With his hand around a warm teacup, Mo Xiu Yao said indifferently: "Remember that the emperor of Nan Zhao is only 40 years old right now. If nothing goes wrong, the inheritress has to wait for at least 20 years before she can inherit the throne."
"The emperor of Nan Zhao is Princess Qi Xia"s blood father. He will at least support his own son-in-law, won"t he?" Feng Zhi Yao asked.
Mo Xiu Yao shook his head and said: "I had dealings with the emperor of Nan Zhao in the past when he was still an inheritor himself. He was a prudent and intelligent man. There is no way that he"s going to support Mo Jing Li. If he did, he would have married Princess Qi Xia to Mo Jing Li when Mo Jing Li was on a diplomatic mission to Nan Zhao instead of waiting till Princess Qi Xia comes all the way here. I think the emperor of Nan Zhao isn"t happy about what happened in June between Princess Qi Xia and Mo Jing Li so it isn"t very likely that he and the inheritress will support Mo Jing Li."
Looking down at the records in his hands, Feng Zhi Yao said: "The records say the same. Then... when did Mo Jing Li come into contact with the Holy Princess of Nan Zhao?"
Deep down, Feng Zhi Yao had a feeling that they"ve underestimated Mo Jing Li for the past few years. To him, Mo Jing Li was an ill-tempered fool since he was little. Therefore, even though Mo Jing Li was a prince and he himself a third son of a wealthy merchant family, he didn"t care about Mo Jing Li at all. However, going through all those messed up s.h.i.t that happened in the capital for the past two years, he realized that Mo Jing Li took part in each and every one of them. Especially for the past half a year, he found that there were quite some ministers who were on Mo Jing Li"s side.
"I think that happened when he was on the diplomatic mission to Nan Zhao. After all, he was there for quite a long time." Mo Xiu Yao said with a frown.
"Do you think... the one in the palace knows about this?" Feng Zhi Yao asked curiously. It intrigued him the most seeing royal kindred slaughter one another.
"I don"t think so. Your men haven"t had a clue about this, have they?" Mo Xiu Yao said.
Feng Zhi Yao turned dark. He was in charge of all the information in and out of Prince Ding"s Manor. However, his men didn"t have any idea now that the news about Nan Zhao had reached the manor. He knew well that Mo Xiu Yao trusted him. If he didn"t, he would not have simply shown him the news. But it rubbed him the wrong way knowing that someone else was better-informed than he did.
"Don"t feel bad about it. This news isn"t out yet. n.o.body else knows about it except those who have read these records." Mo Xiu Yao didn"t want to dampen Feng Zhi Yao"s enthusiasm so he said: "However, I can"t tell you my source. Find a way to get this news to Mo Jing Qi."
"Give it to Mo Jing Qi?" Feng Zhi Yao raised his brows: "He"ll be beside himself with rage. But it would be the best to let the two brothers fight each other, which will give us more time. Do we need to send our men to Nan Zhao? Though the chaos over there is to our advantage at the moment, it might change over time."
The people of Nan Zhao were valiant as nails. Same as those other countries around Great Chu, it had long been yearning for Great Chu"s vast territory and abundant resources. But it had been a small and weak country. Having suffered heavy casualties in past conflicts with Great Chu, it had no choice but to submit itself to Great Chu.
"We don"t have men to send there. I have someone in Nan Zhao that could manage for now. Leave it for the time being. What about Bei Rong, any news?"
Feng Zhi Yao snorted slightly and said: "After the alliance by marriage between Xi Ling and Great Chu broke up, Xi Ling has been closer to Bei Rong in secret. I"m afraid Lei Teng Feng has changed his mind so resolutely since he has also perceived something is wrong between Mo Jing Qi and Mo Jing Li and plans to attack us with Bei Rong when we are hit by civil unrest."
"Lei Teng Feng... civil unrest... Does he think Xi Ling is in a better state than we are?" Mo Xiu Yao"s smile grew cold. He said with a frown: "Mr. Shen will be back at any moment, right?"
Feng Zhi Yao stopped for a second before saying: "Yes, any moment."
"Ask him to go to Xi Ling after he"s back." Mo Xiu Yao had a small smile. "I"ve heard the emperor of Xi Ling has a chronic condition. Doctor Shen is superb with medicine. I bet he"ll be interested in what kind of disease the emperor of Xi Ling has."
Feng Zhi Yao raised his brows with a smile and said: "The emperor of Xi Ling and Prince Zhenan? Sounds like a good idea. I wonder if a healthy emperor of Xi Ling would still put up with a Prince Regent in reality but not in name."
Hearing the two talking about state affairs quietly, Ye Li"s mind wandered before she knew it. For the past half a year, she learned enough about the affairs in the capital. She certainly knew that the emperor and empress dowager had been fighting secretly on and off court. It was out of her expectation that Mo Jing Li would get Nan Zhao involved. Did it ever occur to the mother and sons who were busy fighting each other that some men towards whom their guard were up against, who they had once set up were devising and rushing about for the prosperity of their country in secret?
"Ah Li, what good do you think it does Mo Jing Li, helping the Holy Princess of Nan Zhao secretly?" She was still in a daze when she heard Mo Xiu Yao"s question.
She was stunned and said with a frown: "Mo Jing Li might not be able to fight His Majesty even with the support of the Empress dowager since he is in a difficult situation in terms of public opinion and morality. The throne was pa.s.sed to His Majesty legitimately by the late emperor. Besides, His Majesty is Mo Jing Li"s elder brother who has treated him very well after he a.s.sumed power. It does him no good challenging His Majesty"s reign without careful consideration. I think... Mo Jing Li has attached too much importance to Nan Zhao. From what we can see now, he has lost more than he gained over Princess Qi Xia. Therefore, there must be someone or some force in Nan Zhao that he could rely on."
Mo Xiu Yao nodded and said: "You are right, Ah Li. We both think Mo Jing Li has changed too much over the years. But... looking closer we can see that he started to change after he was back from Nan Zhao, which was ignored by most. I"m sure he might have been ambitious before that but he has never thought about taking over the throne."
Standing up, Ye Li took a map from a cupboard beside them and opened it on the table. She said: I don"t know what Nan Zhao has that gives him such great confidence, but in my opinion, if Mo Jing Li has Nan Zhao under his control, he won"t lose even if he fails to take over the throne."
Feng Zhi Yao got closer and asked curiously: "Why"s that?"
Pointing at the map, Ye Li said: "Mo Jing Li"s fief is in Ling Zhou, which is a mere hundred miles away from Nan Zhao. The royal family of Great Chu prescribes that princes only need to live in the capital for two months each year. However, due to the care of Empress dowager and Consort Xian Zhao, Mo Jing Li rarely goes back to his fief. Of course, that might be the emperor"s precaution against Mo Jing Li. But Ling Zhou is still Mo Jing Li"s fief. Judging from his current stamina, I think he has Ling Zhou in his control. Once Nan Zhao backs him up with all it has, with attacks from both inside and outside Great Chu, Yong Zhou which is between Ling Zhou and Nan Zhao will fall as well. To Ling Zhou"s east lies a great plain. With enough men, he might as well charge east and take over most of the south-east land. Reinforcing armies from the court won"t arrive at the battlefield fast enough. It will take the fastest army, the Hidden Could Soldiers at least 20 days on the road who will also have to cross Yunlan River which runs through Great Chu. As far as I"m concerned... no army of Great Chu is good at fighting a battle on water, not even Army of Mo Family and Hidden Could Soldiers."
As she gesticulated with her slender hand when she spoke, Feng Zhi Yao turned gloomier every second. He knew the topography of Nan Zhao and Great Chu better than she did so he knew more clearly what would happen when there was a war. The area east to Ling Zhou had been peaceful. Since it was far from the border, there were few garrison troops. If Mo Jing Li, together with Nan Zhao led an army to the south-eastern area instead of northern as Nan Zhao used to, once the army crossed Scattered Snow Pa.s.s in Yong Zhou, he would easily have half of Great Chu, the territory south of Yunlan River.