Twelve Golden Edicts!

As Xia Weiyang's rage boiled over, the atmosphere in the Golden Palace Hall became tense and oppressive. None of the civil or military officials even dared to breathe too loudly!

Had they not seen what happened a few days ago? That newly appointed Minister of War had been thrown into the death cell just because he stepped into the Golden Palace Hall with his left foot first. For the past two days, no one had dared to take their first step with their left foot!

In this situation, who would dare speak?

"Speak!"

"Why aren't you speaking?"

"Are you all fucking mute?"

Suddenly, Xia Weiyang's icy gaze swept across the civil and military officials below. Every official touched by her gaze felt a chill seep through their entire body!

At that moment, the Minister of Revenue felt it was time to grovel. He hurriedly stepped forward and fawned, "Your Majesty, this minister believes..."

Before he could finish, Xia Weiyang's expression turned fierce. "Oh? You really dared to speak? Guards! This man roared within the Golden Palace Hall and showed no respect for his sovereign. Drag him out and behead him!"

"Ah?"

The Minister of Revenue gaped wide-eyed, as though five bolts of lightning had struck him. Even when the sword-bearing guards dragged him away, he still had not come back to his senses!

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I supposed to do?

In the end, with a miserable scream, the Minister of Revenue... died!

Only after killing one man did Xia Weiyang's fury ease considerably. "My dear ministers, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

At this point.

Only then did someone dare to speak. "Kill her! Defying an imperial decree is a capital crime!"

"That's right! If Luo Shenhuang is not killed this time, where will Your Majesty's authority be?"

Yet Xia Weiyang was clearly dissatisfied with this. She was not stupid.

Luo Shenhuang held military power in her hands. If mishandled, they might force her into rebellion. If the Divine Phoenix Army rebelled, let alone the Northern Barbarians, even Great Zhou would be unable to bear it!

Fortunately, the Left Prime Minister spoke up then. "Your Majesty, this old minister believes that perhaps Luo Shenhuang defied the decree only because it never reached her. Your Majesty should issue another decree ordering the Divine Phoenix Army to cease hostilities!"

"Good!"

"Then convey my order! Issue a Golden Edict to Luo Shenhuang, commander of the army, ordering the Divine Phoenix Army to halt its northern campaign and return to the capital!"

Xia Weiyang nodded and gave the order.

In mere moments, a Golden Edict representing the Empress's personal presence was dispatched to the Northern Barbarian front at the fastest possible speed!

And when the court messenger carrying the Golden Edict caught up with the Divine Phoenix Army.

The main force of the Divine Phoenix Army had already swept across a thousand li and plunged deep into Northern Barbarian territory!

More than a hundred thousand soldiers marched with the momentum of tigers, ready to swallow mountains and rivers for ten thousand li!

"The Empress of Great Zhou commands the Divine Phoenix Army to cease its northern campaign and return to the capital!"

When the court messenger blocked the army's path with the Golden Edict in hand, the faces of all hundred thousand-plus Divine Phoenix Army soldiers turned livid and ugly!

Especially Luo Shenhuang at the very front, whose face was filled with indignation!

Another order to stop the war!

Could she truly not see that the Divine Phoenix Army had both the confidence and ability to utterly destroy the Northern Barbarians?!

"Luo Shenhuang, seeing the Golden Edict is like seeing Her Majesty the Empress herself. Why have you not swiftly received the decree?!"

The court messenger widened his eyes and urged her on, Golden Edict in hand.

For a moment.

Ding Yishan, Zhang Dalong, and the other generals all looked toward Luo Shenhuang. Even Ding Hao in the Death Row Camp raised his brows as he watched.

Clearly, whether to accept it or not rested entirely on Luo Shenhuang's decision!

"Get lost!"

"I will not accept this decree. Go back and tell Xia Weiyang that I am determined to destroy the Northern Barbarians!"

"If she is unhappy about it, she can send someone to take my head afterward. But before that, the northern campaign will never stop!"

Luo Shenhuang abruptly drew her blade, and a flash of silver light instantly gleamed.

With one slash, she split the Golden Edict in the messenger's hand with precise speed. The force of the blade frightened him pale, leaving his liver and gallbladder shattered!

Only after every soldier had passed before him with mocking looks.

Did he finally come back to his senses and scramble back to court in a miserable panic!

When the news returned to court, Xia Weiyang naturally flew into another rage!

But after her fury subsided, she had no choice but to continue issuing Golden Edicts, each one more urgent and harsher than the last.

"The Empress of Great Zhou issues a second Golden Edict, ordering the Divine Phoenix Army to return to the capital at once. Those with merit shall be rewarded, and those with guilt shall be punished!"

"The Empress of Great Zhou issues a third Golden Edict, ordering the Divine Phoenix Army to return to the capital immediately. Those who defy the order shall be severely punished without exception!"

"The Empress of Great Zhou issues a fourth Golden Edict, ordering the Divine Phoenix Army to return to the capital at once. Otherwise, they shall be treated as rebel forces!"

In only a few days.

The Great Zhou court sent the Divine Phoenix Army a total of twelve Golden Edicts!

Luo Shenhuang was utterly disappointed by this. "My dear best friend is really treating me as that Yue Fei Ding Hao spoke of, isn't she?"

But she had long known how miserable Yue Fei's end had been. Thus, these twelve Golden Edicts not only failed to frighten her, but instead made her even more determined to press north and destroy the barbarians!

"Pass down the order. If any more Golden Edict messengers arrive, there is no need to bring them before me. Detain them directly. It does not matter if you behead them!"

In the end.

Luo Shenhuang issued the order, completely cutting off the obstruction coming from the Great Zhou court!

This was because, as they drew ever closer to the Northern Barbarian Royal Court, the Northern Barbarians' counterattacks grew fiercer and fiercer. To prevent accidents, she could not afford to be distracted!

Sure enough, when the Northern Barbarians learned that even twelve Golden Edicts from the Great Zhou court had failed to stop Luo Shenhuang's northern advance!

They knew that the Northern Barbarians were facing an unprecedented catastrophe of annihilation!

At once, the Northern Barbarian Royal Court issued an order for a desperate resistance.

The King of Northern Barbarians even commanded Man Potian, Commander of Northern Barbarians, that no matter the cost, he had to block the Divine Phoenix Army outside the Royal Court.

Thus, Man Potian, Commander of Northern Barbarians, did not even have time to recuperate from his severed-arm injury. He worked day and night, constantly issuing military orders.

As a result, throughout the Northern Barbarians.

Every tribe, every military force, every city—every citizen became a soldier!

Thus.

The next thousand li proved difficult even for the Divine Phoenix Army!

In the end, even the Death Row Camp received all manner of combat orders: frontal charges, storming passes and breaching cities, ambushes, night raids, and more.

For the death row prisoners of the Death Row Camp, such battles had originally been no different from seeking death. If they fought all the way through, not even one in ten would survive!

But this time was different, because the Death Row Camp had—Ding Hao!

One had to know.

The death row prisoners in the Death Row Camp now regarded Ding Hao as their idol and model.

They did not ask to win the three great military merits as Ding Hao had. They only hoped to gain one kind of military merit, so that their lives could finally see the light!

Ding Hao did not disappoint them either. Whenever the Death Row Camp faced battle, he always charged at the forefront, taking on the role of a general!

He led the Death Row Camp in charges!

He led the Death Row Camp in taking cities!

He led the Death Row Camp in sneak attacks!

As a result, the Death Row Camp, which the Divine Phoenix Army had always treated as cannon fodder, displayed unprecedented ferocity. Whether charging, storming passes, or laying ambushes, they completed every mission exceptionally well.

Quite a few death row prisoners even truly earned the two military merits they had dreamed of—"First to Ascend" and "Break the Formation." Once this war was completely over, they would already have a chance to cast off their death row status and regain their innocent identities!

"Ding Hao!"

"Death Row General!"

This brought Ding Hao's prestige within the Death Row Camp to its peak!

Even the title "Death Row General" spread through the Divine Phoenix Army without anyone needing to promote it!

After all, in many people's eyes, if Ding Hao had not received "special treatment," Luo Shenhuang would have promoted him to a true general long ago!

Although "Death Row General" was not an official military rank recognized by the court, it was a rank acknowledged in the hearts of countless Divine Phoenix Army soldiers!