Chapter 159: The First Virtuous Empress of All Ages: Inventory Complete, Truly Deserved!

At this deeply moving moment, that detestable voice rang out again, heedless of life or death.

Great Qing, during the Qianlong era.

Qianlong had been quite frightened the last time, but seeing the Celestial Veil praise the Ming Empress, the sour feeling in his heart could no longer be suppressed.

Especially when he saw the words "First Empress of All Ages", his jealousy grew.

"Hmph, First Empress of All Ages?"

Qianlong waved his folding fan and whispered to He Shen,

"I see no more than this: a woman with large feet, worthy of the title 'First Empress of All Ages'? Our Great Qing's Empress Xiaozhuangwen is the one…"

He was cut off mid‑sentence, suddenly recalling the Celestial Veil's warning, and quickly shut his mouth.

But the bitterness in his heart he simply could not swallow.

His eyes flicked, and an idea sprang to mind.

He couldn't insult outright, but he could 'objectively evaluate'.

So Qianlong cleared his throat and, in a self‑appointed 'fair' tone, said:

"Empress Ma's virtue I also admire. However… historical records state that Empress Ma, born in poverty, never bound her feet and was born with a pair of large feet."

"At that time, such a trait was probably not considered graceful. In our realm, women prized the three‑inch golden lotus; if Empress Ma were in our court, she would likely…"

He deliberately spoke vaguely, yet the words 'large feet' and 'ungraceful' spread clearly throughout the Wan Chao timeline.

In an instant, Wan Chao fell into dead silence.

Then—

Zhu Yuanzhang exploded with rage.

"We damn your ancestors for eighteen generations!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned blood‑red, his feet stomping as he cursed, his voice cracking,

"Aisin Gioro Hongli! You dog‑like Tartar! Let me tell you, you're finished! Your Great Qing is finished!"

"I will issue an edict now, raise a million troops, annihilate your Great Qing! Dig up all the ancestral graves of the Aisin Gioro clan, pull out your forebears' bones and grind them to ash! You…"

He was so furious his speech became incoherent, only repeating 'crush the bones and raise the ash.'

Empress Ma, however, seized him, gently shook her head, and in a warm voice said, "Zhong Ba, don't get angry. So what if the feet are large? I have never regarded large feet as a disgrace."

"These feet of mine have trekked the mountain paths of Haozhou, the embankments of Poyang Lake, the streets and alleys of Yingtian. They have stood beside Zhong Ba in conquering the world, beside Biao Er in growing up; they are solid, standing tall as the heavens. I am proud of these feet."

She lifted her head, gazed into the void, and her voice was calm and powerful:

"It is those who deem tiny feet beautiful and take pleasure in mutilating women's bodies who are truly ugly, truly shameless. Their hearts are ten thousand times dirtier than my feet."

These words were neither servile nor arrogant, but rang out with authority.

Across the Wan Chao timeline, cheers erupted.

Ying Zheng: "Well said! Our bodies, hair, and skin are given by our parents; how can that be ugly? Valuing tiny feet is a barbaric custom!"

Liu Bang: "Empress Ma is mighty! So what if the feet are large? Large feet stand firm! Unlike those petite‑footed women who topple at the slightest breeze—what good are they!"

Liu Che: "A woman's beauty lies in virtue, not in shape. Judging beauty by feet is beyond foolish."

Li Shimin: "Guanyin maid, did you hear? This is true motherly virtue for the world! One whose heart embraces the world would never mind a mere foot."

Zhao Kuangyin: "Ridiculous! Pathetic! Our civilized Chinese nation, yet later generations deem foot‑binding beautiful—truly a regression of civilization!"

"Empress Ma's large feet tread the Great Ming's realm; those tiny feet tread the omen of a fallen nation!"

Cao Cao laughed heartily: "Well said, wonderfully said! Mengde only today understands what 'motherly virtue for the world' means! Empress Ma, please accept my bow!"

Zhuge Liang solemnly: "A hen‑cock heralds the morning, a sign of the household; valuing tiny feet signals a nation's decline. Empress Ma's words awaken the deaf and the mute. I, Liang, am humbled."

……

The Wan Chao emperors all staunchly supported Empress Ma.

Qianlong, frightened, turned ashen, and fell to his knees with a thud:

"I… I misspoke! I have spoken nonsense! I beg Empress Ma's forgiveness, I beg Lord Hongwu's forgiveness!"

The voice of the Celestial Veil sounded coldly: "Aisin Gioro Hongli, you have been warned repeatedly yet do not change; I have lost patience."

"From today, I will diminish your Great Qing's fortunes by fifty years. You yourself will lose thirty years of life, be plagued by illness, and spend the rest confined to a bed."

"If you dare speak recklessly again, I will cause the Aisin Gioro line to be cut off immediately."

Before the words finished, a visible black vapor descended from the Celestial Veil and entered Qianlong's body.

Qianlong let out a harrowing scream, vomited blood on the spot, fainted, and his visage aged visibly before the eyes.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" He Shen and the others scrambled in chaos.

In the Wan Chao timeline, no one felt sympathy.

Zhu Yuanzhang kept cursing: "Serves him right! Reduce his life by thirty years? Too lenient! He should be beheaded outright!"

Empress Ma pulled him back: "Zhong Ba, enough. Getting angry at such a life is not worth it."

……

After the interlude, the Celestial Veil restored its solemnity.

A torrent of golden light erupted, and the voice of the Celestial Veil thundered, more magnificent than ever before:

"The Filial and Compassionate High Empress Ma, whose virtue matches Heaven and Earth, whose merits endure for millennia, whose grace benefits all peoples, whose benevolence reaches a hundred generations."

【Celestial Veil Special Grant, rewards as follows:

Reward One: Two hundred years of longevity.

Freely distributable, allowing its bearer to witness the everlasting prosperity of the Great Ming and the happiness of all peoples.

An unprecedented, mountain‑thick golden pillar of light pierced the fabric of time, descending into the Nanjing Imperial Palace of the Hongwu era.

The light column enveloped Empress Ma, flowing into her and Zhu Yuanzhang's bodies.

Empress Ma felt her whole being become light and agile; her white hair turned black, wrinkles vanished, and she reverted to the appearance of a woman in her thirties.

Zhu Yuanzhang was the same; the hidden wounds and lingering pains from years of campaigning were swept away.

Empress Ma felt something in her heart and said softly, "I, your humble wife, am willing to divide this longevity essence into several portions."

Of these, sixty years shall be split evenly with Zhong Ba, each receiving thirty years; I wish to grow old together with Zhong Ba and watch a hundred years of the Great Ming.

The remaining one hundred and forty years shall be given to the children. Biao, as Crown Prince, bears a heavy burden, receiving forty years; I wish my son health and longevity, to inherit the great governance.

The remaining one hundred years shall be divided equally among the princes and princesses, each receiving six or seven years; I wish the Zhu lineage to endure and share familial harmony.

A flash of golden light across the heavens answered.

Reward Two: two Youth‑Preserving pills.

Taking them can keep the face ageless and the body ever youthful.

Two pills, the size of longan pits and swirling with golden light, drifted down.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma exchanged a smile and each swallowed one.

In an instant, their appearances froze at their prime: Zhu Yuanzhang was heroic and robust, Empress Ma gentle and graceful, truly like immortal companions.

Reward Three: a set of books on the Cabinet system, plus a guide on treasure‑note economics.

Note: the Cabinet can assist state affairs, treasure‑notes can facilitate the economy. Possessing these two, the Ming dynasty's reign can be extended by three hundred years.

Two sets of golden‑gleaming books floated down. Li Shanchang, Liu Ji and other civil officials received them as if they had obtained priceless treasures.

Reward Four: a world map, plus a map of the Wa nation's gold and silver mineral deposits.

Note: the Wa nation's Shijian Silver Mountain and Sado Gold Mountain have astonishing reserves.

The massive world map unfolded, accompanied by a detailed Wa mineral map.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the annotations "Shijian Silver Mountain, silver reserves one‑third of the world's" and "Sado Gold Mountain, gold as abundant as a mountain," his eyes widened.

Reward Five: blueprints for a steam engine, plus a blueprint for a treasure‑ship for navigation.

Note: the steam engine can power massive vessels, the treasure‑ship can cross the great oceans.

With these two, the Ming navy can traverse the four seas, its might spanning the world.

The final two scrolls of blueprints drifted down.

The Minister of Works and the Chief Master Craftsman knelt to receive them, their hands trembling.

Reward Six: a ten‑fold increase in the nation's grain output, plus favorable weather for the next hundred years.

With this heavenly grace, repay their lifelong devotion to the people.

A hundred years without disaster or famine, granaries abundant, the populace safe and healthy. The Ming reign shall prosper forever!

When this grant was issued, the entire Ming realm's heavens and earth changed color!

Across a thousand miles of fertile fields, rice waves rolled, wheat ears weighed heavy; crops that normally needed months to mature were harvested in an instant!

Ten years of grain could be obtained in a single year!

The Yellow River cleared, the Yangtze River calmed, the four seas were smooth, and the weather was favorable!

The common folk knelt, the mountains shouted "Long live!"; the soldiers gripped their spears, tears hot in their eyes.

"Heaven's grace is boundless! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Empress! May the Great Ming endure ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years!"

The mountain's roar and the sea's surge shook the nine heavens.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked to the heavens and laughed loudly, his voice like a great bell: "Excellent! Excellent! With heaven‑bestowed divine artifacts and a century of abundance, our Great Ming shall become a dynasty for all ages!"

He turned, grasped Empress Ma's hand tightly, and together they faced the heavens, bowing solemnly with three kowtows and nine bows.

"Zhu Yuanzhang (Ma Xiuying), together with the Ming people, thank the immortals for their generous gifts! Heaven's grace is boundless, the Ming shall remember forever!"

Behind them, Crown Prince Zhu Biao, Prince of Yan Zhu Di and other princes and imperial grandchildren, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and other founding heroes, Li Shanchang, Liu Ji and other capable ministers, as well as the city's populace and tens of thousands of soldiers, all knelt together in proper reverence:

"Thank Heaven's grace! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Empress! May the Great Ming last ten thousand years! Ten thousand years!"

Above the heavens, the golden light gradually faded.

Empress Ma and Zhu Yuanzhang stood side by side, receiving the people's homage, their silhouettes turning in the light into an eternal scroll.

Beside the scroll, a seven‑character quatrain slowly emerged, shining through the ages:

In a chaotic world, we encounter life and death as a trust; under the phoenix sun and moon we pledge the rivers and mountains.

Carrying a cake to rescue her husband, love burns like fire; weaving clothes and soothing the scholar, love is like a song.

In the six palaces there is no strife, virtue turns to rain; the people receive the grace as waves.

The phoenix crown and rosy robe shine for a thousand ages; the eternal empress illuminates the galaxy.

When the poem ends, the light disperses.

The final sound of the heavens resounds, its lingering echo long and reverberating through eternity:

"The most virtuous empress of all ages, the filial and compassionate Grand Empress Ma, truly deserving of her name."

"The list of virtuous empresses is complete here, the heavens temporarily close."

"May all women of the world possess the virtuous qualities of Empress Ma; may all couples be as deeply bonded as Zhu and Ma; may the world's prosperity be like the everlasting flourishing of Great Ming."

"Gentlemen, take care."

The voice drifted away, the heavens returned to calm, the sky washed clean, endless miles without clouds.

Across the ages of the empire, the crowd looked up, silent for a long while.

In their hearts only four characters remained:

The sole empress of all ages, truly worthy of the name.

The Hongwu Plane, Nanjing Imperial Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang held tightly the rejuvenated Empress Ma, gazing at the azure sky, his spirit soaring.

"Sister, we have gained several more decades of longevity, we have eternal youth, we have heaven‑bestowed divine artifacts, we have a century of abundance…"

"We will, together with you, witness the Great Ming's hundred‑year brilliance!"

"We will, together with you, watch Biao ascend the throne, watch Di become a vassal, watch our grandsons and great‑grandsons, generation after generation, pass the Ming empire on forever!"

Empress Ma leaned against his chest, smiling and nodding, her eyes full of happiness and anticipation.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince Zhu Biao was rolling up his sleeves, ready to display his grand ambitions.

The Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, was already staring at the gold and silver mines of Japan on the world map, his eyes gleaming with sharp light.

The Great Ming, thanks to a virtuous empress and heaven's abundant grace, was about to usher in an unprecedented, supremely glorious golden age.