The Emperor Huiyang, finding an opportunity in the Northern Barbarian army's incursion, declared that the succession could wait; teaching the barbarians a lesson was paramount.
This shifted the focus of the imperial clan and ministers.
Privately, he continued his efforts to father a successor.
For a time, the ministers found themselves working together, especially the military nobles and honored officials who were unusually enthusiastic. Decades of peace had emboldened the civil officials to the point of lording it over them.
This was a rare chance for them to earn merit.
However, before they could even decide who would lead the expedition, new tidings arrived. Firstly, the northern frontier had successfully repelled the Northern Barbarian onslaught.
They had even managed to kill three thousand enemies.
Secondly, a hundred thousand Northern Barbarian troops had bypassed the northern defenses and breached the pass through the Jiabei Corridor.
While the defenses there had been adequate decades ago, they had now become little more than a trade route. The combined defensive forces numbered less than ten thousand, making the enemy's thousand-mile detour and breach entirely plausible.
The more perilous situation was that, after entering through the Jiabei Corridor, the Northern Barbarians found themselves in a position with no natural defenses.
Their advance directly threatened the safety of the capital.
At this, the capital finally dispatched several generals without delay, along with orders for the garrisons along the route to cooperate and intercept the barbarians.
And then, as expected, they failed.
The generals dispatched for this campaign were all from the younger generation. At most, they had experience quelling bandits, never engaging in large-scale warfare. Their confrontation with the Northern Barbarian army was, quite frankly, akin to a theoretical discussion on paper.
Moreover, decades of peace had rendered the nation's military unprepared.
Only then did the imperial court descend into panic.
They were forced to summon veteran generals to salvage the situation.
Simultaneously, decrees were issued to mobilize nearby experienced garrisons for support, and even troops from the northern frontier were ordered to reinforce the defenses.
A plan for an ambush, to "trap a dog in a house," was devised.
In essence, it was an act of enraged determination to annihilate all one hundred thousand Northern Barbarian troops. If successful, the enemy would be severely weakened, unable to pose a threat for at least two to three decades.
For the sake of peace in the next twenty to thirty years, any cost, even a significant one, would be deemed worthwhile.
However, information regarding these developments was kept confidential. To prevent public panic, the court disseminated only good news and concealed the bad. Thus, in regions not directly invaded by the Northern Barbarians, life continued as usual, with revelry and festivities.
Ding Yun, beyond providing some material aid and using her Wood Elemental immortal arts to refine some life-saving and healing pills, which she secretly sent to her great-grandson, could offer little else.
Furthermore, she harbored no worries about the nation falling.
After all, the current dynasty was only a century old. Its national strength was still at its peak, and corruption and land annexation had not yet reached severe levels. While not comparable to the Golden Age of Zhangwen, it was more than capable of repelling the Northern Barbarian invasion.
The main consequence would be significant losses.
Therefore, after doing all she could, she turned her attention away from the Northern Barbarian affairs to prepare for her own centennial banquet and continued to await the expiration of the Peony Fairy's card.
After the New Year, she would officially turn one hundred.
Ding Yun was quite pleased to celebrate this milestone. After all, a centenarian princess carried a certain novelty, which should enhance her influence. Without pursuing grand endeavors, she could only gradually accumulate influence through smaller matters.
Another half a month passed, and the Northern Barbarians suffered losses exceeding ten thousand.
Ding Yun, meanwhile, welcomed her new year's free card draw.
Drawing on her experience from the previous year, Ding Yun once again donned her finest attire. She used her makeup skills to enhance her youthful appearance before murmuring a prayer and clicking the draw button.
Once again, it was a golden card.
[Attendant of the Three Immortals of the Auspicious Heavenly Palace]
"One of the attendants of the Three Immortals of the Heavenly Palace. The Three Immortals, residing in the Upper Pure Grotto-Heaven for years, seldom concern themselves with worldly affairs. Certain divine duties are directly handled by their attendants.
This attendant presides over matters of mortal procreation!"
"The divine duties of the Three Immortals seem to involve the cycle of all life in the world. Bestowing children is part of their domain. But what use is this skill to me? I already have enough descendants. I can't exactly go around bestowing children upon people for no reason."
Although this fairy card seemed quite impressive, Ding Yun, who had no shortage of descendants and no inclination to play the role of a matchmaker, found it rather useless.
However, after merging with the card.
Ding Yun realized she had misinterpreted its function.
The attendant's role of presiding over mortal procreation did not extend to humans. In other words, this attendant's skill was akin to promoting the prosperity of livestock, capable of fostering the reproduction of all animals except humans. It could even consume a certain amount of immortal power to improve livestock offspring, making them stronger, grow faster, and yield better meat.
If the previous Peony Fairy's Wood Elemental immortal arts could help humanity eat, then this new attendant's immortal arts would help humanity eat well, enabling most people to consume meat and cultivating excellent livestock breeds.
In fact, Ding Yun had already cultivated many superior varieties using the Peony Fairy's skills last year. However, she was unsure about the stability of the traits of the seeds of those grain crops cultivated with Wood Elemental immortal arts.
She worried they might degenerate significantly after two years of cultivation.
Thus, she hesitated to promote them, instead conducting experimental planting on her own farms. It would take at least three to five years of cultivation to confirm the absence of any hidden issues before widespread dissemination.
Now that she possessed the skill to cultivate various livestock, Ding Yun, just like last year, specially spent time purchasing a large batch of livestock.
She modified both pregnant and non-pregnant animals.
Then, they were sent to the farm for meticulous care.
She eagerly awaited the birth of their modified, superior offspring.
Having accomplished this, Ding Yun confidently resumed preparations for her centennial banquet and sent out numerous invitations, requesting guests to grace the occasion.
Another half a year passed.
The Northern Barbarian army finally retreated in disarray after suffering heavy losses. Although the imperial court also incurred considerable casualties, everyone believed that after this battle, the Northern Barbarians would remain subdued for at least twenty years, a full generation.
Therefore, the promised rewards were fully disbursed.
Qin Yangchun, in particular, due to his repeated acts of merit, was promoted several ranks, becoming a Border General, a third-rank official.
He officially became the sole third-rank official with substantial power in several generations of his Qin family, marking him as the most accomplished among them in recent times.
However, he was still stationed at the border. He therefore sent his apologies in advance, stating his inability to attend Ding Yun's centennial banquet, and had already sent gifts.
Even so, Ding Yun was delighted.
After all, what elder with a sound mind wouldn't be happy and proud of their descendants' success?
Seven days after the enfeoffment concluded, Ding Yun's centennial banquet commenced. On this day, not only did many civil and military officials attend with their wives to offer congratulations, but members of the imperial clan also appeared almost in full. Even Emperor Huiyang himself personally attended.
He came to congratulate Ding Yun on her hundredth birthday.