144. Kirin

After sending everyone away, only Feng Zhiyao and Zhuo Jing were left in the study. Mo Xiuyao leaned against the couch and watched the two of them in silence, tapping the armrest with one hand. The study was silent, and it took a long time before his voice was heard in the study, "Feng San, what happened in the capital after I left?" Feng Zhiyao would naturally not stand for Mo Jing.

Qi Yin was hiding something, and he quickly exaggerated everything that happened after Mo Xiuyao left Beijing. Although Zhuo Jingsui always liked to keep a cold face in front of others, he would not spare any effort in speaking ill of those who intended to harm his master. Mo Xiuyao's expression, which was not very pleasant to begin with, became even gloomier.

Mo Xiuyao was really angry. Not only because Mo Jingqi had set his sights on Ah Li, but also because he, as an emperor, was so ignorant of the importance of things. In Mo Xiuyao's view, the lives of tens of thousands of troops and the people of Xinyang were lost because of Mo Jingqi's suspicion and narrow-mindedness. Once, Mo Xiuyao wondered if it was the King of Dingguo of all generations.

The ancestors of the Dingguo Palace were too involved, which led to the emperor being so wary of the Dingguo Palace. Now he finally understood that it was not that the ancestors of the Dingguo Palace did not know how to surpass the emperor, nor that they did not understand how to avoid the emperor's suspicion. It was that there were some things... that you knew you couldn't do, but you had to do them!

"Good...very good!" Mo Xiuyao laughed softly, and the low laugh made Feng Zhiyao shudder for no reason. Mo Xiuyao raised his head and said to the two people: "You go back first."

"I will take my leave."

It was already midnight when Ye Li entered the study. Although she was a little angry at Mo Xiuyao's reckless behavior after waking up, she couldn't help but walk out of the room to check when she found that he was not in the room. Seeing that the light in the study was still on, Ye Li knew that he must still be working in the study. After thinking about it, she couldn't bear it and turned to the kitchen to make some midnight snacks.

He entered the study. Mo Xiuyao was writing at his desk in the study. He raised his head when he heard the sound of the door. He saw a woman wearing a plain cloak, her hair casually tied up, holding a tray full of food in her hand and looking at him quietly. Her beautiful face reflected in the light showed an incredibly graceful and gentle appearance. Mo Xiuyao felt warm in his heart. This was his wife.

"Ah Li, come here..." Mo Xiuyao put down his pen, stood up, and stretched out his hand to Ye Li.

Ye Li walked forward and placed the tray on the table. She put away the various files and documents on the table, put out the food and said, "Is there anything that can't be done tomorrow?"

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly, pulled Ye Li to sit on his lap and said, "Ali, eat with me." Because he didn't want to disturb Ali's rest, he only ate a few bites of dinner. He was really hungry now. Ye Li looked at him speechlessly. How could she eat sitting in his arms like this? Mo Xiuyao pretended not to see her tangled expression and scooped a cup of soup.

The spoonful of porridge and the refreshing side dishes were brought to Ye Li's mouth. Ye Li hesitated for a moment, and seeing that he was stubborn and refused to take his hand back, she had to lower her head and eat it. Mo Xiuyao smiled with satisfaction, and then he took two more bites. The two of them finished the food on the table one spoon at a time. When Ye Li saw the empty bowls and plates on the table, she had to withdraw her spoon.

I twitched my lips and had nothing to say.

After supper, Mo Xiuyao called the servants to clear away the dishes. He did not let go of Ye Li and just held her in his arms. The two of them looked at the memorial on the table together, exchanging some opinions from time to time. When Ye Li saw the data on the number of people massacred in Xinyang City, she lowered her head in sadness and said, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault this time.

. "Mo Xiuyao sighed, lifted her little face and kissed her softly, saying: "Ah Li, you have done very well. Better than I thought." Mo Xiuyao was telling the truth. Although he handed over the military power of the Mo family army to Ye Li, to be honest, Mo Xiuyao was not too sure how much Ye Li could control. After all, it was such an important task to command hundreds of thousands of troops.

Even men can't do this. But his Ahri has really done his best.

"But if I hadn't ordered people to divert their attention to Xinyang's food and money, perhaps Xinyang City would not have been massacred." Ye Li said softly.

Mo Xiuyao shook his head and said calmly, "Ah Li, don't take everything on yourself. You and I both know that you did nothing wrong. Although Xiling is as vast as Da Chu, it is different from Da Chu in that it has abundant land. Xiling has a large area of ​​desert and the cultivated land area is less than one-fifth of Da Chu. In Xinyang City, there are enough land to support 500,000 troops for half a year.

of food and military supplies. Once they get this batch of food and silver, this war will be more difficult. Moreover, the Xiling soldiers did not kill ordinary people when they invaded Dachu not because they didn't want to, but because they were worried about provoking resistance from the people. Once this war continues until winter...Have you read the war history of Xiling Kingdom?" Ye Li shook her head.

She shook her head. She didn't care about those things before. After marrying Mo Xiuyao, she had too many things to do. In fact, she didn't have much time to read.

Mo Xiuyao said: "If Ah Li had seen it, he would have known that once the Xiling army ran out of food, they would quickly attack the common people. In fact, the Xiling army always believed that they were strong, and Xiling did not produce food, so their food supply was never sufficient. The common people in the enemy country were just a backup source of food for them. Although

Although Great Chu had never been harmed by them before, the Western countries and even the southern border had experienced being massacred by the Xiling people. If the Xiling people were allowed to obtain the grain and grass from Xinyang, the war would surely drag on for longer. Once the grain and grass were scarce in winter, more people would suffer. Moreover, even if we have to blame someone, the first people to be blamed would be those who failed to defend the city!" Ye Li leaned on his strong arms. Although she knew that Mo Xiuyao was comforting her, she felt a lot more relieved in her heart. Ye Li was not a person who liked to dwell on trivial matters, so she quickly put the matter aside and just sighed as she looked down at the shocking numbers on the memorial. War is always accompanied by the innocent lives of countless ordinary people, which makes people feel both heartbroken and helpless.

The two of them huddled together under the light and talked about what had happened since they separated. After hearing what King Zhennan said, Mo Xiuyao's face suddenly darkened. He hugged Ye Li and whispered, "Ah Li is too kind-hearted. It's too cheap for him to pay tens of thousands of grain and millions of taels of silver. If it were me, I would just break his other hand and be done with it." Ye Li raised her head and looked at the man in front of her who seemed a little childish for some reason with amusement, and said, "If that's the case, I'm afraid we and Xiling will really be at war to the death. Hasn't the King of Xiling been communicated with yet?" Mo Xiuyao shook his head and said helplessly, "I'm afraid the King of Xiling is no longer useful. Whether he can survive this year is another matter. Once the King of Xiling dies, I'm afraid there will be another child emperor, and the military and political power of Xiling will fall completely into the hands of King Zhennan."

Ye Li sighed with some melancholy: "If that's the case...I should consider his other hand as well."

After saying that, the two smiled at each other. A joke is just a joke after all. If they really fight to the death with Xiling in the current situation, it will not be good for them or Da Chu. Mo Xiuyao held the beautiful girl in his arms, and his gentle eyes fell on the memorial on the table, flashing a chilling light. The King of Zhennan... dared to covet the princess of the Dingguo Palace. My father only cut off one of his hands back then, which was too lenient!

Mo Xiuyao's sudden return brought the Xiling army, which had been advancing like a hot knife through butter, to a halt. But such peace obviously could not last long, and a few days later, the war reignited. Although Xinyang had been recaptured, including the Xiling North and South armies, there were still five cities in the northwest of Dachu, nearly one-third of the land in the northwest fell into the hands of the Xiling people. And because Mo Xiuyao led his army to break through the blockade of the northern army and rushed straight to Xinyang, although Xinyang was recaptured, the surrounding areas were still occupied by the Xiling people, and the entire Xinyang city became surrounded by enemies on three sides. Although there was no shortage of food and military supplies in the city, water was still a huge problem. Even though there were only a few civilians in the city, the drinking water for hundreds of thousands of soldiers was still a little nervous. Mo Xiuyao was not unaware of this problem, but the Great Chu now really needed an inspiring news to boost the emperor's morale and stabilize the people's hearts, and retaking Xinyang was the best choice.

After Mo Xiuyao came back, Ye Li naturally handed over the original military duties to him and only helped to deal with some trivial matters, which made her freer. While the people who had followed Mo Xiuyao to Beirong with Lin Han and the people who had gone to Beirong with Qin Feng to get information had returned, Ye Li remembered that something had been delayed for a long time, so she found Mo Xiuyao when he was free and found him. There were originally 63 people who were trained at the foot of Black Cloud Peak, but now there were only 51 people here. The sacrifice of 12 people seemed negligible in other armies, but here it was equivalent to the loss of nearly one-sixth of the combat power.

"Your subordinates greet the prince and princess."

Mo Xiuyao nodded and said, "Stand up." With the Beirong group, Mo Xiuyao truly witnessed the fighting power of these people trained by Ye Li, and at the same time he became a little curious about such a team.

"Thank you, Prince and Princess."

Mo Xiuyao smiled and nodded at Ye Li. Ye Li stood up and said, "Thank you for your hard work this time. Lin Han, Qin Feng, report on the progress of each team's mission."

Lin Han stepped forward and said, "Princess, of the eight people who went to Beirong this time, one died in battle, one was seriously injured, and the remaining six all passed."

Qin Feng also stepped forward and said, "Princess, there are fifty-five people, divided into eleven groups. Seven people died in one group and three were injured."

Ye Li nodded slightly and said, "The funeral arrangements for the soldiers who died in the battle and the arrangements for the injured will be handled by Zhuo Jing. All of you who are here now are the final qualified candidates for this special training. Thank you for your hard work these days. This concubine has discussed with the prince. From today on, you will be officially incorporated into the Mohist Army and commanded by the prince and this concubine personally. Code name "Qilin"! "Ye Li showed a jade pendant in her hand, which was very similar to the Jiaozi jade pendant that could command the entire Mohist Army, but the carving on it was a lifelike Qilin. At the same time, from today on, this will also become their name. From today on, they are Qilin!

Ye Li smiled as she looked at the soldiers in front of her who were trying their best to appear calm but still showed excitement in their eyes, and asked in a deep voice: "Everyone, what is a Qilin?"

Everyone hesitated for a moment before someone answered, "My Lady, the Qilin is an auspicious animal."

Ye Li nodded and said, "Yes, the Qilin is an auspicious beast. Not only is the Qilin an auspicious beast, it is also a benevolent beast. The Qilin has horns on its head, and the horns are covered with flesh. It is equipped with weapons but does not harm others, so it is benevolent. I also hope that you will become benevolent beasts that protect the people, and when necessary, you must also be a sharp sword that pierces the enemy."

Everyone said in unison: "We will follow the princess's instructions!"