In less than a month and a half, He Su had already gathered nearly half of the military forces around Changqing under his control. While there was inevitably much bloodshed in the shadows, on the surface everything remained peaceful as before.

“The Princess Consort’s methods are truly admirable,” Empress Helan smiled as she sat before Ye Li in the small courtyard. Her gaze toward Ye Li held even more respect now. To control half of Changqing’s military forces and even infiltrate those stubborn Central Plains people in just over a month – Empress Helan admitted she couldn’t have achieved this herself. While part of this was due to her being from the Northern Territory and naturally being viewed with suspicion by the Central Plains people, Empress Helan had to acknowledge that she likely couldn’t have devised as many strategies as Ye Li.

Ye Li shook her head with a faint smile, “Your Majesty is too kind. I merely took advantage of an opportunity. It wouldn’t be this easy elsewhere.” This wasn’t just modesty – even Ye Li herself hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly. It was really because the Northern Territory’s internal structure was too loose. Although these former dynasty officials were extremely skilled at scheming and manipulation, the reality was that they and their families had been too far removed from politics and power for too long. While the Northern Territory appeared fine on the surface, internally it was full of holes, all form and no substance. Even if Prince Ding’s Manor hadn’t plotted against Ren Qining, if Ren Qining himself hadn’t reorganized things, the Northern Territory probably wouldn’t last another decade.

Empress Helan smiled, “Being able to seize an opportunity is the mark of a clever person. However, those old men from the Central Plains are most deeply suspicious. How could they not have noticed after you’ve done so much?” During this time, their Northern Territory people had been secretly preparing to return beyond the borders after their troops were led out to attack Zijing Pass. On the other hand, they were doing everything possible to create trouble for those Central Plains people to divert their attention. But for them not to notice even after their military power was taken away – this was too much. Could it be that all the Central Plains troops wanted to rebel against Ren Qining? Just how poor was Ren Qining’s reputation?

Ye Li played with the teacup in her hand, smiling slightly, “They should discover it soon. Don’t forget that the Yun family also controls considerable military power. They’re bound to notice something’s wrong.” Civilian officials controlling military power – this had to be counted as another of Ren Qining’s mistakes. Or rather, it wasn’t so much a mistake as something he had no choice but to do.

“Princess Consort, the Yun Prime Minister’s mansion has sent an invitation asking you to visit for a discussion,” Zhuo Jing entered with a card and presented it to Ye Li. Ye Li took it and saw it was indeed from the Prime Minister’s mansion. The golden card was decorated with exquisite auspicious cloud patterns, appearing quite magnificent.

“Where is Tan Jizhi?” Ye Li asked.

Zhuo Jing replied, “Master Tan was invited to the Prime Minister’s mansion early this morning. In this subordinate’s opinion… the Prime Minister’s mansion must have discovered something amiss. That’s why they sent an invitation for the Princess Consort to visit, likely planning to trap you there.”

Ye Li stood up, smiling, “Then let’s go meet this loyal minister of the former dynasty. Notify He Su to watch the troops outside the city – if anything unexpected happens, don’t show mercy. Also, have Qin Feng block all roads to Zijing Pass. Without my orders, not even a shred of information is to be sent to Zijing Pass.”

“This subordinate obeys!” Zhuo Jing left with his orders.

Empress Helan also rose, smiling, “Thank you for your help this time. I’ll go back and have them prepare, coordinating with your actions on one side. By the way, do you still want those officials loyal to Ren Qining? Can I kill them?”

Ye Li smiled faintly, “Your Majesty may do as you please.”

Entering the Prime Minister’s mansion with Zhuo Jing and Lin Han, Ye Li remained unperturbed by Prime Minister Yun’s knife-hidden-in-smile manner. However, Tan Jizhi had already been restrained by others. Ye Li couldn’t help but smile, “Master Tan, what’s happened to you?” Given Tan Jizhi’s abilities and prior precautions, Ye Li didn’t believe he could truly be restrained by the Prime Minister’s people.

Tan Jizhi smiled and shrugged, “Wasn’t I just waiting for the lady to come rescue me?”

Seeing the two chatting and smiling, showing no regard for himself, Prime Minister Yun’s face darkened. He sneered, “Young lady, why don’t you just tell us your true identity? Don’t tell me you’re really from Cangmang Mountain?”

Ye Li smiled lightly, “If Prime Minister Yun didn’t believe from the beginning, why ask now?”

With this, the Prime Minister naturally knew he had indeed been fooled by these two working together. Ye Li saying he hadn’t believed from the start wasn’t quite accurate. He had only been half-skeptical. He had merely relied on the fact that Tan Jizhi needed his help, and both of them were within Changqing city – essentially in his palm – so he hadn’t paid much attention. Yet he hadn’t expected these two people’s abilities to exceed his expectations, managing to control half of the Northern Territory’s military forces in barely over a month.

“You’re people from Prince Ding’s Manor!” the Prime Minister stared at the two and asked coldly. Besides Prince Ding’s Manor’s people, he really couldn’t think of who else could have such capabilities and methods.

Tan Jizhi gave a helpless bitter smile without answering, while Ye Li gracefully nodded, “Ye Li greets Prime Minister Yun.”

“You’re Prince Ding’s Consort?!” Hearing this, Prime Minister Yun couldn’t help but cry out shrilly, nearly falling to the ground. Ye Li felt somewhat helpless – was her name really that frightening?

Prime Minister Yun collapsed back into his chair somewhat dazed, and after a while finally stamped his foot and sighed, “Such a formidable Prince Ding’s Consort, such courage, such methods! I suppose the Princess Consort had long conspired with those Northern barbarians?” Prime Minister Yun wasn’t a fool. For Prince Ding’s Manor to create such a big disturbance in the Northern Territory without them noticing until now, there must have been inside help.

Ye Li sighed softly, “It’s not that Prince Ding’s Manor is heartless. The Northern King allied with the Northern Rong, intending to destroy our Prince Ding’s Manor and overthrow the Central Plains. This move was too vicious – if they had succeeded, our Prince Ding’s Manor would have been attacked from both front and rear. So we could only take this risk and cut off his retreat. Please understand, Prime Minister.”

“Victory makes the king, defeat makes the bandit – Princess Consort, why say more?” Prime Minister Yun stared at Ye Li’s beautiful face and said harshly, “Though young, Princess Ding shows such courage and skill that even I must express admiration. However… since Prince Ding’s Manor already knows their identity is exposed, yet still dares to come to my Prime Minister’s mansion, it seems you don’t take me seriously at all.”

Ye Li smiled faintly, “Prime Minister is a senior – how could I dare decline when summoned?”

“Good… good… good…” Prime Minister Yun repeated the word three times, his face turning green with anger as he slammed the table and stood up, saying harshly, “Since you dare enter my Prime Minister’s mansion, if I don’t detain you, wouldn’t that destroy the Northern Territory’s prestige?!”

“Prime Minister Yun, even if the Northern Territory’s prestige is destroyed, the shame would be on us – what does it have to do with you people?” A woman’s slightly amused voice sounded from outside the door as Empress Helan entered with several Northern Territory people, treating the entire Prime Minister’s mansion as if no one was there. Prime Minister Yun’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Empress Helan and said, “I was wondering how you Northern barbarians would connect with Prince Ding’s Manor. So it was because of you, you worthless woman!” When Empress Helan had previously insisted on going to Li City, everyone had thought it was just to spite Cloud Princess, and no one had paid attention. Yet they hadn’t expected it would bring such catastrophe to the Northern Territory.

Empress Helan’s pretty face darkened as she said coldly, “You shameless old Yun! Your master Ren Qining became the Northern King through my cousin and uncle’s status and influence, and you old shameless ones only got your good life because of that. Now you want to kick away the bridge after crossing the river, suppressing us Northern people everywhere. Every time there’s a war you send our Northern men to charge at the front while you take advantage from behind. Of my seven hundred thousand Northern men who entered the pass, now barely three hundred thousand remain. Yet you still can’t tolerate us, suppressing and making things difficult for us everywhere – it’s truly disgusting. No wonder you couldn’t restore your country for hundreds of years. The gods in heaven have eyes, knowing you’re all such base people – how could they let you succeed in restoring your country!”

Berated by Empress Helan, Prime Minister Yun’s face cycled between blue and purple. The most criticized point about Ren Qining establishing the Northern Territory was that he had used the Northern people’s influence. Moreover, it wasn’t that he had pacified the Northern people and made them submit, but rather that he had married into the North and inherited his father-in-law’s position. This being the case, claiming to represent Central Plains orthodoxy became inappropriate and unreasonable. Even the children of the previous queen had taken Northern surnames – how could these former dynasty officials tolerate this? However, the Northern Territory’s establishment truly relied entirely on the Northern people, which gave these former dynasty officials very strange mixed feelings when facing these Northerners. On one hand, they despised these Northern barbarians, but on the other hand, they had to acknowledge receiving great favors from them. Such complex and tangled feelings made these self-proclaimed orthodox people even more unable to tolerate the Northern people, only wanting to find ways to drive them away early – firstly to restore the Lin family’s orthodox bloodline, and secondly to keep them out of sight and mind.

“Hmph! I won’t argue with a mere woman like you!” Having been left speechless by Empress Helan, Prime Minister Yun said with an unfriendly expression.

Empress Helan said disdainfully, “It’s this lady who won’t argue with you, you old fool.”

The others couldn’t help but twitch their mouths, while Ye Li held back her smile and asked, “Empress Helan, how did you arrive so quickly?”

Empress Helan waved her hand and said, “Many of Ren Qining’s people in the city have been captured by me. Those who weren’t caught can’t escape now either. Fighting has started outside the city too – Princess Ding, can your people win?”

Ye Li said calmly, “Remove that ‘can’. Since the fighting has started, why aren’t you staying in the palace to oversee things? Why did you run out here?”

Empress Helan sighed, “I heard this old man had hidden many people in his mansion to deal with you. If I’d known you were so confident, I wouldn’t have come. I’ll head back first.” There were matters in the palace too, so Empress Helan left as quickly as she had come. Having just scolded Prime Minister Yun and vented the anger in her chest, Empress Helan’s steps were even more vigorous as she left.

With Empress Helan’s coming and going, Prime Minister Yun’s face grew even more ashen. Ye Li sat across from him, calmly watching his countenance that seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, and said softly, “Prime Minister Yun, I don’t wish to cause needless bloodshed. Please order your subordinates to stand down. You have all worked hard for so many years – why not put down your burdens and enjoy your twilight years?”

Prime Minister Yun gave a cold laugh and said, “I’ve long heard that Prince Ding’s Manor’s qilin is mysterious and unstoppable. I suppose this humble Prime Minister’s mansion must now be entirely under the Princess Consort’s control – why put on this affected act?”

Ye Li smiled faintly, not arguing, and waved for people to take him away.

Chaos erupted in Changqing city. Empress Helan ordered the palace gates closed, captured many of Ren Qining’s former officials, and sealed the city gates. Outside the city, troops under He Su’s control began fighting with Ren Qining’s former troops. While Changqing was in chaos both inside and out, news of the Central Plains troops’ internal strife in Changqing spread at lightning speed to Ren Qining’s forces at Zijing Pass.

Speaking of Ren Qining, he led nearly a million troops besieging Zijing Pass. Though his opponent was still Leng Huai, this time was more troublesome than the last. Last time when Leng Huai commanded Great Chu’s troops, the two sides had been in a stalemate for months. Now he faced the Mo Family Army, renowned for their fierce valor, and Leng Huai bore a blood feud with Ren Qining over his son’s death. The previous year when Ren Qining attacked the Chu capital, Leng Huai’s eldest son Leng Qingyu had died fighting valiantly, sacrificing himself for the country. How could Leng Huai not keep such a great grudge in his heart? The two armies had fought dozens of large and small battles before Zijing Pass, yet the Northern Territory’s great army hadn’t even touched Zijing Pass’s gates.

With the war going poorly and frequent urgent letters from Yelü Ye arriving – letters that clearly showed dissatisfaction with the Northern Territory army’s performance – Ren Qining was already getting a headache. Then receiving news of the garrison troops’ rebellion made him so angry his vision went dark.

“Outrageous!” Ren Qining slammed down the letter in his hand, unable to hold back his cursing.

The generals in the main tent had two different reactions: Ren Qining’s trusted generals were naturally worried and anxious, while the generals from the Northern Territory maintained an attitude of detached indifference, clearly hoping to see Ren Qining make a fool of himself. How could Ren Qining not know what these people were thinking? He secretly suppressed his anger before dismissing them.

These Northern Territory generals naturally knew Ren Qining didn’t welcome them, but they didn’t care. They all stood up and turned to leave the tent.

In the tent, the remaining Central Plains generals looked at Ren Qining’s expression and hurriedly asked, “Your Majesty, has something happened in the royal city?” Ren Qining gritted his teeth and said, “The Central Plains garrison cavalry have rebelled.”

Everyone was stunned, unable to react for a moment. If they’d been told the Northern Territory troops had rebelled, they would have believed it, but the Central Plains troops rebelled… Then again, there were fewer than fifty thousand Northern Territory troops left near the royal city – even if they wanted to rebel, they probably couldn’t. But the fact that the Northern people hadn’t rebelled, and instead their troops had rebelled, was truly inconceivable.

“Your Majesty, could this be a trick?” someone asked suspiciously.

Ren Qining raised his hand to press his throbbing temples and said, “This is no small matter. The royal city is vital to our army’s lifeline, and we left over five hundred thousand troops there. If they attack us from behind while Leng Huai attacks from the front, our army will be trapped in dire straits, perhaps even left homeless.”

“Could Prince Ding’s people be behind this?”

Ren Qining laughed coldly, “For this to happen at exactly this moment – if not Prince Ding’s Manor, then who? Well played, Prince Ding’s Manor, well played, Mo Family Army…” The seated officials looked at each other, their faces showing worry. Their million-strong army had besieged Zijing Pass for over a month with nothing to show for it. If Changqing fell into Prince Ding’s hands, they would be finished. Not to mention the supplies for their million troops would be enough to give them a headache. They’d starve within three months.

“Your Majesty, since the royal city has sent for help, they probably can’t hold out. We should quickly return to suppress the rebellion.” While allying with the Northern Rong to attack Zijing Pass was important, it wasn’t as important as their territory. If the royal city was occupied by the rebels, they would have nothing left. Even if Leng Huai opened Zijing Pass to let them in, what could they do then? Become refugees?

Such an important problem – if his subordinates understood it, naturally Ren Qining would too. After pondering for a moment, he still appointed a general to lead two hundred thousand troops back as reinforcements. On another level, this was also a probe. Having dealt with Prince Ding’s Manor several times, Ren Qining had deep experience with Mo Xiuyao’s unpredictable moves. Since Prince Ding’s Manor’s shadow was over this incident, he had to be careful with formalities.

After settling the matter of reinforcements to suppress the rebellion, Ren Qining sighed and wrote several letters, then called his subordinate and instructed, “Deliver these letters personally to the Princess Consort and the Prime Minister.”

In the Northern King’s palace in Changqing city:

Now that Changqing city was under Northern Territory control, with battles raging outside the walls, the entire palace had suddenly become Empress Helan’s domain. Empress Helan invited Ye Li to simply stay in the palace, saving the trouble of having to leave the palace to find her if anything came up. Ye Li didn’t mind – now Changqing was not only controlled by the Northern Territory people but also secretly controlled by the Mo Family Army. Not even a fly could escape. And based on the distribution of Ren Qining’s secret forces provided by Empress Helan, the Mo Family Army had begun secretly clearing out Ren Qining’s hidden forces in the Northern Territory. These had probably been collected secretly by the previous queen out of concern that Central Plains forces might threaten her son’s position in the future, but unexpectedly ended up being used by Prince Ding’s Manor.

“Hehe, Princess Ding, look at this…” Empress Helan sat lazily in the wide phoenix chair, waving the letter she’d just received and looking at Ye Li with a grin. Ye Li looked up, putting down her book and raising an eyebrow, “What does the Northern King have to say to Your Majesty?”

Empress Helan said with a smile, “He says with the troops in rebellion, he’s worried about my safety. He tells me to be careful and stay in the palace, not wander around, to avoid trouble. And what else… probably wants to ask about my father’s and other Northern tribal leaders’ thoughts.”

Ye Li nodded and smiled, “He’s probably trying to probe your attitude. Your Majesty should consider how to reply.”

“Reply?” Empress Helan blinked, looking innocently at Ye Li, “But I already killed his messenger.”

Ye Li smiled faintly, “That’s Your Majesty’s business. If you don’t want those two hundred thousand troops to return, you can ignore him.”

Empress Helan helplessly slumped her shoulders, finding brush and ink to reply to Ren Qining while saying, “Princess Ding, you’re so mean!” Ye Li smiled, “Did I ever tell Your Majesty I was nice?” Empress Helan ground her teeth, “Can you stop calling me ‘Your Majesty’?”

“Of course, Princess Helan,” Ye Li readily agreed.

Empress Helan huffed and bent her head to write to Ren Qining. In the letter, she directly stated that the Central Plains troops’ rebellion had nothing to do with the Northern Territory, and if he wanted her father’s help, he would need to offer satisfactory conditions. After she finished, Ye Li came over to look and added a few touches, “Better copy it over again.”

Although Empress Helan only had a basic grasp of Central Plains writing, she could still see that the letter Ye Li had modified contained subtle hints of affection. She couldn’t help but shiver, “Princess Ding, stop slandering me. This lady has no feelings for that ungrateful bastard.”

Ye Li raised her eyebrows, “Isn’t that how you’ve always acted? Suddenly turning cold now would make Ren Qining suspicious.” Previously, to avoid Ren Qining’s suspicion, Empress Helan had always been at odds with Cloud Princess, showing subtle signs of jealousy. Ren Qining was too shrewd – if Empress Helan suddenly showed a completely businesslike attitude now, it would easily arouse his suspicion and cause him to hold back those two hundred thousand troops.

“Fine then, I’ll just have to put up with it.” Empress Helan had to admit Ye Li was more thorough in her thinking than herself, so she reluctantly picked up the brush to recopy the letter.

“Helan… come out here!” Just as Empress Helan was grimacing while copying the letter to Ren Qining, a sharp angry shout came from outside. The jarring voice made Empress Helan’s hand slip, immediately staining half the letter with a large ink blot. Empress Helan’s face darkened, and she called out to the door, “Let them in!”

A moment later, Cloud Princess burst in angrily with several women. Confined in the palace, they didn’t know what was happening outside, only that they were forbidden to come and go and cut off from outside contact. After enduring for so many days, Cloud Princess finally couldn’t take it anymore and came to make trouble for Empress Helan. Since she was still Ren Qining’s favored consort, Empress Helan hadn’t let anyone do anything to her, and most of the palace servants were Central Plains people, so she managed to charge to Empress Helan’s palace gates.

“Helan! What do you mean by this? You dare prevent my people from leaving the palace – are you planning rebellion?”

Empress Helan threw down her brush and looked at her with an ambiguous smile, “That’s right, what are you going to do about it?”

“How dare you?!” Cloud Princess shrieked, “Aren’t you afraid His Majesty will return and kill you?” Empress Helan propped her chin up, looking at her lazily, “Don’t worry, before Ren Qining returns to kill me, I’ll kill you all first. Of course, including… your annoying father. And your fathers…” She swept her gaze over the group of women behind Cloud Princess and curled her lip in disdain. Since becoming queen, these women had given her no end of trouble. Before, when her cousin was still around, those concubines often caused trouble for her cousin too. Empress Helan had no fondness at all for this kind of harem business.

“You… what have you done to my father?” Cloud Princess was shocked. For Empress Helan to dare seal off the palace and so boldly admit her intentions, she must not be crazy. That meant she held some major trump cards.

Empress Helan glanced at Ye Li sitting to the side reading and said with a smile, “I don’t have the ability to do anything to your Prime Minister father.”

Only then did everyone notice there was also a woman in white sitting in the hall? She had been sitting against a pillar reading, and with everyone’s attention focused on Empress Helan, they’d only just noticed her.

Ye Li looked up, glancing at Cloud Princess and saying lightly, “Prime Minister Yun is fine for now, resting at home. I hear Princess Cloud is quite skilled in calligraphy, especially in imitating others’ handwriting?”

“That’s right. So what?” Cloud Princess answered unconsciously.

Ye Li smiled gracefully, “Nothing much. I’m short on staff at the moment, so I’d trouble Princess Cloud to help write a letter.”

“Why should I help you? Wait… who are you? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere…” Cloud Princess looked at Ye Li with confusion. Though Ye Li’s appearance was slightly altered by her disguise, it still gave her a strange sense of familiarity.

Ye Li just smiled without speaking.

A sharp voice cried out from behind Empress Helan: “You’re Prince Ding’s Consort!”