The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “Your Majesty does not need to worry. It’s just a small bunch of Tang. There is no need to get angry over them. And the problem Your Majesty is worried about will soon be easily resolved.”

  In contrast to the furious Caliph, the High Priest was calm and extremely clear-headed. His profound eyes seemed capable of seeing through all the world’s secrets.

  Upon hearing the High Priest’s words, the Caliph shuddered as if in understanding and turned his head.

  “High Priest, what do you mean by this?”

  The High Priest concealed words within words, and it did not seem like that had been some casually-made comment.

  “Haha, Your Majesty, there has already been a shift in the heavenly phenomena. The matter Your Majesty hopes for will very soon take place.”

  The High Priest faintly chuckled, but did not explain any more.

  Meanwhile, the Caliph stood in a daze, countless thoughts flitting through his mind. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and the fires of rage burning in his chest were greatly reduced.

  ……

  The Arab assault had once more been pushed back, causing all the people of Khorasan to rejoice. Unlike the last few battles, Khorasan had relied on its own strength to push back the Arabs. This showed that Khorasan and the newly-established Sassanid Dynasty had the ability to protect themselves.

  Countless cheering Khorasani walked the streets in jubilation.

  Time slowly passed, and at some point, night fell, at which time Wang Chong was reviewing documents in his room. The battle during the daytime had been completely within Wang Chong’s expectations. He had had more than ten thousand ballistae and one million ballista bolts imported from the Qixi Armory, which could deal with practically any enemy army. Even if there had been one million enemy soldiers outside the city, a single bolt for each soldier would still be enough to wipe them out. This was also why the Great Tang had not been stingy with its use of precious ballista bolts in this battle.

  Each ballista bolt cost around one hundred taels of gold, so one million ballista bolts was essentially one hundred million taels of gold. Not even Wang Chong would dare to actually use them so recklessly. But since he had already extorted more than one billion taels of gold from the Caliph of Arabia, such costs became almost irrelevant. Even if the Bureau of Military Personnel or Bureau of Revenue criticized him, Wang Chong could take out a few hundred million taels to silence them.

  With such an enormous fortune, Wang Chong really didn’t care how much the ballista bolts cost, allowing him to brashly mobilize so many ballistae in Khorasan.

  Time slowly passed, with Wang Chong completely immersed in his documents. As the coalition army got larger and larger, so did all the trivial matters concerning it. Feng Changqing was incapable of handling all these matters by himself.

  Gradually, however, Wang Chong began to sense that something was wrong. At some point, a ruckus had begun to build up outside his window, and only become louder with time. By the end, he even began to hear the firecrackers of the Central Plains and the cheering of the crowd.

  “What’s going on here?”

  Wang Chong put down his brush and frowned.

  He had spent several months in Khorasan, but he had never run into a situation like this. In the middle of his consternation, he heard a set of rapid footsteps and then a hurried knocking on his door.

  “Milord, General Bahram has invited you to take part in the Fire God Festival!”

  “Fire God Festival?!”

  Wang Chong raised his brow in surprise.

  “Great General says that Milord will only need to go to find out,” the guard outside said.

  Wang Chong was even more confused. But he knew that he wouldn’t get anything from questioning this guard, so he stood up and exited the room. Poppopop! As he opened the door, ten-some massive fireworks shot into the air, filling the sky with dazzling light. It was only now that he realized just how raucous it was inside Khorasan.

  Wang Chong stood at the entrance to his room, taking in Khorasan. Wherever he looked, he could see bonfires fiercely burning, illuminating the night sky with their intense glows. And at this time when Khorasan should have fallen silent and all its people gone to bed, the city was now an ocean of music and merriment. There were so many people packing the streets that not even Wang Chong could count them all.

  “What is going on here?”

  Wang Chong’s eyes went wide. After spending so much time in Khorasan, he still had no idea what was going on.

  In the midst of his confusion, he heard a familiar voice. “General Wang, over here!”

  Wang Chong turned and saw Bahram wearing a fiery-red robe, standing together with several other rebel leaders by a fire. All of them had ruddy expressions and beaming faces of happiness.

  Wang Chong walked over and asked, “Great General, what’s happening in the city? And what is the Fire God Festival?”

  “Hahaha, the Fire God Festival is the Festival of Light. We Khorasani worship the Fire God, who is also the God of Light. This is the most significant festival that we celebrate each year. But ever since the fall of the Sassanid Dynasty, all the Khorasani were enslaved and controlled by the Arabs, so we were no longer able to hold the Fire God Festival. But this time, with the Sassanid Dynasty reestablished and the Arabs having been defeated twice, all the people were jubilant and decided to once more hold the Fire God Festival. After considering the matter for a long time, we decided to go with the will of the people.

  “General Wang, you are the savior of our Sassanid Dynasty and all Khorasani. Without you, the Sassanid Dynasty would have never been able to see the light of day again and all of us Khorasani would continue to remain under Arabia’s reign of terror. Thus, no matter what, you must take part in this Fire God Festival!”

  Bahram smiled as he made the invitation.

  “……”

  “This…”

  Wang Chong was hesitating when he heard the rebel leaders urging him on.

  “Milord, hurry! Even Lord Gao and the others have participated. You’re the only one missing out!”

  “That’s right, Milord! Everyone else is waiting for you!”

  After some hesitation, Wang Chong finally nodded.

  “Fine!”

  As he followed Bahram and the others along the streets, he could see thousands of figures gathered around numerous bonfires, singing, dancing, and celebrating. There were men and women, the old and the young, in these crowds, each face brimming with joy and excitement that came from the depths of their hearts. Wang Chong couldn’t help but be affected by the infectious mood of the crowd.

  At this moment, the crowd noticed Bahram and Wang Chong, and immediately began to loudly cheer. Boom! A well-developed Khorasani maiden rushed through the crowd, gave Wang Chong a charming smile, and then placed a garland of fiery-red flowers around his neck.

  At this moment, the crowd broke into deafening cheers and sharp whistles, and even Bahram couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Haha, this is a tradition of our Sassanid Dynasty. If a foreign guest takes part in the Fire God Festival, we will gift them with a fire garland to show our warmth and respect. But if an unmarried maiden gifts it, it means that they love you!”

  Bahram’s words immediately made Wang Chong’s cheeks turn red, and the surrounding rebel leaders all laughed. As for the Sassanid maiden who had gifted Wang Chong the garland, she madly danced around Wang Chong while boldly shooting him sultry gazes.

  Bahram softly chortled as he wasted no time in whispering into Wang Chong’s ear, “Ah, that’s right, I forgot to tell you. Sassanid women are different from those of the Central Plains. When they find a man they like, they’ll start to court them. Milord, your martial arts are peerless and talent extraordinary, and you are still unmarried. There are many young maidens in our Sassanid Dynasty who are filled with admiration toward you.”

  Chapter 1212 - Fire God Festival!

  Chapter 1212: Fire God Festival!

&nbs
p; Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong scanned the crowd and immediately noticed countless charming women looking at him, all of them gripping fiery-red flower garlands, their eyes burning with passion. Wang Chong quickly looked away, an awkward expression on his face.

  If not for the presence of Bahram and the other rebel leaders, Wang Chong suspected that all of them would have rushed up, thrown their garlands over his neck and started to wildly dance around him, just like the first maiden.

  Bahram had also noticed Wang Chong’s awkwardness. He suddenly stepped forward and whispered into the ear of the first buxom Sassanid maiden.

  “Okay, go!”

  Bahram waved his hand, and that Sassanid maiden took one last profound glance at Wang Chong before jumping and twirling away, melting back into the crowd. He didn’t know what this girl said to the other maidens, but all the rest of them who had been preparing to offer their fire garlands to Wang Chong now gave one last reluctant glance before turning around and disappearing into the cheering crowd.

  “Great General, what did you say to them?”

  Wang Chong couldn’t help but be curious at this sight and turned to Bahram.

  “Hah, you’ll find out soon.”

  Bahram smiled, an unfathomable look on his face.

  Regardless, Wang Chong breathed a sigh of relief now that he was no longer bothered by the advances of these women.

  “Let’s go. Lord Gao and the others are still waiting for you,” Bahram said to Wang Chong.

  “Oh?”

  Wang Chong was rather curious, but he didn’t ask any questions and followed behind Bahram.

  Tonight was foreordained to be a sleepless one for Khorasan. Bonfires and celebrating crowds could be seen wherever he looked. However, Wang Chong had still noticed a few places that were different. Although all the common people of Khorasan were celebrating, all of them seemed to be gathering together in a certain direction. The farther they went in that direction, the larger the bonfires and the greater the crowds became.

  “We’re here!”

  After some time, passing by countless crowds, Wang Chong finally saw the center of the festivities. This was a massive temple that had been built just a few months ago, and it was brightly lit. Within it burned a massive bonfire, far greater than all the others.

  A vast crowd was gathered around this bonfire, numbering in the tens of thousands. Wang Chong could even spot Khorasani, rebel, and Tang soldiers in the crowd.

  “This is our newly-constructed Fire God Temple, and the center of tonight’s festivities!”

  Bahram pointed ahead and explained before Wang Chong could speak.

  Wang Chong slightly raised his head and looked at where Bahram was pointing. Sure enough, he saw a statue dozens of feet tall looming within the temple, its body covered in flames.

  I presume that’s the Fire God Bahram spoke of.

  He moved his gaze down and spotted several familiar figures at the feet of the Fire God sculpture, Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing. Wang Chong smiled and quickly walked over.

  “Lord Wang, you’re finally here. We’ve been waiting for ages!”

  Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing had also seen Wang Chong, and Feng Changqing turned to greet him with a ruddy face, clearly enjoying this celebratory atmosphere.

  “This Fire God Festival really isn’t bad. Hundreds of thousands of people celebrating together is difficult to see, even in the Central Plains. To be able to take part in this celebration makes coming to Khorasan worth it!” Gao Xianzhi said with a smile, his eyes completely taken by the scene.

  Wang Chong ascended the steps to join the pair. Following Gao Xianzhi’s gaze, he saw that in the center of the temple, enchanting Sassanid maidens were dancing and singing around the blazing sculpture of the Fire God. All these maidens were dancing around a single elegant maiden, her arms covered in golden bracelets and her face concealed by a beaded veil.

  Unlike the other maidens, this woman exuded a thick aura of elegance and nobility, as dazzling as the bright moon in the sky. Her skin was as white as snow and as pure as moonlight. Anyone who even just glanced at her would feel their heart thump, their mind entranced.

  “Adiya!”

  Wang Chong was instantly stunned. The dazzling woman standing in the center of the temple was the Sassanid Princess, Adiya. Wang Chong looked over and saw that Adiya was wearing several strange metal ornaments which seemed to be burning. As Adiya began to jump and spin, the flames on her arms and body began to whirl, making Adiya seem like a fairy.

  Bahram ascended the steps as he explained, “This is a tradition of our imperial household. A member of the imperial household must preside over every Fire God Festival!”

  “Oh.”

  Wang Chong’s eyes twinkled as he gazed at the fairy-like Adiya and nodded. This was his first time taking part in the Fire God Festival, the first time he had experienced this foreign dancing and ceremony. All of this was new and fresh to him, completely different from the traditions of the Central Plains.

  Bang!

  As he was thinking, the crowd surrounding the Fire God Temple suddenly exploded with cheers. Wang Chong raised his head and saw that Adiya had stopped. At this point, an extravagantly dressed Sassanid general went up to the stage and respectfully offered a silver mask, exquisitely crafted and embedded with red jewels, to Adiya.

  Not only did this mask not detract from her beauty, it only added to her noble and mysterious aura.

  The cheers had stopped at some point, and Adiya stood in the center of the temple, her enchanting eyes slowly scanning the crowd as if searching for something. As Wang Chong was still dazed, Adiya’s body suddenly swayed, her eyes locking onto him with a hint of joy.

  A moment later, in a soft breeze, Adiya began to move, walking straight toward Wang Chong. This took Wang Chong completely by surprise, but before he had time to react, Adiya was standing right in front of him, her beautiful eyes shining with affection, a soft and tender hand extended out.

  “General, could you dance with me?”

  Adiya’s voice was soft and pleasant, suffused with a charm that plucked at one’s heartstrings and removed any possibility of rejection.

  Wang Chong was frozen. He had never expected Adiya to invite him to dance. Around him, all was silent, everyone staring at Wang Chong, awaiting his answer. Wang Chong instinctively wanted to refuse, but he raised his head and was about to speak when he saw Adiya’s passionate gaze and the expectant looks of the countless Khorasani, rebel, and even Tang soldiers, and couldn’t help but hesitate.

  “Haha, General Wang, you should observe local customs. The Fire God Festival Dance is an extremely common thing in Khorasan. There’s no need for you to be so cautious.” Bahram suddenly stepped forward, smiling as he gave Wang Chong a gentle push.

  Wang Chong saw the expectant looks of everyone around him and finally put aside his caution to agree. “…Very well.”

  Bang!

  Wang Chong’s reply elicited a thunderous cheer from the crowd, and fireworks once more soared into the sky while Khorasani music once more began to play.

  Someone quickly came up with two blazing metal ornaments and placed them on Wang Chong’s shoulders, the writhing flames burning like stars at Wang Chong’s side.

  “Princess, I don’t actually know how to dance.”

  As Wang Chong walked to the stage, he appeared somewhat embarrassed.

  “That’s fine. It’s very simple.”

  Adiya sweetly smiled as she pulled Wang Chong to the center of the temple and began to dance at the feet of the Fire God statue. Adiya danced with all the nobility and grace of a fire fairy, bold and unrestrained, and yet imbued with a maiden’s purity.

  Bang!

  As Adiya began to dance, the crowd began to excitedly cheer, and even the flames seemed to swell. Wang Chong slowly followed along with Adiya’s movements. He was awkward and clumsy at first, but he was still a top-class martial artist, so he
gradually began to grasp the principles and was able to match Adiya’s movements.

  “You’re a fast learner.”

  Adiya’s eyes shone with wonder.

  “Princess flatters me.”

  Wang Chong faintly smiled, always keeping a certain distance from Adiya.

  The festive air intensified, and with the banging of metal drums, the celebration reached its peak. At this point, the crowd began to enter the stage and dance to the impassioned music of the Fire God Festival. All the Khorasani, rebel soldiers, Tang soldiers, Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, Cheng Qianli, Xi Yuanqing, and the others participated in this grandiose festival. Countless people cheered and spun, happiness and joy on their faces.

  “Milord, can I dance with you?”

  As he was dancing in the center of the temple, Wang Chong heard an unfamiliar voice at his ear. Wang Chong turned and saw a Khorasani he had never seen before inviting him to a dance. Adiya had only been the leading dancer, and after the leading dancer was the second phase, where everyone could participate and dance with whoever they pleased.

  “Okay.”

  Wang Chong faintly smiled and nodded.

  One, two, three partners… everyone joined in the festivities, constantly changing dancing partners. Wang Chong looked around at the kind and pure faces around him, all of them immersed in the celebration. All of them were delighting in the festivities and rejoicing in victory.

  As Wang Chong looked at all these joyful smiles, he gradually began to understand something. He finally let down his guard and threw himself entirely into the exuberance and joy of the festival.

  Chapter 1213 - King of Foreign Lands!

  Chapter 1213: King of Foreign Lands!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  From the War of Nanzhao to the Battle of Talas, to the Battle of Khorasan, Wang Chong had been tense the entire time. But at this moment, as the sounds of music and celebration filled his ear, Wang Chong finally relaxed, immediately feeling a sense of unprecedented carefreeness. He cast all administrative, military, and logistical matters to the back of his mind and completely threw himself into the festival, allowing himself to purely enjoy the festival for its own sake.