Chapter 598.3: The Grieving Ju Zi
News of their return instantly spread to the rest of the capital. Very soon, a soul engineer legion flew out from the center of Radiant City. It was apparent that they had been given special permission to fly.
Even though this was not Huo Yuhao’s first time seeing the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion, he was still very impressed by them.
Every single one of their soul engineers was wearing a thick human-shaped soul tool which could barely conceal their powerful auras. Compared to them, the beast lord-ranked soul engineer legions looked very juvenile.
The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion consisted of only Soul Douluo. Their hundred-man team were all eight-ringed Soul Douluo—or rather Class 8 soul engineers.
It was immensely frightening that the Sun Moon Empire was able to gather so many powerful soul engineers and put them in a regimented environment. They were essentially Xu Tianran’s trump card to anyone who tried to threaten the Sun Moon Empire. On top of that, Radiant City was continually improving and enhancing its defenses. Hence, Radiant City was also called the number one city on the entire continent.
Huo Yuhao waited quietly behind Ju Zi.
As the hundred soul engineers from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion descended from the sky, a soul engineer in a human-shaped soul tool stepped forward to bow and greet Ju Zi.
“War God Empress, His Majesty has an order for you. He wants you to lead all commanders and generals who are vice-commanders and above into the city. His Majesty will welcome all of you personally at the Palace. The rest of the three soul engineer legions shall remain here and await further orders.”
The soul legion commanders who were standing behind Ju Zi couldn’t help but reveal a look of displeasure after hearing what that soul engineer had said. After all, they had just returned victorious after destroying the Heavenly Soul Empire. Instead of being welcomed in a ceremonious way, they had only sent a soul engineer from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion to receive them. This was something they found hard to accept.
Upon sensing the dissatisfaction behind her, Ju Zi raised her hand to demand silence from them. Following which, she went down on one knee before acknowledging the order.
Afterward, Ju Zi removed the helmet of her human-shaped soul tool before passing it to Huo Yuhao, who was standing by her side. Following which, she led the vice-commanders and commanders into Radiant City.
That representative from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion immediately clarified, “War God Empress, His Majesty has granted special permission for you to fly in with the commanders under you.”
However, Ju Zi shook her head and said, “It’s okay. How can we fly in just like that after returning from a war? That would be very disrespectful to His Majesty. We will walk in. I am sorry that I will have to trouble all of you to walk in with me to see His Majesty.”
After finishing her sentence, she did not even turn her head as she continued walking in the direction of the Palace.
As they were only her personal guards, Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong naturally could not follow her. After all, Xu Tianran had already said that he only wanted the commanders and vice-commanders to enter the city. This meant that he did not want to see any soldier or guard enter the city. Hence, both of them could only wait here.
Of course, Ju Zi knew that Xu Tianran was not trying to ill-treat her. His decision was founded solely on safety considerations. The three soul engineer legions should naturally not be allowed to enter Radiant City right after returning from a battle. But because of this, Ju Zi could be vulnerable if a soul master from the Holy Ghost Church were to attack her now. Hence, Xu Tianran had sent the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion to protect her.
Of course, Ju Zi would not share her guess with the people around her. It was better that her commanders and vice-commanders were displeased with Xu Tianran. It would only be advantageous to her plan she.
After watching Ju Zi leave, Tang Wutong transmitted a message to Huo Yuhao. “What should we do now?”
Huo Yuhao revealed a faint smile and said, “Let’s just wait here. I’m sure Ju Zi will settle everything for us. When we returned to Radiant City, I could sense that she has become normal again. When she is in her usual state, she is definitely way better than us when it comes to military and political affairs. We should just let her handle the problem.”
Tang Wutong rolled her eyes and said, “It seems like you have a lot of trust in her.”
Huo Yuhao simply replied, “There are no permanent enemies. This time, she needs our help. Even if she were to disregard the friendship we had in the past, she would not do anything disadvantageous to us before our mission is accomplished. Besides, I have spread out my Spiritual Detection as much as possible. If she harbors any ill intentions against us, we can definitely react in time.”
“Okay.” Tang Wutong did not say any more words of jealousy.
One of the military officers who had been ordered to stay behind gave them instructions to rest up.
The soul engineer legions started to set up camp where they were. Normally, they would have to set up soul tool deployment areas and install their soul tools to prepare for battle. However, now that they had returned to the outskirts of Radiant City, there was no longer a need for those procedures. In fact, they might even be suspected of treason if they were to do that.
Inside the Sun Moon Empire’s Palace.
Xu Tianran was leading the minister and generals under him as he waited by the Palace Gates silently.
Ju Zi should have entered the city by now. However, she was still out of his sight. As he stared into the distant sky, Xu Tianran could not help but wonder why she had still not arrived.
At this instant, a representative from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion flew back and landed not too far from Xu Tianran. He quickly dashed over before kneeling before him.
“Your Majesty, the War God Empress has led the Imperial Dragon, Evileye Tyrant, and Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legions back to Radiant City. The War God Empress has decided against flying into the city out of respect for you. Hence, she will still need a fair bit of time before she arrives at the Palace.”
After hearing his words, Xu Tianran smiled to himself. Ju Zi, you have not disappointed me! It seems like you have not allowed your achievements to go to your head; I am very pleased to see that.
“Where did the War God Empress and the commanders enter Radiant City?”
The representative quickly answered Xu Tianran’s question.
Xu Tianran nodded as he turned around to face his ministers and generals. “Our War God Empress has been undefeated, and has once again conquered more land for our empire. She has achieved a lot, and deserves to be rewarded. It is also rare that she understands our etiquette, and chooses not to fly into our city. I want all of you to follow me and welcome her. We need to acknowledge the achievements of our army.”
“Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!” The ministers and generals cheered loudly in unison. At this instant, it was possible to tell that all of them had all sorts of expressions written on their faces. However, none of them dared to question what Xu Tianran had just said.
The conflict between the army and the Holy Ghost Church was not something which could be hidden. After all, news of how Ye Xishui had tried to ambush the army had already spread back to Radiant City.
Now that things had come to this stage, none of the ministers would support the Holy Ghost Church. After all, those evil soul masters were never well-liked among them.
It was needless to say what the generals felt about the Holy Ghost Church. After all, the War God Empress was one of them. Even though she was the Empress, she had helped secure countless victories for the army and the empire over the past few years. Now that the Heavenly Soul Empire’s land had been added to the Sun Moon Empire, the status of the army and the generals would most likely overtake that of the ministers. Hence, the support the generals and commanders had for Ju Zi would only increase as the days went by.
In fact, they were very impressed by how the War God Empress had volunteered to shoulder the responsibility for the soul engineers under her who had killed the evil soul masters from the Holy Ghost Church. In addition, she had even requested to be relieved from her appointment as the Marshal after that incident. How would she not be able to move these naive generals? Even the rich and powerful people within the Sun Moon Empire were now very supportive of Ju Zi.
They would definitely not have any objections now that Xu Tianran wanted to welcome the War God Empress personally.
Even though Xu Tianran mentioned that he was going to receive Ju Zi personally, they were not actually walking quickly towards her and her group of commanders. After all, it was going to be a few kilometers. However, it was not long before Ju Zi. who was dressed in her fiery red human-shaped soul tool, appeared in Xu Tianran’s sight.
Xu Tianran’s eyesight was very good. He could see very clearly that she was not wearing her helmet. Her fatigue was clearly written over her face, even though her eyes showed the determination she had within her.
It pained him to know that his Empress had suffered so much for him. This is my Empress! If only I could… She really deserves my love! She has been fighting so hard for my ambitions and for the empire. Yet I am still so wary of her.
Ju Zi, Ju Zi! Tell me, how is my heart not supposed to ache for you?
As this thought drifted across his mind, Xu Tianran quickened his steps as he moved forward to receive her.
Similarly, Ju Zi also increased her speed as she strode quickly towards Xu Tianran without using any of her soul tools.
When they were about ten meters from each other, Ju Zi knelt down before him.
“Your Majesty.” Her voice was trembling as tears streamed down from her face.
By now, Xu Tianran was a lot more used to his prosthetic leg. He quickly strode forward and hugged Ju Zi, who was kneeling before him.
Ju Zi hugged him tightly as she started to bawl loudly.
The ministers and generals knew they should not move closer or interrupt this moment. They could tell how important Ju Zi was to Xu Tianran from the way he was hugging her.
The commanders and vice-commanders who had followed Ju Zi also knelt down. As they watched her cry, tears welled up in their eyes.
This was especially true for Xia Xuanchen, the legion commander of the Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion. He was already very distraught after seeing so many of his subordinates die at the hands of the Holy Ghost Church. After returning to the army and seeing how the War God Empress had suffered so much for everyone, one could only imagine the intensity of the emotions pent up within him.
The vice-commanders of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion were also bawling uncontrollably. After all, almost the entire legion had been destroyed. On top of that, they had no idea where their soul tool supplies had gone. No one hated the Holy Ghost Church more than them. Previously, they were also the ones who had killed the greatest number of evil soul masters from the Holy Ghost Church.
Xu Tianran spoke gently, “Come on, don’t cry, my dear Empress. Don’t cry. All is well now that you have returned. I will make everything right for you.”
After crying for a while longer, Ju Zi slowly broke free from Xu Tianran’s embrace before taking two steps back. Following which, she kowtowed once more to Xu Tianran.
“I, the Marshal and Commander of the Three Armies, Ju Zi, shall now hand my appointment back to Your Majesty.” As she spoke, she handed her Commander’s Seal back to Xu Tianran.
Xu Tianran did not take the seal from her. Instead, he said, “Rise, my Empress. Rise, my loyal subjects and commanders. All of you have done a lot for our empire. I have decided to reward all of you for expanding the land of the Sun Moon Empire. Follow me back to the Palace.”
All of the ministers and commanders then followed Xu Tianran as he held Ju Zi’s hand and strolled back to the Palace.
