On one hand, the Emperor wished to make use of the relationship between the Wolf Smoke Regiment and Ji Fengyan, to make it difficult for her to attack. On the other hand, he was also testing the regiment's "loyalty". But the outcome for both would be the same.
As much as she couldn't bear it, Ji Fengyan would have no choice but to fight the Wolf Smoke Regiment if they attacked her. With their small number of men, their chances of survival was probably very slim. But if the Wolf Smoke Regiment refused to battle Ji Fengyan, the Emperor would annihilate the entire regiment.
Right from when the Wolf Smoke Regiment rejected the advances of other troops and insisted on remaining at the Moonset Valley, the Emperor had treated them as a lost cause. From that moment on, the Wolf Smoke Regiment was on a one-way road to hell.
Emperors demanded total loyalty from their subjects. They had no use for an elite regiment loyal to a general instead.
