254 The Position of the Queen of Nanzhao

rategy, but it took him more than a year to subdue the south. I swept across Yongzhou within half a month. In at most another six months, the area south of Yunlan River will be under my control!""Your...The Position of the Queen of Nanzhao

After the announcement of the marriage between Prince Li's Mansion and Cangmang Mountain, since the nobles from various countries who came to celebrate birthdays had already left, this marriage didn't cause much commotion. As the main character in this wedding, only Mo Jingli would truly be happy. He chose to hold the wedding in Licheng, partly as a way of showing defiance towards Dingwang Mansion. However, whenever he thought about how it was only after Dingwang Mansion rejected Cangmang Mountain that he got this opportunity, his defiant thoughts involuntarily turned into embarrassment and boredom. As a result, the previous respect and caution he had for Cangmang Mountain also decreased by three parts.

In comparison to Eastern You's resentment towards the marriage proposal and her rejection of it, Eastern Hui was equally unhappy. Originally, when Dingwang Mansion rejected her proposal, after she herself refused Ren Qining, the only choice left for Cangmang Mountain would be Mo Jingli. However, choosing Mo Jingli and marrying him to become the heir of Cangmang Mountain is vastly different from what's happening now.

Originally, when Eastern You married into Prince Li's Mansion, Cangmang Mountain remained high above all. But after this event, another marriage would give a completely different feeling among officials in the Great Chu Dynasty. Furthermore, Cangmang Mountain couldn't even reject Eastern You’s marriage proposal to them. Although Mo Jingli and Eastern You's relationship wasn’t made public, people who should know about it are all aware of this situation. Facing such an unfair deal, Cangmang Mountain can only swallow their anger.

These various mishaps left Eastern Hui in a bad mood, even hating Dingwang Mansion and the Xu family for no reason. In fact, after Dingwang Mansion rejected Cangmang Mountain's proposal, Cangmang Mountain’s position became somewhat delicate. If they didn’t immediately let go and give up on their world-shunning stance, then they would have to choose someone else to support. But doing so would greatly harm the reputation of Cangmang Mountain as a representative of Heaven.

Originally choosing Dingwang Mansion, but when Dingwang Mansion ignored you and chose another person, it would mean that there is no definite ruler in this world. If that's the case, why does Cangmang Mountain need to choose on behalf of Heaven

Because of these reasons, Mo Jingli’s marriage with Eastern Hui didn’t cause too much commotion. Although Cangmang Mountain’s power is enviable and hateful, many people also clearly see the disadvantages brought by their involvement. They just couldn't give up on their reputation as Heaven's chosen ruler. Since that so-called reputation of theirs was now largely empty talk, a group of unimportant women didn’t seem to matter anymore.

While Ye Li and the Eastern family were busy preparing for the wedding, everyone in Dingwang Mansion also wasn't idle. From Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li to ordinary soldiers in Mo’s army, they all prepared for an immediate departure at any moment. The high-ranking officers in Dingwang Mansion clearly understood that this campaign would be a decisive battle with the Northern Rong army, seeking revenge for the near-destruction of Mo's army and the death of the previous generation’s Prince Mo Xiwen.

Inside Nanzhao’s embassy

Sitting opposite each other, Ye Li and Princess Anxi were leisurely enjoying tea. Princess Anxi was visibly pregnant with a healthy baby prince or princess. On her usually cheerful face, there also appeared more gentle and refined expressions. No matter how high-ranking any woman is, once she becomes a mother, she will inevitably add a touch of gentleness and affection.

"I've been busy these past few days, but now that I finally have some free time, I'm about to leave again. I can't properly entertain you." Ye Li smiled apologetically at Princess Anxi. As the Queen of a country, Princess Anxi naturally couldn’t find common ground with ordinary ladies. Moreover, due to various matters recently, Ye Li was also extremely busy and somewhat neglected her hospitality duties.

Princess Anxi smiled and said, "Both of us are not free to act as we want. Why should I say sorry Are you planning on accompanying Prince Ding in this campaign" Ye Li nodded and replied, “Of course.” Although she was a bit worried about her two newly born children, she was even more concerned about Mo Xiuyao who was heading for the battlefield. Last time in Xiling, he nearly lost control, and now they're facing an army that has almost wiped out half of Northern Great Chu and harbors deep hatred towards Mo’s army. Not accompanying him on this journey would leave her uneasy. To be honest, she felt a bit guilty towards her three kids. Over the years, Xiao Bao was mostly raised in the Xu family. Now with two children only two months old, they were about to set out again and had to entrust them once more to their aunts.

"Speaking of it, I also wanted to ride horses and fight on the battlefield back then, but didn't expect you would beat me to it," Princess Anxi laughed and sighed. "Prince Ding's Consort can be called the number one female general in this era."

Ye Li smiled helplessly and said, "What’s a female general I’ve never really led an army into battle; I just followed along."

"That's right," Princess Anxi laughed. “How could Prince Ding allow you to lead troops on the battlefield Consort should be one who plans strategies behind the scenes like what your country calls: 'It’s easy to find brave generals but hard to find wise strategists'.”

Ye Leye was speechless. Did we in the Central Plains have such a saying

After a short silence, Ye Leye said with a smile: "Now that there is so much turmoil in the Central Plains, it's admirable for Her Majesty to remain detached."

The Southern Frontier was remote and had always been a wild place. Despite every generation of emperors from the Central Plains wanting to conquer it once or twice, no one ever truly did. It wasn't that Nanzhao was particularly powerful; rather, its people were fierce but the country itself was poor with not many troops. The reason each emperor attacked Nanzhao was either because Nanzhao had invaded their territory or during peaceful times when they wanted to expand their territory for glory in history books. No one would use all their strength to attack Nanzhao since even if successful, the benefits wouldn't outweigh the costs. Furthermore, once there's war, no one will have time to worry about a small frontier country like Nanzhao; everyone is too busy fighting over richer lands.

‘So Her Majesty really has no interest in getting involved in this chaotic world’ Ye Leye asked with a smile. In fact, she could understand Princess Anxi's thoughts. Although Princess Anxi had the talent to govern a country, as a woman, her nature lacked the ambition and ruthlessness that men have when it comes to expanding territories and achieving great ambitions. This was actually good for the people of Nanzhao. Though Nanzhao’s troops were strong, there were only tens of thousands in total. Many tribes still followed their own rules despite being under royal authority. In today's chaotic wars involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers, Nanzhao joining the fray would be like cannon fodder.

Princess Anxi shook her head and stroked her belly with a smile: "I only hope that the people of Nanzhao can live in peace, my child is born safely and grows up well. If I can pass on the throne to him when he's old enough, then this life will be complete."

Ye Leye sighed lightly: "Ordinary citizens just want peace. For Her Majesty to protect her subjects is already a great virtue." Princess Anxi smiled: "Now that there are wars in the Central Plains, only under Duke Ding and his consort's rule can people live peacefully without worrying about war's hardships. It’s no wonder many people on our way north praise their names."

Ye Leye gave a faint smile to Princess Anxi's compliments. In life, being able to protect the peace of one's subjects is enough; whether one's achievements are praised or criticized doesn't matter so much.

"Your Majesty and Consort," a servant outside announced politely, "a woman claiming to be Princess Qixia seeks an audience."

Princess Anxi frowned slightly after hearing this: "What does she want" She had long given up on her younger sister. Though Princess Qixia was her only blood-related sister, the difficulty and hardship of their competition in youth were such that when Princess Qixia didn't help her, she even sided with Shumanlin against her because of Mo Jingli. Eventually, Princess Qixia fled to Dachu and refused to return, tarnishing Nanzhao's royal family’s reputation. Even during their reunion in Licheng City, every word spoken by Princess Qixia implied dissatisfaction and envy towards her.

Princess Anxi said indifferently: "She’ll be returning to the south with Mo Jingli soon; let her come in."

The servant left, and Ye Leye stood up, saying, “Your Highnesses may have much to catch up on. I'll take my leave.” Princess Anxi quickly held her hand down: "There's nothing for us to talk about. You're leaving soon; who knows when we'll meet again Please stay."

Ye Leye had wanted to give them space but seeing how it was, she sat back down.

A moment later, Princess Qixia entered, looking surprised to see Ye Leye sitting there. She nervously called out "Imperial Sister" and approached Princess Anxi.

Princess Qixia was now in her late twenties and, though still beautiful, no longer a young maiden. Her appearance seemed less pitifully sweet and more contrived. Princess Anxi frowned slightly as she pointed to the chair beside her: "Why are you here Sit down."

Princess Qixia’s attempt at gaining sympathy was unsuccessful; she lowered her head in disappointment and sat on the indicated seat.

"What happened" asked Princess Anxi.

Princess Qixia bit her lip, her eyes red: "Duke Li wants to marry Eastern You. Please help me Imperial Sister."

A shadow of worry flashed across Princess Anxi’s face. In the short time since they had arrived, Princess Qixia had come a few times asking Nanzhao to pressure Duke Li into marrying her officially. However, as Queen of Nanzhao herself, she could not interfere in such matters concerning Dachu's Regent Prince Mo Jingli. Moreover, there was no longer any title for Princess Qixia.

"How can I decide on Duke Li’s marriage to Eastern You Qixia, you are no longer young; don’t you see this clearly" said Princess Anxi with a frown.

Princess Qixia complained: "But the arrogant Eastern You is forcing Duke Li to promise only her and another woman will be his consorts. She won't allow anyone to bear him heirs before herself, not even if he becomes emperor!" The thought of how proudly Eastern You had looked at her made Princess Qixia want to stab her with a knife. As a princess, she couldn’t tolerate the rudeness from such an unrefined girl.

“Your Majesty, about this Eastern You…” Princess Anxi knew little about her and the Mount Cangmang.

Ye Li shook her head and said, "Eastern Hu didn't mention it. Eastern You recites the doctrines of being a wife or empress every day as if she were an epitome of virtuous women from ancient times. She probably wouldn’t make such an impolite demand Princess QiXia must have something else to say."

Princess AnXi looked at Princess QiXia, who slightly changed her expression and said with clenched teeth and hatred, "It's that Eastern Hu... she says my status is lowly and unfit to be the wife of Li Prince." Is Princess QiXia’s status indeed lowly It naturally isn’t. Although the Central Plain nobles who claim themselves as descendants of the orthodox lineage somewhat looked down upon small countries near the border, they still respected the identity of a princess from another country. But Princess QiXia was different; everyone knew that there was no longer the name of CangMang Mountain’s Princess QiXia in this world.

Princess QiXia was Prince Mo Jingqi’s Concubine Xie, even though she died before her official coronation ceremony and thus didn't make it into the imperial family's genealogy, but nominally speaking, she was still his woman. The current Princess QiXia in Li王府 is merely a servant wife without any status or position who came from an unknown background and has already reached nearly thirty years old. So when Eastern Hu said her status was lowly, it wasn’t wrong.

Actually, Princess QiXia could be called sincere towards Mo Jingli. This point might even surpass Ye Ying’s feelings for him. But how much importance Mo Jingli placed on Princess QiXia is really hard to say. After all these years, if he truly cared about her, he would have given her the title of a secondary consort instead of letting her stay in Li王府 without any status or position. Now that CangMang Mountain’s successor will be marrying into Li王府 again, Eastern You isn’t like Ye Ying who had no support and was also helpless, so it's understandable why Princess QiXia is worried.

Princess AnXi asked while looking at Princess QiXia, "What do you want me to do for you"

The eyes of Princess QiXia lit up as she hurriedly said, "If only my Imperial Sister agrees to ally with Great Chu... our NanZhao’s strength is not inferior to CangMang Mountain. In this case… it would naturally be possible for Li Prince to officially marry me as his consort…"

"Arrogance!" Upon hearing that, Princess AnXi couldn’t help but get angry and coldly looked at Princess QiXia, saying, "I thought you had grown up over the years, but I didn't expect you still behave like a spoiled brat! Are you asking me to drag the whole of NanZhao and its sons into this war in Central Plain for your sake As the princess of NanZhao, have you ever done anything beneficial for the people there What do they owe you that requires them to risk their lives just because of your rank"

"I... " Being harshly reprimanded by Princess AnXi like this, Princess QiXia was stunned. She looked at her Imperial Sister and said blankly, "Imperial Sister, I..." Princess AnXi waved a hand to stop her from speaking any further and calmly said, "There's no need for you to say anything else. If your Li Prince were really good, then I wouldn’t mind betting on him, but I’ll tell the truth: I don’t think much of him. If you want, follow me back to NanZhao now. Find a suitable husband there and live happily ever after. Even if he isn't a prince, no one in NanZhao will dare to bully you. As for other matters, just forget about them."

"I..."

Did Princess AnXi not know that her future days in Great Chu would be difficult But she couldn’t bring herself to give up and go back to NanZhao no matter how hard it was. She had sacrificed too much for Mo Jingli, regardless of what else, these dozen years of youth were something that nothing could compensate for. If she left like this now, then what would her life over the past dozen years have amounted to

Looking at Princess AnXi, who lowered her head and was gently stroking her prominent belly without paying attention to her anymore, Princess QiXia knew she couldn’t persuade her. She could only weep and said, "Imperial Sister, how ruthless you are!" Then she turned around and ran out.

Princess AnXi blankly watched the receding figure of Princess QiXia, sighing softly in helplessness, "Am I really too ruthless" It sounded like she was talking to herself.

Ye Li quietly said, "You are simply doing what you should do. You are not only the elder sister of Princess QiXia but also the Queen of NanZhao."

"That's true," Princess AnXi smiled bitterly and said, "If I were a soft-hearted person, there would already be tall grass growing over my grave by now. Alright then, let her go as she wishes, but who knows if we will ever meet again in this life."

Seeing that she was so melancholic, Ye Li could only gently comfort her for a while. She had a distant relationship with Ye Zhen and the others and wasn’t even born of the same mother as them, so naturally, she couldn’t understand Princess AnXi’s feelings. However, if it were her own sisters from another lifetime, they would probably be very saddened too.

Mojingli and Dongfangyou's wedding proceeded as scheduled, despite Dongfangyou's intense reluctance. However, the scale of the wedding was less than a third of what it would have been for Qingyun’s birthday banquet. This wasn’t hard to understand; with all nations having just left Li City, they wouldn't specially return for Mojingli’s marriage to the successor of Cangmang Mountain. Moreover, since the Li King now had the support of Cangmang Mountain, he was their greatest enemy. Even without secretly causing trouble, showing respect to Ding Wang and his wife, who were based in Licheng, was already a sign of goodwill. Why would they specially come to congratulate them

Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao attended Mojingli’s wedding and left Li City for Feihong Pass that very evening.

Meanwhile, outside the Feihong Pass region, the former great enemy in the northern part of the Chu Kingdom had now split into two factions. The Northern Rong and the Mo Army were facing off against each other. As soon as Yelvyi returned to the Northern Rong encampment, he immediately began mobilizing troops, moving the front line southward. At the same time, he urgently wrote a letter to the Northern Rong King requesting reinforcements with the aim of destroying the Mo Army in one fell swoop.

Yelvhong kept his promise and wrote alongside Yelvyi to request that Helian Zhen lead troops to assist Yelvyi in attacking Chu. After losing to eighteen-year-old Mo Xiuyao, Helian Zhen had been abandoned by the Northern Rong King. Although his situation improved somewhat over the past few years, he was still heavily criticized for his defeat, and his abilities were undervalued, so the king wouldn’t reuse him.

Although Yelvyi suspected that Yelvhong might have ulterior motives in helping him, since he would face a difficult situation when Yelvhong returned to Northern Rong, he didn’t care much about it. Regardless of how things went, he needed Helian Zhen’s assistance right now.

Northern Rong reinforcements wouldn't arrive immediately, but Yelvyi wasn’t concerned and kept mobilizing troops across the borderlands in preparation for attacking the Mo Army when they least expected it. However, Lu Jinxian, who was stationed at the border, didn’t act as cluelessly as he thought. Seeing the Northern Rong army move, he also moved his troops; within five days, there had already been three battles between them, plunging Chu’s northern region into war once again.

Meanwhile, Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li weren’t on the battlefield but wandering through the territory north of Feihong Pass. After dyeing their distinctive white hair black, they disguised themselves as a handsome couple, vastly different from the formidable figures that were Ding Wang and his consort in Licheng.

Following them was Tan Jizhi, who had recently been released from the Ding王府 (Ding Manor). Few people knew what he truly looked like, with most of those who did already dead. After two years of silence, it became even harder to recognize him. Therefore, walking in the borderlands as his true self didn’t worry him about being recognized.

It was unclear whether Ren Qi Ning’s actions were due to impatience or confidence. Since taking over Zijin Pass, he had moved the capital to Changqing City, a bustling city three hundred miles away from it and formerly one of Chu's most prosperous northeastern cities. Although the imperial palace wasn’t yet completed, its layout was evident, and numerous luxurious mansions lined the streets—more splendid than those in Licheng or Chuzhou.

There was also an odd phenomenon in Changqing City: besides a few large residences gathered together, everything else was dilapidated, with thatched cottages being common. It didn’t feel like Chu’s prosperous northeastern city; apart from extremely wealthy officials and nobles, there were only destitute poor people without proper clothing or food left. Those who weren't rich but still had a decent life seemed to have vanished entirely. Such a situation was unusual even for an ordinary remote town.

Tan Jizhi followed Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao into a relatively unremarkable inn within the city. The innkeeper led them up to a secluded room on the second floor before bowing respectfully, “I greet Your Excellency Wang and Consort.”

Ye Li smiled faintly, "No need for formalities; you’ve been working hard these past two years."

The innkeeper responded respectfully, "It’s my duty to serve you. I have already arranged accommodations for Your Excellency Wang and Consort, please feel at ease here. If there’s anything I can do for you, please give your instructions."

Ye Li nodded and smiled, “Good then; you may leave now. We’ll call on you if we need anything.”

"I will take my leave," the innkeeper bowed again without further inquiry. that the entire Han family would support Prince Dìng."What are the conditions" Mo Xiuyao asked. It was clear that Han Mingchi wouldn't make such a big commitment without any conditions.Han Mingchi sa...