“I want to eat this!
“And this!
“And this!”
Wang Xiaoyao, from her seat at the very end of the table, used a specially-made pair of long chopsticks to rove around the table, placing the best foods into her own bowl. The food in her bowl was now piled higher than her rice, and her mouth was also stuffed full.
“Enough for now! There’s plenty for everyone!”
Madam Wang was both vexed and amused, and everyone around her laughed as well. In comparison to others, Wang Xiaoyao would always live a most relaxed, happy, and free life. She didn’t have many worries and was the easiest to satisfy. As she grew up, what she liked had never changed.
Of course, it was eating.
Seeing everyone look at her bowl, Wang Xiaoyao’s appetite was stimulated, and she began to take big bites. Her head was so buried in her bowl that it was difficult to see.
A dinner with Wang Xiaoyao present would never be boring, and there was nothing more happy and harmonious than everyone seated around the same table.
“Oh no! What’s going on? My favorite chicken legs don’t have any salt?”
Wang Xiaoyao had grabbed a chicken leg with her chopsticks and placed it in her mouth, and then her brow creased in discontent.
“Little Sister, stop messing around. There’s salt!” Wang Chong said, chuckling as he looked at his little sister. As he spoke, he took a chicken bone and placed it in the bowl meant for scraps. His little sister’s naughty nature had truly not changed. He had already finished eating one and found no problems at all.
Moreover, the estate’s chefs were renowned throughout the capital, and they couldn’t possibly neglect the salt. His little sister was just causing a fuss.
“There’s no salt, no salt, no salt!”
Wang Xiaoyao fumed and shouted, even throwing her chopsticks on the table in anger.
“Xiaoyao, stop making trouble!”
Upon seeing this, Wang Chong’s mother immediately turned stern. Wang Bei also gave an unhappy frown. Unlike his little brother and his mother, Wang Bei had a much colder and more murderous gaze.
“If you’re not eating, then leave!”
“None of you believe me! I’m not messing around! There’s no salt! If you don’t believe me, try for yourself!”
Wang Xiaoyao angrily frowned as she stared at the others, showing no signs of backing down.
“Is that so? Young Miss, let me try.”
Seeing how angry their young miss was, Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi tried to ease the mood and reached out with their own chopsticks to take a chicken leg. These chicken legs were usually Wang Xiaoyao’s favorite, so everyone intentionally left them for her. But now, there was naturally no harm in trying one.
But after taking a bite, Xu Keyi and Su Shixuan immediately frowned.
“What’s wrong? Can neither of you taste the salt either?”
Wang Chong shook his head and chuckled.
Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi would sometimes play along with his little sister. She was the youngest member of the household, after all.
“It… it seems like there really is no salt…”
Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi hesitantly looked at Wang Chong.
“Messing around!”
Wang Chong shook his head, not knowing if he should laugh or cry.
More and more people began to extend their chopsticks and take a chicken leg, realizing that something was wrong. And at this moment, a flurry of footsteps could be heard from outside. Under the eyes of the flabbergasted diners, the head chef of the residence rushed in, still holding a ladle in one hand.
“Madam, Second Master, Third Master, my utmost apologies. There was a small mishap while cooking just now. The bowl of Dongting chicken legs that the young lady enjoys so much was served without salt. I will go back and recook it! Madam, I am truly sorry!”
As the old chef spoke, he took the bowl of chicken legs from the table and hastily left.
Buzz!
The hall became eerily silent as everyone turned to look at Wang Chong. All of them had tried one of those chicken legs, and all of them had determined that there had truly been no flavor to them. And perhaps because they hadn’t been cooked for long enough, they had still been a tiny bit raw.
But Wang Chong had failed to taste anything unusual.
Everyone had complicated expressions on their faces and deep concern in their eyes. Given all the time that had passed, everyone believed that Wang Chong had gotten better and had already forgotten about the problems of the court. He seemed to be fine, even occasionally joking around with Wang Xiaoyao.
But now, they came to the startling realization that nothing was as they had imagined.
Wang Chong had never forgotten.
In the face of all these worried gazes in this silent hall, Wang Chong seemed to understand something, and then his smile began to fade. He had always believed that he had been hiding it well, never expecting that he would be exposed like this.
“Mother, I’m going out for a walk!”
Wang Chong stood up, put down his chopsticks, and calmly walked away, avoiding everyone’s gazes. Behind him, Wang Xiaoyao was still shouting that “I knew there was no salt, but none of you believed me.” As he felt the wind blow on his body, Wang Chong suddenly felt a chill.
There were some things that were thought to have been forgotten, but while he could fool others, he could not fool himself. A day would come where the mask on one’s face would inadvertently be pulled off, revealing that most fragile part of one’s soul.
Wang Chong didn’t want others to worry about him.
But there were some things that he could not help but worry about!
He was confused and lost. In this dark night, he had no idea where to go!
“Madam, we found this in the young master’s room.”
Not long after Wang Chong was gone, a maid suddenly stepped forward and opened her palm. In this palm were a bloodstained bandage and a cinnabar brush that had been snapped in two. The sight of these two objects made Madam Wang instantly pale.
“Mother, I’ll go and find him!”
Wang Bei immediately stood up.
“There’s no need. Let him have some time to himself.”
Madam Wang shook her head, her eyes dim. Wang Chong had already fallen unconscious twice, and the mental knot in his heart remained tight. All they could do at this time was to try not to stimulate him and refuse to discuss any political matter within the residence. Just like that imperial physician had said, her child’s mental illness could only be resolved through his own efforts.
……
Wang Chong walked alone through the residence in the quiet night, intentionally avoiding the places where others would be and choosing the most remote gardens and verandas. He walked around and around, but the ache in his heart remained and only intensified with time.
Bong!
The sound of the bell marking the time came from outside. Wang Chong stopped and faintly heard footsteps making their way toward the residence. Within the capital, each area would have people announcing what time it was, and these people would usually travel in pairs.
“…Ahead of us is the Wang Family Residence!”
The voices of two night watchmen drew Wang Chong’s attention.
“Isn’t that where the King of Foreign Lands is?”
“Ah! You’re a newcomer, so I advise you not to talk any more about that.”
One of the watchmen had barely spoken when he was cut off by his partner. The two watchmen gradually faded into the darkness. As Wang Chong came to his senses, he realized that he was standing in front of the high perimeter walls.
These walls seemed to be as high as mountains, blocking his path and weighing down his heart. At this moment, Wang Chong suddenly had a strong desire to go out. With a light shake of his feet, Wang Chong drifted onto the wall like a leaf.
As he stood on the wall, he could see countless lights twinkling in the darkness, and that familiar
feeling once more surged into his heart. He was like a solitary boat drifting in the endless ocean, lost in the darkness and confused as to where to go.
Wang Chong turned and saw the two night watchmen walking into the distance. Softly sighing, Wang Chong jumped down from the wall and began to head in the opposite direction.
Behind him, a silent figure watched from the shadows, and then furtively began to follow.
Chapter 1317 - Mental Knot! (II)
Chapter 1317: Mental Knot! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong walked alone through the streets, buffeted by the night winds. He didn’t know what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go, only that his mind felt much more at ease like this.
Arf! Arf!
The sound of barking dogs, men and women, and the crying of children could be heard in the darkness. Wang Chong silently proceeded forward, attracting no interest.
“Father, I’m sorry…”
Nearby, in a home by the street, a lantern was lit, and one could hear the conversation of a father and son through the window.
“I was the one who was wrong. I shouldn’t have argued with you! I believed that the King of Foreign Lands was a great hero, that he was right. I didn’t think that he was an ambitious bastard who was plotting rebellion!”
Buzz!
Wang Chong felt his heart shudder, and his hands clenched together as waves of pain traveled through his body.
“Ah! All of it is in the past. There exists no grudge between father and son that can last a night. It’s fine as long as you understand! Not even I imagined that he would be like this, let alone you.”
The snatches of conversation from the father and son caused Wang Chong’s eyes to dim. He passed by the window and continued onward.
The night was bleak and cold, and Wang Chong felt rather chilly as he walked through the streets, which were so deserted that Wang Chong had not seen a single person since he had begun his walk.
“How impressive! The Confucian school has more than two thousand schools in Arabia now. The Caliph of Arabia is truly a trustworthy fellow. We had him all wrong.”
“Aren’t there several hundred thousand people in Arabia learning our Great Tang’s language at this time? In the future, all the Hu around us might be able to speak the Tang language!”
“Exactly! The son of my neighbor went to Khorasan for business, and I heard that he made piles of money. That’s the way of the world. If there’s money to be made, who would be willing to fight a war? This is all the fault of that King of Foreign Lands!”
“Right, right!”
Voices came from next to a wall, and then two figures, carrying a bucket of sticky paste and a brush, walked into the distance, having just finished posting something on the wall.
Buzz!
No one noticed Wang Chong standing in the darkness, his face as pale as a ghost’s as he gazed at those two men. Once the two of them were gone, Wang Chong stepped forward and saw that this was an announcement from the Confucian school on their accomplishments in the surrounding foreign countries.
‘The Eastern Turkic Khaganate has established an additional twenty-four schools with thirteen hundred students!’
‘The Western Turkic Khaganate has established an additional thirty-five schools with twenty-eight hundred students!’
‘A new open market has been opened in the northwest, with one million taels of gold being exchanged each month!’
‘Around the Beiting Protectorate, the Imperial Court has once more negotiated with the Western Turks, and both sides have agreed to pull back their defense lines an additional one hundred li!’
The entire wall was covered by announcements like these. But Wang Chong also spotted a few, much simpler announcements.
‘Bring down the King of Foreign Lands!’
‘The King of Foreign Lands is a murdering Demon King!’
‘Might Makes Right is heresy!’
The corners of these announcements were still wet. It was obvious that they had been posted up by that pair of men.
Wang Chong read these announcements with a pale face, his fingernails digging into his flesh and drawing blood. Each of the words on those announcements was a chisel stabbing deep into Wang Chong’s body.
There was no one to see him on this dark night, but this was precisely why he took every one of these words to heart. At this moment, his entire body was awash with pain. He once more felt like he was about to suffocate, that the cold and dark ocean was threatening once more to engulf him. No matter how much he struggled, he only sank deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Taptap!
Wang Chong’s pace became faster and faster as he madly dashed through the streets, his surroundings flowing past like streams of water.
He had done his utmost to not think about or mention court matters in this period of time, and Wang Chong had believed that he had forgotten, that he could put his burdens down. Only now did Wang Chong realize that these wounds were still open and hurt far more than he had imagined.
He dashed around like this for a long, long time, and only when he felt mentally and physically exhausted did he finally stop.
In front of him was a strange forest, and there was a dim light in the sky. Wang Chong realized that he had run all the way from the western part of the city to the southern part of the city.
“Who?”
Wang Chong suddenly turned his head, his eyes as sharp as swords as he stared at the forest.
All was quiet, with nary a sound.
“You followed me for so long; do you need me to force you out?”
Wang Chong opened his palm, immediately gathering energy within it into a sharp blade.
Just when Wang Chong was about to strike, a voice came from the trees some twenty steps away.
“Wait!”
Swoosh!
A figure jumped out of the lush trees and onto the ground. This was not a masked man in black, but a man wearing a green silk robe with the word ‘'(Ultimate) on his chest.
“You’re from the Duke of E Residence?!”
Wang Chong was stunned, not having expected that the person who had followed him for half the night would be from the Duke of E Residence. Though this person had not stated as such, the clothes he wore were extremely similar to the uniform of the Ultimate Martial Army, let alone the token of the Duke of E Residence on his waist.
“King of Foreign Lands, forgive me!”
The man clasped his hands and deferentially bowed.
“This one had no hostile intentions, but was only delivering an invitation card as ordered!”
“Invitation card!”
Wang Chong’s brows creased in surprise, but his hostility faded.
For the Battle of Talas, the Duke of E Residence had sent two thousand of its Ultimate Martial Army to assist Wang Chong and the Great Tang. If not for the assistance of this army, victory would have been much more difficult to achieve.
Despite the Wang Clan having no former dealings with the Duke of E Residence, the Duke of E Residence had still lent Wang Chong two thousand soldiers after a single letter, filling Wang Chong with respect and admiration for its open-mindedness.
“This one cannot give a proper explanation. Your Highness will understand once you read it!”
The guard from the Duke of E Residence took out an invitation card inside an azure envelope and respectfully offered it.
“Understood! Thank the Duke of E for me!” Wang Chong indifferently said as he took the letter.
Although he was thankful for the kind intentions and assistance of the Duke of E, he was truly in no mood to pay anyone a visit.
“Milord, this one will take his leave first. But no matter what, Milord must read the contents of the invitation card!”
The Duke of E Residence guard sighed in relief once Wang Chong took the invitation card. As he backed up, he took one last glance at the card.
Swoosh!
The man finally jumped onto a tree branch and vanished with a flash.
Wang Chong looked up and saw that it wasn’t long until daybreak. Deeply sighing, he began to make his way back home.
……
Time continued to slowly pass.
Within his study, Wang Chong was seated cross-legged on the ground, white streams of energy rising from his body. His face was red and covered in sweat. After some time, Wang Chong exhaled and slowly withdrew his energy. His complexion instantly seemed to improve.
“Sir Zhang, many thanks,” Wang Chong said to the imperial physician in front of him. “This Scarlet Soul Pill truly is effective.”
“Milord has no need to be so courteous. Milord’s martial arts are deep and profound, and together with your astonishing talent, Milord should be fine after another period of rest and recuperation.”
The physician put away his medicine box as he spoke to Wang Chong.
“Sir Zhang, my thanks.”
Wang Chong nodded, stood up, and bowed.
The imperial physician quickly left the study with his medicine box. Meanwhile, Wang Chong walked up to his desk, unrolled a sheet of paper, and began to practice calligraphy.
In another few days, his two months of house arrest would be over. In this period of time, Wang Chong had no need to attend court, nor could he involve himself in the matters of the Bureau of Military Personnel. Practicing calligraphy was a way for him to spend time and alleviate his emotions.
“Sir Zhang, how is my child doing?”
As Wang Chong was focused on his calligraphy, he suddenly heard a voice far off in the distance.
“Mother!”
Wang Chong immediately recognized the voice, and his mind shook.
The familiar voice of the doctor replied, “Madam, I have already given His Highness the Scarlet Soul Pill. Following your orders, I have not told His Highness the truth. Although His Highness seems fine on the surface, his mental knot is only getting more and more serious. His Highness’s energy has clearly become even more unstable. The situation is not good!
“If there is no way of removing His Highness’s mental knot, or if he does not untie this knot on his own, it will only get more and more serious. When the time comes, not even this old man will be able to do anything.”
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 828
