092 Arson

Little You extended her small hand and clasped Xiao Mumu's hand, her face entirely earnest. "Big brother, when will you come back?"

Xiao Mumu wasn't certain either. He thought it over seriously, then nodded. "It should still take some time. Little You needn't miss me too much. Here, I'll give you this—whenever you miss me, you can look at it."

With that, Xiao Mumu pulled a jade pendant from his pocket. This pendant had been given to him by Yun Feiyue's master—it was definitely a fine thing, a protective charm.

That rascal really knew how to spend to charm the girls.

Little You took Xiao Mumu's jade pendant, her eyes brimming with tears, looking pitifully lovely. "Little You will miss big brother."

...

Watching this reluctant farewell, Yun Feiyue was thoroughly exasperated.

"Xiao Mumu, how much longer?" Mother here has waited until the greens have gone cold, you know!

Only then did Xiao Mumu reluctantly turn his head to look at Yun Feiyue. "Mother, let's go."

The group left the General's residence, and with the great army, they journeyed in full force to the border between the Jing Kingdom and the Chu Kingdom.

Beyond the thick city walls, the army was encamped. Beichen Yu's troops were indeed formidable and extremely fierce. In all these years at the border, they had honed their abilities into a fine edge.

Yun Feiyue and Mo Feiyuan stood atop the wall, gazing down at the enemy situation with grave expressions.

After a long while, Yun Feiyue let out a breath. "It seems Beichen Yu really means to make his move. That fellow isn't the least bit adorable anymore."

Mo Feiyuan simply stared at the people below without speaking.

Yun Feiyue smiled, extending her hand—it gleamed with a jade-like luster in the sunlight. She aimed at the enemy camp, measuring the distance between their positions inch by inch with her fingers.

Gamblers usually had excellent control over distance, especially the span between their fingertips.

Mo Feiyuan just watched Yun Feiyue, finding her amusing.

After quite a while, Yun Feiyue withdrew her hand and sighed faintly. "It looks like we'll need quite a lot of things. Xiao Mumu..."

Xiao Mumu was at that moment arguing spiritedly with Yun Hai about something.

Hearing his name called, Xiao Mumu walked over and raised his head with a handsome flourish. "Mother, what orders do you have for your humble servant?"

Yun Feiyue pinched his cheek. "Can you make poison powder?"

General Wei heard the question and immediately understood Yun Feiyue's intent—she wanted to use poison as an attack. A poison attack was extremely advantageous, but the problem lay in how to administer the poison.

Moreover, mass-producing the poison was likely no easy task, and a child like Xiao Mumu was even less likely to be able to manufacture it.

"Miss Yun, what exactly are you planning?"

Yun Feiyue narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Naturally, I'm helping your Jing Kingdom. As for the traitors of Chu, our Chu Kingdom will eliminate them ourselves. For the sake of the friendly relations between our two sides, I have no choice but to lend a hand!"

In truth, Yun Feiyue didn't much want to get involved in these matters, but if she didn't, the flames of war would eventually spread to Chu.

The Yun family's home base could not be ravaged by war—both the financial losses and the losses in reputation would be terrifying.

It was solely for this reason that Yun Feiyue had to join this war, and she had to win.

Xiao Mumu looked at General Wei and Yun Feiyue with great pride. "Don't worry, the poison powder I make will definitely be extremely potent. What effect does Mother have in mind?"

"Just make them lose their ability to fight." She really didn't enjoy seeing people die.

Xiao Mumu understood Yun Feiyue's thoughts deeply. After thinking seriously for a while, he devised a formula that would consume the least resources and handed it to the man behind him.

The man behind him frowned the moment he saw the formula. "Two of the ingredients will be hard to find. This is the border, not the capital—if we have to go to the capital, it would take ten days to half a month there and back, and by then the enemy would probably have already attacked the city."

Xiao Mumu was at a loss. He hadn't really considered that problem, but now that it was raised, he could see it was rather troublesome.

"This is already the most common formula. Most of my master's formulas require similar rare ingredients."

Xiao Mumu slowly let out a breath. A perfect chance to shine had slipped away, and his young heart suffered a powerful blow.

"Forget it. Remove those two ingredients."

"Huh?" The man holding the prescription looked utterly confused. Would the formula still work with two ingredients removed?

"Even if it won't be as strong as before without them, it'll still give them diarrhea. Take my word for it—I won't steer you wrong."

Although Xiao Mumu was completely confident, he was, after all, just a child. Everyone wore expressions of doubt.

Naturally, General Wei didn't believe it either.

However mature and grown-up Xiao Mumu seemed, at the end of the day he was only a few years old—how monstrous could a child be?

But Xiao Mumu's brilliance was precisely the kind that overturned everyone's understanding.

"Fine, if you don't believe me, then forget it. I'll go play games with Uncle."

Xiao Mumu waved his hand, his expression dim, looking utterly dejected and deeply wounded.

After hesitating for a moment, General Wei looked at Yun Feiyue. "How certain are you?"

Yun Feiyue spread her hands and gave a helpless smile. "You're asking me? You should be asking my son. I know nothing about medicine."

Fine! General Wei helplessly turned his gaze to Xiao Mumu. "What do you think?"

Xiao Mumu lifted his head and looked at General Wei. "I've already said what I have to say. Believe me or not, it's up to you. My mother has always believed in me. If you don't, so be it."

Mo Feiyuan had been observing the whole time. General Wei turned his gaze to Mo Feiyuan as well.

With him present, it would be better to let him make the decision.

"Lord Shenyin, what do you think..."

"My son decides." Mo Feiyuan tossed out only these five words.

General Wei had no choice but to make the decision himself.

If Beichen Yu attacked the city, his chances of victory were respectable, but still only sixty percent.

And that was assuming Beichen Yu's army didn't do anything extraordinary. If Beichen Yu's troops pulled out a surprise tactic, then it would be defeat.

War had only ever been about victory and defeat. Once lost, it was lost—there was no chance to choose again.

As a great general, General Wei naturally understood this principle. Now, he could only choose the method most likely to secure victory—after all, the enemy was simply too formidable.

So, in the end, he waved his hand with weight. "Approved!"

Only then did Xiao Mumu turn to General Wei with a delighted expression. "See? Believe in me and you won't go wrong. After all, I'm going to be your son-in-law someday."

General Wei: "..."

All the soldiers: "..."

Both sides stared at each other in speechless silence, while Xiao Mumu looked thoroughly pleased with himself. Seeing her son's antics, Yun Feiyue shook her head helplessly.

That little rascal really knew how to stir things up.

On this side, they went off to find the medicinal ingredients.

On Beichen Yu's side, naturally, they hadn't been idle either.

After being attacked with poison gas last time, seeing Yun Feiyue and the others this time left him feeling uneasy, uncertain what kind of tricks Yun Feiyue might employ.

"Any news?"

"Reporting to the King of Chu: none. However, that woman who used poison last time isn't with them—only that child is here. It should be nothing serious." The spy reported everything he had learned to Beichen Yu.

Beichen Yu clenched his fist, his face twisted with hatred. "That child is here, and Mo Feiyuan is also here..."

His fingers cracked audibly as he squeezed them.

The spy couldn't help but shiver. "Yes, they're all here. Lord Shenyin seems to have already chosen his side. What should we do?"

Beichen Yu snorted. "He chose his side long ago. Back when he supported Beichen Yi and dressed up a snake as a dragon, he had already picked a side. But I never expected that sister of the Yun family would meddle as well. Truly detestable, that Yun family..."

His words could not conceal the deep hatred within. Clearly, what should have been his had been violently stripped away by these people.

Now, even when he attacked the Jing Kingdom, these people still had to interfere. Just thinking about it filled him with disgust—they had to be eliminated.

"For now, keep watch on them. Have people follow them and see if they make any special moves recently. If anyone goes to buy medicinal ingredients, cut them off immediately."

He had no knowledge of antidotes, so he certainly wouldn't allow Yun Feiyue to obtain the ingredients—let them fall into a second crisis.

"Yes!"

The other side had already formulated a countermeasure, while Yun Feiyue's side continued as planned.

The soldiers in the city had also prepared for battle at any moment, but Beichen Yu's forces kept stalling, seemingly with no intention of moving.

Repeated surges of troops approaching the city, then retreating, had sown panic among the army.

General Wei was growing restless as well. He knew it was Beichen Yu's tactic, but he had no choice but to act.

If he delayed any longer, the soldiers' morale would be worn away entirely.

With that thought, General Wei had already made up his mind.

"Tonight, we raid the enemy camp."

Yun Feiyue and Mo Feiyuan sat nearby without a word. It was a sound decision—nothing objectionable about it.

The strength of both sides was roughly equal. If they wanted victory, poison alone wouldn't solve the problem. Moreover, they still hadn't gathered all the medicinal ingredients they needed.

With this many people, finding enough ingredients was naturally no easy task.

"Lord Shenyin, what do you think?"

"Beichen Yu surely has preparations in place." Mo Feiyuan said only this faintly.

General Wei naturally understood what Mo Feiyuan meant. He too suspected Beichen Yu had prepared for this—if not, why would he keep pressing the city and then retreating, creating one wave of panic after another?

"There's no other choice!" General Wei sighed deeply.

Yun Feiyue only smiled and said nothing more, lazily stretching her arms and scooping up Xiao Mumu. "It seems tonight's raid team will need to be truly formidable!"

General Wei understood as well—an ordinary raid team wouldn't do, not against an opponent like Beichen Yu.

"Let's go at the third watch!"

In the dead of night, at the third watch, a raid team departed from the city toward Beichen Yu's army.

The moment they arrived, fires broke out in the camp.

The standard tactic for a raid was setting fires.

Fire would throw the enemy into chaos.

Yun Feiyue smiled as she set things ablaze...

Right—she was one of the members of this raid team.

What could she do? She had taken on this job, so she had to see it through.

Xiao Mumu lay in Yun Feiyue's arms, looking up at her with a serious face. "Mother, go for it!"

Yun Feiyue nodded emphatically. "Go for it!"

One worked hard at setting fires, the other worked hard at spreading poison—they coordinated flawlessly.

After a busy stretch, the默契 duo finally threw the camp into disarray.

A raid wasn't about killing many people—the two of them couldn't kill many anyway. The main goal was to cause chaos in the enemy's ranks.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Yun Feiyue strolled through the camp as though it were empty ground.

She reached a tent and set it alight...

Finally, she gradually closed in on the largest tent. Needless to say, this was Beichen Yu's tent.

Yawning, she walked toward the tent and lifted the curtain.

Just in time, she saw Beichen Yu sitting inside, wiping his sword with a serious expression.

Yun Feiyue crossed her arms, and Xiao Mumu stood beside her, also crossing his arms, and they entered together.

"Brother, you're busy, I see!" She spoke as casually as if chatting about household matters, relaxed and at ease, a 'genial' smile on her face.

She advanced step by step toward Beichen Yu.

The general beside him immediately drew his sword and thrust it at Yun Feiyue.

Yun Feiyue yawned, not even glancing at the drawn sword. She simply found a place to sit down, so leisurely and composed that it was enough to make anyone furious.

"You still know I'm your brother?" Beichen Yu sneered.

Yun Feiyue saw that Beichen Yu was angry. Of course—it would be strange if he weren't.

Following his lead, she nodded firmly. "I know, of course I know. Are you blaming the Yun family for not helping you? And blaming me for not helping you? Do you feel abandoned by the Yun family? In truth, I understand how you feel."

"But brother, do you know how much money the Yun family would lose if they helped you? And do you know what the Yun family fears most?"

Beichen Yu was genuinely stumped by her question. He knew the Yun family hadn't helped him, but he had never considered why they hadn't.

Hearing Yun Feiyue put it that way, he now thought about it carefully.

His brows knitted slightly, and the scar on his face became even more pronounced.

Seeing that scar, Yun Feiyue felt a twinge in her heart. It seemed he had suffered hardship.

Before, she had never seen the scar and hadn't known about it. Now that she saw it, she truly felt uncomfortable inside.

She felt as though she had done something wrong, as if she had failed him in some way.

But thinking of the Yun family, of Beichen Yi, and of the struggles within the court, she still had her own choices to make.

If this could be resolved peacefully, so much the better. If not, then... kill.

Beichen Yu thought for a good long while, having by then wiped his sword almost completely clean, until it gleamed.

He toyed with the blade. "Is it because I did something to displease the Yun family? Or did I stand in the way of their profits?"

"The second one—you're right."

Beichen Yu's brow furrowed even deeper, his eyes bulging wide. "You're saying I stood in the way of the Yun family's money."

Yun Feiyue thought for a moment, then nodded seriously. "You could say that. The Yun family, as you know, lives for money. What we descendants can do is work hard to earn it and spend it. Honestly, as a member of the Yun family, you could do exactly that too. But you wouldn't—you insisted on going for the throne. Is that throne really so important to you?"

Beichen Yu didn't quite understand why Yun Feiyue was asking him this. It sounded like she was giving him a lecture. "I've already come this far. I have no other choice."

"You do. But you didn't choose it. If you had quietly stayed at the border, Beichen Yi would never have touched you. Even if he wanted to, the Yun family wouldn't have allowed it. But you had to march your army to the capital and seize the throne. Hah. The Yun family worked so hard to control Chu's economic lifeline and gain Beichen Yi's support—why would they rebel against him, and let a wolf or a tiger of unknown nature like you through the pass?"

"If I guess correctly, the first thing you'd do upon entering the imperial court would be to deal with the Yun family, wouldn't it? Who wouldn't want all that silver?"

At this point, Yun Feiyue chuckled softly, a brilliantly bright smile.

His secret read, Beichen Yu's face grew extremely grim. Right—he had never once considered this from the start.

So it was only natural that the Yun family hadn't helped him.

"But I'm the son of Grand Consort Yun—I'm of the Yun family's direct line. Why! If the Yun family had helped me before, I would never have thought of touching them. But they never intended to help me from the very beginning."

Still haven't figured it out? Yun Feiyue took a sip of tea. "Everyone in the Yun family bears the Yun seal. Do you have one?"

At that, Beichen Yu seemed to realize something.

He looked at Yun Feiyue uncertainly. "Are you saying I'm not a member of the Yun family?"

Only then did Yun Feiyue nod with gravity. Clever! He'd finally caught on.

"No, I don't believe it!" Beichen Yu had never believed he wasn't Grand Consort Yun's biological son.

Yun Feiyue laughed softly. "Tell me—if you truly had the blood of the Yun family, how could you have allied with Empress Dowager Nangong? How could you have tried to use Grand Consort Yun to kill Beichen Yi? Let me be frank with you: your younger brother Beichen Yi is far more ruthless than you."

"The reason I've come here tonight to waste so many words with you is out of respect for Aunt. She loves you, protects you. It's because of you that she's aged so much, her hair turning white overnight. I'm here to urge you to surrender. If you submit, I guarantee your life. The King of Chu remains the King of Chu, and you remain my aunt's son."

Yun Feiyue had done her utmost—this could be considered an apology on behalf of the Yun family for having abandoned Beichen Yu.

Given Beichen Yi's nature, he certainly wouldn't treat Beichen Yu leniently. But if the Yun family interceded, and she interceded, they could still keep him alive, clothed and fed, worry-free.

In this life, the most important thing for a person was to stay alive.

Beichen Yu, however, thought it over carefully for a while, then shook his head. "I've already come this far. Beichen Yi won't spare me, and the Yun family won't spare me either. And besides, I won't necessarily lose."

Before making his final gamble, he refused to believe he could lose.

Yun Feiyue merely shook her head faintly. How naive!

"The moment you chose the path of rebellion, you'd already lost. Without powerful financial backing, your army's pay all comes from the people. And caught between two fronts, you chose to attack the Jing Kingdom. Even if the Jing Kingdom is in turmoil, it won't be easy to conquer—they have a million soldiers. How many do you have?"

With each strike of her words, Beichen Yu's face grew uglier, until it truly seemed surrender was his only option.

He shook his head. "Let me think it over."

"How long?"

"Until dawn."

"Fine! If you haven't figured it out by dawn, don't blame us for meeting on the battlefield."

Yun Feiyue rose, and with Xiao Mumu in tow, departed leisurely.

The general beside Beichen Yu shouted, "Seize them!"

Seize them? Yun Feiyue lightly touched the tip of her toe, and like a graceful butterfly, drifted into the air and vanished into the night.

Beichen Yu waved his hand. "Against her, you lot? Don't overestimate your abilities."

"Do you truly intend to surrender? But—" The generals were unwilling.

They had fought so hard to reach this point. If they retreated now, how could they explain it to the brothers under their command?

"I want all of you to live. Brothers, you all have your families, your own people to rely on. I don't want you throwing away your lives for my sake. If we can take the kingdom, wonderful—what I fear is that we can't!"

After speaking, Beichen Yu sighed deeply. This kingdom, he feared, really would not be easy to seize.

He sheathed his sword, picked up his brush, and wrote three characters on the paper: "Letter of Surrender." Then he pondered what to write next.

That brush seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

At that moment, with a wisp of black qi spreading through the air, a woman's coquettish laughter drifted into Beichen Yu's ears.

He looked up and saw the woman. "It's you..."

"Yes... it's me!"

She wore a purple lotus-patterned dress, her face pale enough to be frightening, a ghostly aura clinging to her—utterly sinister.

"Gongsun Ziyan, how did you get here?" Beichen Yu knew that the Gongsun manor had already been wiped out. This sudden appearance of Gongsun Ziyan before him was rather abrupt.

Gongsun Ziyan laughed sweetly, her long fingernails lightly tapping on the paper, and slowly read out the three characters written there. "Letter... of... surrender? You're going to surrender?"

Beichen Yu was wary of Gongsun Ziyan's sudden intrusion, and the room thick with ghostly aura told him without a doubt that she had fallen into the ghostly path.

"Whether I surrender or not is none of your business. Get out!"

Beichen Yu roared, then drew his sword.

Gongsun Ziyan showed no sign of fear. Her fingers lightly pressed against the blade, she slowly exhaled, and looked at Beichen Yu with seductive charm. "I've truly come to help you this time! Do you really think surrendering will land you a good life? I can help you seize the world!"

Beichen Yu remained icy, but his wavering gaze betrayed him—he was shaken.

Seeing a glimmer of opportunity, Gongsun Ziyan pressed on. "Put down the sword! I know Beichen Yi all too well. He could kill and destroy me, his own fiancée. He could wipe out his own mother's family. What humanity does he have left? If you surrender, won't you simply be exterminated?"

Hearing this, Beichen Yu wavered even more. But he quickly regained his composure. "Why should I believe you? Give me a reason."

"The reason is—we have a common enemy! Don't you hate Beichen Yi? Don't you hate the Yun family?"

Gongsun Ziyan cast a seductive glance at Beichen Yu.

Beichen Yu's grip softened, and the sword lowered from his hand...

At that moment, Yun Feiyue had only just returned to the city.

General Wei looked at her with eager anticipation. "How did it go?"

"I met Beichen Yu. I urged him to surrender. But I can't be sure whether he'll actually surrender." Yun Feiyue looked toward Beichen Yu's camp, where fires were still burning.

General Wei stared coldly at the camp. "Our medicinal supplies were intercepted en route. We don't have enough now. I'm afraid... there might be a problem."

Yun Feiyue shook her head. "It's fine. We'll see how things go."

Mo Feiyuan was studying the strategic map with great focus. He was not a participant in this war—according to the rules of the Mo family, he could not participate.

So his only purpose for staying was to protect Yun Feiyue.

With Yun Feiyue so busy, he couldn't afford to idle either.

Now they waited for Beichen Yu's response.

At dawn, bathed in sunlight, the fires in the camp went out. Beichen Yu's army dispersed and retreated toward the rear.

"He surrendered?" Yun Feiyue looked at the scene and let out a small breath. At least this matter had been resolved.

Still, she felt something was off, though she didn't pay it much mind.

General Wei hadn't expected Beichen Yu to actually withdraw his troops, but the crisis for the Jing Kingdom was over.

Scouts reported that the enemy had indeed retreated, without any issues.

General Wei found it a little too miraculous, so rather than withdrawing the great army, he kept it stationed where it was.

Yun Feiyue wasn't in a hurry to leave either. These past few days were a rare stretch of leisure. She would rest in the border city for a few days, thinking that once she had rested well, she would return to the Mo family for the Mo family assessment.

On the second day, Youtong and Hancheng arrived, bringing news.

"The elders say that this year's Mo family assessment will be delayed by one month."

Mo Feiyuan tilted his head slightly. "Why?"

"The elders say... that the Lord has meddled in matters he ought not to have, so I'm afraid the elders will decide on a punishment for the Lord."

Hearing this, Yun Feiyue frowned, displeased.

Mo Feiyuan, however, acted as if he hadn't heard a word, maintaining his signature cold expression as he studied the route map.

After quite a while, he finally spoke. "If Beichen Yu flees from here now, he'll most likely return to Rongcheng, the border stronghold of Chu. Rongcheng is Beichen Yu's stronghold—easy to defend, hard to attack. Retiring there to live out his days wouldn't be bad."

Retire? Yun Feiyue broke out in a cold sweat. Since when did Mo Feiyuan have such dry wit?

"If Beichen Yu goes back and behaves himself, all well and good. But if he doesn't stay put, I don't know what might happen."

Yet no matter how Yun Feiyue thought about it, she couldn't come up with a reason Beichen Yu wouldn't behave.

"In that case, shall we head back to the Mo family? See how the elders plan to deal with you?" Yun Feiyue smiled with mischievous delight.

Mo Feiyuan didn't reply. He raised his head and glanced at Youtong. "What do you think?"

Youtong didn't dare say anything at first. He stole a glance at Yun Feiyue, and seeing that she seemed to have no intention of helping him, he spoke in a young voice. "The elders are very angry this time. I'm afraid they won't let the matter rest lightly. But if you return later, it should be fine—after all, as long as you're outside, the elders will give you ample face."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Mo Feiyuan's mouth. "In that case, I'll stay out here a little longer."

This book is first released by Xiaoxiang Academy. Please do not repost!