Chapter 716: Great Victory News, Yuwen Hu

"What are you panicking about! The sky hasn't collapsed yet!"

Yuwen Hu's complexion instantly darkened, and the terrifying pressure belonging to Great Zhou's top power minister descended like a mountain.

He cradled Chen Ji'an with one hand, and with the other he swung his robe sleeve sharply, shouting sternly: "Come in and speak! Where is this urgent report from?"

Gongyang Hui could not even bother wiping the bean‑sized beads of sweat from his forehead; he strode over the threshold, and with a "Thud—" both knees knelt before Yuwen Hu, raising the bamboo tube scented with strong gunpowder over his head with both hands.

His body trembled violently from extreme excitement, and even his voice changed pitch.

"Report to the Grand Preceptor! A great victory! A world‑shaking great victory!"

Gongyang Hui jerked his head up, and those eyes that usually held calculation and reason now burned with frantic joy; he strained his throat, almost using all his life's strength to roar:

"Chen Zhuguo at the Xiazhou border utterly crushed the Qi army! He slew over forty thousand enemies! Qi State Crown Prince Gao Xiaoyu and commander Ku Di Gan discarded helmets and armor, fleeing north in panic like dogs of a bereaved family! Rouran Khan Nuhe Ti withdrew without a fight, leading his troops to flee far!"

"The siege of Lingzhou is lifted! The siege of Xiazhou is lifted!"

"Weiguogong Chen Yan, one battle set the world right! Our Great Zhou Guanzhong Northern Border, from now on is as stable as Mount Tai!!"

This series of deafening victory reports, like thunderbolts striking consecutively from the nine heavens, exploded loudly within the previously oppressive Ya Ge of the Jin Prince's Mansion.

Time seemed to freeze absolutely at this moment.

"Clang."

Pei Suiwan's jade hairpin slipped from her head, striking the blue bricks with a crisp sound, yet no one paid attention.

She stared fixedly at Gongyang Hui, whose cold, aloof face was full of incredulous stupefaction.

Immediately, the taut nerve string that had been stretched for so long snapped completely in that instant.

An indescribable ecstatic joy and sense of relief flooded her like a breached dam.

"We won… my husband… he won…" Pei Suiwan's eyes instantly reddened, two streams of clear tears could no longer be held back, sliding down her exquisite cheek.

Du Shuying let out a long sigh, hugging the child while crying with joy, repeatedly chanting "May the Bodhisattva protect, may the ancestors protect."

And standing before them, Yuwen Hu, the iron‑blooded power minister who never flinched even as Mount Tai collapsed before him and who had once personally deposed an emperor, was stunned for three breaths upon hearing the words "slayed forty thousand enemies, lifted the sieges of the two states."

Even though he trusted Chen Yan's military talent immensely, even though he hoped Chen Yan could create miracles, he never could have imagined that A Yan's submission turned out to be such a brilliant, domineering, record‑worthy answer sheet that would be entered into Great Zhou's illustrious history!

With enemies on all sides and absolute numerical inferiority, beheaded forty thousand! Forced Rouran to retreat!

What a monster!

What a military prodigy!

"Hahahahaha—!"

Suddenly, Yuwen Hu burst into a roar that shook the roofs, an extremely bold, raucous laugh.

In this laugh there was no usual courtly gloom and scheming, only the purest, wildest exhilaration belonging to a generation's hegemon!

"Good! Fight well! Kill with relish!"

Yuwen Hu, excited, paced back and forth on the spot, not caring even as the hem of his dark ordinary robe fluttered in the wind.

He looked at the Chen Ji'an in his arms, who seemed also infected by the atmosphere and was babbling, and his eyes flashed with dazzling light: "Did you hear! Your father won! Your father made Great Zhou proud! Truly the one I, Yuwen Hu, have favored! Truly my tiger son!!"

Gongyang Hui, also moved to tears, said: "Grand Preceptor, not only that. According to the secret report from the accompanying embroidered‑clothing envoy, Chen Zhuguo not only crushed the Qi army on the front lines, but also employed a series of ingenious schemes, using the Turkic People to attack Rouran's Royal Court, which is the real reason Rouran was forced to retreat! Such stratagems are beyond the comprehension of ghosts and gods, truly playing the northern nomadic barbarians in the palm of one's hand!"

"What a use of leverage against force!" Yuwen Hu slapped his thigh hard, his eyes full of fervent admiration.

He understood the strategic significance of this all too well.

This battle not only secured Guanzhong, but also severely weakened Qi State, and caused Rouran and the Turkic People to forge a mortal enmity.

The northern balance was brutally split apart by A Yan's sharp blade!

After the excitement, Yuwen Hu's breathing, which had become slightly rapid from agitation, gradually steadied.

In just a moment, the ecstatic emotion in him receded like the tide.

In its place was an even more unfathomable, utterly cold‑hearted essence of a power minister.

He turned, gently handing the Chen Ji'an in his arms back to Pei Suiwan, who had not yet fully recovered from the excitement.

His movement was light, but his tone carried undeniable authority and concern: "Suiwan, Shuying, take the child back to the rear residence and rest well. Tonight, add dishes, let the whole household share the joy!"

Pei Suiwan knew that what the Grand Preceptor would handle next would be the political power play behind this world‑shaking war merit, capable of shaking the entire Great Zhou dynasty.

"Daughter‑in‑law (minister's wife) takes leave. May father be healthy, may Great Zhou endure ten thousand years." Pei Suiwan, holding Du Shuying, bowed deeply, and, cradling the child, respectfully exited the Ya Ge.

When the Warm Pavilion's door closed again, it cut off everything from the outside.

Yuwen Hu's gaze instantly became as sharp as a blade; he stared fixedly at the geomancy map of Guanzhong on the wall, his eyes like two swords piercing directly toward the positions of Xiazhou and Lingzhou.

"Although the siege of Xiazhou is lifted, the real war has only just begun." Yuwen Hu's voice was pressed low, yet carried a chill that could freeze blood, "Gongyang Hui, convey the king's command!"

Gongyang Hui immediately suppressed his smile, his expression solemn as he clasped his hands: "Please, Grand Preceptor, give the order."

"Immediately dispatch someone, bearing the king's token, to summon A Heng, the old Chen Zhuguo, and the merchant Chen Zhuguo!"

Yuwen Hu spoke at a breakneck speed, each word striking the ground: "Tell them to come to the Shufang of the Jin Prince's Mansion immediately for discussion! No one may shirk or delay!"