“Mu Qingcang!” Feng Zhiyao landed in the courtyard, frowning at the black-clad man before her.
Hearing this, Ye Li raised an interesting eyebrow and smiled lightly, “Great Chu’s number one expert… Mu Qingcang? To dispatch such a supreme expert, Your Highness truly thinks highly of this consort.” Mu Qingcang’s expression remained cold as he replied indifferently, “This one doesn’t understand what the Princess Consort means. Night Killers take payment for their work – what does Your Highness have to do with it?” Ye Li arched her fine eyebrows, her eyes dancing with an ambiguous smile as she gazed at him. For some reason, Mu Qingcang seemed unable to bear her gaze and awkwardly turned his head away. Ye Li tilted her head as she observed him for a few moments before saying with a faint smile, “Great Chu’s number one expert? This consort thinks that title might be somewhat exaggerated.”
“What gives you the right to say that?!” A flash of killing intent crossed Mu Qingcang’s eyes as he turned his gaze back to glare at Ye Li. The Prince Consort could insult his actions or even his character, but she absolutely could not insult his dignity as Great Chu’s number one expert. Sweeping his gaze over those standing around, he gave a cold laugh and said, “Just with these juniors…” Halfway through his words, meeting Ye Li’s mocking gaze, his expression turned ugly and he swallowed the rest of what he was going to say. Regardless of how these people had captured him, they had managed to capture Great Chu’s number one expert with almost no losses – that was the fact. Since ancient times, while there might be a first in literature, there was no second in martial arts. Even if you had heaven-defying abilities, a loss was still a loss.
Ye Li nodded with a smile, “Their victory over you today was indeed somewhat lucky, but you’d better believe that whether it’s one Mu Qingcang or several more Mu Qingcangs, this Princess Consort would capture them just the same.” Mu Qingcang gave a cold laugh, clearly disbelieving. Ye Li didn’t anger, continuing, “This consort says your title as Great Chu’s number one expert is exaggerated not because you lost to them. But rather… you’ve grown old.” Mu Qingcang’s heart trembled, his face gradually turning ashen through his contortions. He wasn’t even forty yet, which wasn’t considered old for a martial artist. But he had indeed grown old. Among the four great experts of the world, the oldest, the Garrison King of Xiling, though he had lost an arm in a past duel with Mo Liufang, still held power in Xiling and commanded great prestige. The next, the Master of the King of Hell Hall, Ling Tiehan, though like him was from the jianghu, the King of Hell Hall’s name shook the martial world and even the nobles of the four countries didn’t dare to offend them lightly. The youngest, Great Chu’s Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao, though crippled by serious injury in his youth, had still shocked the world in his youth and was known as the Young War God. As for him… he was several years older than Ling Tiehan, and though he held the empty title of Great Chu’s number one expert, he could only guard a Night Killers organization and slowly age. He could neither fight on battlefields nor roam freely in the jianghu. Even when people spoke of the title of Great Chu’s number one expert, they would often sigh regretfully: if Prince Ding hadn’t been unfortunate in his youth, Great Chu’s number one expert would probably have changed hands long ago…
Ye Li looked somewhat regretfully at the middle-aged man with his defeated expression, secretly sighing in her heart. Mu Qingcang’s abilities and ambitions should have made him a powerful figure, but unfortunately, he could only be controlled by others and caught in difficult positions. The title of Great Chu’s number-one expert wasn’t so easy to bear.
“Since I’ve been defeated by your hand, kill me or torture me as you please,” Mu Qingcang said coldly, his eyes dim with a sense of despair.
Ye Li waved her hand and said calmly, “Take him away. Master Mu, Ye Li respects you as an expert, you’d best not act rashly and do foolish things like attempting suicide or escape.”
Mu Qingcang gave a light snort, allowing the guards beside him to take him away.
Feng Zhiyao finally came back to his senses at this point, patting off non-existent dust from his clothes and rubbing his forehead as he walked over, “That person… how could that person be Mu Qingcang?!”
Ye Li smiled, “Why couldn’t it be Mu Qingcang?”
Feng Zhiyao sighed mournfully, “He’s Mu Qingcang ah, Great Chu’s number one expert, known for his noble character and immunity to power’s temptations. Back then when the Emperor offered him the position of general, he declined saying he had no interest in officialdom and only wanted to focus on martial arts. So after all these years of research, it turns out he was researching how to be an assassin?” Though Night Killers was indeed not bad, compared to the King of Hell Hall which was also an assassin organization, they were still far behind, right?
Ye Li lowered her eyes, her vermillion lips curling slightly, “Wielding power over the world while awake, resting in the embrace of beauty while drunk. Men’s pursuits in this world are nothing more than these. Mu Qingcang neither loves power nor beauties – do you think this possible?”
“He loves martial arts,” Feng Zhiyao said.
“How much higher is his martial arts compared to the other three experts?” Ye Li asked, glancing sideways.
Feng Zhiyao rubbed his nose and remained silent. Mu Qingcang’s martial arts were indeed very high, but as the title holder of Great Chu’s number one expert, Feng Zhiyao felt some disappointment, because he wasn’t notably superior to the other three experts, and in some aspects was even slightly lacking. Moreover, the other three were busy people entangled in affairs of state, which made Mu Qingcang seem even more… failing to live up to his reputation.
“How does the Princess Consort plan to handle Mu Qingcang? He is from the Mu family after all.”
“What about being from the Mu family?” Ye Li asked with a smile.
Feng Zhiyao frowned, “Though we don’t fear the Mu family, having one more enemy is always somewhat troublesome. The Mu family has always maintained neutrality, if because of him…”
Ye Li shook her head, “Feng San, doesn’t Mu Qingcang’s appearance here make you think of something? With Mu Qingcang’s character and background, do you think he would oppose Prince Ding’s mansion just for money?”
Feng Zhiyao started, his expression slightly sinking. It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of it but rather that he was unwilling to think about it. Though he wasn’t blood-related to Prince Ding’s mansion, he had grown up with Mo Xiuyao, and he knew perfectly well how much Prince Ding’s mansion had sacrificed for Great Chu, including his efforts among these sacrifices. So whenever he saw those former friends attacking Prince Ding’s mansion without restraint, what he felt wasn’t just disappointment and anger, but also boundless cold despair.
Ye Li said flatly, “One who eats the ruler’s grain should serve the ruler faithfully, that’s all.”
Feng Zhiyao shook his head, dispelling the unpleasantness in his heart, and raised his eyebrows with a smile, “What does the Princess Consort have in mind?”
Ye Li smiled, “What could I have in mind? If the Mu family can afford the price, we’ll return Mu Qingcang to them, and avoid damaging the harmony between our houses. If they can’t afford the price… I do not need to keep a powerful enemy alive in this world, do I?”
When the sounds of fighting outside completely ceased, it was already nearly the fifth watch, and on the distant horizon, a trace of dawn’s light was faintly visible. Ye Li led her people out of the main courtyard, where the thick smell of blood permeated the air. Standing before the round moon gate outside the main courtyard, looking out, there were rivers of blood and corpses everywhere. Qing Luan and Qing Yu, following behind Ye Li, couldn’t help but rush to one side and bend over to vomit at the sight before them. Ye Li closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, only cold ripples of light remained flowing in her eyes.
“Greetings, Princess Consort!” Throughout the courtyard, people standing with swords and sabers in hand uniformly called out respectfully to the white-clad woman standing at the gate.
Ye Li’s expression was solemn as she nodded slightly, “Everyone has worked hard tonight.”
Zhang Qilan, covered in blood, said seriously, “Protecting Prince Ding’s mansion is both the responsibility and honor of our Mo family army. The Princess Consort’s words are too kind.”
“Reporting to the Princess Consort, the Emperor has arrived,” the outer gate steward came hurriedly, though rushed, still maintaining his composure.
Ye Li was somewhat surprised, raising an eyebrow, “The Emperor has come?”
The steward nodded, “Indeed, the imperial procession is already two li away. Should we go out to welcome them?”
Ye Li smiled gracefully, “Since the Emperor has come to Prince Ding’s mansion so late at night, how could we as subjects not go to welcome him? Steward Mo, you lead people out to welcome the imperial procession first.” Steward Mo respectfully acknowledged and waved his hand, leading people to turn and leave. Ye Li looked at everyone in the courtyard and smiled, pressing her lips together, “Everyone, let’s go out to welcome the Emperor.”
Outside the magnificent Prince Ding’s mansion, on the broad street, the corpses that had originally been strewn about had already been quickly moved away, but the street stained red with blood wasn’t so easy to clean immediately. The dark red bloodstains appeared increasingly eerily cold under the illumination of the lanterns. The imperial carriage slowly approached under the protection of a large group of imperial guards, and the eunuch serving outside lifted the curtain as Mo Jingqi, wearing full imperial regalia, stepped out from inside. Bending down, he saw the dark red covering the ground and his expression changed slightly. Frowning at Steward Mo who was standing respectfully by the street, he asked, “Where is the Prince Ding’s Princess Consort?”
Steward Mo said in a deep voice, “The Princess Consort has suffered some shock and her appearance is not proper, she is late in welcoming Your Majesty, please forgive her.”
Mo Jingqi started, then immediately smiled, “It is good that Prince Ding’s Princess Consort is safe and sound. With Prince Ding not in the capital, if anything were to happen to the Princess Consort, We would be unable to account to Prince Ding.”
Watching Mo Jingqi being supported down from the imperial carriage by eunuchs, Steward Mo stepped back and lowered his head, “Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern, please come inside, Your Majesty.”
Naturally, it wasn’t just Mo Jingqi who had come. Following behind the imperial carriage were the capital’s officials and nobles. At this moment, regardless of what they were thinking inside, they all showed expressions of worry, fear, and relief on the surface. Steward Mo saw it all, but his old eyes that had seen through the world showed not a trace of warmth. Mo Jingqi turned back to address the officials, “In that case, ministers, come with Me to visit Prince Ding’s Princess Consort.” Zhang Qilan stepped forward, frowning, “Your Majesty, with the Prince not in the capital at this time, is it appropriate for so many officials to enter Prince Ding’s mansion?”
Mo Jingqi’s eyes flickered slightly as he stared at Zhang Qilan, “General Zhang? We remember you command several tens of thousands of troops near the capital, why are you here?”
Zhang Qilan didn’t avoid the question, saying seriously, “Before the Prince’s departure, he entrusted the safety of Prince Ding’s mansion to me. Recently, Prince Ding’s mansion has been quite unsettled, so this humble official led troops back to the capital to guard the mansion. This matter… this humble official has submitted a memorial to Your Majesty, but having not received Your Majesty’s instructions, yet with the safety of the Prince Ding’s mansion being as weighty as Mount Tai, this humble official had no choice but to return to the capital first and await Your Majesty’s punishment.”
Mo Jingqi felt like he had a mouthful of old blood stuck in his heart. Zhang Qilan’s memorial was probably mixed in with those memorials reporting the recent assassination attempts on Prince Ding’s mansion. He hadn’t even bothered to look at such memorials, directly tossing them aside. But now he couldn’t deny or punish Zhang Qilan in front of everyone, because Zhang Qilan had submitted a memorial to him beforehand. If he didn’t agree now, it would mean he had predetermined the Prince Ding’s mansion’s doom. Though this was his true thought in his heart, it wasn’t something he could let others know.
Forcing a smile, Mo Jingqi said, “General Zhang’s words are too serious. General Zhang’s wholehearted devotion to the country is truly a model for Great Chu’s military officers. Today you have rendered great service in protecting the Prince Ding’s mansion, and We shall certainly reward you heavily in the future.”
Before Zhang Qilan could express his gratitude, a clear and elegant female voice came from inside the gate, “Your Majesty is wise, thus Ye Li must thank Your Majesty on General Zhang’s behalf.”