"Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace has returned from Wan City to report. He requests an audience with His Majesty!"
Lord Changping and Wei Liao exchanged a glance. Neither knew why the Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace had gone to Wan City.
Ying Zheng merely waved his hand. "Let him in."
"Before you came, victory reports kept pouring in. Zhao Cheng's exploits were recorded in the military dispatches, so I sent the Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace to Wan City with an order: if he could take Wan City swiftly, Zhao Cheng was to be ordered to capture Xinzheng that very day and destroy Han, as a warning to the other states!"
"Now that the Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace has returned to report, we can ask him how things stand."
The Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace strode into the hall. After bowing to Ying Zheng, he immediately congratulated him. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Heaven has bestowed upon you a divine general!"
Ying Zheng raised an eyebrow and studied the Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace. His delight seemed genuine, which eased Ying Zheng's mind a little.
He gracefully returned to his throne. "How did things go in Wan City? What is there to celebrate? Tell us."
The Chief of the Gentlemen of the Palace glanced at the chancellor and the Grand Commandant, seeming to sense the odd atmosphere in the hall.
After a moment's thought, he answered cautiously and truthfully. "A great victory at Wan City! I carried Your Majesty's military order there without pause, day and night, and arrived in four days."
"Yet when I reached Wan City, everything was orderly, from top to bottom. The whole army was in high spirits, with none of the signs of a