Chapter 710

The "you all" in these words was addressed to the ministers upon the court of Great Qin.

"Your Majesty! This minister is willing to go."

At this moment, Shang Yang stepped forward.

"Very well! Hearing Zhang Han, you shall be responsible for coordinating with Lord Shang."

Hearing Ying Zheng knew Shang Yang's strength and immediately nodded in approval.

Great Tang, Great Ming Palace.

"Your Majesty, joyous news. The Grand General of the Left Captain has, in accordance with the established plan, emerged into the northern desert and taken the Hetao region.

Now the Hetao region no longer belongs to the Great Yuan."

Shangguan Wan'er had no time at the moment to bother with the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking.

Since the war with Great Yuan began, Di Renjie had been overseeing the overall situation at the front.

Although she, Shangguan Wan'er, was in the rear, with such an empress, she had to worry about many matters.

She had also been keeping close attention to the war reports.

Having now received the victory report from the front, she immediately rushed to Wu Zetian's sleeping quarters to report to the empress.

She did not expect that Her Majesty the Empress was at this moment sitting before her dressing mirror, staring blankly at the light and shadow of the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking.

She kept muttering,

"I so wish I could put everything down, go up to the top of Qinglong Peak, and wait for you to return…"

"…"

Shangguan Wan'er, who had been overjoyed moments ago, now had her smile frozen stiff.

Her Majesty had truly gone mad with obsession.

She had clearly never even met Ximen Wudi, had she?

Clearly the Qinglong Society had given no face to Great Tang, no face to the empress, and had nearly wiped out the Bu Liang Ren in one go, had she?

Why then did Her Majesty grow ever more deeply infatuated, so that whenever the Heavenly Dao Golden Ranking or the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking mentioned Ximen Wudi,

she would fall into this strange state?

Shangguan Wan'er was powerless to complain, yet could not refrain from reporting the military news.

She could only give a dry cough.

Whether it was because Wu Zetian was too absorbed, or for some other reason,

that cough did not bring her back to her senses.

"Your Majesty…"

Shangguan Wan'er looked around, found that the palace maids in the sleeping quarters were all outside, and could only set aside propriety.

She stepped forward, took Wu Zetian's head in her hands, and forcibly brought her back to her senses.

"Eh? Wan'er? When did you come in? Is there something you need?"

When alone with Shangguan Wan'er, Wu Zetian never referred to herself as zhen.

At this moment she also used the tone of a friend, acting as though she had not seen Shangguan Wan'er in a long while.

Shangguan Wan'er could not help wanting to sigh to the heavens — she had clearly reported to the empress on the Youzhou war situation just that morning, had she not?

She could only suppress the urge to complain, and Shangguan Wan'er said,

"Your Majesty! The Grand General of the Left Captain, Su Dingfang, has led the Left Captain and Right Captain in accordance with the established plan and conquered the Hetao region.

Now south of Yinshan, there is no longer any land for Great Yuan to graze its horses."

The border between Great Tang and Great Yuan was marked by Yinshan and Hetao.

North of Yinshan and Hetao lay Great Yuan; south of them lay Great Tang.

It was only that Yinshan was in Great Tang's hands, while Hetao had fallen into Great Yuan's hands from many years prior.

Hetao was the sole exceptional treasure land beyond the frontier where one could both farm and graze, and crucially contained several cultivation-resource mineral deposits.

Moreover, Great Yuan could gather troops and horses here to directly invade the northwestern Erzhou.

Therefore, since Tie Muzhen's accession, he had committed heavy forces to Hetao.

Over these years, Great Tang had never for a moment ceased wanting to recover Hetao, yet had ultimately been unable to do so.

Now, because Tie Muzhen coveted Guobeizhen and wished to take the Yinyue Dynasty, he had actually mobilized the Hetao army.

Thus giving Great Tang an opening to capture this place.

"Oh! Very good!"

Though Wu Zetian said "very good" with her lips, in truth she showed little reaction.

"Your Majesty… what reward should be bestowed upon Grand General Su?"

Shangguan Wan'er was at a loss — such an important matter, and this empress still paid it no heed.

Now Shangguan Wan'er increasingly felt that this empress seemed to be herself, rather than the woman before her eyes.

"The conquest of Hetao is indeed a matchless merit.

If Su Dingfang can hold this place, then grant him the title of Duke of a State!"

Wu Zetian finally came to her senses and directly bestowed the title of Duke of a State.

In Great Tang, the title of Wang Jue was granted only to members of the imperial clan.

For ministers of other surnames, the highest noble title was Duke of a State.

Now Su Dingfang had earned the title of Duke of a State in a single battle — enough to show how important Hetao was.

It also showed that this empress, though appearing utterly indifferent, in fact still had it somewhat at heart.

Shangguan Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief and said again,

"Then, since Hetao has already been taken, the defensive line at Yinshan is also nearly complete.

Whether to notify Di Renjie and the frontline generals, to prepare a counterattack against the Great Yuan and drive them out of the Great Tang Realm."

These past few days, Great Tang had deliberately shown weakness to the enemy, not only ceding the Northwest Erzhou, but even handing over all of Youzhou.

Although this was a stratagem, in the eyes of the common people it was nothing less than the loss of national territory.

Because of this, the censors of the Censorate had impeached Di Renjie more than once, and even impeached her, Shangguan Waner.

Now that the established objective had been achieved, it was time to cast the net, and Shangguan Waner was naturally impatient.

"No rush, no rush!"

Wu Zetian stretched lazily, and only when Shangguan Waner was about to explode did she say,

"Over in Youzhou, has the Great Yuan and Xuanxinzheng Sect decided a victor yet?"

At Guobeizhen, the fighting had only just begun — how could a victor have been decided?

Although Great Tang had openly withdrawn from Youzhou, it had not relaxed its intelligence on Guobeizhen in the slightest.

"Not yet! Mu Huali and his men made contact with Xuanxinzheng Sect, and were then driven down the mountain by people of Xuanxinzheng Sect using an illusion formation.

Then, according to experts, over at Lanruo Temple, it seems there is a top-tier expert engaging Yan Chixia."

Shangguan Waner replied immediately.

"Well then, that's exactly it! Since no victor has been decided, there's no need for us to rush."

Wu Zetian said with a light smile.

"Then what about the Northwest Erzhou, or rather, Yanmen Pass?"

Youzhou could wait, but Yanmen Pass could not.

Shangguan Waner had ultimately failed to notice that the plan she herself had drawn up had overlooked Yanmen Pass.

Fortunately, Di Renjie had promptly dispatched Yuchi Zhen and others to plug this gap for her.

But now that the plan had already succeeded, Yanmen Pass and even the Northwest Erzhou should be recovered.

"Aside from Guobeizhen, or rather Youzhou, everywhere else that needs to act, act — drive those Great Yuan wolf cubs back for me."

Wu Zetian was, for once, domineering again.

"Yes! I obey the decree!"

Shangguan Waner joyfully accepted the decree.

Great Yuan, Imperial Court.

At the start of the southern campaign, the entire Imperial Court was still in a festive mood.