"Grand General, can you please let me finish?"
The Grain and Grass Officer had narrowly escaped with his life and was filled with grievances. He had hoped for some comfort from Wu Xiaxian, but he never expected his own commander to defend Mo Yun at every turn, his words filled with distrust!
There were other generals in the tent. Although they were all under Wu Xiaxian's command, not all of them were truly his men.
The army group of 200,000 was cobbled together from six or seven legions.
And within the Great Yan Kingdom, these six or seven legions belonged to different factions.
So, one of them stood up and gave Wu Xiaxian a casual fist-and-palm salute. "Grand General, it's not my place to speak out of turn, but looking at the facts, there are only two groups of people within the Cao Kingdom who could have done this."
"First, there's General Mo. She's the prime suspect! The reasoning is simple. She just suffered a defeat. Cao Tianyi and Yuwen Shentong coordinated an attack from both inside and out, catching General Mo completely off guard. Therefore, General Mo's subordinates have every reason to despise the people of the Cao Kingdom!"
"Don't tell me the Cao Kingdom soldiers with us have nothing to do with Cao Tianyi. Do you think the common grunts care about that distinction? Besides, General Mo's grain supplies have been cut off and she's short on medicine. She would naturally want to resupply. Otherwise, why would she be blocking the supply route with the remnants of her army?"
"General Mo's reconnoiterers discovered our grain convoy and monitored it the whole way, afraid that our convoy would also spot them and take a detour. That reason holds up, doesn't it?"
The other generals in the tent nodded in agreement. Wu Xiaxian's expression was grim, but he said nothing.
"Then, those reconnoiterers accidentally discovered the Cao Kingdom soldiers in the convoy. They had just suffered a major loss at the hands of Cao Kingdom soldiers. What do you think their reaction would be upon suddenly spotting more of them? All of you here are Military Generals; it shouldn't be hard to guess, right?"
"Coincidentally, at that moment, the Cao Kingdom soldiers also spotted General Mo's reconnoiterers and snuck over. Heh... In the dead of night, with old grievances and new hatreds combined, killing a person or two... is that really so difficult?"
As the general spoke, he added flatly, "With the skills of those veterans who've crawled out of piles of corpses on the battlefield, would killing a few Cao Kingdom soldiers be difficult, you think?"
"Not difficult at all!"
"Right or wrong, General Mo's soldiers are not weak!"
"Our Great Yan soldiers have always been a hundred times stronger than the Cao Kingdom's!"
"The second possibility is that it was Cao Tianyi's men! But Cao Tianyi is currently in a hurry to return with the Cangqiong Kingdom's allied forces to stage a coup. Do you really think he'd be bored enough to go mess around on a supply route?"
The general looked at Wu Xiaxian and continued, "Therefore, I suggest the Grand General immediately issue a military order to declare General Mo a wanted person and warn her not to bring about her own ruin! Second, we must immediately send someone to contact Cao Tianyi! It doesn't matter much to us who becomes the Emperor of their Cao Kingdom, as long as they're obedient!"
"Yes, the general from the Hongjiang Army has a point. Our top priority right now is to apprehend Mo Yun and then contact Cao Tianyi. A simple show of support for him should be enough!"
"That's right! If that Cao Tianyi doesn't know what's good for him, our army of 200,000 will just crush him on our way back!"
"Yes, Mo Yun has made a terrible mistake. Whatever the reason, she must bear the responsibility!"
"Exactly! She must bear the responsibility!"
"She must!"
Inside the tent, many began to echo this sentiment.
Wu Xiaxian's stern face was incredibly dark, a cold light flashing in his eyes. He said flatly, "Have I said I wouldn't deal with Mo Yun? Why are you all so eager to jump out and cause a ruckus?"
Being able to sit in the commander's seat of this 200,000-strong army group, Wu Xiaxian's methods were naturally extraordinary, and he still commanded a certain intimidating authority.
Although the generals in the tent were all dissatisfied, no one said another word.
Wu Xiaxian looked at the Grain and Grass Officer and said flatly, "Alright, continue."
"Yes, General Mo ignored our questions and even allowed her subordinate to viciously curse at us. It was that same subordinate who was the first to attack, and he then incited the others to join in..."
"I know about the fight. Get to the point. How exactly did it escalate into an all-out battle?" Wu Xiaxian asked coldly.
"Well..." The Grain and Grass Officer had intended to lie, but at this critical moment, feeling the sharp, cold light shining from Wu Xiaxian's eyes, he felt as if he were being stared down by a venomous snake.
He found he no longer dared to speak the lies he had prepared.
"Speak!" Wu Xiaxian slammed his hand on the table before him with a loud BANG.
It wasn't just the Grain and Grass Officer; everyone jumped in fright.
"Speak!" Wu Xiaxian roared.
"It... it was our men who drew their blades first..." the Grain and Grass Officer stammered out, trembling.
Instantly, the entire command tent fell deathly silent.
Many looked at the Grain and Grass Officer with disappointment, thinking: 'What are you afraid of! With that one sentence, regardless of what Mo Yun did, the men in your convoy... have died for nothing!'
But some also found it strange. Even if Wu Xiaxian was incredibly fond of Mo Yun, the grain convoy was still made up of his own men.
Wasn't he just tarnishing his own name by doing this?
When the higher-ups really did investigate and assign blame, he himself would also face severe punishment!
No one noticed that in a corner of the tent, a short, middle-aged man in a legion commander's uniform was glaring at Wu Xiaxian with an incredibly cold and venomous gaze.
'Damn it, that bastard. How in the world did he figure out those men were mine?' the short legion commander wondered, unable to make sense of it.
Wu Xiaxian let out a cold chuckle. "Alright, I'm clear on the cause and effect of this whole incident. I will report it factually. When the time comes, all of you present today will review my report. If you confirm I haven't misrepresented anything, you'll sign your name. If you think something I've said is wrong, then you can state your own view and write it down!"
It had to be said, Wu Xiaxian's move was extremely clever. He presented a clear image of handling business by the book, leaving no room for anyone to find fault.
After dismissing everyone, Wu Xiaxian sat in his chair, his gaze somewhat unfocused. He murmured, "Mo Yun, why must you do this? Acting on impulse and causing such an irreversible outcome... Is marrying me really... so terrifying to you?"
Just then, the sound of flapping wings came from outside, and a white military falcon darted in.
It flew to the table in front of Wu Xiaxian, gave a cry, and landed.
Wu Xiaxian's eyebrow twitched. He untied the letter fastened to the military falcon's leg, opened it, and after only a few glances, he flew into a rage. His hands clenched tightly as he gritted his teeth. "Mo Yun... Mo Yun... Mo Yun!!! How dare you... deceive me like this!!!"
The veins on Wu Xiaxian's forehead bulged, his eyes looked as if they were about to spew fire, and his breathing grew heavy and rough, like an enraged lion.
The letter, nearly crushed to shreds in his hand, was from a confidant he had placed within the Cao Kingdom's Royal Family.
The letter contained only a single sentence: General Mo Yun has led the remnants of her forces to secretly pledge allegiance to Cao Tianyi, who has promised to make her his Empress after he ascends the throne!
"Cao Tianyi... If I can't personally destroy you, I'm not worthy of being called a man!" Wu Xiaxian roared in a low, furious voice, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.
All this time, although Mo Yun had always been curt with him, Wu Xiaxian had seen it as nothing more than the reserve of a proud, capable woman.
'You don't want to be anyone's vassal, fine! I'll let you soar as high as you want! I'll let you run wild with an Elite Legion of fifty thousand men!'
'You're unwilling to submit to your family's will and become a sacrifice for a political marriage, fine! I'll wait for you! I'll wait for you to have a change of heart!'
'You say you don't like me, that you have no feelings for me, fine! I have patience! I've always spoiled you, indulged you, doted on you, and given you everything you wanted!'
'But this is how you repay me! Slaughtering my grain convoy, hijacking my supplies and provisions... Mo Yun... you have disappointed me more than I can say!'
Wu Xiaxian gritted his teeth, pacing back and forth in the tent with extreme agitation. The crazed, furious light flickering in his eyes gradually receded, until all that remained was a cold gloom.
'Since you've treated me this way, then don't blame me, Wu Xiaxian... for turning ruthless!'
...
γGreat Yan Kingdom, Imperial Capital.γ
γMo Family.γ
"What? She dared to do such a thing? Has she... has she gone mad?" said a man in his seventies. His black hair was meticulously combed, his face was nearly free of wrinkles, and he had an exceptionally refined and scholarly appearance.
This was the Patriarch of the Great Yan Kingdom's Mo Family, Mo Jiu Mountain!
Mo Jiu Mountain stared at the secret report in his hands in disbelief, so angry that the long beard on his chin trembled.
In the room was another middle-aged man who kept his head lowered, not daring to look up at him.
"Mo Yuanzhi, oh, Mo Yuanzhi, this is what your precious daughter has done! Such treason! This is your precious daughter!" Mo Jiu Mountain roared, his face contorted with rage.
"Father... could there be another side to this story? Right now, we've only heard one side of it..." the middle-aged man said in a low voice, defending his daughter.
"What other side to the story! Even if there were some earth-shattering secret, her army slaughtered a three-thousand-man grain convoy and hijacked their supplies. That is an indisputable fact! For such an act... dying ten thousand times wouldn't be enough!" Mo Jiu Mountain raged.
"Then... then what should we do..." The middle-aged man's face was deathly pale. It wasn't that he didn't understand the consequences of this incident; he was simply more worried about his daughter's safety.
"What else can we do? Immediately issue a statement and announce... that Mo Yun is expelled from the Mo Family! From this day forward, Mo Yun and the Mo Family of Great Yan will be completely cut off from one another! We will have no further connection!" the old man said coldly.
"Father, this..." The middle-aged man's legs went weak, and he knelt on the floor, choking back sobs. "You're forcing Yun'er down a path to her death!"
"I... am saving her. And I am saving our Mo Family," the old man said with a long sigh. "If we don't do something, public opinion alone will be enough to drown our family. If she's smart, she'll take the remnants of her army and stay within the Cao Kingdom's borders. In the future... whatever she does is fine, as long as she never, ever returns to Great Yan. Otherwise, there is only one path for her: death!"
"And what about General Wu..." the middle-aged man asked with a bitter expression.
"Wu Xiaxian? A fine young man, it's a pity..." Mo Jiu Mountain's eyes glinted as he said softly, "Find an opportunity to pull him from his horse. With the marriage alliance a failure, he will surely hold a grudge against our Mo Family. Our Mo Family... cannot afford to let such a powerful enemy remain, only to grow even stronger."