Chapter Nineteen

Inside the main hall of the Eastern Liang Kingdom, sitting on the throne was none other than the King of Eastern Liang. Judging from her attire, the woman before him must be one of the King's concubines.

But what's with this yelling?

Upon seeing outsiders intrude, the two soldiers behind immediately drew their swords and stood in front of the King of Dongliang and the woman whose identity was unknown.

“You are the King of Dongliang.” Mo Yinghuo completely ignored the two soldiers, her gaze fixed only on the white-haired old man on the throne. Suddenly, as if she remembered something, her body trembled violently, and she stared at the King of Dongliang, saying word by word, “No, it is said that the King of Dongliang has only recently ascended the throne and is not even thirty years old. How could you be such a white-haired old man?”

“General,” Zhao Shu said softly, looking at Mo Yinghuo, “he is the King of Dongliang.”

Mo Ying glanced at Zhao Shu with a puzzled look, and seeing that he had no intention of explaining, she turned her gaze to the imperial concubine. She always felt that there was something indescribable about Zhao Shu, something she couldn't put into words, yet it was so concrete—what he said was what he meant, and what he said was not what he meant.

"I am the King of Dongliang." The white-haired old man sitting on the throne stood up shakily. His body was withered and his face was full of wrinkles. Only his eyes, as black as ink, were sharp and bright, strong and powerful. Looking into those eyes, one couldn't help but think that this King of Dongliang must have been a man with black hair like night and eyebrows like charcoal when he was young, a man of firmness and tenacity.

After saying that, the King of Dongliang coughed violently again. The concubine next to him, judging from her earlier address, should be the King of Dongliang's mother.

Mo Yinghuo glanced at Zhao Shu again, still with the same expression. Hearing the sound of iron cavalry galloping in from not far away, Mo Yinghuo immediately walked towards the King of Dongliang. The two soldiers with swords were about to step forward to stop him, but the King of Dongliang, who was barely standing, waved them aside.

"I have long heard of the Princess of Yunxiu Kingdom." The King of Dongliang looked at the valiant woman before him, his gaze lingering on her silver armor. His eyes held a mixture of resentment and longing as he spoke in a weak voice, "Dongliang Kingdom is willing to submit to Yunxiu Kingdom. However, I have a request." He then coughed violently.

Mo Yinghuo's gaze pierced the Eastern Liang King, and he said without the slightest emotion, "You want me to spare those 50,000 Iron Cavalry, is that it!"

The King of Dongliang's eyes dimmed for a moment, but when he heard the familiar sound of iron cavalry not far away, they lit up again. He said, "Yes, as long as the general agrees, Dongliang will immediately send a letter of surrender to the Emperor of Yunxiu."

Mo Yinghuo snorted lightly, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said, "King of Dongliang, do you think you have the right to speak with me? You and I both know that if it weren't for the soldiers of Yunxiu Kingdom invading, who knows how long the court of Dongliang Kingdom would have remained under the control of outsiders!"

The King of Dongliang suddenly stared at Mo Yinghuo in horror. After a moment, he asked in a gloomy voice, "You are in cahoots with them."

Mo Yinghuo simply shook his head slightly, without saying anything more, but his gaze was fixed firmly on the King of Dongliang.

The King of Dongliang shuddered violently and suddenly knelt down. The two soldiers beside him, each holding a sword, hurriedly followed suit. The Queen Mother merely supported him, struggling to suppress her own sobs. The King of Dongliang's eyes shone brightly as he earnestly pleaded, "Princess, I beg you to treat the people and soldiers of Dongliang kindly."

Mo Yinghuo slightly turned his head and looked at the begonia carving on the throne above. "Rest assured, Yunxiu Kingdom will not kill its own people or those who surrender. Once Dongliang Kingdom submits, its people will become the people of Yunxiu Kingdom."

The King of Dongliang slowly stood up, looked gently to the side, and said softly, "Mother, the letter of surrender."

The Queen Dowager turned and went inside, taking out a pre-written letter of surrender and a rectangular rosewood box. She walked slowly to Mo Yinghuo's side, her eyes brimming with tears. Though she was now the Queen Dowager, she possessed a unique and captivating charm. The Queen Dowager struggled to control her trembling hands, gently handing the rosewood box and the letter of surrender to Mo Yinghuo. Looking at her slowly, she said in a pleading and respectful tone, "Your Highness, the white-haired old man before you is my son, the last king of Dongliang. They are too strange and too terrifying. Yunxiu Kingdom, please be extremely careful."

Mo Yinghuo paused, as if she had remembered something. In her dark, starless eyes, Zhao Shu couldn't help but glimpse a fleeting, immense sadness and regret.

Mo Yinghuo nodded slightly, and a soldier beside her took the document from the Empress Dowager's hand. Mo Yinghuo opened the letter of surrender, examined it, and thought to herself, "As expected, the King of Dongliang had already written the letter of surrender, but he just hadn't been able to send it out yet."

A series of swift footsteps approached the main hall. A moment later, Marquis Haitang led dozens of iron cavalrymen, holding curved swords, and appeared at the hall entrance.

Zhao Shu turned to the side, drawing his Xuan Blade. The icy aura made Mo Yinghuo, who was standing beside him, shudder.

Mo Yinghuo's lips curled up, and he walked around to the front of Zhao Shu, waved to Zhao Shu, and winked.

When the Empress Dowager saw the crowd, she sighed softly, her face showing no joy. Her gaze fell on the blue mask, her red lips parted slightly, and her voice was soft and clear, "Marquis Haitang, receive the decree. The King of Dongliang commands you to surrender." She spoke the last word with utmost gentleness, as if she were saying something completely ordinary.

The Marquis of Haitang's hand holding the curved sword suddenly trembled, the blade quivering and emitting a faint clanging sound. After a while, he reacted, raised his other hand, removed the blue mask from his face, knelt on one knee with the sword in his hand, and said in a soft but firm voice, "Marquis of Haitang, I obey the decree!"

The Ironclad Cavalry behind him all knelt down.

Mo Yinghuo glanced at Haitang Hou, her expression slightly surprised. She hadn't expected that beneath the blue mask would be such a serene and refined appearance. He wasn't exactly handsome, nor was he mediocre; he possessed a certain dashing charm. "This is the Ironclad Cavalry commander who has been harassing the borders of my Yunxiu Kingdom," Mo Yinghuo thought to herself.

Little did they know that when the two armies clashed, the Marquis of Haitang had the same thought when he first saw her.

Despite his sighs and thoughts, Mo Yinghuo smiled and said, "Lord Haitang, I'll trouble you to go out and inform the soldiers of Dongliang that their king has sent a decree, so that they will not cause any more unnecessary casualties."

Mo Yinghuo's unruly smile was like a bleak autumn knife, casually stabbing Haitang Hou in the heart. He froze on the spot, feeling even more desolate than when he heard the Empress Dowager's word "surrender".

Marquis Haitang recalled the words of advice Mo Yinghuo had given during the battle, the unimpeded pursuit that had gone unchallenged, the Yun Zhao army's delayed advance followed by a direct assault on the enemy's stronghold, and the deliberate delaying tactics employed earlier... Many things, though some he couldn't understand, he knew one thing: this eldest princess of Yunxiu Kingdom understood better than he did what had happened in the Eastern Liang Kingdom's court. From the moment she was stationed in Chencheng, or perhaps even earlier, she had already planned all of this.

He suddenly understood why this woman with delicate features and beautiful eyes could subdue the four surrounding kingdoms in just four years.

Beneath their ruthless and decisive nature lay a heart full of unfathomable strategic brilliance; no wonder the Western Jin's 200,000-strong army suffered such a devastating defeat.

"Uncle Wang." A trembling voice rang out, drifting into the ears of the dazed Marquis Haitang. The voice was both familiar and strange.

The Marquis of Haitang turned to look at the source of the sound and noticed the magnificent white-haired old man before him. The contrast between the opulence and the weariness of age was stark. Yet, that opulence once again pierced his heart; this was the unique and incomparably noble royal robe of the Eastern Liang Kingdom!

Mo Yinghuo seemed to have anticipated this, and even glanced at the loyal and imposing Marquis Haitang with a hint of sympathy.

Zhao Shu approached Mo Yinghuo and said softly, "General."

Mo Yinghuo immediately understood his meaning and his gaze fell on the King of Dongliang.

Before he could speak, the King of Dongliang seemed to know what he was going to ask and raised his voice, "In the square behind the palace. General, the thing inside that mahogany box was obtained by my brother with his blood and honor. Dongliang is giving it to the Princess, please..." He gasped for breath, and the Queen Mother immediately stepped forward to support him. Suddenly, the King of Dongliang straightened up like a spring, his voice shrill and sharp, as if he had used all his strength, filled with resentment and anger, "Avenge my father and brother!"

After speaking, the spring that had been taut on the throne, the King of Dongliang, finally collapsed like a broken leaf, with no more force to resist and no more sparks to ignite. He slowly fell down and eventually died in the arms of his mother, who looked much younger than him.

Before Marquis Haitang could react to the address "Uncle Wang," before he could even ask a question, everything was over. He stared blankly at the unusually calm Empress Dowager above him.

With a look of utter despair, the Empress Dowager looked at Marquis Haitang, a hint of mockery on her lips, and said slowly, "Now, it really is just the two of us left. Everyone else is dead."

A hint of tenderness and heartache flashed in Haitanghou's eyes.

A loud "boom" came from outside the palace.

Zhao Shu and Mo Yinghuo exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, headed straight for the square behind the palace.

Upon entering the rear of the Dongliang Palace, Mo Yinghuo couldn't help but sigh inwardly as he ran. What a magnificent sight! Outside, the world was in turmoil, but here, everything was presented as peaceful and serene.

Ten thousand begonias, beautiful and enchanting, rustled in the wind as people passed by, petals falling in layers, a breathtaking sight—a truly captivating display of red, a perfect place for a stroll. They walked through the begonia blossoms, passing an exquisite corner tower. Around the tower, a clear pond flowed, its surface covered with floating duckweed, a vibrant green. In the distance, wisps of mist swirled, and a straight bluestone path led to a vast plaza, descending gently with jade steps.

Mo Yinghuo and Zhao Shu stopped, as expected, there was yet another mysterious stone array in front of them.

This stone formation is larger than the one in Chencheng. Unlike the previous ones, a white jade coffin lies strangely horizontally in the middle of this formation.

Mo Yinghuo thought to himself, "This is the Yang Stone Formation and White Stone Formation he mentioned."

The soldiers of Yunxiu Kingdom were seeing such a massive stone formation for the first time. Though lacking any luxurious or ornate decorations, it was simply a circular stone forest formed by towering, round stone pillars. However, the strange, solemn aura emanating from within the formation was captivating, leaving them unable to calm their gaze for a long time. The soldiers stood silently, as if before a monarch, never having felt such reverence and utmost piety.

Suddenly, a black and a white figure appeared faintly inside the Xuan Stone Formation, then vanished in an instant, extremely eerie.

Mo Yinghuo asked, "How is Zhao Shu?"

Zhao Shu: "Go in."

Mo Yinghuo nodded and looked at the soldiers accompanying him, saying, "A few of you come in with me, the rest of you wait outside the stone formation. Remember, don't come in without orders."

"Yes," the soldiers replied, bowing in unison.

As soon as she stepped into the stone formation, Mo Yinghuo immediately felt uneasy. She couldn't quite describe the feeling, but it was incredibly strange. It was as if she had suddenly arrived in a quiet and leisurely village with a small bridge and flowing water, while a soldier riding a steed on the battlefield had instantly arrived at a lush grassland and was strolling slowly with a beautiful and virtuous woman. It was like a raging storm turning into a gentle breeze, a sudden rain becoming a refreshing drizzle, and a raging fire becoming a spark...

Mo Yinghuo couldn't quite grasp the feeling, but she quickly adapted to the strangeness of the Xuan Stone Array. Just as she settled in, she was drawn to the flawless white coffin that suddenly appeared before her. She softly called out, "Zhao Shu," but received no answer. Looking around, she found no one. It seemed this stone array had led everyone who entered to different places. She drew her long spear from her waist and slowly walked towards the white jade coffin.

As soon as she approached, before Mo Yinghuo could even get a good look, the white jade coffin suddenly opened with a creak. A long, strong hand with distinct knuckles grabbed her collar, and with a slight pull, dragged Mo Yinghuo inside. Then, with another creak, the coffin slammed shut.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.