This was another Mo Tizhun!
Though his presence was intimidating, the guard still swallowed hard: “Do you have… do you have proof?”
Mo Tizhun threw a document at his chest: “This is Prince Jin’s handwritten letter, sealed with the imperial jade.”
Passing through the garden gate, Mo Tizhun’s face was frozen with frost.
The Yao Kingdom general rushing from nearby had already informed him of the Yao people’s suspicions.
“There’s a second Mo Tizhun in the garden,” this information made him chuckle coldly: “Take me there, and watch me catch this impostor in the act!” Just as the general was about to respond, Mo Tizhun suddenly asked, “By the way, is Princess Hanyue still held captive by the Wei people?”
He had been entrusted by Prince Jin to rescue Princess Hanyue, and despite his annoyance, he could still distinguish priorities.
“Yes,” the general answered, “Our king has passed away, but Princess Hanyue remains under Wei’s control.”
Mo Tizhun exclaimed in shock: “The Yao King has died!” How could the Wei people give up their biggest bargaining chip?
“It happened suddenly,” the general said bitterly. “No one could have predicted it.”
He accompanied Mo Tizhun as they galloped toward the palace complex. Suddenly, a squad of Yao soldiers darted out from an angle, surrounding someone in their midst.
With his exceptional eyesight, Mo Tizhun scanned them and pulled his reins to a stop, calling out: “Hanyue!”
The woman wrapped in a felt blanket, surrounded like a moon among stars by the Yao soldiers, wasn’t she Princess Hanyue!
She had been rescued?
She was holding a child in her arms. Hearing the voice, she looked up, and upon seeing Mo Tizhun, let out a surprised gasp, both shocked and delighted: “State Preceptor Mo!”
What could compare to the joy of meeting an old acquaintance when stranded in a foreign land amid calamity? Moreover, in her heart, the State Preceptor had always been synonymous with extraordinary abilities.
All the Yao people, including the general, immediately knelt. Princess Hanyue ignored them completely and rode over saying: “Please help me check on Zheng!”
Mo Tizhun looked down at the child, who was wrapped in a soft cloth with wet hair and clothes, eyes tightly shut and face flushed. “He’s caught a chill after falling into the water.” He took out a medicinal pill from his pocket, broke off one-fifth, and fed it to the child. “He’s too young, so this amount is sufficient. Give him some warm water, and he’ll recover shortly.”
Seeing that both the princess and her child were soaking wet, he couldn’t help asking: “Weren’t you two confined in the palace?” Why did they look like they had just been pulled from water?
Princess Hanyue’s pretty face gathered a thin layer of anger: “Don’t mention it. A few days ago, the Wei people attacked the garden and headed straight for me, killing countless people along the way. In my haste, I took water-breathing pills, and after taking them with my child, we plunged into Mirror Moon Lake.” She turned to call for hot water.
Mo Tizhun asked curiously: “The water-breathing pill is only effective for a quarter of an hour. How did you manage to stay underwater for two days?”
“Mirror Moon Lake was originally a maze before being converted into a lake,” Princess Hanyue carefully fed water to her child. “When Feng Xian was young, he often played in the lake and discovered that the training room there remained intact and was very close to the water surface. He sealed the gaps and created an air passage directly to the surface, thus creating an underwater secret chamber. Very few know about this.”
So she stayed in the underwater chamber for two days. No matter how powerful the spiritual perception of Wei Kingdom’s State Preceptor Yun Ya was, he couldn’t detect her and the child’s presence through deep water—a clever move indeed.
After finishing feeding water, Princess Hanyue gently patted her son’s back to help him burp. Mo Tizhun found women to be frustratingly meticulous and frowned: “The Yao King has passed away. Did you know?”
Princess Hanyue was startled: “What!” Having just emerged from the water and anxious to find her husband, no one had informed her of this devastating news. “Where is Feng Xian?”
“His life is in danger.” Although no one had explicitly stated this, why would someone impersonate him and infiltrate the imperial garden if not for sinister purposes?
Princess Hanyue immediately clutched her son tightly: “Quick, let’s find him!”
The Crown Prince and the Jin Kingdom’s State Preceptor walked aside to discuss strategies, leaving the Yao officials whispering among themselves.
Someone asked Zhao Rushan: “General Zhao, do you think the Crown Prince will launch a full attack?”
Zhao Rushan’s expression was solemn as he replied quietly: “I don’t know.” For other monarchs, wives and children could be sacrificed in critical moments. Although heirs were precious, Miao Feng Xian was still young and would have many opportunities to father children. There were countless princesses in the world; losing Princess Hanyue wouldn’t prevent the new king from marrying again.
Which ruler would worry about not being able to find a wife or have children?
Now that the old Yao King had passed away, Miao Feng Xian should strike with full force, catching the Wei people off guard!
Alas, their Crown Prince had a woman’s softness of heart.
However, these words couldn’t be spoken aloud. Zhao Rushan could only say with frustration: “The Crown Prince is filial and won’t ignore his great vendetta.”
As they were speaking, a messenger arrived on horseback—it was a guard from the garden gate reporting: “The Crown Prince’s consort and Jin Kingdom’s State Preceptor Mo Tizhun have arrived!”
“Jin…” The officials who heard this news were stunned. Hadn’t Mo Tizhun already arrived and was preventing the Yao people from attacking? If the person who had just reached the imperial garden was Mo Tizhun, then who was the one beside the Crown Prince discussing strategies?
“Not good!” Everyone immediately realized the danger and rushed toward the main hall!
Zhao Rushan shouted: “Crown Prince, that Mo Tizhun is an impostor!”
Regardless of true or false, alerting Miao Feng Xian was the priority!
“Snap.”
After drawing just two strokes, the front half of the twig in Miao Feng Xian’s hand broke. He had to bend down slightly to continue sketching with the remaining part.
This bow lowered his neck.
The Mo Tizhun beside him was speaking: “I hear the Yan army is still blocked at the Niumu River, unable to cross.”
“Monsters are causing trouble,” Miao Feng Xian replied without looking up, focused on his task.
“How much more effort does the Crown Prince think Yan will need to conquer the Xi Kingdom?”
Miao Feng Xian paused, pondering for a moment: “At most, another month.”
“The Xi King has moved his capital into the mountains, which are easy to defend but hard to attack,” Mo Tizhun said leisurely. “Until he dies or surrenders, Yan can’t claim victory.”
“The Xi Kingdom is rotten; its collapse is just a matter of time. Even without Yan’s attack, it would eventually destroy itself through its misdeeds,” Miao Feng Xian said casually. “The Wei Kingdom has acquired quite a troublesome ally.”
“The Xi people possess integrity, and they have many famous generals,” Mo Tizhun sighed softly. “What a pity, what a pity.”
As he uttered the second “What a pity,” the hand concealed in his sleeve made a gentle pinch, and a thin blade materialized in the air directly above Miao Feng Xian, poised to strike the second vertebra of his neck!
This blade was as thin as a cicada’s wing, less than a palm wide, transparent as if made of crystal, looking more like a toy than a weapon. But what could be simple about something conjured by Mo Tizhun’s hand?
This was a wind blade formed using an ancient magical artifact, called “Wind Pellet.” It had form but no substance. Most terrifying was that the blade approaching the neck made absolutely no sound, not even stirring the slightest breeze, leaving the target completely unaware.
Miao Feng Xian was bowing his head, exposing a vulnerable spot on his neck, and the impostor seized this opportunity.