荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“...Even now, I cannot conclude whether the Prime Minister was expressing his own will or His Majesty’s will on that day,” King Song muttered, then sighed.

Wang Chong was silent. If it were him, he would never be this confused, but King Song was clearly different. ‘The bystander has a clear view while the participant is confused.’ King Song was currently the ‘confused participant’.

“After that day’s incident, did Your Highness not go to the Imperial Palace to pay the Sage Emperor a visit?” Wang Chong asked.

King Song shook his head.

“I tried, but His Majesty refused me every time. His Majesty is no longer meeting anyone. In this more than half a month, you are the first person His Majesty has decided to have an audience with. I don’t know if it was because of you, but today is the longest His Majesty has participated in a court session in this time period. We don’t even know if His Majesty will attend tomorrow’s court session or how long he will last!”

King Song’s face was fraught with concern.

Wang Chong’s heart also sank at these words, and he once more recalled that distant sound that seemed like a bell, a chime, and also none of these things. He had already heard this sound twice now, and each time, the Sage Emperor had hurriedly departed soon after.

Have things already reached that stage...

Wang Chong’s heart hung heavy.

If this were anyone else, Wang Chong might have believed that someone was controlling their mind or there was some scheme afoot in the Imperial Palace. But this person was the Sage Emperor of the Great Tang, the supreme existence of the Central Plains, the lynchpin of the Divine Land. Even the most unyielding barbarian would adopt a respectful expression when discussing the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor.

Wang Chong was confident that no one could control him. But...

Wang Chong glanced at King Song, hesitant.

Only someone who could look very far into the future would know what was happening. But at this moment, nobody except him, not even King Song, knew what was happening to the Sage Emperor.

No one could imagine the price that came from failing to break into the Divine Martial realm. Wang Chong didn’t know what state the Sage Emperor’s body was in, but his current state was clearly extremely dire. This was no longer a matter that concerned the Sage Emperor alone, but had major ramifications for all the people in the Central Plains.

It was precisely after the Sage Emperor passed that the Great Tang descended into a period of many troubles!

Wang Chong took in a deep breath, suppressed that worry in his heart, and continued. “And afterward? Your Highness should have gone to see Li Linfu. What did he say?”

“The Lord Prime Minister did not state anything directly, only said that he discussed matters in the court according to their own merits. However, in his words, he was constantly implying that this was His Majesty’s will,” King Song said.

The carriage was immediately plunged into silence as Wang Chong leaned against the compartment wall and frowned. Wang Chong had a rough grasp of King Song’s mindset. The Sage Emperor was publicly acknowledged as a sovereign for the ages, and his ambition to expand the borders of the empire was even greater than King Song’s. But this desire was in direct contradiction with what Li Linfu implied, stirring doubt in King Song’s mind.

But Wang Chong would never believe anything Li Linfu said. Not! A! Single! Word!

“Your Highness, have you heard of this story before?” Wang Chong suddenly said.

“What?”

King Song blinked in surprise. He had never imagined that Wang Chong would be in a mood to talk about stories after today’s events.

Wang Chong smiled and simply stated, “The fox exploits the tiger’s might!”

“Oh!”

King Song’s eyes widened, and then he gave a profound glance at Wang Chong as if he suddenly understood. But for a moment, he could not grasp the whole truth.

“The fox borrows the might of the tiger to gain the respect of all the other beasts, but a tiger is still a tiger while a fox is still a fox. If the tiger leaves the mountain one day but the fox still demands tribute from the beasts, is this the will of the tiger or the will of the fox?”

Buzz!

King Song’s body trembled as he stared at Wang Chong, his eyes bright and sharp. At that moment, it seemed like he finally understood.

Wang Chong only smiled as he quickly got off King Song’s carriage. King Song was an intelligent man, and even Li Linfu could only confuse him momentarily, not forever. King Song would have figured things out on his own eventually, with or without Wang Chong.

After summoning his carriage, Wang Chong quickly returned to his home. The estate of the King of Foreign Lands was still in the middle of construction and would need three or four months to complete.

When Wang Chong returned home, he immediately felt that something was strange. Normally, when he got home, the servants and maids would be gathered together and chatting, but this time, it was abnormally quiet.

“Wang Chong, you’re finally back!”

Wang Chong had barely stepped through the main gate when he was greeted by an elated young voice. Wang Chong raised his head and saw a familiar figure standing at the door to the Wang Family’s reception hall, dressed in a golden four-clawed dragon robe. This person excitedly strode over to welcome Wang Chong.

“Li Heng?”

Wang Chong’s brow creased in surprise.

The Fifth Prince was a son of the Emperor, and his every move was being watched by countless people. Long ago, Wang Chong had advised him to be cautious in his actions, and even Wang Chong would not normally choose to visit him. This was the first time the Fifth Prince had paid a visit to his own home.

“Your Highness, why are you here?” Wang Chong asked.

“I’ve already heard about what happened at Khorasan, so how could I sit still? I already ordered them to inform me the moment you returned. Seeing that you’re fine is truly wonderful!”

Li Heng excitedly gave Wang Chong a big hug.

Li Heng’s sincere excitement and joy caused a surge of warmth to flow through Wang Chong’s body. Although he still didn’t approve of the Fifth Prince’s rather impulsive action, he could sense his sincerity.

“Relax; I’m fine. Not even the perilous hell of the battlefield could defeat me, let alone a small setback like this,” Wang Chong nonchalantly said.

“Haha, I just knew that no one could defeat you!” Fifth Prince Li Heng excitedly said. He had what could be described as almost blind adoration for Wang Chong, and he seemed to believe that there was nothing in the world that Wang Chong couldn’t handle.

“These bastards are just making trouble. Without the protection of the army, do these scholars think they can fight wars themselves?”

The thought of this injustice made the Fifth Prince’s face screw up in anger.

“Come; this isn’t the place to talk. Come inside!”

Wang Chong extended a hand to lead the way and quickly brought Li Heng into the reception hall.

Wang Chong waved a hand, and a maid served snacks and tea. Once the two were seated, Wang Chong finally had the time to size up the Fifth Prince. He had clearly experienced great improvement since their last meeting.

Wang Chong stared at the Fifth Prince and suddenly said, “Aren’t you on the verge of breaking into the Imperial Martial realm?”

Li Heng was stunned at first, and then he smiled.

“King of Foreign Lands, you truly have a sharp set of eyes. Not long ago, Uncle Jing found for me an ancient scroll that taught me how to conceal my energy. It was supposed to be able to even hide my energy from Great Generals, but I didn’t think that you would see through it on our first meeting.”

The Fifth Prince revealed the truth, and then he took a cake from the table and placed it in his mouth, his entire demeanor relaxed and natural.

Li Heng placed great trust in Wang Chong, so he hid nothing from him.

Wang Chong slightly frowned. The Uncle Jing that Li Heng spoke of was naturally the treacherous eunuch Li Jingzhong. It was apparent that while Wang Chong wasn’t here, Li Jingzhong had gotten even closer to Li Heng. But Wang Chong didn’t care very much. As long as Li Jingzhong did his utmost to assist the Fifth Prince, it was fine, and if he had other ideas, the only thing awaiting him would be death.

“Your Highness is the person that will inherit the throne in the future, so it is not appropriate for you to not have a sufficiently powerful martial art. Your Highness should focus on cultivation, and I happen to have some mantras that should be of assistance to you.

“Right, has something happened in the palace, that Your Highness would pay me a personal visit?” Wang Chong suddenly asked.

“It’s not so bad as that.”

Fifth Prince Li Heng shook his head.

“After the last incident, no one in the Imperial Palace dares to lightly provoke me, not even Big Brother!”

The Fifth Prince spoke these words with a hint of pride, and also of gratitude toward Wang Chong. In the last storm, the other princes had attempted to expose the Fifth Prince for creating a faction and drawing officials to his side, accusing him of being shrewd and deceiving the sovereign. They had never expected that not only would the Fifth Prince emerge unharmed, but the person who had tried to frame him, the Third Prince, would end up being imprisoned. This was completely different from the timid and easily bullied Fifth Prince that the other princes knew of, and everyone was left stunned. Consequently, the Fifth Prince’s situation in the palace had greatly improved.

Only Li Heng understood that this was all Wang Chong’s doing.

Li Heng hesitated a moment before suddenly saying, “However, if one has to bring up an incident, then I really have noticed something recently!”

“Oh?”

Wang Chong’s brow rose. He raised his cup and took a sip of tea, indicating that Li Heng should continue.

“After that incident took place, I sent men to investigate, wanting to find out just who was trying to scheme against you. Although I wasn’t able to find anything, I made an accidental discovery. When I was leaving the palace alone, I happened to see Prime Minister Li Linfu’s carriage in the palace, headed toward the First Prince’s palace. Although he had removed all the decorations and done his utmost to disguise the carriage, I was still able to recognize it at a glance.”

Buzz!

Wang Chong’s pupils immediately constricted at Li Heng’s words, and his entire body trembled. At his first court session, Wang Chong had already been able to tell that Li Linfu was colluding with King Qi and the Grand Preceptor, the three of them forming an invisible alliance. But Wang Chong had had no idea that the First Prince was also involved in this matter. If what the Fifth Prince said was true, this meant that the First Prince, Li Linfu, King Qi, the Grand Preceptor, and many of the civil officials in the court had banded together into a powerful strategic alliance.

This alliance extended from the back palace and the princes all the way to the Imperial Court. This was a faction of unprecedented strength, and there was currently no faction that could stand against it, not even the alliance of the Wang Clan and King Song.

Not even Fifth Prince Li Heng understood the significance of what he had said just now.

At this moment, Wang Chong suddenly had a vague idea, as if he was on the verge of revealing the truth of that day’s court debate.