Long time no see

  Long time no see.

  Back in Jiangxia City, Ye Li waved her hand to have the people take Zhen Nan Wang and others away, and took the Southern Marquis's son to see the anxious Southern Marquis. Seeing his son return with injuries all over his body, the Southern Marquis was both surprised and heartbroken, holding his son up and down while asking if he had any serious injuries. The Southern Marquis's son probably didn't expect to have the chance to see his parents again in this life, and couldn't help but redden his eyes. He struggled free from the Southern Marquis's grasp, knelt on the ground, and said in a low voice: "Son has disgraced Father."

  The old man's eyes were filled with tears as he said, "Foolish child, why say such things when you're back safely? Just being back is enough..." After the initial joy had passed, Nan Hou suddenly remembered that Ye Li and the others were still present. He hastily wiped away his tears and pulled his son forward, saying, "This time, you were able to return safely thanks to the queen's efforts. Hurry up and thank her for saving your life." The young master of the Nan Hou household stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving my life." Ye Li smiled faintly and said, "Brother-in-law, please don't be so formal. We're all family, after all. Is there anything wrong? Were you hurt by the people from Xi Ling?" The father and son exchanged a glance, and the young master shook his head with a smile, saying, "It's just minor injuries. Thank you for your concern, Third Sister. If there's anything we can do to help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask. The Nan Hou household will definitely lend its full support." Ye Li smiled and thanked him, knowing that from now on, the Nan Hou household would not become an enemy of the Ding Wang household, even if they couldn't be their allies.

  This time, Lei Tengfeng apparently didn't make any more small moves. Five days later, at the same time and place, he delivered 50,000 dan of grain and 5 million taels of silver to Ye Li's hands. Ye Li also kept her promise and returned Zhen Nan Wang. Zhen Nan Wang returned to the camp on the west side of Ling, and only then did he turn his head to look at Ye Li deeply and say: "I was too arrogant, this round counts as a win for the princess. Princess Ding, we'll meet again another day." Ye Li smiled gently and said: "Your Majesty is joking, how could I dare say I won against Your Majesty? It's just luck." Zhen Nan Wang's face turned slightly red, and he turned to leave. Unarrogant in victory or defeat, Princess Ding of the State of Ding, a mere woman, easily won a large batch of grain and silver from Xiling, yet she didn't show any pride on her face, truly not an ordinary woman.

  Ye Li's message about sending off Zhen Nan Wang's figure spread in the Xiling army, and he turned to Feng Zhiyao beside him: "Pass down the order, the whole army is on high alert."

  Feng Zhiyao's puzzled raised eyebrows, Ye Lian calmly said: "Having suffered such a great loss, would the King of Town South not take revenge?"

  "Report to Her Highness, Xinyang has been recovered by our army!" A soldier came hastily with a joyful face.

  Ye Li was taken aback and said, "What did you say?" The soldier raised his head and shouted loudly, "Just now, news came from the front that the king led a large army of 100,000 men down from the north, defeated the Beiling North Road Army, and recovered Xinyang last night!"

  "Is Xiāo Yáo back?!"

  "The king has returned!"

  Ye Li and Feng Zhi Yao exchanged a glance, both seeing the color of madness in each other's eyes. Ye Li gathered his thoughts and said loudly: "Return to the city!"

  They returned to the city, but only for a moment, when news came that the Xiling army had retreated. The crowd climbed up to the city wall and saw that the Xiling army was indeed retreating in the distance. Yunfeng's heroic spirit surged, and he hastily asked Ye Li for orders, "Princess, I request to lead troops to pursue the Xiling army." General Yuan Pei stepped forward and said, "It is not advisable. Princess, although the Xiling army has retreated, it is not a defeated army, and their formation is not disordered in the slightest. Perhaps they are worried that we will launch a pincer attack from both front and back. If we recklessly pursue them now, we may fall into the Xiling people's trap." Ye Li nodded and said, "General Yuan Pei is right, let them go. Pass on the order, the whole army is to be on high alert waiting for the king's return."

  "Yes!" Mo Xiuyao seemed to have become the faith of the entire Mohist army, or rather, every generation's Dingguo Wangye was the faith of the Mohist army. As soon as they heard that he was about to return, everyone's face burst forth with joyful and confident smiles. Ye Li didn't expect Mo Xiuyao to quietly return to Da Chu and swiftly break through the blockade of the Xiling North Road Army to retake Xinyang City. However, this reduced the disadvantage that Da Chu had due to time by a lot. Ye Li, who had been holding it in for these days, also let out a slight sigh of relief in her heart.

  Although he knew that Mo Xiu Yao had arrived in Xinyang, it wasn't until several days later that they actually met. Xinyang was almost deserted after being ravaged by the Western Ridge army, and even with the King of Southern Town's restraint on the surrounding civilians, it was hard to avoid the devastation caused by the Western Ridge troops. As soon as Mo Xiu Yao arrived in Xinyang, he was extremely busy and only had time to send a letter to Ye Li, asking him to temporarily hand over his military duties to Lü Jìn Xián and Yuǎn Péi to meet in Xinyang. Ye Li's tasks were also piling up like mountains, and it wasn't until after he had completed the handover with Lü Jìn Xián and Yuǎn Péi that he rushed to Xinyang, which was already several days later.

  "A Li..."

  At the sound of this low and gentle call, Ye Li's eyes involuntarily reddened. After being apart for several months, she didn't realize until now that hearing this low and pleasant voice made her suddenly discover that she had been missing him so much. Without caring about anything else, she threw herself into the open arms that had been waiting for her. Fortunately, everyone around them had already retreated tactfully, not wanting to disturb the reunion of the princess and prince, otherwise Ye Li would have realized that her usual calm and elegant image had long since disappeared.

  “Ah Li… Ah Li…” Mo Xiu Yao tightly wrapped his arms around her, repeatedly calling out her name in a soft voice, as if he wanted to merge her into his bones. Ye Li lifted her head and gazed at the man's handsome yet slightly gaunt face above her, whispering softly: “Xiu Yao...” Mo Xiu Yao's eyes darkened, and he reached out to gently grasp the delicate features of the person in his arms. He lowered his head and fiercely kissed those tender lips, "Ah Li..." Ye Li involuntarily raised her hands, lightly wrapping them around his shoulders, her lips parting slightly as their tongues entwined. Sensing her initiative, Mo Xiu Yao's eyes gleamed with an even darker light, tightly pinning her to his chest before sweeping in for a deep kiss. Afterward, he bent down and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her horizontally towards the house.

  Inside the room, clothes scattered all over the floor, behind layers of curtains, on the wide bed, two intertwined figures tightly hugged each other, entwined to death...

  “Ah, Lian…” Ye Lian opened her eyes to see Mo Xiu Yao's elegant smile and the warmth in his eyes. The events of earlier flashed through her mind like a movie clip, causing her face to flush with embarrassment once again. She looked down to see that her shoulders were covered in ambiguous red marks, and she playfully glared at Mo Xiu Yao while biting her lip. Mo Xiu Yao chuckled softly and leaned in to sniff the fragrance of her hair, saying in a low voice, "It's been several months since we last met, and I've missed you terribly, Ah Lian." Ye Lian's heart softened as she looked into his warm eyes, and she replied softly, "How was your trip to Bei Rong?" Mo Xiu Yao glanced at her, then leaned in to give her a gentle kiss before saying, "Nothing major happened, just some minor setbacks that delayed my journey. I'm sorry you had to suffer through these days."

  Ye Li was just about to get up and tell him about the things that had happened during this period, but Mo Xiuyao seemed to have understood her intention. He raised his hand and pressed her down, saying: "Don't rush to talk about these things for now, Ye Li should rest for a while first."

  Ye Li looked at him with a somewhat strange gaze and said, "I'm not tired." Generally, she didn't have the habit of sleeping during the day, and these past few days, the Western Hill army had also been relatively calm. The things she needed to handle were all some trivial matters that didn't require much effort. Mo Xiu Yao raised an eyebrow, revealing a somewhat strange smile, "Not tired? Then... let's do it again." After speaking, he didn't wait for Ye Li to react and leaned in once more, covering her body with his own. His cool lips roamed over Ye Li's jade-like skin, while one of his large hands began to freely explore the curves of her slender figure.

  "Mo Xiu Yao! You..." Ye Li was stunned for a moment, then came back to her senses and whispered angrily. The curse words hadn't even had time to leave her mouth before they were blocked, "Mmm... bastard..."

  "Ah Li... Ah Li... I miss you so much..."

  Ye Li sighed slightly in her heart and was soon taken by the man into a new wave of passion.

  In the study, Mo Xiuyao entered wearing a white robe. The people waiting in the study hurriedly came forward to pay their respects. Feng Zhiyao raised an eyebrow and smiled meaningfully at Mo Xiuyao. Mo Xiuyao glanced at him lightly, and Feng Zhiyao tactfully covered his mouth with a folding fan, indicating he wouldn't speak out of turn. Mo Xiuyao walked over to the couch and sat down, saying, "These past days have been hard on you, Duke Nan, and all of you." Duke Nan hastily stood up, saying, "Your Highness is too kind, we are ashamed that Xinyang fell. If it weren't for Your Highness reclaiming Xinyang, we would be too ashamed to face the people of Great Chu. The military commander's seal is here, please take a look." With his son safely returned, Duke Nan had regained some of his former vigor over the past few days and his health had improved somewhat. He took out the military seal from his sleeve and handed it back to Mo Xiuyao with both hands.

  Mo Xuyao did not decline, and casually took the commander's seal and put it aside. In fact, this commander's seal given by the emperor was of no significance to the Mo family army, but Nan Hou's actions were meant to tell everyone that from now on, everything in the military would be led by Ding Wang, and Mo Xuyao naturally would not reject Nan Hou's kindness. Although he had been far away in Beirong before, and afterwards had been marching continuously without any rest, he was very clear about what had happened in Chujing, Xinyang, and Jiangxia. Of course, he also understood why Nan Hou, who had always been neutral, had taken this attitude now.

  "I, your humble servant, am incompetent and have caused Xinyang to fall. The people were slaughtered. I beg Your Majesty to punish me." Leng Jingyu stepped forward, kneeling down to plead for forgiveness. He still looked thin and pale, but his spirit was much better than the listlessness of the past few days.

  Mo Xiu Yao looked at him with a slight frown, and after a long time, he said: "General Leng is the emperor's personally appointed commander-in-chief of the army. I have no right to punish you. Later, I will send someone to escort you back to the capital, and you can apologize to the emperor yourself." Leng Jing Yu lowered his head and remained silent, and the people in the study also didn't speak. The King of Dingguo had the power to control all the military generals under heaven, let alone Leng Jing Yu, a young general, even those famous old generals would not dare say no if they were to be punished. The King of Dingguo said this, simply treating Leng Jing Yu as an outsider. With the emperor's temperament, Leng Jing Yu would definitely not have a good time when he returned to the capital.

  Leng Jingyu gritted his teeth and finally said firmly: "I beg Your Highness to take me in, I'd rather be a lowly groom than let the Xiling people get away with this humiliation. When we return to the capital, I am willing to die to atone for my sin!"

  Mo Xiuyao gazed at him lightly and said calmly after a while: "Since that's the case, I'll fulfill your wish."