Mo Li

When Zhang Qilan led his troops to rendezvous with Ye Li and Feng Zhiyao at Jiantian Cliff, another fierce battle ensued. However, compared to the initially anticipated situation, this was already considered quite favorable. At least they were now positioned on Jiantian Cliff as well, rather than being suppressed from higher ground once again. Moreover, Lyu Jinxian’s original force of 30,000 had already suffered heavy losses, while their own casualties were less than ten percent. Just thinking about this made Zhang Qilan want to laugh heartily to the heavens.

Dozens of miles away, outside a small city, Mo Xiuyao stood outside the camp, gazing at the isolated city with its tightly shut gates amidst the wilderness. He sighed helplessly. Yun Ting and Chen Yun, who were beside him, exchanged puzzled glances, unsure why the prince was sighing. Unable to hold back, Yun Ting spoke up, “Wang Ye, is something troubling you?”

Mo Xiuyao shook his head. “Lyu Jinxian likely won’t last much longer.” Not only Yun Ting but even the usually composed Chen Yun found this hard to believe. Frowning, Chen Yun said, “Jiantian Cliff is a natural stronghold. Even with 100,000 troops, General Zhang wouldn’t be able to deploy them effectively. Why would you say that, Wang Ye…?”

Mo Xiuyao casually handed the battle report to Chen Yun. “From the beginning, neither A Li nor Feng San has appeared in Zhang Qilan’s army. Those two must have taken a detour behind Lyu Jinxian’s forces. If that’s the case, the defenses Lyu Jinxian set up twenty miles in front of Jiantian Cliff are practically useless. Once both armies are on the cliff, even if Zhang Qilan’s 100,000 troops can’t fully deploy, they can still wear down Lyu Jinxian’s 10,000 to 20,000 men through sheer attrition.”

Hearing this, both Chen Yun and Yun Ting paled. Yun Ting said, “Wang Ye, I volunteer to reinforce General Lü!” Mo Xiuyao glanced at him indifferently. “Reinforce? With what troops? Even if I gave you 10,000 or 20,000 men, what difference would that make against 100,000?”

Yun Ting fell silent. “Then… what should we do?” Mo Xiuyao turned his gaze back to the isolated city ahead and said firmly, “Attack with full force. We must take this city before Zhang Qilan’s men arrive.” Chen Yun and Yun Ting straightened their expressions and rose. “We obey your orders!”

Although Mo Xiuyao ordered a full-scale assault, the small city was not so easily conquered. Yuan Pei was a veteran of the Mo Family Army, especially skilled in defensive warfare. With Mo Xiuyao’s forces not holding a numerical advantage, as long as Yuan Pei remained steadfast and focused solely on holding out for reinforcements, Mo Xiuyao could do little for the time being. No matter how many strategies Mo Xiuyao devised, Yuan Pei remained unshaken and unresponsive. Even as Yun Ting and others hurled insults beneath the city walls day after day, the gates remained shut, and no one came out to fight.

At Jiantian Cliff, the two armies faced off for four or five days before Lyu Jinxian’s remaining 10,000-plus troops were completely annihilated, and Lyu Jinxian himself was captured by Zhang Qilan. The two had been rivals for over a decade, with victories and defeats fairly balanced between them. This time, though defeated by Zhang Qilan, Lyu Jinxian didn’t find it too hard to swallow.Watching all his subordinates being completely wiped out, the exhausted Lyu Jinxian readily discarded his weapon and said to the exceedingly smug Zhang Qilan, "I've lost." Zhang Qilan, beaming with joy, personally helped him up and chuckled, "Victory and defeat are common in warfare—don't take it to heart." Lyu Jinxian snorted lightly, "There's no way you alone could have broken through my defenses so quickly. Where is Wang Fei?"

The junior officers observing nearby were stunned. Although there was still a former generation's Wang Fei in Prince Ding's Estate who had refused to leave Great Chu and was secretly protected by Mo Xiuyao's order through Leng Haoyu, remaining in Chu Jing, in the hearts of the Mo Family Army officers, there was only one Wang Fei now. But... how could they not know Wang Fei was in their army?

All eyes turned toward Zhang Qilan—after all, he was the commanding general. If even he didn’t know Wang Fei’s whereabouts, no one else would. Zhang Qilan gave an awkward chuckle and glanced behind him at Ye Li, who was walking side by side with Feng Zhiyao. Lyu Jinxian was momentarily taken aback, failing to recognize Ye Li at first. However, he was very familiar with Qin Feng and Wei Lin, who followed behind her. The identity of someone escorted by both Qin Feng and Wei Lin was unmistakable. Upon closer inspection of the woman beside Feng Zhiyao, he realized it was unmistakably Wang Fei.

"Your subordinate pays respects to Wang Fei," Lyu Jinxian stepped forward and bowed.

Ye Li smiled helplessly, looking at the stunned crowd before her. "General Lü, please rise."

Lyu Jinxian clasped his hands and grinned. "Losing to Wang Fei, I am utterly convinced."

Ye Li replied modestly, "You flatter me, General. I merely contributed a small effort." Lyu Jinxian didn’t mind—he absolutely refused to admit defeat to Zhang Qilan, at least not to his face. "There’s nothing left for me here, so I’ll take my men and bid farewell first. May Wang Fei have smooth travels ahead." Ye Li nodded. "Thank you for your kind words."

Watching Lyu Jinxian stride away confidently with his "fallen" soldiers, the remaining group fell into silence. Wishing the enemy commander smooth travels—was that really appropriate?

Beyond the Jian Tian Cliff, the road ahead was not exactly flat, but it was straightforward. Without daring to delay, the group raced toward the distant solitary city to reinforce Yuan Pei.

Meanwhile, atop the small city’s walls, Mo Xiuyao stood leisurely in plain white robes, not even wearing battle armor, and smiled at the elderly General Yuan Pei. "Old General, this time, this prince has won."

The gray-haired General Yuan Pei gazed at the silver-haired yet still proud and imposing man before him, a glimmer of relief and joy in his eyes. He nodded. "Indeed, Wang Ye has won. This old man concedes." In terms of military strength, Mo Xiuyao had only a slight advantage over Yuan Pei, and attacking a city was far harder than defending one. Back then, Western Liang’s hundred-thousand-strong army had failed to breach Jiangxia’s small city, yet Prince Ding had conquered it in just a few days—this was his skill. Yuan Pei was not one to stubbornly deny defeat or refuse to acknowledge his age. That the Ding Royal Palace had a worthy successor filled him with immense relief."If this were a real battlefield, this prince would not have taken the city so easily." This isolated city was truly deserving of its name—a newly built fortress that hadn’t even had time to settle any inhabitants. A battlefield would never feature such an empty, barely functional stronghold. Yuan Pei laughed heartily and said, "Thank you, Your Highness. But if this were a real battle, you wouldn’t have attacked with just a few tens of thousands of men, would you?" The two exchanged a smile, clearly in good spirits.

"Your Highness, troops are approaching!" A soldier who had been keeping watch on the city wall rushed to report.

"Oh?" Mo Xiuyao looked into the distance, where the faint sound of hoofbeats and rising dust could indeed be seen. Within half an hour, Ye Li, Feng Zhiyao, and Zhang Qilan arrived at the city gates with their army. Mo Xiuyao surveyed the forces—at least ** thousand strong—and praised, "To have annihilated Lyu Jinxian’s troops with fewer than twenty thousand losses is quite an achievement." Looking down at the group below, he smiled faintly and said, "General Zhang, Feng San, A Li, you’re late." Feng Zhiyao gritted his teeth in frustration. Had they arrived just an hour or two earlier, the situation would have been entirely different. But on the battlefield, even a half-hour delay could completely alter the outcome of a battle. "Wang Fei?"

Ye Li raised her eyes to the white-robed man standing atop the city wall, a faint smile slowly curving her lips. She lifted her right hand slightly, her clear voice carrying across the entire battlefield. "Attack the city!"

On the city wall, Mo Xiuyao watched helplessly as the forces below began preparing for the assault. Beside him, Yuan Pei burst into laughter and said with amusement, "Your Highness, it seems this battle isn’t over yet."

Mo Xiuyao gave a wry smile. "You’re right, Old General. I celebrated too soon." By the rules of the exercise, the fall of the city should have marked the end of the drill—their victory. But since this was a training exercise, the goal was to push the new recruits to their limits. Besides, in real warfare, there was no rule stating a city couldn’t be retaken after being lost. Thus, another fierce siege battle commenced.

This time, the siege was far more grueling than Mo Xiuyao’s earlier assault. The two sides fought for seven days without a clear victor.

In the end, they had to declare a draw. Mo Xiuyao’s forces in the city had run out of provisions—this was a completely isolated stronghold, devoid of civilians who might have consumed extra supplies, but it also meant there was no food to be found beyond what they had brought themselves. Yuan Pei had "destroyed" the defenders' rations the day the city fell, leaving Mo Xiuyao’s men not only depleted in numbers but also starving as they held the walls. The besieging army outside fared little better—a careless moment allowed Mo Xiuyao’s raiders to burn most of their supplies.

By the end, neither side was willing to concede defeat. As exhaustion set in, Old General Yuan Pei had no choice but to call a halt. The two sides agreed to settle for a draw.

When Prince Ding and Princess Ding announced the end of the exercise from the city walls, many soldiers couldn’t hold back tears of relief. It wasn’t because they thought they had won—it was because they could finally eat. Despite the stockpiles of provisions still lying untouched inside and outside the city, they had been forced to watch their "fallen" comrades feast while convincing themselves they were starving.These days were truly ten or a hundred times harder than actual food shortages. As soon as the drill ended, everyone could think of nothing else but setting up camp and cooking meals on the spot. The soldiers who had been fiercely fighting moments ago were now all buddy-buddy again. Especially when they saw how the other side was also starving with green-eyed hunger, a unique sense of camaraderie naturally arose.

In the small town, the well-fed generals also gathered together. The siege battle between the two sides had lasted so long that even Lyu Jinxian, who had already returned, came back to watch. Now that it was over, both sides had their victories and defeats, so no one lost face, and the atmosphere remained harmonious.

However, the young eastern army officers who had followed Ye Li still looked dazed at her, still dressed in her white male attire. In the past few days, they had been too busy with the battle to think much about it. Now that the fight was over, the young men remembered that the white-clad scholar they had intentionally or unintentionally ostracized and mocked—who had led them to victory against General Lü—was none other than the Wang Fei they had always deeply admired. This shocking realization left the young men utterly unsettled.

"Wang... Wang Fei..." The young men pushed each other until one unlucky fellow was shoved forward. "Wang Fei, we were blind and foolish before, offending you. Please punish us as you see fit."

Zhang Qilan shot them a sidelong glance and scolded, "You brats still have the nerve to speak? I told you a thousand times to show respect to Wang Fei—what did you do instead?" The group silently glared at him. You said 'Mr. Chu,' not Wang Fei! Seeing their aggrieved expressions, Zhang Qilan also fell silent, then chuckled awkwardly and turned to Ye Li. "Well... Wang Fei, this was my fault for not making it clear to them. Please don’t hold it against them."

Ye Li smiled faintly. "General Zhang, you exaggerate. This was my own intention to begin with. Besides, young people are bound to be impulsive. Under the excellent guidance of General Zhang and the other generals, these young officers are all promising talents." Though praised by Wang Fei, the men could only twitch their lips. They were young, but compared to Wang Fei, who was barely twenty-one or twenty-two, most of them were actually older. Being called "young and impulsive" by her made them blush in shame. Yun Ting silently grumbled to himself: What’s this to you? When I first met Wang Fei, she was only fifteen or sixteen!

With Ye Li’s praise, the other generals also smiled. Though these young men had followed Zhang Qilan this time, not all were his subordinates. Some were under Lyu Jinxian, Yuan Pei, or even Sun Yan, who was stationed far away at Flying Goose Pass. As elites of the younger generation, their praise reflected well on their commanding officers.Hearing that the Wang Fei did not blame them, the young men finally breathed a sigh of relief. Their youthful curiosity got the better of them, and though they kept their distance, they thought they were being discreet as they stole glances at the Wang Fei. After all, they had heard tales of Princess Ding’s exploits even before joining the Mo Family Army. Who would have thought they’d one day see her in person, let alone fight side by side with her? Little did they know their supposedly covert behavior had already displeased someone. As a result, upon returning to the army, before they could even catch their breath, they were thrown into some training camp and put through the wringer for two or three months. They could only assume it was because the generals were dissatisfied with their performance during the drills.

With the drills concluded, Zhang Qilan and Lyu Jinxian were left to handle the aftermath while Mo Xiuyao, Ye Li, Feng Zhiyao, and the others hurried back to Li Cheng.

No sooner had they returned to Prince Ding's Estate than they ran into Qingchen Gongzi before even reaching the study. Just one look at his expression made it clear how displeased he was with the irresponsible Wang Ye, who had dumped the affairs of the northwest on him the moment he had the chance. His gaze swept calmly over Mo Xiuyao, who, after nearly half a month of marching and fighting, looked even more vibrant than usual. Xu Qingchen asked coolly, "It seems Your Highness has been doing well these days?"

Mo Xiuyao replied cheerfully, "Haven’t moved around like this in years. It’s been quite refreshing."

Xu Qingchen smiled faintly. "Oh? Then congratulations, Your Highness. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to move around from now on."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mo Xiuyao looked at him in confusion.

Xu Qingchen sighed and raised the battle report he had just received. "The Great Chu army has suffered consecutive defeats on the northern front. In less than a month, the northern forces have already taken four cities."

Mo Xiuyao fell silent for a moment before lifting his head and smiling faintly. "That has nothing to do with us." The Mo Family Army and Great Chu had long severed all ties. Whatever happened to Great Chu was no longer their concern.

Xu Qingchen nodded. "As long as Your Highness is aware. Additionally, news from Northern Rong suggests their army is also stirring. If Great Chu’s northern campaign falters, Northern Rong will surely march south by next spring."

As he listened, Mo Xiuyao continued walking toward the study and asked, "Any news from Nanzhao?"

Xu Qingchen replied, "Zhennan Wang Shizi has led 300,000 troops to the Nanzhao border. The two nations are now in a standoff. It’s unclear when fighting will break out."

"Will there be war?" Mo Xiuyao turned back to ask.

After a pause, Xu Qingchen answered gravely, "Yes."

Mo Xiuyao halted briefly. "Good. If war breaks out, Western Liang will be too preoccupied to meddle elsewhere for a while."

Feng Zhiyao, following behind, frowned and asked, "Your Highness, should we also begin preparations?"

Mo Xiuyao thought for a moment before nodding. "Once Nanzhao and Western Liang go to war, issue a conscription order within the northwest."

Feng Zhiyao acknowledged the order. Xu Qingchen, catching the glance Mo Xiuyao sent his way, shook his head. "I know nothing of military affairs. You handle it as you see fit."

Mo Xiuyao nodded to Feng Zhiyao. "Go and make the arrangements."After Prince Ding's Estate took control of the northwest, the conscription system underwent multiple rounds of exploration and reform, resulting in some differences from the current military service system. All youths in the northwest who have reached the age of eighteen are required to serve two years of military service, after which they are discharged and return to civilian life. However, they must still undergo one month of military training annually during the agricultural off-season. Most importantly, this two-year conscription applies not only to commoners but also to merchants and even scholars—though scholars may have their service reduced to one year at discretion. Thus, among the students currently enrolled at Mount Li Academy, all who are eighteen or older have already completed their military service.

Additionally, the Mo Family Army maintains a standing force of 900,000 soldiers. These are individuals who have served for over five years, with total service periods extending to thirty years or more. They form the true combat strength of the northwest. Unlike the two-year conscripts, who receive no pay, or the majority of soldiers in other states who are essentially unpaid, these standing troops receive a fixed monthly stipend and are entitled to compensation if they die in battle. While this imposes a certain financial burden on Prince Ding's Estate, it also significantly enhances the Mo Family Army's combat effectiveness and cohesion.

Compared to the other three states, which often boast armies of a million or more, the Mo Family Army's 900,000 troops may seem insignificant sandwiched between them. However, should war break out, Prince Ding's Estate could instantly mobilize over a million trained soldiers by issuing a conscription order. Though their combat prowess might not match that of the true Mo Family Army, they would far surpass hastily conscripted and untrained troops, as they would have been trained by actual Mo Family Army commanders.

Watching Mo Xiuyao's departing figure, Feng Zhiyao sighed softly and gazed at the sky. Once Nanzhao and Western Liang went to war, Northern Rong would inevitably seek to take a share from Great Chu. And Prince Ding's Estate would certainly not be able to remain untouched. After all these years of preparation, is it finally about to begin?

－－－－－－Author's Note－－－－－－

Recommending a new work by my friend Jiaruo Feixue, The Famous Physician's Imperial Consort .

Yi Ronghua, daughter of the wealthiest family in Jiangnan, after five years of marriage, found her tendons severed, her beloved brother murdered, and watched as her cousin—whom she had treated like a sister—seized her dowry and usurped her position as the legal wife! All while the husband she deeply loved inflicted severe injuries upon her!

After exhausting all means, she finally begged for death, swearing a solemn vow before her end: If there were an afterlife, she would slaughter gods and buddhas alike, showing no mercy or hesitation!

Heaven had eyes. Reborn in a new life, watch as she meticulously plans her revenge, reclaiming every drop of blood debt from her past life!

……

Also, sniff … To those reading pirated copies, please just read quietly and don’t leave me comments. It hurts…

And to the pirates out there, have some self-respect. I’m not having an easy time either.