Full Moon

er these days, inferring from his usual behavior and demeanor what the emperor's intentions were regarding the Nan Hou family. After a brief moment of silence, Zhou Yushan said, "Last year, I was only...121. Full Moon Night

121。 Full Moon Night

When the ladies left Zhaoding Palace, they all looked at Ye Li with a strange expression that was both envious and jealous, mixed with fear and schadenfreude. Not only in the Great Chu Kingdom for over a hundred years since its founding, but even going back thousands of years, no woman dared to draw her sword in front of the dowager empress and empress, claiming she would kill all women who wanted to be concubines for their husbands. This boldness and courage naturally made these noblewomen, who endured having many wives and concubines at home, envy and admire Ye Li. At the same time, everyone knew that it was likely that Princess Consort of Ding Wang (Ding Wang's wife) would bear the reputation of being a jealous woman.

"Lily." Just as Ye Li stepped out of the palace hall, Lady Xu was already waiting outside.

Ye Li smiled and welcomed her with a gentle call to Auntie. Lady Xu looked at her and sighed softly before shaking her head, saying, "You this girl..." Ye Li lowered her head and said with a smile, "Lily made Auntie look bad."

Lady Xu held her hand as they walked out together, laughing quietly, "Our Xu family doesn't really care about these empty titles. As a woman myself, I understand the thoughts of women. It's just that on Ding Wang's side..." Today Lily's actions in the hall were indeed bold and unreasonable, but given her status as Princess Consort of Ding Wang, she wouldn't be held accountable for serious charges. So-called taking wives and concubines is essentially family matters; as long as Ding Wang protects her, everything will be fine. However, if Ding Wang disapproves of Lily's actions today, then Lily's future might not be good. Ye Li blinked at Lady Xu’s worried look, hugged Lady Xu's arm affectionately, and laughed, "Auntie can rest assured that I'll be alright. Auntie should speak well of Lily to Uncle Er when you return so he doesn't scold me again." Lady Xu patted her hand gently and said with a soft laugh, "You're too bold for your own good, no wonder your uncle wants to discipline you. Just now in the hall I was frightened."

“Lily understands my mistake; it won’t happen again,” Ye Li clung to Lady Xu’s arm and pouted.

Just as she had walked out of the palace gate with Lady Xu, she saw Ding Wang's carriage curtain being lifted from inside. A handsome man in a long white robe stepped down from the carriage, smiling at Ye Li by the palace gate, "Lily."

The noblewomen passing by did not stop to watch but could see that Ding Wang was smiling as he extended his hand towards Princess Consort. They didn’t believe that Ding Wang wouldn't know what had happened in the palace now, it seemed that Ding Wang indeed only cared about his wife. Even if Ding Wang's wife made such a domineering and capricious declaration in the palace, almost making Ding Wang lose face, he still loved her as before. Lady Xu led Ye Li to pay their respects; Mo Xiurao slightly turned aside and smiled, "Madam is Lily’s aunt, we are family, no need for formalities." Lady Xu said with a smile, "Formalities cannot be dispensed with. Lily is young and doesn't understand much, I hope His Highness will forgive her." Mo Xiurao laughed as he looked at Ye Li, saying, "Madam worries too much. Lily is fine."

“Why did you come” Ye Li asked in puzzlement.

Mosius Yao chuckled softly and said, "I heard that Lady has drawn her sword to the amazement of all in Changde Palace. Isn't your husband worried about your safety"

Ye Li rolled her eyes at him. Wasn’t it obvious that he was putting on a show for someone rather than coming to reassure her

The Lady Xu observed them and felt more assured as she watched the Crown Prince genuinely not care about Ye Li’s actions in the palace. She even seemed pleased with them. After smiling at both of them, she left calmly.

Once the carriage from the Duke Ding王府的馬車離開後，宮門口漸漸恢複了平靜。不遠處城牆下，耶律野帶著赫連惠敏默默地注視著定國王府的馬車離去，過了許久才聽到赫連惠敏不甘心地說：“表哥，就這樣算了？”

Yelvyi gave her a half-smile, "What can you do if it's not settled You can't seduce the Duke Ding, and you can’t deal with his household either. Are you really going to be a maid at the Duke’s place like Xi” Remember how Mo Xiaoyao dealt with Xi after he said something inappropriate at their wedding ceremony

Hearing about Prince Yiliping who remained foolish and dazed after that, Helian Huimin shivered involuntarily. She couldn’t imagine what kind of torture he must have endured to turn into a simpleton without any injuries or poison.

"Then…what should we do now" asked Helian Huimin worriedly.

Yelvyi replied indifferently, "We wait for the princess to come back from the Northern Rong with us."

"But…" Helian Huimin frowned. Yelvyi said calmly, "You were originally going to marry into the Duke Ding’s household on a whim, but that only had a 30% chance of success at most. Now it looks like there's less than half a percent chance left. You'll have to return to Northern Rong and be a concubine for the prince instead."

Helian Huimin’s face paled, "No… Cousin! The Prince will kill me, and besides, news about what happened in Chu will surely reach Northern Rong. He won’t want me…" As a concubine to the Crown Prince of Northern Rong, she would be treated as a slave without any freedom or property, not even allowed to bear children.

"Don't think about doing anything foolish," Yelvyi said coldly after glancing at her. "The Helian family raised you for so long; they won’t let it go to waste. Don’t worry, no one has seen your face, and Princess Rongrong doesn’t know who you are either. Just change your name, and there's nothing wrong with that as my uncle’s adopted daughter isn’t just you. Since you can't deal with the Duke Ding, then accept your fate and go to the Prince’s residence. I’ve given you a chance."

Helian Huimin trembled inwardly knowing Yelvyi’s methods well. She hastily said, "I understand."

Yelvyi sized her up before nodding in satisfaction and leaving. If Helian Huimin wasn’t the best among his uncle's women, he wouldn’t have bothered bringing her here after their plan failed.

However, despite her intelligence, she was still far from matching the Duke’s wife. Thinking about the intelligence gathered recently, this Duke’s wife was not only of noble birth and talented in both literature and martial arts, but also had led the Black Cloud Cavalry to defend Yongzhou until reinforcements arrived, making significant contributions.

The arranged marriage between the Northern Rong and the Prince Dingwang's household fell through, but within one night, the name of the formidable Consort of Prince Dingwang spread throughout the capital. Any woman who dared to take out a dagger in front of Empress Dowager and declare her intention to enter the Prince’s household was killed by this woman without hesitation, leaving the ladies of the noble families wary of crossing paths with her. Even worse, instead of showing any signs of anger at his wife's actions, Prince Dingwang would occasionally accompany her on walks around the capital during breaks from official duties. Their loving and devoted relationship clearly conveyed that if a woman who dared to enter the household as a concubine was killed by Consort Dingwang, His Highness would never come to their aid. At this time, people were saying that Prince Dingwang loved his wife dearly or even feared her, but regardless of what others said, it had no effect on the two individuals involved. Ye Li also didn’t have time to care about these rumors; when the full moon rose into the night sky, her heart tightened with worry.

Soon after finishing dinner, Mo Xiuyao’s expression gradually turned grim. Ye Li quickly invited Shen Yang over, but he was silent for a long while before finally giving one word of advice: endure! The side effects of using the phoenix tail grass had no cure; all they could do was rely on their own strength to get through it.

"A’li, go rest in the annex," Mo Xiuyao said gently as he watched Ye Li’s tense expression. He didn’t want her to see him suffer and be frightened by his appearance during an episode of pain. But Ye Li remained calm beside him, resolutely stating, "I’ll stay with you, don’t be afraid."

Don’t be afraid… Mo Xiuyao couldn’t help but smile, yet he felt like crying instead. For over eight years, countless times he had徘徊在鬼門關上，無數次痛得幾乎找不到活下去的理由。從來冇有人問過他到底怕不怕？定國王爺再厲害也隻是個人，何況剛受傷的時候也不過是個十八歲的少年。他也當然害怕過。每次寒毒發作的時候都怕自己再也醒不過來了，怕定國王府從此湮冇，怕兄長的仇，自己的仇，幾萬墨家軍兒郎的仇從此無人能報。但他卻不能在任何人麵前表現出他的恐懼，他隻能忍。但現在，他的阿璃，他的妻子坐在他身邊告訴他彆怕……

"Alright, I’m not afraid," Mo Xiuyao said with a faint smile as he held Ye Li’s hand.

Ye Li almost didn’t want to remember how the day and night had passed. At first, Mo Xiuyao could still endure his pain, but after midnight it suddenly worsened, even someone as strong-willed as him was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t form complete sentences due to the pain. Any analgesic or acupuncture point anesthesia methods were ineffective. Ye Li watched helplessly as he tore apart the brocade bedding and curtains due to severe pain.

The sight of a usually composed and elegant man showing such vulnerability in his agony made Ye Li finally shed tears. She had never hated her own powerlessness more than now, having sworn to accompany him through this suffering but being unable to do anything except watch over him so he wouldn’t injure himself severely.

That short night felt like a year to Ye Li as she endured the pain with Mo Xiuyao. When Mo Xiuyao finally fainted from prolonged pain, all she could do was carefully support his head against her body without daring to touch him, hoping he would have some rest before the next wave of pain hit.

As expected, less than half an hour later, Mo Xiuyao woke up again, followed by even more intense agony. This cycle of fainting and waking continued until midday when the pain finally began to ease.

The head steward and Shen Yang saw a room in disarray upon entering at noon; Consort Dingwang sat on the floor beside the bed with her back against it, sound asleep from exhaustion. Prince Dingwang’s head rested on his wife's knee, though he was sleeping restlessly but had clearly fallen asleep as well. His injuries had already been treated. Seeing this scene, two men who together were nearly a hundred years old couldn’t help sighing. Shen Yang waved to the head steward and quietly left the room.

Having just gone through a full moon night, Mo Xiuyao lay in bed again. This made Ye Li, who was already worried about Mo Xiuyao's health, feel even heavier in her heart.

"Lily, what are you thinking about" Mo Xiuyao smiled at Ye Li, who sat by the side holding a book and lost in thought.

Ye Li looked up at him with a frown and asked, "Is your body really able to travel thousands of miles to Beirong"

Mo Xiuyao laughed and said, "There's only one night like this every month. It’s already much better than before when it happened all the time. If it were last year, I wouldn’t have been able to do it at all. Now my body is no different from an ordinary person, what's the problem with that"

Ye Li shook her head; she had accompanied Mo Xiuyao throughout this process and found it extremely shocking. Even someone like her, who had received professional training in torture resistance, could hardly bear such excruciating pain. How much more so for Mo Xiuyao, whose health was already poor It's even scarier that he has to endure this kind of torment once a month; just the psychological shadow alone is enough to drive someone crazy. Seeing Ye Li’s worried and pained expression, Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and reached out to pull her close, whispering with a smile, "Once I thought I could never stand up again for the rest of my life. But look at me now—am I not fine Even if it hurts once every month, what’s the harm in that I think it’s worth it. Lily, I hope your husband is perfect. Only such perfection would be worthy of my Lily..." His long fingers lightly touched Ye Li's delicate lips as he murmured.

Ye Li turned her head away, not wanting to look at the still-healing scars on his hand, and held back her tears in her eyes, saying, "Even if your leg is never healed again, I won't despise you." Compared with those so-called physically intact young talents or world-renowned heroes, Ye Li could confidently say that Mo Xiuyao was far superior to any of them. She had never thought that Mo Xiuyao must be a certain way to deserve her.

“I know, but I hope Lily can have the best,” Mo Xiuyao said softly with a smile.

"What if I spoil you" Ye Li's eyes moistened uncontrollably.

Mo Xiuyao held her tightly in his arms and said, "As long as it’s what Lily wants, everything that Shao Yao has can be yours. If it doesn’t exist, I’ll fight to get it for you." sank back into his chair feeling somewhat weak; he whispered softly, "Ah Li… you must come out of this unharmed…"The war in the northwest seemed to have been suppressed for too long until it finally...