Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 66. Ambition and Power

66. Ambition and Power

"Your Highness?" In the chaotic palace, there was a moment of silence. After a long pause, the little palace maid kneeling on the ground cautiously called out.

Noble Consort Liu’s face had regained its usual calmness, as if nothing had happened. She spoke nonchalantly, "You may rise. What happened at Prince Li’s Mansion today?" Mo Jingqi would not go mad for no reason, and other than Prince Li marrying Consort Ping, there were no major events today. Although the recent return of Prince Ding after his marriage had made him somewhat anxious, it wasn’t enough to cause a sudden outburst. Therefore, something unexpected must have happened today.

The little palace maid expressed her gratitude, got up, and walked to Noble Consort Liu’s side, whispering, "Her Highness Empress Dowager hurriedly went to Prince Li’s Mansion earlier. Then, His Majesty summoned Prince Li, Princess Consort Li, and Grand Consort Wise Zhao into the palace. As soon as Prince Li left, His Majesty immediately came to see Your Highness. This servant didn’t get a chance to report these matters."

Noble Consort Liu frowned. "Summon Prince Li into the palace? What about Prince Li’s wedding?"

The little palace maid replied, "That’s exactly what this servant wanted to report to Your Highness. The wedding has been cancelled. It is said that the Heir of Southern Garrison Prince from Xiling angrily left on the spot with the Princess of Xiling. It seems something happened in the area where the female guests were resting at Prince Li’s Mansion..."

Noble Consort Liu frowned and gestured dismissively. "Send a message back to my mother, telling her she needs to come to the palace as soon as possible." Even if she was greatly favored, being in the palace meant that information from the outside world would always be slower to reach her.

"Your servant obeys. Your Highness... about His Majesty..."

Noble Consort Liu’s lips curled slightly, her smile cool. "It’s nothing. He was probably upset by the Empress Dowager. We’ll find a way to help him vent his frustrations later, and it’ll be fine."

The little palace maid smiled faintly. "Your Highness understands His Majesty the best, after all. However... my lord sent word to Your Highness, asking Your Highness to... be careful of Her Highness Empress Dowager. After all..." After all, the Empress Dowager was a woman who had survived a cohort of prestigious imperial consorts from the previous Emperor’s reign, not only bearing two sons but also defeating all those women and princes to eventually help her own son ascend to the throne. The Empress Dowager was definitely not a woman who could be easily dealt with.

Noble Consort Liu responded calmly, "I know. The Empress Dowager is indeed formidable, but... I’m no pushover!" The Empress Dowager was indeed smart and formidable, but her biggest mistake was that she never truly understood what her own son was thinking. Did she really think only Mo Jingqi couldn’t stand her desire to control everything? Any ambitious man couldn’t bear it; it’s just that some were unwilling to endure it, while others had no choice but to do so.

「King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion」

Still in the secluded martial arts training field located in the deepest part of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion, Ye Li stared darkly at Qingluan and Ah-Jin, who were flitting about in front of her using lightness skills. Qingshuang, who also had poor lightness skills, was hiding to the side, snickering. Even Mo Xiuyao, sitting beside her, couldn’t help but let the corners of his lips curve into a subtle smile. Ye Li really couldn’t understand. With her physical coordination, balance, and various other qualities, not to mention what Mo Xiuyao called her excellent physique for martial arts, why couldn’t she learn lightness skills! She had mastered the plum flower stakes, or whatever stakes they were, moving as if on flat ground. She had even conquered internal power, something that seemed incredibly abstruse to modern people. So, why couldn’t she fly? To think Mo Xiuyao had even gone out of his way to find a set of lightness skills supposedly suitable for women to practice. Now, even Qingshuang had learned it quite passably, but she just... didn’t get the hang of it!

In fact, if it came down to actual combat, Ye Li didn’t think knowing lightness skills would make much difference. After all, she had no trouble scaling a wall over three meters high without them. Moreover, she didn’t believe people with advanced lightness skills would be better than her at stealth. In a real close-quarters fight, lightness skills wouldn’t be much use anyway. But... the ability to soar high and low with lightness skills was the dream of every Chinese person with a wuxia fantasy, wasn’t it? Since it truly existed, based on the principle that more skills are better than fewer, why wouldn’t she learn it?

"Ah-Li, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Ye Li’s rare irritability, Mo Xiuyao was gentlemanly enough not to mock her, but the sparkle in his eyes made it clear he was merely suppressing his amusement.

With resentment, Ye Li glanced at the three people darting all over the training field and said, "I probably don’t have the talent for lightness skills."

"Learning basic lightness skills doesn’t require much talent." Only exceptionally advanced lightness skills require talent, something not determined by mere manuals—like Han Mingxi, the Young Master Fengyue. His martial arts were ordinary and his internal power average. If not for his lightness skills, which surpassed those of many top experts, who knows how many times he would have died.

This defies logic! Ye Li felt a vein throb in her forehead. This completely surpassed the limits of the human body. How could it not require talent or incredibly high internal power? Most importantly... humans simply couldn’t fly!

"Ah-Li, what are you thinking when you try to use lightness skills?" Mo Xiuyao asked patiently.

Ye Li was a little dejected but still carefully explained her thoughts to Mo Xiuyao. After listening, Mo Xiuyao was somewhat exasperated. "Ah-Li, if you keep thinking like this, you’ll never learn lightness skills. You’re trying to use lightness skills while simultaneously telling yourself that humans can’t possibly fly?"

Of course, Ye Li knew; it was almost like self-hypnosis. Ordinary people of this era certainly wouldn’t have this problem. But Ye Li was different. Even though she had once been a top soldier, and even though people could fly in airplanes and even travel into space, people of her era still held one deeply ingrained, indelible belief: humans cannot fly using only their own bodies. So, Ye Li always subconsciously tried to find something to step on for leverage. Once she couldn’t find that point, and the distance between her body and the ground reached what her mind perceived as the human limit, her body would instinctively go into a self-preservation mode and fall.

"Ah-Li, lightness skills don’t allow you to fly out of thin air either. They also require leverage, just much less and smaller points than what people without lightness skills need. It could be the tip of a tree branch, or some other small object, as long as you can control it well enough." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Ye Li looked at him expressionlessly. Mo Xiuyao smiled helplessly, tapped his right hand on the armrest of his wheelchair, and his entire body suddenly leaped up, heading towards the training field not far away. After a moment of surprise, Ye Li stared intently at his movements. She saw his hand tap a wooden post in the training field with extreme speed, then turn to another spot. Then it was a treetop at the edge of the field, the net ropes Ye Li had set up, and finally, he landed back in his wheelchair. "Did you see clearly?" Mo Xiuyao asked with a smile, extending a hand to give her a pale yellow flower he had plucked from a branch.

"This is simply unscientific!" Ye Li gritted her teeth, glaring fiercely at Mo Xiuyao. Is this a man with impaired mobility? Is he? Is he really? In fact, she was the one with impaired mobility, wasn’t she?

"Hmm?" Mo Xiuyao looked at her, puzzled.

"I understand." Ye Li took the flower, twirling it in her hand. "I need to think about it."

Mo Xiuyao chuckled. "I think Ah-Li just thinks too much. Perhaps you could try imagining yourself falling from a hundred-yard cliff. No support, nothing to grab onto, so naturally no place to find leverage."

Ye Li stared at him silently. She really had jumped from hundreds of feet in the sky before. If it were that simple... every paratrooper would be a lightness skill expert. "I get it. I’ll go try."

Ye Li’s "giving it a try" meant having Ah-Jin take her up a twenty-meter-high wooden pole at the edge of the training field, and then... jumping down!

The first time, she fell from about ten meters high, luckily getting snagged by some tree branches before landing in the sandpit at the edge of the field.

The second time, she managed to cross nearly half the training field horizontally but couldn’t find the next point for leverage in time and fell from five meters. Her body’s self-preservation instincts worked well; she only suffered a minor scrape.

The third time, she lost control for a moment and crashed into a wooden stake on the training field. The pain left Ye Li dazed for a long while.

The fourth time... the fifth time...

Mo Xiuyao sat at the edge of the field, silently watching the slender figure jump, fly a little, and fall, again and again. Then she would pick herself up, check for injuries, and jump again, only to fall again. Mo Xiuyao didn’t stop her. Watching her fail repeatedly and then try again and again, his usually calm eyes for the first time held a flicker of some intense, unfamiliar emotion. His profound gaze was fixed solely on that slender figure, constantly falling and constantly rising.

"Mo Xiuyao, you’re actually abusing a woman?!" Feng Zhiyao’s voice suddenly broke the silence of the training field. The hidden guards, silently protecting from the shadows, twitched their lips and nearly fell from their concealed positions.

Feng Zhiyao sauntered over, fanning himself, looking at Ye Li in the training field, then at the silent Mo Xiuyao seated at the side, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Ah-Yao, that’s your wife, not your enemy. I didn’t expect that after all these years, you’ve become even worse at cherishing fair maidens."

Mo Xiuyao looked up, shot him a cool glance, but said nothing. Watching Ye Li repeatedly fall to the ground didn’t put him in a good mood.

Rebuffed, Feng Zhiyao rubbed his nose and silently stood to one side. After watching for a good while, he asked with some confusion, "What game is my sister-in-law playing?"

"Lightness skills," Mo Xiuyao replied.

Feng Zhiyao’s expression twisted, and he nearly poked his chin with his fan. "Practicing lightness skills? This... isn’t she afraid of killing herself?" They had all started martial arts training from childhood. Feng Zhiyao himself was largely self-taught, never having been formally instructed by a master. But he had never seen such a training method. Are women these days more reckless with their lives than men? As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a cold gaze land on him. Feng Zhiyao gave Mo Xiuyao, who was clearly displeased, an apologetic smile and stepped aside to watch Ye Li’s practice with him.

Ye Li herself didn’t know how many times she had fallen. When she finally managed to land smoothly on the ground, she felt as if her entire body had been thoroughly beaten up; every part of her ached. But inwardly, she heaved a great sigh of relief, feeling a sense of satisfaction and joy she had never experienced since coming to this world.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Feng Zhiyao clapped from the sidelines, an admiring look on his face as he raised an eyebrow at Ye Li. Qingluan and Qingshuang immediately rushed over. Qingshuang’s bright eyes were already red and swollen. Heedless of others present, she threw herself onto Ye Li, calling out "Miss, Miss" and burst into loud sobs. Ye Li looked at her own somewhat disheveled state and, amused, patted the little maid in her arms, coaxing her to stand properly before walking towards Mo Xiuyao. "Young Master Feng, we meet again."

Feng Zhiyao sighed. "Princess Consort, you’ve truly opened my eyes today."

Ye Li said helplessly, "What others learn easily is incredibly difficult for me. Since I want to learn it, naturally, I have to put in more effort."

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly. "Ah-Li, that’s enough for today. You can go back, freshen up, and rest. Then have a physician take a look at you. Third Feng and I will be in the study."

Ye Li nodded, smiling. "It’s nothing serious, just a bit sore from the falls. I’ll head back first. Young Master Feng, excuse me."

Watching Ye Li leave with Qingluan and Qingshuang, Feng Zhiyao turned and asked, "Ah-Yao, what are you up to? With the hidden guards and the Black Cloud Cavalry, it’s not as if the Mistress of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion can’t be protected, is it? Surely she doesn’t need to learn defensive martial arts personally?"

"Young Master Feng, it was the Princess Consort herself who wanted to learn. The Prince only taught her because she insisted," Ah-Jin spoke up. He had never met anyone more stubborn or persistent than the Princess Consort. If the Prince hadn’t allowed her to learn lightness skills, he genuinely believed the Princess Consort might have ended up breaking her neck from practicing secretly.

"It’s always more reassuring to have the ability to protect oneself than to rely on others for protection," Mo Xiuyao stated indifferently. "There are no flawless defenses in this world; even the guards of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion cannot completely eliminate all dangers. An extra skill means an extra layer of security for the future."

Feng Zhiyao shook his head, sighing, "To have such perseverance and courage, few men could compare. I’m truly curious, how did the Ye Family raise such a daughter? Even the Xu Family..." Even the Xu Family would be unlikely to raise such a woman. The women of the Xu Family could be exceptionally talented, brilliantly intelligent. But he had never seen anyone like Ye Li.

Mo Xiuyao turned his wheelchair towards the study. "I didn’t invite you here to discuss Ah-Li."

Feng Zhiyao paused, then, watching the departing figure, raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Ah-Yao, you’re not jealous, are you?"

Mo Xiuyao’s study had long been moved to the newlywed couple’s courtyard. This courtyard, specially prepared for Prince Ding and the Princess Consort, was the largest courtyard in the entire King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion; it even contained a separate library building. After Mo Xiuyao moved in, the two of them quickly reorganized the rooms. The second floor of the two-story library building was for storing books. The first floor was divided in two: one side was Ye Li’s study, and the other was Mo Xiuyao’s. So when the two of them stepped into his study and saw Ye Li, already changed and sitting behind a desk with a book, Mo Xiuyao wasn’t surprised. He just asked, "Ah-Li, why don’t you rest a bit longer?"

Ye Li gestured with the book in her hand. "It’s not advisable to lie down immediately after martial arts practice. I’ll read for a while. Do I need to leave?"

Mo Xiuyao shook his head. "Since you’re not tired, come over and listen in."

Feng Zhiyao surveyed the study’s furnishings. Hearing Mo Xiuyao’s words, he raised an eyebrow in surprise but made no comment. Ye Li thought for a moment, then walked over with her book and sat down. Feng Zhiyao glanced at it curiously. "Oh? Is the Princess Consort reading a military treatise?" The book in Ye Li’s hand was indeed titled ’Military Strategy and Tactics’.

Ye Li looked down at the book. "Just killing time, reading to relieve boredom."

Reading military books for amusement? What a peculiar hobby, Feng Zhiyao grumbled internally. Outwardly, however, his face showed keen interest as he asked, "How do you find it?"

"Not bad," Ye Li replied.

Feng Zhiyao wasn’t quite sure what Ye Li meant by "not bad" and quickly glanced at Mo Xiuyao. Mo Xiuyao remained unperturbed, asking with a smile, "Ah-Li, what do you find ’not bad’ about it?"

Ye Li hesitated slightly before saying, "The strategic aspects are well-written, but the tactics..." Perhaps it was the difference between modern and ancient warfare, but Ye Li felt that many of the tactics described were simply illogical, even bordering on fantastical. Of course, it wasn’t that tactics couldn’t be imaginative; in fact, the best commanders often possessed boundless creativity. But what was written in this book... In truth, Ye Li felt it was more appropriate to call it a novel. This author has definitely never been on a battlefield, she thought to herself.

"Strategy? Tactics?" Feng Zhiyao raised an eyebrow.

Ye Li, though slightly annoyed internally, looked calmly at Mo Xiuyao and said, "Strategy refers to the overall plans and policies for warfare."

Mo Xiuyao glanced at Feng Zhiyao and smoothly continued, "And tactics refer to the specific means, deployments, and stratagems for achieving strategic goals and defeating the enemy. Understand?"

Feng Zhiyao looked dejectedly at the composed couple before him. Are they looking down on my lack of knowledge?

"Ah-Li, what do you think of the tactics?" Mo Xiuyao asked Ye Li, ignoring Feng Zhiyao’s expression.

Ye Li shrugged. "Compared to the Military Code of the Great Ancestor Emperor, I think this is more like a fantastical novel."

"AH! You’ve even read the Military Code of the Great Ancestor Emperor?" Feng Zhiyao shrieked.

Ye Li looked at him strangely. "My maternal uncle and grandfather both have copies of the Military Code of the Great Ancestor Emperor in their homes. What’s so strange about having read it? My eldest maternal uncle taught me." She wasn’t lying; her eldest maternal uncle had indeed taught her military strategy and tactics. However, it was for less than a month, so they certainly hadn’t finished the Military Code of the Great Ancestor Emperor. This statement also conveniently explained why she knew so much about military matters. The Military Code of the Great Ancestor Emperor was indeed one of the best military books she had encountered in this world.

Feng Zhiyao was silently moved to tears. Why were you born into the Ye and Xu families? If you had been born into the Murong family, given the Grand General’s attitude towards educating his daughters, perhaps our dynasty could have produced a female general! The Military Code of the Great Ancestor Emperor wasn’t just any book. The entire work, spanning twenty-nine volumes, recorded the battle accounts of seventeen renowned generals from both sides during the early years of the Great Ancestor Emperor’s founding of the dynasty. It also included handwritten commentary by the Prince of Ding Kingdom, Mo Lanyun. It can be said that it’s one of the must-reads for all Great Chu military commanders.

"There are many military treatises in the study in the front courtyard. If Ah-Li likes them, you can go there and pick some out," Mo Xiuyao said. This courtyard wasn’t primarily for handling official business, so the books in this study were mostly poetry, classics, or miscellaneous knowledge. There were a few military books, but none of top quality.

Hearing this, Ye Li’s eyes lit up. This study had many books, but aside from the poetry, songs, biographies of famous people, and so on, which didn’t interest her, all that remained were some history books, geographical accounts, and travelogues. She wasn’t interested in the affairs of this or that dynasty, or the secret histories of certain dynasties; she had already skimmed through history before her marriage. So, she could only read things like geographical accounts and travelogues, but reading about these famous sights and local customs that she could only see but not experience was frustrating.

This couple... I give up on you two! Feng Zhiyao mentally rolled his eyes, twitching.

Once they got down to business, Feng Zhiyao appeared much more serious and agreeable. He looked at Mo Xiuyao with some remorse. "Ah-Yao, I apologize. It seems I’ve neglected many things these past few years."

Mo Xiuyao looked up at him. "What is it? Is there news from Prince Li’s Mansion?"

Feng Zhiyao nodded. "Princess Ling Yun thought she had cleverly schemed against Mo Jingli, but I’m afraid she doesn’t know that she herself was the one being schemed against."

"How so?"

"It’s said that Prince Li’s Mansion has already investigated. The incense in Princess Qixia’s resting room was placed there by Princess Ling Yun’s people, and Princess Qixia was also put there by Princess Ling Yun’s people. However... the maid the Princess Consort mentioned, the one who first rushed into Princess Qixia’s room that day, was neither Princess Qixia’s nor Princess Ling Yun’s. Rather... she was a young maid Grand Consort Wise Zhao had brought from the palace," Feng Zhiyao said, his expression somewhat grave.

Ye Li frowned. "That maid..."

Feng Zhiyao continued, "That afternoon, the maid was secretly put to death. I’ve had people keeping an eye on Prince Li’s Mansion and Princess Zhaoyang’s Mansion. When Princess Qixia was taken back, there were no maids with her. It wasn’t until midnight that someone carried a maid’s corpse out through the back gate and dumped it in the mass graves outside the city. However, the maid’s face was disfigured before her death, and there was nothing on her body to prove her identity."

"Then how do you know she was one of Grand Consort Wise Zhao’s people?" Ye Li asked, puzzled.

Feng Zhiyao smiled smugly. "The forensic expert found traces of a jasmine-scented hair oil under the maid’s fingernails and in her hair. This type of hair oil is said to be a special blend custom-made by the top perfumery in the Capital City. It’s incredibly expensive; a small box costs over a dozen silver taels. And in the last three months, only five boxes of hair oil with this scent have been sold in the entire Capital City. Two of those boxes were bought by people sent by Grand Consort Wise Zhao. Therefore, I surmise that the maid was likely Grand Consort Wise Zhao’s hair-combing attendant. Also, yesterday morning, Grand Consort Wise Zhao sported a new hairstyle. According to an informant I sent who is very knowledgeable about hairdressing, it was definitely not styled by the same person who used to do Grand Consort Wise Zhao’s hair."

Ye Li nodded in admiration. "So, the situation is that Princess Ling Yun didn’t want to marry Prince Li, so she designed a plot to help Princess Qixia get into Prince Li’s Mansion, allowing her to legitimately break off the engagement? And conveniently, Grand Consort Wise Zhao, who wasn’t satisfied with Princess Ling Yun as a daughter-in-law, played along to let Princess Qixia take her place? But... that doesn’t seem logical."

"What’s not logical about it?" Feng Zhiyao asked, perplexed.

Ye Li explained, "Unless Lei Tengfeng was also involved. Otherwise, if he hadn’t been so resolute in taking Princess Ling Yun away then, no matter how much Princess Ling Yun protested, wouldn’t she still have had to marry obediently in the end? In that case, not only would her plan fail, but she would also gain an additional rival in Prince Li’s Mansion. Or, was she just trying to get leverage over Prince Li and Princess Qixia to blackmail them? What if Prince Li and Princess Qixia were willing to risk a mutually destructive outcome and tell His Majesty about her scheme? Even as a princess of Xiling, I’m afraid she wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed."

"Ah-Li, why do you think Lei Tengfeng left in such a hurry?" Mo Xiuyao asked softly.

Ye Li thought for a moment. "Lei Tengfeng discovered Princess Ling Yun was being schemed against?"

Feng Zhiyao nodded. "If Princess Ling Yun had remained in the Capital City, once this matter was investigated, His Majesty would have had to deal with her, even if he didn’t want to. But now that she’s gone, if His Majesty doesn’t want to jeopardize relations between the two countries, he can only pretend nothing happened. He can’t very well declare war on Xiling over this, can he? However, after this fiasco, Lei Tengfeng’s trip to Great Chu has been for nothing." The perfectly good marriage alliance was ruined by that foolish Princess Ling Yun; Lei Tengfeng must be furious enough to spit blood.

Ye Li sighed and turned to Mo Xiuyao. "Should I be glad that I’m not worth him spending so much effort to scheme against?"

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly. "You should indeed be glad. All these years... Jingli, however, has made me see him in a new light."

Feng Zhiyao pursed his lips. "I doubt it. The truly formidable one is the person by his side. If he truly had such cunning, why would he forsake... and choose Ye Ying?"

Mo Xiuyao chuckled. "What about Princess Consort Li? She is the legitimate daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and Ye Zhaoyi’s biological younger sister."

Feng Zhiyao said disdainfully, "Sister-in-law is also the legitimate daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and she’s Mr. Qingyun’s granddaughter."

"Third Feng, do you know why His Majesty was at ease letting me marry Ah-Li?" Mo Xiuyao asked.

Feng Zhiyao raised an eyebrow. Mo Xiuyao continued, "The Xu Family will not align themselves with anyone, nor will they become a pawn in anyone’s struggle for the throne. His Majesty understands this, I understand this, and Mo Jingli naturally understands this as well. He can gain no assistance from the Xu Family. On the contrary, if he intended to raise troops for rebellion or plot treason that endangered the common people, the Xu Family might even become an obstacle to him." The tales of the Xu family’s ancestors personally slaying a tyrant and diligently assisting several generations of Great Chu monarchs were not mere legends. However, Mo Jingli probably only thinks the Xu Family is staunchly loyal to the Emperor; after all, the true secrets are only passed down between each generation’s Emperor, Prince Ding, and the Xu Family Head.

"Even so, setting the Xu Family aside, both being legitimate daughters of Minister Ye, at least Third Miss’s engagement was bestowed by the late Emperor, giving it more legitimacy, wouldn’t you say?" Feng Zhiyao argued.

Ye Li smiled faintly. "I think I can guess the reason for that."

Both men looked at Ye Li. She lowered her gaze and said, "My father... is likely one of the Empress Dowager’s people. He should be aware of Prince Li’s ambitions and the Empress Dowager’s intentions. However, if Prince Li married me, he probably believes that Prince Li would then value not the Ye Family, but the Xu Family behind me. But my Fourth Sister’s birth mother’s family is weak. If Fourth Sister becomes Princess Consort Li, or rather... in the future, things will be entirely different. The Ye Family will be able to ascend to the heavens in a single step. In the current palace, the main consort is the Empress, the favored consort is Noble Consort Liu, and there are several princes. If Father is truly the Empress Dowager’s man, he wouldn’t be unaware that my second sister is actually not favored. So, from His Majesty’s perspective... the chances for my second sister’s child to... are not high. Besides, it’s uncertain if that child will even be born."

Reflecting on these recent events, Ye Li found herself somewhat admiring her father. Everyone thought he married Ye Ying to Prince Li to support Ye Zhaoyi in the palace, but they didn’t know that Ye Zhaoyi was actually the backup pawn. A classic feint—distracting in one direction while striking in another. It’s just a pity Ye Ying was the wrong pawn. If there had been two Ye Yues, perhaps Minister Ye’s scheme might have actually succeeded. It wasn’t that these ancient people were stupid; it was I who was foolish for consistently underestimating them. Given Old Madam Ye’s usual astuteness and Minister Ye’s caution that allowed him to rise smoothly in officialdom, how could she have believed those two had gotten carried away simply because Ye Zhaoyi was pregnant?

"A truly surprising deduction," Feng Zhiyao said, looking at Ye Li. "How did the Princess Consort come to think that Minister Ye is one of the Empress Dowager’s people?" Even the man on the dragon throne probably wouldn’t have thought of this. However, Princess Consort Ding was not mistaken.

Ye Li said calmly, "My father seems to intentionally or unintentionally show dissatisfaction with Prince Li from time to time, but in reality, he has never done anything that truly affects Prince Li. Since he has already married his most cherished daughter to Prince Li, why does he always express dissatisfaction with him? It seems more like he’s putting on a show for someone. Last time, when the marriage was decreed with Princess Ling Yun, it was said that both the Empress Dowager and Prince Li were dissatisfied, and Father’s attitude was very firm. Of course, part of that was concern for Fourth Sister’s future. But this time, with Father’s intelligence, it’s impossible for him not to see that Princess Qixia was bound to enter Prince Li’s Mansion. And even with a different status, Princess Qixia’s position in Prince Li’s Mansion in the future would not be low. Yet, this time, Father seems to have said nothing. Even when Fourth Sister returned home, she was sent back by Father the same day. Fourth Sister told me that Father is already preparing to send Fifth Sister into Prince Li’s Mansion as a concubine in a month, saying it’s to help Fourth Sister secure favor and prevent Princess Qixia from gaining the upper hand in the future."

Mo Xiuyao looked at Ye Li with a faint smile. "Ah-Li is indeed correct. Minister Ye... his early promotion to the position of Minister does have some connection to the Empress Dowager. However, I’m more inclined to believe he’s playing both sides."

Ye Li blinked. "Are you saying Father intends to see which side has a greater chance of winning before placing his bet?"

"The current Emperor’s paranoia is far beyond what an ordinary person can comprehend. If Minister Ye did not display considerable loyalty, His Majesty would not trust him."

Even though she had already figured out many issues herself, Ye Li still felt somewhat shocked. So my father, who appeared smooth and was indeed smooth, yet seemed muddle-headed in family matters, was actually playing the role of a double agent?

"But, what’s going on with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor then?" Ye Li asked.

Feng Zhiyao sneered. "What else could it be? Our Empress Dowager, hailed as a heroine of her generation, a truly capable woman, was the one who supported the young Emperor’s ascension and wielded power over the realm. However, our Emperor is no pushover either. In less than three years, he reclaimed all authority and respectfully invited the Empress Dowager to retire to the inner palace to live out her days in peace. Power... if you’ve never tasted it, it’s one thing, but once you have, it’s very easy to become unable to stop wanting more. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager have been outwardly harmonious but inwardly estranged for a long time; this is an open secret among many influential figures in the Capital City. Although the imperial throne itself won’t change, the person sitting on it can."

"So, the one with true ambition isn’t Mo Jingli, but the Empress Dowager?"

"Mo Jingli naturally has ambitions; he just lacked the opportunity. Now that he has it, why wouldn’t he cooperate? Prince Li’s Mansion is his domain; without his consent, even Grand Consort Wise Zhao would find it difficult to act freely."

Ye Li was speechless. No wonder the Empress Dowager didn’t mind her sons fighting amongst themselves. So she actually wished for her two sons to battle to the death?

"Is power... really that important?"

Feng Zhiyao was taken aback, his expression dimming for a moment. "To some people, it probably is very important." The gloominess lasted only an instant before Feng Zhiyao quickly resumed his playful demeanor, winking at Mo Xiuyao. "Well, Prince? Since those two in the palace have started playing their cards, should we join the game? Or... go for a clean sweep?"

"A clean sweep?" Mo Xiuyao glanced at him. "And then you’ll handle the aftermath? You’ll take responsibility if the palace and the capital are bathed in blood? If rebellions break out across the land, you’ll quell them? If Beirong invades, you’ll fend them off? If Xiling also wants a piece of the action, you’ll go guard the borders?"

Er... Feng Zhiyao awkwardly rubbed his nose. Indeed, killing a few people isn’t hard. But the consequences of killing *those* particular people would be very troublesome.