encountered Leitingfeng coming their way. Due to the incidents earlier, his appearance and demeanor were not too good. Seeing them walking hand in hand, he was momentarily stunned before greeting them...380. The King's Design

280. The King's Design

In the Mo Army camp, Mo Xiaobao sat quietly in a corner of the large tent, practicing calligraphy while secretly listening to conversations between Mo Xiuyao, Ye Li, and other commanders. Mo Xiuyao had dispatched capable generals like Lu Jinxian to the southern front, leaving only young commanders such as Yun Ting and Chen Yun at the northern front under his leadership. However, as they say, a calf is not afraid of tigers; these young commanders were full of confidence and enthusiasm when entrusted with significant responsibilities for the first time. After several consecutive victories, their initial concerns had been dispelled, and they were now brimming with morale every day.

Mo Xiuyao watched the young commanders below him calmly, smiling faintly as he said, "How have you all felt over these past few days Why don’t you tell me" The generals exchanged puzzled glances before looking at Princess Ding Wang, who was sitting aside with a mild smile. Yun Ting said, "We’ve won battles consecutively in the last few days. Is there something wrong, Your Excellency" Mo Xiuyao smiled and replied, "Nothing is wrong. I’m just curious about your thoughts."

After some silence, Chen Yun spoke up: "Although we have been winning these past few days, it’s largely because the Northern Rong are not adept at defending cities. If they give up on their defensive strategy and engage us directly in battle, it might be difficult for us to win so easily."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent. Indeed, they had previously encountered the Northern Rong and knew that victory wouldn’t come so easily if the latter changed tactics. The Northern Rong were formidable fighters who couldn’t just be brushed aside. Yet their recent consecutive victories gave them a sense of complacency about the enemy’s capabilities. While it was good to fear no opponent, underestimating one’s adversary was not wise. Thus, when Ye Li ignored the generals’ questioning glances, she remained resolute. These young commanders had been through years of training and battle experience; their knowledge wouldn’t be inferior to that of veteran generals in military matters. What they lacked were the experiences gained from countless battles and a calm demeanor regardless of victory or defeat. This meant that when winning, they might easily become overconfident, and upon losing, they would likely crumble.

In the silence that followed, Mo Xiuyao nodded and said, "It’s good to think clearly." The generals heaved sighs of relief when they saw their lord was not angry. Yun Ting hesitated before asking, "Does Your Excellency mean the Northern Rong will soon change their tactics"

Mo Xiuyao replied, "If they don’t adjust their strategy after consecutive defeats, it would be foolish indeed. Do you know what to do now" The generals answered in unison: "We understand!"

Nodding, Mo Xiuyao said without pressing them on what exactly they understood: "Then go prepare accordingly."

The commanders withdrew from the tent. Mo Xiuyao turned and saw Mo Xiaobao leaning against the table with interest in his face as he listened to their conversation. He was still looking regretfully after the generals when Mo Xiuyao noticed him. Slightly narrowing his eyes, Mo Xiuyao glanced at Mo Xiaobao, who quickly lowered his head and pretended to concentrate on writing. Mo Xiuyao asked leisurely: "Did you understand what we were discussing just now" Mo Xiaobao looked up, cast a few quick glances around, and seeing that Mo Xiuyao was addressing him alone, he offered an ingratiating smile: "Yes, Your Excellency, I understood." Mo Xiuyao said, "What did you understand"

Mo Xiaobao answered obediently: "Your Excellency reminded the commanders not to let a few victories breed overconfidence and underestimation of their enemy. Our easy wins these past days are due to the Northern Rong’s ineptitude in city defense, allowing us to exploit their weaknesses. If they change tactics, we might be caught off guard." Mo Xiuyao nodded slightly, acknowledging Xiaobao's understanding, then raised an eyebrow and asked: "What would you do if the Northern Rong army engaged us directly"

"Uh... this..." Mo Xiaobao frowned and pondered for a long while before his eyes lit up, looking at Mo Xiuyao hopefully: "The Northern Rong cavalry excel in battles on open fields. They are extremely swift; we can lure them into the mountains. The Northern Rong soldiers do not know the terrain well, and their cavalry is not adept at mountain warfare. This way, we’ll win!" Finished speaking, Mo Xiaobao blinked proudly, his big eyes saying: "Praise me! Praise me."

Mo Xiuyao smiled calmly, gave a light flick on the boy’s forehead, and said with a faint smile: "Considering your age, you have thought of quite a lot already. That's impressive."

Mo Xiaobao was stunned, looking at his father with dissatisfaction: Was this praise Neither Uncle Jia nor Grandpa ever praised people like that! Grandpa always says Chen'er is very smart!

Feeling belittled by his father, Mo Xiaobao pouted and threw himself into Ye Li’s arms. "Mother, Father is bullying me!" Ye Li laughed and patted his little head, saying with a smile: "Your father was praising you just now. How did that turn into him bullying you" Mo Xiaobao pursed his lips and said: "Xiaobao isn’t small for my age; thinking of so much already is impressive. My idea is clearly good! Uncle Jia and Grandpa both praised me as very smart."

Ye Li sighed helplessly, smiling at Mo Xiaobao and saying: "But what you thought of anyone could think of. Nothing special about that. Or... Go ask Chen Yun and the rest if they can also come up with ideas" Actually, praising kids for being clever was a very normal thing to do, and Mo Xiaobao indeed deserved it too. But since everyone who praised him wasn’t just any ordinary person, Mo Xiaobao inevitably felt somewhat overconfident in his own intelligence—feeling like he was the smartest in the world! Now that he had been slightly demoted by Mo Xiuyao, he naturally didn’t feel good about it.

"Eh..." lying on Ye Li’s lap, Mo Xiaobao looked at her pitifully.

Ye Li smiled and patted the little head of her son: "And what Father said is correct too. You’re still young; you haven’t read as many books or seen as much as adults have. Naturally there are things you can’t think of yet. That doesn’t mean our Xiaobao isn’t smart." Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and pulled two books over from the side, placing them before Mo Xiaobao: "Finish these two books, then write down how you think this battle should be fought for me to see. If it’s good enough, I’ll admit that you’re very clever."

Mo Xiaobao’s eyes lit up—receiving his father's approval and praise was something every child longed for. But Mo Xiaobao’s relationship with his father had been built upon one blow after another. Though Mo Xiaobao usually acted as if he hated his father, he was actually even more tenacious when it came to the latter’s praise.

Mo Xiuyao hadn’t finished speaking before Mo Xiaobao grabbed the books and hugged them tightly: "Agreed! If I come up with a good plan, Father must use my method against the enemy!"

Without hesitation, Mo Xiuyao nodded with a smile: "Sure. These few days, you just stay in the tent and study these two books well. Your father will also have people bring over some documents about the Northern Rong for your reference. As long as the method you propose can withstand scrutiny and testing, I’ll not only use it but also announce to all of China that this battle was won thanks to Mo Xiaobao."

"It’s Mo Yuchen!" Mo Xiaobao said proudly and displeased. "Xiaobao" sounded too plain; he couldn’t even imagine how it would feel if people talked about him doing something famous, like, “the Mo Xiaobao of the Ding Prince Manor really did XXX…”

"Fine." Mo Xiuyao nodded: "As long as you do it, from now on I’ll never call you ‘Xiaobao’ again. But in contrast… You have to shout out loud three times for everyone in camp to hear that this prince is called Mo Xiaobao."

"Alright, deal. Gentlemen's agreement..."

Moxiu Yao glanced at Moxiaobao with disdain due to his short stature and lazily added, "May your horse be swift."

So, Moxiaobao, who suddenly had a goal, picked up the two thick books and ran out of the tent as fast as he could. He turned back to wave at Ye Li and said excitedly, “Mother, wait for me to bring glory to you.” Ye Li helplessly raised her hand to cover her face in a quiet laugh. Son, although your mother is used to calling you Moxiaobao, she does not hope that the whole world knows your name as such.

"My Lord, to design something for an eight-year-old child truly leaves one idle…" Ye Li said with a faint smile.

Moxiu Yao raised his eyebrows and smiled. "This is clearly a fair agreement I made with him; how can it be considered as designing" Ye Li replied, “Is that so By the time Xiaobao finishes reading those books you gave him and the documents sent over, won't several months have already passed” By then, forget about dealing with the Northern Rong cavalry, even the overall situation of the war between the Mo Family Army and the Northern Rong might have been decided. No matter how smart Moxiaobao is, he is still a child; kids of regular households around that age are just starting to learn to read and write. The two books given by Moxiu Yao were not only difficult but also extremely hard to understand. Even Yun霆 took several months to figure them out when reading this book earlier on, let alone Xiaobao who hasn't even fully mastered the alphabet yet.

Thus, from the beginning, this bet was designed by Moxiu Yao to demotivate Moxiaobao.

"Since you know about it, why didn’t you say anything" Moxiu Yao said with a smile. "This clearly shows that you think what I did is right."

Ye Li was speechless; Moxiaobao indeed had become somewhat arrogant. Otherwise, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly to such a seemingly praising comment from Moxiu Yao. A little setback isn’t necessarily bad, considering there are still many people who can boost his confidence.

Ye Li looked at the handsome and slightly dangerous-looking Moxiu Yao and said with some helplessness, “Be careful; he might cause trouble for you later.” Moxiu Yao chuckled softly: "That brat is the best at avoiding trouble and adapting to situations. He will only cause trouble for you." Moxiaobao has long understood his father's heart of stone, so he usually doesn’t糾纏 or play around with Moxiu Yao. Moreover, his goal is to surpass Moxiu Yao and then trample on his father’s head. If he were to mess around with his father now out of laziness, wouldn't it make him lose all the dignity of a Crown Prince in the future when his father mentions this matter

Hearing that, Ye Li couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in disbelief.

As Moxiu Yao predicted, the Northern Rong army changed its tactics the next day. Instead of waiting for the Mo Family Army to attack as they had done before, the cavalry charged out of the city first and directly clashed with the Mo Family Army outside the city walls several miles away. Although the Mo Family Army was well-prepared, they were still troubled by the Northern Rong Iron Cavalry's reckless charge. Not only did casualties increase, but they didn’t even manage to touch the city walls, let alone attack them. Although the Northern Rong army also suffered losses, it could at most be considered a standoff with both sides having damage; this was quite different from their previous easy victories.

As soon as they returned to camp, the officers gathered together and discussed how to deal with the cavalry of the Northern Rong. In fact, the Mohist army had already gained a lot of experience in dealing with the Northern Rong’s cavalry, considering that the two sides had clashed quite often. The Black Cloud Cavalry was so powerful largely because it faced the Northern Rong's formidable cavalry on a regular basis. However, such large-scale battles were uncommon in the history of both nations. Even though the Mohist army suffered heavy losses back then, those soldiers died pointlessly rather than bravely in battle; if they had fought to their deaths, there probably wouldn't have been so many casualties this time around. Therefore, it didn’t seem appropriate for them to face the Northern Rong’s cavalry head-on with their own cavalry. After several years of development, the Black Cloud Cavalry only numbered about 150,000 men, but the Northern Rong army was almost entirely composed of cavalry.

"What do you think Do any of you have a good idea" Chen Yun asked.

By his side, Sun Yaowu chuckled and said, "The horses of the Northern Rong are indeed formidable. But what if their horses can no longer run…” As an officer who had fought many battles under unconventional conditions, Sun Yaowu was known for being somewhat sly in battle. Yun Ting looked puzzled and frowned. "Are you suggesting poisoning their warhorses But those horses are the backbone of the Northern Rong army. They would surely have men watching over them carefully; it would be difficult to poison them even with Qilin's help." Moreover, how much poison would they need for so many warhorses And all of them had to be poisoned at once for the plan to work, but wouldn't they need a large number of people to carry out such a task among hundreds of thousands of horses

With an exasperated look, Sun Yaowu said, "Of course I'm not talking about poisoning their warhorses. Sending someone to assassinate Ye Liye would probably be more reliable." They had been working together for some time now and knew each other's temperaments well; Yun Ting didn't get angry upon hearing this but looked at Sun Yaowu and said, "What do you think then You can’t just say that and leave it at that."

Smiling, Sun Yaowu said, "General wouldn’t waste words. We could try this…" He leaned over and whispered something in Yun Ting’s ear. Hearing what he had to say, Yun Ting's eyes lit up as he leaned close to Chen Yun's ear and started whispering again. The officers gathered around the campfire and began discussing with great enthusiasm; Sun Yaowu’s suggestion seemed to have sparked their creativity, and everyone was now talking animatedly.

“I think we can do it this way…,” Yun Ting said.

"I believe doing it this way is better…" Zhou Min said proudly.

“Actually, I think doing it this way would be even better…” Chen Yun added.

A little ways away in a secluded spot, Ye Liru stood beside Mo Xiuyao and smiled as she watched the officers gathered around a campfire and discussing enthusiastically. She said with a smile, "It seems that my previous advice was useful; their morale hasn’t been dampened by today's battle at all, but rather it has increased." Mo Xiuyao nodded. “If they can't even overcome such minor setbacks, then they don’t deserve to be part of the Mohist army,” he said.

"Does Xiuyao think their methods will work"

“We'll see tomorrow whether it works or not.”

The next day on the battlefield, as soon as the battle started, the Mohist army came up with all sorts of strange tactics. The soldiers had bags of dried grass and feed that horses loved strapped to their saddles. When they released the feed from the bags, it scattered across the ground. As this month was a difficult time for North Rong's food supplies, the horses could not resist the smell of the feed and stopped moving. They started eating as soon as they saw it, only to be cut down by the Mohist soldiers who rushed forward. Even those that weren’t immediately killed were felled shortly after due to the drugs mixed into the feed.

There were all sorts of strange traps, ropes, long spears, and long bows, and so on. Although these things had been hastily made overnight and were not very convenient to use, they still caused considerable damage to the North Rong army. The day ended with another defeat for the North Rong forces, who retreated back into the city.

In the main encampment of North Rong, Ye Liye was once again furious. He knew that today's loss could not be blamed on Helian Peng, but he couldn't find any other way to vent his anger than by harshly berating him.

Helian Peng didn’t argue back and knelt in the center of the tent, waiting for Ye Liye to finish ranting at him.

After finishing, looking at Helian Peng kneeling before him, Ye Liye felt a bit guilty. He frowned and waved his hand, saying: "General Helian, please rise." Helian Peng said solemnly, "It was my incompetence in commanding the troops that led to this defeat; I beg Prince Qi to impose punishment upon me." Ye Liye sighed and said, "This isn't your fault either; people from the Ding王府 are known for their cunning. It should have been expected that they would come up with such a malicious plan." The Mohist army might only have thought of such schemes because they understood North Rong's critical shortage of provisions.

Helian Peng said, "Prince Qi need not worry; these methods won't work again after today. Once we're prepared for them, their tricks will be useless. However, I fear that they might come up with other plans."

Ye Liye frowned and asked, "General Helian, what do you suggest"

Helian Peng replied, "Our previous strategy wasn't wrong; the North Rong cavalry did indeed cause a lot of trouble for the Mohist army. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen to waste their own provisions in order to counter our cavalry. My suggestion is that we accelerate our attacks on the Mohists and make them unable to cope with us."

Ye Liye pondered for a moment before saying, "Very well, let's do it your way."

"Prince Qi, there’s news: an envoy from the royal court seeks an audience," reported one of the guards outside. Ye Liye and Helian Peng exchanged glances; Ye Liye frowned and said, "An envoy from the royal court at this time… why would Father send someone now…"

Helian Peng said solemnly, "Prince Qi, if His Majesty sends an envoy at such a critical juncture, it must be to reward you. Otherwise, it might mean that something serious has happened." However, everyone knew that with North Rong's current disadvantageous situation and their consecutive defeats, it was hard for anyone to believe this envoy would bring rewards. Ye Liye understood the situation well and nodded, instructing: "Invite Uncle over too." Helian Peng replied solemnly, "Yes."

Before long, Helian Zhen and Helian Peng entered the main tent. The messenger from Wangting had just arrived as well. One could see that the man stood respectfully inside the tent while looking at Yelü Ye. However, in their hearts, Helian Zhen and Helian Peng felt uneasy. This person was of Prince Hao’s faction. At this moment, when the Northern Rong King sent a messenger to them, he would send someone from the Crown Prince's faction. What did that signify It was self-evident.

The messenger looked sideways at Helian Zhen and Helian Peng with a smile on his face and said, "Seventh Young Master, may I read His Majesty’s edict now"

Yelü Ye nodded solemnly and replied, "Messenger, please."

The messenger was not bothered by Yelü Ye's coldness. He took out a scroll of golden-yellow silk and spread it open before reading in a loud voice: “The Great King’s edict states that Prince Seven led his troops on the campaign but suffered repeated defeats resulting in heavy losses to our army…” The messenger continued with a long, flowing tone as he read out the lengthy imperial decree. In reality, this was just a thread of blame toward Yelü Ye for leading the troops into defeat and causing Northern Rong’s military forces to suffer huge casualties. He even hurriedly submitted a memorial requesting reinforcements. The Northern Rong King ordered that Yelü Ye must defeat Mo Xiuyao and the Mo Family Army within two months; otherwise, he would have his command of the army taken away from him. Although it was not explicitly stated who this person was, Yelü Ye could guess that if he suffered a loss, Crown Prince Yelü Hao would naturally be the one to benefit.

"Seventh Young Master, do you understand His Majesty’s intentions" After finishing reading out the edict, the messenger asked with a smile, "The king is anxious about the war with Da Chu and is burning with worry. We hope that Seventh Young Master can empathize."

Yelü Ye gave a soft snort and coldly replied, "Many thanks for reminding me, but I naturally understand."

The messenger said smilingly: “It’s good to know you understand. In this case, I will accompany Your Highness in the army from now on. That way, we can report the victory sooner to His Majesty.”

This was to have a supervising military commissioner!

Yelü Ye narrowed his eyes. Northern Rong had never before had any mention of having a supervising military commissioner in their army. Whoever led the troops would be given full authority, but with this messenger here on orders from the Northern Rong King, he naturally had the right to control all aspects of the Northern Rong Army. As such, Yelü Ye, who was both a prince and the commander-in-chief, would end up being restricted everywhere; furthermore, at any time someone could report him directly to the Northern Rong king. Yelü Ye knew that things were not in his favor right now. The king might already be displeased with him in Wangting. His best bet was to give command of the army to Helian Zhen and rush back to Wangting immediately to explain to his father. After all, as a prince, nothing was more important than the Northern Rong King’s trust. However, Yelü Ye also knew that once he left, Helian Zhen who had not led troops for many years might not be able to control these hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Should the army fall into Prince Hao's hands at that time, he would truly have nothing left.

Yelü Ye looked coldly down at the messenger with an indifferent expression on his face, a murderous intent flashing in his eyes. He said coolly: “Since this is so… I will trouble you to do your best.”

Now that he had already fallen behind by one step, it was likely that Crown Prince Hao had made preparations at the palace long ago as well. In such a situation… why should he retreat further It would be better for him to hold on to his father’s trust and military authority in his hands.upset. She had always kept Mo Xiaobao by her side since his birth, and this was the first time she left for so long. Seeing how distraught her son was, Ye Li quickly bent down to kiss his tear-stained...