Cultivation Simulator: Starting From The Empress' Palace

When the Great Song Dynasty was founded, it not only inherited the territory of the previous dynasty, but the Grand Ancestor of the Great Song was also capable of fighting and conquering many lands. Due to its strength, it acquired many smaller allies.

The Wan Kingdom was one such ally, its territory being only as large as two Nanyang Counties, with a population of about a million.

However, as the Great Song Dynasty weakened, these smaller allies stopped listening to their big brother.

The chaos in the Southwest was due to one such ally provoking the big brother, attempting to seize the Southwest while the Great Song was weakening.

But all of this became a wedding dress for Loulan.

The Wan Kingdom, located to the west of the Great Song Dynasty, was a necessary passage through the Western Regions, so its trade routes were extremely prosperous. Thanks to its backing by the Great Song Dynasty, it has made considerable profits over the centuries.

The Ning family in the Wan Kingdom rose to prominence through trade with the Great Song and various countries of the Western Regions, establishing the largest chamber of commerce domestically, the Ning Chamber of Commerce, which was highly regarded by the royal family and entrusted with significant responsibilities by the King of Wan Kingdom.

But who knew that the Ning family harbored ambitions, and after stepping into the court, they used their immense wealth to bribe officials step by step, colluding with officials and exchanging enormous benefits with each other. As the Ning family’s influence grew over generations, they even extended their reach into the military.

Coupled with the King’s incompetence and failure to intervene, he allowed the Ning family’s influence to grow unchecked step by step.

By now, the Ning family’s power had reached a peak, and almost two-thirds of the kingdom were under their influence. Gradually, the Ning family was no longer satisfied with this.

Their ambitions grew, and they began to control the court, persecuting the royal family members, allying with ministers to exert pressure, forcing the current King to abdicate in favor of the head of the Ning family.

With no choice, the Princess of Wan Kingdom seized the opportunity during an outing to escape Ning’s surveillance and then dispatched someone to the Great Song to request assistance in suppressing the Ning family.

However, given the current situation of the Great Song, it could barely attend to its own problems, let alone help its smaller allies. So when Chen Mo learned about it, he did not see the envoy from Wan Kingdom and had his subordinates tell the envoy he had no time.

He could only think of dragging it out until the matter of the Desolate Kingdom was resolved before considering the situation with Wan Kingdom.

After all, it was a smaller ally, and he couldn’t refuse outright.

But when the envoy received no response, the princess, growing anxious, gave him a deadline. With no other way, after finding out Chen Mo’s residence, he went directly to the Chen Mansion.

Unexpectedly, he really managed to corner him there.

Faced with him in person, there was no choice.

Chen Mo decided to meet him once.

”Honored envoy, please come inside,” Chen Mo invited the envoy into the mansion.

The envoy nodded.

Upon arriving in the Great Song, the envoy spent money to make connections and understand the current situation in the Great Song. Originally, Master Anyang was in power, but a week ago, he suddenly fell, and Chen Mo took his place.

After gathering some basic information about Chen Mo,

He was utterly dumbfounded.

Nineteen years old, a First Grade Martial Artist.

Quell the Nanyang rebellion, single-handedly kill thousands, and slay the leader of the rebel army, achieving a decisive victory in the first battle.

From Captain to Camp Commander, then to Military Commander.

After participating in Xiao Yunqi’s power struggle, he ascended to Deputy Commander of the Infantry Division, an unprecedented achievement difficult to be surpassed.

In subsequent battles, his victories seemed as if he was cheating, winning with fewer forces against larger enemies.

Moreover, with only a hundred thousand soldiers, he defeated King Yan’s million-strong coalition forces, earning the title of the Great Song’s first War God.

By now, he had even toppled Xiao Yunqi, akin to a Regent King, taking control of all military power, standing above millions.

Rumors even suggested that the current Empress Dowager had an unusual relationship with Chen Mo, and Princess De Ning had become his concubine.

And he was now only nineteen years old.

What kind of existence was this?

In the envoy’s eyes, Chen Mo was a legendary figure.

So, facing such a figure, the envoy seemed somewhat apprehensive. Upon arriving at the reception room, he just sat down and said:

”Commander, my name is Li Yuwen. I was entrusted by Princess Hui Xian to request an audience with you, hoping you could dispatch Celestial Soldiers to suppress the Ning family. Great Wan is willing to pay an annual tribute to the Great Song.”

The people of the Wan Kingdom referred to their country as Great Wan.

Chen Mo remained silent.

Li Yuwen thought the offered reward was insufficient and said, ”In addition to the annual tribute, the princess also promises that Great Wan will allocate 10% of its annual taxes to the Great Song.”

After saying this, Li Yuwen stood up and bowed to Chen Mo, tearfully saying, ”If the commander can save our small country, you would be the benefactor of a million people in Great Wan.”

Chen Mo quickly reached out to support him and, at that moment, thought of a way to stall for time, ”Such a significant matter, can your Princess Hui Xian decide it on her own?”

”She can,” Li Yuwen said confidently.

”Words alone are not reliable. Do you have any evidence? Please don’t misunderstand, envoy, but without evidence, it would be difficult for me to persuade His Majesty to dispatch troops, given the long and difficult journey from Great Wan to the Capital, which would be very costly.”

”I have the princess’s token as proof.” Li Yuwen handed over Princess Hui Xian’s token for Chen Mo to examine.

After glancing at it briefly, Chen Mo said, ”This mere token is not enough as evidence; if you had a decree or a handwritten letter from the King of Wan or if your Princess Hui Xian came in person, that would be another matter.”

”...”

The King was under strict watch by the Ning faction, and it was difficult enough for the princess to come out for an outing, let alone have such items.

Li Yuwen shook his head.

”Then this matter becomes very difficult,” Chen Mo said with difficulty.

Li Yuwen thought it was a matter of money, so he quickly offered a bribe.

”This isn’t about money,” Chen Mo unusually refused it and then said, ”The matter is of great importance, and without proof or evidence, mere verbal statements make it difficult for me to persuade His Majesty to dispatch troops.”

”So, what does the commander’s intention suggest?” Li Yuwen was skeptical of Chen Mo’s words.

All military power lies in your hands; do you still need to petition the Emperor to deploy troops?

”Perhaps you could make a trip back, and bring a handwritten letter from your king. Then, I will certainly do my utmost to convince His Majesty to dispatch troops,” Chen Mo said.

”Go back?” Li Yuwen was stupefied, considering it was already extremely difficult to come out this time, and if he returned, he might not be able to come out again.

Li Yuwen hurriedly said, ”Commander, you are unaware of how complex Great Wan’s situation is now; if I don’t return with Celestial Soldiers this time, I might not be able to come out at all.”

”Then there’s nothing I can do. Perhaps you could try again once you return. Someone, see the envoy out,” Chen Mo said, unwilling to engage further with him.

The staff arrived swiftly, ”This way, honored envoy.”

”Commander, please listen to me...” Li Yuwen still wanted to say something, but under Chen Mo’s signaling gaze, two guards lifted Li Yuwen and ”escorted” him out of the Chen Mansion.

Upon exiting, Li Yuwen, unwilling to give up, tried to re-enter, but was directly blocked by the guards, who wouldn’t let him in no matter what he said.

Sitting outside for an entire day, Chen Mo did not see him again but instead had someone deliver him a handwritten letter from Chen Mo.

With no other choice, Li Yuwen could only take this letter back and report back to his superiors.