The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “Qifu Li, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

  Such simple and softly-spoken words might as well have been a peal of thunder in this Hu merchant’s ears. His shoulders trembled as he raised his head, his deep, blue eyes wide open with shock.

  “Hmph, exactly who I’m looking for.”

  King Song didn’t even need to check the drawing. Just the reaction of this Hu merchant was enough to confirm that he was Fumeng Lingcha’s trusted subordinate. Qifu Li instantly felt intense danger, and his dantian exploded with a storm of energy. But before he could do anything more, a silver shoe lightly stamped on the ground. An inconceivably powerful energy traveled through the earth, instantly blasting through the Hu merchant’s defenses and surging through the Yongquan Point at the sole of his foot on into the rest of his body. In mere moments, all of Qifu Li’s body was under King Song’s control.

  King Song had moved with such speed and subtlety that the battle had started and concluded before the surrounding crowd had even noticed.

  “Your Highness, Young Master Chong’s drawing! It’s him without a doubt,” the old butler whispered as he emerged like a ghost next to King Song. The unfurled paper in his hands contained a drawing of a Hu that exactly matched the Hu merchant in front of them.

  “It’s him!”

  Lu Ting had also come over, and he used a hand to raise the sleeves of the Hu merchant, whereupon he spotted the black character branded onto his right wrist. Lu Ting didn’t know martial arts, so he was of no help in intercepting Fumeng Lingcha’s subordinate. He had another purpose.

  “Qifu, if you were coming to the capital, why didn’t you tell us? Haha, didn’t your grandfather say that he wrote a letter for me? Hand it over; let me take a look.”

  Lu Ting was all smiles as he extended a right hand and smoothly extracted a letter from Qifu Li’s bosom. Lu Ting had a very calm expression, giving off the feeling that he was an old friend of the merchant’s, and nobody noticed anything strange. Swish! The letter was opened and a white sheet of paper removed. His eyes squinted and smiling, Lu Ting began to scan the letter.

  And then his eyes locked onto a cinnabar seal stamped on the lower right corner of the paper.

  Lu Ting lowered his head and whispered so that only King Song and the old butler could hear. “Your Highness, it really is the seal of Fumeng Lingcha’s Qixi Protectorate. Your subordinate saw it once in the records of the Bureau of Military Personnel. There’s no doubt about it.”

  Lu Ting’s task in this operation was simple. He just needed to see whether Fumeng Lingcha’s letter was real or forged.

  Buzz!

  At these words, both King Song and the butler paled. King Song immediately took the letter from Lu Ting and read it over, and as he did, his face morphed into a grimace. Everything Wang Chong had said in his letter had been confirmed, but this was not King Song’s true concern. He was not at all surprised by Fumeng Lingcha’s ambition, and he had expected this day ever since their first meeting many years ago.

  The thing he truly cared about was the name of the Great Tang Prince that Fumeng Lingcha had sworn fealty to in the letter.

  “Haaah…”

  King Song placed the letter in his sleeve as he gave a long sigh, disappointment in his eyes. The capital was buzzing with rumors about the prince mentioned in the letter. But King Song had always believed that those of the imperial household, the descendants of the true dragon, would have some sense of right and wrong.

  The Great Tang was the Great Tang of the Han, and its realm was the realm of the Han. Emperor Taizong had relied on his martial prowess to subdue the world, not on the Hu to voluntarily swear fealty to him. Different things had different priority, and the empire also had its primary and secondary goals. King Song didn’t believe himself to have any prejudices against the Hu, but he saw the Hu as emphasizing the primacy of the strong over the weak, with no concept of benevolence. The only true empire was the empire of the Han, which ruled with the concept of benevolence, creating the current situation where Hu and Han co-existed in peace and order.

  That prince carried the blood of the true dragon, had the strength and qualifications to inherit the throne, yet he did not even understand this basic principle. On the contrary, he colluded with a Hu Great General on the border, a massive taboo for the princes. For such a prince to be enthroned was a disaster in waiting. King Song had always viewed all the princes of the palace with the same kindness and had no inclinations toward one prince or the other.

  But collusion with a Hu Great General, shaking the very basis of the Great Tang’s rule, was something King Song could not accept.

  “Let’s go. There are too many people here. We’ll talk it over in the carriage.”

  King Song’s mind was buzzing with thoughts, but he quickly turned and began to walk toward that unmarked carriage on the side of the road. Behind him, the old butler and the black-clothed expert picked up Fumeng Lingcha’s subordinate and carried him into the carriage.

  “Hyah!”

  The carriage began to move, quickly passing through the city gates and vanishing amongst the bustling streets.

  ……

  “Your Highness, what do we do now? Should we give the letter to His Majesty?” Lu Ting said.

  The mood was heavy in the carriage. Lu Ting had been the first to see this pledge of fealty to that prince, but upon entering the carriage, the letter had been passed around to everyone else before finally returning back to Lu Ting’s hands. The contents of this letter were far too shocking. If the communication between this prince and Fumeng Lingcha were to get out, it would provoke a massive storm.

  No, not a massive storm, but an earthquake that would shake the Imperial Court.

  Although Wang Chong had already mentioned this matter in his letter, only after they truly saw that secret pledge of fealty did they feel the true weight of this matter. Right now, the right to choose rested with King Song’s party. It was up to them to expose this matter or not.

  “What did Wang Chong say in his letter?”

  A complicated look flickered through King Song’s eyes as he turned to Lu Ting.

  “In truth, Your Highness needn’t trouble yourself over this. Your Highness has always remained apart from the matters of the Imperial Palace. Young Master Chong also predicted this and knew that Your Highness would be very conflicted, even after learning of this collusion. Thus, Young Master Chong said that Your Highness does not need to worry about or involve yourself in this affair. Your Highness only needs to quietly watch. When the time comes, Your Highness will naturally understand,” Lu Ting calmly said.

  Lu Ting felt a great deal of admiration for that Wang Clan scion in distant Wushang. He had been there at the very start, a witness when Wang Chong had brought his little sister Wang Xiaoyao to Vast Crane Pavilion, and he had seen how Wang Chong had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the southwest and been made a marquis. He had also seen how Wang Chong’s farsighted plans in the Western Regions had, step by step, made the region more stable.

  Lu Ting felt incredible pride in his heart.

  Lu Ting had always enjoyed promoting the younger generation, and Wang Chong was the one that made Lu Ting feel the proudest. His ascendant path had proved Lu Ting’s earliest judgments. This was a true pillar of the state, a blessing for the Great Tang and its people.

  “Mm.”

  Hearing Lu Ting’s advice, King Song finally gave a nod. That youth was gradually growing into a capable person, someone who could take on a part of his burdens and worries.

  “Since that child Wang Chong says that he has everything taken care of, let’s just do as he says.”

  Chapter 812 - Strategies Devised in the Tent!

  Chapter 812: Strategies Devised in the Tent!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Yes, Your Highness!”

  Lu Ting gave a solemn and subservient bow.

  Lu Ting did not go back with the oth
ers to King Song’s residence, instead stopping midway and returning to the official residence provided to him by the Imperial Court. After closing the door, he was left alone in the hall, with the only illumination being the dim light peeking in through the shuttered windows. After pausing for a moment, Lu Ting finally opened the letter in his bosom.

  King Song’s judgment had been correct. Wang Chong had not only written to a letter to him, but also to Lu Ting as well.

  ‘To Academic and Teacher Lu, respectful greetings from Student Wang Chong…’

  Upon opening the letter, he was immediately greeted by that familiar and twisted handwriting.

  “This handwriting is just as awful as ever!”

  Lu Ting felt all his tension wash away as he saw the words, and he could barely suppress his laughter.

  “Already the Young Marquis, the Son of Heaven’s disciple, a master of strategy, yet you can’t spend a little time practicing your handwriting? Would anyone believe that this was a letter written by a marquis, and one who was a descendant of the revered and sagely minister Duke Jiu?”

  Lu Ting’s critical comments belied the warmth he felt in his heart. Of all the people that Lu Ting had interacted with, whether they made their name early or late, only Wang Chong had been able to maintain his original intentions, preserve his loyal heart. It was said that one could see what a person was like from how they wrote, and it was obvious from Wang Chong’s handwriting that he was still the one that Lu Ting had first met with.

  Lu Ting began to read the letter again.

  The contents of the letter were very simple. Other than the matters related to King Song, Wang Chong had also included one other request. He hoped that Lu Ting could use his formidable forgery skills to make a copy of Fumeng Lingcha’s oath of fealty to that prince, imitating the red seal of the Qixi Protectorate as well, and then deliver this copy to the prince.

  Only this would prevent that prince from being alarmed and suspicious.

  Wang Chong wanted everything to proceed along its original course. He wanted both Fumeng Lingcha and that prince to continue their secretive correspondence, but with that crucial original oath of fealty safe in King Song’s hands.

  “Haaa, Fumeng Lingcha, you should have just been satisfied with your Protector-General position. But now, you want to support that prince onto the throne, change the government, and then build up your own independent territory in the future. This is unprecedented, and His Highness King Song won’t tolerate this, nor will the Great Tang allow this. More importantly, you shouldn’t have provoked that man!”

  Lu Ting shook his head and sighed as he unrolled a sheet of paper and placed it on the table. Taking up a brush, he took out Fumeng Lingcha’s oath of fealty and placed it to the right side of the table. After thinking for a few moments, he began to write, his brush dancing across the paper.

  A few moments later, an exact replica of the letter had appeared on the table. If it weren’t for the fact that the ink on the left copy was still wet and there was no seal, it would be impossible to distinguish the forgery from the real.

  After finishing the copy, Lu Ting immediately opened a secret compartment, in which lay a Protector-General seal that he had prepared in advance. Once the ink on the letter had dried a little, he stamped the letter with the seal.

  “This should be enough.”

  Lu Ting gave a sigh of relief.

  As an academic, and one with ties to King Song, Lu Ting was able to enter many places, and he had a deep understanding of the jade seals used by the Protector-Generals of the empire. These were special seals that were impossible to completely duplicate, but it was still possible to create a seal that was almost completely identical.

  At the very least, while Lu Ting had seen several Protector-General seals, that person deep within the palace had never seen one before. Someone of Lu Ting’s abilities could easily deceive that man.

  Creeeeak!

  At this moment, the door to the hall was pushed open, letting in a ray of light and casting a massive shadow onto the floor. The old butler, his hands enclosed within his sleeves, slowly walked over, a leisurely expression on his face. Even at this distance, Lu Ting couldn’t hear his footsteps or sense his aura. He was truly like a nonexistent ghost.

  “How is it? Is it ready?” the old butler asked in his low and hoarse voice.

  “Mm.”

  Lu Ting nodded, apparently unsurprised by the old butler’s appearance.

  “Good.”

  The old butler glanced at the letter on the table and nodded.

  “His Highness is an Imperial Prince of the Great Tang, a member of the imperial household, so it’s best not to inform him of this matter. I presume this is why that child Wang Chong wrote the letter to you. Leave the next part up to me. I will find an appropriate Hu to deliver the letter to that prince.”

  “Mm.”

  Lu Ting nodded, a grim expression on his face.

  “What do people like us matter? What’s important is the welfare of the Great Tang. As long as it is of benefit to the country and to the people, what would it matter if our bodies were pulverized? But, with regards to Young Master Chong… if possible, I had hoped that he was not involved in this matter. After all, he’s still young, with limitless potential.”

  Forging the seal of a Protector-General was not a laughing matter. Once exposed, the penalty would be death and extermination of the entire clan. Thus, Lu Ting had concealed this matter from King Song. In Lu Ting’s view, the fewer people that knew, the better, with the ideal case being that Wang Chong also knew nothing of the matter.

  “In truth, there are times when even I don’t know what that child is doing.”

  Upon hearing Wang Chong’s name, the old butler turned pensive.

  “But, no matter what he does, I can be certain of this: he understands the consequences of everything he’s doing and that everything he does is of benefit to the country. This is why we and King Song are willing to pay any price to assist him. As for what you speak of… although I don’t know why he seems so mature despite still being a teenager, I sense that he’s already predicted every possible scenario, already cast aside his own life and death… otherwise, he would have never gone off to the southwest alone.”

  With these last words, the pair in the hall fell silent.

  In the aftermath, Wang Chong’s excursion to the south seemed more frightening than dangerous, but only those involved knew just how fraught with danger and death it had been. At the time, many people had already treated Wang Chong as dead.

  No one understood why Wang Chong had put aside his peaceful life in the capital as a scion of a great clan and chosen to heedlessly rush down the path of certain death to the southwest.

  Even now, this fact still left people shocked.

  That youthful body concealed an enormous and frightening energy that would make one’s soul tremble, not out of fear, but out of solemn respect. One felt a deep desire to protect such a youth, to pay any price to assist him in his efforts.

  “I only hope that I can live a little longer so that I can do as much as I can to help that youth!” Lu Ting said.

  “I share the same view.”

  The old butler took the letter from the table and left.

  Around an hour later, a Hu with a black tattoo of the character on his right wrist took this letter and entered the palace.

  ……

  Several days later, a black messenger bird flew into Wushang’s City of Steel.

  “Lord Marquis, Lu Ting has sent a letter saying that everything Young Master spoke of has been taken care of.”

  “Oh?”

  Wang Chong took a sip of his tea and then put down the cup with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

  “Write a reply to him saying that I thank him for his troubles, and that there’s no need for him to do anything else.”

  Wang Chong stood up from the table as he spoke. The developments in the capital were progressing faster than he had expected. If all wen
t as planned, that prince would be so invigorated and arrogant because of the letter that he would lose himself in joy and begin his operations. And not long after that, the Xueyang Palace Incident would occur.

  In the Great Tang, this incident was second only to the Consort Taizhen Incident.

  “Is it a matter regarding Fumeng Lingcha?” A melodious voice came from next to him. Xu Qiqin was sitting at the table, her white clothes and light smile making her as beautiful as a fairy.

  “Mm.”

  Wang Chong gave a smile and a nod. Xu Qiqin was currently aware of many of Wang Chong’s plans. Without her logistical support, Wang Chong would have died in the war of the southwest, so he no longer hid very many things from her.

  “Fumeng Lingcha took your credit and has tried many times to get you killed. In the Regional Commanders Incident, it was him who had you locked up in the imperial prison, so you really shouldn’t be affected by him. Is your unease because of that prince, then?”

  Xu Qiqin’s eyes shone with watery light as she spoke.

  “It seems like I can’t hide anything from you,” Wang Chong admitted as he smiled back at Xu Qiqin. Xu Qiqin had been bestowed with both grace and intelligence, and so even his smallest actions, his putting down the cup and walking a few steps from the table, had been enough for her to detect his unease. In his last life, he had never spoken with that prince, nor had he ever intervened in the War of the Princes.

  But even though he was doing this for the Great Tang, Wang Chong still felt rather uneasy over his actions.

  Xu Qiqin put down her tea cup and attempted to allay Wang Chong’s worries. “In truth, this is how you should really be thinking: even without you, this incident would still take place. You didn’t really change anything, just pushed it forward. Every person’s fate is in their own hands. If that prince had an upright personality, just like your grandfather Duke Jiu or Emperor Taizong’s Bright Minister of the Left, Imperial Censor Wei1, then no matter what others did, they would never be able to harm him. In the end, this was all his choice.”