When Emperor Lin issued his soldiers to the city, he wanted to incorporate this ‘free zone ‘ into the Great Lin Empire’s territory. By doing so, it could be taxed to fill the national treasury in the future.

According to the style of the previous Song Emperor, he might have given up this piece of territory that did not belong to the Song Empire, and he would not have competed with the Great Lin Empire at all.

Nevertheless, Song Jinglan was not his father.

As soon as the Great Lin Empire made a move, the army on the border of the Song Empire directly pressed their army to the edge of the free city. That made it clear that they wanted to compete with the Great Lin Empire for the city’s ownership.

The letter was sent half a month ago. According to the timeline, the two armies should have had a confrontation, but no one had yet known the results.

However, this trial would also allow Emperor Lin to understand the attitude of the new Emperor of the Song Empire.

After Lin Feilu read the letter, she was in a complex mood for a while. The war was too distant of a concept for her. Whether in her previous world or her current life in these ancient years, she never thought that war would ever happen to her one day.

Fortunately, this time was only a small-scale tentative confrontation, far from the point where the two countries would fight seriously against each other.

As Lin Ting said, it’s not really a big deal.

She sat down in front of the stove with a bit of disappointment, “I wonder who won.”

Lin Ting reassured, “We just have to wait for the news.”

Due to this incident, Lin Feilu had no interest in the skiing that she had been looking forward to for a long time.

In January, two days before the Lunar New Year, the latest battle report letter finally arrived.

In order to compete for the ownership of the free city, the two countries fought several times. In the end, they were tied, and neither of them succeeded. They retreated to their territories as the city kept its freedom.

This was the best result based on Lin Feilu’s opinion, and it might be a good result for the Song Empire.

But for the Great Lin Empire, it was horrible news.

A tie was equivalent to a loss when it came to matters that concerned the Great Lin Empire.

This was because they failed to crush the weak country they once despised.

The country that sent a Royal prisoner over once they heard of Emperor Lin’s rage; the same country that trembled in fear and awe of the Great Lin Empire that they held high regard of; the same country that the Great Lin Empire once never even thought to think of as a potential threat.

The same country— the Song Empire.

Resisting the Great Lin Empire’s use of soldiers showed that they were indeed different from the past.

Lin Feilu suddenly remembered what Noble Consort Xi had taught her many years ago.

She said that the Emperor’s debauched political affairs were the root cause of the weakness of the Song Empire. They once dominated the Central Plains as the ancestors of the Great Lin Empire fought against the Song army and were defeated in Huaiye.

Someone who was a wolf would never truly become a dog(1).

(T/N: Someone who was once powerful or formidable would never truly become weak)

When a scheming and ruthless Emperor sat on the throne of the empire that once ruled over the Central Plains, it would reawaken the wolf’s soul.

It was unbelievable that said person would be the same Little Pretty Boy that ate popsicles with her in summer and baked sweet potatoes with her in winter.