All Under Heaven Celebrates

The imperial palace in the capital is always so magnificent and resplendent, making people feel that it is unattainable.

At this moment, the master of the palace, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Li, was enjoying the beautiful scenery in the imperial garden. He seemed very peaceful, but who knew the unease and anxiety in Zhu Li's heart?

The Liao Kingdom and Jin Kingdom armies are currently attacking, and the details of the battle on both sides are unknown.

"Alas! I wonder if Zhang Xingfeng can finally snap. If he watches my army die, I'll be in deep trouble because of him. But at least I gave his brother a count's title and gave Leyue to his brother. I believe Zhang Xingfeng won't be so heartless!" Zhu Li fiddled with his fingers, muttering unconsciously.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty... Great news... Great news..." The old eunuch's voice could be heard from afar.

Zhu Li's eyes suddenly lit up. 'Great joy'? Zhu Li didn't know what was going on, but suddenly felt his heart racing.

"Your Majesty, the Earl has won a great victory in Tieyang City! A great victory!" The old eunuch seemed extremely excited, holding a memorial in his hand.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Li immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Oh dear, bring it up to me quickly!" Zhu Li was extremely excited, like a child, and the old eunuch immediately presented the memorial in his hand to Zhu Li.

Zhu Li fell silent instantly, the excitement on his face seemingly vanishing. He slowly and solemnly took the memorial, opened it carefully, and looked intently at its contents.

Zhu Li's expression was strange; he wanted to laugh but didn't, and there was also a strong sense of doubt on his face.

"Is this true?" Zhu Li asked the old eunuch in disbelief.

The old eunuch immediately began to dance with excitement. "Your Majesty, this is absolutely true! The soldiers of Tieyang City are still outside! And this is a memorial to the throne! Would they dare to deceive the Emperor?"

Clearly, the last sentence convinced Zhu Li. Zhu Li's expression suddenly became extremely interesting, and his smile seemed to be contagious, "Hahaha... Hahahaha... Of the 1.2 million Liao Kingdom army, less than 30,000 returned, and the number of dead exceeded 1.17 million, hahaha... My Great Ming army, however, suffered less than 2,000 deaths, less than 2,000, hahaha..."

Zhu Li's laughter was extremely loud, echoing throughout the entire Imperial Garden. Several empresses and princesses immediately came over, all with smiles on their faces. How could they not be happy when the emperor was laughing like that?

"Your Majesty, what joyous occasion is it that makes you so happy?" the Empress said with a smile.

Zhu Li turned to look at the Empress, concubines, and others, making no attempt to hide his excitement, and said, "Haha... Do you know? Earl Zhang, that Zhang Xingfeng, that kid didn't disappoint me! He utterly defeated the Liao Kingdom army! Hahaha..."

The Empress and the others immediately smiled and congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations!"

Zhu Li waved his hand abruptly and said, "I haven't finished yet! Haha... That's nothing! Do you know how many Liao Kingdom soldiers he killed? 1.17 million! The entire Liao Kingdom army only had less than 30,000 left! Haha... Do you know how many our Ming Dynasty's army lost? 2,000! Only 2,000! What does that mean? There has never been such a glorious victory in thousands of years! The saying goes, 'Kill 10,000 enemies, lose 8,000 of your own,' but Earl Zhang killed 10,000 enemies and only lost a dozen or so of his own!"

The empresses and concubines all covered their mouths in surprise, as if they could hardly believe it was true.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Li laughed even more heartily.

"Report! Report! Your Majesty, great news! Great news!" Another eunuch ran over, shouting excitedly.

Zhu Li was startled and immediately said, "Quick, quick, bring it to me, quick!" The eunuch immediately handed the memorial to Zhu Li, who took it and immediately opened it. His smile widened, and he burst into laughter. "Hahaha..."

"The Jin Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom, actually retreated and ran away immediately after seeing the Yuan Mongolia Kingdom and the Liao Kingdom defeated, hahaha..."

An excited Zhu Li unleashed a tremendous aura, causing a gust of wind to rise throughout the Imperial Garden. He then raised his hands in a gesture of assailancy, causing the flower petals on the ground to float to the surface. Zhu Li excitedly began to display his immense power.

Suddenly, all the petals gathered into a large sphere with a radius of one meter, which rotated above Zhu Li's head.

Zhu Li suddenly shouted, and the flower balls suddenly scattered, filling the entire Imperial Garden. Flowers filled the sky, and everyone was overjoyed.

Zhu Li suddenly ordered, "Pass down the order: every city Earl Zhang passes through on his return journey must give Earl Zhang a warm welcome. Everyone in each city must come out to greet him, and the welcoming procession must stretch for ten miles outside the city! Hmm... Deng'er's contribution this time was also significant; he should be treated equally!"

"Yes!" A guard immediately began to relay the order to draft the imperial edict.

Zhu Li suddenly added, "Well... As the capital, the capital city should set a good example. Send down the order to prepare a welcoming ceremony immediately. The welcoming procession should extend twenty li outside the city!"

"Yes!" Another guard immediately left to relay the order to draft the imperial edict.

At this moment, Zhang Xingfeng, along with dozens of generals and several thousand guards, was heading towards the capital.

Now they are heading to the third city on their journey – Mingyang City!

At this time, they were still about ten miles away from Mingyang City when suddenly a general shouted, "Earl Zhang, look, look quickly! Outside... outside..."

Zhang Xingfeng and Hong Zhu immediately got out of the carriage and stood on it, looking ahead. Suddenly, Zhang Xingfeng and Hong Zhu gasped. What did they see?

They saw two long dragons, two long dragons made of people, winding and stretching all the way to Mingyang City. Zhang Xingfeng and Hong Zhu looked at each other in shock. This, this, this is the welcoming ceremony? The previous two cities did not have this!

Zhang Xingfeng and his group were unaware that Zhu Li's orders had just arrived, and the first two cities had not yet received Zhu Li's orders when they received Zhang Xingfeng.

A ten-mile-long line of people—what an exciting scene! Zhang Xingfeng and his men were somewhat moved, but they could only lead their guards toward the welcoming procession.

"May I ask, is this Earl Zhang, Commander Zhang?" a loud voice suddenly rang out. One of Zhang Xingfeng's guards immediately replied in a clear voice, "Indeed, Earl Zhang, Commander Zhang!"

Suddenly, the entire dragon began to jubilate.

The sounds of music and shouts filled the air. Every person welcoming Zhang Xingfeng looked at his guard with reverence. Helpless, Zhang Xingfeng could only dismount from his carriage and ride alongside Hong Zhu and the others to receive the welcome.

Zhang Xingfeng's astonishing achievements were widely known among the people. They regarded this white-haired young man as a reincarnation of a war god, and they looked at Zhang Xingfeng as if on a pilgrimage, their faces filled with obvious reverence.

Petals fluttered, colorful flags danced, and laughter filled the air, keeping Zhang Xingfeng and his companions smiling.

Hong Zhu whispered to Zhang Xingfeng beside him, "Earl Zhang, why are they so enthusiastic? If every city below were like this, I'd be grinning from ear to ear by the time we got to the capital!" Hong Zhu continued, smiling and nodding to the people around him. Some beautiful young women, in particular, were giving these valiant generals radiant smiles.

General Hong Zhu, who was still unmarried, was naturally dizzy with excitement.

Zhang Xingfeng secretly scanned the area with his Spiritual Sense and discovered that all the guards were laughing, each one seemingly drunk, constantly laughing and waving their hands. Meanwhile, Zhang Xingfeng, caught in the eye of the storm, began to act shamelessly.

With a slight movement of his hands, Zhang Xingfeng instantly enveloped his face with Chaos Power, creating a small 'phantom' Law Technique. To outsiders, it appeared that Zhang Xingfeng was smiling at the people. In reality, however, Zhang Xingfeng had completely immersed his mind in the Purple Gold Yuan Venerable and begun cultivating the 'Fire Tempered Body'.

The Samadhi True Fire began to circulate according to the "Six Revolutions Profound Body Art." Wisps of Samadhi True Fire began to emanate and immediately began to rotate within the Five Elements Foundation Formation, forming a faint glow.

As the fibers inside the muscles begin to burst, the faint light formed by the Samadhi True Fire immediately begins to nourish the broken fibers like water. The muscle fibers seem to radiate new vitality and reorganize again. In this way, slowly, the body begins to be transformed.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Xingfeng finally managed to make a muscle on his right elbow faintly glow white.

Suddenly, Zhang Xingfeng felt someone touching him. His mind immediately returned to normal. Zhang Xingfeng dispelled the 'illusion' Law Technique and looked at Hong Zhu, who had touched him. Hong Zhu saw Zhang Xingfeng and said, "Earl Zhang, we've arrived in the city. Why are you still laughing? Aren't you tired?" As he spoke, Hong Zhu rubbed his stiff face.

Zhang Xingfeng hesitated slightly, but then laughed and said, "Hmm... Tired? That shows a person's skill. How could I possibly be tired? Since you've helped me so much, I'll lend you a hand!"

Zhang Xingfeng unleashed Chaos Power from his hands, which instantly circulated throughout Hong Zhu's body, and of course, also soaked his face with Chaos Power.

Hong Zhu was stunned, because he felt that his Internal Cultivation had suddenly broken through the sixth level and reached the seventh level. Moreover, his face was no longer stiff and had become so comfortable. Hong Zhu stared blankly at Zhang Xingfeng. He knew that all of this was caused by Zhang Xingfeng.

Zhang Xingfeng smiled slightly and rode his horse into the city.

As Hong Zhu had predicted, every city sent welcoming processions stretching for miles. The guards no longer considered this a pleasure; their facial muscles had become almost completely stiff, and they could only make a 'smile' expression now.

On this day, they were finally about to reach the capital. They were relieved that once they passed the capital, they would no longer have to laugh like that. But to their shock, when they were still thirty miles away from the capital, they saw a 'dragon of people' stretching as far as the eye could see.

A general, his voice hoarse, asked General Li beside him, "General Li, we saw it from thirty miles away. Tell me, just how long is this line of people?"

General Li, standing beside him, rubbed his stiff face and said with a wry smile, "It seems there's at least a twenty-mile-long line of people. As expected of the capital, the welcoming ceremony is much more grand than in other cities!"

Although all the guards felt bitter inside, their faces were still full of bright smiles.

Finally, they arrived in front of the welcoming party. Zhu Li was standing at the very front, smiling broadly as he looked at Zhang Xingfeng and the others who were coming. His smile was so bright, as if he were seeing a beloved person.

"Earl Zhang, I have been waiting for you for two hours!" Zhu Li suddenly laughed.

Zhang Xingfeng and his group were all taken aback. Zhang Xingfeng smiled bitterly to himself, "Zhu Li, you know exactly when I arrived. Why wait two hours? This... this... isn't this making me owe you a favor?"

Upon hearing this, some generals thought to themselves, "The Emperor is truly treating Earl Zhang with great courtesy. He waited for two hours; it's truly touching!" The Emperor is of such high status that others are always waiting for him, never for others. Yet this time, he waited for Zhang Xingfeng for two hours—two hours! That's from early morning until noon!

Hong Zhu chuckled to himself, "The Emperor really knows how to win people's hearts!" He glanced back at Zhang Xingfeng, which was hard to tell whether it was a bitter smile or one of gratitude, and Hong Zhu's smile immediately spread.

"Earl Zhang, you have rendered a great service to our Ming Dynasty this time! Come, let's return to the palace together!" Zhu Li said, warmly taking Zhang Xingfeng's hand and leading him onto his imperial carriage. On the carriage, Zhu Li still held Zhang Xingfeng's hand, waving and smiling at the people below!

This time, Zhang Xingfeng didn't try any tricks; he simply smiled and waved to Zhu Li.

Zhang Xingfeng finally understood the pain that Hong Zhu and the others were going through. After walking twenty miles, Zhang Xingfeng clearly felt the soreness in his muscles. It seemed that he hadn't trained his facial muscles enough. Zhang Xingfeng secretly decided that the next time he practiced 'Fire Tempered Body', he would start to temper his facial muscles.

Zhang Xingfeng thought things would be much better once he arrived in the capital, but he was wrong. The entire capital was now a sea of joy, with everyone excitedly shouting, singing, and cheering for peace, for the prosperity of the country, and perhaps also for the security of their own lives.

Anyway, everyone had a great time, and many shops in the capital even started offering discounts that day, resulting in business being several times better than usual.

Perhaps this is what is meant by 'universal celebration'!

Zhang Xingfeng, however, could only be dragged to the palace by Zhu Li. Now that the war was over and Lang Feng's marriage was on the agenda, everything seemed to be looking up...

Advertisement: If you think the history of the Qing Dynasty is pathetic, watch "The Guangxu Emperor's Reign" and you'll feel much better!

A very good book, The Romantic Kings and Nobles by Manatee Xiaobai.

Many readers have said that Tomato's VIP progress is too slow. Please be understanding, Tomato's exams start on the 1st. During the exam period, I've been writing one chapter every day, which is already quite good. I hope everyone can be patient for a few days. Once the exams are over, my writing speed will immediately increase!

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