Golden Seal Bestowed, Elite Troops Celebrate Their Glorious Feats

Outside the Handan Royal Palace, the bluestone paving in the square gleamed after last night's rain, reflecting the newborn sun on the horizon.

At the southern end of the square, Ying Zheng sat upright on a temporary platform atop the Danbi Steps, dressed in black ceremonial robes.

Behind him hung a Fu-Fu Screen, embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, and pheasants—the symbols of a ruler's supreme authority.

On either side of the Danbi Steps, ministers of rank, including Li Si and Wang Wan, stood in ordered rows. Purple and blue sashes hung from their waists, and the clink of their jade pendants sounded delicate yet solemn.

In the middle of the square, generals such as Meng Wu and Wang Jian stood with swords at their sides, clad in armor.

Meng Wu gazed at Zhao Cheng before the Danbi Steps.

The young soldier had joined him in the campaign against Han just half a year earlier. Now, clad in Black Armor and a red cloak, he stood tall and imposing as a mountain. His scales glinted with a boundless, tyrannical might. He seemed capable of blotting out the daylight.

He spoke quietly to Wang Jian beside him. "Half a year ago, outside Yang City County, when Meng Wei recommended him to me on the County Court's drill ground, I knew this lad was no fish in a pond.

"But I never imagined that before even a year had passed, he would have conquered both Han and Zhao and been enfeoffed as a Lun Marquis. Such progress may well be unprecedented."

Wang Jian nodded, his gaze resting on Zhao Cheng with a measure of awe.

To pacify Han and Zhao in a mere half year was a feat worthy of legend, quite possibly without precedent.

At the northern end of