Shanhe Festival 307. Entering the City, Princess Lingyun's Challenge
After welcoming Xu Qingbai into the camp and dismissing a group of curious young generals, leaving only Feng Zhiyao, Zhang Qilan and others, the tent finally became quiet again.
Feng Zhiyao looked at Xu Qingbai with some curiosity and said, "When did the fourth master Xu arrive in Xiling? We don't know anything about it." Xu Qingbai smiled and glanced at Ye Li who was staring at him, and said with a smile, "I have been here for quite a while. I thought you would not arrive for a while." After he said this, Feng Zhiyao and others also understood that Xu Qingbai was probably secretly sent to Xiling Imperial City by the prince and princess. As for what he came for... Looking at Xu Qingbai's gentle and elegant smile, Feng Zhiyao's eyes flashed with a hint of understanding.
"Fourth brother, have you been wronged these days?" Although Ye Li felt relieved to see Xu Qingbai was safe and sound, she was still a little worried that her fourth brother had been wronged in Xiling. After all, the people of Xiling did not have the same saying as the Great Chu that favored scholars. Before the arrival of the Mohist Army, the people of Xiling would not be so polite to the fourth brother.
Xu Qingbai smiled and consoled him, "It's nothing, I just got a little bored in Xiling. Now that you've arrived early, things will naturally go much more smoothly."
Mo Xiuyao drank his tea and patiently stared at Ye Li and Xu Qingbai. After they finished chatting, he asked, "What plans does the Xiling Emperor have?"
Xu Qingbai nodded and said, "Yesterday I met the Emperor of Xiling again. The pressure from the army was very great. And the conditions we offered were enough to tempt him. However... I'm afraid he can't bring himself to give up the imperial city. I'm afraid we have to fight two more battles. The rescue troops from all over the country should arrive in the next few days. I estimate that if we can just repel two routes, he will order the awakening."
Mo Xiuyao nodded and said, "I understand. Thank you for your hard work."
Xu Qingbai smiled and said, "It's my job, why bother?" Zhang Qilan on the side finally came back to his senses and looked at Xu Qingbai in amazement. After a while, he said, "What the prince means is that we don't have to attack the imperial city. Did the fourth son Xu persuade the Emperor of Xiling to give us the imperial city?" Zhang Qilan looked at Xu Qingbai as if he was looking at a monster. Xu Qingbai smiled humbly and said, "It's not a free gift, we naturally have to compensate him with something."
Zhang Qilan waved his hand and said, "This is the imperial city of Xiling. We have earned it no matter what we get. The fourth son of Xu has such ability at such a young age. I heard that the second son of the Xu family could debate with scholars when he was only a dozen years old. Now it seems that the fourth son of Xu is even better than his teacher." After saying that, Zhang Qilan couldn't help but smack his lips in his heart. This Xu family is too scary. Just by talking, they can be more powerful than hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. And the eldest son of the Xu family, I heard that even the political affairs that the prince is usually busy with, he also handled it easily and neatly. Speaking of which... the prince has such a group of brothers-in-law... Unconsciously, Zhang Qilan's eyes looking at Mo Xiuyao can be called sympathy.
The others naturally saw Zhang Qilan's gaze and expression, and Mo Xiuyao's face darkened immediately. Although he also felt that except for Xu Qingfeng, the brothers-in-law were easier to manipulate, the others were more annoying than one another. But at least these people were very useful, and compared to their abilities being annoyed by them occasionally, Mo Xiuyao felt that it was insignificant. But even so, he was not happy to see his subordinates sympathize with him.
Feng Zhiyao lowered his head and coughed to hide the smile on his lips, and asked: "Fourth Young Master, are you sure? The Emperor of Xiling is an emperor after all. Is he really willing to give up the foundation of Xiling?"
Xu Qingbai smiled and said, "Compared to a royal city that can be rebuilt, in the eyes of the Xiling Emperor, his life and the throne are obviously more important. Moreover, given the current situation, with the chaos in the Western Regions, this place is obviously no longer suitable to be the imperial city. Even if we don't want it, I guess he will want to move the capital within three months."
Zhang Qilan frowned slightly and said, "In that case, what do we need such a city for? Are we going to fight the Western Regions?" Although they are not afraid of those small Western Regions, they are too busy with their own affairs now, right? The northwest is still surrounded by the troops under the Northern Rong and the King of Zhennan. Where is the time to go to the small Western Regions? Ye Li smiled and said, "General Zhang, it is Xiling that has a grudge against the Western Regions, not us."
Zhang Qilan spent half his life in the military and was not well versed in political affairs. He asked in confusion, "What does the princess mean?"
Ye Li smiled and said, "The Western Regions have a deep hatred for Xiling, but we have no hatred for them. The territory occupied by Xiling is not within the scope of our current control, and we have not obtained half of the property looted by Xiling. Although Xiling was caught off guard by us and is a little breathless for a while, two-thirds of the area is still there. When it recovers... the centipede is still alive even after death. If the Western Regions want revenge, they will definitely not create an enemy for themselves at this time. And we... need this road to connect the Western Regions, and even further away."
Feng Zhiyao clapped his hands and said with a smile: "I understand. After we take these places, the area controlled by Prince Ding's Mansion will be able to directly connect to the Western Regions. In the future, if we want to trade with the Western Regions, we don't have to worry about being cut off by Xiling. The northwest is poor in resources, but it can definitely become a trade route for the countries in the east and west. Moreover, this kind of terrain can be used for both advance and retreat, attack and defense..."
Mo Xiuyao nodded in agreement, "Feng San is right."
Zhang Qilan nodded and said, "I see. Since there are so many benefits, we must take over Xiling Imperial City."
After Xu Qingbai and Ye Li told the others about the past two months, they agreed on some matters regarding the negotiation with the Emperor of Xiling and then got up and prepared to return to the city. Ye Li said with some concern: "Fourth brother, you should just live in the barracks. What if the Emperor of Xiling suddenly changes his mind..." Although the possibility is not great, it is not completely impossible. Ye Li always does not want Fourth Brother to be hurt.
Xu Qingbai patted Ye Li's shoulder with a smile and said, "Don't worry, nothing will happen. Besides, if I, the envoy for negotiation, ran away first, how could the Emperor of Xiling believe in our sincerity?"
"But..." Ye Li was still worried. Xu Qingbai smiled and said, "As long as the envoys are well-mannered, there won't be any danger. Besides, we are obviously in the upper hand now. What's the point of the Xiling Emperor doing something bad to me? At most, he is just venting his anger. He can endure so many years under the hands of the Zhennan King. He is not a man of blood. Don't worry. Fourth brother will go back first."
Ye Li thought for a moment and said, "I'll let my third brother bring people back with you."
Hoping that she would feel at ease, Xu Qingbai had no choice but to agree and nodded, "That's fine, but there can't be too many people."
Ye Li nodded and quickly asked Zhuo Jing to invite Xu Qingfeng.
Xu Qingfeng was naturally very happy to accompany Xu Qingbai to the Imperial City. Although they were only cousins, the relationship between the fifth brother of the Xu family was always deeper than that between real brothers. Xu Qingfeng was also worried about his fourth brother who had been gentle and polite since childhood. When Ye Li said so, Xu Qingfeng immediately agreed without even considering it. He picked his sixth brother Qilin from his own subordinates to go back to the Imperial City with Xu Qingbai.
As Xu Qingbai expected, the Xiling Emperor held out for a few more days. Five days later, after the Mohist Army defeated two Xiling armies that came to the imperial city for support, the Xiling Emperor could not help but summon Xu Qingbai again. No one knew what Xu Qingbai had said to the Xiling Emperor. On that day, the Xiling Emperor issued an imperial edict to announce to the world that the war between Ding Wangfu and Xiling was caused by Zhennan Wang Lei Zhenting's unauthorized attack on Da Chu. Afterwards, Zhennan Wang not only did not return troops to rescue, but also continued to return troops to the south to attack the south of Da Chu. As a result, the imperial city is now surrounded by soldiers. The Xiling Emperor sympathized with the lives and sufferings of the people and the Xiling soldiers, and negotiated peace with Ding Wangfu. He ceded the five states of Xiling Anping, Lingyang, Changping, Xuanhong, Pingchuan and Ding Wangfu. Xiling will move its capital to Ancheng in the central part of Xiling within two months.
When this decree was issued, not only the government and the people were shocked. Even the rulers of the surrounding countries were shocked. Although they did not take over the entire Xiling, the Mohist Army took over one-third of Xiling, including the imperial city, in less than three months. Such combat power could not help but make people wary and fearful, not to mention that this was not the full strength of the Mohist Army.
After the Xiling Emperor's edict was issued, unlike the shock, fear and anger elsewhere, the Mohist army camp was filled with joy. On the ninth day of the Mohist army's siege of the imperial city, the gate of the imperial city of Xiling was finally opened. The Mohist army took down the most strongly defended city of Xiling with almost no effort, which can be said to be a bloodless victory.
Because Xiling did not completely surrender to the Mohist Army, the Emperor of Xiling did not go out of the city to welcome the Mohist Army. He only sent the ministers of the court to the city gate with Xu Qingbai to welcome them. Even so, many officials of Xiling still looked very unhappy. Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li rode a horse and walked side by side, followed by Feng Zhiyao, Qin Feng, Zhuo Jing and others wearing red brocade clothes. Behind them were the Black Cloud Cavalry, who were also wearing black clothes and riding black horses, and part of the infantry. In order not to scare the people in the city, the Mohist Army did not enter the city in full. Only 10,000 people entered the city, and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses under them stayed outside the city under the command of Zhang Qilan.
Although there were some rumors of massacre in Biancheng at the beginning, the incident was handled well afterwards. Moreover, the Mohist Army basically did not invade the people along the way, and the ordinary people in Xiling Imperial City were not afraid of the Mohist Army. They crowded on both sides of the street to watch the excitement. When they saw that the pair of people walking in front were Prince Ding and Princess Ding, countless envious eyes fell on the two of them.
When they entered the main hall of the Xiling Palace, the Xiling Emperor came out to greet them. He was stunned when he saw the two people standing side by side. After all, even if Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li were not the most famous in the world, they were definitely household names. Moreover, Mo Xiuyao became famous too early, and many people in the meantime fell silent. People who were not familiar with him could easily classify him as a member of the previous generation. At this time, he looked at the man and woman in front of him. Although the man had white hair, he was handsome and had a strong aura. The woman had a beautiful and elegant face, and her gracefulness gave people a sense of grandeur and elegance. If you only look at their age, they are only in their twenties. Such people, no matter which one, are undoubtedly the world's top romantic figures.
"Haha, Prince Ding, Princess Ding, I have long heard of your great name, and today I see that you are indeed stunningly charming." Fortunately, the Emperor of Xiling reacted quickly and retracted his gaze from Ye Li. Although he had some lecherous diseases, he was not so obsessed with lust. He could still clearly distinguish what kind of women he could look at and what kind of women he could not look at.
Mo Xiuyao glanced at him indifferently and retracted his gradually gloomy gaze.
Ye Li smiled faintly and said, "Your Majesty is too polite. Please forgive me if I have offended you."
"No, Princess, you are too polite. Prince Ding, Princess, please come in. I have ordered people to prepare some light wine, please don't be dissatisfied." Seeing that Ye Li actually spoke before Mo Xiuyao, and Prince Ding did not have the slightest displeasure on his face, the Emperor of Xiling was more certain of the position of Princess Ding in Prince Ding's heart. He didn't know that Ye Li spoke first to help him out. Otherwise, he would have been infatuated with a cold butt and embarrassed in front of so many ministers.
"Your Majesty, please."
The group entered the hall and found that the Xiling Palace was extremely simple. Not to mention the splendor of the Great Chu, there were not even many precious furnishings. The whole hall seemed empty, making people feel a little cold and desolate for no reason. Feng Zhiyao looked at Xu Qingbai, who was sitting below him, in confusion. He remembered the news from Prince Ding's Mansion that although the Xiling Emperor was not extravagant, he was not frugal either. Xu Qingbai glanced at the Xiling Emperor who was smiling and greeting Mo Xiuyao in the hall.
Feng Zhiyao blinked, and suddenly realized what was going on when he saw the smiling Xiling Emperor in the palace. It turned out that the capital was going to be moved, and Xiling Emperor was worried that Prince Ding's Mansion would take a fancy to the treasures in his palace, so he hid them in advance.
In the palace, Emperor Xiling looked at Mo Xiuyao and said, "Prince Ding, I sent you the letter yesterday. Do you have any comments?"
Mo Xiuyao leaned back in his chair, raised his hand and took a letter from Zhuo Jing behind him, and said calmly: "The conditions proposed by the Xiling Emperor can be agreed to by Prince Ding's Mansion. Except for one thing... Please forgive me for not being able to help with the Nanzhao matter."
The smile on the face of Xiling Emperor froze, and he forced a smile and said, "How could it be? Prince Ding has great magical powers. As long as he sincerely helps me, how can I say that I can't help you?" Now Xiling's enemies are not just Prince Ding's Mansion. The Nanzhao Kingdom in the south and the small countries in the Western Regions are all eyeing it covetously. Even Nanzhao has sent troops to occupy a state bordering Xiling and Nanzhao.
Mo Xiuyao said in a deep voice: "The distance between the Northwest and Nanzhao is too far. If the Mohist Army is to send troops to help Xiling to stop Nanzhao, firstly, it is not legitimate and secondly, the journey is too long. By the time the Mohist Army arrives, they will be exhausted and may fall into the trap of Nanzhao."
Emperor Xiling smiled and said, "That's not what I meant." Even if Mo Xiuyao really wanted to send troops for him, he didn't dare to ask for it. Now he just hoped that Mo Xiuyao and the Mohist Army would stay in the territory they had already obtained and not harm the rest of his territory. Asking the Mohist Army to help drive away the Nanzhao troops would undoubtedly drive away the wolves and win the tigers.
Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows in question, and the Xiling Emperor smiled and said, "Prince Ding is famous all over the world. I believe that as long as Prince Ding shows some expression, Nanzhao will naturally restrain itself." In fact, the Xiling Emperor did not really take Nanzhao seriously, but now he not only has to deal with the Western Regions, but also has to prepare to deal with Lei Zhenting. There is no time to get involved with Nanzhao. This time... he doesn't want to be a puppet again. Moreover, he gave up the imperial city. The Xiling Emperor knew very well in his heart that if Lei Zhenting had the opportunity to come back, his life would definitely not be easy.
Mo Xiuyao understood, nodded and smiled, "That's fine, I'll send a letter to the Queen of Nanzhao later." As for the former Princess Anxi, the current Queen of Nanzhao didn't care whether she listened to the letter or not. After getting a satisfactory answer, the smile on the face of the Emperor of Xiling became even bigger. The look in his eyes when he looked at Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li became a little more sincere. If the Dingwang Mansion could help him appease Nanzhao and settle Lei Zhenting, then this imperial city might not be a loss.
"Prince Ding, to be honest... although it has been decided to move the capital to Ancheng. But... as far as I know, my nephew Lei Tengfeng is still in Xiling, and he has a lot of soldiers under his command to support the King of Zhennan. This medicine... what should we do?" asked the Emperor of Xiling.
Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said, "Emperor Xiling, our ancestors have a saying, that is, if the name is not right, then the words will not flow. To put it bluntly, Lei Zhenting is just the King of Zhennan. He doesn't even have the legitimate title of Regent King. And Lei Tengfeng is just the prince of Zhennan. Can't Emperor Xiling even deal with him?" Emperor Xiling smiled bitterly and said, "Lei Tengfeng is naturally nothing to be afraid of, but the soldiers under his command and the people who are loyal to the Zhennan Palace should not be underestimated."
Mo Xiuyao held his forehead with one hand and smiled faintly, "As far as I know...General Shuntian is in the Imperial City right now. I believe he will follow Emperor Xiling to Ancheng when the time comes?"
The face of Xiling Emperor changed slightly. Feng Ao was indeed in the imperial city, but he had not told this news to anyone except himself, not even the closest people around him. Judging from Mo Xiuyao's nonchalant expression, it was obvious that he had not just learned about it. Xiling Emperor couldn't help but shudder in his heart, and his fear of Mo Xiuyao increased.
Mo Xiuyao seemed not to notice the expression on Emperor Xiling's face, and continued: "Besides, this war was caused by King Zhennan. Could it be that his son wants to attack the king who helped them to clean up the mess? If so... the loyalty of the Zhennan Palace..." Many things don't need to be explained too clearly. Emperor Xiling suppressed his shock and smiled knowingly: "I understand. Thank you King Ding for your guidance."
"The King of Xiling is too kind."
The hall was filled with joy and the guests were enjoying themselves when suddenly a harsh voice rushed in from outside, "Father! Father!"
Before the Xiling Emperor could react, a gorgeously dressed woman had already rushed in. Without even looking at the people sitting in the hall, she shouted at the Xiling Emperor, "Father! Are you really going to give the imperial city to Prince Ding's Mansion? Are you crazy? How can you be worthy of the ancestors of Xiling by doing this!"
Emperor Xiling's face changed and he shouted, "How dare you! Lingyun, you are getting more and more daring. You don't even know where this place is and you dare to barge in!" Although what he did did make him unable to raise his head in front of his ancestors and subjects, it was not his daughter's turn to blame him.
Ye Li looked at the gorgeously dressed woman who rushed in with some curiosity. Who else could this be but the Princess Ling Yun who wanted to snatch Mo Xiu Yao from her all those years ago?
It was eight or nine years ago. The proud princess who was 29 years old then is now nearly 30 years old. If Ye Li hadn't looked carefully, she would have almost failed to recognize the woman in front of her. Princess Lingyun, who is now 27 or 28 years old, is still well-maintained, with white skin and beautiful appearance. However, the pride she had as a girl has become a little arrogant and mean after more years. The gorgeous clothes, the delicate eyebrows, and the stern light in her eyes all show the personality of this princess. A proud girl may still be attractive in a different way, but a proud young woman becomes less likable in the eyes of men.
"Am I wrong?" Princess Ling Yun raised her chin proudly and stared at her father unyieldingly.
“You…you…” Emperor Xiling was speechless and slumped down on the dragon chair, obviously very angry.
Feng Zhiyao stroked his chin and looked at the fierce woman in front of him. Although he had not seen this Princess Lingyun, he had heard about the princess who dared to challenge the Ding Palace but was so scared that she sat on the ground and couldn't get up. He looked at Princess Lingyun with a smile and said, "Is this the princess who competed with the princess? It seems that her temper is even better than before. Princess, maybe you can compete again now?"
After these words came out, Princess Lingyun obviously realized that there were other people in the palace. She glared at Feng Zhiyuan angrily at first, and then she saw a man and a woman in white sitting together not far away, and she couldn't help but be startled. The man that the young and proud princess had admired for a long time and wanted to marry despite his disability, has fully recovered and even more charming than before after so many years. But the snow-white hair was so dazzling in her eyes. Even though she was far away in Xiling, Princess Lingyun knew everything about Prince Ding, and she also knew why his black hair was white. She couldn't help but turn her eyes to Ye Li next to her.
Ye Li met Princess Ling Yun's gaze, smiled faintly and nodded to her.
However, Ye Li's still elegant and graceful appearance deeply stimulated Princess Lingyun. Looking at her own gorgeous and heavy clothes, the pearls and emeralds all over her body, and the heavy makeup on her face, everything reminded her that she was no longer the proud and beautiful princess of the past. With a breath of anger rushing to her heart, Princess Lingyun pointed at Ye Li and said, "Ye Li, I want to challenge you!"