Phoenix: Rules Of The Harem
Chapter 10: The Chances of Winning

Inside the Yin Pavilion, Ling Mei and Wu Jin were discussing something with a serious look on their faces. Previously, in order to prevent Yun Rui's sudden arrival, Ling Mei had asked Yu Shen and a few other servants to guard the main door and the courtyard around the Yin Pavilion.

"As you know, Your Majesty. The Crown Princess gained the support of military force from Imperial High General Wu, then a few days ago, I got the information that the Crown Princess pulled Military Minister Shu to be on her side."

"Hmm .. I understand. On our side there is only the military support of Imperial Supreme General Hong who is my grandmother, it is not enough even though I am combining it with the army of Yuyin and the shadow guards. If first brother gets the support of half of all the most influential generals in the empire, this is not a good thing."

Ling Mei furrowed her brows, feeling dissatisfied with all these reports. If he wanted to obtain strong military support, then he would have to attract Great Imperial General Shi and Imperial Ling Generals to be on his side. There were nine tiers of generals in the Shao Empire, five of whom were referred to as the strongest generals with dominating military and political power. The five generals were among them: Imperial Great General Hong, Imperial Great General Shi, Imperial High General Wu, Imperial Gifted General Shao, and Imperial Ling General.

Amongst the five generals, Shao Mu Lan had obtained two military supports from Imperial High General Wu, and Imperial Gifted General Shao who was his own younger brother Shao Ming Fei, who was the younger brother of his, plus he had gained the support of Military Minister Shu who came from the ranks of imperial ministry officials. It would be equivalent if Ling Mei had the support of the two remaining strong generals, because previously he had obtained the tacit support of his grandmother on the side of the father who was the Great General of the Hong Empire as well as the strongest general in the current Shao Empire.

Ling Mei tapped her brush pen onto the wooden table in front of her slowly. "If I want to gain the support of the Great General of the Shi Empire...."

"Then, you should be ready to take the concubine, my grandson." hearing that voice, Ling Mei gasped for a moment. Wu Jin and Ling Mei quickly raised their heads forward and found a middle-aged woman standing haughtily with a special wooden stick in her left hand.

"Popular General of the Hong Empire?"

As an Imperial Great General, Hong Chang Yi possessed powerful and almost invincible martial arts. Rumor had it that Hong Chang Yi could even kill half of the enemy troops with his bare hands while fighting, it earned him the nickname as the Imperial War Monster and made him quite feared as well respected. Even Ling Mei who possessed high-level martial arts was unable to sense the aura of arrival from Chang Yi.

PLAQUES

"I've told you many times to stop calling me Great General and just call me grandma! You bad boy!"

Ling Mei grimaced at the pain in her butt from the unkempt punch from the wooden stick that her grandmother had brought. "All right, I'm sorry grandma. And stop hitting me with that stick, I think it's pretty painful."

"Truly a good grandson! A few years ago you made your grandmother so worried that she wanted to run to the Imperial Palace because she heard news of you being so sick and suddenly becoming mentally disabled! Now that you're married, you didn't even give me a good invitation and welcome me, Hmph!"

Back, Ling Mei and Wu Jin could only grimace at the whole scolding that the woman dubbed the Imperial War Monster was throwing. Her grandmother who was still so excited despite her young age was seen staring intently at Ling Mei with a bright sulking expression. In that case, Wu Jin could only be speechless and not dare to make any comments, Imperial Grand General Hong was so terrifying with his sharp aura. Even Ling Mei who had a cold and deadly aura could not struggle with Hong Chang Yi.

"Grandmother, don't be so angry with your granddaughter. I just bought a rare swallow nest, what if grandma tries it with me?" ling Mei gently grabbed Chang Yi and led him to sit on the cushion chair that was to the right of Ling Mei's pillow chair.

Chang Yi snorted, the middle-aged woman turned her face away from looking at the grandchild's face. "Good! Very well! Just like your father, you really know how to make me stop being angry!"

Ling Mei sneered cunningly. "Of course, because I'm his daughter."

After asking Yu Shen to make swiftlet nest soup, Ling Mei again sat on her pillow chair. Soon, Ling Mei and Wu Jin went back to discussing their previous discussion followed by Chang Yi who had listened to their discussion. Thinking about military support, Ling Mei tried to figure out how to attract the famous Great General of the Shi Empire who was honest and was on the neutral side. Great General Shi had the second strongest position in the military after Great General Hong, it could strengthen Ling Mei's standing if she managed to get Great General Shi by her side.

"Mei'er, in order to gain the support of General Shi, you must take the legitimate son of the Shi residence to become your concubine."

Hong Chang Yi sipped the cup of tea in his hand gracefully and unhurriedly. The look on his face remained relaxed even though he had given not very good advice to do. Anyhow, anyway, a few days ago Ling Mei had just gotten married officially and it was not a good thing if she took a new concubine inside her residence harem that was still full of newlyweds aura. After all, that fourth princess of the Shao Empire had absolutely no intention of adding men within her harem.

"But grandma, is there really no other way? I have been married in a few days and it is not a good thing for me to take back the concubine. It will damage my reputation and residence in the future. People think of me as a mentally handicapped princess who doesn't know what marriage is, it would be very strange if a foolish and childish princess suddenly took a concubine from a general's house. Seeing that, others might suspect me."

Chang Yi sighed softly. "In that case, the only way is to stop pretending to be mentally disabled!"

"What?" Ling Mei looked at Chang Yi with widened eyes, her grandmother always had quite thrilling advice.

"Look! I don't know what happened, but Shao Mu Lan chose to move faster than we expected and thought about pulling all the imperial officials on his side. Even if the Grand Empress did not choose him, with all the support she had gained, it would be faster to get her to occupy the Phoenix's seat."

Chang Yi was silent for a while before returning to continue, "Spread rumors throughout the empire that little by little the mental illness possessed by the fourth princess was beginning to recover with intelligence that was beginning to return to normal as it once was."

"Then, doesn't that mean we're going to be waving a successful war blatantly?" Wu Jin asked Chang Yi with a serious look.

"That's right. Looking at the current situation, the chances of winning will be greater if we move blatantly. Then after they've let their guard down due to the hasty strategy, we can attack them silently before ending things by making a massive assault and removing your first brother from the position of crown princess."

Ling Mei smiled coldly, a faint sharp glint visible in both of her blue eyes.

"ah! Before that, seeing grandma coming here, did grandma come back to visit me alone?" soon, Ling Mei changed the look on her face to be sweet and warm. His sharp gaze turned into full of pleasant tenderness.

Chang Yi snorted with annoyance. "No. I came here with my husband, now he must be with my grand-daughter-in-law. After this you just asked me for my visit? Truly a filial grandson! Come here, let me hit you again!"

Hearing that, Ling Mei stood up vigilantly. He could see Chang Yi who had been ready to hit him with the wooden stick he was carrying standing firmly right beside him, making Ling Mei dodge hurriedly with a panicked look on her face.

"BOO-HOO!!! I'm sorry grandma!!!"

........................

As Hong Chang Yi had said, in the Xuanshi Pavilion Wei Yun Rui and Great Lord Hong, the official husband of the Imperial Grand General were drinking tea together. They chatted warmly and lightly, it could be seen from the look on their faces that looked happy. The two men were of different ages, yet both of them had equal elegance and good looks it truly became a beautiful sight amidst the blood storm of the usurpation of the throne, anyone who saw it would think so.

"Do you know Yun Rui, when he was seven years old, Mei'er was so naughty. At that time, he was visiting our residence at my wife's request. Then, while she was busy playing, I left her for a bit to get her a sweet snack, but do you know what happened after?"

Yun Rui looked at Great Lord Hong curiously, he wanted to hear more about Ling Mei's past that he didn't know much about.

"Then?" Yun Rui asked her in a soft voice that was almost like a whisper.

Great Master Hong, Su Jin Mian smiled. His face remained radiant despite being in his old age, he looked at Yun Rui with a warm twinkle. "The little Mei'er desperately climbed up the peach tree and sat on the highest branch on the tree. When I came back and saw her, I became so panicked that I almost cried, but my wife said that it was okay."

"I tried to scold her, but seeing her adorable mannerisms as she gave me ripe peaches with radiant faces, I became unable to scold her and made her cry. Yun Rui, Mei'er is actually a warm and affectionate child. Unfortunately, the big incident made Mei'er turn into a different person. I hope you never regret having accepted the decree and married her. That child has suffered enough, therefore, please stay by Mei'er's side and take good care of her."

After saying all that, Su Jin Mian let out a long sigh. She loved her granddaughter so much that she didn't want anything to do harm and make her granddaughter suffer. Yun Rui was speechless with a gaze that stared at the tea cup in front of her, for some reason she felt unable to say anything.

"I'm definitely—"

"DORRY!!!" ling Mei's loud cry made Yun Rui's speech come to a halt.

Jin Mian smiled widely with a happy face. "Aiyooo! My sweet granddaughter! How's it going? You look happy, have you been satisfied playing with your grandmother?"

Hearing that Ling Mei was silent for a while, her eyes glanced at Chang Yi who was also glancing at her before looking back at her grandfather and smiling so cheerfully.

"Sure! Mei'er really likes playing with grandma! That feels so much fun!"

"Is that so? Since Mei'er likes it, after this if we play again, grandma will teach you how to use a sword, how?" Chang Yi smiled mysteriously, his eyes glimmers faintly glittering.

"Uhhhh! Did ya? Is playing sword fun for grandma? Mei'er was always curious, but my grandfather and father never allowed me to try."

That enthusiastic tone made Yun Rui and Jin Mian instantly feel panicked, using a sword with Ling Mei's current character would actually be very dangerous and would inflict a lot of injuries on the woman. Of course, it was because the two of them did not know Ling Mei's true secret. Hong Chang Yi had been hiding this secret from her husband for many years.

"My wife, please don't say something like this to her! Practicing the sword would be extremely dangerous for Mei'er, it wouldn't be good for her body!" Jin Mian said worriedly, an unwilling look on his aging face.

"It won't be dangerous. My husband, you don't worry too much, our Mei'er is grown up, she has to do this exercise to take care of herself and her partner. After all before he became like this, ever since he was three years old Mei'er had been holding a sword and was trying to fight with me. This kind of thing is nothing to her."

"But, Great General Hong, isn't the current condition of His Majesty very different from the one he used to be? I felt worried about the possibility that His Majesty would return with a body full of blood and wounds after doing sword training."

"Prince Wei, you are a good husband. It's just that some things we can't stop just because of excessive fear and worry. I think you must understand what I mean."

Yun Rui sighed in silence, she looked at Ling Mei affectionately. "Yes, Great General Hong. I understand."

Ling Mei only listened to him in silence, sincerely and so kindly. Yun Rui had a pure sincerity behind her mischievous and sometimes careless attitude, unfortunately Ling Mei had decided to close her heart so tightly and without the slightest gap, unfortunately, even for a man as good as Yun Rui though.