hed Dark Three with interest and smiled at Ye Li, saying, "With a warrior like Brother ZHUO protecting him, it's no wonder that Mister Chu dares to come alone to Southern Jiang."Dark Three looked up a...Father and Son Rivalry

Father and Son Rivalry

War couldn't break out at the drop of a hat. Although there were signs of brewing conflicts outside of Northwest, people within the region still lived in peace and tranquility. They believed that with the Mo Army around, no flames of war would ever reach their homes.

The officials and officers of Ding王府 knew very well that this calm wouldn't last long. Secretly preparing themselves for battle.

Mos Yao at Ding王府 seemed unconcerned about the situation outside. After the military exercise, he rewarded those who deserved it and punished those who needed to be disciplined. He then resumed his leisurely life as a peaceful prince. Every day, he dealt with trivial matters and teased Mo Xiaobao and Ye Li incessantly.

That day, Mo Xiaobao, who was rarely given leave by Qingyun Scholar, returned home only to be bullied by his father again, leaving him tearful and feeling wronged as he looked at his mother.

Ye Li couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. The two seemed unable to coexist peacefully for more than an hour. Mo Xiaobao was still young and weak; every time he was bullied, he could only take it without fighting back. If anyone else saw Mo Yao, they would probably run as far away from him as possible.

But Mo Xiaobao had a saying: if there were difficulties, he'd tackle them head-on; if not, he'd create some to challenge himself. He lost repeatedly but fought on tenaciously.

The father watched his son's pitiful act with disdain and mocked him silently. Playing the victim That was old hat for him. Of course, Prince Ding wouldn't admit that compared to Mo Xiaobao's innocent appearance, his own attempt at playing the victim fell flat.

Moreover, did it make sense for a father to compete with his son in this way It lacked authority and dignity. So Prince Ding firmly dismissed this notion. Speaking of which, was it fitting for a father to rely on age to bully a five-year-old child

Later on, Mo Xiaobao's innate skill at playing the victim evolved into an ability to feign innocence while harboring deceitful intentions—a crafty little white cat indeed—causing Mos Yao much distress. This was beyond what he could anticipate now.

Ye Li bent down and picked up her tearful son, gently stroking his head and saying, "Be a good boy, Xiaobao. Mother will take you out to play; we won't play with Father."

Mos Xiaobao immediately wrapped his arms around Ye Li's neck with a radiant smile. "Mother is the best! Xiaobao loves Mother the most!"

Ye Li was speechless. She knew her son was faking it, but few could resist his pitiful look even if he wasn't truly feeling sad. At times, she wondered whose personality this child had inherited. Neither she nor Mo Yao were people to openly display their emotions in public. Although Mo Yao often liked to act out, Ye Li wagered that even as a child, he couldn't have reached the level of crying on command and controlling his tears effortlessly. If one considered his playful nature, it somewhat resembled Xu Qingyan's, but at five years old, Xu Qingyan likely didn’t possess half the cunning Mo Xiaobao did.

"Xiaobao, come here. Father has something to tell you." On the sofa, Mos Yao narrowed his eyes slightly with a kind smile and beckoned to his son.

Mos Xiaobao instinctively felt uneasy; he tightened his grip around Ye Li's neck while shaking his head vigorously and burying his face in her neck. Mo Yao didn't get angry but asked smilingly, "Won't you listen You won't regret it later Ah... don’t blame me when you do if I hadn’t warned you."

Mos Xiaobao quietly raised his ears and hesitantly glanced back at the still-lounging Mo Yao. Hearing Mo Yao seemingly talking to himself: "You know, your father almost turned out like Zhang Qilan once upon a time. If it weren't for your grandfather reminding me, our Ding王府’s handsome looks would have ended with me."

Moxiaobao was shocked. Could he grow up to look like Commander Zhang! He thought of how Zhang Qilan looked, and Moxiaobao shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel this terrifying image. It wasn’t that Zhang Qilan’s appearance was unseemly; Commander Zhang at least had an upright demeanor with a well-proportioned figure, towering over others in military might. His looks couldn’t be described as anything other than handsome. But Young Nobleman Moxiaobao had extremely high standards for himself—while he couldn’t grow up to look like his maternal uncle, there was still Feng San Han Mingyi or even his father, King Moyao, whom he could model himself after. Commander Zhang’s appearance just didn’t fit Moxiaobao’s aesthetic.

Thus, in order to safeguard the beauty of his future self, Moxiaobao kicked at Xiao Ye and asked him to put him down, standing vigilantly before King Moyao.

A long time passed before King Moyao finally opened his eyes lazily. He squinted as he sized up Moxiaobao for a while before slowly stretching out his hand to pinch the boy’s plump face… Pinch! Rub! Squeeze!

Moxiaobao glared angrily at his father, who had started whimpering pitifully. Although it wasn’t very painful, this meant that in front of his mother, he had once again lost against this man. King Moyao sat up and leaned closer to Moxiaobao as he examined the boy’s now bright red face, smiling sinisterly. “Do you know how fat you are Yet you dare ask your mother for a hug. One day, she will tire from carrying around this chubby little fatty of yours. Look at yourself—so plump and yet still eating meat every single day. When I was five years old, I wasn’t even half as plump as you. Tell me, won’t you be even fatter than Zhang Qilan when you grow up Why don’t we change your name from Moxiaobao to Mofatbao”

Hearing this, Moxiaobao looked down at his own chubby little hands and finally shattered the fragile heart within him with his imagination. He glared bitterly at King Moyao before fleeing in tears. Waaah… Uncle, my father is bullying me…

"Xiyao!" Ye Li frowned as she looked at the man lying on the bed who was laughing so hard he was bending over backwards, and said reproachfully.

How could you talk to a child like that It would easily hurt his self-esteem. Besides, Xiaobao wasn’t that bad—Mr Qingyun Taigong had just taken such good care of him out of concern for him. He was only slightly more robust than other children. A little plumpness in a child was actually beneficial.

King Moyao snorted and said, "I’m doing this for his own good. It’s almost time for him to start formal martial arts training; being too fat will be hard on himself. In the future, Ah Li should make more vegetarian dishes." Ye Li rubbed her forehead. No matter what she said, it always came back to last night when she had personally cooked all of their son’s favorite meat dishes and slightly neglected someone. Who could blame Moxiaobao

for being so fond of meat while King Moyao preferred vegetables

"I know," Ye Li said, "When Xiaobao comes back from his academy, I’ll make your favorite dishes for you, alright"

King Moyao nodded contentedly. "Only for me."

Ye Li agreed and warned him sternly, “No bullying Xiaobao!” King Moyao waved dismissively as he said, “Don’t worry. That boy is like a cockroach; before long, he’ll come back on his own.” Ye Li was speechless but saw a glint of sharpness in her eyes as she squeezed hard at the man’s waist. She looked into King Moyao’s puzzled gaze and sneered, "Xiaobao is like a cockroach, so what about you"

“…”

Indeed, it didn’t take half an hour before Moxiaobao was cheerfully back in front of Ye Li. He looked at her shyly and hesitated to speak. Ye Li suppressed her laughter as she asked her son, “Xiaobao, what do you want to say”

Moxiaobao blushed as he said, "Uncle said… even if Xiaobao really grows up to look like Commander Zhang, no matter how much everyone else dislikes Xiaobao, Mother will never dislike him, right"

Ye Li glared at King Moyao before smiling and saying, “Of course. No matter what shape you grow into, you’ll always be my little treasure. There’s no mother in the world that would ever dislike her own child.” Moxiaobao’s eyes brightened as he firmly nodded his head. "Son understands. Son…son won’t eat meat anymore from now on." Ye Li patted her son’s face and said, “You should still eat some meat of course, but you also need to balance your diet with vegetables too. Do you understand that it isn’t good to be a picky eater like yesterday”

"Son understands. But…can Mother hug Xiaobao

Moxiu Yao had a toothache. Where on earth did this naughty boy learn such behavior The Ding Prince王府, from ancient times to the present, never had such an odd creature appear. Could that bashful demeanor truly be tolerable Xu Qingchen! It must absolutely have been you who corrupted Mo Xiaobao. You wait!

Ye Li smiled and said, "Of course I can."

Moxiaobao nodded solemnly. "When Little Treasure grows up, he won’t need Mama to carry him anymore. He can hug Mama instead. But since Little Treasure is still young now, please let Mama hug you…" Truly considerate and filial, Ye Li felt as soft as the clouds in the sky and bent down to sit with Moxiaobao on her lap, kissing him affectionately. "Mama remembers what Little Treasure said."

Originally, they had planned to take Moxiaobao out for a play, but later came Ding Prince who wouldn’t do anything useful yet insisted on coming along saying he wanted to protect his wife and child. In the carriage, while sitting on Mama’s lap, Moxiaobao represented his uncle in looking down upon his father.

Moxiu Yao was not concerned at all and raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Boy, what do you understand This is making full use of people's strengths, putting things to good use. It can also be said as knowing how to make the best use of people’s abilities. If my uncle and father-in-law are so capable, why should this Prince exhaust myself dealing with trivial matters In the Northwest, I’m the biggest. I only need to set a direction and goal; countless people below will strive to achieve that objective."

"Slacking! Uncle said slacking without attending court is what makes an incompetent emperor. So a prince who doesn’t deal with official business is also an incompetent prince!" The little white bun sat on Ye Li’s lap and seriously discussed the issue of diligence in governance.

Moxiu Yao laconically said, "Please say this Prince knows how to lead people well, thank you," pityingly looking at his son who wanted to argue. Foolish boy, he still doesn’t know that he was fooled by his uncle. His uncle was clearly afraid that after growing up, the boy would be just like him and cause trouble for him.

However, your father won’t let you become like me because I’m waiting for you to grow up and take over from me. Then this Prince will take Ah Li far away with my wife in my arms and dream happily. The little bun who didn’t know that he had been fooled by his father and uncle widened his eyes, "That’s not it! Uncle said being diligent is what makes a good emperor!" What Uncle says must be right.

“Thank you for reminding me. Your father isn’t the emperor,” Moxiu Yao said disinterestedly.

Although he learned many things, this five-year-old bun probably still couldn’t fully understand how different being a prince and an emperor were. Besides, in Northwest territory, the difference between an emperor and a prince was really not much at all.

Moxiaobao’s understanding was that there are many princes elsewhere who have to listen to the emperor. But in the Northwest, only his father is a prince, and he doesn’t need to listen to the emperor. So his father is unique among princes and also the greatest of them all. What is so great about being an emperor Xi Ling has one, Da Chu has one, and Beirong and Nanzhao each have one too. Having many emperors makes them less valuable. But there’s only one Ding Prince. If he wants to be a prince, he must become the unique prince that is most precious. This peculiar notion of Moxiaobao directly caused an empire to be established much later.

Unable to convince his father, Moxiaobao pouted and turned his head into Mama’s arms, grumbling unhappily. Moxiu Yao didn’t care about him and said with a smile, "Son, your great-grandfather must have told you many historical books. In history, there are emperors who only attend court once every ten or fifteen days yet the country remains peaceful and prosperous. There are also diligent emperors who start early in the morning and retire late at night but still cause their countries to fall. Therefore, whether an emperor is good or bad has nothing to do with how diligent he is."

Moxiaobao thought about it for a moment before climbing out of his mother’s arms and nodding. "I know. It also depends on being smart in the head. The fool that Father mentioned who gets up early and goes to bed late is the current emperor of Da Chu." Finishing, Moxiaobao nodded firmly to confirm his thought.

Seeing how serious he was, Moxiu Yao could not help but smile. "How do you know it’s that fool He hasn’t caused a country to fall yet."

Mojingqi indeed got up early and went to bed late, but it wasn’t necessarily because of diligence in governance. Moxiu Yao believed he was mostly afraid of this and that and couldn’t sleep anyway. Moxiaobao seriously said, "Of course he’s a fool. He drove Father away, and he also drove Uncle and Great-uncle away. He likes the worst Li Chancellor family while disliking Sister Wu-Yu’s mother. His own mother and brother even dislike him, and now Sister Wu-Yu doesn’t like him either. First Uncle said this is destroying his defense line. Feng San said it means he’s making a good death."

Ye Li could only laugh bitterly as she found the lessons Moxiaobao had learned all nonsensical.

The time passed quickly while chatting and laughing on the road, and before they knew it, it was noon. The carriage stopped in front of a mountain. After getting off the carriage, the rest of the journey would have to be done by foot. Moxiu Yao obviously couldn’t make Ye Li carry the pudgy-tending-to-be-fat Moxiaobao for such a long distance so he had to do it himself. Moxiaobao was not uncomfortable at all in his father’s arms and peacefully lay there with one hand feeling around curiously while asking, "Mama, where are we going"

Ye Lü smiled faintly, "You'll know once you go there." Actually, the relationship between this father and son wasn't that bad. They may quarrel frequently, but it was obvious that Mo Xiaobao had no resentment towards his unkind father; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so carefree lying in his father’s arms.

The group walked into the mountains. After traveling less than five miles, they gradually encountered stricter guards. The closer they got to their destination, the more stringent the security became. Along the way, the soldiers posted at each checkpoint greeted them with salutes. At a pass gate, however, they were stopped by some guards who asked for their tokens and password.

Mo Xiuyao knew about this place beforehand but since he had left everything to Ye Lü’s discretion, he hadn’t come here himself before. He was taken aback when the guard demanded a token and password from him. With a smile on his face, Mo Xiuyao replied, "Do I need tokens and passwords as well"

The guards posted at the gate remained unmoved.

"Tokens and passwords."

Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow at Ye Lü. From his keen senses, he could feel that hundreds of arrows were pointed in their direction. If they didn’t have those tokens and passwords, Mo Xiuyao wouldn’t doubt the soldiers would shoot them down. Ye Lü produced a distinctive token and passed it over to them, saying coolly, "Soldier’s soul, reply." After inspecting the token for authenticity, the soldier replied, “Fearless.” He then allowed them entry.

After entering, they passed through another three or four similar checkpoints. Each checkpoint had different passwords, as well as advantageous terrain and such defense that even Mo Xiuyao wasn’t confident he could enter unscathed.

"Lüyi, I’m getting more curious about what’s inside."

This mysterious place was not far from City Lü but no one could imagine that in this inconspicuous spot lay the true tomb or treasure of the previous dynasty’s founding emperor.

The mausoleum wasn’t as splendid and grandiose as a typical imperial mausoleum, nor was it even as lavish as the false tomb near Hongzhou. At most, it could be considered an enormous underground palace built in the mountains. It lacked luxurious marble carvings or decorations; there were no gold, silver jewelry or precious treasures. To those looking for treasure, the place would seem ordinary and disappointing.

Nowadays, many people were bustling about inside. Mo Xiuyao curiously observed them as they crafted some oddly shaped iron tools. In particular, he noticed a group of people gathered around an empty copper pillar on a small cart at the deepest part of the underground palace. Although he didn’t know what it was, Mo Xiuyao felt a sense of danger when looking at that hollow copper pillar.

With his usual composure, Mo Xiuyao moved away from the hole in the copper pillar and looked towards Ye Lü with raised eyebrows. "Lüyi, is this what the founding emperor left behind Honestly speaking, I really don’t understand what these things are."

Ye Lü looked at him and sighed softly, “Actually, I’m not sure if doing this is good or bad.”

When she first arrived here, seeing those items that the previous dynasty’s founding emperor left behind surprised her. She had hesitated because without natural development, it might not be wise to abruptly jump from an era of cold weapons into one of hot weapons. Perhaps that was why he hadn’t decided and thus the place had never been used; therefore, in the history books of the previous dynasty, there were no items that shouldn’t have appeared at that time.

“So… has Lüyi figured it out” Mo Xiuyao asked with a smile.

Ye Lü smiled faintly. "Let things happen naturally."

—

Sweat… I’m running late. I accidentally slept until 6 PM for my nap!m Taizu Emperor to Ding Wang during the founding of Da Chu and could be considered the symbol of Ding Wang's identity. However, later on, as Ding Wang’s residence grew more powerful, there really wasn...