While the interlude on Lan Xing was happening, the Magic World was equally unpeaceful.
Inside the castle of Mengchuan City, Wei Wei listened to her subordinates report on the battle situation, her brows tightly furrowed.
Since the Elf army arrived at the city walls yesterday, it only took them half a day to integrate the chaotic allied forces outside, and then they began their siege.
For a day and a night, the siege never stopped.
Mengchuan City's geographical location is very special, situated at the confluence of two rivers, surrounded by water on two sides and leaning against a mountain on one side.
Only the side directly facing north is a relatively flat open area, allowing the allied forces outside to launch a full-scale attack.
Although the other three directions were also surrounded, in reality, because there were not many usable areas, it was difficult for the allied forces to launch a siege from those sides.
Even the intensity of the encirclement was very low.
Previously, Wei Wei could communicate with the outside world at any time from Mengchuan City, relying on this less-guarded side.
Small batches of goods and even a small number of personnel could still enter the city via river transport.
However, large quantities of goods like food and consumables like weapons were difficult to get in, which is why Mengchuan City lacked nothing but food and weapons.
Although the allied forces surrounding the other three sides were few, they were not inactive.
Relatively, the defenders on those three walls were also fewer.
After all, with only tens of thousands of people, it was impossible to scatter them across the city walls on all four sides. The Mengchuan City defenders primarily focused their defense on the northern wall.
Deep moats and high ramparts, coupled with an unbeatable geographical advantage, were the reasons Mengchuan City could defend against superior numbers for several years.
But that was before.
The allied forces from various different races outside the city had their own agendas. Faced with towering city walls and an ironclad defense, even with their numerical advantage, they dared not attack with full force.
They were afraid that their own race's strength would be damaged during the siege, and then they might not have a say in future profit distribution or other matters, effectively working for others for free.
But now it's different. With the absolutely powerful external force of the Elf Kingdom joining in, plus the leading Elf Princess named An Qi, who clearly possesses astonishing skill.
Whether it was killing a chicken to scare the monkeys or using both coercion and inducements, at least she has now forged the originally chaotic allied forces into a unified whole.
Since the attack began yesterday, the pressure faced by the Mengchuan City defenders has far exceeded that of the past few years.
Wave after wave of allied forces from various races surged towards the towering city walls like a tide, making it difficult for the defenders on the wall to breathe.
But the enemy was not just blindly attacking.
Sometimes they would feign an attack, suddenly retreating halfway through, and other times they would attack for real.
At the same time, while attacking, a large number of allied soldiers not participating in the assault would throw large quantities of sandbags into the moat.
Mengchuan City's moat is connected to the two large rivers on either side.
Wide and deep, it had blocked countless attacking enemy forces.
However, in just one day, after countless sandbags were thrown in, a dirt road made of sandbags had been forcibly built across the moat.
After all, the water in the moat was diverted, not a true river, so the current was too slow.
The defenders on the city wall were too busy dealing with the feigned and real attacks of the enemy to protect the moat.
It was only natural for it to be cut off and a path filled in.
Without the protection of the river, the scale of the allied forces' siege would only grow larger and more intense with each attack.
The problem of the Mengchuan City defenders' insufficient numbers finally became apparent at this point.
Facing the allied forces' continuous, staggered attacks, the two shifts of defenders on the city wall were clearly unable to keep up their energy.
Even though these soldiers were all at least warriors, they simply couldn't withstand such continuous attacks.
The allied forces had many people and could rotate for rest, but the Mengchuan City defenders could not.
After a day and a night of fighting, all the soldiers in the city were visibly exhausted.
For this, Wei Wei had to take out some life water, dilute it, and distribute it to the entire army for consumption to solve the soldiers' fatigue.
But this was like drinking poison to quench thirst; at most, it could only hold them for a limited time.
Under the allied forces' relentless, rotating attacks, even an iron man would be worn down, and life water was not omnipotent.
"According to the current rhythm, hold your ground for me. I don't need you to die meaninglessly with the entire city. I only need three days! Hold for three days, and our reinforcements will arrive."
In this situation, nothing was more morale-boosting than knowing reinforcements were on the way.
Facing her tired subordinates, Wei Wei had no choice but to paint a grand picture.
Of course, this wasn't entirely painting a grand picture, because there really were allied forces.
After giving her subordinates a routine morale boost, she was preparing to go to the city wall to inspect the defenses.
But just then, a mage in a mage's robe rushed into the City Lord's Mansion with a scroll.
"Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness! News from the Imperial Capital!"
Wei Wei calmly dismissed the others, then allowed the mage to hand over the scroll.
"What is it about?"
"Your Majesty… has passed away!" the mage immediately knelt and said tremblingly.
Wei Wei's hand, which was unfolding the scroll, stiffened. A complex look flashed in her eyes, then she gave a bitter smile:
"This really isn't the time."
Opening the scroll, she saw it was from her eldest brother, the current First Prince.
The beginning roughly expressed sorrow and the pain of losing their father, and so on.
The latter half got to the point.
Using the Emperor's demise as a reason, it requested that the princes and princesses scattered in various places return to the Imperial Capital to mourn the late Emperor and participate in his enthronement ceremony.
He would inherit the throne as the eldest legitimate son of the royal family ten days later and hoped to receive the blessings of his siblings.
Of course, these were all formalities.
The last few sentences were the key.
"The current situation is turbulent, and many scoundrels are plotting for the great position. When my sister comes to the Imperial Capital, she can bring her personal guard army with her. I am aware of the siege of Mengchuan City. This can be put aside for now. After the new dynasty's benevolent governance, your brother will surely choose a more prosperous fief for you."
In plain language, it was asking Wei Wei to bring her troops to the capital to help him secure the throne.
As for this broken Mengchuan City, what northern border stronghold—if it's lost, it's lost.
Anyway, in the eyes of these princes, it was just a bunch of barbarians from beyond the Great Wall coming to take advantage of the autumn harvest; afterwards, they would leave on their own, and the territory could be easily recovered, so it was not a big deal at all.
Moreover, Mengchuan City was located on the border, constantly ravaged by war, and very barren.
As long as Wei Wei could help him secure the throne, he could even give Wei Wei a more prosperous fief.
Could Wei Wei's overt power truly decide the divine battle between those few princes in the Imperial Capital?
That was clearly impossible; the weakest among them had at least a million strong army.
Even the allied forces besieging Mengchuan City outside, when facing the Chiyang Empire's elite armies controlled by these princes, would probably be crushed in less than a day.
Not to mention Wei Wei.
The people she had on the surface simply couldn't influence the situation in the Imperial Capital at all.
What was truly useful, what made the princes vying for power actively extend an olive branch to invite her, was her identity.
A royal princess, and one with a prominent reputation, known as a genius since childhood—once she joined a certain faction and openly supported a particular prince's ascension, the political impact would be far greater than the military one.