Stepping into the study, Feng Zhiyao felt envious seeing the two people playing chess inside – he couldn’t help but admire Mo Xiuyao’s comfortable life.

“My Prince,” he said lazily, leaning against the doorframe with a slight mockery in his tone, “it doesn’t seem fair that while others are working themselves to death outside, you’re playing chess at home. How can anyone maintain peace of mind in this world? The unfortunate ones have to trudge through wind and rain all day, like me. While the fortunate ones can leisurely sit in a warm study playing chess, with beautiful company no less – just like Mo Xiuyao.”

Ye Li glanced at Feng Zhiyao with a smile. Although the Third Young Master Feng’s flamboyant face showed displeasure, his eyes held more genuine mirth than usual. His mood wasn’t bad.

Mo Xiuyao placed down a chess piece before looking up at Feng Zhiyao: “What brings you here?”

Feng Zhiyao strolled in slowly while fanning himself, saying: “Can’t I come to see you without having a business? Marriage to the Princess Consort has certainly changed you. In the past, at this time you’d usually be lying half-dead in bed.” Feng Zhiyao didn’t mind jabbing at Mo Xiuyao’s old wounds. He settled himself casually in a nearby seat and surveyed the room’s arrangement before continuing, “Some time ago, Mo Steward had Cold Er find architecture experts – was it for this side hall? Not bad, really not bad at all. Sister-in-law Princess Consort, could your… little brother get a set like this too?” Even with his vast experience, the Third Young Master Feng couldn’t figure out how this comfortably warm room worked after studying it for a while. Not understanding wasn’t important – knowing its function was enough. “Who wants to bother burning charcoal in winter that costs nearly as much as silver? It’s unpleasant, inconvenient, and not even this warm.”

Ye Li smiled gently: “Actually, I don’t understand these things either. If Young Master Feng is interested, you can discuss it with the master craftsmen.” The wisdom of ancient craftsmen truly couldn’t be underestimated. She had only drawn a rough design and proposed her concepts and principles. Those experienced craftsmen had set up the water heating system for this side hall in less than half a month. No wonder people said many lost crafts couldn’t be reproduced even with 21st-century machinery.

Feng Zhiyao’s eyes lit up. “Are they all Cold Er’s people? Thank you, Princess Consort. I’ll go find him tomorrow.” He chuckled, “Once I have a warm house like this, I’ll host a banquet at my manor. Let’s see if those arrogant fellows won’t drool with envy. Oh? My Prince, did Cold Er mention if we could profit from this? Of course… we won’t forget the Princess Consort’s contribution.” Remembering that Ye Li was the original creator of this warm room, Feng Zhiyao didn’t forget to flash her an ingratiating smile.

Mo Xiuyao held a chess piece and said: “Cold Er has calculated. Making such a warm room requires at least seventeen thousand taels. Even after the process is refined, the cost won’t drop below fifteen thousand taels. The cost is too high – how many people do you think would be willing to spend this much?”

Feng Zhiyao pondered for a moment before shaking his head: “Indeed, not many. The capital has many nobles and even more wealthy people. But if just this side hall costs over ten thousand taels, there really won’t be many willing to spend twenty or thirty thousand taels to build a warm room. If it’s just for a profit of one or two hundred thousand, it’s not worth researching this specifically – at least not now.”

Ye Li smiled: “Actually, Young Master Feng’s idea isn’t bad. If we could compress the cost to around one thousand taels… there would still be a market.”

Feng Zhiyao scoffed, “What profit could be made at just one thousand taels?”

“If it’s around one thousand taels, then the capital’s nobility, wealthy merchants, and even ordinary prosperous merchants might choose warm rooms over silver charcoal. Then what if we consider all of Great Chu… or even Xi Ling and Bei Rong?” Ye Li said with a gentle smile.

Feng Zhiyao started, glanced at Mo Xiuyao who showed no sign of joining the conversation, then said after a moment’s contemplation: “I’ll mention it to Cold Er later.”

“The Cold Er you’re talking about should be the Cold family’s second son, Cold Haoyu, right?” Ye Li asked, “I hadn’t heard that Second Young Master Cold was close to the Prince.” Cold Haoyu was different from those like Feng Zhiyao who grew up with Mo Xiuyao – he was several years younger. When Mo Xiuyao had his incident, Cold Haoyu must have been only twelve or thirteen. Moreover, the Cold family was supposedly absolutely loyal to the Emperor.

Feng Zhiyao nodded, looking at Mo Xiuyao with some surprise: “The Prince hasn’t mentioned this to the Princess Consort?” Mo Xiuyao replied calmly: “I sent Cold Haoyu a message to come to the Prince’s mansion, but he seemed to be unavailable.” Feng Zhiyao seemed to recall something and lowered his head with a suppressed laugh: “A few days ago, Cold Er went to visit courtesans and was caught red-handed by his future father-in-law. General Murong gave him quite a beating – he probably can’t leave his house even now.” With Cold Er’s pride, he definitely wouldn’t reply to Mo Xiuyao saying he’d been beaten and couldn’t go out.

Ye Li started, asking in surprise: “Second Young Master Cold was beaten by General Murong?”

“Indeed! Princess Consort, you didn’t see it, but General Murong didn’t hold back. Poor Cold Haoyu, neither father nor mother cares for him – he’s probably still lying in bed with no one to tend to him. I should go check on him later,” Feng Zhiyao said, clearly taking pleasure in the misfortune.

Ye Li called someone to pour hot tea for Feng Zhiyao before asking: “Since Young Master Cold is the Prince’s friend, should we send someone to check on him since he’s injured?” Mo Xiuyao said: “Letting Feng Zhiyao go is fine.” Before Feng Zhiyao could respond, he added: “When he can leave his house, tell him to come here.”

Feng Zhiyao knew Mo Xiuyao wouldn’t summon them to the Dingguo Prince’s mansion without important business. He immediately dropped his lazy smile and replied seriously with a nod: “What are the Prince’s instructions?”

Mo Xiuyao took the document Ye Li handed him and said: “This just arrived from the Southern Frontier – take a look.”

Feng Zhiyao glanced at Ye Li before opening the document and reading carefully. His expression grew increasingly grim. By the time Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li had finished their chess game and were putting away the pieces, he finally looked up and said: “Mo Jingli is secretly supporting the Holy Maiden’s rebellion in the Southern Frontier? What’s going on? If I remember correctly, the Southern Frontier’s Crown Princess is Princess Qixia’s younger sister. Once the Crown Princess inherits the throne, Nanzhao will become Mo Jingli’s greatest support.”

Mo Xiuyao held his warm teacup and said flatly: “Don’t forget that the Nanzhao King is only forty this year. Unless something unexpected happens, the Crown Princess will have to wait at least twenty years to inherit the throne.”

“But the Nanzhao King and Princess Qixia are father and daughter. Wouldn’t he support his son-in-law?” Feng Zhiyao asked.

Mo Xiuyao shook his head: “I’ve dealt with the Nanzhao King when he was still the Crown Prince. He’s extremely cautious and intelligent – he absolutely won’t support Mo Jingli. If he had, he would have married Princess Qixia to two years ago when Mo Xiuyao was sent as envoy to Nanzhao, rather than waiting for Princess Qixia to travel to Great Chu herself. The incident in June must have greatly displeased the Nanzhao King – neither he nor the Crown Princess is likely to support Mo Jingli.” Feng Zhiyao lowered his head to look at the document in his hands: “That’s what this analysis suggests too. Then… when and how did Mo Jingli get involved with this Southern Frontier Holy Maiden?”

Feng Zhiyao felt they had truly underestimated Mo Jingli all these years. In his eyes, Mo Jingli had always been a hot-tempered fool, so even though Mo Jingli was a lofty prince and was merely a merchant’s illegitimate son, he had never taken Mo Jingli seriously. But looking at all the chaos in the capital these past two years, which incident didn’t have Mo Jingli’s involvement? Especially in the past half year, he discovered that the court officials supporting Prince Li were not few.

“It must have happened when he was sent to the Southern Frontier. After all, he stayed there for quite a while,” Mo Xiuyao said with furrowed brows.

“Do you think… the one in the palace knows about this now?” Feng Zhiyao asked curiously. Royal brothers killing each other was always the most interesting.

“Probably not. Even your people don’t have any news yet, do they?” Mo Xiuyao replied. Feng Zhiyao’s face darkened. He managed all intelligence gathering and communication for the Dingguo Prince’s mansion, yet now news from Nanzhao had reached the mansion while his people hadn’t caught even a whisper. He knew Mo Xiuyao didn’t distrust him – if he did, Mo Xiuyao wouldn’t have shown him the intelligence so readily. But knowing someone was more capable than himself was still uncomfortable.

“You needn’t feel ashamed. This news hasn’t spread yet. Nobody knows except those who’ve seen this document,” Mo Xiuyao didn’t want to discourage his friend and confidant too much, saying: “However, I can’t tell you the source of this information. Find a way to pass it to Mo Jingqi.”

“Pass it to Mo Jingqi?” Feng Zhiyao raised an eyebrow: “Won’t that drive him mad? However, letting them fight among themselves is good – gives us more time for other things. Do we need to send someone to the Southern Frontier? While the chaos there benefits us now, that might not last. The Nanzhao people are fierce, and like the Zhou Kingdom, they’ve long coveted Great Chu’s vast territory and rich resources. It’s only their weak national strength that’s forced them to submit to Great Chu after several failed provocations resulted in heavy losses.”

“We have no one to send now, but there’s someone in the Southern Frontier who should be able to handle things. Let’s leave it for now. Any news from the Northern Rong?”

Feng Zhiyao snorted lightly: “After the marriage alliance with Xi Ling failed, their secret dealings with Northern Rong have become more frequent than before. Lei Tengfeng must have sensed the problems between the brothers Mo Jingqi and Mo Jingli, which is why he changed his mind so decisively. He’s probably planning to join forces with Northern Rong to attack when Great Chu falls into internal chaos.”

“Lei Tengfeng… Great Chu may have internal instability, but does he think Xi Ling is doing any better?” Mo Xiuyao’s smile was cold as he frowned and asked: “Shouldn’t Master Shen be back by now?”

Feng Zhiyao started: “He should be back soon.”

“When he returns, ask him to make a trip to Xi Ling.” Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly: “I hear the Xi Ling Emperor has also been long plagued by illness. Divine Physician Shen’s exceptional medical skills might interest him.”

Feng Zhiyao raised his eyebrows with a smile: “The Xi Ling Emperor and the Regent of the South? Seems like a good idea, but I wonder if a healthy Xi Ling Emperor would tolerate having such an unnamed but powerful regent in Xi Ling?”

Ye Li sat quietly to the side listening to the two discuss affairs between the kingdoms, gradually becoming lost in thought. In the past half year, she had come to understand many things happening in the capital quite clearly, naturally seeing through the Emperor and Empress Dowager’s secret struggle against Prince Li both inside and outside the court. She hadn’t expected Mo Jingli to even drag Nanzhao into the fray. As these three – mother and brothers – schemed and fought against each other, did they ever consider that some of the people they guarded against and plotted against were working in the shadows for this country’s rise and fall?

“Ah Li, what do you think Mo Jingli gains by secretly aiding the Southern Frontier Holy Maiden?” Lost in thought, she suddenly heard Mo Xiuyao ask.

Ye Li started, frowning: “Even with the Empress Dowager’s support, Mo Jingli isn’t necessarily a match for the Emperor. First, he’s at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion and moral standing. The Emperor inherited the throne legitimately from the previous emperor, and as his elder brother, he hasn’t treated Mo Jingli poorly since ascending the throne. Rashly opposing the Emperor brings him no benefit at all. I think… Mo Jingli has always placed too much importance on Nanzhao. On the surface, what he’s gained through Princess Qixia far outweighs what he’s lost. So, there must be some force or person in Nanzhao he can rely on.”

Mo Xiuyao nodded: “Ah Li speaks well. We all feel Mo Jingli has changed too quickly these years. But… looking carefully, one would notice he only began changing after returning from the Southern Frontier. Most people haven’t noticed this change. I’m certain that before this, while Mo Jingli might have had ambition, he never thought of seizing the throne.”

Ye Li stood up, taking a map from a nearby cabinet and spreading it on the table: “I don’t know what in the Southern Frontier gives him such confidence. But in my view, if he could control the entire Southern Frontier, even if Mo Jingli fails to seize the throne, he won’t be the one who loses.” Feng Zhiyao curiously leaned over to ask: “What do you mean?”

Ye Li pointed at the map: “Mo Jingli’s fief is in Ling Prefecture, only three hundred li from Nanzhao. Royal family rules require princes to reside in the capital for only two months each year, but Mo Jingli stays in the capital year-round due to Empress Dowager and Noble Consort Xianzhao’s concern, rarely returning to his fief. Of course, this might also be the Emperor’s way of keeping Mo Jingli in check. But Ling Prefecture remains Prince Li’s fief, and given his current confidence, Ling Prefecture must be completely under his control. Once Nanzhao provides full support to Prince Li, simultaneously attacking from inside and outside, Yong Prefecture between Ling Prefecture and Nanzhao will inevitably fall into their hands. East of Ling Prefecture is open plains – with enough troops, Prince Li could march east and grasp the southwestern half of the territory. As for reinforcements from the court, even the fastest Black Cloud Cavalry would take at least twenty days to arrive, and they’d need to cross the Yunlan River that spans all of Great Chu. As far as I know… Great Chu has no army skilled in naval warfare. Including the Mo family army and Black Cloud Cavalry.”

As her delicate hand gestured gracefully, Feng Zhiyao’s expression gradually darkened. He was more familiar than Ye Li with Nanzhao and Great Chu’s terrain, naturally understanding better what situation would arise in an actual military confrontation. The area east of Great Chu’s Ling Prefecture had always been peaceful, and being far from the borders, had very few stationed troops. If Mo Jingli truly allied with Nanzhao to advance southeast instead of Nanzhao’s habit of moving north, once they passed the Suixue Pass of Yong Prefecture, half of Great Chu’s territory south of the Yunlan River would essentially be handed to them.