Seeing Qi Yan silent, Ye Mu continued, “Yue Country has always been on friendly terms with Mo Country. This time the five countries allied. Besides agreeing to lend your route, you don’t involve yourself. What does this mean? This means you’re not of one mind with them. You think if you don’t involve yourself in the conflict, you will be spared? No, their ambition will only become scarier after devouring Mo Country. I’m sure once Mo Country is occupied, Yue Country will follow behind!”
He knew that she came as a lobbyist, but Qi Yan carefully analyzed her words, and had to admit that her words were reasonable. When one falls, everyone follows. No matter how hard he tried, he might not be able to defend himself when the time comes.
And Qi Yan had thought of the worst outcome which was, after the fall of Mo Country, he would take the initiative to latch onto one country and capitulate to the country, not for his country. This was the worst he thought of, but also the most possible result.
Seeing him not speaking, Ye Mu suddenly said, “Are you still thinking if Mo Country falls, you’ll capitulate? Then do you know what it means once you capitulate? It means Yue’s common people are gratuitously inferior, it means Yue Country will most probably be divided up without hindrance. By not revolting, people will not die, but your country will.”
Ye Mu’s words were like a heavy hammer striking Qi Yan viciously. His brain buzzed. In the end, he asked with a cold expression, “Then what am I supposed to do? Don’t tell me you want our two countries’ power to oppose the five countries?”
“No!” Ye Mu shook her fingers. “It’s using two countries’ power to oppose the other four countries!”
“Four countries? Another country has gone neutral?!” When Qi Yan asked this, he looked very excited!
Ye Mu looked at him, and coldly smiled. “If you lend your route to Wei Country, when they arrive at an appropriate location, both of our countries ambush together, causing Wei’s dispatched people to die here. The main force will have heavy casualties. What storm do you think can Wei Country set off in a short period of time?”
Qi Yan’s eyes shone, but soon dimmed.
“But even if it’s two against four, aren’t we still at a disadvantage?”
Ye Mu narrowed her eyes. “Leaving aside Mo Country’s formidable strength, one against two is not a problem. This method of mine will bring benefits to Yue Country!”
She wet her finger, drawing a simple territory on the dining table. She smiled as she said, “Past Yue Country is Wei Country, past Wei Country is Yuan Country that hasn’t appeared for the time being. According to what you said, the two countries that are far from Mo Country, Yuan Country and Li Country, have secretly supported this matter, but they’re very far apart. After Mo Country falls, they can’t divide the land and can only divide the treasure. Are they willing?”
Ye Mu smiled. “And after we ambush these troops, you turn to strike Wei Country. At this time, Wei’s strength is gone. I’m not saying you can seize Wei Country in a short time, but swallowing that wide expanse country is very easy!”
Ye Mu’s finger pointed at the “Yuan” character on the table.
“And Yuan Country. After Wei Country is caught by surprise by you, it’ll definitely borrow troops from its temporary ally, and when Yuan Country sees that you come aggressively, if it’s kind-hearted enough, it will lend its troops to Wei Country and you will also be easily seized. If it’s not kind, it will definitely take the opportunity to devour what’s remaining of Wei Country!
“If you were even a little bit more ruthless, while attacking Wei Country, send someone to lobby Yuan Country’s monarch, let him know you want to attack Wei Country. He might even start before you, striving for more benefits.
“Wei Country will face the converged attacks of both countries, and there’s Mo Linyuan blocking. It won’t be able to wait for help from the allied forces of the other countries, so it’ll soon fall!
“When the time comes, not only will Yue Country expand its strength, Yuan Country will just fight with Wei Country. It definitely won’t move against this new neighbor in a short time. One day, even if Mo Country loses, you’ll be more confident in front of other countries than you are now!”
Hearing Ye Mu analyzing as such, Qi Yan felt even more interested!
He didn’t think this matter could be carried out like this, the feeling of toying with everyone while applauding, this kind of strategizing, gaining victory a thousand miles away, all made him impressed!
He suddenly had confidence! As long as he handled things as such, it would definitely go according to Ye Mu’s plan!
Wei Country wanted to breathe down their necks, and wanted to turn back and attack Yue Country after attacking Mo Country. And now he wanted to give it a taste of its own medicine!
“Regarding this matter, I need to discuss it with my confidants first!” Although Qi Yan didn’t directly respond, the light in his eyes clearly showed that he had been moved.
Yue Country had always been too inoffensive, maybe now he could only use the massacring of a country to make clear that Yue Country could not be easily bullied!
Ye Mu nodded. She smiled as she said, “I’ll wait for your good news.”
Although she looked calm, she was actually very nervous. Her time was extremely precious, every minute and every second.
Qi Yan clearly also understood Ye Mu was anxious right now, so on the same day at night, he called his confidants to discuss.
Wei’s special envoy thought Yue Country was still hesitant about lending its route, and was rather in disdain, but didn’t know they were actually discussing about fighting back.
Early morning the next day, Qi Yan told Ye Mu—he agreed to this plan!
However, the ministers all expressed a question, which was, did Ye Mu standing here mean she had found a way to break the stalemate?
If she had, Yue Country was ruthlessly forced and didn’t mind allying with Mo Country, there was no way out!
Whether there was the hope of victory or not, this issue made Ye Mu smile.
Ye Mu said, “If I tell you that I’m probably sure that the other party will lose this time, do you believe me?”
Qi Yan looked at her. Unhesitatingly, he said, “Yes!”
Based on Ye Mu’s words to persuade him yesterday, he knew Ye Mu’s heart held the whole world’s territory. She looked at problems from a long-term point of view than most people did, and her words held odds of success. Even if the situation at hand was tense, Qi Yan still believed her words were true.
Seeing him have such confidence in her, he couldn’t resist a light smile.
“Of course, as the monarch of a country, the burden to carry is very heavy. Even if you believe me, my words just now, it’s hard for you to convince your courtiers. Let’s do this.”
She paused, her expression rather sly as she said:
“If I can make Zhao Country fight between themselves, then, you don’t have to hesitate in joining hands with Mo Country!”
Qi Yan widened his eyes. “You can get Zhao Country fight between themselves? Are you going to Zhao Country?”
Ye Mu nodded. “It’s not difficult. I’ll personally make a trip there and make sure. I’ll go by myself and leave Wen Feng behind. You can contact Mo Country through him. In addition to attacking Wei Country and catching them by surprise, this must be done in a very short time. Whether or not we can win this battle is important, understand?”
However, the ministers all expressed a question, which was, did Ye Mu standing here mean she had found a way to break the stalemate?
Qi Yan nodded. “I’ll plan very carefully, I won’t let you down!”
Ye Mu smiled. “Then I’ll take my leave now. I hope to hear your good news when I’m in Zhao Country!”
Qi Yan nodded. They exchanged a few more words before Ye Mu left.
After she left, she gave the brief to Wen Feng.
“Immediately get in touch with the prime minister about this matter. This time Wei Country will dispatch 150,000 people. When the time comes, Yue Country will send out 100,000 people. Our Mo Country ha to send out 80,000, so use the tiger tally to assemble the troops for immediate action!”
Seeing Wen Feng worried about her safety, she earnestly said, “We will win this war! The pressure over at Mo Linyuan’s will lessen a lot, it’ll then be easier for him to control the situation. There’s nothing more to say about the other matters, I’ll take care of myself, and this important matter is handed over to you. You must not let me down!”
Wen Feng listened, his eyes slightly reddened. He saluted with determination, and didn’t say more.
“Please don’t worry, Empress, this subordinate definitely won’t disappoint you!”
Ye Mu nodded, and no longer hesitated. She was by herself, and as she travelled more than half the country, finally after ten days, she arrived at the capital of Zhao Country.
Zhao Country still had many of Mo’s spies. The moment Ye Mu arrived, they quickly received the news and went over to welcome her!
“Let’s cut to the chase, what’s the situation right now with Zhao Country?”
In a secret room, Ye Mu sat at the head. The others completely didn’t expect the one who came would be Ye Mu, Mo Country’s empress. Everyone was utterly shocked.
Seeing her young age, many of them were discontented, but Ye Mu only sat there, and even if she didn’t bring anyone else, everyone felt an overwhelming momentum.
That momentum was very contrasting with her young face, making their backs cold, not daring to be rash.
An old man as the leader said, “Empress, Zhao’s people seem to have great opinions concerning Mo Country’s battle. Although there’s an alliance contract, the common people are still terrified; the courtiers too, who are divided into two groups. The majority demanded not to participate in this risky contract, but Zhao’s monarch insisted on war.”
“What about Zhao Mingyu?” Ye Mu asked in a cold voice. “How’s her situation now?”
Someone said, “royalss Zhao was thrown into the death cell half a month ago.”
Ye Mu asked, “How many people do we have now in Zhao Country?”
The old man replied, “500 people, ten among them are internal energy masters.”
Ye Mu suddenly stopped speaking. There were very few people. Being in another country, how could she save Zhao Mingyu?
Ye Mu pondered for a while. “Which cell is Zhao Mingyu in? The palace’s death cell or outside?”
The old man thought about it. “The biggest Taihe Prison outside the palace. Recently many officials who oppose the emperor have been confined there.”
Ye Mu quickly asked, “What’s near Taihe Prison? Important departments, residences, streets, say it all.”
Everyone discussed in a low voice, then someone said, “Yuanchang Street is not far from Taihe Prison, which is Zhao Country’s most flourishing street. Many residences of high officials and nobles are there, but I have to say, the most extravagant of them and the nearest is the empress’ parents’ house, the royal residence. Because the empress’ son died in Mo Country, this time, the empress is also in the pro-war faction!”
Ye Mu faintly smiled. “Then let’s go with the royal residence. Next, I need you to help me with something. I plan to burn down the royal residence!”
“Isn’t this not good?” someone hesitantly said. “The royal residence’s head has over a hundred internal energy masters. If we dare to get close to set fire, before we even can, we’ll be discovered by the residence’s people.”
Ye Mu chuckled. “No worries, I’ll let you prepare something. With those things, we don’t need to go near to set the fire.”
After she told the tools needed, everyone didn’t know what Ye Mu wanted to do with those things. No need to go near to set the fire, but why did they need to set fire? Wouldn’t this be alerting the enemy?
Ye Mu’s eyes were sharp. Smiling, she said, “The royal residence is close to Taihe Prison. We’ll set the fire to the royal residence near Taihe Prison. After those in Taihe Prison notice, they’ll definitely dispatch troops to put out the fire. When that happens, it will be easy for us to break into the prison.”
“What? You want to break into the prison?!”
“That’s right.” Ye Mu acted as usual, as if she wasn’t going to break into prison but rather strolling around the streets. “Princess Zhao is the key to my trip right now. I must bring her out so that it’ll work, and all of you just need to listen to my plans, understand?”
A faint warning came from her person, making everyone’s heart sink. This little empress’ imposing manner was truly terrifying! Moreover, she spoke the plans clearly, and her brain also moved fast, no wonder His Majesty liked her so much, insisting on making her empress!
The things that Ye Mu wanted were soon prepared. She looked at the niter, kerosene and more vicious things, slightly zoning out.
Originally, she didn’t plan to use any modern things, but right now she thought of Mo Linyuan who was fighting in the frontier, her eyes scared.
She wouldn’t use much, just a little, just this once.
So after she took the things, she entered the room. She didn’t go out for the whole night.
On the other side, Mo Linyuan had fought with Zhao’s and Yan’s generals twice. These two times were actually just probing. Mo Country, after all, had been in power for a long time. They didn’t dare to come up and immediately went with “you die, I live”, but Mo Linyuan felt this was only because the allied forces didn’t trust each other’s outcome, and it was in their distrust that was his best opening!
When he and his subordinates were discussing the manner to fight back, a letter written by the prime minister came.
Mo Linyuan was rather surprised.
He had been out for over a month, this was the first time receiving news from the palace. Mainly because of the war, delivering letters was very slow, so when he received the letter, Mo Linyuan’s hands slightly trembled.
He thought Ye Mu’s letters for him would be among them, but he didn’t expect, the moment he looked, there was only the prime minister’s letter.
Mo Linyuan frowned, but after seeing the prime minister’s letter, his expression changed drastically!
His Xiao Mu-er actually went to Yue Country!
Even if the prime minister explained in detail of the plan of Mo Country and Yue Country fighting back Wei Country, even if the prime minister assured that this plan was perfectly safe, even if the prime minister highly praised that Ye Mu had very, very high wisdom, solving such a difficult problem in one go—Mo Linyuan was still not happy!
His Xiao Mu-er should not be participating in this affair. She did it all for him, to not let him struggle alone, for him not to worry.
Although Mo Linyuan really wanted to rush to Ye Mu’s side right now, really wanted to chide her, he mostly felt wistful.
She was making such an effort, making such risks for him—he couldn’t admit defeat! This war, he must win!
Ye Mu took advantage of the night to start action.
And then they divided into two groups: one went near Taihe Prison for ambush, the other went to a viewing platform not far from Taihe Prison. That viewing platform was the highest building in the entire Zhao Country that Zhao’s late emperor spent a lot of time building on. Everyone could go up to view.
At this moment, Ye Mu brought a group of people up to the viewing platform.
The night was a sheet of black. Although those great families lighted oil lamps, the flames were faint, it truly was testing out one’s eyesight. Luckily, they had familiarized themselves in the daytime; they weren’t afraid to make a mistake on their target.
Everyone skeptically looked at the object in Ye Mu’s hands. How should they describe this? It was like giant fireworks. Only, these fireworks were not the same as those they usually saw.
“Ye-xiaojie, this object can really burn the royal residence from such a long distance?”
How could he not be doubtful? This merely looked like fireworks. Even if it sparked, not a little while later it would die.
Ye Mu smiled as she said, “Just wait. It will be a little loud later, cover your ears.”
Everyone’s expression still looked doubtful, but covered their ears. Then, they looked at Ye Mu’s movements with wide attentive eyes. All of them wanted to know, is this person truly skilled? Or pretending to show off.
The night breeze lifted Ye Mu’s black robe*. Her complexion was as still as water. Under the moonlight, she did not look like a young child.
*chang pao – traditional Chinese men’s robe
She took out the fire stick, making everyone step back. After that, she lit the fuse.
The spurting sounded really clear at this moment. The next second, they only heard a piercing whistle. That object that looked like fireworks leaped up and looked like a fireball, an orbit in the night sky. The next second, it exploded above the royal residence!
The flames that were like scattering flowers dropped. Everyone watched. This act was no different from how others set off fireworks, but the dangerous part came. Those flames that dropped were not at all like fireworks, extinguished after falling to the ground—instead, many areas went ablaze!
What was going on?
Not only the royal residence’s people were caught off guard, even the people at Ye Mu’s side were also shocked. They weren’t at all afraid of the royal residence’s people to discover them. After all, they were very far away. At this moment, seeing that so much noise was happening in the royal residence, seeing the spark that burned even more and much fiercer, this matter actually was easily solved! Their expression when they looked at Ye Mu again was like looking at an immortal!
But Ye Mu’s expression was indifferent. “Let’s go. Let’s go down, else they will come and arrest us.”
Although Ye Mu felt the other party wouldn’t find out, that sound just now was very loud. Someone might notice this place.
This time, the people with Ye Mu listened to her, the shocking act still lingering in their minds, completely not understanding how she did it.
At this moment, an old man took a few steps forward to catch up to Ye Mu.
“Empress, since you can create such a powerful weapon, why not tell His Majesty about it? This way, no matter how many people come to attack us, His Majesty wouldn’t have to worry.”
Ye Mu didn’t wish to disrupt this world’s order, so she only said, “That thing can only be made by me and can’t be taught to others. Most importantly, this thing is too harmful. Forget about what you saw today, don’t tell other people.”
Ye Mu was not worried they would reproduce it because some of the key materials were secretly bought by herself. This kind of object would be best to appear once, flash in the pan, the province’s affected people remembered.
Seeing Ye Mu didn’t want to speak much about it, the others didn’t bring it up anymore. Once they were near enough, seeing the flames in the royal residence over there soaring and rising, they felt excited!
As soon as the people in the royal residence saw the fire, they hurriedly started putting it out, but that fire dispersed, burning ferociously. For a moment, it was difficult to extinguish. At this moment on that street, a lot of people ran outside adding to the trouble. Ye Mu also joined them, and heard a disheveled man beside her say with a smile.
“This maleficent royal residence, who knows who’s exterminating them!”
“Seems like you still don’t know, huh.” A person beside him moved closer. “I heard from the night watch, what he saw was a flame dropping from the sky, smashing into the residence’s courtyard. Their house then burned, so the royal residence is punished by the heavens!”
This kind of bizarre case was most loved by the common people. Ye Mu watched as the people from Taihe Prison had dispatched soldiers to extinguish the fire. She smiled, making the people beside her help the people breaking into prison. She stayed here alone, continuing to watch the ruckus.
Not long after, the fire still had not died, but the matter of the royal residence being punished by the heavens was already everywhere. People said it very detailedly, as though having seen it with their own eyes.
But at this time, Ye Mu suddenly heard an old man say:
“The heavens drop fire to give a warning. If a house is in peril, the nation is also in peril!”
His words, somehow, were heard by the soldiers who rushed over. One among them who was leading furiously shouted, “You actually have the audacity to spread false rumors here. Someone, seize him!”
Seeing the soldiers start arresting the person, everyone scattered like flocks of birds. Only Ye Mu was still in her original place, looking at that old person dragged away by the soldiers.
In her mind, she suddenly remembered Zhao Country’s final ending in the biographical records.
Before Zhao Country was destroyed, the heavens sparked fire. It was written that when the fire happened, an old Taoist priest warned the common people, but no one believed him, and he was even arrested.
And the words that the old man said continuously echoed in Ye Mu’s head.
The heavens descended fire. It turned out, she was the “heavens”?
After pushing down the shock in her heart, Ye Mu shook her head and smiled, then started to follow up on her plan. Seeing the large fire in the royal residence still needed some time to be stamped out, she didn’t feel worried about the people that broke into the prison. Eventually, some would come out.
She had wanted to follow inside, but those Mo people firmly rejected. They didn’t allow her to take risks with them. If she wanted to take risks, they gave frightening comments. This must be their limit.
So, after she arranged everything, she could only wait here for their news.
Soon, a bell sounded from Taihe Prison—someone had broken in.
This was doomed to be a noisy night. The soldiers currently putting out the fire in the royal residence worked hard to ingratiate themselves with the royal residence; they weren’t the least bit slow extinguishing the fire.
But after hearing the bell, they had to abandon the fire, rushing back.
But unfortunately, the head of the royal residence was recalcitrant. Seeing these soldiers about to leave, he quickly stopped them.
“What are you all doing, these fires haven’t died out!”
The head of the soldiers was full of sweat. “I’m sorry, but recently there are many important convicts locked up in the prison, nothing should happen to them!”
But the head was used to being arrogant as the empress was his daughter. He said in a loud voice, “No, you must extinguish the fire first before you can go! That’s my study, don’t you know how many valuable things are in there? Put out the fire quickly!”
Ye Mu definitely couldn't hear what was happening inside, but she had waited for a while and still had not seen the soldiers go out, and guessed what was up.
She faintly smiled and returned to her base camp, hoping to receive good news soon.
Zhao Mingyu thought she would really be doomed. After she was imprisoned, she never thought there would be a day she could survive and go outside.
But unexpectedly, there were people who came to save her!
When those people pulled her to walk, although she was heavily wounded, she stubbornly said to those who were dragging her:
"Fellow knights, if you can, can you save them?! They're all my officials, all of them are!"
Zhao Mingyu guessed they saved her because they saw she was in the peaceful faction, so after coughing for a bit, she added, "All of them are the people who support me, can you save them?"
After those officials went into jail, they were tortured. At this moment, seeing there were people to come save her, each of them called out.
At this moment, the depths of Taihe Prison were already burning with flames. Among the flames and thick smoke, the leader of one of Mo's people gave a meaningful glance toward his subordinate.
That person immediately understood. With all their capability, save those who could be saved!
Seeing them saving people, the other prisoners also cried out, but they definitely couldn't save too many people. After saving a few officials, they fought quickly, fighting their way out before the soldiers come back!
This time, they had saved thirteen people altogether. When they were brought to a secret room, they still didn't know what was waiting for them.
Only Zhao Mingyu somewhat understood.
"You are Mo's people, aren't you? Did Mo Linyuan ask you guys to save us?"
Before Zhao Mingyu could finish, she was called alone by a person.
"Princess Zhao, please follow me."
Zhao Mingyu's complexion was pale, but still summoned her energy. After she endured the pain, unexpectedly, she wasn't seeing some stranger, but Ye Mu!
The moment she saw Ye Mu, Zhao Mingyu was suddenly shocked and sobbed. At this moment, she forgot all the heavy wounds on her body and threw herself at Ye Mu, hugging her tightly!
"It's you, I didn't expect it's you who came to save me!"
Filled by Zhao Mingyu's hug, Ye Mu felt her body and slightly frowned. "Sorry, I came late and made you suffer."
"No, no!" Zhao Mingyu hurriedly released her, wiping off her tears. While crying and laughing, she said, "You're not the least bit late, it's me who is. At the beginning I thought father was only putting on a show with Yan Country, and thought the battle was just an act. It's me who didn't notice my father's real intention. When I did, it was too late. Before my letter could be sent out, I was caught."
Ye Mu shook her head. "This matter is not your fault. Besides, I came to help you."
Zhao Mingyu's excitement finally calmed down a little. "Help me? But right now, I—"
Right now she didn't have anything, her trusted aide was beheaded. She really didn't expect the moment the five countries' alliance came out, her own father would lose his reason like that. Not to mention, she only stood up and stated the pros and cons, only advocated for neutrality, yet was inexplicably thrown into prison. All these years of affection really was no match to one's interests!
Ye Mu brought her to sit down. Although she was very anxious, she wasn't in a rush to speak about this matter, and had everyone leave the room. She dressed Zhao Mingyu's wounds for a while.
Of course, she needed to clean the wound before dressing it up. She brought Zhao Mingyu to the bathroom that had long been prepared.
Zhao Mingyu who had lived in abject conditions for over a month, seeing the tub of water, it was difficult to stop the tears that were streaming down again.
She said, sorrowful, "Did you know? I never thought there would be a day taking a bath would be a luxury."
She didn't want to recall her life in the past month. She removed her clothes and got in the water. One to wash off the dirt on her body, second to wash off the dirt in her heart.
Ye Mu helped her wash her hair. In this dense steam, seeing Zhao Mingyu already completely relaxed, Ye Mu said, "I came here to help you, to make you Zhao's new emperor."
Zhao Mingyu who had relaxed immediately tensed, and then heard Ye Mu continue.
"Just listen to what I've arranged. I know the limits of this matter, I won't let you be harmed, and you just have to decide whether you want to do it or not. That's enough."
Zhao Mingyu didn't speak.
In the few months, she lost her former vigor. She became cautious because she had suffered too much stimulation.
As if noticing Zhao Mingyu's change, Ye Mu said, "Maybe I should ask you, do you dare or not? Your ambition, is it still there?"
Her light words made Zhao Mingyu's cold and still heart suddenly a little hot, but she still doubted herself.
"Can I still now? I don't have anything anymore; I don't even have father's affection anymore!"
Ye Mu smiled as she said, "No, you still have the bloodline. As long as you haven't been expelled from Zhao's imperial family, you're still the princess. As long as you're the princess, I can help you reach everything you wanted before! Of course, the condition is you can't be scared, and have the courage to risk everything."
She thought she lost the meaning of courage already, but hearing Ye Mu's reassuring voice, Zhao Mingyu smiled.
"What do you want me to do?" she hoarsely said, the scars on her face making her look a bit more resolute. "As long as it's within my ability, just say it! Anyway, I've got nothing to lose, maybe countering is the only way out."
Seeing Zhao Mingyu could regain her vigor again, Ye Mu was really happy.
"Easy. You just have to return to the courtroom." She paused. "Those officials that you saved are your greatest bargaining chips!"
Those people were not only officials but also represented every aristocratic family. At this moment, Zhao's emperor had gone insane. He recklessly locked up the opposing party, but actually didn't have the time to deal with them.
And the people of those families brought their own people out. For the moment, they didn't have the energy to go against the emperor. But right now, they were Zhao Mingyu's people!
Because it was Zhao Mingyu who saved them in the critical moment.
Zhao Mingyu quietly listened, and in the end, lightly laughed. "That's right, this can be utilized. After all, in this period of time, father has done many wrongs, those people have long been discontented."
Ye Mu smiled. After she finished helping Zhao Mingyu wash her hair, her hands shook in the water, the flowers rising and falling.
"And I need you to stir up internal strife. Now that Zhao Country is in a battle, it's powerless. If you can stir up internal strife at this time, it's your best opportunity to rise."
"Internal strife?" Zhao Mingyu was rather embarrassed. "Father and eldest prince are of one mind now, which brother would dare to fight them?"
Ye Mu smiled. "There are many kinds of internal strife, it doesn't have to be a conflict between a prince and a prince."
"And that is?" Zhao Mingyu asked.
Ye Mu smiled. "If you stir up internal strife between the royal court and the royal family, wouldn't it be more interesting?"
Right now, she didn't have anything, her trusted aide was beheaded. She really didn't expect the moment the five countries' alliance came out; her own father would lose his reason like that. Not to mention, she only stood up and stated the pros and cons, only advocated for neutrality, yet was inexplicably thrown into prison. All these years of affection really was no match to one's interests!