Chapter 37: Consort Yao Has Been Captured

The news soon reached the imperial city. After three days, an imperial edict was delivered to Geyan by a rushed messenger.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the emperor hereby decree that we have heard that Consort Yao was kidnapped and are outraged. Ye Junqing’s failure at adequete protection deserves severe punishment, but since we are worried about Consort Yao, we shall have Ye Junqing take up the post of marshal for the time being. Ye Junqing must rescue Consort Yao and make sure she is safe and unharmed. If Consort Yao is harmed in any way, Ye Junqing is to commit suicide on the spot. That is all, appreciated.” After the eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, all the soldiers and generals reacted with expressions of anger. Ye Junqing was the only one who calmly accepted the edict. He was thinking that if anything happened to Yao Mowan, he’d definitely personally visit Moxin to apologize for his failure.

Inside the guest house of Xiantai, Yao Mowan placed a delicious fish in front of Si Qing. However, Si Qing wasn’t used to her, so after picking up the fish, it jumped below Feng Yihan’s foot before starting to eat.

“Mowan was able to hand over five hundred taels of gold without even blinking. Mowan’s wealth is truly outside of Yihan’s expectations.” Feng Yihan stared in astonishment at the banknote Yao Mowan had handed him.

“Everything has a value for a reason. There’s no reason for Mowan to feel heartache over this,” replied Yao Mowan mildly. Settling the money and goods at the same time would prevent Feng Yihan from having second thoughts later.

“The bank on this banknote is actually inside Qi. Could it be that Mowan doesn’t even trust me?” When Feng Yihan noticed this, he felt inexplicable disappointment.

“King Qi’s words are too serious. If Mowan couldn’t trust King Qi, why would Mowan hand the banknote over ahead of time? It’s just that Mowan has always been cautious. It’s not directed towards anyone,” replied Yao Mowan honestly.

Right at this time, there was a gust of wind and Yin Xue appeared in front of Yao Mowan.

“Reporting, Master, Ye Hongyi has given an edict and made Ye Junqing the marshal. He also gave the order that he must save Master, or else he must commit suicide,” reported Yin Xue.

“That’s within predictions. You should head back first. If anything happens, report it right away.” Yao Mowan dismissed Yin Xue with a wave as a trace of coldness emerged in her eyes.

“In reality, Yihan feels that Ye Hongyi does care a lot about you, but you’re helping Ye Junqing in this way. It doesn’t seem very fair towards Ye Hongyi.” Feng Yihan gave his objective opinion as a third party.

“There’s no right or wrong in the struggle for the throne. There’s only those who succeed and those who fail. There’s no fairness to speak of. King Qi probably knows this better than anyone. As for Mowan’s attitude, Mowan can’t tell you the reason behind this,” said Yao Mowan mildly. No one knew the heaviness in her heart.

“You’re absolutely correct. There’s no right or wrong, only success or failure. But when born in the family of a monarch, regardless of whether you succeed or fail, it still comes with sorrow.” Feng Yihan smiled bitterly. Although he had won in that internal struggle, when he came to sit on the dragon throne that countless people yearned for, he hadn’t felt like smiling at all.

“Feeling sorrow is still better than being forced to be sorrowful. Feng Duo is currently in the palace of Chu and secretly gathering up his past subordinates in preparation to seize the throne.” Yao Mowan took a deep breath, then looked towards Feng Yihan again.

“Back then, Feng Duo had ruthlessly tried to kill me, but still, I can’t bring myself to personally…” With a bitter smile, Feng Yihan picked up Si Qing who had just finished eating.

“It seems that Prince is going to owe Mowan a favor.” Yao Mowan smiled understandingly. A favor owed by Feng Yihan was a rare commodity.

After receiving the edict, Ye Junqing sent requests to visit to Xiantai several times. However, regardless if he tried with the status of the esteemed prince or privately with the identity of Ye Junqing, Feng Yihan rejected them all. Ye Junqing was out of choices, so three days after Yao Mowan was kidnapped, he sent an army to attack Xiantai.

To his surprise, the Qi military in Xiantai was in complete disarray and couldn’t stand up to even one attack. After one day, he was already standing in the main hall of a guesthouse in Xiantai. This incident boosted the Chu military’s morale a lot and the entire military worshiped Ye Junqing’s skill at commanding as legendary and kept exclaiming that his title as the god of the battlefield truly wasn’t in vain.

In the next two days, Ye Junqing continued attacking and recovered Jinmen and Nanxun in rapid succession which made him even more of a legend. All of the military and civilians were now calling him a battle god. Ye Junqing was the only one that knew there was no way this was the limit of Feng Yihan’s abilities. He was purposefully throwing away these battles. However, Ye Junqing couldn’t figure out what his motive was in doing this!

Inside a guesthouse in Linxi, Yao Mowan was rubbing her forehead and trying to nap. She had trouble sleeping on unfamiliar beds, so switching three different guesthouses in three days was wearing her out.

“He’s taken down three cities in three days. Do you think Ye Junqing won’t notice?” Feng Yihan walked into the main hall with breakfast. When he saw the dark circles around Yao Mowan’s eyes, he felt slight heartache.

However, he immediately suppressed that strange emotion because he knew that no matter how much emotion he put out, he wouldn’t be able to obtain this woman’s heart. Her heart already belong fully to Ye Junqing.

It was a pity, but Feng Yihan only found out later once his heart was broken that if emotions were something that could be suppressed, there wouldn’t be so many unforgettable heart-wrenching love ballads.

“With experience in so many battles, how could he not notice that there’s something off about this? However, that doesn’t matter. It’s fine as long as the citizens believe. Mowan has already obtained the result Mowan wanted. As of now, the citizens of Chu are probably all discussing Ye Junqing’s godly achievement of recovering three cities in three days. Ye Junqing’s current value has increased by a huge amount.” Yao Mowan rubbed her forehead as a smiling expression appeared in her eyes. This was a crucial step and it had gone very smoothly.

“So you were trying to raise Ye Junqing to be like a diety. That way, even if Ye Hongyi wanted to do something to Ye Junqing, he’d have to be apprehensive of the public’s opinion.” Feng Yihan nodded in realization, then placed the tray in front of Yao Mowan.

“Mowan must have worked hard for several lifetimes to accumlate enough fortune to have King Qi personally bring food for Mowan!” After what she had been worried about all this time was finally resolved, she relaxed a lot.

“Is that so? If…” Feng Yihan hesitated. He really wanted to say, if you were willing, then I’d be happy to bring you food for the rest of this lifetime. However, he swallowed his words back.

“If what?” Yao Mowan picked up the ginseng porridge as she asked this.

“If Ye Junqing could break through Linxi in one day, he’d definitely go down as a legend.” Feng Yihan changed his words. When Yao Mowan heard this, she slowly lowered the bowl and looked towards Feng Yihan.

“Am I wrong?” asked Feng Yihan in confusion when he saw the glint in her eyes.

“There’s a much better way to make this legend become even more legendary.” In the end, Feng Yihan didn’t know Yao Mowan well enough. If it had been Ye Junqing who was here, he’d definitely try to escape as quickly as possible, because the word ‘scheme’ was currently printed in Yao Mowan’s eyes.

“What way?” asked Feng Yihan, completely unaware of his impending doom.

“If Ye Junqing can break through Linxi within three days and capture the king of Qi as well, this would definitely stun the masses.” Yao Mowan’s eyes sparkled like stars.

“Cough cough! That would stun the masses. The citizens of Qi will definitely think that their emperor was made of straw!” Feng Yihan suddenly wanted to just slap himself. He could tell from Yao Mowan’s expression that this idea had just occurred to her.

“Actually, Yihan feels that there’s a saying that makes a lot of sense. The handsomest tree in a forest is inevitably felled by storm, the strongest barricade on the shore is inevitably destroyed by the waves. The higher a person stands, the more the masses will envy. Doesn’t Wan er feel that by lifting Ye Junqing up too high, it’s also causes him a sort of harm?” Feng Yihan did all he could to convince Yao Mowan to give up on this idea.

“Mowan feels that sometimes being harmed is not completely a bad thing.” Just like with her, if she hadn’t been hurt so badly by Ye Hongyi, she would’ve definitely continued living in a muddle-headed daze, never knowing that the person whose pillow she shared was a beast in human skin. That harm had allowed her to finally see others clearly, and see herself clearly.

__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira

[Chiyomira’s Corner]
Hmm, but if Ye Hongyi never tried to kill her, then in that alternative universe he’s just as bad minus that he was too cowardly to actually kill her, or he’s exactly the same and killing Yao Moxin wasn’t an option. Either way, in both versions Ye Hongyi would try to eventually kill off Ye Junqing, and based on how Yao Moxin had helped him suppress other people, she might actually end up purposefully or accidently helping him kill Ye Junqing, since Ye Junqing will definitely cooperate if he hears that Yao Moxin wants him to die. With how much Yao Moxin loved Ye Hongyi back then, even if she knows of his cruel doings, she probably wouldn’t stand against him as long as he was good to her… Is my feeling. Since Yao Moxin isn’t a character that cares about the greater good. She seems to care more about having things her way.