Chapter 722: Star‑Night Angel Appears at Yubi, a Cascade of Triumphs Shocks the Ministers

Night fell, within Yubi City the temporary commander's residence.

The daytime clamor and sounds of fighting have been completely swallowed by the heavy night.

The summer wind, with its characteristic heat, whirls the fallen leaves in the courtyard, making them spin on the stone slabs and rustle.

Inside, Yuwen Ze removes his armor and puts on a plain, dark‑colored everyday robe.

He does not rest, but stands alone, hands behind his back, by the open window.

He looks up at the cold, hook‑shaped crescent moon in the night sky, his deep gaze filled with gravity and contemplation.

In his mind spreads a massive map of Great Zhou, silently moving the pieces of this war that sways the nation's fate.

If the Qi army truly retreats completely, the pressure on the Northern Border will be enormous.

Are Xiazhou and Lingzhou still in Great Zhou's hands at this moment?

Did A Xiong's Left Martial Guard, sent to aid, shed its last drop of blood in that meat‑grinder of tens of thousands, perhaps even over a hundred thousand men?

When will this grand chessboard of the world finally end, granting the people peace?

At this unsettlingly tranquil moment, a sudden burst of frantic, almost chaotic horse‑hooves erupts on the silent Changjie outside the residence!

"Ride! Eight‑hundred‑li express! Clear the way before the Imperial presence!"

Accompanied by a sharp whinny, the hooves brutally tear the night's silence, charging straight toward the commander's residence.

Yuwen Ze's eyelids flicker sharply; the keen instinct honed in the vortex of military and civil affairs tells them a monumental event has occurred.

Immediately, from outside the door comes Yang Langhui's extremely agitated, hurried report, breathless from the sprint: "Prince! Prince, open the door quickly! People from Chang'an have arrived! An envoy bearing the Grand Preceptor's urgent edict has come!"

Yuwen Ze snaps back to attention, his heart goes "thud".

The frontline news hasn't arrived, yet the edict from Chang'an is already here?

He whirls around, strides forward, and with a "Wham—" flings the door open.

Yang Langhui strides over the threshold, and behind him a eunuch‑clad, dust‑caked inner attendant hurries into the room.

The attendant is drenched in sweat, his headpiece askew, clearly having ridden day and night, exhausting several swift horses to reach Yubi.

Seeing Yuwen Ze standing in the room, the attendant can't even register his bone‑breaking fatigue from the relentless ride; he immediately "Thump" drops to both knees on the hard stone floor, respectfully performing the grand kowtow.

Yuwen Ze shows no princely airs, strides forward, personally extends both hands to help him up, and in a deep, urgent voice asks, "No need for formalities, Grandfather. The night‑riding—has something changed in the Chang'an court? Or has a mishap occurred on the Northern Border front? Read the edict at once!"

The attendant rises, panting heavily, yet the wind‑scoured, slightly cracked face can't hide the almost manic joy.

He gulps down saliva, clears his dry, smoky throat, solemnly pulls a bright‑yellow brocade edict from his chest, spreads it with both hands, and reads aloud:

"Great Zhou Emperor decrees: The foundation of the realm lies in securing the state. Prince of Ancheng Yuwen Ze, gentle and refined, also possessing commander's talent, stationed at Yubi, with outstanding merit…"

The preceding is an extremely formal, ornate diplomatic preamble.

However, as Yuwen Ze concentrates on listening, the attendant's voice suddenly rises, reciting the edict's core command:

"Henceforth, Prince of Ancheng Yuwen Ze is appointed as Chief Commander with Credentials and Inspector of Lingzhou! Assume the post immediately on horseback, no errors permitted!"

This appointment, like a precisely struck lightning, leaves Yuwen Ze frozen on the spot.

His usually unruffled eyes flash with extreme shock and bewilderment.

Inspector of Lingzhou?!

He was originally ordered to rush to aid Yubi at the eastern gate of Guanzhong, and now the enemy outside Yubi City has just withdrawn, the situation still unclear; why does his father suddenly issue such an urgent transfer, sending him across most of Guanzhong to the Northwest of Great Zhou, the most perilous battlefield confronting the Turkic People and Rouran—Lingzhou—to serve as inspector?!

Yuwen Ze snatches the edict from the attendant, staring fixedly at the jade seal, and urgently asks, "Appoint this prince as Inspector of Lingzhou? Lingzhou is a four‑battle zone, the very meat‑grinder of this Qi‑Rouran collusion! This sudden transfer—Grandfather, give me a straight answer: have the wars in Xia and Ling truly concluded?!"

The attendant, hearing this, can no longer restrain his joy; he nods heavily, repeatedly clasping his hands, his sharp voice echoing: "Your Highness, how delighted we are! Great Zhou's destiny flourishes! Chen Zhuguo truly is a deity among men, wielding troops like a ghost!"

"Your Highness may not know! Chen Zhuguo led troops to aid Xiazhou, outside Gancao City. Facing the Qi main force, he neither held his ground nor retreated. Relying on a terrifying formation and soldiers risking their lives, he engaged the Qi army in a head‑on slaughter on the plain! That battle beheaded over forty thousand Qi elite! Qi's Crown Prince Gao Xiaoyu and commander Ku Di Gan were beaten into discarding helmets and armor, even abandoning the central camp, fleeing north like dogs of a bereaved family!"

"Moreover! Chen Zhuguo also employed a clever stratagem, using the Turkic People to strike at the Rouran Royal Court's stronghold! Without shedding blood, he scared off the Qi forces within Lingzhou, and even the Rouran Khan Nuhe Ti on the steppe, who with tens of thousands of cavalry was outmaneuvered by Chen Zhuguo, forced to break camp overnight and flee back to the grasslands!"

"The Northern Border's peril, solved in a single battle! Great Zhou, a great victory!!"

This news, like a thunderclap shattering the sky over flat ground, exploded in the room.

Yuwen Ze first draws a gasp of icy air, his chest heaving violently. His warm, gentle face shifts from shock and bewilderment to extreme elation and pride.

After a brief hush.

"Hahaha—!" Yuwen Ze clutches the edict tightly, lifts his head, and erupts in a raucous laugh wilder than his father Yuwen Hu's, utterly unrestrained.

"Excellent! As expected of A Xiong! I knew there's no battle A Xiong can't win, nor any heart he can't read!" Yuwen Ze laughs to the point of tears, slams a hard fist onto the nearby desk, "Forty‑thousand heads! Driving back the Rouran! This battle, A Xiong, is worthy of deification, enough to keep Great Zhou's Northern Border peaceful for ten years!"