Prince Zhao Yun was a Yan Kingdom envoy who needed to officially register with authorities when entering New Xia for convenience. However, this time his journey was quiet and secretive, with his entourage disguised as ordinary merchants. Fortunately, a military officer in a small city who had seen him in Wusel recognized him as the Yan Kingdom prince and promptly reported it to Wusel.

This officer lacked the means to follow Zhao Yun, only knowing he was headed northwest. Moreover, being of low rank, the message took several months to reach Wusel. Normally, given his status, this letter wouldn’t have qualified to reach Fu Lingchuan’s hands, but since New Xia was newly established and the royal court advocated listening to civilian opinions and opening channels for advice, the contents eventually saw the light of day.

In the eyes of intelligence officers, this information held vastly different significance. Only matters concerning national welfare reached Fu Lingchuan’s desk after careful screening.

Fu Lingchuan picked it up and glanced at it twice, particularly calculating the dates carefully. His brows furrowed, and he subsequently issued secret orders to agents stationed in the northwest, instructing them to gather related intelligence.

Zhao Yun’s primary purpose in visiting New Xia was to deliver birthday gifts to Queen Changle and propose marriage. However, two events occurred in Wusel: first, the Queen had no desire to marry him, so Zhao Yun abandoned his plan to restrict her; second, he only received news that Wei and Xia had signed a non-aggression pact after leaving Wusel.

For Yan Kingdom, this was disastrous news. Fu Lingchuan’s regime’s betrayal directly caused the failure of Yan King’s northern strategy and the collapse of plans to restrain Wei. Zhao Yun, who failed to persuade New Xia to abandon this agreement in time, must have been severely reprimanded by the Yan King and ordered to make amends.

Under those circumstances, how could Zhao Yun remedy the situation? Obviously by finding ways to bring New Xia back into Yan’s embrace.

To achieve this, the greatest obstacle was:

Fu Lingchuan.

In Yan’s view, it was he who took benefits from the Yan King, established New Xia, and made promises, yet ultimately betrayed their trust by directly making an agreement with Wei, damaging Yan-Xia relations.

Therefore, for the Yan King to regain control over New Xia, he had to control Queen Changle, but who in the world didn’t know the Queen was firmly in Fu Lingchuan’s grasp? So his first objective became killing Fu Lingchuan!

However, Yan was too far from New Xia, so dealing with Fu Lingchuan required using others as proxies.

Within New Xia, who could contend with Fu Lingchuan?

Just then autumn arrived, and the royal court issued military reduction orders. Zhao Yun immediately found his collaborators:

The Northwestern aristocratic families!

These families possessed power and influence, most with formidable cultivation abilities, and harbored extreme dissatisfaction toward Fu Lingchuan and the royal court. With Yan’s support, they would have the opportunity to overthrow Fu Lingchuan’s rule and take his place.

Through them, Yan could regain control over New Xia and use it to restrain Wei. What treaty in the world was perfect and flawless? As long as New Xia truly intended to renege, they would find ways to do so.

As for the monarch herself, she was merely a puppet and a woman at that. No matter how beautiful or enchanting, the Yan King wouldn’t take her seriously.

Indeed, the confidential report confirmed his suspicions:

A spy placed in the Hu Yan household discovered that the family head, Hu Yan Bei, had received a secret visitor at least four times, always in a private chamber where no one else could enter. The spy couldn’t learn what was discussed, and the visitor concealed their identity each time.

However, calculating the timing, it was approximately ten days after the border city officer saw Zhao Yun heading north. From this perspective, it aligned perfectly.

Gathering intelligence wasn’t like court proceedings; it didn’t require absolute evidence to conclude. Based on these two points alone, Fu Lingchuan could essentially confirm that after New Xia issued the military reduction order, Zhao Yun secretly went northwest and conspired with the Hu Yan family!

Although the contents of their secret discussions hadn’t leaked, he could deduce the general picture. Yan had previously supported Fu Lingchuan but now switched to supporting the Hu Yan family. This decision wasn’t difficult to understand; the Hu Yan family was elite among the elite, excelling in status, power, connections, and prestige among local powers, making their leadership more likely to succeed.

The content of their discussions wasn’t hard to guess either—probably about overthrowing Fu Lingchuan and then regaining control over the Queen and New Xia. The Yan King was always generous, especially when he needed someone’s services, so the Hu Yan family must have received substantial benefits.

Fu Lingchuan strode out: “Prepare the carriage, for White Horse Lake!”

White Horse Lake had warm earth energy and blooming mountain flowers, with uniquely beautiful scenery even in winter. However, since the Queen came here to recuperate, it became a royal restricted area closed to casual visitors.

This was a narrow, elongated valley with a tight entrance. Fu Lingchuan walked straight in but was stopped by two servant girls.

This was truly unprecedented. Fu Lingchuan scoffed: “Don’t you know who I am?”

“We don’t, there are too many nobles coming and going here,” the servant answered honestly. “We’ve only recently been assigned to guard the gate and don’t recognize many people.”

Fu Lingchuan then remembered that the palace maids sent from the court had all been sent back by Feng Miaojun, and the servants here were all found by her loyal servant Chen Dachang, loyal only to the Queen.

He barely managed a smile when Chen Dachang hurried over from nearby, bowing to him: “State Preceptor, please forgive these servants; they don’t know your identity.”

“Isn’t that all thanks to your instruction?” Fu Lingchuan didn’t want to quibble with a few servants. “Where is Her Majesty?”

Chen Dachang didn’t block him: “Please follow me.”

Walking through the secluded path, they emerged into a suddenly open space of perfect scenery and beautiful weather.

Feng Miaojun sat beside gardenia flowers, playing chess with Hu Yan Long, the grandson whom Hu Yan Bei favored most.

As men themselves, Fu Lingchuan could see at a glance that Hu Yan Long had meticulously groomed himself today, appearing even more elegant and handsome.

Whatever he said made the Queen laugh joyfully, her laughter carefree and pleasant, without a trace of worry or constraint. Looking at her attire today, perhaps freed from the court’s solemnity and pressure, she wore only a pink robe embroidered with wintersweet flowers, cinched at the waist with a thin white sash. Her hair wasn’t even in a formal bun but braided into a fishtail tied with pink silk ribbons.

Natural, leisurely, uninhibited, yet in excellent spirits.

Watching her smile so charmingly, Fu Lingchuan, for just a moment, overlooked the anger and resentment in his heart.

Of course, it was only for a moment.

He composed himself and approached them, speaking gently: “You two seem to be enjoying yourselves.”

Hu Yan Long was impeccably respectful, standing to bow to him. Feng Miaojun, naturally, didn’t move at all, merely looking up with a smile: “The State Preceptor has finally come.” She revealed eight silver teeth, perfect.

In this round, Fu Lingchuan quietly observed the game, truly being a gentleman who watches chess in silence.

Since Feng Miaojun no longer wished to conceal her abilities, she played freely on the chessboard, her commanding strategies leaving Hu Yan Long sweating profusely, ultimately defeating him by ten points.