144 Black Steed麒麟的英文通常譯為'Black Steed'或直接音譯為'Q

ble."The others were silent; what Ye Li said was true but no one had ever laid out the statistics so clearly before, making them appear even more alarming.Feng Zhiyao frowned and asked, "What if we ta...144. Qilin

144. Qilin

After dismissing everyone else, only Feng Zhiyao and Zhuo Jing were left in the study. Mo Xiuyao leaned against a couch silently watching them, tapping his fingers idly on one of the armrests. The room was quiet for quite some time before he spoke, "Feng San, what happened in the capital after I left" Naturally, Feng Zhiyao wouldn't hide anything from Mo Jingqi and promptly added embellishments to everything that had occurred since Mo Xiuyao's departure. Zhuo Jingyi, who always kept a cold expression when dealing with others, went out of his way to talk about people who were detrimental to their master. Hearing this made Mo Xiuyao’s originally displeased expression even more grim.

Mo Xiuyao was truly furious. Not only because Mo Jingqi had set his sights on A Li, but also because he, as an emperor, lacked proper judgment. In Mo Xiuyao's view, the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and all the people in Xinyang City were lost due to Mo Jingqi’s suspicion and narrow-mindedness. Once upon a time, Mo Xiuyao had suspected that the ancestors of Dingguo Mansion might have meddled too much for the emperor to be so wary of them. Now he truly understood; it wasn’t because the ancestors of Dingguo Mansion didn't understand what it meant to overshadow their lord or how not to provoke suspicion from a king. It was just some things... knowing they shouldn’t do something but having no choice but to!

"Fine… very fine!" Mo Xiuyao laughed softly, his deep laughter making Feng Zhiyao shiver involuntarily. Mo Xiuyao raised his head and said to the two of them, "You may go back."

“This subordinate will take leave.”

Ye Li entered the study late at night. Although she was still angry about Mo Xiuyao's recklessness when she woke up, upon realizing that he wasn’t in their room, she couldn't help but come out to look for him. Seeing that the light in the study was still on, Ye Li knew that he must have been working there and ended up making a midnight snack and carrying it into the study after some thought. Mo Xiuyao was bent over writing at his desk when he heard the noise by the door and looked up to see a woman draped in a simple cloak with her hair casually tied back, holding a tray filled with food quietly watching him. The lamp illuminated her beautiful face, making her look even more ethereal and gentle. Mo Xiuyao felt warmth in his heart; this was his wife.

Duke... "Al璃, come here..." Mo Xiuyao put down his brush and stood up, extending a hand to Ye Li.

Ye Li walked forward, placing the tray on the table. She gathered various scrolls and memorials spread out on the table while setting down the food. She asked, "Is there something that can't wait until tomorrow"

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly, pulling Ye Li to sit in his lap, saying, "Al璃, eat with me." Because he did not want to disturb Al璃's rest, he only ate a few bites of dinner and was indeed hungry at this moment. Looking at him speechlessly, how could she possibly eat while sitting in his arms Mo Xiuyao ignored her puzzled look, scooped up a spoonful of the clear rice porridge with side dishes from the bowl and brought it to Ye Li's mouth. After hesitating for a moment, seeing that he was stubbornly refusing to withdraw his hand, she could only lower her head and eat it. Mo Xiuyao smiled contentedly, then took another couple of bites himself. The two of them finished off the food on the table by taking turns scooping up spoonfuls. Seeing the empty bowls and plates on the table, Ye Li drew back with nothing to say.

After the midnight snack, Mo Xiuyao called for a servant to remove the dishes. He held Ye Li in his arms as they looked at the memorials still facing each other on the table, occasionally exchanging opinions. When Ye Li saw the data detailing the number of civilians killed during this massacre in Xiangyang city, she lowered her head somewhat dejectedly and said softly, "I'm sorry; it's all my fault." Mo Xiuyao sighed lightly, raising her small face to plant a kiss on her lips. "Al璃, you've done well already. Far better than I expected."

Mo Xiuyao was telling the truth. Although he had handed over command of the Mo Family Army to Ye Li, how much control she actually had was uncertain for him. After all, it was a heavy burden even for men to hold command over an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands. But his Al璃 truly had done her best.

"But if I hadn't ordered the diversion of Xiangyang's grain and money, perhaps the massacre wouldn't have happened," Ye Li said softly.

Mo Xiuyao shook his head and said calmly, "Al璃, don't take everything on yourself. We both know you didn't do anything wrong. Although Western Ling has a vast territory like Greater Chu, its land is not as fertile. A large part of the region consists of deserts; the arable land area is less than one-fifth that of Greater Chu's. In Xiangyang city alone, there are enough supplies to sustain 500,000 troops for half a year.

The food and military supplies. Once they get their hands on these resources, the war will become even more difficult to fight. Moreover, since the Xiling soldiers first invaded Dachu without killing or plundering ordinary civilians isn’t because they didn’t want to but rather out of fear that it would incite resistance from the people. If this conflict drags on until winter… Have you read about the Xiling military history” Ye Li shook her head. In the past, she hadn't paid attention to such things and after marrying Mo Xiuyao, she had too many things to deal with; in reality, there wasn’t much time for reading books.

Mo Xiuyao said, "If you had read it, you would know that once the Xiling army runs out of food supplies they will quickly start plundering ordinary civilians. In fact, the Xiling army has always believed in their own strength and since Xiling doesn’t produce grain themselves, their food supply preparations are never sufficient. To them, the common people of an enemy country are merely a backup source of provisions. Although Dachu hadn't suffered from it before, Western countries as well as Southern Frontier had experienced being massacred by Xiling soldiers in the past. If Xiling gets their hands on XinYang's food supplies and silver, this war is bound to last longer. Once winter sets in and they run out of provisions, more civilians will suffer. Moreover, if someone has to be blamed for the situation, it would be those who failed to defend the city properly!" Ye Li leaned against his broad chest, although she knew that Mo Xiuyao was comforting her, but she felt much better. Ye Li wasn't a person who liked to overthink things so quickly put this matter aside and just sighed at the shocking numbers on the memorials.

The two of them gathered around the lamp and talked about various events that happened after they were separated. Mo Xiuyao’s face darkened when he heard about Prince Regent Southern Command's actions, hugging Ye Li gently said, "Aili is too merciful, to let him off with just a few tens of thousands of food supplies and millions of silver coins really was too generous. If it had been me, I would have broken his other hand as well." Ye Li raised her head, looking somewhat amused at the man before her who suddenly seemed childish, saying, "If that were the case, we might end up in an all-out war with Xiling until one of us is destroyed. The Xiling emperor hasn't been fully communicated with yet, right" Mo Xiuyao shook his head and said helplessly, "The current Xiling emperor may not last much longer into this year. Once the Xiling emperor dies, another young emperor might come to power, and all military and political power in Xiling will fall entirely into Prince Regent Southern Command’s hands."

Ye Li sighed sadly, saying, "If that's really the case… we should have planned to break his other hand."

Saying this, they shared a laugh. Such jests were just that—jesting words. In today's situation, if they truly went all-out with Xiling, it would be detrimental to both them and Dachu. Mo Xiuyao held the delicate woman in his arms as his warm gaze fell upon the memorial on the table, emitting a chilling light. Prince Regent Southern Command… daring to covet Princess Consort of Dingguo, back then Father only cut off one of his hands—he was too lenient!

Mo Xiuyao's sudden return caused the originally unstoppable Xiling army to come to a halt. However, such tranquility could not last long; several days later, the flames of war reignited once more. Although XinYang had been reclaimed, but considering both northern and southern routes of the Xiling army, there were still five cities in Dachu's northwest region under their control—almost one-third of the entire northwest territory. Because Mo Xiuyao led his troops to break through the northern route封鎖並直衝信陽而來，這造成了雖然信陽被奪回，但周邊地區依然被西陵人占據的局麵。整個信陽城陷入了三麵受敵的境地。儘管城裡不缺糧草軍需，但是水源仍然是一個極大的問題。即使城市中的百姓已經寥寥無幾，十幾萬人馬的飲水仍然顯得有些緊張。墨修堯並非不知道這個問題，隻是大楚如今確實需要一則能夠振奮人心的訊息來安定君心民心，而收覆信陽正是最好的選擇。

自打墨修堯回來之後，葉璃很自然地將原本的軍務都交還給他，隻幫忙處理一些瑣事頓時清閒了許多。趁著林寒帶隊跟著墨修堯去北戎的人以及秦風帶隊探訊息的人都回來了，想起一件事已經耽擱了不少時候便抽了墨修堯也正好有空的時間找到了人。當初在黑雲峰下受訓的六十三個人現在出現在這裡的一共卻隻有五十一人。十二人的犧牲在彆的軍隊裡看來幾乎可以忽略不計，但是在他們這裡卻相當於損失了將近六分之一的力量。

"屬下等參見王爺、王妃。"

Moxiu Yao nodded and said, "Stand up." Through his journey to Northern Rong, Moxiu Yao had truly witnessed the combat prowess of the individuals trained by Ye Li. At the same time, he also began to feel curious about such a team.

"Thank you, Your Highness and Princess Consort."

Moxiu Yao smiled at Ye Li and nodded. Ye Li then stood up and said, "Your efforts are appreciated this time around. Lin Han, Qin Feng, report on the completion of your respective missions."

Lin Han stepped forward and reported, "Princess Consort, eight people went to Northern Rong, one died in battle, another was seriously wounded, but all six others passed the test."

Qin Feng also approached and said, "Princess Consort, we had fifty-five people divided into eleven groups. One group failed with seven dead and three injured."

Ye Li nodded slightly and said, "Arrange for ZHUO Jing to take care of the fallen soldiers' affairs as well as those who were wounded. Those present here today are the final qualified candidates from this special training session. Your efforts these past few days have not gone unnoticed. My husband and I have already discussed it over. Starting today, you will officially be part of the Blackguard Army under our direct command. Your code name is 'Qilin'!" Ye Li then showed a jade pendant in her hand that was similar to the睚眥jade pendant capable of commanding the entire Blackguard Army, but instead featured a vividly carved Qilin.

At the same time, from today onward this would also become their name. From today on they were Qilins!

Ye Li looked at the soldiers in front of her with a smile. Despite their efforts to maintain composure, she could see excitement in their eyes. She said in a low voice, "How do you understand being Qilin"

The group hesitated for a moment before someone answered, "Princess Consort, the Qilin is a auspicious beast."

Ye Li nodded and said, "That's correct. The Qilin is an auspicious beast, but it’s also a benevolent creature. It has horns on its head adorned with flesh which symbolizes that although it is well-equipped for war, it does not harm others; this represents benevolence. I hope you can become benevolent protectors of all beings and, when necessary, be the sharp sword against our enemies."

The group responded in unison, "We will abide by Princess Consort's instructions!"w older, his character became increasingly naughty and unruly, indulging in all sorts of vices. Eventually, Leng Huai had lost hope with him. When the younger son suddenly announced he wanted to go in...