chooling at four or five. If not for this strict education from an early age, how could people from the Xu family pass their examinations so young Normally, it's considered extremely rare for commoner...379. Determining the Strategy, First Subdue the Northern Rong

279. Determining the Strategy, First Subdue the Northern Rong

Hearing Ye Li's words, Feng Zhiyao and Mo Xiuyao's expressions became somewhat odd. By looking at their faces, Ye Li could tell what they were thinking about. It was unlikely that they wanted to see the joke of seeing Qingchen taking care of everything. Unfortunately, without some time, this great battle wouldn't be over. By the time they returned after finishing the war, perhaps公子清塵已經處理好所有的事情，抱得美人歸了。這兩人卻是在惋惜冇有機會看天下第一公子的好戲罷了。

The Southern Marquis coughed lightly and felt that he was too old to understand these young people's thoughts. "Your Highness, Feng Sanzi, shall we continue with what we were discussing earlier…" If he let this Feng Zhiyao pry further, he might say something awkward.

Feng Zhiyao rubbed his nose and remembered that they had been discussing important matters before Ye Li's arrival. Mo Xiuyao was impatient to deal with them when he saw Ye Li return. He pulled Ye Li down to sit and hastily gave a few instructions, then sent the two of them out.

The Southern Marquis stood in front of the study door, bewildered by being asked to leave for the first time in his life. Feng Zhiyao was used to it and tugged at the Southern Marquis with a smile: "Marquis, let's go, shall we have a drink" The Southern Marquis finally came back to his senses and shook his head helplessly, following Feng Zhiyao.

Feng Zhiyao walked for a few steps, hesitated suddenly. Was there something he had forgotten to tell the duchess

The Southern Marquis turned around in confusion: "What's wrong Aren't we going for a drink"

"It seems I forgot to mention something to the duchess," Feng Zhiyao said.

Is this official business Is there anything you know but Your Highness doesn't know about" The Southern Marquis asked. Feng Zhiyao thought it over and realized that Mo Xiuyao would tell Ye Li everything anyway, maybe just a little later. He waved his hand and walked off in a grand manner with the Southern Marquis.

In the study, Mo Xiuyao tightly pulled Ye Li into his arms, gently stroking her silky hair and muttered gloomily: "Why did you take so long this time, Ah Li" Ye Li laughed helplessly: "Two months isn't that long." It was actually quite fast to travel from the north to Jiangnan and back in two months. But at this moment, she knew it wasn't a good idea to argue with Mo Xiuyao. "I should have come back faster," she said.

As expected, Mo Xiuyao said mournfully: "A day without you feels like three years. Don't tell me that Ah Li doesn't miss this Wang at all" Ye Li blushed and raised her head to gently kiss Mo Xiuyao's lips, softly saying: "I miss you too."

Mo Xiuyao's gaze dimmed slightly; he held Ye Li's head and pressed it down harder, deepening the kiss. Ye Li was surprised for a moment, but was soon swept away by Mo Xiuyao's passion. Her eyes closed slightly as she sank into this intimate embrace with him.

"Ah Li…" Mo Xiuyao murmured softly, calling out Ye Li's name. Listening to his deep voice made her whole body tingle involuntarily, making her feel somewhat limp.

"Hm" Mo Xiuyao lowered his head and tenderly savored the sweetness of the pink lips, saying again, "Ah Li..."

"Father! Father! Has Mother returned!" The voice of Mo Xiaobao came from outside with sounds of running. Then there were knocking sounds at the door. The two who were immersed in affection immediately sobered up. Ye Li looked towards the door somewhat surprisedly and asked, "Why is Xiao Bao here in Weicheng"

Mo Xiuyao swept a cold glance over to the door and said coolly, "The last time Feng San went back to Licheng on business, he insisted on coming along. He's not a kid anymore; there's no harm in him seeing some of the battlefield." Nevertheless, this damned brat didn't dare disturb his time alone with Ah Li!

Mo Xiuyao snorted and waved his hand towards the door. The bolted door opened automatically, nearly causing Mo Xiaobao to fall inside headfirst. Fortunately, in the past two years, Mo Xiaobao had started learning martial arts, and he was slightly accomplished in basic techniques. He straightened up steadily at the doorway when he leaned forward. Looking confusedly at his sitting parents and then the open door, he wondered how the door could have opened when he hadn't managed to do so.

"Chen'er," Ye Li got up smilingly, looking at her son. Sure enough, after several months of absence, Chen'er had grown taller.

"Mother!" Mo Xiaobao exclaimed and rushed towards Ye Li in an instant. Mo Xiuyao's eyes narrowed as his right hand lightly knocked on the table; a brush lying there shot toward Mo Xiaobao at high speed. Mo Xiaobao cried out as he dodged, flying into the air to avoid the brush and continued rushing towards Ye Li. Mo Xiuyao sighed again, and another brush flew across the desk. This time, however, Mo Xiaobao was less fortunate; one corner of his robe was pinned to a pillar by the brush. Now there was only about three inches between Mother Chen'er's hand reaching out to her.

Mo Xiaobao turned back to look at himself hanging on the pillar and then looked at his mother no more than an arm’s length away, blinking and turning watery-eyed all of a sudden. "Mother... Father is bullying Xiao Bao. Xiao Bao misses Mother."

"Xiuyao..." Looking at her son who was stretching out his little hands eagerly looking at her, Ye Li found herself torn between laughter and frustration. Mo Xiuyao gave Mo Xiaobao an annoyed glance, slightly lifted his hand to draw the brush back from the pillar into a pen holder with a soft thud. Mo Xiaobao shrank in fear; he knew that Father was in no mood for him at this time. He cautiously moved closer to Ye Li and said softly, "Mother..."

Ye Li reached out to pat his head gently and smiled, saying, "Xiao Bao has grown taller—have you been good"

The little boy's eyes lit up as he nodded vigorously. "I've been very good, Mother! I'm all grown up now!"

Ye Li chuckled and pinched his small nose. "All grown up Still wanting Mother to hold you then" Seeing the way Mo Xiaobao stretched out his hand for a hug, Ye Li shook her head. Because of being away from him often in recent years, she felt guilty and indulgent toward Xiao Bao. However, an eight-year-old boy really shouldn't be carried anymore; Mo Xiuyao's eyes were practically spouting flames.

Mo Xiuyao stepped forward, lifted Mo Xiaobao by the scruff of his neck, and said coolly, "Have you completed what I instructed" Smugly, Mo Xiaobao replied, "Of course! It was just an hour of horse stance, half an hour of sword techniques, another half-hour of horsemanship, and twenty pieces of calligraphy—how could such a trifling matter stop me!"

Mosyuxiao sneered at someone's smug little face, saying, "Very well. From tomorrow on, add another hour of archery practice and twenty more pages of large characters."

Huh Moshyuxiao’s small face froze up as he quickly calculated in his mind. One hour for horse stance, one hour for archery, swordsmanship, riding, and forty pages of large characters… It would take at least four or five hours to complete it all… He’d die from exhaustion!

"I was thinking that perhaps the assignments I gave you were too easy, which is why you’re so relaxed. So, starting today, I will strictly teach you. After all… your father and mother have high hopes for you," Mosyuxiao said calmly.

Wailing… Moshyuxiao hung his head in despair, pitifully looking at Ye Li. Ye Li sighed and looked up at the ceiling as if she hadn’t seen her son’s plea for help. She believed that Mosyuxiao would have limits, more importantly, the more she helped him, the more Mosyuxiao wanted to discipline Moshyuxiao. They should leave it to father and son to resolve their own issues.

Seeing his appeal for help fail, Moshyuxiao was completely despondent. Now he finally understood that if his father really flew off the handle, even his mother couldn’t save him. He could only look at Mosyuxiao with the most innocent eyes and plead, "Father, your son… will do my best."

Moshyuxiao’s starry-eyed gaze was still very lethal. Mosyuxiao secretly twitched the corners of his mouth and looked up to heaven speechless: Was this really his son He felt shameless.

"Good boy… study hard, your father is counting on you," Moshyuxiao underestimated someone’s heart of stone; he firmly patted his son's shoulder with a dismissive gesture. After failing to appeal for sympathy again, Moshyuxiao was stunned and finally ran away in tears.

From then on, Wei City lost a brash little tyrant and gained a pitiful child who rose early like the rooster and studied diligently despite his hardships. Moshyuxiao was very smart, and learning didn't take him much time. However, the assignments that Mosyuxiao set were problems that couldn’t be solved with intelligence alone. No matter how clever he was or how well he memorized things, Moshyuxiao could not turn one hour into half an hour nor reduce forty pages of large characters to four. As a result, everyone in the general’s residence rejoiced at this development. Of course, Moshyuxiao had his rewards as well. When he returned to Li City, Qingyun and the Xu family found that Moshyuxiao was taller and healthier than before, and his formerly mediocre handwriting had made considerable progress.

Although the battlefront was intense now, Mo Xuyao and Ye Li in Wei City were relatively leisurely. As the chief commander, he didn’t need to personally lead charges or arrange troops himself. Mosyuxiao only needed to control the overall war situation and manage troop deployments across various regions; the battles at the front would naturally be led by the commanders there. The reason why Mosyuxiao had personally gone to the battlefield previously was just for a warm-up before the big battle, plus he was bored.

Still, even so, news continued to pour in from the front every day. Ye Li and Mo Xuyao still spent most of their time in the study daily.

"Leizhenting personally led an army of 700,000 troops to attack Ruichang City; He Su and Murong Shen were not a match for him," Ye Li read out loud from a memorial that had just been delivered on horseback. Mosyuxiao remained calm as he leaned in his chair and said softly, "That’s no surprise. He Su and Murong Shen are indeed not Leizhenting's match. But… By personally leading the charge right at the start and committing almost all of the Xiling army’s main forces, is it to compete with me"

Feng Zhirao raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Once His Highness goes up against Leizhenting, Yelü Ye and Helian Chun on this side will have a chance to catch their breath. I didn’t expect that Leizhenting would sacrifice so much for someone."

Ye 888888 Li shook her head, "This isn't really considered a sacrifice. If the Northern Rong Empire collapses first, there’s no way Xiling can succeed either. By holding back Mo Xuyao, Leizhenting has not only given the Northern Rong Empire time to regroup but also extended the war duration. In another month or two, the Chu Kingdom's troops will arrive.

Feng Zhiyao frowned and said, "If that's the case, we should first defeat the Northern Rong forces before focusing on dealing with the threat from the south." Being caught between two enemies really gets under his skin. "Oh right, Concubine Wang, shouldn't news of Mo Jingli ascending to the throne have arrived by now" Feng Zhiyao asked out of curiosity. He didn’t expect Mo Jingli to actually ascend to the throne, although it was a bit… Nevertheless, he finally accomplished Mo Jingli’s lifelong wish.

Ye Li nodded and said, "It should be coming soon. Once Mo Jingli ascends to the throne, it will be time for Chu State to mobilize its troops."

Mos Yao stared at the maps of troop movements laid out on his desk, pointing at Northern Rong with his finger. "Since that's the case, let’s deal with Northern Rong first. It's just right; Ye Li Hong should have news by now."

The Marquis of Nan frowned and asked, “But what about General Murong over there”

If Rui Chang City falls, then the next targets would be Wei City and Feihong Pass. The Marquis of Nan had no choice but to worry.

Mos Yao smiled coolly, saying, "Let this lord see how powerful Thunderbolt Lightning is [a title for General Lei Zhenting]. Marquis of Nan, you will have to garrison Wei City then. I can rest easy knowing that Feihong Pass has Old Marshal Yuan Pei defending it. Furthermore, this lord will order Fu Zhao and Lu Jinxian to bring 200 thousand troops back to reinforce us."

The Marquis of Nan was taken aback and said solemnly, "Your Highness, what about the northern front once General Lu returns" Once Lu Jinxian leads his troops home, there will be no general who can face Northern Rong independently. Unfortunately, Zhang Qilan is far away defending Western Ling while Leng Huai is in Chu’s capital city, so the shortage of generals is a major issue. Mos Yao raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "It's still going to be this lord personally dealing with Helian Zhen!" That battle eighteen years ago, even though Mos Yao never admitted defeat at Helian Zhen’s hands, he knew that the Mo army was severely weakened by him. This is something that needed to be resolved sooner or later.

The Marquis of Nan felt a chill run down his spine at the coldness in Mos Yao's words and nodded. “This subordinate will obey your order. However… it’s not as if this subordinate is underestimating himself, but perhaps…” Even with so many people, they might still be unable to hold back Thunderbolt Lightning. The title of Western Ling War God was not something that fell from the sky; none of the generals in Ding王府 had a similar title except for the Prince of Ding [Mos Yao]. For them ordinary soldiers, victory and defeat are common occurrences. After all, the Marquis of Nan had suffered many defeats on the battlefield.

Mos Yao’s finger pointed at Feihong Pass and Wei City as he said with a smile, “Three months; defend these two places for three months. Do you think there is any problem, Marquis of Nan” After a moment's silence, the Marquis of Nan stood up and said loudly, "This subordinate will obey your order. I swear to hold Wei City until my last breath."

Mos Yao nodded approvingly. "Then it’s up to you then, Marquis of Nan."

As expected, not long after that, the news about Mo Jingli ascending to the throne reached Wei City. On hearing this piece of information, Mos Yao didn’t even bother moving his eyes and simply discarded the report before extending a hand towards Ye Li. Smiling, she held his hand tightly; it was time for them to set out.

Ye Li and Mos Yao went on campaign without sending Mo Xiaobao back to Li City but rather brought him along with them to the army camp. Since Mo family’s male members would start their military training around ten years old, there was no issue in bringing seven or eight-year-old Mo Xiaobao along.

This time, Mo Xiuyao was different from his previous slow and steady stalemate with the Northern Rong. With over 500,000 troops moving swiftly like lightning, they attacked the cities that the Northern Rong had stationed their troops in. The Northern Rong were originally a nomadic tribe skilled at long-distance raids and powerful assaults but weak when it came to defending. After losing three cities within just five days and retreating four hundred miles, they finally managed to regain some stability.In the Northern Rong’s military camp, Ye Liye glared darkly at his subordinates and said in a deep voice: "Mo Xiuyao took two cities in just five days; what are your strategies" Helian Zhen replied, "I never expected Mo Xiuyao would ignore Le Zhen霆 (Thunder) and focus on attacking our troops. In my opinion, Mo Xiuyao is most likely planning to fully confront us Northern Rong first before turning his attention towards the Western Ling and Great Chu."Ye Liye looked at Helian Zhen coldly: "So you're saying that General Helian's previous plan of uniting with the Western Ling and Great Chu has completely failed" Helian Zhen gave a bitter smile. Ye Liye usually called him Uncle, but now he referred to him as General Helian, clearly showing his dissatisfaction. Helian Zhen sighed helplessly: "If not for Mo Jingli suddenly delaying our troop mobilization time, it wouldn’t have come to this point. The situation is such that… the plan for the Ding Wang’s Palace has not failed; we just haven’t gained any benefits from it."In other words, it was a case of hurting others without benefiting oneself. While the Ding Wang's Palace had to face the joint attack from Western Ling and Great Chu, who would have thought Mo Xiuyao wouldn't mind Rui Chang losing its stronghold and instead focus on dealing with Northern Rong firstOriginally, the Northern Rong already had conflicts brewing with the Mo Clan’s army. This situation didn’t cause much loss for them but they didn't gain any benefits either after months of effort."Ding Wangfei has been in Jiangnan these past two months," Helian Peng suddenly spoke up from his seat next to Helian Zhen.Ever since their last defeat, Ye Liye had never looked kindly on Helian Peng. However, over the past few months, Helian Peng seemed to have changed. He no longer cared about Ye Liye's attitude and only silently did his own duties, rarely speaking up. This slightly improved Ye Liye’s opinion of him; hearing him suddenly speak up, Ye Liye frowned: "Ye Li went to Jiangnan How do you know"Helian Peng remained silent, merely looking at Ye Liye with a calm expression. Losing to Ye Li was considered one of the greatest humiliations in his life, so he always kept an eye on her movements. But after those lessons, he no longer acted rashly. Furthermore, it wasn't easy for him to find out about Ye Li's activities; these conclusions were only reached recently by piecing together various clues.Helian Peng lowered his head and said: "Father should know… the joint operation between the Zhen Nan Wang’s Palace and Ding Wang’s Palace to eradicate Cang Mang Mountain."Helian Zhen nodded. This was a significant event that occurred shortly before Helian Zhen went to Jiangnan, so he knew about it naturally. Helian Peng continued: "But after eradicating Cang Mang Mountain, Qingshen Young Master disappeared for some time. Yet no one from Li City dealt with this matter at all. And during this period, Ye Li did not appear in public either; she must have gone to Jiangnan."Ye Liye's eyes flashed with anger as he said sternly: "Again, it’s Ye Li disrupting my plans! The reason for Mo Jingli suddenly delaying troop mobilization has something to do with Ye Li."Helian Peng nodded and said, "It should be so. But… even if Ye Li hadn’t gone to Jiangnan, the alliance of the three countries wouldn't have been easily completed smoothly either. If Qingshen Young Master had not disappeared… he would have handled this matter back then."There was silence among them. Though the words were true, Qingshen Young Master was on the surface and easier to guard against. But now, they didn’t even know what Ye Li was doing in Jiangnan.

Helan Peng said, "The Duke of Ding probably wants to expel our Northern Rong from the pass before the Great Chu mobilizes its troops. Then he can focus on dealing with Lei Zhenting and Mo Jingli."

Yelü Ye sneered, "To drive my Northern Rong out of the pass is not something that can be easily achieved! You all better come up with a plan to counter Mo Xiuyao.

The group exchanged glances. Yelü Ye frowned and said, "Helan Peng, you explain."

Helan Peng said solemnly, "Our Northern Rong army is good at face-to-face battles and our cavalry specializes in long-distance raids. However, we are not proficient in defending cities." Now the Mo family's troops had taken the initiative, using the Central Plains people’s phrase, they were attacking where their weaknesses lay. Failure could be expected.

"Then what should we do" Yelü Ye asked.

Helan Peng said, "In my opinion, we should play to our strengths and take the initiative. There are no proper fortifications in Northern Rong apart from the royal court; thus, our soldiers never had to defend cities before. Now that we have switched from offense to defense, it's difficult for us to maneuver freely."

Yelü Ye pondered for a moment and looked at Helan Zhen. "Uncle, what do you think"

Helan Zhen nodded. "Peng is right. Our troops are truly at a disadvantage when defending cities. It would be better to take the initiative and attack instead of playing host. In terms of cavalry, Northern Rong might not beat the Duke of Ding's forces but we're on par with them. However... our cavalry numbers more than the Black Cloud Cavalry." Although the Black Cloud Cavalry was once hailed as the elite force of the Mo family army, it wasn't their main strength. The core of the Mo family army consisted of ordinary infantry because Great Chu's complex terrain made cavalry ineffective. But Northern Rong had vast grasslands where soldiers primarily rode horses. In a showdown, the Black Cloud Cavalry wouldn’t be on top.

Yelü Ye furrowed his brows and said coolly to Helan Zhen and others, "This prince agrees with Uncle’s and General Helan's judgment. We cannot retreat anymore. The messages from our royal court these few times already show that Father King is quite unsatisfied with this prince for achieving nothing in the last half year and even losing some of the land we had gained before. If we lose again, it would be hard for Father King to agree to dispatch troops to us."

The Northern Rong was sparsely populated due to its vast territory, making it difficult to recruit soldiers like in Central Plains. The losses of troops these few times already made the royal court very unsatisfied and even gave Yelü Hong the opportunity to attack.

"This subordinate understands," everyone stood up and said.

Yelü Ye nodded with satisfaction and said, "Alright. Uncle and General Helan will lead this campaign. Peng, do not let this prince down again."

Helan Peng said solemnly, "This subordinate understands, Your Highness can rest assured."nd outs of the situation, and while Xu Qingchen's words sounded polite, to Ling Tieshan and Lei Tengfeng it was clear: "My lord doesn't want your granddaughter; you're forcing my lord to marry her. If...