Zhang Dalong Seizes Power!

"Was it some country bumpkin she met on the march? Or one of your Divine Phoenix Army soldiers? Don't tell me she was carrying a barbarian's bastard?"

"Ha ha ha!" Xia Weiyang had been laughing smugly when, in the next instant, Luo Shenhuang suddenly said, "It's Ding Hao's!"

"What did you say?" Xia Weiyang's smile instantly froze on her face!

Luo Shenhuang explained, "Back on the battlefield, Ding Hao charged into the enemy formation and carried me out of the barbarian army's encirclement. But I was poisoned by Man Potian's aphrodisiac poison, and Ding Hao helped me purge it. What I never expected was that after only one night, I actually became pregnant!"

Upon hearing this.

Xia Weiyang's smile vanished, and her expression began to darken!

As though she had not noticed, Luo Shenhuang continued, "But I heard from Ding Hao that you imprisoned him in the inner palace for more than three months. You wanted him nearly every day, yet there wasn't the slightest movement in your belly!"

"So you said there was something wrong with Ding Hao's seed, called him useless for failing to get you pregnant, and in a fit of rage demoted him to Death Row Camp..."

"Stop talking!" Xia Weiyang suddenly roared, her face dark as thunder!

Yet Luo Shenhuang ignored her and continued, "Now it seems the one with the problem isn't Ding Hao. It's you, Xia Weiyang!"

"Could it be that you, Xia Weiyang, have committed too many wicked deeds, and Heaven already made sure you would have neither sons nor grandsons?"

The moment Luo Shenhuang finished speaking, Xia Weiyang's face had already turned utterly grim, unprecedented killing intent surfacing in her eyes.

She nearly growled, "Luo Shenhuang! You're courting death!!"

"Courting death?"

Luo Shenhuang stroked her lower belly, a resolute expression appearing on her face!

Before she knew she was pregnant, courting death was nothing more than courting death!

She had already destroyed the Northern Barbarians and fulfilled her dream of defending home and country. Other than being fated to meet Ding Hao but not destined to stay with him, she had no regrets!

But now!!

She was carrying Ding Hao's children—and they were twins!

At this moment, these two new lives gave her new purpose!

She could die as a subject, but what about the two children in her womb?

They had not even entered this world. Were they supposed to go with her?

She could not die!

For the sake of her two children, she had to live—live well!

Thus, she completely suppressed the blind loyalty to the throne, as Ding Hao would call it. Her expression became firmer and more determined than ever before!

"Xia Weiyang, let me tell you!"

"Before I returned to court, I had already arranged everything!"

"If I suffer the slightest harm upon this return to court, Ding Hao will immediately lead the Divine Phoenix Army in a counterattack against Great Zhou. The Divine Phoenix Army I built with my own hands can destroy the Northern Barbarians, and it can just as easily turn around and destroy Great Zhou!"

Hearing these blatant words of rebellion, utterly without concealment.

Xia Weiyang became even more furious. "Bastard, you truly intend to rebel!"

"Hmph! When the ruler drives her subject to rebellion, the subject has no choice but to rebel!"

Luo Shenhuang snorted coldly. The iron-blooded, murderous majesty of a commander filled the imperial study, pressing Xia Weiyang's imperial aura faintly into the inferior position!

It truly embodied the saying—merit towering high enough to overshadow the ruler!

Xia Weiyang's face had long turned livid, but in the next instant, she sneered.

"Heh heh, Luo Shenhuang, do you think you're the only one who prepared a contingency!"

"Let me tell you too—I planted a piece on your Divine Phoenix Army chessboard long ago!"

To her surprise, Luo Shenhuang said directly, "Zhang Dalong, right?"

"Oh, so you knew?" Xia Weiyang was startled and uncertain, but then she shook her head. "Even if you knew, it's useless. In the end, you never moved against the Divine Phoenix Army's fiercest general, did you!"

"Before having you brought back, I gave him a secret Imperial Edict, ordering him to open it three days after your departure and receive its command!"

"If nothing goes wrong, he will open the Imperial Edict today. Once he receives the command, he will take the position of commander of the Divine Phoenix Army and seize control of the Divine Phoenix Army you built with your own hands. Of course, there may be those who refuse to submit, but I have ordered that all dissenters may be executed!"

At this point, Xia Weiyang regained her smug expression. "Hmph, once Zhang Dalong takes control of the Divine Phoenix Army, let's see whether you, a commander with no army, still have the capital to threaten me!"

"Is that so? It is indeed a fine plan, but I bet Zhang Dalong will fail!"

Luo Shenhuang spoke with complete certainty, but Xia Weiyang dismissed it with disdain!

Fail?

Zhang Dalong was known as the Divine Phoenix Army's fiercest general. In terms of strength and prestige, aside from Luo Shenhuang herself, he ranked first in the Divine Phoenix Army!

If he stepped forward to take command, he would surely receive a hundred responses to a single call. How could he possibly fail!

But Xia Weiyang could not be bothered to keep arguing with Luo Shenhuang. "Fine, fine, fine!"

"Then let us wait and see whether Zhang Dalong will fail!"

With that said.

Xia Weiyang ordered Luo Shenhuang taken into the inner palace and placed under temporary house arrest!

At the same time, Duan Yun Pass on the northern frontier, where the Divine Phoenix Army was stationed.

Ever since Luo Shenhuang had been taken away, the entire Divine Phoenix Army had been restless and anxious over the past three days. Countless soldiers had been sharpening their blades, the air heavy with the sense that mountain rain was coming and the wind had filled the tower!

Yet compared to this grim atmosphere in plain sight, even fiercer undercurrents surged in the unseen shadows!

Mad Dragon Camp, the commander's main tent.

Before dawn had broken, at the instant the rooster crowed, Zhang Dalong—who had spent the entire night sleeplessly pacing back and forth—suddenly stopped!

He decisively unfurled the Imperial Edict he had received from Wei Tong three days ago!

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Empress decrees: Zhang Dalong, commander of the Divine Phoenix Army, is hereby appointed commander of the Divine Phoenix Army, to take control of the Divine Phoenix Army. Any who refuse to submit shall be deemed rebel forces and slaughtered on the spot!"

Huff, huff!

After reading the Imperial Edict, Zhang Dalong was electrified, his breathing turning rapid!

Commander!

He had become commander!

And he was an official commander, personally appointed by the court and bearing the imperial seal!

"Wahaha, I, Zhang Dalong, have finally—made it through!"

In the end, Zhang Dalong could not hold back a burst of wild laughter!

Only after laughing for who knew how long did he restrain his smile and shout, "All soldiers of Mad Dragon Camp, gather for this general... no, for this commander!!"

In no time, twenty thousand Mad Dragon Camp soldiers assembled on the drill ground within the camp!

At once, Zhang Dalong produced the Imperial Edict and had it read aloud. For a moment, all twenty thousand Mad Dragon Camp soldiers erupted in excited uproar!

"Soldiers, I, Zhang Dalong, have received the Empress's command and become the new commander of the Divine Phoenix Army. As my old subordinates, so long as you support me, this commander will never treat you poorly!"

"But now, there will surely be some blind rebels within the Divine Phoenix Army who refuse to acknowledge me, Zhang Dalong, as commander!"

"So now, this commander needs you to clear away the obstacles and slaughter the rebels for me!!"

Zhang Dalong spoke with righteous conviction, wearing the face of loyalty!

Mad Dragon Camp had been cultivated by Zhang Dalong himself. Even if it had not been, with the Imperial Edict before them, they could only follow him!

Thus.

Everyone in Mad Dragon Camp shouted in unison, "We swear to follow Commander Zhang unto death!"

"Good!"

Zhang Dalong's expression shook, and he immediately issued his first military order.

"The entire army will move out at once! Follow this commander to Death Row Camp and execute the first rebel—Ding Hao!!"