient times. However, with barriers between New Xia and Wei, and between Wei and Jin prohibiting direct trade, merchants often had to take risks smuggling for high profits, which was one reason for the particularly straightforward character of Puling’s people.

This time, with New Xia’s official statement allowing free trade of various goods in five cities within Puling’s borders, it was tantamount to tacitly authorizing the Puling Kingdom to serve as a transit hub for trade between countries. Thus, goods between New Xia and Wei could circulate through Puling’s markets.

With trade routes wide open, the Puling Kingdom now had a continuous stream of income and no longer needed to invade other countries.

However, the barriers between New Xia and Wei had not been broken; they still did not trade directly with each other.

In this way, New Xia fulfilled its declaration to the Yan Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom of “not allying with Wei, not cooperating with Wei.”

At this point, others finally realized that the agreement initially signed between the New Xia royal court and the Wei Kingdom made no mention of commercial exchanges—the foreshadowing had been there all along.

Upon understanding this key point, Fu Lingchuan and the group of ministers had to give a thumbs up and praise it as “brilliant.”

In the year since her accession, the Queen of New Xia’s brilliance had increasingly shone, completely unlike her initial seeming mediocrity. As one decree after another was issued, many officials with keen perceptions noticed that her planning and vision were far beyond what ordinary people could match.

Naturally, the outcome of this matter was not entirely satisfactory to all parties.

The Jin Kingdom and Yan Kingdom were not pleased. After all, New Xia and Wei Kingdom pledging non-aggression toward each other was not good news for them.

The King of Yan was exceptionally furious, issuing a manifesto angrily denouncing New Xia’s betrayal.

With New Xia signing this agreement, it was no longer a pawn in his hand, a weapon to check and balance the Wei Kingdom.

When Zhao Yun received this news that shocked the continent, he immediately set aside his affairs and traveled to Wuseier, but it was already too late. In his anger, he demanded the return of the tribute silver exempted by Yan Kingdom, but Fu Lingchuan refused on the spot.

The King of Yan had demanded that New Xia not ally with Wei or cooperate with Wei, and New Xia had fulfilled all requirements—on what grounds was the Yan Kingdom going back on its word?

Tens of thousands of miles away, across the sea, the King of Yan slammed his fist heavily on his desk, shattering the sturdy table made of five-hundred-year-old sandalwood: “Fu Lingchuan has betrayed his word—I’ll make him pay!”

By now he had received Zhao Yun’s report that the Queen of New Xia had indeed been replaced and was no longer the Princess Changle who had resided in the Yan capital for three years. This meant that Yan’s most powerful weapon for controlling New Xia had lost its effectiveness. “This villain is vicious—where did he find another descendant of An Xia’s bloodline to replace Princess Changle?” It also meant that the restrictions he had placed on Princess Changle had become ineffective as well.

“I fear that the Princess Changle who previously remained in the Yan capital was a fake,” the head of the Military Affairs Chamber, Du Hangfei, whispered. “News from the Merman Tribe indicates that the Merman King killed Princess Changle during the Imperial Seal ceremony, yet another woman came forward, accepted the jade seal’s imprint, and also signed as Princess Changle. It seems that Fu Lingchuan kept a fake princess by his side while hiding the real one to avoid Your Majesty’s control.”

“Good, what a good scheme!” The King of Yan laughed rather than showing anger. “He wants to toy with my Great Yan, he will pay the price!”

“Furthermore…” Du Hangfei continued, “This true Princess Changle appears to have some skills.”

“What waves could a mere girl stir up?” The King of Yan waved his hand dismissively, his tiger eyes narrowing. “The one controlling the court is Fu Lingchuan.”

As the northern and southern continents experienced shifting winds and clouds, Xu Guangxiang was spending these days quite happily.

The State Preceptor had indeed returned west with the diplomatic mission, never abandoning her, and remained kind and friendly toward her, showing no resentment.

As astute as Yun was, how could he not know that the “heart ailment” was merely an excuse? He too had been willing to leave. Thinking of this, Xu Guangxiang felt as if the sky had turned blue and even the air had become especially clear.

This journey back to the capital together was a rare opportunity to accompany Yun for at least a month. The State Preceptor was a profound chess player, and Xu Guangxiang had considered approaching him with a chessboard. But masters don’t enjoy playing against ordinary people, and she recognized that her chess skills were truly mediocre, so she didn’t want to annoy him.

Perhaps she could prepare some delicious soup and send it to him?

But with the contingent constantly on the move, where would she find such convenient conditions? Moreover, while Xu Guangxiang’s hands could wield weapons and kill, asking her to handle ladles and pots was truly too demanding. Cooking, after all, required a certain amount of talent.