Mountain and River Festival 196. Moonlight Night

Su Zhe entered the study, and Mo Xiuyao stood up to greet him as a sign of respect. Su Zhe waved his hands and said, "My Lord, Princess, I am sorry to bother you."

Inviting Su Zhe to sit down, Mo Xiuyao just sat down and said with a smile: "Old Su is so polite, but you are alienated from Xiuyao." Su Zhe looked at the young man and woman sitting side by side in front of him, his eyes lingered on Mo Xiuyao's snow-white hair for a while, and then sighed: "Your Highness is so careless about your body, how can the Regent Princess and your brother rest in peace in the afterlife?" Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly, lowered his head and glanced at the white hair hanging on his chest. Su Zhe smiled and said, "Xiu Yao knows I was wrong. Thank you for your concern." Su Zhe shook his head, looked at Ye Li who was sitting next to him, nodded and smiled, "The princess returned safely. It is really the blessing of the ancestors of Ding Wangfu." Ye Li smiled and said softly, "What Su Lao said is right. Ye Li can return safely this time, it is really thanks to the blessing of the ancestors." Ye Li knew that Su Zhe was a little dissatisfied with her, but she didn't feel angry. She could feel that Su Zhe's dissatisfaction with her was not because of himself but for Mo Xiu Yao. He was blaming Mo Xiu Yao for turning white overnight for her. In the final analysis, he cared about Mo Xiu Yao as a student and didn't have any selfish intentions.

Mo Xiuyao reached out and held Ye Li's hand, then smiled at Su Zhe and said, "Old Su is right. Ah Li will give birth in two months, and then the Ding Palace will have a successor. Xiuyao is counting on Old Su to love the little boy."

After hearing what Mo Xiuyao said, Su Zhe's expression softened. He lost his son and grandson in his old age, and even his only granddaughter is gone. He was destined to be alone in this life. When he heard Mo Xiuyao mention the child, the love in his heart was naturally out of control. It was as if he saw a beautiful scene of a child as handsome and smart as Mo Xiuyao when he was a child, sitting on his lap. How could he care about Ye Li? Sighing softly, Su Zhe asked: "The prince has suffered these years, and we old men can't do anything. The princess has taken care of him for the past two years." The emperor was very wary of these old ministers who had old ties with Mo Liufang and Prince Ding's Mansion. For so many years, he could only watch secretly and could not do anything. Looking at the thin but sharp-looking white-haired man in front of him, Su Zhe's heart was also gloomy. After so many years, Su Zhe still clearly remembered what Mo Xiuyao looked like when he was a child. The second son of the Dingguo Palace, he was loved by his father and protected by his elder brother. At that time, the young man in brocade clothes was bright and noble. He rode a horse through the capital like a bright flame, with childish frivolity and pride. When he grew up, he led the army to war and was invincible. He was called the young god of war before he was sixteen. Every time he returned to the court victoriously, there were always countless young ladies who squeezed their heads to see a profile of the young god of war. He was the man in the dreams of many young ladies. How high-spirited and charming was Mo Xiuyao at that time, making countless people only dare to look up to him and not stand shoulder to shoulder with him? However, Mo Xiuyao now is only about 26 or 27 years old, but the fire and charm of the past can no longer be seen in his eyes. Even the occasional flash of fire in those faint eyes is cold, and the handsome face with the white hair like snow makes people feel cold in their hearts. If the young Mo Xiuyao made people look up to him because of his unparalleled charm, then the current Mo Xiuyao is more like the cold snow on the top of the mountain that makes people have to stay. That unparalleled young man, the future god of war of the Great Chu... is finally ruined...

"Mr. Su taught Xiu Yao, and Xiu Yao will never forget it for the rest of his life." Mo Xiu Yao smiled calmly.

Su Zhe shook his head, no longer thinking about the past, and said seriously: "My Lord, do you know why the Emperor sent Prince De and Prince Yu here?"

Mo Xiuyao pondered for a moment, nodded slightly and said: "Although Prince Yu did not finish his words, Xiuyao also understood. Mo Jingqi wants me to return to the capital?"

Su Zhe nodded, looked at Mo Xiuyao and said solemnly: "You can't go back!"

"Old Su..." Mo Xiuyao was a little surprised. Su Zhe was an upright man and loyal to Da Chu. Although he knew that Su Zhe would not harm him, he was still a little surprised to hear him say that he would stop him from returning to the capital. Su Zhe closed his eyes tiredly, and after saying this, he seemed to have aged a lot in an instant. Although he rarely got involved in the core of the court, Mo Jingqi's thoughts were too obvious. He naturally understood what kind of result Mo Jingqi wanted by sending him. Even if it was for the stability of Da Chu, he agreed that it was a good idea to make a law to order Mo Xiuyao to return to the capital, because no one could be sure whether Mo Xiuyao was still loyal to Da Chu. But he also knew that once Mo Xiuyao returned to the capital, what awaited him would not be the Dingguo Palace as before, nor even imprisonment, but a direct death. Personally, Mo Xiuyao was his student, a younger generation whom he had watched grow up since childhood. Publicly, the powerful enemies of the Great Chu were surrounding him, and Mo Xiuyao and the Mo family army were the only ones who could compete with them. Therefore, he could only stop Mo Xiuyao from returning to the capital.

Su Zhe opened his eyes, looked at Mo Xiuyao and said, "Since the prince knows what's going on, he must have already made plans. This is what I said, and it's also what Duke Hua said. Before I left, Duke Hua asked me to bring a message to the prince." Mo Xiuyao lowered his eyebrows and said, "Please speak, Elder Su." The study was quiet, and only Su Zhe's voice was heard in the empty room, "Elder Hua said that the Dingguo Palace has been loyal to the Great Chu for generations. , and has not let down the royal family and Taizu. Now the Prince's Mansion is the only one left in the Prince's Mansion. The Prince should make plans for the Prince's Mansion and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Mohist Army. The Huaguogong Mansion has been deeply blessed by two generations of emperors, and it is natural that it should bow and work hard for the Great Chu until death. I only ask the Prince... If the Great Chu is in trouble in the future, please protect the people of the Great Chu from being slaughtered by foreign races for the sake of our common origin. "Mo Xiu Yao was slightly shocked and raised his eyes to look at Su Zhe. The words of the Huaguogong had actually determined that the Mohist army would have to leave the Great Chu. As a veteran who has fought on the battlefield all his life, the Huaguogong may be the one who sees the most clearly even though he is far away from the court.

"What are the plans of the Duke of Hua?" Mo Xiuyao asked in a deep voice.

Su Zhe said calmly: "The war is raging in Da Chu. On the day of leaving Beijing, Duke Hua mentioned his intention to write to the emperor to lead the troops to war. I'm afraid the memorial has already been placed on the emperor's desk." Mo Xiu Yao frowned and said, "Duke Hua is over seventy years old... the war situation has not yet reached the point where the old man needs to take action." Ye Li patted Mo Xiu Yao's hand and said softly, "The emperor will not agree so easily to let Duke Hua lead the troops to war." Mo Xiu Yao nodded slightly. Mo Jingqi was very cautious about these old generals, and would not give the military power to Duke Hua unless it was absolutely necessary. Su Zhe said: "The emperor is now... doing evil things. He is no longer willing to listen to the advice of good ministers on governing the country. Instead, he is focused on conspiracy. Great Chu..." Su Zhe sighed and continued: "It is right for the prince to stay in the northwest. Once he returns to the capital, I am afraid that the capital will lay a net of heaven and earth. If General Mo is destroyed, Great Chu will perish..." After speaking, Su Zhe stood up and said: "This is what I want to say. Take care, prince and princess. We should set off to return to the capital in two days. I don’t know when we will meet again in the future."

"Mr. Su, the emperor must have sent you here to persuade the prince to return to the capital. How are you going to explain to the emperor after you return to the capital?" Ye Li asked softly.

Su Zhe turned around and looked at her, smiling calmly, "I am already seventy-three years old this year. It is rare for a person to live to be seventy. What else do you need to explain?"

Ye Li frowned. Mo Jingqi was not a soft-hearted person. Even if Su Zhe didn't get punished by Mo Jingqi, he might not be able to survive this. Ye Li stood up, and Mo Xiuyao, who was sitting next to her, hurriedly and carefully helped her up and walked to Su Zhe. Ye Li bowed slightly and said, "The northwest is far from Chujing, the mountains are high and the roads are long and bumpy. Mr. Su is old, why don't you recuperate in the northwest for a few days and enjoy your old age. Isn't it much better than returning to Chujing?" Su Zhe looked at Ye Li with a smile and said, "Thank you for your concern, Princess. I was born and raised in Chujing. Almost my entire life has been spent in Chujing. At this age, there is nothing I can't let go of. I just hope that I can die at home in the future and be buried in Chujing. The northwest land is governed very well by the prince and princess, but it's a pity that it is not the old man's home."

Mo Xiuyao frowned slightly, helped Ye Li sit back down, then turned to look at Su Zhe and asked, "Don't you want to ask about her, Mr. Su?"

Su Zhe was stunned, his wrinkled face became even more gloomy, and his facial muscles trembled uncontrollably. After a while, Su Zhe asked in a deep voice: "Is she still alive?" Of course he knew that Su Zuidie was still alive. The emperor told him the news before leaving Beijing, and expressed his willingness to send someone to rescue Su Zuidie. But what Su Zhe understood more clearly in his heart was... why did Mo Xiuyao capture Zuidie? The granddaughter who had died of illness nine years ago is still alive. As long as Su Zhe thinks about the time when Su Zuidie died and the situation at that time, what else does he not understand? When Mo Xiuyao was just injured, the Dingwang Mansion was in chaos and no one was in charge. It was all thanks to the eldest princess who supported it. He sent Zui Die to Prince Ding's mansion to take care of Mo Xiu Yao's injury. Although they were not married yet, it was natural for Zui Die, his fiancée, to be taken care of by no one in Prince Ding's mansion. But his granddaughter fell ill the next day and was sent back. At that time, he thought that Zui Die was frightened because she had been raised as a spoiled child, but he didn't expect... But even so, Xiu Yao let Zui Die go, so there was no reason for him to catch her back. She must have done something to make Xiu Yao so ruthless.

Mo Xiuyao nodded and said in a deep voice: "She is in Prince Ding's Mansion."

The study fell silent again. After a long while, Su Zhe asked, "What did she do?"

Mo Xiuyao hesitated for a moment, then stood up and took a file from the desk beside him and handed it over. It recorded everything about Su Zuidie in the past ten years. Su Zhe took it, opened the thick file with trembling skinny fingers and read it quickly. The more he read, the uglier his expression became. Ye Li leaned against the couch, looked at Su Zhe's expression carefully, and couldn't help showing a look of pity on her face. After a long time, Su Zhe raised his head from the file and said in a trembling voice: "Good! What a good Su Zuidie! What a good Bai Long! Xiling Bai... Concubine Qingrong, the spy of King Zhennan... Good! She is really a good granddaughter of me, Su Zhe!"

"Old Su..." Ye Li frowned and said worriedly, watching Su Zhe's face turn pale and blue. At the same time, she waved her hand to signal Zhuo Jing, who had been paying attention to the situation, to ask Shen Yang to come over. Su Zhe waved his hand, fell back into the chair, and looked down at the file in his shaking hands. Was there something wrong with his teaching? His granddaughter, who had always been obedient and docile, actually did so many things behind her back. She met the orphan of the previous royal family at the age of fifteen, and even after her fiancé was seriously injured, she was able to instigate Master Mingyue to help her fake her own death and escape. In Xiling, she used the Bai family's status to become Xiling's noble concubine and maneuver between Xiling Emperor and Zhennan King, even to the point of being able to threaten Xiling Queen... and... sent someone to assassinate the unmarried Princess Ding. Is this his granddaughter? Su Zhe suddenly remembered that many years ago, the current emperor secretly expressed his intention to welcome Su Zuidi into the palace as a concubine. At that time, he flatly refused on the grounds that Zuidi had already been engaged. In fact, even if Zuidi and Mo Xiuyao did not have an engagement at that time, he would not agree to let his granddaughter enter the palace. But who would have thought that she did not become the imperial concubine of Da Chu but the noble concubine of Xiling?

Finally, Su Zhe seemed to calm down. He stood up and said, "I am tired, so I will not disturb the prince and princess. As for that evil creature..." Su Zhe closed his eyes tiredly, his mouth twitching slightly, "Let the prince and princess deal with it. The Su family doesn't have such a granddaughter!" After that, he didn't look at Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li anymore, and strode out the door. Ye Li quickly signaled Lin Han to follow. Sure enough, just after walking out of the door for a few steps, he heard Lin Han's voice coming from outside the door, "Master Su! Master Su!" Mo Xiuyao rushed out of the door and saw Su Zhe lying on the ground, being supported by Lin Han. A dark pool of blood on the ground was shocking in the moonlight. Mo Xiuyao lowered his eyes and said lightly, "Send Master Su back."

Ye Li walked up to him and held his hand. The two watched as Su Zhe was escorted back to the guest room by Lin Han. Seeing Mo Xiuyao's indifferent expression, Ye Li said softly, "Why do you have to do this? Didn't you agree to let me handle Su Zuidi's matter?" Mo Xiuyao looked at her quietly. Ye Li leaned into his arms and said softly, "I know you don't want to embarrass me, but as the Princess of Dingguo, it's my job to handle these things, isn't it? If Lord Su gets into any accident because of this, will you be able to let it go?"

Mo Xiuyao remained silent, but just stretched out his hands and held her in his arms. Even though she was more than seven months pregnant, Ye Li still looked thin and slender. The two of them leaned against each other tightly, and the moonlight quietly sprinkled on them, making people's hearts become particularly peaceful.

In the Chu Palace

The window is half-closed, and the silver moonlight quietly falls on the garden outside the window, and the air is filled with a strange fragrance. A white flower slowly blooms in the corner of the wall outside the window with an absolutely beautiful grace. The snow-white flowers bloom like lotuses, but they are more holy and noble than lotuses, like a fairy in white dancing alone under the moon. In front of the window, a gorgeous woman in white lazily leans against the window, letting the moonlight fall on her. Her indifferent eyes stare at the quietly blooming Epiphyllum outside the window in a trance.

"As pure as ice and jade, it blooms alone in the dead of night, not competing with other flowers for beauty. Isn't this Epiphyllum the most beautiful in the world?" A smiling male voice sounded in the room, but there seemed to be a hint of ridicule in the laughter.

The woman in white was too lazy to even turn her head and said indifferently: "If there is no one who appreciates flowers, what is the use of their stunning beauty?"

The man laughed and said, "How could it be? How many people would wait all night to see this ephemeral flower, but unfortunately they could not see it. The ephemeral flower blooms only for Veda... This is really a flower that makes people love and hate it."

The woman in white, Concubine Liu, sat up, turned around and looked at the man in the palace coldly, "What are you doing here? Mo Jingqi is sending people everywhere to look for you, and you still dare to run into the palace?!" There were no candles in the palace. A man walked out in the darkness. The moonlight slanting in shone on him, adding a bit of weirdness. "I came here, of course, to tell you what I gained from this trip out of the capital. One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear, Concubine?"

Concubine Liu looked at him calmly, seemingly unmoved. The man smiled helplessly and said, "Are you not interested in the news about Mo Xiuyao?"

The cold eyes moved slightly, and Concubine Liu stared at the mysterious man with a warning. The man said with some frustration: "Well, the good news is that your mortal enemy Su Zuidi is now in the hands of Prince Ding. And she has been tortured and estimated to be only half alive. It seems that Prince Ding has really broken off his relationship with her. The bad news is... Princess Ding has returned to Ruyang City alive, and she is seven months pregnant. In two months, the prince of Prince Ding's mansion should be born."

"Ye Li is still alive?!" Concubine Liu asked coldly, "Have you seen Ye Li?"

The man nodded and said, "She fell into my hands. I originally wanted to use her to threaten Mo Xiuyao, but in the end..."

Whoosh! A hidden weapon flew through the air, and the man turned his head to let it pass. Concubine Liu in front of the window had already stood up, staring at him angrily, "Tan Jizhi! You have seen Ye Li, why don't you just kill her?"

The man was Tan Jizhi, who had disappeared after leaving the northwest. Tan Jizhi said helplessly: "If I really kill Ye Li, do you think I can come back alive?" Concubine Liu looked at him with disgust and said: "Don't forget our deal, I just want Ye Li to die! It seems that you forgot." Tan Jizhi looked at the beautiful woman in front of him who was as cold as ice and snow, and a strange color flashed in his eyes and said: "How dare I forget the wish of the Concubine? But you can't ask me to exchange my life for Ye Li's life, right? Don't worry, as long as our business is done, let alone Ye Li, Mo Xiuyao can also be handed over to you for disposal." Concubine Liu said coldly: "That's your business, don't involve me in your mess."

Tan Jizhi spread his hands, "Well, it's my business. What has Your Majesty done since I left Beijing?"

Concubine Liu Gui said coldly: "You were stupid to begin with, and now you are even more stupid."

Tan Jizhi smiled grimly, "He is so stupid. I heard that he sent Prince De and Prince Yu to the northwest to try to get Mo Xiuyao to return to Beijing? Which idiot came up with this idea? Does he think Mo Xiuyao is as brainless as he is?"

Concubine Liu Gui said calmly: "What if Mo Xiuyao doesn't come back? I'm afraid Prince De and Prince Yu won't be able to come back either."

Tan Jizhi lowered his head and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "So it was the Noble Concubine's idea... Xuan Mo Xiuyao's return to the capital was fake, and the real purpose was to get rid of Prince De and Prince Yu? However... I'm afraid the Noble Concubine will be disappointed, as Mo Xiuyao may not kill those two princes."

Concubine Liu looked at him coldly, and Tan Jizhi continued, "However, since Concubine Liu dislikes them, I will naturally do it for you no matter what."

"It has nothing to do with me." Concubine Liu turned around and continued to admire the Epiphyllum in front of her.