Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 396 - 395. Sudden Secret Message

395. Sudden Confidential Message

Watching Marquis Muyang’s expression, as though he had lost everything, Qin Feng lowered his eyes and said, "I have taken Mu Yang. Marquis Muyang, you still have some time. Take it slow." After that, Qin Feng clapped his hands, and two guards entered from outside to remove Mu Yang’s body.

"Hold on!" Marquis Muyang called out desperately. "Where are you taking my son?"

Qin Feng furrowed his brow slightly. "The Princess Consort ordered Mu Yang to be buried." Although Prince Ding’s initial order had been different, given the circumstances, a small change like this shouldn’t have been a problem for the Prince.

Seeing Marquis Muyang make no reaction, Qin Feng also turned and left.

"Why... how did you do it?" came Marquis Muyang’s weak and hoarse voice from behind. "Who is the spy in Marquis Muyang’s Mansion?"

Qin Feng turned back in surprise; he hadn’t expected Marquis Muyang to still be concerned about this matter.

"Yaoji," Qin Feng replied nonchalantly.

Marquis Muyang was taken aback. He had suspected Yaoji but eventually dismissed the thought. The main reason was Mu Lie. A woman, no matter how much she hated a man, wouldn’t harm her son’s biological father.

Seeming to understand Marquis Muyang’s confusion, Qin Feng said, "Mu Lie is not Mu Yang’s son."

"What?" Marquis Muyang was stunned again. "That woman... that woman’s son... I see, I see..." He knew Marquis Muyang had misunderstood, but Qin Feng had no inclination to clarify for him. He took one last look at Marquis Muyang and walked out. As the door closed, mad laughter erupted from the room, though to Qin Feng’s ears, it sounded more like sobbing.

Qin Feng heaved a light sigh, shook his head, and walked away.

「Thousands of miles away, inside a grand tent, Mo Xiuyao sat behind his desk, deep in thought, looking somewhat sullen.」

When Feng Zhiyao came in and saw his expression, he raised an eyebrow. "What’s the matter? Are you starting to miss the Princess Consort after less than a month?"

Mo Xiuyao gave him a nonchalant sideways glance. "How could a solitary man like myself understand the thoughts of a man with a family?"

Feng Zhiyao rolled his eyes. And whose fault was it that he was such a solitary man? He hadn’t had a moment of peace these past few years. He held up a confidential letter and casually threw it over. "This is a letter from Qin Feng," he said. "Seems like the Princess Consort doesn’t miss you at all. She hasn’t even bothered to send a message of greetings."

Mo Xiuyao caught the letter, uttering a single word, "Scram."

Opening the envelope, the letter’s contents managed to dispel some of Mo Xiuyao’s gloom. He casually crumpled the letter, and it disintegrated into powder, scattering away. Knowing Mo Xiuyao for so many years, Feng Zhiyao naturally understood his expressions. He asked with some curiosity, "What good news has made you this happy?" Mo Xiuyao’s mood was clearly different from when Feng Zhiyao had first come in. Obviously, the confidential message from Qin Feng reported some good news.

"Has the Princess Consort and General Lv dealt with Mo Jingli and are preparing to come back? That’s quite impossible..." It was impossible for Mo Jingli to fail that quickly unless he was a complete idiot.

Mo Xiuyao said, "Mu Yang is dead."

"How is that considered good news?" Feng Zhiyao rolled his eyes again. Mu Yang might have been seen as a rising star among the generals of Great Chu, but he wasn’t worthy of Mo Xiuyao, Prince Ding’s attention. Was Mu Yang’s death enough to make Mo Xiuyao so cheerful? Something didn’t seem right. Feng Zhiyao pondered for a moment before realization dawned, his expression changing. "Has Marquis Muyang’s Mansion fallen?"

Not many people knew how much Mo Xiuyao hated Marquis Muyang, but Feng Zhiyao was definitely one of them. Over the years, Mo Jingqi had died, Ren Qining had died, and Helian Zhen had died too. It was about time for Marquis Muyang’s turn. However, Mu Yang’s death was somewhat undeserved. Back in the Capital City, Feng Zhiyao and Mu Yang had some acquaintance. He could only secretly commiserate with him in his heart.

Mo Xiuyao nodded calmly. Feng Zhiyao thought for a moment, then said, "Old Marquis Muyang was likely one of the few intelligent people under Mo Jingli. With the fall of Marquis Muyang’s Mansion, Mo Jingli probably can’t hold on much longer. This way, the Princess Consort, after finishing her part, can lead her troops west to join us in encircling the Xiling Army." Lowering his head to ponder, Feng Zhiyao also began to feel a sense of joy. Considering this, the conflict might well end within the year.

Mo Xiuyao said simply, "Not necessarily. The military power under Mo Jingli far surpasses that of Lv Jinxian. Moreover, there’s Lei Tengfeng... Lei Tengfeng has already left the Army of Great Chu to defend Yuming Pass. By the time Ah-Li and the others deal with Mo Jingli, Yuming Pass will probably have been tightly secured by Lei Tengfeng, like an iron barrel."

Feng Zhiyao couldn’t help but frown. Confused, he asked, "Didn’t you dispatch He Su to lead troops to Yuming Pass?"

Mo Xiuyao smiled at him. "Who told you He Su took his troops to Yuming Pass?"

"Then, Prince, please!" Feng Zhiyao gritted his teeth. "Where in the world did He Su lead those two hundred thousand troops?!" Feng Zhiyao wasn’t unjustly angry. Originally, the Mo Family Army had fewer soldiers than Xiling. When they were fiercely battling Lei Zhenting, Mo Xiuyao suddenly withdrew two hundred thousand troops. Feng Zhiyao would have understood if it was to flank Lei Zhenting, but now Mo Xiuyao was saying no one had even gone there! Did His Highness Prince Ding think this battle was a game? Or were they, the generals, all too stupid to comprehend Prince Ding’s inscrutable strategies?

Watching Feng Zhiyao seething, Mo Xiuyao was in a good mood. "Yuming Pass is more than a thousand miles away, and the routes are difficult. It’s less than three hundred miles to Cold Valley Pass, where Lei Tengfeng is, and the roads are all flat, official roads. Even if He Su left before Lei Tengfeng, Third Feng... how could He Su reach Yuming Pass before Lei Tengfeng? Do you think Lei Tengfeng, with his wisdom, would leave such a loophole for us? From the beginning, he had Lei Tengfeng stationed with Mo Jingli precisely to prevent this."

Feng Zhiyao paused, trying to calm himself. He asked, "So, are you saying, Prince, that you never intended to seize Yuming Pass?"

Mo Xiuyao shrugged, laughing. "Why struggle when you know it’s impossible?"

"Then where is He Su?!" Feng Zhiyao felt a vein throbbing in his forehead.

Mo Xiuyao chuckled. "If he’s not at Yuming Pass, he’s naturally somewhere else."

Feng Zhiyao glanced doubtfully at the map hanging on the nearby wall, then hesitantly asked, "Cold Valley Pass?"

Mo Xiuyao met his question with a silent smile. Feng Zhiyao could only look up at the sky speechlessly, swallowing the angry words he had wanted to say. He sighed. "With the Princess Consort and General Lv there to tie him down, Lei Tengfeng may not be able to return to Yuming Pass so quickly."

Mo Xiuyao said, "Even so, the two armies will likely arrive around the same time. Also... by then, Yun Ting’s army may face total annihilation. Lv Jinxian and Ah-Li might also find themselves isolated and surrounded by Mo Jingli’s forces."

Feng Zhiyao nodded, accepting the sound logic in Mo Xiuyao’s arguments. He knew, after all, that in terms of strategy, ten of him were no match for Mo Xiuyao. "So, you mean we still have to go head-to-head with Lei Zhenting?"

Mo Xiuyao laughed. "Isn’t that much more exciting? After Lei Zhenting... I will find no more worthy opponents. Besides, Third Feng, don’t you think we’ve been having it too easy these past two years?"

Feng Zhiyao remained silent. They had indeed been incredibly fortunate in the past several battles, with the Mo Family Army appearing almost divinely assisted; it had been too smooth. So smooth, in fact, that he had almost forgotten that there’s never perpetually smooth sailing on the battlefield. Lei Tengfeng was a rare military genius of this era. Wanting to wrap up a battle against him quickly and decisively, as they used to, was utterly impossible.

Mo Xiuyao patted Feng Zhiyao’s shoulder, laughing. "There’s no need to rush. We will win. Sooner or later."

Feng Zhiyao nodded and said with a carefree laugh, "That’s a given. If you can’t defeat Lei Zhenting, you’ll certainly be ridiculed." And just behind them, there was even a bright-eyed little one eagerly waiting to see someone get laughed at.

Mo Xiuyao glanced at him indifferently. "My ridicule is not for just anyone to behold."

「On the battlefield outside Cold Valley Pass, the situation had initially been an overwhelming advantage for the Army of Great Chu.」

However bravely the Mo Family Army fought, they struggled to turn the tide when confronting an enemy several times their size. Unfortunately for Mo Jingli, before he could savor his triumph, a new force clad in black eerily appeared on the battlefield, once again stirring up a dark tide. The severely fatigued Mo Family soldiers, seeing reinforcements, were instantly invigorated and fought back. The Army of Great Chu’s anticipated victory was slowly being overturned, and the armies plunged into a fierce, entangled battle.

Atop Cold Valley Pass, watching the spectacle before him, Mo Jingli’s face was as dark as ink. The generals who stood beside him, previously boasting and offering strategies, had fallen silent, not daring to further provoke Mo Jingli’s wrath. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Mo Jingli’s gaze was fixed on a black-clothed, formidable general cutting a swath through the battlefield. "Who is that?" he asked in a deep voice.

The general beside him looked closely. After pondering for a moment, he reported, "Your Majesty, that should be He Su, a newly promoted general in the Mo Family Army."

"He Su?" Mo Jingli frowned, mulling over this somewhat unfamiliar name.

"This He Su was originally an ordinary soldier under Murong Shen. He rose from the ranks to become a general in less than eight years. After Beirong and the Northern Territory invaded, he did not obey the order to move south. Instead, he gathered nearly two hundred thousand defeated soldiers and maneuvered around to the flank of Changxing, blocking a considerable portion of the Northern Territory’s army. Following that, he joined Prince Ding’s Mansion, gaining much trust from Princess Consort Ding." The man beside him quickly reported what he knew. "The time He Su joined Murong Shen’s army was shortly after Princess Consort Ding was at Broken Snow Pass. Also, it is said Princess Consort Ding had four personal hidden guards. Later, she abolished the position of hidden guard, but the public only knows of three: Zhuo Jing, Lin Han, and Wei Lin. So..."

"So, this He Su is a chess piece that Ye Li planted in Great Chu more than a decade ago!" Mo Jingli said in a deep voice.

The general beside him, facing the enraged Mo Jingli, dared not say more.

Mo Jingli glanced at the battle unfolding below. With the sudden addition of two hundred thousand fresh troops, the Mo Family Army seemed to grow stronger as they fought. In contrast, the Army of Great Chu, already engaged in a major battle, began to show signs of exhaustion. With a cold snort, Mo Jingli turned and swept out with a flick of his sleeves, leaving the generals looking at each other in dismay.

"General Li, this..." Mo Jingli had abandoned them, leaving those present in a difficult position. They didn’t know whether the emperor intended for them to continue fighting or to withdraw the troops.

"Ah, let’s withdraw the troops," the highest-ranking general, surnamed Li, sighed helplessly. They weren’t going to gain much from this battle. What else could they do but withdraw?

「Outside Cold Valley Pass, watching the Army of Great Chu gradually retreat inside the pass, Yun Ting, who had been fighting bravely, suddenly went limp and sat down on the ground.」

He paid no mind to the many bodies lying around and simply lay down. Seeing He Su approaching, Yun Ting managed a difficult smile. "Brother, thank you. I thought I was done for," he said, his eyelids growing heavy.

These past two days, Yun Ting was truly exhausted. This was his first real experience leading an army alone, and the pressure was immense. To make matters worse, Mo Jingli, seemingly oblivious to his own rear’s vulnerability, had pulled all nearby troops to surround Yun Ting at all costs. In these few days, Yun Ting’s memory consisted almost entirely of fighting, aside from two hastily eaten meals. If He Su had arrived even one hour later, Yun Ting wasn’t sure he could have held out.

He Su, unconcerned by the messy ground, casually sat down and asked, "Did the Princess Consort order you to defend this place to the death?"

Yun Ting, dazed, shook his head.

He Su raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you holding out so desperately? If I hadn’t come, and if the Princess Consort and General Lv hadn’t arrived in time, you would have died a fool’s death." This place isn’t a critical military fortress; the main fortifications are on Mo Jingli’s side. It wouldn’t make much difference to retreat twenty or thirty li if we can’t win.

"I... It’s my first time leading troops... How could I... How could I fail on my first try? I’d rather die than retreat..." Mumbling these words, Yun Ting’s head slumped to the side, and he finally fell asleep.

Soldiers cleaning up the battlefield came over. Seeing Yun Ting lying on the ground as if dead, they looked somewhat awkwardly at He Su. "General..."

He Su stood up, dusted himself off, and waved his hand with a smile. "It’s nothing. General Yun is just exhausted. Carry him back to rest."

"Yes, sir." Two soldiers, one taking his torso and the other his legs, carried Yun Ting back to the main camp. Throughout, Yun Ting pursed his lips, sleeping very soundly.

「Not far from Cold Valley Pass, Lv Jinxian’s army had also just gone through a major battle.」

However, Lv Jinxian and Ye Li were much more composed and at ease than Yun Ting. Looking at the secret message just delivered from Cold Valley Pass, Lv Jinxian couldn’t help but burst into laughter. "No wonder the Princess Consort wasn’t worried! It turns out she already knew the Prince had sent reinforcements. That kid Yun Ting really needs a good lesson."

Ye Li smiled faintly. "It was his first time leading troops alone; it’s inevitable to be a bit nervous. General, you shouldn’t be too hard on him. It was difficult enough for him to hold out for so many days."

Lv Jinxian nodded. He was actually quite satisfied with this new disciple. His remark about teaching Yun Ting a lesson was mostly for Ye Li’s benefit. Hearing Ye Li’s tone, it didn’t seem like she intended to punish Yun Ting, so Lv Jinxian also felt relieved.

Putting aside Yun Ting’s situation, Lv Jinxian said seriously, "Just one more battle, and Zhao Lian should collapse. Then we can take Cold Valley Pass directly and, with Yun Ting and He Su, attack the Army of Great Chu from both front and rear."

Ye Li nodded. "The Grand General is right. However, even so, Mo Jingli should still have about five hundred thousand soldiers, not counting subsequent reinforcements. It won’t be easy to deal with him quickly."

Lv Jinxian chuckled. "Your Highness, don’t worry. As long as we control the overall situation, it doesn’t matter how many troops Mo Jingli has. We allowed him to gain the upper hand before, but now we’ve seized the initiative. Even if he had millions more soldiers, we wouldn’t need to fear him." Besides, once they joined forces with Yun Ting, their total strength would be nearly half a million. There was no need to worry about Mo Jingli.

Ye Li smiled apologetically. "I was too impatient." She didn’t have much actual battle experience; the few times she had fought were over quickly. Lv Jinxian’s current plan was clearly to slowly wear down Mo Jingli, which was something Ye Li, accustomed to decisive strikes, found slightly unfamiliar. However, she quickly recognized her issue and was doing her best to adjust.

Lv Jinxian laughed. "Your Highness, you’re being too modest. It’s not impossible to severely cripple Mo Jingli if we exert all our effort. But to achieve a complete annihilation like the one at Wind Return Valley would be exceedingly difficult. If remnants of the Army of Great Chu escape, they are likely to return in greater force. Rather than risk that, it would be better to slowly grind Mo Jingli down until he can no longer fight."

Ye Li nodded. "I understand now. Thank you for the reminder, Grand General."

Lv Jinxian quickly said he dared not accept such thanks. Ye Li smiled, but her mind began to consider the pieces she had set in Nanjing; perhaps it was time to put them into play. Lv Jinxian was right. Instead of rushing for quick results and giving Mo Jingli a chance to regroup, it would be better to invest more effort and win decisively in one fell swoop.

「In the war tent of the Army of Great Chu, Mo Jingli, who was reviewing a petition, shivered for no reason.」

A shade of doubt crossed his somewhat gloomy face, and he instinctively pulled the bright yellow cloak tighter around himself.

「Two days later, in the decisive battle between the Mo Family Army and the West Route Army of the Chu Army, the Chu Army finally buckled under the Mo Family Army’s offensive, their collapse becoming an unstoppable rout.」

Zhao Lian, the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army, was seriously wounded and captured.

Confronting the Army of Great Chu was different from facing Xiling or Beirong. Ultimately, apart from the clashes between the upper echelons of power, the common soldiers of the Army of Great Chu and the Mo Family Army, as well as the common people of Great Chu and the Northwest, were not so different. They had never considered that after the Mo Family Army broke away from Great Chu, they would become irreconcilable enemies. That’s why, when many commoners from Great Chu fled to the Northwest, the people there accepted them without resentment, for they were originally all one family. Just as the people of the Northwest never believed Prince Ding’s Mansion would confine itself to that small corner of the land, the people of Great Chu never believed Prince Ding’s Mansion and the Mo Family Army would abandon them.

As such, both sides actually exercised some restraint during this battle. Killing one’s own kind was indeed not a pleasant task; neither the Mo Family Army nor the Army of Great Chu would generally kill surrendered soldiers or heavily wounded enemy combatants. When the Army of Great Chu, despite their best efforts, still could not defeat the Mo Family Army, the common soldiers laid down their arms and surrendered without any psychological barrier.

Zhao Lian’s defeat infuriated Mo Jingli. Faced with the steadily advancing Mo Family Army led by Lv Jinxian and Ye Li, Mo Jingli "decisively" abandoned his troops to defend Cold Valley Pass while he himself escaped before Ye Li and the others arrived. This left everyone in the Mo Family Army speechless. Yun Ting, his mind unable to process it, had refused to retreat even half a step, while Mo Jingli, in contrast, retreated far too quickly. With the strategic advantage of Cold Valley Pass, if commanded properly, it could have been held for at least two or three months. By then, reinforcements for the Army of Great Chu should have arrived.

Although Mo Jingli’s abandonment of the pass severely damaged the morale of the Army of Great Chu, it also brought considerable trouble for Ye Li and the others. It would have been good if Mo Jingli had fled to Jiangnan and decided not to re-emerge. But knowing his temper, he would definitely hide, wait for reinforcements, and then come out to stir up trouble again. This would inadvertently prolong the conflict between the Mo Family Army and the Army of Great Chu.

As expected, in less than half a month, as the reinforcements of the Army of Great Chu approached the northern region, Mo Jingli re-emerged. This time, it was different from his previous, ambiguous alliance with Xiling to attack the Mo Family Army. Mo Jingli issued a decree directly in his capacity as the Emperor of Great Chu. He proclaimed to the world that Prince Ding’s Mansion had betrayed Great Chu and that Mo Xiuyao intended to annihilate Great Chu and then ascend the throne himself. Furthermore, it meticulously listed forty-nine of Mo Xiuyao’s alleged crimes to demonstrate that Great Chu’s crusade against Prince Ding’s Mansion was a righteous, heaven-ordained act.

Of course, this did not affect the Mo Family Army. Ye Li merely glanced at the proclamation sent to their camp and then handed it to Yun Ting. After reading it, Yun Ting snorted with disdain and used it to prop up a wobbly table leg. If the Prince were interested in the throne, he would have ascended it long ago. Why would he need to wait for Mo Jingli to issue some Edict of Chastisement? Besides, does Mo Jingli think everyone in the world is blind? The Mo Family Army has never taken a single inch of land from Great Chu. Now that the Mo Family Army had long since severed ties with Great Chu, Prince Ding’s Mansion undoubtedly held the moral high ground from any perspective.

Speaking of this, Yun Ting couldn’t help but admire the Prince’s foresight. It must be understood that the Central Plains, unlike foreign barbarian lands, prided itself as a nation of etiquette. Whether court officials, scholars, or common people, all held rites and laws in extremely high regard. If Prince Ding’s Mansion had directly attacked Great Chu in the first place, then even if the Mo Family Army later unified the world, Prince Ding would inevitably be criticized in historical records due to his former relationship with Great Chu.

As everyone was sarcastically dismissing Mo Jingli’s actions, a guard’s voice sounded from outside the tent, "Your Highness, a confidential letter from Third Young Master Feng!"

Ye Li frowned slightly. "Third Feng? Bring it in." Feng Zhiyao was with Mo Xiuyao. Under normal circumstances, Feng Zhiyao wouldn’t write to her separately. Unless... something had happened that Feng Zhiyao couldn’t control with his capabilities or authority. A sense of unease settled in Ye Li’s heart as she raised her hand to receive the letter handed over by the guard.

The envelope was sealed with wax, and the highest-level secret seal of Prince Ding’s Mansion stamped on it indicated that the letter’s contents were exceptionally important.

Composing herself, Ye Li opened the envelope and scanned it. Her hand holding the letter trembled slightly, and the paper slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground. She herself collapsed into her chair. Yun Ting and the others, sitting nearby, were startled and rushed over. "Your Highness?!"

On the white sheet of paper, Feng Zhiyao’s handwriting looked somewhat disarrayed and hurried. It contained only a few words: ’The Prince is gravely wounded. Return immediately.’