Over the past half year, New Xia had implemented numerous policies in rapid succession, demonstrating the royal court’s powerful operational capabilities. This new policy only applied to Wusel City and was buried among a multitude of regulations, thus not attracting much attention from the outside world. At most, people joked that New Xia had a miserly queen who wanted to save even these minor municipal expenses, and adjusted their assessment of New Xia’s financial strength accordingly.
A few days later, another confidential letter arrived on the Queen’s desk. This was her correspondence from the Peach Blossom Realm.
After years of hard work, her foster mother’s business had not only established a firm foothold in the Peach Blossom Realm but had also grown increasingly in scale. As Feng Miaojun made more and more formidable enemies, the Feng business was renamed “Tianshun Enterprise” after relocating to the Peach Blossom Realm.
With Peng Bai’s manpower, Lu Chuanying’s intelligence, and Madam Xu’s acumen, Tianshun Enterprise quickly established connections both high and low, dealing in a diverse range of goods.
Thus, Tianshun Enterprise naturally established numerous branch offices and subsidiaries.
In just a few short years, major wars had erupted between Pu and Yan, as well as between Xi and Yan. Military supplies were in high demand, and the grain business also flourished. Madam Xu had foresight; as soon as she accumulated capital, she acquired several mines, recruited skilled craftsmen, and began manufacturing weapons. This would have been impossible in other countries, as mines were nominally not allowed to be privately operated, even in New Xia. However, the Peach Blossom Realm’s resource regulations were much more relaxed, allowing Tianshun Enterprise to enter this market.
They say the business world is like a battlefield.
After becoming Queen, Feng Miaojun frequently sent talent to Tianshun Enterprise, helping Madam Xu and Lu Chuanying continuously expand their territory there.
Before long, the Peach Blossom Realm sent envoys to New Xia.
The Peach Blossom Realm had originally established ports and commercial harbors along the southern coast of the Kingdom of Yao. Unfortunately, since Yao had been annexed by New Xia, the agreement had changed hands, and the Peach Blossom Realm needed to renegotiate cooperation terms.
The New Xia Queen received them warmly.
However, to the royal court’s disappointment, the Peach Blossom Realm took a conservative approach to cooperation with New Xia, with many conditions remaining unresolved. Upon reflection, this was understandable—the Peach Blossom Realm neighbored the hegemonic Kingdom of Yan. Even as a so-called free city-state, it had to consider the mood of its malevolent neighbor for its benefit.
After seeing off the Peach Blossom Realm envoys, Feng Miaojun thought of her people stationed there and picked up her brush to write a letter to her foster mother.
After several busy months, she had finally dealt with all matters of state, both large and small, and could at last breathe a sigh of relief.
These days she had indeed been too busy to think about Yun Ya. Now with some free time, Feng Miaojun finally remembered there was one place she had yet to visit—Yingshui City, the former capital of the Haoli Empire.
If one were to name the continent’s premier cultural attractions, Yingshui City would undoubtedly rank first. The thousand-year imperial capital attracted numerous visitors annually, both commoners and cultivators. As Queen and the current owner of this land, she had never found the time to visit.
So, on a fine, clear day, the Queen set out with the State Preceptor and a dozen or so others.
This was her territory, allowing her to visit openly, with the local authorities obliged to receive her grandly, welcoming her from ten miles away. But Feng Miaojun disliked ostentation and ultimately brought only this small entourage.
The journey westward from Wusel to Yingshui City took only two or three days by carriage.
Objectively speaking, the location chosen by the Haoli Emperor for his capital was excellent. Yingshui City sat on a plain interwoven with waterways, surrounded by mountains on two sides, with endless fertile land to the east. This embodied the principles of “mountains embracing water, commanding the plains as granaries, spanning waterways for transportation”—no wonder it had enjoyed long-term stability and prosperity.
Were it not for the many tragic stories that followed, who would have willingly abandoned such an auspicious location?
Feng Miaojun stood on a low hill overlooking Yingshui City, and her first impression was of its “vastness.”
Gazing toward the horizon, there was no end in sight—all within the city walls.
Wusel City had become one of the top three cities in the Northern Continent, but in terms of scale, Yingshui City’s area was at least twice as large.
This was a remarkable achievement.
Cities are like living organisms; the larger their size, the greater their load. A city of one million people and a city of over ten million face entirely different pressures in terms of infrastructure, public transportation, resource allocation, food and water supplies, and drainage systems for droughts and floods.
The fact that Yingshui City could support such an enormous human community indicated that, at least in these aspects, it was unparalleled across the continent.
Feng Miaojun’s second impression was of “decay.”
This was a dead city. The fallen wooden city gates had not yet completely rotted; seven feet thick, they had been shattered in some forgotten siege and now, along with the crumbling city walls, were covered in moss and vines.
Walking through the city, most buildings had collapsed, but one could still vaguely discern their former appearance. Feng Miaojun walked from the outskirts inward, first passing through the commoners’ district with its low, densely packed houses and alleyways as deep as forests, then reaching the commercial district.
Here there had been both small workshops and large storefronts, inns, and restaurants, though now they were all lifeless. Occasionally, half a signboard still hung from a gatehouse, creaking in the wind.
Various small animals hid in the dark corners of this city. The arrival of Feng Miaojun’s group startled a pack of wild dogs living in a restaurant. They rushed out, baring their teeth, assessed the strength of both sides and then quickly fled.
Feng Miaojun changed direction, heading toward the royal city.
This was the inner city of Yingshui, the residence of the Haoli royal family and nobility.
For the past three hundred years, it had also been the focus of all treasure hunters.
Although she had already seen the buildings of the royal city from the low hill, now viewing them up close, the magnificence of the architectural complex still left her in awe.
Most structures had collapsed, but the remaining great halls and palaces still retained their foundational character. Feng Miaojun looked up to see colored glazed tiles on the top floors reflecting light, the last remaining echo of the thousand-year-old majestic city.
Seeing Feng Miaojun holding her breath in admiration, Yu Haizhen smiled and said, “Your first visit?”
“Yes.”
“On my first visit, I was only thirteen, and I also stood here dazed for a long while.” Yu Haizhen sighed softly. “Now, one must sigh at the impermanence of the world and the heartlessness of human affairs.”
Her country had been destroyed as well. Standing in the once glorious capital of the Haoli Empire, Yu Haizhen’s feelings ran deeper than anyone else’s.
Feng Miaojun, however, thought of Yun Ya. This man had deep ties with the Haoli Empire, and she wondered how many times he had wandered here, whether he had witnessed its decline from prosperity to ruin with his own eyes.
Chen Dachang’s gaze, however, was drawn to a rose bush in the corner of a wall.
It grew amid broken tiles and crumbling walls, facing the sun, with buds waiting to bloom at its highest branches.
Feng Miaojun entered the palace city.
Yu Haizhen knew what she was looking for and suggested, “Let’s look at the Imperial Library.”
Feng Miaojun had spent three years in the Smoke Sea Tower, which was merely a private reading pavilion for the Haoli royal family. The true Imperial Library of the Haoli Empire covered five qing of land, with dozens of pavilions and six hundred reading rooms.