Martial Cultivator

The Northern Frontier military report was sent back to the Divine Capital with the highest-level urgency. For some reason, this time they did not choose the Ministry of Works’ wooden bird transmission, but instead used the message-relay method from the early years of Great Liang.

The courier soldiers rode on horseback, passing through relay stations along the way, changing horses but not riders, rushing toward the Divine Capital station after station. This was not an efficient method to begin with, but fortunately, although the Ministry of Works had long since developed wooden bird transmission, the relay roads of the Great Liang Dynasty had not been abandoned. Instead, they had been preserved as a backup, which allowed this Northern Frontier report to be successfully delivered to the Divine Capital.

The courier delivered the message to the Ministry of War. After the Minister saw it, although he had already known its contents, he still hurried without pause to send it to the imperial city.

Half a day later, the entire Divine Capital, from streets to alleys, knew the news.

The Northern Frontier army won a great victory, crushing the demon race army of two hundred thousand and beheading the commanding general, Liu Xiang.

This great victory could be ranked among the top three in the more than two hundred years of the Great Liang Dynasty. What was interesting was that the commanding general of this victory was precisely that academy woman, Xie Nandu, and the last victory that could also be ranked among the top three had likewise been commanded by Xie Nandu.

In other words, in over two hundred years of Great Liang, famous generals had emerged in great numbers, but most, when facing the demon race, could only barely maintain a defensive stance. Someone like that woman, who in just a few years had already won two battles significant enough to establish her position in the military, had never appeared before.

In the Imperial Study, the Crown Prince looked at the battle report in his hand, his face full of joy. The one attending at his side was not the young eunuch Li Shou, whose status had also been rising, but the current mistress of the inner palace, the Crown Princess Consort of the Eastern Palace, Wu Xinyue.

Wu Xinyue ground ink and looked at the young man before her, who had grown a bit taller again, and said softly, “Your Highness, there are no outsiders here. If you want to laugh, you can.”

Hearing this, the Crown Prince had just begun to grin, but quickly restrained the corners of his mouth again. He turned and looked at Wu Xinyue with some worry. “There’s a bit of trouble.”

Wu Xinyue understood immediately and smiled. “Your Highness doesn’t know how to reward her?”

The Crown Prince sighed. “Yes. Two great victories, both unprecedented military achievements in Great Liang. Based on these merits alone, promoting her immediately to Great General of the Northern Frontier wouldn’t be excessive. But at her age, can she convince the masses?”

Wu Xinyue asked, “That’s your only concern? You’re not worried that her achievements overshadow the ruler, making her difficult to handle in the future?”

The Crown Prince shook his head and smiled. “We’re all family. I’ll have to call her sister-in-law in the future. And any woman my elder brother approves of cannot be some treacherous sort. No matter how great her achievements or how much power she holds, it should be fine... If only Elder Brother could come and discuss it with me. With a single word from him, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.”

At this point, the Crown Prince looked at Wu Xinyue with some expectation. She shook her head. “The Lord Warden Commander has been in seclusion for a long time and has not yet emerged. It seems that won’t happen anytime soon.”

The Crown Prince suddenly had an idea. “Then how about asking Great General Ning for his opinion?”

Wu Xinyue said helplessly, “Has Your Highness forgotten the report that Great General Ning submitted earlier? He already has such intentions. If Your Highness asks, he will certainly go along with it. But now is clearly not a good time to change commanders. The report also says that although this battle was won, the demon race will certainly raise troops again. At this critical moment, it is most dangerous. Your Highness must not act rashly.”

The Crown Prince nodded. “That makes sense. But merit must be rewarded. Otherwise, it will chill the hearts of the soldiers.”

Wu Xinyue did not speak. She only looked at the Crown Prince before her with a smile. These days, she had been learning how to properly be a Crown Princess Consort, and had gained some experience. The most important point was that in matters of state and war, she could participate in discussion and offer her opinions, but when it came to the final decision, she must remain silent and let the man before her decide for himself.

The Crown Prince glanced at Wu Xinyue, knew she would not speak further, then thought for a moment and said with a smile, “Then let her first serve as a deputy general in the General’s Office. Command authority will still rest with Great General Ning. The affairs of the Northern Frontier are something they are more familiar with, so we shouldn’t interfere blindly.”

The affairs of the world were just like this. They could be difficult, and the difficulty lay in outsiders always liking to meddle in the work of experts. But they could also be simple, outsiders should simply remain silent and leave matters to those who understand them.

Wu Xinyue smiled slightly and said sincerely, “Your Highness is wise.”

......

......

After the common people learned of the military report, they hung lanterns and spread the news to one another. It was not the festive season, yet at this moment, every household in the Divine Capital hung up large red lanterns.

He Liang also bought two large red lanterns and hung them in front of the bamboo building. After hanging them, He Liang examined them carefully for a while and nodded repeatedly, feeling that they were very festive.

But after looking, He Liang quickly returned to practicing his fist techniques in front of the bamboo building. Every word his master had said was like gold and jade, such as cultivation being like rowing upstream - if one did not advance, one would fall behind.

There must be no slacking.

Persisting for a day or two was not a skill, but if one could keep at it for ten or twenty years, even the dullest person would surely achieve something.

As He Liang practiced his boxing, he thought about these words, his gaze firm.

Soon, after finishing one round of boxing, He Liang was drenched in sweat. He was about to begin another round when two figures suddenly appeared not far away. One of them was a middle-aged martial artist - it was none other than Song Lian, the current Commander of the Divine Capital.

As for the other, he looked unfamiliar. His face was pale and his steps slow; at a glance, it was clear he was severely injured.

”Commander Song?”

He Liang had just spoken when Song Lian interrupted him, “Little He, has your master not come out of seclusion yet?”

He Liang shook his head, somewhat puzzled. “What happened?”

Song Lian did not answer, only looked at the man beside him with an ugly expression.

That man suddenly dropped to his knees. Just as he was about to speak loudly, Song Lian pressed down on his shoulder and shook his head.

No one knew what stage Chen Chao had reached in his seclusion inside the bamboo building. If something went wrong and disturbed him, what the consequences would be, no one could say.

The man closed his eyes briefly and could only speak in a low voice, “Lord Warden Commander, I am a disciple of the Myriad Heaven Palace. Entrusted by Elder Li Yu of the Discipline Hall, I have come to the Divine Capital to deliver a message to the Lord Warden Commander. The Saintess of our Myriad Heaven Palace, Zhu Xia, has met with disaster. I ask the Lord Warden Commander to save her.”

His voice was not loud. As he spoke, he did not expect the Lord Warden Commander inside the bamboo building to hear him, but since he had traveled so far to come here, the message had to be delivered.

After saying this, the man stared toward the bamboo door for a long time. In the end, he still did not see it open. His vision went dark, and he was about to collapse.

Song Lian reacted quickly and caught him, but before he could even raise his head, he heard a creak from that side.

Looking up, he saw no figure.

Only the bamboo door wide open.