Xu Tianran Urgently Summons Ju Zi Back to Ming Du, Pressuring Her to Bear a Child After Defeat

News that the Heaven Soul Northern Grain Route had been secured reached the Sun Moon military camp even before Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong returned to the Star Luo front.

Ju Zi was not surprised.

She stared at the words on the battle report—"supply route intact, main control formation-switching point disabled, twelve squads shifted to blockade"—and her fingertips lingered on the edge of the sand table for a long time. She already understood the combined strength of Tang Wutong and Huo Yuhao. Her defeat had not been undeserved, but she knew perfectly well that Xu Tianran would not accept a defeat that was "not undeserved."

Sure enough, the decree from Ming Du did not first ask about casualties, nor did it ask why she had changed the village massacre into a road blockade. Another Pregnancy-Test Soul Guidance Ring arrived in Ju Zi's hands together with an order summoning her back to Ming Du immediately to report.

The pregnancy-test ring was light, yet it felt like an icy snake. It urged the Empress to bear an heir while allowing the Inner Court to constantly monitor her physical condition—every moment of ovulation, even her blood flow and Soul Power fluctuations. Xu Tianran wanted control over every part of her.

Ju Zi looked at the ring and suddenly wanted to laugh.

The front line could not be left without its commander, yet Xu Tianran's decree remained absolute: the Heaven Soul Supply Route had to be taken within three days; the Empress was to return to Ming Du first and explain the defeat, while the deputy commander temporarily took charge of the front. It was not a discussion. It was a chain dragging her from the battlefield back into the imperial palace.

Ju Zi did not defy the decree. She handed the remaining affairs