“Prince Ding, a pleasure to meet you.” Long Yang stared at the man before him for a long while before finally uttering these words slowly.

This was Long Yang’s first time seeing this world-renowned Prince Ding. In some ways, Mo Xiuyao’s fame wasn’t even as great as his father Mo Liufang’s, who had been renowned for both civil governance and military prowess, having rendered outstanding service to Da Chu. Mo Xiuyao had done something that no Prince Ding of the Ding Guo Prince’s Manor had done for generations – severing ties with Da Chu completely, making the Mo Family Army truly become one of the world’s powers vying for supremacy. From then on, they truly broke free from Da Chu’s constraints, and the Mo Family Army’s future successes or failures would have nothing to do with Da Chu.

The man before him wore snow-white robes, with snow-white hair casually draped down, presenting cleanliness utterly at odds with this bloody battlefield, yet it gave Long Yang a sense of danger. Long Yang trusted his instincts, even though he hadn’t been on a battlefield for over twenty years. This man before him was far from as gentle and peaceful as he appeared – beneath that pristine snow-white exterior, as pure as mountain snow, clearly churned a bloodthirsty aura that struck fear in people’s hearts.

Mo Xiuyao looked at Long Yang calmly, one hand carelessly playing with a blue and white porcelain teacup while saying softly, “Originally, I had wanted to have a good chat with General Long and General Zhu. But General Long, I must say… my mood right now is very poor. General Long, do you know what I hate most in life?”

Long Yang looked at Mo Xiuyao and said gravely, “Please enlighten me, Prince Ding.”

Mo Xiuyao slowly put down the teacup, and in the quiet room, the clear sound of a cup meeting table rang out, “It’s being threatened. What I hate most in life is being threatened. Additionally, I’m rather curious, General Long, how did you think I would abandon the siege for the sake of those Da Chu people?” As if speaking of something amusing, Mo Xiuyao slowly began to laugh. Long Yang was silent for a moment before saying, “This old one was mistaken. Perhaps… with age comes a softening of the heart. If this old one were younger, I would likely have made the same decision as Prince Ding.”

Mo Xiuyao nodded and smiled, “Indeed, General Long understands me well. Since that’s the case… is General Long prepared to accept the consequences of such a decision?”

Hearing this, Long Yang’s expression changed as he said heavily, “Prince Ding, you’ve already taken Bian City, why create more bloodshed? This matter was this old one’s doing alone. If Prince Ding is angry, you may take this old one’s life instead.”

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly without confirming or denying, “I forgot to tell General Long, although you let most of the city’s civilians escape last night, the Mo Family Army has also captured many Xiling soldiers. Barely… enough to make up for the number of civilians who escaped, perhaps?”

“Prince Ding…” Long Yang closed his eyes in pain, “This old one alone did this, this old one alone should bear the consequences. Even if Prince Ding has me cut into a thousand pieces, this old one won’t utter a word of complaint. Please, Prince Ding… spare the innocent civilians and soldiers.”

Mo Xiuyao acted as if he hadn’t heard, waving to someone at the door, smiling, “Take General Long to see…”

Outside the door, Zhuo Jing waved and two guards came in to take Long Yang away. In the room, Mo Xiuyao slowly closed his eyes. After a long while, a deep voice emerged from beneath the snow-white hair, “These people… how detestable! Father, Brother… once I kill them all you can rest in peace… and no one will ever be able to hurt A’Li again…”

When Ye Li finished dealing with matters on the battlefield and returned to Bian City with Feng Zhiyao and others, the Mo Family Army soldiers inside and outside the city were cleaning up the battlefield. A thick smell of blood still lingered in the air. As they walked through the city streets, soldiers cleaning the streets would occasionally come forward to bow in greeting.

Feng Zhiyao frowned, asking somewhat puzzled, “What’s going on? Why aren’t there any civilians in the city?” Even if they had just finished fighting and civilians were too afraid to come out, it shouldn’t be to the extent that not a single person could be seen. There wasn’t even anyone peeking from the windows of the buildings along the street. The entire city was silent except for the soldiers cleaning the streets as if it were a dead city.

A soldier before them hesitated, glancing at Ye Li and the others before reporting, “Your Highness, General Feng, the Lord just ordered all civilians and prisoners to be taken to the west of the city.”

Ye Li frowned, asking, “To the west city? For what?”

“The west of the city… is Bian City’s execution ground.”

“Execution ground?” Feng Zhiyao thought for a moment and said, “Did we capture some important Xiling commander? Long Yang or Lei Tengfeng? No, even if we captured them, there’s no need to execute them right now, is there?” Killing Long Yang might make sense to break Xiling’s morale, but Lei Tengfeng was worth more alive than dead. The Third Young Master Feng momentarily forgot that Lei Tengfeng had slipped away from his forces just last night.

The soldier looked at Ye Li without speaking. Ye Li furrowed her brow and said, “Tell me truthfully.”

The soldier said gravely, “The Lord ordered all prisoners and civilians of Bian City to be executed!”

“What?!” Ye Li and Feng Zhiyao were both startled, exchanging glances before Feng Zhiyao steadied himself and asked, “What exactly happened?”

The soldier hurriedly explained the events of the past day and night, including how Long Yang had threatened them with the Da Chu civilians of Bian City to force them to withdraw. Not waiting to hear the full story, the group hurried toward the execution ground west of the city.

The large open space west of the city had been Bian City’s execution ground since its founding. However, without a doubt, the number of people to lose their heads here today would exceed the total of the past several hundred years. Long Yang was held down by two Qilin soldiers, facing the execution ground helplessly watching the prisoners forced to kneel on the ground. Many of these people were still wounded, yet now they were being forced to kneel and await execution.

The flat, cold stone ground was already stained with dark red bloodstains, clearly showing these kneeling people weren’t the first batch. Long Yang was held immobile by those behind him, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets, “Enough! Prince Ding! Enough… it was all this old one’s fault, kill me now!” Long Yang’s eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead. He had truly erred, trying to defend Bian City but inadvertently enraging a blood-thirsty lion that had lain dormant for years. Perhaps because he had taken too many lives in his youth, karma was now being repaid through these innocent soldiers and civilians in his twilight years.

“Prince Ding! Kill me instead!” Long Yang roared.

Mo Xiuyao’s lips curled in a slight smile as he raised his hand to point at the people in the blood below, saying with a smile, “I won’t kill you, General Long. Watch carefully. Watch how these soldiers and civilians die. It is you… who killed them. In the war between armies, I never harm civilians, but this time… you forced me to. After this, I believe such a situation as yesterday’s will never appear on the battlefield again. Don’t you agree?”

“How can you kill innocents so indiscriminately, do you not fear retribution?” Long Yang asked painfully. In the past, Long Yang hadn’t believed in karma, only that man’s will could conquer heaven. But now, he had to admit that karma truly existed in this world.

Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly, “What retribution should I fear? Generation after generation, Prince Ding’s Manor has served the country loyally, and what good fortune did that bring us?”

“Do the Princess Consort and Young Master not fear it?” Long Yang asked. At these words, Mo Xiuyao’s brow furrowed and his aura instantly froze like frost. Mo Xiuyao suddenly raised his eyes to look at Long Yang, that blood-soaked gaze making even Long Yang’s heart tremble. Then Mo Xiuyao commanded sharply, “Kill them all!” Turning back to Long Yang, Mo Xiuyao said coldly, “You’d better pray A’Li remains safe and well for life, otherwise… I will have all living things under heaven accompany her in death!”

Hearing Mo Xiuyao’s order, the executioners in the execution ground once again raised their blades…

“Stop!” A clear female voice came from behind, and everyone’s hands paused as a white figure seemed to float down like a cloud into the middle of the execution ground. Ye Li turned to look at the dark red bloodstains at her feet with a frown, then glanced at the sobbing civilians being held around the execution ground and slightly relaxed. They had made it in time…

“A’Li, why are you here?” Mo Xiuyao started, the coldness on his face gaining several degrees of warmth as he stood up to look at the white-clad figure in the execution ground, asking gently. Ye Li raised her eyes to look at the snow-white-robed and snow-white-haired man on the high platform, his handsome features carrying a faint warmth and tenderness. He seemed utterly different from the ruthlessly cruel, demon-like voice from before.

Walking up the platform with Feng Zhiyao, Feng Zhiyao first caught their lord’s blade-like gaze. Helplessly rubbing his nose, he stood to the side – the Princess Consort had arrived just in time, it had nothing to do with him.

“A’Li, why did you come? You’ve been working hard for several days, why not go rest?” Seeing the weariness difficult to conceal in Ye Li’s delicate features, Mo Xiuyao asked in displeased, deep tones.

Ye Li helplessly gave him a look – whose fault was it that she couldn’t go rest?

“What happened? Why suddenly…” Ye Li asked softly. If possible, she wouldn’t want to question Mo Xiuyao in this place. But now wasn’t the time to choose locations – with any delay, nearly a hundred thousand people could lose their heads. In both past and present lives, Ye Li was still a soldier at heart. She didn’t fear fighting or death. But killing prisoners and innocent civilians was clearly beyond her moral baseline. Moreover, this wasn’t good for Mo Xiuyao and the Mo Family Army’s reputation. Several years ago, when Mo Xiuyao killed thousands of Da Chu soldiers in the Northwest, it had already drawn criticism from many scholars. If they added all these civilians from the city, it truly wouldn’t be good for Mo Xiuyao.

Mo Xiuyao slightly furrowed his brow and said deeply, “A’Li doesn’t need to concern herself with these matters. Go rest first, alright? I’ll come accompany you after I handle these things. We can rest in Bian City for two days.”

“Xiuyao.” Facing Mo Xiuyao’s obvious attempt to change the subject, Ye Li looked at him quietly, concern appearing in her eyes, “Xiuyao, I’m rather tired. Would you accompany me back to rest first? These matters can be discussed another day.” Ye Li said softly, her voice carrying traces of vulnerability and exhaustion.

Mo Xiuyao’s heart softened as he looked down at the dark shadows around Ye Li’s eyes. Finally, he bent down and picked her up in his arms, heading out. Ye Li rested in Mo Xiuyao’s embrace, lifting her head to give Feng Zhiyao a meaningful look. Only after Feng Zhiyao nodded slightly, indicating he would handle things, did she rest easy and close her eyes against Mo Xiuyao. These past few days had truly left her exhausted.

As Mo Xiuyao carried Ye Li past the edge of the execution ground, his gaze swept coldly over the kneeling Xiling soldiers. His cool eyes carried traces of disdain and mockery. Among these Xiling soldiers were many unyielding spirits who, having been captured in defeat, had already resolved themselves to death. Seeing Mo Xiuyao’s mocking gaze, how could they contain themselves? One of them spat forcefully and sneered, “Mo, if you’re going to kill us, do it! In twenty years, this old man will be a hero again, and will surely slaughter your entire Ding Wang Manor!”

Mo Xiuyao’s gaze turned cold as he said indifferently, “If that’s the case, I’ll grant your wish. Kill them all!” With that, he paid no more attention to the people before him, carrying Ye Li away from the execution ground. Those left behind looked at each other in confusion. The Princess Consort’s intention was clearly to prevent the killings, but the Lord had ordered everyone killed. Whether to kill or not became a problem – by reason they should naturally follow the Lord’s orders, but in recent years the Lord had never gone against the Princess Consort’s wishes. Moreover, the Mo Family Army’s soldiers were the most elite warriors, each with a soldier’s pride. Killing in battle was one thing, but massacring helpless ordinary civilians like this, they truly found it difficult to bring themselves to do.

“General Feng, what should we do?” The officer in charge of the executions came forward to ask.

Feng Zhiyao rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. Using his chin to point at the group still kneeling at the execution ground, he said, “Those, kill them all. Leave the rest for now.” The Lord had said to kill them all, and those who had insulted and cursed the Prince deserved death. It was unfortunate for the hundred or so people with him, but they could only blame their bad luck. Those kneeling at the execution ground would be killed, but the others… naturally they would await orders from the Lord and Lady. Feng Zhiyao thought silently.

The execution officer went to carry out the orders with satisfaction. Feng Zhiyao looked at Long Yang, whose face was ashen, and shook his head slightly. Long Yang had violated Mo Xiuyao’s greatest taboo, using Da Chu civilians as human shields. If Mo Xiuyao had retreated once, other Xiling commanders would follow suit in the future. More importantly, there were already nearly a thousand Qilin who had entered the city first. If Mo Xiuyao had truly ordered a retreat, once Long Yang was free to act, those thousand Qilin who had entered the city first would have been doomed. However… wasn’t the Lord’s anger a bit excessive?

When Ye Li woke from her deep sleep, the sky outside had already darkened. Sitting up and rubbing her temples, she felt something wasn’t quite right. Though she was very tired, she shouldn’t have fallen asleep immediately upon being held in Mo Xiuyao’s arms. Suddenly remembering what had happened at the execution ground, Ye Li raised her head to see Mo Xiuyao sitting under a lamp writing beyond the gauze landscape screen. Seeming to hear Ye Li stirring, Mo Xiuyao put down his brush and stood up, walking into the inner chamber with a smile, “Awake?”

Ye Li nodded, looking carefully at Mo Xiuyao. Under the light of the night pearl, his handsome features carried a faint smile, gentle and comfortable.

Ye Li leaned into his embrace, looking up at his somewhat tired features, and said softly, “Why not rest a while? Aren’t we staying in Bian City for two days of repairs? Whatever needs to be done can wait until tomorrow.” Mo Xiuyao rested his chin on top of her head, stroking her soft hair while smiling faintly, “Couldn’t sleep… I’m handling all the matters that need to be dealt with so I can accompany you tomorrow. A’Li, you’ve worked hard these past days.”

Somehow, Ye Li suddenly remembered Zhu Ling’s expression before death. Lying on the ground stained dark red with blood in his blood-soaked moon-white clothes, his eyes dim and lifeless… The smile gradually faded from her face as Ye Li closed her eyes, feeling somewhat of a headache.

“What’s wrong, A’Li?” Mo Xiuyao asked softly.

“Nothing,” Ye Li said quietly, “Just tired.”

Mo Xiuyao’s eyes moved slightly as he gently patted her delicate back, saying softly, “Since you’re tired, sleep a while longer. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow, alright?” Ye Li nodded, and leaning against Mo Xiuyao truly made her feel drowsy. Fighting against sleep, Ye Li said quietly, “Xiuyao, war doesn’t concern civilians. Don’t kill innocents indiscriminately, the hearts of the people…”

Mo Xiuyao looked down at the beautiful face gradually falling into deep sleep. Lowering his head to place a gentle kiss, “A’Li’s heart is too soft, that’s not good. It makes it easy to get hurt. Innocent… who in this world is truly innocent?”

In the temporary study cleared out of the governor’s mansion, Mo Xiuyao sat in his chair, looking calmly at Feng Zhiyao and Qin Feng before him. Though Feng Zhiyao felt extremely helpless, he dared not provoke Mo Xiuyao when his mood was terrible. The originally lazy and carefree smile on his face gradually became a stiff fake smile, and finally, he could no longer maintain even that.

Looking at Qin Feng who had no intention of speaking, Feng Zhiyao coughed lightly and said, “My Lord…”

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyes, looking at him calmly and asking, “Have the people at the execution ground been dealt with?”

“They have been dealt with,” Feng Zhiyao quickly answered.

“Dealt with?” Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and smiled coldly, “Then what are those being held in the prisoner camp outside the city?” Feng Zhiyao smiled apologetically, “The fellow who insulted you, My Lord and those kneeling at the execution ground at the time were indeed all killed, as you can verify. As for the rest… My Lord hadn’t given instructions.”

“Oh?” Mo Xiuyao tilted his head, looking at him with an ambiguous smile, asking, “Then now that I’m giving instructions, go kill them all.”

“My Lord…” Feng Zhiyao said with a bitter expression, speaking softly, “Please reconsider.”

Mo Xiuyao looked at him coldly, and Feng Zhiyao continued, “My Lord, our Mo Family Army is known for strict discipline and never killing innocent civilians. If My Lord kills these people in a moment of anger, the reputation of the Mo Family Army and the Prince Ding Manor will be ruined in an instant. Moreover, the people of Xiling are naturally brave and fierce. If they learn of the Mo Family Army massacring a city, they will certainly help the Xiling defenders guard their cities with all their might. This would be very disadvantageous for our future military operations.” Seeing Mo Xiuyao unmoved, Feng Zhiyao sighed internally and had to continue, “Furthermore, the Princess Consort is kind-hearted and would certainly not approve of My Lord’s actions. Why should My Lord upset the Princess Consort over unrelated people?”

At this point, Feng Zhiyao raised his eyes to steal a glance at Mo Xiuyao. Seeing his sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed, clearly in thought, he finally relaxed slightly. If the Lord had been determined to kill those people regardless of the consequences, probably no one could have persuaded him.

After quite a while, Mo Xiuyao finally said coldly, “Kill all the prisoners, expel all ordinary civilians from the city. Feng San, if you can’t handle this properly, you can deal with the consequences yourself!”

Feng Zhiyao relaxed – in this era, there was no concept of not killing prisoners. When countries captured prisoners on the battlefield, besides using them for exchanges or as slaves, they generally killed them. Although Feng Zhiyao disdained killing Xiling soldiers who couldn’t resist, he knew these people absolutely couldn’t be sent back. Keeping them would also be troublesome, so if Mo Xiuyao was determined to kill them, he didn’t much care anymore.

“This servant obeys,” Feng Zhiyao said respectfully, then looked at Mo Xiuyao and asked, “My Lord, what about Long Yang… how should he be dealt with?”

At the mention of Long Yang, Mo Xiuyao’s face darkened. His expression was gloomy as he said, “Take Long Yang to the execution ground, let him watch how those Xiling people die.”

Feng Zhiyao finally understood why Long Yang had appeared on the execution platform earlier that day. Shaking his head internally, Long Yang had offended the Lord too severely – probably no one’s persuasion would work, “This servant obeys, I’ll go handle it now.”

“Don’t let the Princess Consort know,” Mo Xiuyao slowly added.

Feng Zhiyao and Qin Feng exchanged glances – this kind of thing… could it be kept secret?

“Yes. This servant obeys.”

After finishing discussing the matters, Mo Xiuyao didn’t dismiss them. For a moment both were somewhat confused. Mo Xiuyao stared at them for a long while before asking, “What happened to A’Li?” Both were startled, not understanding Mo Xiuyao’s meaning. Mo Xiuyao frowned, saying somewhat irritably, “A’Li’s mood has been poor, what happened when you went out this time?”

The Princess Consort’s mood was poor.

Both lowered their heads in thought for a moment, but couldn’t think of anything that would have upset the Princess Consort. The military operations had been going smoothly, and though the Mo Family Army had suffered some losses, those were all expected and unavoidable losses within expectations, there was nothing else. Seeing Mo Xiuyao’s expression becoming increasingly unpleasant, Qin Feng spoke up, “General Zhu Yan’s grandson Zhu Ling died taking an assassin’s weapon for the Princess Consort, and General Zhu Yan jumped from the city wall in front of the Princess Consort, committing suicide for his country.” After thinking for a while, these were the only two events that could be considered special.

“Zhu Ling? Who is that?” Mo Xiuyao asked.

Qin Feng explained the entire course of events from beginning to end. Originally Ye Li and Qin Feng had only gone to assist Zhang Qilan in dealing with the possible emergence of Zhu Yan and the Jing Guo army hidden in an unknown location. The later events of Ye Li and Lin Han secretly infiltrating the Jing Guo army’s camp were Ye Li’s sudden decision, and she hadn’t informed Mo Xiuyao, so naturally he didn’t know about it.

The more he listened, the darker Mo Xiuyao’s expression became. Standing to the side, even Feng Zhiyao unconsciously took two steps back. After Qin Feng finished speaking, the study was completely silent. Feng Zhiyao waited with a bitter expression for Mo Xiuyao’s predictable fury. After a long while, they finally heard Mo Xiuyao’s calm voice, “I understand. You may leave.”

Eh?

Feng Zhiyao was startled. Beside him, Qin Feng swept him a cold glance before turning decisively to leave. Feng Zhiyao shuddered and hurriedly rushed out as well. In the study, only Mo Xiuyao remained alone facing the solitary lamp on the table, “Zhu Ling… a dead man still troubles A’Li’s heart, clearly he died too easily!”