Mo Li

Outside Hongzhou City, the clamor of battle still shook the heavens. But those within the city walls no longer felt any fear. Ye Li sat leisurely in an empty teahouse, sipping tea. The open window offered a clear view of the soldiers on the distant city walls fighting desperately to hold their ground. Zhuo Jing, Lin Han, and the others stood silently by her side, watching the distant battlements. Qin Feng, who usually never left her side, was conspicuously absent. Mo Hua, responsible for Ye Li’s safety, gazed at her with a troubled expression but remained silent.

"Your Highness, the northern part of the city may not hold much longer," Wei Lin hurried in and reported respectfully. Ye Li lowered her head in thought before asking, "Is everything prepared?" Lin Han nodded. "Rest assured, Your Highness. Everything is in place. Please leave Hongzhou as soon as possible."

Ye Li replied calmly, "Since the arrangements are complete, there’s no need to rush. Zhuo Jing, your results?"

Zhuo Jing answered gravely, "Though the time was short, the Mo Family Army elites remaining in the city have made significant progress. Please do not worry."

The word "elites" caused Ye Li’s expression to darken. After a long silence, she sighed. "Yes… they are all the Mo Family Army’s finest…"

Lin Han glanced at her and said, "If the Western Liang army breaches Hongzhou, the Mo Family Army left behind in the northwest would have no choice but to take their own lives in atonement. So… Your Highness need not blame yourself."

Ye Li gave a faint, bitter smile. No matter how noble the justification, it couldn’t mask her shortcomings as a commander. If a general of Zhennan Wang’s caliber—or Zhennan Wang himself—were in her position, they would never employ her current strategy: trading eight hundred losses for a thousand enemy casualties. This was also due to the inherent flaws and limitations of the Mo Family Army.

There might have been others within the army better suited to lead than her, but… those beneath them might not have accepted their authority. The tradition of loyalty solely to Prince Ding had shaped the Mo Family Army’s current state—plenty of capable warriors, but a true commander-in-chief was hard to come by. This was also why the royal court feared the Mo Family Army. In a nation, the most formidable fighting force should not be a private army but the imperial military.

Finishing the last sip in her cup, Ye Li stood and cast a final glance at the Mo Family Army’s banner fluttering high above the city walls. "Let’s go."

At noon on the sixteenth day of the tenth month, after two days and nights of relentless assault, Hongzhou City fell.

This time, however, the Western Liang army did not swarm in as they had after capturing Xinyang. Instead, they sent small scouting parties to investigate the city first, clearly wary of another trap. In the Battle of Xinyang, far more soldiers had perished in the fires and suffocation than in actual combat.

The scouts moved cautiously through every street, only to find the city completely deserted—no Mo Family Army, no civilians. After a thorough inspection confirmed no threats, they reported back to the outside.

Beyond the walls, Zhennan Wang frowned at the soldier’s report. "Not a single soul in the city?"The reporting soldier replied, "Your Highness, there's no one. Moreover, most of the buildings in Hongzhou City are made of stone, making it difficult to set them ablaze. The Eastern Chu people are unlikely to repeat their old tricks." Yet, Zhennan Wang's furrowed brows remained tightly knit. While the fall of Hongzhou City should have brought him joy, the current situation was clearly abnormal. After a city's defenses were breached, even if the original garrison had hastily retreated, there should still be a few stragglers left behind. But the scene before them indicated one thing—the enemy had planned this withdrawal long ago. Compared to the fierce, life-and-death resistance of the past few days, this eerily empty city seemed all the more bizarre. Ye Li… what exactly are you plotting?

"Your Highness, shall we enter the city first?" a nearby general asked. After finally capturing Hongzhou City, the prince stood frozen at the city gates, leaving the soldiers utterly perplexed.

After a moment of silence, Zhennan Wang said gravely, "Immediately pass through Hongzhou and pursue the remnants of the Mo Family Army. Do not linger in the city!"

"But… Your Highness, our reinforcements and provisions will take at least ten more days to arrive. If we advance beyond the pass and something unexpected happens…" The general cautiously advised. In military campaigns, provisions were paramount. With only a mere hundred thousand troops, they would barely be a morsel for Great Chu's defenders once inside the pass. Their supplies could last no more than half a month. If they strayed too far from the supply convoy and provisions failed to arrive in time… the hundred thousand soldiers wouldn’t need enemies—they would starve to death on their own.

Zhennan Wang frowned and ordered sternly, "Enter the city!"

Soon, the army poured through the city gates in an endless stream. Zhennan Wang remained on horseback outside the city, staring at the towering gatehouse with a growing sense of unease. The officers beside him, sensing his foul mood, dared not speak further. As more than half the army entered, a sudden clamor erupted from within the city. Zhennan Wang's heart sank. "Something's wrong!" he barked. "Withdraw from Hongzhou immediately!"

But it was already too late. A series of deafening explosions shook the ground, and thick dust clouds billowed from the city gates. When the air cleared, the once-open gates had vanished, replaced by a solid wall of rubble and earth blocking the entrance. Only a gap less than half a man's height remained at the top of the two-man-high gate. Above, part of the gatehouse had collapsed—clear evidence of premeditated sabotage.

"Your Highness?!" The general beside him turned deathly pale. Nearly seventy thousand soldiers had already entered the city, leaving fewer than thirty thousand outside. What had just happened? As if to confirm the saying that misfortunes never come singly, earth-shaking battle cries erupted from within the city just as several black whirlwinds of troops charged from the southwest and northwest, sweeping toward the disarrayed Western Liang soldiers at the gates.The city had already turned into a river of blood. The buildings in Hongzhou were all constructed from stacked stone, forming a network of deep and shallow alleys. When the sudden ambush by the Mo Family Army disrupted the ranks on the main street, countless black-clad soldiers armed with bows appeared on the rooftops on either side. No one could fail to recognize them—they were the elite Black Cloud Cavalry of the Mo Family Army. Legend had it that every soldier in the Black Cloud Cavalry was a master archer, one in a hundred. A relentless rain of arrows poured down upon the Western Liang soldiers on the street. This was no battle; it was almost a one-sided massacre. The Black Cloud Cavalry held the high ground, striking first, and their archery skills were clearly superior to those of the Western Liang soldiers. The Western Liang troops had no chance to fight back and were forced into the narrow, winding alleys. Yet, what awaited them was no better fate—they were either pierced through the chest by arrows shot from the rooftops or had their throats slit by unseen assailants. The once-empty Hongzhou had instantly become a living hell.

Outside the city, Zhennan Wang's face alternated between green and white. At this point... he finally realized what had been bothering him all these days. They had thought they were chasing the Mo Family Army into retreating to Hongzhou, but who could tell him where this cavalry behind them had come from? Ye Li had somehow concealed a force of nearly thirty thousand cavalrymen right under their noses. And in their recent victories, they had been too intoxicated by success to consider the true strength of the Mo Family Army, once hailed as the foremost among the nations.

Amid the countless black whirlwinds charging toward them, the red figure at the forefront stood out vividly. Feng Zhiyao sat astride his steed like a crimson whirlwind, sweeping past the Western Liang soldiers who dared not face his onslaught. His handsome face was alight with unrestrained joy. After enduring for so many days, he could finally fight to his heart's content. He might not match Zhennan Wang in strategy or experience, but so what? Thirty thousand cavalry against thirty thousand infantry—on this open plain, there was no need for tactics or schemes. Nothing could stop him from crushing the Western Liang forces. With almost gleeful ease, he slashed his spear across the throats of several Western Liang soldiers, then galloped past Zhennan Wang's army, calling out mockingly from a distance, "Prince Zhennan, our Princess Ding sends her regards."

This greeting was undoubtedly a taunt. Zhennan Wang's face darkened with rage as he sneered, "Princess Ding is quite the strategist. But... I wonder, after burning Xinyang and collapsing Hongzhou's walls, what will she rely on to defend Hongzhou once my reinforcements arrive?" Feng Zhiyao laughed heartily. "No need for Your Highness to worry. Our Princess Ding has also declared that any Western Liang soldier who sets foot in the northwest will be slaughtered without mercy!" Zhennan Wang snorted. "Such bold words. My mere two hundred thousand troops have already kept you busy, yet you dare to boast like this. Even if I suffer losses, the Mo Family Army won’t fare much better." Feng Zhiyao raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Does Your Highness think the Mo Family Army fears Western Liang? The only concern our Princess Ding has is for you, Prince Zhennan. Those three hundred thousand reinforcements lack your leadership. Whether they even make it to Hongzhou remains to be seen."Zhennan Wang's face changed slightly, though he maintained outward composure. Yet inwardly, his heart was already a tempest of shock—he had lost this battle. Even without seeing the final outcome, Zhennan Wang understood clearly. After half a lifetime of military glory, he had lost the first half to Mo Liufang, but never did he imagine the latter half would be lost to a woman! Even witnessing the result before him, he couldn't accept it wholeheartedly. Through their several confrontations, he had already discerned that Ye Li was no earth-shattering military prodigy. Precisely because of this, he couldn't comprehend how the current outcome had come to pass.

"Order the Gold-Clad Guards to capture Ye Li at any cost!" After a long silence, watching the retreating figure in red robes laughing triumphantly, Zhennan Wang snarled with a twisted expression.

"Your Highness, the situation here now—"

"Kill them all!"

"The reason Zhennan Wang fell for the trap is that he underestimated me too much." In a small valley about a dozen miles inside the pass near Hongzhou City, Ye Li listened to the distant sounds of battle still raging in Hongzhou and calmly explained to the puzzled Zhuo Jing and the others beside her, "If it were Xiu Yao facing him, he would never have been fooled like this."

Zhuo Jing asked, "Does the Princess mean... if the Prince had employed such tactics, Zhennan Wang would have suspected a ruse, but since it was the Princess, he didn't?"

Ye Li smiled faintly. "No matter how cautious Zhennan Wang believes himself to be, the innate underestimation men hold toward women is something he could never fully rid himself of. At most, he might have slightly less of it than others."

Wei Lin chuckled. "After this, I'm sure Zhennan Wang will never underestimate the Princess again."

"Princess... once the battle outside the city concludes, should we enter to reinforce our brothers inside?" Lin Han asked.

Ye Li remained silent for a long while before finally speaking. "No. They must immediately march to reinforce Marquis Nan."

The group fell silent. Inside the city, seventy thousand Western Liang troops remained, while only slightly over ten thousand Mo Family Army soldiers had been left behind. How many would make it out alive was anyone's guess. Meanwhile, the thirty thousand Black Cloud Cavalry hidden outside the city, after annihilating the remaining thirty thousand Western Liang soldiers, would have to rush without rest to the border to reinforce Marquis Nan. Marquis Nan, his heir, and a few young generals like Yun Ting had only thirty thousand troops to intercept the three hundred thousand reinforcements from Western Liang. How many would return was equally uncertain.

It wasn't that the Princess was heartless—everyone understood they simply didn't have enough forces. The Princess had already made the best possible arrangements.

"Princess, it's time to depart. If we hurry, we can reach a small town to rest by tonight."

Ye Li turned back for one last glance at the distant city, then nodded silently.

"Reporting to the Princess, a large contingent of troops is approaching Hongzhou from ahead!" A shadow guard sent ahead to scout hurried back with the news.

Ye Li paused, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. "Who are they?"

The shadow guard replied, "They are the local garrison forces from the regions near Hongzhou."

"Why are they arriving now?"

She had known about the memorials submitted by the garrison commanders of nearby regions requesting permission to reinforce Hongzhou. However, these generals were ultimately loyal to Mo Jingqi. She had even sent envoys to request their aid, but without Mo Jingqi's decree, none were willing—or perhaps dared—to lend her troops. They had only promised to petition the capital for permission to mobilize.

Ye Li had some understanding of Mo Jingqi's mindset, so she had held little hope for their promises from the start."Could it be reinforcements for Hongzhou?" Lin Han asked.

Zhuo Jing replied coldly, "The timing is far too coincidental. Your Highness, I’ll go investigate." Ye Li frowned slightly and said, "Go ahead, but be careful."

Zhuo Jing had been personally trained by Ye Li and was highly efficient. He returned in less than an hour, but his expression was grim. Glancing at Ye Li, he reported, "Your Highness, they’re not here to help."

The group was stunned. Mo Hua said icily, "Don’t tell me they’re here to aid Western Liang?"

Zhuo Jing shook his head. "They’ve set up camp about ten miles away. I infiltrated their ranks and overheard their conversation. They plan to stand by and watch. If we win, they’ll swoop in while we’re exhausted and take advantage. If Western Liang wins, they’ll retreat to their base depending on the situation. If both sides suffer heavy losses, even better—they’ll just reap the benefits."

"What is the Emperor thinking? Does he not want Hongzhou anymore?" Lin Han exclaimed in disbelief.

Ye Li sneered. "He already handed over the three northwestern provinces to Western Liang. Whether this battle is won or lost, the northwest is no longer his—so it makes no difference to him."

"What a madman!" Wei Lin finally spat out after a long silence. Even someone with no interest in military affairs knew how crucial the northwest was to Great Chu. Yet Mo Jingqi was willing to abandon it just to deal with Ding Royal Palace...

"There’s more..." Zhuo Jing said darkly. "Garrisons from nearby regions have all received secret orders from the Emperor—to eliminate all Mo Family Army forces in the northwest. Most importantly... to capture Her Highness, dead or alive!"