33: Chapter 33 Memorial on Dispatching the Troops

Huang Ying lowered her head in reverence.

Zhuge Jinyu withdrew her finger, as if she had merely brushed away a speck of dust.

She turned and walked out of the cell.

"Clean this up."

"Yes, Prime Minister."

Stepping out of the imperial prison, the afternoon sun was somewhat blinding.

Zhuge Jinyu narrowed her eyes slightly and looked up at the sky.

It was clear blue, without a single cloud for miles.

"Sir."

She murmured in her heart.

"Hmm?"

"Xiao Yu, for that kind of traitorous scum, just kill them and don't take it to heart."

"I won't."

Zhuge Jinyu shook her head gently, her lips curling into a tender smile.

"With you here, Sir, Jinyu is not afraid of anything."

"It's just that the Northern Expedition is imminent, and the road ahead is fraught with danger."

"Sir."

"You will always be with me, right?"

The person in the mirror was silent for a moment.

Then, that blurred voice rang out clearly, carrying a hint of a smile.

"Of course."

"I am your angel investor, after all."

"If I don't accompany you to the end and see this world unified, wouldn't I be losing out big time?"

Zhuge Jinyu smiled.

Under the sunlight, the Female Prime Minister's smile was cold and stunningly beautiful.

She strode towards the depths of the palace, which symbolized the pinnacle of power.

"I will go to request an audience with His Majesty now."

"We shall launch the Northern Expedition."

In her hand, she clutched a thin sheet of white paper.

The paper contained only a few hundred words, each one written with blood and tears, every line deeply incisive.

At the very top of the white paper, three bold, sweeping characters were written.

"Memorial on the Expedition."

Three months later.

The northern suburbs of the Great Qian Imperial Capital.

Banners fluttered, and armor gleamed ominously.

Countless phalanxes of cultivators stood as still as a forest, their weapons reflecting the sun, casting a cold glare that pierced the sky.

Behind the cultivator phalanxes were endless ranks of ordinary soldiers.

Zhuge Jinyu had been in power for six years; the population of Great Qian had doubled, and the number of cultivators had increased by more than thirty percent.

Especially after the ancestor of the Sima Family of Great Wei went into seclusion, many cultivators who had originally wavered between Great Qian and Great Wei joined Great Qian, tempted by Zhuge Jinyu's generous treatment.

On the high platform, Zhuge Jinyu stood proudly.

She had changed from her usual elegant, moon-white Prime Minister's robes into a suit of black armor with gold patterns.

Her snow-white hair was tied up high and secured with a simple jade hairpin, which only served to highlight her cold and stunning appearance, her brows exuding a compelling heroism.

The vermilion bird feather fan was held gently against her chest, her fox-like eyes sweeping over the boundless army formations below the platform.

Here were the elite new troops with the surnames Su and zhuge, whom she had personally built and who had grown up in the Nourishing Sanctuary.

There were battle-hardened veterans who had experienced the eastern rebellions and the pacification of the southern border.

There were also elite cultivators conscripted from various prefectures and counties.

For this Northern Expedition, she had gathered almost all the manpower, resources, and wealth that Great Qian had accumulated over the years.

If one Northern Expedition failed, then there would be a second.

If the second failed, then a third.

There would always be a day of success!

Liu Dou sat on the dragon throne behind her.

His face showed a hint of nervousness, but more than that, it showed trust in his sister-in-law and a touch of delight.

If Zhuge Jinyu truly succeeded in the Northern Expedition, his name would at least be able to add a few more strokes to the history books.

Huang Ying and the civil and military officials were lined up below the platform, with varying expressions.

Zhuge Jinyu took a deep breath.

She suppressed the faint unease in her heart.

She stepped forward and channeled her spiritual power.

Her cold voice spread throughout the entire Great Qian capital.

It clearly entered everyone's ears.

"The late Emperor Liu Xuan passed away midway through his great cause."

"Today the world is divided into three, and Great Qian is exhausted; this is truly a critical moment of survival."

"Yet in our Great Qian, the ministers guarding the palace do not slacken within, and loyal warriors risk their lives without."

"Now, our Great Qian follows the mandate of Heaven above and the will of the people below, with elite troops and ample provisions."

"It is time to launch the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, clear the world, and restore the rivers and mountains of our Han people!"

Her voice suddenly rose.

"In this battle, we advance and do not retreat!"

"If we do not break Great Wei, we shall never return to the court!"

"All troops, listen to my command!"

Just as she raised the vermilion bird feather fan, in the instant she was about to utter the words "launch the expedition."

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!"

An indescribable, muffled roar erupted from deep underground without warning.

It was not thunder, yet it surpassed thunder.

Even the entire earth trembled violently with this sound.

The ground was not shaking slightly, but was surging, arching, and tearing violently, like boiling water.

"What is happening? Is this divine punishment?"

"No, run! It's an earthquake!"

The location of the Great Qian capital had a complex geological structure; it should be said that earthquakes were not a rare phenomenon.

However, an earthquake of such magnitude was something most people had only seen once in their lives.

Even the reviewing stand where Zhuge Jinyu stood groaned under the unbearable strain of the violent shaking before collapsing with a roar.

If not for Huang Ying's cultivation, the little Emperor would likely have perished on the spot.

Below the platform, the well-trained army formations were instantly thrown into chaos.

Cultivators at the lower Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation stages were no different from ordinary people in the midst of such a cataclysm.

Many people were swallowed by the huge fissures that suddenly opened beneath their feet before they could even react.

In the imperial city, where the population was concentrated and many buildings existed, the situation was even more tragic.

The tall city walls were directly turned into dust under several rounds of seismic waves, kicking up clouds of dust that reached the sky.

Bustling markets and exquisite buildings turned into ruins in a matter of breaths.

Flames ignited from the collapsed houses, and thick smoke billowed, blocking out the sky.

People fled their homes, crying out, only to be buried by collapsing roof beams or swallowed by cracks in the ground the next moment.

Even those at the Golden Core stage could only protect themselves in such a natural disaster.

Only in places where great cultivators at the Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation Realm were stationed could commoners and low-level cultivators barely survive.

However, the spiritual power of these great cultivators was not inexhaustible.

And this earthquake was becoming increasingly violent, with no sign of stopping.

Huang Ying's spiritual power erupted, protecting Liu Dou and the important officials within it.

When the violent tremor struck, Zhuge Jinyu's delicate body swayed.

The vermilion bird feather fan cast a crimson curtain of light, barely protecting the elite soldiers.

Her face was deathly pale, and a significant amount of blood suddenly spilled from the corner of her mouth.

"Everyone, steady yourselves! Those at the Golden Core stage and above, try your best to save others!"

"Do not use large amounts of spiritual power; this earthquake is not right!"

Zhuge Jinyu clearly felt that after the earthquake began, the spiritual power originally rich in the world had become thin and chaotic.

As long as one used spiritual power, the turbulent spiritual currents surging through the world would constantly batter the cultivator's body.

"Heaven... abandons."

The commoners and cultivators of Great Qian... were as if abandoned by Heaven and Earth.

"Sir."

Zhuge Jinyu clutched the mirror to her chest.

"How could this earthquake be so violent?"

Su Chen's voice was grave.

"This is not a normal earthquake..."

The fantasy world is different from Blue Star.

The concentration of spiritual power in this world far exceeds that of Blue Star, where spiritual energy had just begun to recover.

Due to the existence of spiritual power, the energy contained in geological activities is beyond imagination.

His divine sense swept over the imperial city and discovered that the basic structure of the entire imperial city had completely collapsed.

"Xiao Yu, you must stop it immediately!"

"Otherwise, in less than half an incense stick of time, the entire imperial city, along with everyone here, will sink completely into the ground!"