133 Deployment 2

; the sound of firecrackers could be heard faintly even within prison cells.In the cold, dirty dungeon below, Su Zuodie moved with great difficulty on the ground. Outside, the sounds of firecrackers m...133. Departure (2)

Out of the eight hundred thousand Mohist soldiers stationed near the capital, only General Zhang Qilan's five thousand troops were guarding the vicinity. However, this force was supposed to protect the area around the capital and thus could not accompany Ye Li’s army on their border expedition. Therefore, Ye Li and Duke Nan had to lead some of their people hundreds of miles away from the city to meet several armies stationed elsewhere before they could proceed towards the frontier. This eliminated any farewell or swearing-in ceremony prior to departure. Conveniently, Ye Li was not a fan of such hypocritical ceremonies and found this somewhat hasty arrangement satisfactory.

The majority of people in the Ding王府 still had to stay behind in the capital to fulfill their duties while only Feng Zhirao, Zhuo Jing, Yun Ting (who had been thrown into the military camp for some time) and Xu Qingze (who managed to persuade Mo Jingqi somehow) accompanied Ye Li on her way to battle. Because Xu Qingze insisted on accompanying them, it made Ye Li feel rather guilty towards Qin Zeng whom she hadn't seen in a while. Instead, Qin Zeng showed understanding with a smile as he saw off Ye Li and reminded the two of them to be careful on their journey and return soon. Besides, Mo Jingqi somehow thought it necessary to send Mu Yang along when they were leaving. Mo Jingqi said that Duke Ding would not come back at an expected time while Duke Nan was getting old so sending a messenger like Mu Yang for Duke Nan's errands would be helpful. Ye Li and Duke Nan didn't mind this, but everyone knew why Mo Jingqi sent Mu Yang to accompany them. Although Mu Yang might be a young prodigy, the others were not pushovers either. No one could predict what would happen on the battlefield. There was no reason for them to quarrel with the emperor over such trivial matters.

The group galloped madly and reached Hengshui, a military stronghold five hundred miles away from Chu Capital in less than two days. While not particularly prosperous or magnificent, Hengshui City had nearly 100 thousand Mohist soldiers stationed twenty miles west of the city. Soldiers from other areas were also heading towards this direction so there would be roughly 300 thousand troops gathered here within a few days. They reached the gate of Hengshui City in late afternoon. Ye Li reined her horse and turned to Duke Nan, “My lord, Commander Sun arrived at Hengshui last night, we won't enter the city but go straight to Hengshui Military Camp.” Duke Nan praised Ye Li who was sitting upright on her horse and said, "Let's do what your Excellency says." After a day-and-a-night of riding nonstop, even an ordinary man would find it unbearable. But Lady Ding still looked calm and collected with not even a hint of fatigue on her face. This made both Duke Nan and Mu Yang surprised and impressed.

Hengshui Military Camp was located at the foot of Heng Mountain twenty miles west of Hengshui City, flanked by an endless plain in front and backed by Heng Mountains, which was a natural training ground for soldiers. When the group was still five or six miles away from the camp, local commanders had already come to meet them together with Commander Sun who arrived ahead of time last night, “We salute your Excellency!” Ye Li nodded slightly and asked, "Where is the main commander of Hengshui Military Camp" A middle-aged man in his forties with white beard and hair stepped forward, bowing toward Ye Li and said, "I am Commander Lu Jinxian, head of Hengshui Military Camp. I salute your Excellency."

Ye Li dismounted her horse and raised her hand, saying, “Commander Lu needn't be so polite. This is the specially appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief for the Western Expedition from Emperor’s order, Duke Nan. And this one is the son of Marquis Mu, military officer Mu Yang.” Ye Li didn’t introduce Zhuo Jing and Yun Ting who stood behind her to the rest of them. The commanders then knew that those were their own people so they only greeted Duke Nan and Mu Yang politely. Although Duke Nan had also been a soldier before, he wasn't a stranger in front of these military men and greeted everyone cheerfully without any reserve. As for Mu Yang, although he was the son of Marquis Mu, his position in the army was merely a low-ranking officer. No one else on site held a lower rank than him, so there weren’t many words for him to say but only exchange greetings with others along with Duke Nan. Fortunately, although Mu Yang had grown up smoothly since childhood, he wasn't arrogant or looked down upon others. Therefore, the atmosphere was quite harmonious and pleasant.

After exchanging pleasantries, Duke Nan asked seriously, "Commander Lu, when can we depart"

Lu Jinxian didn’t hesitate to answer loudly, “The army is ready for departure at any time as soon as the order from your Excellency and my lord comes.”

Feng Zhirao smiled and said, "Commander Lu, we've been traveling hard all this way. Let’s depart early tomorrow morning instead.

Lü Jinxian looked at everyone and smiled, saying, "General Feng is right. It’s the old man who hasn’t thought it through carefully enough. Princess Consort, Duke, please head back to rest for a night first. This will also give our troops an opportunity to recuperate."

Wide military camp, by nighttime already fell silent. Tomorrow morning would be leaving on campaign, so most of the soldiers had gone to sleep early, naturally this didn’t include the various generals who were discussing matters in the main tent.

In the large tent, Ye Li changed into a light green outfit and sat at the central position. The subordinates sitting under her were ranked according to their rank from left and right, starting with Feng Zhiyao, Lü Jinxian, Sun Yan and other generals. As for Southern Duke and Mu Yang who were deputy commanders had been asked to rest after they finished discussing matters. These various generals were seeing Ye Li as the lady of Ding Kingdom Manor for the first time; it was more respectful towards her status as Princess Consort than it was towards the睚眥jade pendant hanging at her waist. One general stood up and said, "Princess Consort, may I ask when His Royal Highness will return" She was only a supervising military commander while Southern Duke who was a deputy commander was now the highest authority in Mo Family Army. Although Southern Duke’s position had always been neutral, it still made these generals who were loyal to Ding Kingdom Manor feel uneasy. Ye Li shook her head gently and said, "His Royal Highness is far away at Beirong; he will need time before returning after receiving news. But now the war on the border cannot wait for His Royal Highness to return. Or… you guys won’t be able to fight without his presence"

The generals fell silent, only hearing Ye Li continue saying, "I understand everyone’s loyalty towards Ding Kingdom Manor and His Royal Highness. But I also hope that the generals understand what Mo Family Army exists for" Clear beautiful eyes swept over them faintly, "It is to protect the peace of Dazhao’s people. Every soldier in Mo Family Army has parents or children; protecting Dazhao means protecting their own family."

The others fell silent again as Lü Jinxian hesitated and said, "Do we really have to follow Southern Duke’s command"

Ye Li answered, "If Southern Duke and Mo Family Army’s objective is the same, why can’t they temporarily follow his order It’s a fact that His Royal Highness cannot return currently. Do you mean to tell us that we will wait for several days before fighting because Ding Kingdom’s Prince isn’t here" Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help twisting their expressions. Feng Zhiyao smiled and said, "Princess Consort, it seems that the concern of everyone is whether Southern Duke getting command over Mo Family Army would be disadvantageous to us" Ye Li raised an eyebrow smilingly and said, "Southern Duke will not get command over Mo Family Army; I shall always move around together with him. Although there might be some drawbacks… we can only do this now. To put it bluntly, even if Southern Duke is the temporary commander-in-chief, he won’t personally oversee every battle situation either, so please ask the generals to continue fighting on the battlefield."

The others all said together, "We will not disappoint Princess Consort’s expectations."

Ye Li nodded and said, "Thank you all for your efforts. May I know how much do everyone understand about the situation in front"

With that said, everyone instantly fell silent. Although they had a heart knot towards the emperor sending people here, it was also because of these years’ Emperor’s unremitting suppression of Mo Family Army caused this. Originally, Mo Family Army was scattered to guard various borders of Dazhao; but just because Jingqi wasn’t at ease, taking advantage of Ding Kingdom Prince recuperating and Mo Family Army being seriously wounded opportunity, he moved all the army into inland, so all border posts were almost occupied by the emperor’s personal assistants or generals who didn’t get along with Ding Kingdom Manor. And now that Western Li invaded Dazhao, similarly invading their land generation after generation protected; how could they not feel anxious deep in their hearts Lü Jinxian said solemnly, "Western Li this time came prepared, Prince of Southern Zhen personally led 300 thousand troops across the border. According to news coming from the frontlines, only besieging Xinyang alone there were over a hundred thousand people. The soldiers sent by the court found the ambush set up by Prince of Southern Zhen and suffered great losses. We’ve also discussed these two days; I’m afraid that… Xinyang city may not be able to hold on"

Everyone had rather ugly expressions, as Xinyang was northern-western granary, once it fell the loss wouldn’t just be one city or a few fortresses, but also threaten food supply of norther-western people and even military rations.

Ye Lüe pondered for a moment and asked, "Given our marching speed, what would be the worst-case scenario"

Lü Jinxian replied, "The Western Xiling army crosses XiYang to occupy the entire Qingzhou region, then advances towards Handan Prefecture's Jiangxia Fort."

Ye Lüe raised her eyebrows. Lü Jinxian explained, "There are 50,000 of our troops stationed near Jiangxia, with General Yuan Pei in command. He is an experienced veteran general from the battlefield and should have already moved to support XiYang by now. If XiYang falls, he will likely retreat to defend Jiangxia. We should be able to arrive there in time to provide support." Ye Lüe nodded; she had previously discussed this with Feng Zhirao, and their conclusions were similar. She rubbed her temples and asked, "You've only mentioned the situation of the central army from Xiling. What about the southern and northern routes"

Lü Jinxian replied, "Each route has at least 150,000 troops. They are attacking JiYi Pass in the south and Tianyun Pass in the north respectively. Although the border guards put up a tough resistance, it's unlikely to be optimistic."

"Who is leading the armies on the southern and northern routes"

Lü Jinxian shook his head, while Sun Yan replied, "Reporting to Consort Wang, the commander of the southern route is Prince Le Tengfeng of Zhen'nan King. He has been trained by the Zhen'nan King since childhood and showed remarkable talent when he first fought against the Northern Rong at nineteen; one cannot underestimate him. The northern commander is General Shangguan Yi, an old veteran from Xiling who has not achieved any extraordinary feats but is already over sixty years old. However... He was the military instructor of the Zhen'nan King of Xiling."

Ye Lüe nodded and thought deeply before looking up to say, "It's been a hard day for everyone; we need to leave early tomorrow morning, so please rest now."

The others stood up and bid Ye Lüe farewell as they left the tent. Only Feng Zhirao, Zhuo Jing, and Xu Qingze remained inside. Feng Zhirao smiled at Ye Lüe's furrowed brows and said with a smile, "With Xiling making such a strong move, Consort Wang feels troubled"

Ye Lüe bitterly smiled back and replied, "How can I not feel troubled I’m no genius, and dealing with this massive scale of war is exhausting. If it's special operations or small teams, I'm confident enough to be unparalleled in the world, but when it comes to commanding troops and strategizing like this, even with Mo Xiuyao’s guidance, I still can't help feeling a bit uneasy."

Feng Zhirao said, "It is certain that Xiling has deployed at least 600,000 troops this time. With such a large force and the reputation of Xiling's War God, even those veteran generals would be worried; how much more so for you" Though the Zhen'nan King of Xiling had previously been defeated by Duke Mo Liufang of Dachu, Mo Liufang is dead while he still lives.

"Lily," Xu Qingze looked at Ye Lüe and said coolly, even his usually cold eyes were filled with warmth.

Ye Lüe smiled faintly and replied, "Big Brother, don't praise me; I just look calm on the surface but am in a total mess inside."

Xu Qingze said, "Don't be too nervous, do what you can. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

Ye Li nodded, "Thank you, Second Brother."

Meanwhile, in the distant Northern Rong, Mo Xiuyao felt a chill in his heart as he looked up at the bright moon in the sky and couldn't help but recall the past year. Since the incident, he had never thought that his life would be so pleasant and enjoyable again. From being close like family to working together through difficulties, and then deepening their affection with each other—somewhere along the way, Ye Li's every smile and frown had etched into his heart, making it impossible for him to forget her this lifetime.

"My lord," an undercover guard appeared silently behind him.

"What news do you have"

The guard said, "The list of the masterminds behind the assassination attempt on the Lady has been uncovered. Additionally, since Xi Ling's invasion, Emperor Jing has summoned the Lady to the palace several times, seemingly trying to obtain command over the Mo Family Army from her hand. But he hasn't succeeded so far."

Mo Xiuyao's eyes darkened with a surge of anger. He sneered and said, "He will never grasp what is truly important or urgent. Tell Rong Hua that no matter what, we must set out to leave within the next day."

The guard hesitated for a moment before saying, "Princess Rong Hua likely doesn't have such influence over Ye Li Hong yet."

Mo Xiuyao said coolly, "If Ye Li Hong wants to defeat Ye Li Ye, he will know what needs to be done. Prepare everything; we leave tomorrow."

The guard nodded and replied, "Understood! I shall follow your orders!"e Li smiled at Zhang Qilan and said, "General, are you conceding defeat before the battle even begins"Zhang Qilan clenched his teeth and nodded. "If that's the case, then I'll have to trouble Your Exc...