On this day, an earth-shattering event occurred at the Governor’s mansion in Liyang City where the Da Chu Emperor was temporarily residing. However, those who knew about it would never speak of it – some had already been silenced by Mo Jingli, while others were either his trusted confidants or simply lacked the courage to speak. Thus, from the noble families down to the common people in Liyang City, no one knew what had happened. The only thing they knew was that the Mo family army had burned the Chu army’s provisions the night before.

In Mo Jingli’s chamber, several Imperial Physicians knelt on the ground, trembling and not daring to move. Mo Jingli sat in bed, his cold gaze fixed on those below, his face twisted with an ominous expression of impending storm.

“Tell Us… can it be healed?” Mo Jingli finally asked coldly.

The room remained silent for a long while before one physician fearfully replied, “Your Majesty… the assassin… the assassin’s strike was too severe. Moreover… poison was used. We are incompetent… it’s truly beyond our ability to save…”

A murderous glint flashed across Mo Jingli’s face as he sneered, “Take him out and behead him! If you’re incompetent, what’s the point of living?” Two guards entered and dragged out the physician who had just spoken. The physician cried out in terror, “Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty… please spare my life!” But Mo Jingli paid no attention to his pleas, instead fixing his gaze on the remaining physicians kneeling by the bed, asking, “What do you say?”

The physicians, thoroughly frightened by Mo Jingli’s ruthless methods, hurriedly replied, “We will certainly… we will certainly do our utmost… please spare our lives, Your Majesty…”

“Do your utmost?” Mo Jingli remained unsatisfied. The physicians quickly changed their tune, “We will formulate an antidote, we will cure Your Majesty… definitely will…” At this point, who still cared about the crime of deceiving the emperor? Lying might mean death later, but not lying meant immediate death. The physicians rushed to make promises as if the emperor had merely cut his finger rather than having a certain important part removed.

Mo Jingli narrowed his eyes and said coldly, “We give you three days.”

“Yes! We obey Your Majesty’s command!” The physicians collectively sighed in relief and hurriedly agreed.

Looking at these terrified physicians, Mo Jingli snorted coldly, “Get out!” The physicians scrambled out to research remedies. Though they all knew clearly that the person who had wounded Mo Jingli intended to cut off his lineage – never mind whether they could research an antidote, even if the legendary physician Shen Yang came with the Biluo Grass, it would be useless. After all… a person wasn’t like a garlic sprout that could grow back after being cut. But none of them dared speak the truth, seeing the example that had just been made before them. At this moment, these physicians couldn’t help but secretly hope the Mo family army would quickly breach Liyang so they could escape with their lives.

In the room, Mo Jingli leaned against the headboard, his gaze shifting uncertainly as he stared at the letter in his hand that he had already read countless times.

“Your old servant Qiu Yunan requests an audience with Your Majesty,” an elderly voice called from outside. Mo Jingli commanded grimly, “Enter.”

A scholar-dressed man in his sixties entered, carefully looking at the person in bed before lowering his head and bowing, “I don’t know why Your Majesty has summoned me. What are your instructions?” Mo Jingli stared at him for a while before asking, “Lord Qiu, you’ve served four reigns, haven’t you?”

Lord Qiu quickly replied, “In response to Your Majesty, this old servant indeed entered service during the time of the Former Emperor. Unfortunately, due to my poor fate, mediocre abilities, ordinary appearance, and unremarkable family background, I remained obscure despite serving through four reigns. However, I managed to maintain good relationships and have lived peacefully through these years.” By now, in the Da Chu court, the capable ones had either died or fled, and only now had it barely become his turn to rise. However, Mo Jingli still didn’t value him much, only promoting him out of necessity due to a lack of alternatives.

Mo Jingli raised his hand to pass over the letter he was holding and said, “Then look at this – do you recognize this handwriting?”

Lord Qiu carefully took the letter and looked at it, startling slightly at its contents, but quickly noticed Mo Jingli’s cold gaze and hurriedly focused on the handwriting. Frowning, he shook his head after a while and said, “In reply to Your Majesty, this old servant… does not recognize this handwriting.”

Mo Jingli sneered, “Is that so? But does it look familiar?”

“Familiar?” Lord Qiu puzzledly returned his gaze to the letter. This time he truly noticed something and hesitantly said, “This… Your Majesty, this handwriting seems to be from someone who studied under… studied under…”

“Studied under Su Zhe, isn’t that right?” Mo Jingli asked coldly. Back then, Su Zhe was not only Da Chu’s greatest scholar second only to Master Qingyun, but also a master calligrapher of his generation. Countless people wanted to become his disciples, but only two people had the opportunity to learn from Su Zhe since their earliest education.

Lord Qiu nodded and said, “Indeed, however… this person’s handwriting still differs greatly from Master Su Zhe’s. Su Zhe’s writing was elegant, with a scholar’s refinement and pride. This person’s writing shows more freedom and dominance. At first glance it seems different, but if… one looks carefully, there are indeed traces of Su Zhe’s influence. This must be someone who studied under Su Zhe from childhood. Only by starting to learn from childhood would these habits become ingrained in one’s bones. Even after developing one’s style later, traces can still be found.”

Mo Jingli threw down another document and asked, “Are these two pieces of writing from the same hand?”

Lord Qiu opened it to look and almost collapsed in fright. This document was in Prince Ding’s hand. Although Mo Xiuyao wasn’t a famous calligrapher, due to his position and reputation, his occasional writings that circulated were even more expensive than many famous calligraphers’. Having served in court for thirty or forty years, Lord Qiu had naturally seen it before. But… hadn’t Prince Ding died?

Looking at Mo Jingli with some terror, Lord Qiu even forgot proper etiquette. He secretly wondered if last night’s events had driven the Emperor mad. Seeing Lord Qiu’s shocked expression, Mo Jingli’s face grew even more unsightly. Did he enjoy being suspected of insanity? He had compared that letter for a long time, but the writer seemed to have done it deliberately – the writing was seventy percent like Mo Xiuyao’s, but thirty percent different. It seemed intentionally written to be ambiguous. If Mo Xiuyao truly hadn’t died and wanted to disguise his writing, he would have not needed to write a letter at all or could have easily found some way to completely hide his handwriting. Instead, this situation forced Mo Jingli to suspect whether Mo Xiuyao had truly died. But if this was just the Mo family army’s troops creating confusion, he would lose face before the whole world again. Then everyone would know that he, Mo Jingli, feared Mo Xiuyao – that he was like a frightened bird, scared even of a dead Mo Xiuyao.

“Is it or isn’t it?!” Mo Jingli demanded coldly.

Lord Qiu said with a bitter expression, “Your Majesty… although these two writings bear some resemblance, they likely… are not from the same hand. Moreover… Prince Ding is already dead.”

“Get out,” Mo Jingli said irritably.

“Yes, this old servant takes his leave.” Lord Qiu retreated as if granted a reprieve.

“Mo Xiuyao… Mo Xiuyao! It must be you!” Mo Jingli called out through gritted teeth, suddenly trying to rise but accidentally pulling his wound, his face turning pale as he nearly fainted again. Whatever drug Mo Xiuyao had used, there had been no pain at first, but shortly after he woke up, the feeling had returned, and then it had grown increasingly painful. Mo Jingli clutched the letter tightly in his hand, “Mo Xiuyao! I must kill you! I must kill you!”

Mo Jingli very much wanted to send out everyone to search for Mo Xiuyao’s whereabouts and kill him again whether he was truly dead or not. But others didn’t see it this way, including Mo Jingli’s trusted confidants. The whole world knew Prince Ding was dead, and both the Emperor and the Southern Pacification King had personally confirmed it – how could he have come back to life? As for sneaking into the governor’s mansion at night without being detected, well, if the Qilin could silently burn the Chu army’s provisions, they could certainly infiltrate the governor’s mansion. Most people saw this as the Mo family army’s troops taunting and warning the Chu army. As for Mo Jingli’s belief that Mo Xiuyao was still alive… the Emperor must be too anxious! Although Mo Jingli very much wanted to prove he was right, he also knew that Lei Zhenting had personally seen Mo Xiuyao’s corpse that day. Lei Zhenting had no reason to lie to him about this. Moreover… he really couldn’t bring himself to show everyone the letter left by the assassin for reference. Wouldn’t that let the whole world know about his injury?

If it were Prince Ding, there would be no need to hide his identity, so why change the handwriting? And if changing the handwriting, why make it seventy percent similar to Prince Ding’s? It was the Mo family army’s troops creating confusion. If they truly didn’t want to be recognized, never mind finding someone else to write it, they could have even written with their left hand to make it unrecognizable. Finally, his subordinates’ words convinced Mo Jingli, or perhaps Mo Jingli had convinced himself. He could only send people to reinforce the guards while he stayed hidden in the governor’s mansion to recuperate, his heart filled with darkness.

Mo Xiuyao still maintained his ordinary appearance as he mixed among the Mo family army’s troops. No one in the army except Cold Huai and a few others knew that the supposedly deceased Prince Ding was sitting in their camp drinking tea. Although Mo Xiuyao had disguised himself, everyone in the main tent could still sense that His Highness was in a very good mood – much better than when he had first arrived at the main camp yesterday. His Highness had done something in the city last night that greatly pleased him.

“Your Highness… has something good happened?” Lu Jinxian asked curiously. Though the others all appeared busy with their work, their ears perked up.

Mo Xiuyao said leisurely, “All six great families of Yun Province have agreed to submit to Prince Ding’s manor – doesn’t that count as good news?”

Everyone looked unimpressed – what kind of good news was that? None of them thought any sane family patriarch would submit to Mo Jingli unless forced to. When choosing between Mo Jingli and Prince Ding’s manor, Prince Ding’s manor held the advantage. If it were Mo Jingqi, he could at least claim legitimate authority, but with Mo Jingli, who had usurped the throne and killed his brother and nephew, even this last shred of legitimacy couldn’t be maintained.

Mo Xiuyao smiled and said, “As for anything else… as the Buddha says: it cannot be spoken of…” Just thinking about Mo Jingli’s current state made Mo Xiuyao feel all the depression of recent days completely vanish. Holding back from killing Mo Jingli last night and sparing his life had been the right decision. After some thought, Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and asked, “General Lu, can we take Liyang within three days?”

Lu Jinxian smiled and said, “Rest assured, Your Highness, absolutely no problem. The Chu army’s grain transport convoy is almost here, they’ll arrive by tonight at the latest. Then we can make our move.”

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows and asked, “You plan to attack when the Da Chu grain transport convoy arrives?”

Lu Jinxian nodded, that was indeed his plan. Moreover, the Princess had given instructions before she left. Half of the Jiangnan merchants providing grain to the Chu army were Prince Ding’s manor’s people, and that grain was originally meant for the Mo family army anyway – they naturally couldn’t let Mo Jingli have it.

Mo Xiuyao pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, “No, let them in.” Lu Jinxian looked at Mo Xiuyao in confusion, “Your Highness means?” Mo Xiuyao said, “Send people to help them transport the grain inside. Then…” He placed an exquisite small porcelain bottle on the table and said calmly, “You know what to do?”

“Your Highness means to poison them? That might not be very reliable,” Cold Huai said with some concern. After all, with hundreds of thousands of troops, they couldn’t all be poisoned simultaneously. If even one case was discovered early, the whole plan could fail.

Mo Xiuyao said calmly, “Don’t worry, I got this from Shen Yang. After taking it… it takes an hour to take effect. Moreover… it’s not lethal, it just temporarily removes their strength to fight. I don’t want to kill too many people. Xu Qingfeng.”

“Present!” Xu Qingfeng stood up and answered.

Mo Xiuyao waved a note and said calmly, “Within three hours after the grain enters the city, I want to see these people’s heads.”

Xu Qingfeng took it, glanced at it, and committed it to memory. He nodded and said, “I obey, I’ll make arrangements immediately.”

Mo Xiuyao nodded and cautioned, “You’ve already entered the city once before, alerting the Chu army. The guards will surely be more vigilant now, be careful.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Xu Qingfeng nodded and turned to leave. In the tent, He Su said, “Your Highness plans to kill the Chu army’s commanders first? Once the commanding officers are dead, no matter how many troops there are, they’re just headless flies. And if most soldiers lose their fighting ability, the Mo family army might be able to take Liyang City without bloodshed.” Cold Huai raised an eyebrow and hesitated before saying, “Your Highness plans to incorporate these eight hundred thousand Chu troops?”

Hearing this, everyone was shocked. But they saw Mo Xiuyao nod with satisfaction and smile, “General Cold speaks truly. Lei Zhenting would never expect… that the allies he originally arranged would suddenly turn around and attack him.”

“What an excellent strategy, Your Highness!” Lu Jinxian also praised. If successful, this would indeed be a fatal blow to Lei Zhenting. But such a plan could only be realized by Mo Xiuyao. Even if Lu Jinxian and the others could take Liyang without bloodshed, Lu Jinxian and Cold Huai’s prestige wasn’t enough to command the loyalty of over eight hundred thousand troops at once. So they had never considered this method, nor dared to think of it.

When night fell again, the Chu army’s grain transport troops indeed arrived before Liyang. This was naturally excellent news for the Chu army, which had just lost almost all its provisions. After a thorough inspection, the grain transport army successfully entered Liyang City. Mo Jingli, lying listlessly in bed, had no interest in dealing with such trivial matters and waved his hand to let his subordinates handle it. He didn’t know that at this moment, the Jiangnan merchants responsible for arranging these provisions, represented by Zhang Baiwan, were guests in the Mo family army’s main camp.

“Greetings to General Lu and General Cold,” Zhang Baiwan said with a bow, shrinking his neck as he saw Lu Jinxian and Cold Huai in the seats of honor. Though he was money-hungry, this was his first time facing military men with such murderous aura as Lu Jinxian and the others. The generals he had seen in Nanjing were not worth mentioning compared to Lu Jinxian and the others.

Lu Jinxian smiled and said, “No need for such formality, Master Zhang. This matter owes much to your help.”

Zhang Baiwan waved his hands repeatedly and said, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare, just call me Zhang Baiwan, General. Since these were Princess Ding’s orders, how could we dare not obey? Rest assured, General, after today, I guarantee Mo Jingli won’t be able to transport even half a grain from Jiangnan.”

Lu Jinxian nodded with satisfaction, and seeing Zhang Baiwan still looked somewhat uneasy, smiled reassuringly and said, “Rest assured, Master Zhang, the Princess has already made arrangements. I guarantee that even if news of your allegiance to Prince Ding’s manor reaches Jiangnan, your families won’t be in any danger.”

Zhang Baiwan’s eyes lit up – their greatest worry about doing this was being discovered by Mo Jingli since their foundations were still in Jiangnan, and Jiangnan was still under Mo Jingli’s control.

“Master Zhang, there’s one matter that requires you to return to Jiangnan – would that be possible?” Mo Xiuyao, who had been sitting silently to one side, suddenly spoke. To hide his whereabouts, Mo Xiuyao had always been in disguise in the army. Without his distinctive white hair, and that ordinary face, even though his bearing was impressive, it was very difficult to connect him with the deceased Prince Ding.

Zhang Baiwan hesitated for a moment, looked up at Lu Jinxian, and asked, “This is…?”

Lu Jinxian said, “This is Young Master Ye.”

Although Zhang Baiwan didn’t know exactly who this Young Master Ye was, he at least remembered that Princess Ding’s surname was Ye. Now that Prince Ding was gone, wasn’t Prince Ding’s manor under Princess Ding’s control? Moreover, Lu Jinxian’s attitude made it clear this was someone who couldn’t be offended. He quickly said respectfully, “Please give your instructions, Young Master.”

Mo Xiuyao took out a letter and handed it to Zhang Baiwan, saying, “Please take this letter back and deliver it to the person named on the envelope.”

Zhang Baiwan was startled and asked somewhat suspiciously, “Just that?” Originally he had thought it was something important, but it turned out to be simply delivering a letter. Anyone could do such a thing – this Young Master Ye specifically asking him to deliver the letter couldn’t help but make him suspicious.

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said, “Master Zhang need not hesitate, it is indeed just a letter. Originally it wouldn’t matter who delivered it, but… Prince Ding’s manor’s people entering Jiangnan would easily attract attention, so we thought to trouble you with this task.”

This wasn’t a big matter, so Zhang Baiwan naturally wouldn’t refuse. He put away the letter, nodded, and said, “Please rest assured, Young Master, I will deliver the letter.” Mo Xiuyao nodded with satisfaction and smiled, “As long as Master Zhang delivers the letter. I can guarantee on behalf of the Princess… the Zhang family will definitely not be treated poorly in the future.”

Zhang Baiwan’s heart leaped with joy, and seeing Lu Jinxian and the others all wearing ordinary expressions, it seemed this Young Master Ye indeed had the authority to make decisions on behalf of Princess Ding. The smile on his face immediately grew broader as he nodded repeatedly, saying, “Please rest assured, Young Master.”

After sending Zhang Baiwan away, Cold Huai frowned and said, “Your Highness, this Zhang Baiwan is too greedy for money, he might not be very reliable.”

Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Li’er chose to cooperate with him rather than others, which proves he indeed has this value. Moreover… being greedy for money isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Men die for wealth as birds die for food – if he has real ability, I don’t mind letting him take a bit more. However, if he goes too far, I can’t guarantee I won’t make him cough up everything including his family fortune.”

“But… according to our intelligence, this person has some unclear relationships with Xiling,” Cold Huai frowned and said. The letter Princess Ding left when she departed said this person couldn’t be fully trusted.

Mo Xiuyao wasn’t surprised and smiled, saying, “He’s a merchant, naturally he won’t put all his eggs in one basket.”

“What did Your Highness write in the letter given to him?” Yun Ting asked curiously.

Mo Xiuyao said, “It says… Prince Ding isn’t dead, but is now gravely wounded. It orders Prince Ding’s manor’s secret guards hidden in Jiangnan to go to Nanzhao to borrow troops, to break the siege of Princess Ding at Flying Swan Pass.”

Everyone listened in confusion – borrow troops from Nanzhao? Their situation wasn’t that bad, was it? Moreover… Nanzhao had just emerged from internal strife a few years ago and had been entangled with Xiling for some time – even if they committed their entire nation’s strength, how many troops could they lend?

After thinking for a moment, He Su said, “Your Highness suspects Zhang Baiwan is Lei Zhenting’s man. If Zhang Baiwan truly is Lei Zhenting’s man, after getting this letter he definitely won’t return to Jiangnan. Instead, he’ll deliver it directly to Lei Zhenting.” Mo Xiuyao shook his head and said, “He’s not Lei Zhenting’s man now, but after he reads this letter, that might change.”

Everyone exchanged glances, finally understanding – this was simply a test by His Highness for the Jiangnan merchants led by Zhang Baiwan. If they chose wrong…

Yun Ting frowned and said, “Isn’t this too… after all, perhaps Zhang Baiwan doesn’t have such thoughts right now. Deliberately provoking disloyalty in others, although much of the blame lies with these people’s weak resolve. But most people in this world are ordinary people with weak resolve. If they weren’t given the opportunity, perhaps they would never betray us.”

Mo Xiuyao said calmly, “Jiangnan will soon see a complete change, and when that time comes… these people will become very important. Rather than have these wavering people ruin my plans then, I would rather clear them all out now and replace them with people who won’t have divided loyalties.” Such an approach might be somewhat ruthless, but Mo Xiuyao had too many things to consider. He bore responsibility for the rise and fall of the entire Prince Ding’s manor and the Mo family army – he had no time to worry about individual lives or innocence. Besides, hadn’t he still left them a chance?

Looking at Mo Xiuyao’s cold gaze, Yun Ting silently sighed and said no more. He understood the Prince’s meaning – compared to these Mo family army veterans who had been through many things, he was still too soft-hearted and naive.