“For Wei Kingdom?” Prime Minister Wang Yuan quickly answered: “They were organized two months ago and stored in the warehouse, not yet distributed.” The final batch of supplies had been gathered, but the Queen suddenly ordered to suspend trade with Wei, so the packaged supplies were piled in the warehouse, awaiting disposition.

She pondered: “It took great effort to gather them. It’s best to liquidate them rather than waste all that manpower and resources.”

Liquidate? Everyone exchanged glances. Indeed, these supplies were acquired at a high cost. The Wei-Yan war had dragged on for six or seven years, and New Xia had long seen many merchants specializing in military supplies. Not liquidating them would be a waste if they just piled up in the warehouse.

Feng Miaojun clapped her hands lightly: “Let’s do this—find a new buyer.”

“A new buyer?” Wang Yuan was greatly surprised. “Your Majesty means… Yan Kingdom?” His mind worked quickly. On the continent, besides the Wei Kingdom, only its adversary Yan Kingdom urgently needed and could absorb such a large quantity of supplies.

The Queen wanted to aid the Yan Kingdom!

Feng Miaojun smiled: “Why not?”

Wang Yuan felt like wiping sweat: “There’s… there’s no reason not to. Your Majesty is wise.”

Not just him, but everyone else was speechless.

New Xia neither wanted a strong Wei nor a strong Yan on the continent, so the best approach was to balance the relationship between the two. Now that the Wei Kingdom’s invasion had stalled, adding a few logs to the Yan Kingdom’s fire might help them repel the invaders. This way, both Wei and Yan would continue to exist, and New Xia could continue its good days.

The calculation made sense, and she was considering New Xia’s interests, but everyone felt something was off. The Queen had governed for many years, consistently following a pro-Wei approach. Now she suddenly changed her stance, and everyone was uncomfortable with it.

After a long while, Fu Lingchuan finally broke the silence: “This plan is excellent, but… how do we transport them?”

Between New Xia and Yan Kingdom lay an entire Forbidden Sea! By water? The ocean was unpredictable—who knew how many of the ten shipments would arrive safely?

Feng Miaojun was composed: “I have a clever plan.” As she said this, she glanced at Chen Dachang standing in the corner of the hall.

He lowered his head slightly, avoiding her gaze. But Feng Miaojun still glimpsed the depth in his eyes.

The Wei Kingdom had resolved the major problem with Luo Yue too quickly as anticipated. The grasslands had just seen white windstorms when Luo Yue invaded Wei’s borders. Xiao Yan was in the Southern Continent at that time—how could messages travel so quickly? Yet barely half a month after Luo Yue became a threat, Wei had successfully appeased them and reached an agreement.

The only possibility was that information had leaked from New Xia in advance.

Feng Miaojun was extremely astute and immediately identified several suspects. However, every time she planned to deal with these people, her heart instinctively resisted. A strong notion opposed, firmly refusing to allow her to make such a decision.

This was the will of the original owner, clearly expressing a determination to fight to the death.

Never mind. In the face of greater trends, human effort was futile. Besides, neither Chen Dachang nor Yu Haizhen had explicitly targeted her again.

These few people couldn’t affect the situation, so she wouldn’t move against them.

After the court session concluded, Feng Miaojun left the murmuring ministers behind, exiting the great hall and entering the Golden City.

Like all palaces, no matter how magnificent and imposing the exterior, the dungeon was never as clean and tidy as a suite. The imperial prison of the Golden City was also very dark. As Feng Miaojun descended, the wall lamps along the way lit up one after another.

In the stone chamber at the bottom of the imperial prison, a person sat motionless like dead wood. She had maintained this posture—head raised, gazing at the iron window—for more than ten hours, showing no signs of life.

Of course, she wasn’t a living person to begin with.

Feng Miaojun stood before the iron bars and said softly: “Pledge your service to me, and I’ll release you.”

The Golden City was her exclusive magical artifact. Those imprisoned here were guarded by the artifact’s spirit. Unless one’s cultivation approached divinity, no one could escape.

Yu Wa’s gaze was gloomy at first, but after seeing her, she suddenly let out a surprised sound. Her pale face showed rare astonishment: “Your soul… has been replaced?”

As a drought ghost, she was particularly sensitive to others’ souls. Although she couldn’t directly see the appearance of souls like the Demon King could, she had a natural insight into the strength and characteristics of soul fires.

The Queen of New Xia’s appearance hadn’t changed, but her soul fire… how to put it? Not only was it several times stronger than before, but the quality of her soul power had also changed, becoming exceptionally cold even to the drought ghost.

Feng Miaojun’s lips curved slightly upward. Her exquisite face, under the yellow lamplight, took on a bewitching quality: “You followed Zhao Hui for many years, all to find me. Now the real one stands before you—don’t you know to pledge allegiance?”

Yu Wa was uncertain: “Demon King?”

She unconsciously took two steps forward, approaching the bars. The Queen of New Xia still looked like the Queen of New Xia, but they were two different people!

Feng Miaojun tilted her head slightly and suddenly asked: “Do you remember your husband’s appearance?”

“I remember…” In the hundred thousand nights since she regained consciousness, when had she dared to forget?

Before her words faded, Feng Miaojun extended a finger and touched her forehead.

“What are you doing?” Yu Wa knew many secrets of soul techniques and didn’t avoid them. “I have no sea of consciousness; you can’t read my memories.”

“A drought ghost’s sea of consciousness has long dried up, but a small amber seed remains. It’s only the size of a pea, with limited capacity, storing only the most important memory from life. After you cultivated spiritual consciousness, moistening it with cerebral fluid, fragments of the past emerged.” Feng Miaojun explained unhurriedly, then softly exclaimed, “Oh, I see it, though just a few fragments.”

She “saw” Yu Wa and her husband’s past events, albeit just broken pieces of memory.

She extended her hand, and a small cluster of dim red fire appeared at her fingertip.

“Soul fire?” Yu Wa’s voice was dry. “What’s this for?” She could sense that this soul fire was very weak and couldn’t harm her.

“Watch carefully—”

Feng Miaojun elongated her tone. The soul fire danced at her fingertip like a real flame. But soon it took shape, gradually elongating, becoming slender, and then dividing into a neck and limbs.

Yu Wa watched without blinking, her expression increasingly focused.

Under Feng Miaojun’s control, the flame formed the shape of a man, then his features gradually became clear… the process was like a master craftsman molding clay figures, capturing both form and spirit.

“Is this the person you’ve been yearning for?”

When that lifelike face appeared, Yu Wa suddenly widened her eyes and instinctively reached out to touch it.

The resemblance was striking—it perfectly recreated the person etched in her heart!

Feng Miaojun retracted her fingertip slightly, and the small figure formed of soul fire remained cohesive, actually moving onto Yu Wa’s hand!

In her astonishment, Yu Wa raised it to her eye level. It even smiled at her, then reached out to caress her face.