Zhang Gaoyi stood on the construction site, the sun scorching the earth like flames, but he didn't care about the scorching heat and devoted himself to the arduous and important task before him - building new city defense fortifications.

Sweat slid down his resolute face, soaking his clothes which had already been soaked with sweat.

However, this did not affect his agile and skillful movements at all.

He was seen shouting loudly and directing the craftsmen to carry the huge and heavy stones. He also personally participated in the work, lifting the huge stones with his own hands and piling them up into an indestructible wall.

The placement of each stone was decided after careful consideration. He carefully weighed every detail, striving to make the city wall able to withstand any invading enemy and truly be impregnable.

At the same time, on the vast grassland not far away, Ye Zifen was busy running among the grass.

Transport teams kept coming here.

Carts loaded with wood, stones and sufficient food moved slowly but steadily along the winding and bumpy road.

Although the journey was extremely difficult, with the wheels often sinking into deep mud and the horses pulling the carriages exhausted, the drivers always gritted their teeth and persevered, struggling to drive the vehicles forward.

In addition, there are some brave and fearless caravans working hard to open up new trade routes.

They crossed dense forests and turbulent rivers, encountering various obstacles along the way.

Sometimes, violent storms suddenly hit, making it difficult for them to move forward; sometimes, steep and dangerous mountain roads blocked their way, and it took a lot of time and energy to find a way through.

However, faced with numerous difficulties, they never backed down.

As time went by, batch after batch of precious supplies finally arrived at their destination successfully.

These materials undoubtedly provided strong support and guarantee for the rapid construction of city defense fortifications and the effective restoration of the grassland ecological environment.

As time went by, the new caravan route gradually became clear, like a winding dragon stretching across the earth.

This channel not only connects trade between different places, but also brings unprecedented opportunities and possibilities to people.

In this turbulent era, Ye Zifen always maintained a keen insight and kept a close eye on the developments in the capital and far overseas.

For Ye Zifen, she is well aware that she shoulders the expectations and responsibilities of many people and must not take any potential threats lightly.

Therefore, she does not allow herself to become a person who closes her eyes and ears, and must always grasp the latest intelligence information so that she can respond to various emergencies in a timely manner.

After a period of development, the overseas caravan run by Ye Zifen has grown in size and has been successfully divided into two shifts.

At present, the caravan's transport cargo is still mainly food, but at the same time, they have also begun to try to transport some rare items from overseas, such as dazzling gems, fragrant spices and so on.

It is gratifying that through continuous efforts to expand the business scope, the caravan's income and expenditure finally achieved a balance.

Just a few days ago, a mysterious letter was quietly delivered to Ye Zifen.

This letter was secretly delivered by the Prime Minister, so its importance is self-evident.

Ye Zifen carefully put the letter into her sleeve, feeling that the thin paper seemed to be carrying a heavy burden.

At this moment, her heart beat faster involuntarily, and she secretly wondered what shocking secrets were hidden in this letter.

When she unfolded the letter and read it, she saw the words: "Princess, recently the princess from overseas has been deeply favored by the emperor since she entered the palace, and this has continued to this day. However, the envoy sent by that country has stayed in the capital for half a year and has not left yet. This is really strange, and I am afraid there is a mystery. Therefore, I hope you can secretly investigate the true situation of the other country, but remember not to act rashly so as not to alert the enemy. This matter is of great importance, and I hope the princess will act with caution."

After reading this secret letter, Ye Zifen frowned and fell into deep thought...

Then, Ye Zifen opened her red lips and slowly took out a piece of snow-white letter paper from the drawer.

Her slender fingers gently pinched a corner of the letter, as if holding the thread of fate.

Just a few days ago, a large caravan went through untold hardships and finally delivered the detailed information of the princess's country to Ye Zifen.

It is said that the princess was born with a beauty that could topple a country and was truly stunningly beautiful.

However, although she was beautiful, the princess was not the most noble person in her country.

After all, the title of princess of an overseas country is, after all, nothing more than an empty title and cannot bring a truly respected status.

In this chess game full of political intrigues and calculations, her beauty has become a bargaining chip that can be exploited at will.

If you think about it carefully, the princess is nothing more than a chess piece that can be manipulated by others.

What about those envoys who came from afar?

They seemed to be very attentive and flocked to the princess, but in fact they were just a few fanatical suitors of the princess.

Everyone has their own ulterior motives and little thoughts, trying to get a piece of the pie and seek their own benefits in this strange land.

For the princess, her every smile, every move, perhaps in the eyes of these people, are the keys to obtaining endless wealth and supreme power.

But in the eyes of an experienced person like Ye Zifen, everything that was happening before their eyes was nothing but an absurd farce.

You know, if overseas countries want to conduct trade in Daxia and gain huge benefits from it, they must first consider whether they have the strength to touch the huge and inviolable cake of the imperial court.

How can the majesty of the imperial court be challenged at will?

What's more, the issue of the distribution of trade benefits involves such complicated relationships that it is difficult to sort out, like a tangled mess.

There is no doubt that Ye Zifen was extremely angry about what those people did, because in her opinion, these people were blatantly infringing on her interests!

Whenever it was late at night and everyone was asleep, those ugly faces filled with greed and desire would involuntarily appear in her mind and would take a long time to disappear.

At this moment, she was sitting in front of the slightly old desk, her two curved willow-leaf eyebrows tightly furrowed together, like two deep grooves across her fair face.