荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“It’s not right!”

Wang Chong shook his head and looked at his hands. His own hands were fair and slender, and he could clearly make out each of the creases. Through his fingertips, Wang Chong could also feel the slight chill in the room and the air blowing across his hand.

It was simply too real, too detailed. These were not things a dream could possess.

And as he looked over his fingernails, he saw that they were reflecting the dim light in the room, just as real and detailed as everything else.

“How could this be?”

Wang Chong’s mind was completely blank.

There was no sense of touch in dreams, much less details as meticulous as a sense of warmth. Wang Chong’s mind was in disarray.

Truth and fiction, the past and present, were all mixed together. He had originally firmly believed in his experiences in the northwest.

But this conviction had been given a severe shock.

Wang Chong suddenly no longer dared to be so certain.

What also made him rather uneasy was that his aching body and the chaotic state of his meridians were symptoms extremely similar to those his body had exhibited after he had fallen unconscious in his study. Did that mean that his entire journey to the northwest had actually just been an illusion he had experienced after his flare-up? That after falling unconscious in his study, his master had not forcibly taken him to the northwest?

That it had all been an illusion, a dream?

As these thoughts flitted through his mind, Wang Chong was at a complete loss.

Everything he had just experienced made it impossible for him to distinguish the true from the false.

“You just woke up, so you should just rest. Aunt, Your Highness, let us withdraw so he can relax,” Xu Qiqin said in an understanding tone.

The crowd quickly left the room.

The room was soon quiet, and Wang Chong was left alone to sit on his bed with his restless thoughts.

Just what is going on here? Wang Chong inwardly muttered to himself.

He could feel the sensation of black sandalwood under him and could smell its fragrance. If this was a dream, none of this should have been possible.

“Could I really have been unconscious for seven days and seven nights?”

Wang Chong walked up to the window, where the rays of sunlight poured in. The warmth he felt as they struck his body left him speechless.

Opening the door, Wang Chong walked out into the familiar gardens and buildings of the Wang Family Residence.

Wang Chong could even see the designs on the ceramic tiles and a chirping bird on one of the eaves.

As Wang Chong thought back to his experiences in the northwest, he discovered that the clear memories had suddenly begun to blur like those of a dream.

“Maybe it really was a dream!”

With this thought, Wang Chong slowly began to accept his circumstances.

Bangbangbang!

As he was thinking, there was a sudden and intense knocking, and Wang Chong soon heard the furious voices of Xu Keyi and the others.

“Bastard! Who told you to come!? Leave at once!”

Another voice, brimming with derision, came from outside. “Heh, a visitor is a guest. After hearing that the King of Foreign Lands had fallen ill and had not awoken, our Young Master decided to come and deliver a gift. The mighty King of Foreign Lands would not be so petty, I presume!”

The tone made one feel that the owner of the voice did not harbor good intentions.

“Scram! Don’t think that just because your Confucian Sect has the upper hand, you can act however you want! If not for His Highness, do you think your Confucian Sect would have even had a chance to show itself?

“Our Highness does not welcome your people!”

The furious voice this time had belonged to Chen Bin.

The servants and maids also began to join, and a great clamor took place at the gate to the estate.

“Stop!”

A voice suddenly cut through the noise.

Xu Keyi, Chen Bin, and the many Wang Clan guards had gathered at the entrance, their eyes fixed on a figure outside and burning with righteous indignation.

The crowd turned their heads and were struck dumb by the sight of a familiar figure.

“Milord!”

Everyone lowered their heads. They had failed to notice Wang Chong coming up behind them.

“All of you, withdraw!” Wang Chong ordered. His face was slightly pale, giving him a rather weak appearance.

Everyone bowed and complied with Wang Chong’s order, opening a path for him.

“Heh, Your Highness, long time no see!”

That mocking and ill-intentioned voice spoke once more.

“Everyone says that Your Highness has been unconscious for seven days and nights, your mind stricken with deep depression, but it seems like the rumors were false. Your Highness is already awake!”

“It’s you!”

Wang Chong followed the voice and saw several figures standing outside. Their leader was a man dressed in a black robe, his hair worn loose. This man was staring at Wang Chong like some untamed beast, his eyes burning with challenge.

Wang Chong had no impression of this man, but he clearly remembered this man’s aura as belonging to the sword-dancing ‘Sword Ghost’ from Drunken Moon Pavilion.

Behind him were a man and woman, two experts of the Confucian Sect. They held a silk box between them, clearly the present that had been spoken of.

“Impudent! Don’t go too far!”

Xu Keyi and Chen Bin fumed at Sword Ghost’s words and were on the verge of resorting to arms.

What present? They were just trying to find out the real situation and intentionally provoking Wang Chong. And if not for them, how could Wang Chong have ever vomited blood?

“Enough!” Wang Chong suddenly said, waving a hand to stop his subordinates as he turned to Sword Ghost.

“Tell your young master that this king accepts his gift and that this king thanks him for his kind intentions!”

Wang Chong was calm and apparently unmoved. Sword Ghost and his companions were dumbfounded by these words.

Wang Chong’s reaction was clearly completely at odds with their expectations, but Sword Ghost soon composed himself.

“Heh, Your Highness is truly graceful. It seems that Your Highness has truly accepted the matter regarding the prefectural armies. Since that is the case, this one bids farewell!”

Sword Ghost gave a slight bow.

“The prefectural armies?”

Wang Chong raised an eyebrow at these words.

“What? Your Highness does not know?”

Sword Ghost had already prepared to turn and leave, but when he heard this, he stopped and shot a glance at Xu Keyi.

“What? They still haven’t told Your Highness?”

Wang Chong understood and turned to look at Xu Keyi and his other subordinates. All of them paled and lowered their heads.

Upon seeing this, Sword Ghost understood what was going on.

“It seems like they were hiding the matter from Your Highness. As this is the case, it is not appropriate for this one to speak any more. Farewell!”

With a bizarre smile on his lips, Sword Ghost and his colleagues left.

......

Just what is going on here?

In the study, Wang Chong looked at his subordinates.

“这......”

“This...”

Xu Keyi and Chen Bin glanced at each other in hesitation, but Wang Chong’s pressure compelled them to speak.

“In truth, many things happened while Your Highness was unconscious. Without Your Highness to resist them, the Confucian Sect and the First Prince took complete control over the Imperial Court. Moreover, as Your Highness had vomited blood and was unconscious for so long, King Song and the others became extremely worried over Your Highness’s condition.

“Without Your Highness’s plans, the Confucian Sect succeeded in colluding with the First Prince to finally pass the decree to dissolve the prefectural armies. Just a few days ago, the Imperial Court finished dissolving all the prefectural armies and destroying the registers. In the future, even calling back the disbanded soldiers will be impossible.

“In addition, the Confucian Sect, the First Prince, the Prime Minister, and King Qi joined together to strip King Song of his military authority and his power over the Bureau of Military Personnel.

“In addition, the Confucian Sect has also dispatched many supervisors to inspect the armies. The entire military is at its weakest point, with almost everyone under the Confucian Sect’s control.”

......

Wang Chong slowly came to learn what had happened while he was unconscious.

Although the guidance from his seniors in that underground stone chamber had made him much more open-minded, Wang Chong still felt a stabbing pain with each piece of news.

Although he had already let go, how could he not feel unwilling after seeing everything he had worked for, what all the soldiers had sacrificed their lives for, being destroyed in a single night?

Moreover, the conflict between the militarists and the Confucians was linked to the longevity of the Central Plains and the survival of all the people of the realm.

“All of you, leave! I need to think.”

Wang Chong suddenly waved his hand.

“Yes! Milord!”

A hint of reluctance appeared in the eyes of his subordinates, but they quickly withdrew.

Wang Chong stood motionless in his study for a long, long time. Finally, Wang Chong heaved a sigh.

Leaving his study, he strolled through the garden and out the front gate. Even though the servants and maids spotted him, no one dared to stop him.

In this confused state where he was thinking of both everything and nothing, he walked into the capital. By the time Wang Chong returned to his senses, he was already in the middle of the thronging crowd.

He could see peddlers selling cosmetic powder and perfume, merchants calling out to and embracing each other, and butchers loudly hawking their wares.

But amidst the crowd, Wang Chong also saw many rather unique silhouettes. They had thick beards, wore long cloth robes, had hawkish noses and deep-set eyes, and spoke with thick accents.

The Hu!

These imposing Hu with their awkward grasp of the Tang language were going in and out of various places, and many of them radiated savage and fierce auras.