Nanjing, Jiangnan

The once-mighty Great Chu, which had ruled vast and prosperous territories and stood as one of the world’s two great powers alongside Xiling, now found itself, like Xiling, reduced to controlling just a corner of the realm. Indeed, Xiling and Great Chu could truly be said to share a destiny. Both originated from the same source, established their nations at nearly the same time, grew powerful, became enemies and then declined for similar reasons at almost the same time. After the great war several years ago, more than half of both Xiling and Great Chu’s territories had been absorbed by Prince Ding’s mansion. Although the master of the Prince Ding mansion repeatedly refused to ascend the imperial throne, and eventually even their master disappeared without a trace, this still couldn’t prevent Prince Ding’s forces from growing increasingly powerful, with their common people living in peace and prosperity, showing all signs that the world’s heart was turning toward them.

Though the war had ended just a few years ago, Jiangnan had never been affected by the fighting. In these years, the young emperor who had finally seized power could be said to be governing diligently. Upon entering Nanjing, one could hardly miss its prosperity and bustle. While it couldn’t match Licheng’s diversity of visitors from all directions, it possessed something Licheng lacked – the charm of a thousand-year-old capital.

As soon as Mo Xiaobao’s group entered the city, they drew the attention of passersby. Four handsome youths with extraordinary bearings walking side by side were already eye-catching enough. Moreover, the most outstanding among them, a youth in black brocade, carried a five or six-year-old child dressed in white silk. The little one lay in the youth’s arms, his round big eyes curiously scanning his surroundings. If these youths hadn’t appeared to be extraordinary people, probably many of the aunties attracted by the cute child would have come forward to pinch his cheeks.

The group of four youths and one child swaggered straight to the best inn in Nanjing. After settling in at the inn, Mo Xiaobao played with his brother’s restless little paws while looking at the others, “Seems we arrived early. Is there anything fun to do?” They had indeed come early – Mo Suiyun’s wedding was set for the nineteenth of the month, and today was only the eighth, leaving a full ten-plus day. During this time, Mo Xiaobao could thoroughly explore every corner of Nanjing.

Qin Lie raised his eyes to look at Mo Xiaobao, then sat down to polish his precious sword. As a guard, he naturally did whatever his master said. Therefore, thinking wasn’t his job. Moreover… he wouldn’t be responsible for any unfortunate consequences.

Xu Zhirui thought seriously for a moment and said, “I want to visit several great scholars of Jiangnan.” So, he wouldn’t be joining Mo Xiaobao’s activities. If Mo Xiaobao did anything in Jiangnan that angered heaven and men, it wouldn’t be his concern.

Only Leng Junhan remained enthusiastic, blinking his eyes and saying, “Aren’t we here to play with the little emperor?”

Mo Xiaobao sneered, “The little emperor must be very busy now, how would he have time to play with us? As guests, we shouldn’t trouble our host.” Leng Junhan immediately deflated, “What else is there to play with in Jiangnan besides the little emperor?”

Mo Xiaobao’s eyes rolled, and he gave Leng Junhan a sly smile, saying, “Well…”

“What do you have in mind?” Leng Junhan’s eyes suddenly brightened. Xu Zhirui and Qin Lie each rubbed their noses and slipped to the side. After all these years, they still couldn’t figure out whether Leng Junhan was truly simple or pretending to be foolish. He was always tricked by Mo Xiaobao’s various absurd, childish reasons into doing all sorts of outrageous things, then afterward would act all innocent and wronged. They called him simple because no matter how ridiculous Mo Xiaobao’s reasons were, he would eagerly go along. They suspected he was pretending because every time they did something bad, at least half the consequences would fall on Mo Xiaobao himself. Regarding this, Young Master Leng’s father had once complained to Prince Ding that his son had been bullied into stupidity by the young heir. However, Master Qingchen, renowned for his supreme wisdom, had evaluated it as “appearing foolish while truly wise.”

Mo Xiaobao glanced at Qin Lie and Xu Zhirui who refused to associate with him, then leaned close to Leng Junhan’s ear and whispered a few words. Leng Junhan’s handsome eyes immediately widened, and he looked at Mo Xiaobao hesitantly, saying, “This… isn’t this a bit too wicked?”

Qin Lie and Xu Zhirui couldn’t help but prick up their ears – what could be so wicked that even the usually unconsciously wicked Little Dummy Leng thought it was too much? Surely Mo Xiaobao wasn’t planning to kill everyone in Nanjing?

Mo Xiaobao dismissed his concerns, “How is this wicked? We’re helping him.”

“No way, you go do this yourself!” This time, remarkably, Little Leng Junhan firmly refused, “This young master must remain pure for Sister Xin’er!”

Mo Xiaobao rolled his eyes, looking at Leng Junhan with disdain. Still dreaming about his Xin’er…

“Really won’t go? Fine then. When Xin’er gets married in the future, this prince will make sure to invite you to the wedding feast,” Mo Xiaobao said casually.

You bully! Young Master Leng glared at Mo Xiaobao. Just thinking about his beautiful, clever, fair, and tender Sister Xin’er being taken away by some other awful man cut him to the heart. To win his future beauty, he had to sell himself to Mo Xiaobao.

“I’ll go…”

“That’s a good boy,” Mo Xiaobao smiled, holding his brother.

“…” Mo Xiaobao, is it okay to force Leng Junhan to visit brothels when he’s only fourteen?

Of course, Mo Xiaobao wasn’t sending Leng Junhan to brothels. After smilingly seeing off Xu Zhirui, Mo Xiaobao ignored the unusually conflicted Leng Junhan and took his snow-white adorable brother out with Qin Lie.

Walking on the street, Qin Lie couldn’t help but ask, “What did you ask Leng Junhan to do?”

Mo Xiaobao smiled smugly, “Want to know? I won’t tell you!” Little Mo Yufeng cheerfully raised his hand and said, “Brother Qin Lie, I know, I know! Big brother wants Brother Junhan to seduce… mmph…” His little mouth was covered by Mo Xiaobao’s hand, and little Mo Yufeng angrily made muffled sounds.

Qin Lie’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch. Although the little one hadn’t finished speaking, he could guess. Given Mo Xiaobao’s wicked nature, he definitely wouldn’t have Leng Junhan seduce ordinary people. After pondering for a while, Qin Lie asked, “You’re not planning to have Leng Junhan seduce Southern Chu’s princess, are you?” Mo Suiyun had wanted to marry his imperial sister to Mo Xiaobao to become his brother-in-law for a long time. Although it wasn’t clear where this imperial sister came from, at least she had a princess title. If Leng Junhan seduced her away, it wouldn’t just be Mo Suiyun and Southern Chu who would lose face.

Little Mo Yufeng shook his head repeatedly, waving his arms and legs in Mo Xiaobao’s embrace. Mo Xiaobao calmly suppressed his little brother’s attempts at rebellion. Although Mo Yufeng was already six years old and his little arms and legs weren’t light, in Mo Xiaobao’s hands he was still as powerless to resist as when he was one or two years old. “How could that be? How could this prince do something so tasteless? This prince merely asked him to seduce Miss Qian!”

How is seducing someone’s princess tasteless but seducing someone’s future empress is tasteful? Qin Lie seriously considered whether they should call for more guards in Nanjing, lest Mo Xiaobao accidentally get torn apart by an enraged Mo Suiyun.

“Do you think Leng Junhan can succeed?” A handsome fourteen-year-old boy versus a seventeen or eighteen-year-old emperor who already held power – how could he possibly compete?

“Don’t worry, I’ve had people investigate. This Miss Qian is gentle and kind by nature, and particularly likes similarly refined and handsome young men,” Mo Xiaobao waved his hand to indicate he had made thorough preparations. Qin Lie thought for a moment, still worried, “Send more people to protect Leng Junhan.”

“Fine, arrange it as you see fit,” Mo Xiaobao carried his brother forward, revealing a fox-like sly smile. Master Qin Lie, who hadn’t even tried to dissuade him once from start to finish, did you think you were an upright and kind person?

As they say, birds of a feather flock together. Within ten li of the young Prince Mo, even the mosquitoes had black hearts.

In the Imperial Palace

Mo Suiyun sat in the imperial study reviewing memorials, with palace maids and eunuchs standing silently around him, not daring to make the slightest sound to disturb the emperor. Although Mo Suiyun was only eighteen now, years of tempering, especially wrestling power back from the Grand Empress Dowager and court ministers that should have been his in the first place, had given him a shrewdness and steadiness beyond his years. If not for the mess left behind by two consecutive previous emperors’ misrule, Mo Suiyun might have become Great Chu’s true restoring emperor. But now, no matter how hard he tried, he could only maintain Great Chu’s position in Jiangnan. This was only possible because Prince Ding’s mansion was unwilling to initiate war – otherwise, no matter how diligently Mo Suiyun governed, he couldn’t be certain that the current Southern Chu army could resist the Mo family’s iron cavalry.

“Your Majesty,” a man who appeared to be a guard entered and bowed.

“Pingsheng, speak,” Mo Suiyun said coolly without raising his head. “Have people from Prince Ding’s mansion arrived, or those from Xiling?” This guard had been specifically tasked with tracking the movements of envoys from various countries for this wedding. Although the wedding was still more than ten days away, it wasn’t surprising that some people came early, and their job was to monitor these people’s movements to prevent them from doing anything inappropriate within Southern Chu’s borders.

“Prince Ding has arrived.”

Mo Suiyun’s brush paused for a moment before he realized the guard wasn’t referring to the world-renowned Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao, but rather the recently appointed young prince Mo Yuzhen.

“Did he sneak in secretly?” After these years, Mo Suiyun had come to understand Mo Xiaobao somewhat. If he had properly brought an envoy delegation and formally notified the court, Mo Suiyun might have suspected some plot.

The guard shook his head and said, “Prince Ding brought only four people and entered directly through the city gate.” No disguise, no pretense, even wearing their characteristically flashy and luxurious black brocade. And carrying a… six-year-old child.

Mo Suiyun put down his brush, thought for a moment, and said, “Go invite Princess Lin’an to come.”

“Yes, this subject takes his leave.”

Soon after, a stunning beauty wearing pink gauze entered. Though only fourteen or fifteen years old, she already possessed an elegantly charming bearing in her every movement. The young lady curtsied to Mo Suiyun and said, “Lin’an greets Imperial Brother.”

Princess Lin’an was not the biological daughter of the previous emperor Mo Jingqi, but rather one of several ducal and county young ladies taken into the palace and raised under the Empress Dowager’s name after Mo Suiyun took power. Mo Suiyun understood clearly that Southern Chu’s current situation would require multiple marriage alliances, and being young himself with no suitable sisters above him, he had taken in several princes’ daughters and given them princess titles when he first gained power. Everyone understood that these so-called princesses were prepared for marriage alliances. Among them, Princess Lin’an was the most intelligent, and her beauty was also among the finest. Mo Suiyun naturally placed much hope in her. Setting aside everything else, just looking at how Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao treated his princess consort – giving her the stars if she didn’t want the moon, loving beauty over empire – even if Mo Xiaobao wasn’t exactly like his father, surely half his father’s devotion would be enough?

“Imperial Brother called for Lin’an, do you have instructions?” Princess Lin’an smiled and asked. Unlike other princesses who became depressed knowing they would be used for marriage alliances, Princess Lin’an had always maintained a cheerful and gracious disposition. Because she understood that since fate couldn’t be changed, she should strive for the best possible outcome for herself.

Mo Suiyun looked at her and smiled, saying, “Does my imperial sister remember what I discussed with you before?”

Princess Lin’an started, suddenly realizing what he meant, and her pretty face immediately flushed red, “Ah? Imperial Brother means…” Mo Suiyun nodded and said, “Indeed, Mo Yuzhen has arrived in Nanjing.”

Princess Lin’an tried to suppress her racing heart and lowered her head, saying, “Lin’an… Lin’an’s talents and looks are lacking, I’m afraid… Prince Ding won’t be interested.”

Mo Suiyun smiled faintly and said, “My sister worries too much. Even in the entire world, few young ladies can match my sister’s mastery of both civil and martial arts, combined with beauty and talent.” This wasn’t false praise – Princess Lin’an had not only mastered the four arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting from childhood but in recent years had also studied martial arts. Though she couldn’t become a great expert, she had achieved some skill, giving her more spirit than ordinary Jiangnan ladies.

Mo Suiyun stood up and smiled, saying, “We’re free at the moment anyway. Would my sister like to take a walk with me?”

Princess Lin’an knew Mo Suiyun wanted to go see Prince Ding Mo Yuzhen and her face reddened. Girls their age had grown up hearing the legends of Prince Ding and his princess consort – none could help but envy the princess consort’s luck and their relationship. Naturally, they had even more expectations for Mo Yuzhen, the son of Prince Ding and his princess consort.

“Your subject sister obeys. Please wait a moment while I change clothes.”

Mo Suiyun smiled faintly and said, “Go ahead.”

Watching Princess Lin’an turn and hurry away, Mo Suiyun’s handsome face showed traces of deep thought. Mo Yuzhen had been full of schemes since childhood, and Mo Suiyun didn’t place much hope in the beauty strategy working. But it didn’t matter if it failed – it could just be treated as a normal marriage alliance.

What Mo Suiyun didn’t know was that while he was preparing to use beauty to entrap Mo Xiaobao, Young Master Mo was also scheming to steal away what was his.