荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“Public is public and private is private. Whether it’s the First Prince or any other prince who assumes the throne, as long as we carry out and remain loyal to our duties, not even the First Prince can mess around too much. At this stage in the empire’s development, the system of laws has been passed down for centuries. This is not something that the First Prince alone can break. If the Son of Heaven commits a crime, he will be punished the same as a commoner. Not even the sovereign of a country can do whatever he wishes,” King Song soothed.

Although the Sage Emperor’s making the First Prince the regent caught him by surprise, King Song had always been an honorable and open person. As long as he hadn’t done anything wrong, he feared nothing.

A voice rang out through the carriage. “Milords, there is no need to worry. The one to inherit the throne of the Sage Emperor in the future will never be the First Prince!”

Bzzz! At these words, King Song, Zhangchou Jianqiong, and Wang Gen all turned in surprise to Wang Chong.

In this large carriage, two Kings, the Minister of War, and a lower rank one official were seated, all of them of illustrious and influential status. If Wang Chong’s words were to get out, it would set off a tempest in the Imperial Court.

The First Prince would also begin to regard this group as a thorn in his side that he would spare no effort to exterminate.

“Chong-er! What nonsense are you saying! This matter is not something that you can casually mouth off about!”

Wang Gen could not restrain himself, straightening his back as he harshly rebuked Wang Chong.

But Wang Chong waved his hand and nonchalantly said, “Big Uncle, be at ease! I know what I am saying.”

His words just now had almost caused the hearts of the other three to leap out of their throats. But Wang Chong knew the course of history and was absolutely certain that the First Prince would never be able to sit upon the Emperor’s throne.

“Wang Chong, how can you be so sure?”

King Song and Zhangchou Jianqiong glanced at each other in dismay. Wang Chong had never done anything without purpose. If he dared to say such a thing, he had definitely done so because he had something to back his words up with. But the two of them couldn’t understand where Wang Chong’s confidence had come from. This did not seem like speculation, but complete confidence that the First Prince would never make it.

“Heh, the Sage Emperor’s throne has always been occupied by the virtuous. Besides seniority, one must also consider a person’s character and personality. The First Prince’s patience and skill are quite decent, but his personality is lacking. Moreover, the throne of the Emperor is tied to the lives of all the people in the empire. The Sage Emperor has always been wise and would never decide on a successor merely through age. In addition, if the Sage Emperor wanted the First Prince to inherit the throne, he would have made him heir apparent long ago and not waited until now!” Wang Chong confidently said.

The three others in the carriage exchanged speechless looks. Wang Chong’s argument was simple and easy to understand, and it was something that all three of them already knew.

The Imperial Palace appeared calm on the surface, but underneath, it was rife with conflict. The reason was very simple: the Sage Emperor had yet to decide on the heir apparent. Although the First Prince was the eldest son, making him the logical successor, another day in which the Sage Emperor did not make his decision was another day of this matter being kept in suspense.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore. Your Highness, I have an important matter to ask you about.”

Wang Chong quickly changed the topic.

“Your Highness, the Imperial Court granted me the minor title of Advisor-in-Waiting, but it’s precisely because this is not an important position that I have the freedom to choose. Moreover, as a King of the Great Tang but also not one of the core government officials, upon consideration by the court, I can be exempted from attending the morning court sessions. With the Sage Emperor not present, you are the only person in the court who can restrain the First Prince and Prime Minister Li Linfu. I do not intend to attend court sessions for some time.”

“Mm, although I can’t compare to the First Prince and Lord Prime Minister when it comes to decision-making power, and we won’t be able to get anything on our side passed with the two of them here, I can still think of ways to stop them if they try to weaken the Bureau of Military Personnel’s authority or pass proposals that disadvantage the military.”

King Song nodded, not prying any further into Wang Chong’s affairs. The greatest advantage of the Sage Emperor’s bestowing such authority on King Song was that he could restrain the Confucians and prevent them from further weakening the militarists.

“Wang Chong, do you have some sort of plan?” Zhangchou Jianqiong said.

Wang Chong always did things with a goal in mind, and though this did not seem apparent at first, reality always proved him to be correct. No one had cared about Lion City or Wang Chong’s fief in Wushang, but in the end, these places had both ended up playing extremely influential roles, Lion City even saving the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army.

“I do have some ideas, but now is not the time to talk about them,” Wang Chong calmly said, the thought of Li Junxian and the mysterious Confucian Sect flitting through his mind.

Whoooah!

As the four conversed, a clamor of yelling and cheering came from outside. The four of them immediately moved to the curtains and saw that their carriage had come to the illustrious Blue Dragon Street of the capital.

Crowds had gathered at the most thriving spot of Blue Dragon Street and were apparently discussing something. One could see that this crowd was gathered around several notices posted on the wall.

King Song tapped the walls of the carriage and ordered, “Someone, tell me what’s going on outside!”

“Yes, Your Highness!” A respectful voice came from outside, and a few moments later, a figure returned after going to see what was happening.

“Your Highness, the people of the Confucian school have posted an announcement on Blue Dragon Street. The announcement says that with the world at peace, now is the time to exchange weapons for jade and silk, the era of the Harmonious World. The Confucians’ efforts to propagate their teachings have also experienced great progress. In the lands of the Eastern and Western Turks, they have established eight hundred schools, which have taken more than twenty-seven thousand students to learn the Confucian culture and the language of the Great Tang. Four hundred schools have been established in Ü-Tsang with eight to nine thousand students, and even some adult shepherds have accepted the teachings of the Great Tang. Two hundred schools have been established in Mengshe Zhao with six to seven thousand students, three hundred in Goguryeo with seven-thousand-some students, and Arabia has the most, with one thousand schools teaching more than seventy thousand students. All the foreigners and foes in the entire universe have put down their preconceived notions and have been attracted to the culture of the Great Tang. If things continue this way, as long as everyone upholds benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust, all wars in the world will cease and the people will be free from the turmoil of battle.”

Buzz!

As King Song and Zhangchou Jianqiong digested these words, Wang Chong’s pupils constricted, his face paling. Swish! Before the others had time to react, Wang Chong had flown out of the carriage.

“King Song, Lord Zhangchou, Big Uncle, I have some matters to attend to. Let us talk more next time!”

His voice resounded through the carriage. Wang Chong paused in front of the Confucian school’s announcement for a few moments, and then he vanished.

......

In the Wang Family Residence, Wang Chong waited with his hands held behind his back, his robes flapping in the wind. A few moments later, Old Eagle, Zhang Que, Xu Keyi, and Cheng Sanyuan had gathered at Wang Chong’s side.

“Milord, we’ve investigated and found these announcements posted on Blue Dragon Street, Vermillion Bird Street, White Tiger Street, and almost every other major thoroughfare of the capital!”

Cheng Sanyuan gasped for air. He was the first to arrive, and after receiving Wang Chong’s order, he had rushed off to gather information.

“Hidden Dragon Street, Ghost Dragon Street, Spring Radiance Street, and Autumn Rain Street, the places often frequented by the scions of the great clans, also have these notices,” Xu Keyi added.

“Upon receiving the news, I immediately dispatched all my men. I’ve already learned that the Confucian announcement can be found in every region of the city! Milord, it seems like these people are using their momentum to frantically build support.”

The third to speak was Old Eagle, and he looked at Wang Chong with an extremely grave expression.

Old Eagle had accompanied Wang Chong when he had gone to see the leader of the Confucian Sect at Drunken Moon Pavilion. Thus, when he learned of this Confucian campaign, he immediately smelled a scheme.

“Milord, I sense that the Confucian school has come prepared. Posting these notices throughout the city might only be the beginning. They might be doing something else very soon.”

Zhang Que bowed and said, “Milord, the information I’ve obtained is about the same as my master’s. But there is something a little different from what Master reported. Our people have discovered that many old Confucians have begun lecturing on the ideas of ‘benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom’, ‘peace is to be cherished’, and ‘opposition to war’ in the tea houses and restaurants of the capital. While speaking, they use the relationships the Great Tang has with the surrounding countries to draw in many people.”

“Posting announcements, lecturing...”

Wang Chong stood in the garden of the Wang Family, his eyes closed, countless thoughts running through his mind. The Confucian school—or ‘the Confucian Sect’, to be more precise—really was beginning to campaign for support of its ideals.

“Milord, what do we do? The Confucian school has come with a furious momentum, and their ultimate target might be us.”

Zhang Que worriedly looked at Wang Chong.

These words caused everyone to turn their attention to Wang Chong. No matter what the Confucian school did, in the end, it would definitely be aiming at the militarists. And Wang Chong, as a leader of the militarists, was bound to be one of their targets.

“Don’t act recklessly!” Wang Chong sternly said, his eyes still closed and his expression ice-cold. “The Confucians are only announcing their achievements on the borders. Even without them, this is still something we would have to do. They still haven’t revealed their goals or taken any unusual actions, so it’s not convenient for us to do anything right now.”

Building schools to teach the Tang language was a project that Wang Chong had already started in Khorasan. It was just that the Confucians had now taken over this role. In this aspect, the two sides actually shared the same opinion. Not even Wang Chong could find anything wrong about these actions.

Wang Chong suddenly opened his eyes and sternly said, “If something strange is happening, there is definitely someone behind it! The Confucians must have a goal in beating their drums so vigorously, but no matter what they’re planning, they can’t touch me for now. Their goal might be elsewhere. Xu Keyi, write a letter for me to Li Siye and Su Hanshan. Tell them that if anything strange happens, they must endure. They cannot be the first to issue a challenge and give the adversary any sort of pretext!”

He suddenly thought back to Li Junxian’s parting words at Drunken Moon Pavilion.