Heading South to Pick Lychees!

Hah!!

Listening to his surging vitality and blood, Ding Hao could not help letting out a cry of amazement!

One had to know that gathering over a thousand points of vitality and blood from corpses would have taken him half a day, yet this tiny Blood Qi Pill could accomplish it with ease!

It was clear that pills truly were premium goods, far from ordinary!

Of course, he could not swallow all the Blood Qi Pills in one go. Otherwise, the immense vitality and blood would burst his body apart!

To that end, Ding Hao circulated the Heavenly Tyrant Body Art to speed up the refinement!

Ding Hao now possessed over a thousand points of comprehension. Compared to the beginning, his comprehension had already increased by more than a hundredfold!

And under hundredfold comprehension, even the second layer of the Heavenly Tyrant Body Art, which had once seemed obscure and profound, was now within sight!

Ding Hao understood that as long as he proceeded step by step, it would not be many days before he underwent a tremendous transformation!

Ding! Vitality and blood +1280!

Ding! Vitality and blood +1050!

Ding! Vitality and blood +1122!

Yet just as Ding Hao was breaking through and transforming within the Death Row Camp—

At that time, in the Great Zhou Imperial City.

An urgent military rider bearing an eight-hundred-li emergency dispatch raised a battle report high as he entered the city.

As he galloped wildly on horseback, he shouted, "A great victory at the northern border! A great victory at the northern border! The northern border has won a great victory!!"

Everywhere he passed, countless citizens of the imperial city erupted into uproar and clamor!

At last, the military rider raced all the way to the palace gates before dismounting, still holding the battle report aloft as he ran and shouted!

He raced unobstructed into the Golden Palace Hall, then stopped, dropped to his knees, and shouted, "Reporting to Your Majesty the Empress, a great victory at the northern border!"

Empress Xia Weiyang, seated high upon the dragon throne, suddenly trembled, and a flash of delight appeared on her lovely face!

The civil and military officials standing on either side of the Golden Palace Hall were likewise shaken!

"Bring up the battle report at once!"

At Xia Weiyang's urging, the eunuch Wang Weitong, who had been attending at the side, hurried down from the hall and personally presented the battle report to Xia Weiyang.

Xia Weiyang impatiently opened it to read, and her eyes grew brighter the further she read!

After finishing it, she somewhat lost her composure and slapped the dragon desk.

"Good!"

"After our Great Zhou Divine Phoenix Army seized the northern barbarian passes, it won another great victory in the Tianman Mountain Range. Of the Northern Barbarians' three hundred thousand main forces, more than two hundred thousand have been annihilated by the Divine Phoenix Army before and after, with fewer than a hundred thousand remnants escaping!"

The moment these words fell, the entire Golden Palace Hall erupted into noise and astonishment!

The civil and military officials were all fired up, and many ministers immediately stepped forward to congratulate her loudly.

"Heaven blesses the Great Zhou Dynasty! The Divine Phoenix Army was able to achieve such a tremendous victory entirely because Your Majesty the Empress deployed troops with mastery and governed the realm wisely!"

"Indeed! Your Majesty the Empress has only just ascended the throne, yet she has dealt a crushing blow to the northern barbarian tribes that have plagued our Great Zhou Dynasty for centuries. You truly possess the bearing of an Empress for the ages!"

"Long live the Empress! One can imagine that under Your Majesty's leadership, Great Zhou will surely enjoy peace and prosperity, growing stronger with every passing day!"

"We congratulate Your Majesty the Empress! Your Majesty's achievements rival those of the founding ancestor, and your name is destined to resound through the ages, your fragrance enduring for ten thousand generations!"

"..."

Praise! Praise without the slightest stinginess!

Acclaim! Acclaim so extravagant it rained flowers from the heavens!

All kinds of praise and acclaim echoed throughout the Golden Palace Hall!

Seated high upon the dragon throne, Xia Weiyang felt as though a spring breeze had brushed her face, and an intoxicated, satisfied expression could not help appearing on her face!

Until a voice clearly different from the rest rang out.

"Your Majesty, this great victory over the Northern Barbarians was entirely due to our Great Zhou Divine Phoenix Army, a force fit for kings, especially Army Commander Luo Shenhuang!"

"Both brave and resourceful, she is already a Grandmaster at such a young age. In light of this great victory, I hope Your Majesty will richly reward Commander Luo and the Divine Phoenix Army's soldiers!"

The many civil and military officials around him were all stunned. Looking at the newly promoted Minister of War, every one of them had admiration in their eyes!

Good heavens!

As expected of this year's new Top Scholar. Though he was a replacement appointed later, his head was just as iron-hard as that fellow who had been demoted into a death-row prisoner!

Sure enough, these words made Xia Weiyang's expression turn somewhat displeased!

What displeased Xia Weiyang even more was that although many officials below had said nothing, they clearly deeply agreed with such words!

Yet within the Golden Palace Hall, it was not convenient for her to fly into a rage. She smiled kindly and said, "Naturally. I have never been stingy with rewards for meritorious officials!"

"Someone, send the detailed battle report to the imperial study. I will personally issue my reply!"

A short while later, Xia Weiyang left the Golden Palace Hall and arrived at the imperial study.

The moment she sat down in the imperial study, she said coldly to Wei Tong, "Convey my decree. Dismiss the newly appointed Minister of War!"

Wei Tong seemed to have expected this and asked, "What crime shall be charged?"

Xia Weiyang pondered for a moment. Seemingly unable to think of a suitable charge, she said impatiently, "Convict him of entering the Golden Palace Hall with his left foot first during this morning's court session, thereby breaking protocol. Throw him into the imperial prison first, then execute him later!"

"Yes!"

Wei Tong nodded, and Luo Shenhuang then began reviewing the detailed battle report!

Unlike the brief victory report, however, as Xia Weiyang read this detailed report, her brows had already drawn together from the very beginning!

"Eh?"

"Why is it this Ding Hao again? He has actually won three major military merits in succession? Not only does he want me to grant him a special pardon, he even wants to be promoted to deputy commander?"

Xia Weiyang raised her brows. Though she knew full well that this Ding Hao could not possibly be the one she knew, the name alone greatly displeased her.

So without even giving it a second thought, she picked up her brush and directly rejected the request.

Yet as she continued reading, Xia Weiyang's brows furrowed ever tighter!

Once she had finished the detailed battle report, she suddenly snapped it shut.

She gave a mocking laugh. "Heh, my dear best friend truly loves her soldiers as if they were her own sons! Every line of this battle report seeks merit for the generals beneath her command, yet she does not mention herself by a single word!"

"Does she think that by doing this, I will forget that she holds great power in her hands?"

"Does she think that this will make me unable to reclaim her military authority?"

"Does she think that someday, she will be able to sit in my seat as well?"

Question after question came in a tone already cold enough to pierce one's bones!

Wei Tong, standing to one side, did not answer, because he had long known of Xia Weiyang's wariness toward the close friend who had helped her ascend to the throne.

Even this time, when she had taken the initiative to send Luo Shenhuang to lead troops against the northern barbarian tribes, she had intended to use the Northern Barbarians' strength to weaken the Divine Phoenix Army. There might even have been a scheme of killing with a borrowed knife within it!

What she had not expected, however, was that the Divine Phoenix Army would be so valiant that, with less than half the enemy's troops, it had forcibly crushed the Northern Barbarians!

"Wei Tong, do you think this war... should continue?"

Xia Weiyang suddenly asked.

Wei Tong was startled and bowed. "Your Majesty is the ruler of Great Zhou. If Your Majesty wishes to fight, then it should be fought. If Your Majesty does not wish to fight, then it should not be fought!"

"You!"

Xia Weiyang was clearly dissatisfied, but she did not ask further. Instead, she said, "Go. Have your spies investigate and see how the officials and common people are discussing this in private!"

"Yes!"

Wei Tong nodded, then quickly departed. Only after a full day and night did he return, presenting a large number of secret letters to Xia Weiyang!

Xia Weiyang accepted the secret letters and read through them.

After reading them, those beautiful eyes of hers became colder and more intimidating than ever before!

"Fine, very fine! What a pack of foolish officials and unruly commoners—they all deserve death!"

It turned out that whether in the imperial city or in other cities across Great Zhou, news of the Divine Phoenix Army's great victory at the northern border had long since fermented and boiled over!

Countless people were discussing the Divine Phoenix Army's bravery and praising Luo Shenhuang's divine might. The fervor of those discussions had long surpassed that surrounding her, the reigning Empress!

At the side.

Wei Tong sighed inwardly. This was what they meant by merit so great it shook the ruler!

Especially when Luo Shenhuang had encountered an Empress as calculating and ruthless as Xia Weiyang, she was destined to meet no good end!

Sure enough, the next moment—

Xia Weiyang sneered. "The Northern Barbarians dwell in bitter cold lands. After this battle, their barbarian army no longer poses a threat. As the heavenly kingdom above all realms, Great Zhou naturally cannot commit the calamity of exterminating an entire race. Let this war end here!"

"Also, if I remember correctly, the lychees in the Southern Ridge should be in season now, should they not? Lychees are fine things—fresh, sweet, and juicy. They may be used to reward the three armies, but they are difficult to transport and are best picked and eaten fresh!"

"Mm, draft an Imperial Edict. Order Divine Phoenix Army Commander Luo Shenhuang to immediately halt the northern campaign and lead the entire Divine Phoenix Army south to pick lychees as a reward!!"

The moment this decree was issued, even Wei Tong, who had been prepared, was left stunned!

Good heavens!

The northern campaign was on the verge of success, yet she was ordering the army south to pick lychees!

It had to be said, only you could do it, Great Zhou's number one Empress Weiyang!

"By your command!"

In the end.

An Imperial Edict left the imperial study and was sent to the Northern Barbarians' front line!!