196. Moonlit Night Epiphyllum
Su Zhe stepped into the study, and Mo Xiuyao rose to greet him as a sign of respect. Su Zhe waved his hand. "Prince, Princess Consort, sorry to intrude."
After seating Su Zhe, Mo Xiuyao took his own seat and chuckled. "Elder Su, you’re being so formal. It seems a rift has ford between us." Su Zhe glanced at the young man and woman seated together before him, his eyes lingering on Mo Xiuyao’s snowy white hair for a mont before sighing. "A Prince like you, not taking care of your health. How can the Regent Prince, the Princess Consort, and your brother rest in peace?" Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly, looking down at the white hair hanging before his chest. "Your concern is noted, Elder Su." Su Zhe shook his head, then looked at Ye Li sitting beside him and nodded with a smile. "It’s a blessing that the Princess Consort has returned safely—the ancestors of Prince Ding’s Mansion must be watching over her." Ye Li smiled lightly, whispering, "Elder Su speaks the truth. My safe return is indeed thanks to the protection of our ancestors." Ye Li understood that Su Zhe was sowhat dissatisfied with her, but she did not feel angry. She could sense that Su Zhe’s dissatisfaction was not directed at her personally, but was felt on behalf of Mo Xiuyao, because his hair had turned white overnight for her sake. In essence, he was concerned for Mo Xiuyao, his student, with no selfish motives.
Mo Xiuyao reached out to hold Ye Li’s hand and, smiling at Su Zhe, said, "Indeed, Elder Su. Ah-Li will be giving birth in two months. When that happens, Prince Ding’s Mansion will have a successor. I still hope Elder Su will show affection to the child." Hearing Mo Xiuyao’s words, Su Zhe’s expression softened further. He had lost his son and grandson in his old age, and even his only granddaughter was gone. Loneliness seed his destiny in this life. Now, hearing Mo Xiuyao ntion a child, a natural affection stirred in his heart. He envisioned a beautiful and intelligent child, much like Mo Xiuyao in his youth, bringing joy to his twilight years, and he could no longer maintain his stern deanor towards Ye Li. Sighing softly, Su Zhe asked, "Prince, you’ve suffered greatly over the years. We old n have been of little help. Thanks to the Princess Consort’s care these past two years."
The Emperor had been wary of them—the old officials with past connections to Mo Liufang and Prince Ding’s Mansion. For many years, any interactions had to be clandestine, and they could offer little substantial support. Looking at the slender yet sharp-willed, white-haired man before him, Su Zhe felt a wave of lancholy. Even after all these years, Su Zhe vividly rembered Mo Xiuyao as a child: the Second Young Master of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion, cherished by his father and protected by his older brother. That brilliantly attired youth, galloping through the Capital City like a radiant fla, possessed a youthful recklessness and pride. Later, leading armies to battle, he swept all before him, earning the title "Young God of War" before he turned sixteen. Each ti he returned victorious to court, countless young ladies from noble families would vie for even a glimpse of the young war hero; he was the dream of many a maiden. The Mo Xiuyao of that ti, so full of valor and peerless grace, made countless others feel inadequate to stand beside him, daring only to look up in admiration. Yet, the Mo Xiuyao of today, rely twenty-six or twenty-seven, no longer possessed that fiery spirit and style. The occasional spark in his now-muted eyes carried an icy chill. His handso face, frad by hair as white as snow, sent a shiver down one’s spine. If the young Mo Xiuyao inspired awe with his exceptional charisma, the current Mo Xiuyao was more like the frigid snow on a mountain peak, compelling onlookers to pause in solemn respect. That magnificent youth, Great Chu’s future God of War... was ultimately ruined...
"Elder Su’s guidance is a debt I, Xiuyao, will never forget for the rest of my life," Mo Xiuyao said with a faint smile.
Su Zhe shook his head, no longer dwelling on the past, and said gravely, "Prince, do you know why His Majesty sent Prince Virtue and Prince Yu here?"
Mo Xiuyao pondered for a mont, then nodded slightly. "Although Prince Yu didn’t finish his sentence, I understood. Mo Jingqi wants to return to the capital?"
Su Zhe nodded, looking at Mo Xiuyao with solemnity. "You cannot go back!"
"Elder Su..." Mo Xiuyao was sowhat surprised. Su Zhe was an upright man, deeply loyal to Great Chu. Although he knew Su Zhe would not harm him, hearing him explicitly advise against returning to the capital was still startling. Su Zhe closed his eyes wearily, appearing to age several years in an instant. Though he rarely involved himself in the core affairs of the court, Mo Jingqi’s intentions were painfully obvious. He understood what Mo Jingqi hoped to achieve by sending him. For the stability of Great Chu, he might even have agreed that persuading Mo Xiuyao to return to the capital was a viable strategy, given the uncertainty of whether Mo Xiuyao still held any loyalty to Great Chu. However, he also knew that if Mo Xiuyao returned to the capital, what awaited him was not the forr King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion, nor even confinent, but certain death. Privately, Mo Xiuyao was his student, a junior he had watched grow up. Publicly, Great Chu was beset by formidable enemies, and Mo Xiuyao and the Mo Family Army were the only force capable of resisting them. Therefore, he could only prevent Mo Xiuyao from returning.
Su Zhe opened his eyes and looked at Mo Xiuyao. "Since you have made up your mind, Prince, you must already have a plan. What I’ve said reflects my own thoughts, as well as those of State Duke Hua. Before I left, State Duke Hua asked to relay a ssage to you." Mo Xiuyao lowered his gaze. "Please speak, Elder Su." The study fell silent, only Su Zhe’s voice echoing in the stillness. "State Duke Hua said that Prince Ding’s Mansion has served Great Chu loyally for generations, never wronging the imperial family or the Great Ancestor Emperor. Now, with only your line remaining in Prince Ding’s Mansion, Prince, you must consider the fate of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Prince Ding’s Mansion and the Mo Family Army. State Duke Hua’s Mansion, having received the grace of two forr emperors, is bound to serve Great Chu to the death. He only asks that... if Great Chu should face a crisis in the future, you, Prince, out of consideration for your shared ancestry, protect the people of Great Chu from being slaughtered by foreign tribes." Mo Xiuyao flinched slightly, looking up at Su Zhe. State Duke Hua’s words implied he had already foreseen the Mo Family Army’s inevitable separation from Great Chu. A veteran of countless battles, State Duke Hua, though distant from the court, perhaps saw things most clearly.
"What are State Duke Hua’s plans?" Mo Xiuyao asked in a deep voice.
Su Zhe said calmly, "Great Chu is plagued by war. On the day he left the Capital City, State Duke Hua ntioned he planned to submit a morial to His Majesty, requesting to lead troops into battle. The morial is likely already on His Majesty’s desk." Mo Xiuyao frowned. "State Duke Hua is over seventy... The war has not yet reached a point where an elderly man needs to take command." Ye Li gently patted Mo Xiuyao’s hand. "His Majesty will not easily agree to State Duke Hua leading troops." Mo Xiuyao nodded slightly. Mo Jingqi kept a tight rein on these old generals; he would not grant military authority to State Duke Hua unless absolutely necessary. Su Zhe continued, "His Majesty now... acts perversely, refusing to heed the counsel of wise ministers on governing the state, focusing instead on conspiracies and deceit. Great Chu..." He sighed deeply. "Prince, you were right to stay in the Northwest. If you return to the Capital City, I fear a deadly trap awaits. If General Mo falls, Great Chu will be dood..." Finishing his words, Su Zhe stood up. "That is all I have to say. Prince, Princess Consort, take care. We should be departing for the Capital City in a few days. I know not when we shall et again."
"Elder Su," Ye Li asked softly, "His Majesty sent you to persuade the Prince to return to the Capital City. If you go back like this... how will you answer to the Emperor?"
Su Zhe turned to her, a faint smile on his lips. "I am seventy-three this year. It is rare for a man to live to seventy. What is there left for to explain?"
Ye Li frowned. Mo Jingqi is not a rciful ruler. If Su Zhe returned, even if he wasn’t sentenced to death by Mo Jingqi, any punishnt might be too much for him to bear. Ye Li rose, and Mo Xiuyao, seated beside her, quickly and carefully helped her up. She walked to Su Zhe and curtsied slightly. "The Northwest is far from the Capital of Great Chu, and the journey is arduous. Elder Su, you are advanced in years. Why not stay in the Northwest to recuperate and enjoy your twilight years? Would that not be far better than returning to the Capital of Great Chu?" Su Zhe smiled at Ye Li. "Thank you for your concern, Princess Consort. I was born and raised in the Capital of Great Chu. I have spent nearly my entire life there. At my age, there is nothing I cannot let go of. I only hope to die in my own ho and be buried in the Capital of Great Chu. This land in the Northwest is governed exceedingly well by you and the Prince, but alas, it is not my ho."
Mo Xiuyao’s brows furrowed. He helped Ye Li back to her seat before turning to Su Zhe. "Elder Su, don’t you want to ask about her?"
Su Zhe started, his wrinkled face growing even sadder, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably. After a long mont, he asked in a heavy voice, "Is she... still alive?" Of course, he knew Su Zuidie was still alive. The Emperor had told him before he left the Capital City, even offering to send n to rescue Su Zuidie. But Su Zhe understood even more clearly... why had Mo Xiuyao captured Zuidie? His granddaughter, supposedly dead from illness nine years ago, was alive. Recalling the timing and circumstances of Su Zuidie’s alleged death, what was there left for Su Zhe not to understand? At that ti, Mo Xiuyao had just been injured, and Prince Ding’s Mansion was in turmoil, with no one to manage affairs; it was solely reliant on the Eldest Princess’s support. He had sent Zuidie to Prince Ding’s Mansion to care for Mo Xiuyao’s injuries. Though they were not yet married, it was perfectly natural for Zuidie, as his fiancée, to tend to him. But his granddaughter had fallen ill the very next day and been sent back. At the ti, he had rely thought Zuidie, pampered since childhood, had suffered a shock. He had never imagined... But even so, Xiuyao had let Zuidie go back then; there should be no reason to capture her again. She must have done sothing else to provoke Xiuyao’s rciless actions.
Mo Xiuyao nodded, his voice deep. "She is in Prince Ding’s Mansion."
The study fell silent once more. After a long pause, Su Zhe asked, "What did she do?"
Mo Xiuyao hesitated for a mont, then rose and retrieved a dossier from a nearby desk, handing it to Su Zhe. It contained a record of everything Su Zuidie had done over the past ten years. Su Zhe took it, his withered fingers trembling as he opened the thick file and began to flip through it rapidly. The further he read, the more ghastly his complexion beca. Leaning against the couch, Ye Li watched Su Zhe’s expression, an unbearable pity showing on her own face. After a long ti, Su Zhe looked up from the dossier, his voice trembling. "Good! What a Su Zuidie! What a Bai Long! The Bai Family of Xiling... Noble Consort Qingrong, the Southern Garrison Prince’s spy... Good! Truly my, Su Zhe’s, good granddaughter!"
"Elder Su..." Seeing Su Zhe’s face drain of color, then turn ashen, Ye Li frowned in concern, gesturing to Zhuo Jing, who had been watching intently from outside, to fetch Shen Yang. Su Zhe waved his hand dismissively and slumped back into his chair, staring at the dossier trembling in his hands. Had his teachings gone wrong sowhere? His granddaughter, always so obedient and gentle in his eyes, had done so many things behind his back. At only fifteen, she had associated with the remnants of the forr imperial dynasty. After her fiancé was gravely injured, she had managed to persuade Young Master Mingyue to help her fake her death and escape. In Xiling, she had used her connection to the Bai Family to beco Noble Consort Qingrong, maneuvering between the Emperor of Xiling and the Southern Garrison Prince, even reaching a point where she could threaten the Empress of Xiling... And... she had sent assassins after the then-unmarried Princess Consort Ding. Was this his granddaughter? Su Zhe suddenly recalled many years ago when the current Emperor had secretly expressed his intention to take Su Zuidie into the palace as an Imperial Consort. At the ti, he had flatly refused, stating that Zuidie was already engaged. In truth, even if Zuidie had not been betrothed to Mo Xiuyao then, he would not have allowed his granddaughter to enter the palace. But who would have thought that instead of becoming an Imperial Consort of Great Chu, she would beco a Noble Consort of Xiling?
Finally, Su Zhe seed to regain so composure. He stood up. "I am tired and will not disturb the Prince and Princess Consort any longer. As for that scourge..." Su Zhe closed his eyes wearily, a muscle twitching at the corner of his mouth. "Let the Prince and Princess Consort deal with her as they see fit. The Su family has no such granddaughter!" With that, he strode towards the door without another glance at Mo Xiuyao or Ye Li. Ye Li quickly signaled Lin Han to follow. Sure enough, just a few steps outside the door, Lin Han’s anxious cries were heard, "Lord Su! Lord Su!" Mo Xiuyao darted out to see Su Zhe collapsed on the ground, supported by Lin Han. A pool of dark blood on the ground looked alarmingly conspicuous in the moonlight. Mo Xiuyao lowered his gaze and said quietly, "Send Elder Su back."
Behind him, Ye Li walked to his side and took his hand. They watched as Lin Han and his n escorted Su Zhe back to the guest room. Seeing Mo Xiuyao’s indifferent expression, Ye Li said softly, "Why did you have to do this? Didn’t we agree that I would handle Su Zuidie’s matter?" Mo Xiuyao looked at her silently. Ye Li nestled closer into his embrace, her voice gentle. "I know you don’t want to be troubled, but as the Princess Consort of Ding Kingdom, dealing with these things is my responsibility, isn’t it? If sothing were to happen to Lord Su because of this, could you truly be at peace?"
Mo Xiuyao remained silent, rely tightening his arm around her. Even at over seven months pregnant, Ye Li still appeared slender and delicate. They held each other close, the moonlight, like a silken ribbon, cascading over them, bringing an extraordinary serenity to their hearts.
「In the Palace of Great Chu」
The window was ajar, silver moonlight spilling quietly into the garden beyond, the air filled with a strange, ethereal fragrance. In a corner beneath the outer wall, a white flower was slowly unfurling in exquisite beauty. The snow-white blossom, like a lotus, opened layer by layer, yet it possessed a sanctity and nobility surpassing the lotus, resembling a white-robed fairy dancing alone beneath the moon. By the window, a stunning woman in white leaned languidly against the fra, letting the moonlight bathe her. Her indifferent eyes gazed absently at the epiphyllum blooming quietly outside.
"Pure as ice and chaste as jade, blooming alone in the dead of night, not vying for glory with other flowers. This epiphyllum, is it not a peerless beauty in this world?" a man’s voice, tinged with amusent yet seemingly mocking, sounded in the room.
The woman in white did not even deign to turn her head, her voice detached. "If there is no one to appreciate the flower, what use is its peerless beauty?"
The man chuckled. "How could there be none? Many people stay up all night, longing to witness the epiphyllum’s fleeting bloom, yet rarely succeed. The epiphyllum blooms only for Weituo... It truly is a flower that evokes both love and resentnt."
The woman in white—Noble Consort Liu—sat up and turned, looking coldly at the man in the hall. "What are you doing here? Mo Jingqi has n searching for you everywhere, and you still dare to sneak into the palace?!" The room was unlit by candles, steeped in darkness. A man erged from the shadows; the moonlight slanting in cast an eerie aura about him. "I ca, naturally, to tell you what I learned on my trip from the capital. Good news and bad news. Which would Her Highness Noble Consort like to hear first?"
Noble Consort Liu watched him calmly, seemingly unmoved. The man smiled helplessly. "Not even interested in news about Mo Xiuyao?"
Her cold eyes flickered slightly. Noble Consort Liu stared warningly at the man who was deliberately being mysterious. With a hint of frustration, the man said, "Alright, the good news is that your arch-nesis, Su Zuidie, is now in Prince Ding’s hands. And it seems she’s been tornted to within an inch of her life. It appears Prince Ding has truly severed all ties with her. The bad news is... Princess Consort Ding has returned to Ruyang City alive, and she’s seven months pregnant. In another two months, the heir of Prince Ding’s Mansion will be born."
"Ye Li is still alive?!" Noble Consort Liu said icily. "You’ve seen Ye Li?"
The man nodded. "She fell into my hands. I originally intended to use her to threaten Mo Xiuyao, but then..."
WHOOSH—! A hidden weapon sliced through the air. The man tilted his head, evading it. Noble Consort Liu, no longer by the window, stood with fury etched on her face, glaring at him. "Tan Jizhi! You saw Ye Li, why didn’t you kill her imdiately?"
The man was none other than Tan Jizhi, who had vanished after leaving the Northwest. Tan Jizhi said helplessly, "If I had really killed Ye Li, do you think I would have made it back alive?" Noble Consort Liu shot him a look of disgust. "Don’t forget our deal. I only want Ye Li dead! It seems you’ve forgotten." Tan Jizhi looked at the beautiful, ice-cold woman before him, a strange glint in his eyes. "How could I dare forget Her Highness Noble Consort’s wish? But you can’t expect to trade my life for Ye Li’s, can you? Rest assured, once our business is concluded, not only Ye Li but Mo Xiuyao as well can be handed over to you for disposal." Noble Consort Liu said coldly, "That’s your affair. Don’t drag into your wretched business."
Tan Jizhi spread his hands. "Alright, my affair. Has His Majesty made any moves since I left the capital?"
Noble Consort Liu said coldly, "He was already a fool; now he’s even more foolish."
Tan Jizhi’s smile turned sinister. "His foolishness is irrelevant. I heard he sent Prince Virtue and Prince Yu to the Northwest to try and bring Mo Xiuyao back to the capital? Whose brilliant idea was that? Does he think Mo Xiuyao is as brainless as he is?"
Noble Consort Liu said impassively, "So what if Mo Xiuyao doesn’t return? I fear Prince Virtue and Prince Yu won’t be returning either."
Tan Jizhi lowered his head in thought for a mont, then smiled. "So, it was Her Highness Noble Consort’s idea... Summoning Mo Xiuyao back to the capital was a pretense; the real aim was to eliminate Prince Virtue and Prince Yu? However... I fear Your Highness may be disappointed. Mo Xiuyao might not necessarily kill those two princes."
Noble Consort Liu shot him a cold glare. Tan Jizhi continued, "But then again, since Your Highness finds them disagreeable, I will, of course, see to it for you, one way or another."
"It has nothing to do with ," Noble Consort Liu said, turning back to admire the epiphyllum.
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