Li Heng raised his head to Wang Chong with eyes brimming with hope.Whenever he was in grave danger, Wang Chong would always make a timely appearance to solve his problems.
It seemed like there was no problem in the world that he couldn’t solve. Thus, the moment Li Heng ran into trouble, he immediately thought about Wang Chong.
He had nothing but trust and respect for Wang Chong!
The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Wang Chong was silent, a pensive look in his eyes.
He did not doubt Li Heng’s words, but he needed to think about this matter carefully. Too many things made no sense.
There’s no reason for it. Based on my memories, this should be a period of comparative peace and quiet, with no major incidents. Moreover, since the First Prince has been made regent, if all goes as expected, he should be the next sovereign. There’s no reason for him to do all of this, acting so openly and leaving behind so many clues. That doesn’t match with his personality!
Wang Chong’s brows locked together in confusion.
Far too much had happened while he had been gone. He had originally believed that he only had to deal with the powerful Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect backing him.
But to his surprise, he now had to deal with the First Prince.
And though Li Heng said that he was sure that the First Prince had done all this, there was still no firm evidence that could link it all to the First Prince, Li Ying.
Thus, even if Li Heng reported this matter to the Imperial Court, it would be useless.
Moreover, not even Li Heng believed that the First Prince had placed the Sage Emperor under house arrest and was plotting rebellion, so why would anyone else?
There was simply no reason for him to do it!
“It’s not right!”
Suddenly, Wang Chong remembered something, a matter that he had almost forgotten, a major incident that had almost completely altered the Great Tang’s political scene.
It wasn’t that Li Ying was disinclined to plot rebellion. On the contrary, he was more ambitious than anyone else. But his composure and shrewdness had concealed this ambition.
Thus, others felt that even if he had this ambition, he would never carry it out!
This could be seen from both Wang Chong’s and Li Heng’s reactions.
But in reality, such an incident really had taken place in history.
The Rebellion of the Three Princes!
Near the end of the Sage Emperor’s reign, when the Wang Clan had already fallen, the fleeing Wang Chong had heard of an earth-shaking incident. First Prince Li Ying, Second Prince Li Yao, and Third Prince Li Ju had joined together and rebelled. Taking advantage of a time when the Sage Emperor’s condition was declining from his failure to reach the Divine Martial realm, they instigated a coup in an attempt to replace the Sage Emperor1.
This rebellion had left the Imperial Palace flowing with blood and countless ministers dead. After the coup was over, almost eighty percent of the court had been wiped out.
This was the last major incident in the end days of the Great Tang. Although the losses in this incident were far smaller than those from the war in the southwest and the Battle of Talas, the effects far surpassed those of any war.
The strength of the entire country was rapidly expended in this coup.
The deaths of countless civil and military officials had ripple effects on innumerable great clans.
The Great Tang had already been weak and feeble from the two major defeats, and the Rebellion of the Three Princes finally managed to hollow out this colossus.
After the rebellion, the court no longer had anyone to guide it, allowing Kang Yaluoshan to jump in and deliver the fatal blow to a once-dazzling empire.
When Wang Chong became Grand Marshal, he inherited a tattered and devastated mess. Even though he tried his best, he could not prevent the sun from eventually setting.
But Wang Chong recalled that there was still an extremely long time until this incident occurred.
Thus, Wang Chong had not even considered the possibility when Li Heng began to bring up all these incidents.
Could it be that my changing of this world’s history has caused the Rebellion of the Three Princes to be moved up?
Wang Chong’s face slowly turned grave.
At its most prosperous, the capital had been home to at least one hundred thousand great clans, but the rebellion had swept up almost all of them.
Li Ying had used various threats and promises to force these great clans into joining, and after the incident, fewer than one out of ten great clans had survived.
One could easily imagine the shock this would have on the country.
The one hundred thousand great clans didn’t just represent themselves. They represented the strength of the country as a whole.
Back then, he hadn’t cared. After all, he could hardly keep his own stomach full, so he had little ability to care about any of these things.
But now, more than half of the great clans in the capital were tied up with him, and these great clans had rendered great service for the Great Tang in the war of the southwest, and the Battle of Talas. Wang Chong could not ignore their plight.
No matter what, he couldn’t let them end up this way.
More importantly, Wang Chong could not permit the Rebellion of the Three Princes to take place again, wasting the bit of energy he had managed to gather up for the country.
But… if it really is that, then this is no small matter. I’ll have to think about this matter much more carefully! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
History had changed and the times had changed, and the Great Tang was at a different level of power. There was no guarantee that the Rebellion of the Three Princes would enact itself in exactly the same fashion.
His past experiences would be of no help here.
Moreover, unlike the war of the southwest and the Battle of Talas, where he had all sorts of information regarding those two wars, the Rebellion of the Three Princes was a matter of internal strife within the imperial household. Many matters had been concealed from outsiders.
No one except those involved knew the exact details, and when Li Heng assumed the throne, he placed a taboo on the incident and sealed the records.
In addition, most of the participants had been massacred. All this meant that little was known of this extremely influential event other than its name. This was also partially why Wang Chong had not initially thought about this incident.
And what also made Wang Chong hesitant was that the Rebellion of the Three Princes was not a conflict where the weapons were out in the weapon and the fires of war thickly burned. Many of the dangers were in places one couldn’t see.
Contests of intelligence, shrewdness, and schemes were always more dangerous than contests of the very visible swords and sabers.
Without firm evidence and without knowledge of any specific time or place, reckless action would not solve any problems and might end up getting him accused of some crime.
At that time, it wouldn’t just be Wang Chong, but the entire Wang Clan and everyone related to it that would join him in death.
The enormity of the affair meant that Wang Chong had to move cautiously.
“Your Highness, did you think of something?”
Li Heng had been staring at Wang Chong this entire time.
“It’s nothing! Leave this matter to me. I will think of a way to deal with it!”
Wang Chong quickly came back to his senses.
“In addition, you don’t have enough people at your side and might get into danger at any time. I will send a few people to your side. They are skilled in medicinal arts and are also powerful martial artists. Take them into your palace as guards. They should be enough to keep you safe for now.”
Wang Chong wasn’t referring to guards of the Wang Clan, but to martial artists that he had earlier recruited from the martial arts world. In his northwest adventure, Wang Chong had not just seen the Origin I
mmortal Lord and obtained the Origin Immortal Art. He had also gained many followers in the martial arts world.
Although not many people in the martial arts world had answered his call, he still had quite a few followers.
“Mm!”
Li Heng firmly nodded, his mind calming down. Since Wang Chong had said that he would intervene, Li Heng was no longer worried about any danger to himself.
“The rules of the palace are strict and First Imperial Brother might send someone to watch me at any time. I have to go back soon,” Li Heng suddenly said.
As Wang Chong was leaving Morning Song Pavilion, in the dazzling Imperial Palace of the Great Tang, the beating heart of political power, the strumming of zithers rose from a dazzling golden hall.
Written in gold on the black signboard were several dazzling words:
‘The Pavilion of Petal and Sepal’!
The buildings of the palace were usually called palaces, such as the Taihe Palace, Taiji Palace, Xingqing Palace… Only this place was called a pavilion.
This was a place where the Great Tang Empire feasted foreign emissaries and honored guests.
The Great Tang had been established for several hundred years, but the Sage Emperor had been the most expansionist of all its sovereigns, expanding the borders to an unprecedented size. After subjugating the surrounding countries and gaining their fealty, he erected the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal.
At this time, the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal was awash with music and joyous feasting.
“Come, a toast!”
“To the First Prince!”
Within the pavilion, palace maids stood in attendance while bells melodiously rang. First Prince Li Ying stood on a raised platform, his cup raised. A moment later, amidst a chorus of thickly-accented Tang, hawk-nosed and deep-eyed Hu with thick beards stood up and raised their cups to the First Prince.
The guests at this banquet were emissaries from various countries, as well as princes from the Eastern and Western Turks, the Western Regions, Arabia, Charax Spasinu, and even Ü-Tsang and Mengshe Zhao.
The status of the guests made this a state banquet.
But while there were maids serving wine and dancing girls, there were no ministers of state. Moreover, the gates were firmly shut, with not even a recording eunuch present.
Moreover, a Prince of the Great Tang was not meant to visit places like the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal. Even as a regent, he should have had ministers around him. All this was in defiance of protocol.
This made this a private banquet, not a state banquet.
“Come! Let us give a toast to the future Son of Heaven of the Great Tang!”
“That’s right! His Highness the Regent is benevolent and righteous. In the future, our countries will definitely be able to coexist and prosper!”
______________
1. Historically, the Princes Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju were undone due to the machinations of one of Xuanzong’s consorts, Consort Wu. Consort Wu had become Xuanzong’s favored consort, and these three Princes had complained to each other how the favor the Emperor showed to Consort Wu had caused their own mothers to lose favor. One day, Consort Wu deceived the three Princes by saying that there were bandits in the palace and that the three of them should come dressed in full armor. She then went to the Emperor and accused the three Princes of plotting rebellion, pointing out how they were dressed in full armor. The Princes were accused of treason, demoted to commoners, and eventually forced to commit suicide. Consort Wu would be plagued by nightmares of the three Princes and would die the same year.↩
Chapter 1574 - Reactions from All Sides!
Chapter 1574: Reactions from All Sides!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
All the foreign dignitaries were calling out in rough Tang language, and their faces were flushed with intoxication.
“Everyone is too polite. This prince is merely a temporary regent. Without Imperial Father’s approval, this prince cannot be considered the heir apparent yet!”
The First Prince placed one hand behind his back while the other raised a cup to the royalty and emissaries down below.
“For the First Prince to inherit the throne is only right and proper!”
“If anyone dares to oppose the First Prince, I, Wanyan Meiyue, will be the first to challenge them!”
“Our Arabia is willing to be the first to support the First Prince!”
“As long as the First Prince is here, the Western Turks will never go to war with the Great Tang!”
The riotous crowd, their faces red, called out their praises for the First Prince, to which the First Prince slightly raised his head and smiled. Spoken words could not be trusted, and despite what these foreign dignitaries said, there was no telling what they were really thinking.
But sincere or not, this praise was enough for Li Ying.
Flap flap!
A golden eagle suddenly flew in through the skylight in the ceiling. An armored Golden Guard with a stern expression glanced at the bird, paled, and quickly strode over to the First Prince.
“Your Highness, there’s a problem!” the Golden Guard softly whispered.
The First Prince also seemed to grimace for a moment as he looked at the Golden Guard, but a moment later, he had regained his confident composure. It was so fast that one would feel like it had all been an illusion.
“Guests, please enjoy yourselves! I still have matters to attend to and must leave first!”
The First Prince waved his hand and then cast a glance at a silver-haired eunuch at his side. The eunuch immediately understood and began to confidently walk forward.
……
Once he was out of the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal, the First Prince’s face turned dark.
“What’s going on?”
The mood in this room was completely different from the mood in the pavilion.
The King of Foreign Lands who had been missing for more than a month had suddenly reappeared and returned to the capital, exactly when the First Prince wanted to see him the least.
“We don’t know the exact details, but it’s confirmed that the King of Foreign Lands has returned. Moreover, after his return, the gates of the Wang Family Residence have been under heavy guard, and not even the old grannies who go out to buy food have come out. Our men haven’t been able to gather very much information.”
The Golden Guard lowered his head, his expression extremely respectful.
“Nothing but trash!”
The First Prince stared at the Golden Guard, his expression cold and sinister, but the Golden Guard did not dare to retort, only pressing his head lower.
There was no need to explain what sort of person the King of Foreign Lands was!
The capital with him present and the capital without him were two completely different places. This man was a core member of the army. One could see his influence merely from how his absence of a little more than a month had allowed the First Prince and Li Junxian to take over the court and push out the pro-war faction.
But if Wang Chong were to appear at this time and issue a rallying cry, quite a few people would answer the call.
All this would create a massive headache for the First Prince.
In this matter, the guard had definitely failed at his duty.
The First Prince ignored the man, and while he tried his best to keep a calm expression on his face, a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes. That man’s ability, intelligence, and military strategies were one in a million, and if there had been a possibility, the First Prince would have recruited him for his own side.
Alas, that man was determined to be his foe. It was one thing to not help him, but he had also chosen to aid the Fifth Prince, Li Heng, and become his direct foe!
There was nothing left to talk about between them!
The First Prince rubbed his forehead and suddenly asked, “Have you investigated his whereabouts?”
“No, the Wang Clan still
hasn’t made an announcement. And the King of Foreign Lands… given his strength, if he wanted to hide himself, we would probably find it very hard to keep track of him,” the Golden Guard hesitantly said.
After a few moments of silence, the First Prince coldly snorted and then broke into a smile.
“Relax. The capital is only so large. He’ll have to come out at some point. And now that he’s appeared, we’re not the ones who need to worry about him… Has there been any movement from Li Junxian?”
“They should already know of this matter,” the Golden Guard sternly said.
Wang Chong and Li Junxian were the representatives of their respective sides in the militarist-Confucian conflict, one the Advisor-in-Waiting and the other the Secretariat Advisor, one pro-war and the other pro-peace. And while Wang Chong was gone, the Confucian Sect had passed the proposal the King of Foreign Lands had so vehemently rejected, disbanding the prefectural armies. Even this Golden Guard had to admit that the Confucian Sect had every reason to be worried.
“Heh, keep watch on the Wang Family at all times. In addition, Li Junxian… is he still not willing to cooperate?” the First Prince suddenly asked.
“We’ve already tried three times, but Li Junxian has found a reason to refuse us at every instance. The Confucian Sect has obtained what it wanted and doesn’t seem like it will be very cooperative now. But that man said that if Your Highness ascends the throne, Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect will offer their full support.”
The First Prince was initially taken aback, but then he sneered.
“If I ascend the throne, will I still need their Confucian Sect?” the First Prince spat out, anger in his eyes.
If Wang Chong were here, he would undoubtedly be stunned. He had only been gone from the capital for a little more than a month, but many things had happened. While the First Prince and Confucian Sect had completely seized the Imperial Court, it seemed like not everything was going according to plan.
At the very least, the First Prince and Li Junxian seemed to have had a falling out.
“Hmph, since that’s the case, send a message to the Secretariat Advisor telling him that Wang Chong has returned,” the First Prince coldly ordered. “I’d like to see how he deals with it!”
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 973
