The Queen of An Xia smiled: “Don’t worry, soon you’ll be one of the rarest clever people under heaven.” Saying this, she sighed gently, “Just remember, no matter what others say about you in the future, you will always be the Princess of An Xia, Mother’s treasure. I have never regretted bringing you into this world.”

Princess Changle remained unsatisfied, pouting, and about to speak again when the Queen of An Xia extended a finger and placed it on her brow.

This touch was light, seemingly causing no harm to Princess Changle, but even as an observer, Feng Miaojun felt the space freeze momentarily.

Afterward, Princess Changle’s expression faded, as if turbulent currents had entered calm waters.

The Queen of An Xia sighed again, lifted her daughter’s small hand, and produced a brush from nowhere, beginning to write on Princess Changle’s palm.

Every character she wrote was tiny, the size of a fly’s head, glowing crimson, but disappearing after being written.

Soon, Princess Changle’s palm was filled with these small characters. As the final stroke lifted, all the words appeared together, flashed twice, and then vanished completely.

Feng Miaojun widened her phoenix eyes in disbelief.

She recognized what the Queen of An Xia had written on Princess Changle’s palm—it was unmistakably the activation incantation for the Small Mountain-Moving Formation!

So that was it.

She had always found it strange that although Princess Changle had accidentally entered Mo Tizhun’s Small Mountain-Moving Formation in Juping Township, how could it have activated without her reciting the corresponding incantation?

This mystery was finally solved today.

After finishing the incantation, the Queen of An Xia once again held her daughter in her arms. After a long while, she stood up and gently pushed Princess Changle away.

With a splash of water, Princess Changle was pushed out of that strange, gray world and found herself standing by the riverside again.

She stood there blankly for quite some time before awareness gradually returned to her eyes. Then with a loud wail, she began crying and running toward the embankment.

That section of the dilapidated embankment had long been in disrepair, and after the rain, the surface was slippery. Princess Changle lost her footing and tumbled down the slope. During this fall, her forehead struck a rock with a dull thud, and she was immediately knocked unconscious.

…No wonder, Feng Miaojun thought, no wonder she felt pain throughout her body when she first arrived in this world, and her head hurt even more. So that was why!

The unconscious Princess Changle rolled to the bottom of the slope, her palm facing downward, coincidentally pressing against a small protrusion on the ground.

That was the focal point of the Small Mountain-Moving Formation.

Then, the symbols drawn on her palm lit up.

The light transmitted from the little girl’s hand to the entire formation, until every line glowed with a brilliant red light.

After the red glow faded, Princess Changle disappeared.

The broken embankment returned to its previous stillness as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, a blinding white light flashed before her eyes.

Feng Miaojun instinctively closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, she was faced with a familiar desk and ornaments.

She was back in her study.

Feng Miaojun moved her limbs, finally confirming she had returned.

Was it over?

This rare opportunity to comprehend the will of heaven had been used up? She hadn’t gained any insights at all, merely watched a replay of Princess Changle falling into the transportation formation, while adding countless new mysteries.

Hey, that wasn’t fair, was it?

Feng Miaojun felt disgruntled. Her left hand opened, and the small tripod slowly rose, behaving very docilely.

Although this was the Sacred Vessel, its usage wasn’t much different from ordinary magical tools. Feng Miaojun had even learned that it possessed a special property called “Thousand Jun Pressure,” which could indiscriminately crush the ground within a ten-li radius. Well, this attribute probably evolved from the volume and weight of Luofu Island. After all, no other Sacred Vessel in the world had such a large original form.

As for why Fu Lingchuan hadn’t used this powerful move when he was defeated, hmm, perhaps because he didn’t want to destroy half of Wusel City along with it?

Simultaneously, countless ingenious applications of elemental power floated through her mind, all transmitted through the tripod. As for how to use them skillfully and practically, she would need to explore them slowly on her own.

After spending the entire afternoon manipulating the Sacred Vessel, she finally sighed and reexamined Princess Changle’s experience.

It seemed that the Queen of An Xia’s final touch had directly erased the related memories from the poor little girl’s mind. When Princess Changle returned to the riverbank, she had no recollection of meeting her mother, and still carried her great resentment toward Old Woman Wang as she ran up the embankment. Therefore, when Feng Miaojun took over this body, she couldn’t see these memory fragments.

The birth mother had said, “Soon you’ll be one of the rarest clever people under heaven”—was she referring to Feng Miaojun replacing Princess Changle? But what mother in the world would willingly watch her daughter’s body being occupied by someone else?

And what great matters was Princess Changle supposed to attend to?

Furthermore, Feng Miaojun hadn’t forgotten that Mo Tizhun’s arrangement of the Small Mountain-Moving Formation and Yun Ya’s journey to Rising Dragon Pool to kill the turtle and take the pearl were both plans with great elements of chance, and no one knew about them except the parties involved.

So how could the Queen of An Xia have calculated things so precisely?

Was she the Queen of An Xia?

On this day of her promotion to State Preceptor, Feng Miaojun clutched her head and lamented: The opportunity to glimpse the will of heaven had been inexplicably wasted!

It merely left her with a mind full of mysteries, which had increased rather than decreased.

The Queen of New Xia not only wielded great power, but her cultivation was also profound, even allowing her to serve as State Preceptor. This bombshell of news was an extremely heavy blow to many noble families.

Just at this time, the royal court received news that there had been unauthorized troop movements in the territory of the Chen family, a southwestern noble clan. Another family, the Liu clan, was reported for collecting excessive taxes on several trade routes to the Kingdom of Puling, charging twice the amount stipulated by the royal court.

The heads of both disobedient noble families were in Wusel. Feng Miaojun, who was reorganizing the Imperial Guards at the time, immediately summoned them to the royal court, rebuked them for their contempt of royal decrees, and ordered them to correct their actions immediately. All involved parties were sent to the Ministry of Justice for detailed investigation and accountability, while the two family heads were confined to their residences in Wusel for ninety days of reflection.

Fu Lingchuan had stepped down, and the Queen had only truly held power for a few days. The Chen family still showed some disrespect, delaying any action for three or four days. As a result, the Chen family head was immediately “invited” to reside in the palace, with his every move watched. He was not allowed to leave without royal decree. A few days later, two human heads were delivered to the palace and placed before the Chen family head:

The commander and deputy commander who had mobilized troops in the southwest had been beheaded!

The Chen family head immediately knelt before Feng Miaojun, begging for clemency.

No one had anticipated that the Queen’s methods would be so swift and decisive. Moreover, she had already sorted out Fu Lingchuan’s factions. Now she suppressed those who needed to be suppressed, purged those who needed to be purged, found reasons to execute those who deserved death, and didn’t neglect those who needed to be appeased.

The Queen’s study had summoned quite a few people recently.

Thus, when the ministers looked at her, their gazes carried not only respect but also a fear never seen before. Those who had engaged in small conspiracies behind her back now feared for themselves.