This foreshadowed the coming disaster.
If one thought back, if there was one incident that proclaimed that the Great Tang had entered internal strife, it was the Great Buddhist Temple incident.
Not even Wang Chong had imagined that this incident would come so quickly, and his expression instantly turned grave.
The Great Buddhist Temple incident seemed simple, but it would cause many people to lose their heads.
No matter what, he had to stop it.
As if in response to Wang Chong’s thoughts, the Stone of Destiny loudly proclaimed, “Special Event: Rebellion of the Three Princes begins! User has three months to stop this event. Starting from now, the loss of each great clan in the capital will result in a deduction of 10,000 Destiny Energy points. If user is able to alter this disaster, then once the Rebellion of the Three Princes is over, user will be rewarded with 20,000 points of Destiny Energy for each great clan saved. The above amounts are not restricted!”
Wang Chong’s vision was covered in crimson light, and then a massive symbol appeared that began to shrink into a small mark that branded itself onto the Stone of Destiny.
As Wang Chong sensed this change in his mind, he fell into a contemplative mood.
“Reporting!”
A few moments later, a Golden Guard rushed inside.
“Your Highness, the Zhang, Li, Huang, and Lu Clans have all sent messages saying they have something to report. Your Highness, please review them!”
The guard respectfully offered the letters in his hand.
Wang Chong said nothing, frowning as he took the letters and looked them over. Just as expected, the Zhangs, Lis, Huangs, and Lus had all received invitations from the First Prince.
These great clans were all very close to Wang Chong, and everyone knew that many of those steel modules that had played great roles in the construction of the City of Steel and the Battle of Talas had been forged by these clans.
The First Prince couldn’t possibly have been unaware, but he nonetheless sent them invitations. This was clearly intentional, but it was hard to divine his intentions.
Wang Chong sensed that if he didn’t handle this matter properly, the effects would be far worse than he imagined.
“Come! Pass on my order! Ask all the great clans that we’re working with whether they’ve received an invitation from the First Prince!” Wang Chong suddenly said, his expression incredibly serious.
A few hours later, Wang Chong determined that the number was far greater than imagined.
A single Buddhist temple was forcing all of the great clans of the capital to make a choice: follow the First Prince or become his enemy.
……
At the same time, all of the First Prince’s faction members had gathered in the Eastern Palace.
“Have all the invitations been sent?” the Ghost King suddenly asked, his gaze turning to one of the First Prince’s advisors.
“They’ve all been sent. Any clan with property exceeding ten thousand strings of cash has received an invitation. But although the invitations were sent, the Great Buddhist Temple is not yet complete, so we can’t know how many will attend yet.”
“This is enough,” the Ghost King indifferently said. “What comes next is not anything you need to worry about.”
The Ghost King lowered his head and continued to read the book in his hand. He exuded a reassuring aura, like everything was under his control.
Upon seeing this attitude from the Ghost King, everyone fell silent. Although he was the most recent addition to the First Prince’s retinue, he had already become their leader, attaining a status that none of them could reach.
“Senior, this prince has a question!”
At this moment, the First Prince suddenly spoke.
While he had let the Ghost King handle everything, this did not mean that he couldn’t ask questions, couldn’t intervene.
“In building this Buddhist temple, can we really achieve the effect you speak of? Moreover… while there’s nothing wrong with the other clans, this prince also sees that you’ve invited the Zhangs, Lis, Huangs, Lus, and other clans closely tied to the King of Foreign Lands. Given their relationship with him, will they sincerely support this prince?”
A single Buddhist temple, no matter how resplendent it was, even if the Buddha idol was gilded, cost the equivalent of pocket change to the First Prince. But the Ghost King had said that this Buddhist temple could let him recruit almost all the great clans of the capital to his side, a fact which the First Prince found difficult to believe.
Or perhaps one could call it delusional. One had to realize that they weren’t facing an ordinary foe. If it were that easy to defeat him, they would have never ended up in such a sorry state.
“Heh, Your Highness is already the regent, yet you still have such immature ideas? What does it matter whether it’s sincere? Everything in the realm is the territory of the sovereign, and all of its people his subjects. Do you really think they would dare to defy Your Highness?
“And Your Highness overestimates their relationship to the King of Foreign Lands. In the end, their relationship is a commercial one. Is Your Highness going to tell me that their relationship with the King of Foreign Lands is so good that they would be willing to put the lives of their entire clan at risk?” the Ghost King indifferently said, not raising his head from the tiny characters in his book. It was like the First Prince’s question was so absurd that he could hardly be bothered to answer.
“On one side is the King of Foreign Lands, but on the other side is the successor to the throne. Your Highness, if you were in their position, how would you choose?”
The Ghost King’s last words plunged the Eastern Palace into silence, and everyone’s eyes glowed.
It was true! All of them had been worried about far too much and Wang Chong’s edge had been far too sharp. They had momentarily forgotten that most essential fact.
Just how many people in the world were willing to throw away their lives so that one man could oppose the future Sage Emperor?
“Your Highness, just sit back and prepare to receive the good news!” the Ghost King commented without raising his head.
A smile slowly formed on the First Prince’s lips.
“Kim U-Seok! Did you hear what the Ghost King said before? Starting from now, I need you to keep a close watch on the King of Foreign Lands and all the great clans of the capital. Inform me immediately on any new developments.”
The First Prince suddenly turned to a nearby bowed figure.
The man had two sabers sheathed on his back and a fierce gyrfalcon on his shoulder. He had a rather sinister face, and his bearing was not that of a person from the Central Plains. From his facial features, he was clearly a Goguryeon.
“Your Highness, be at ease. As long as I am here, the slightest activity in the King of Foreign Lands Residence or in the capital will be reported immediately. If there is an error, Your Highness may punish me as you please!”
Kim U-Seok spoke with a heavy Goguryeon accent, and his entire body exuded confidence. It was as if there was nothing in the world that he couldn’t accomplish.
“Good! Be at ease! As long as you loyally serve this prince, this prince will fulfill his promises to you! Not only will you receive immense riches, you will possess authority that you never could have imagined in Goguryeo!” the First Prince said.
“Many thanks, Your Highness!”
Kim U-Seok immediately got to his knees and prostrated.
Chapter 1640 - The Smug First Prince!
Chapter 1640: The Smug First Prince!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Into the night, the homes of the Zhang, Li, Huang, and Lu Clans were still brightly lit. Within the conference hall of the Lu Clan, the Lu Clan Patriarch had a vexed expression as he anxiously paced back and forth. All the elders and retainers of the Lu Clan were around him.
Their brows were furrowed and their faces worried. The reason for all this
was an ordinary invitation card on the table, no larger than a palm.
“How is it? Any news from the King of Foreign Lands?”
The Lu Clan Patriarch turned to the key member of the Lu Clan responsible for communications.
“Still none. Maybe I should just go to the King of Foreign Lands Residence myself!” the core member of the Lu Clan replied.
The Lu Clan Residence was actually very close to the King of Foreign Lands Residence. He had made this request before, but the Lu Clan Patriarch had required him to send a letter.
“No!”
Despite his worries, the Lu Clan Patriarch firmly denied the request.
“The King of Foreign Lands is surrounded by scouts and spies, even from foreign countries. The number of spies and assassins cleared out every day from the surroundings of the King of Foreign Lands Residence is immense, and none of these people care about their lives. If we go there now, we will cause a major problem. The Lu Clan is not a martial clan, and we have no way of dealing with such a complicated situation.”
The recently completed King of Foreign Lands Residence had already become the center of the storm engulfing the entire realm.
A battle at the city gates would also catch the fish in the moat. If they went to the King of Foreign Lands Residence at this time, they would inevitably cause misunderstandings and bring about unnecessary problems. Wang Chong had also considered this point and had requested all of them to only send carrier pigeons unless the matter was of utmost importance.
“Reporting!”
At this moment of unease, there was a flurry of footsteps, and a few moments later, a guard of the Lu Clan came in.
“Patriarch, we have just received a letter from the King of Foreign Lands. Please take a look.”
These words caused the entire conference hall to fall silent, everyone looking at the guard.
“Bring it over!”
The Lu Clan Patriarch hastily snatched the letter and opened it up, but after glancing at it, his face froze in shock.
“Patriarch, what did the King of Foreign Lands say?”
The elders and core members of the clan expectantly looked at the patriarch, but after not receiving a reply for some time, they began to grow surprised.
“Take a look for yourselves!”
The Lu Clan Patriarch simply handed the letter over.
The letter made the rounds through the hall, and once everyone had gotten a look, their expressions were just as strange as the patriarch’s.
“……”
“This…”
All of them glanced at each other, unable to speak.
After a long silence, the Lu Clan Patriarch finally said, “I also don’t know what the King of Foreign Lands is thinking, but since he has spoken, we’ll just do as he says!”
Similar scenes took place across the capital.
Half a month went by in the blink of an eye, and it was soon the opening day for the Great Buddhist Temple.
The Great Buddhist Temple was seated on a mountain outside the capital. Even though the appointed time had not arrived, there was already a vast sea of people gathered at the base of the mountain. The matter of the First Prince paying for the construction of a Buddhist temple had been the talk of the capital, and countless common folk had come to view the event.
Unlike the Imperial Court, many ordinary folk in the capital were not very sensitive to political matters. They had come purely to see the First Prince and the massive ten-some-meter-tall Buddha idol in front of the temple.
“Your Highness, the Huang Clan has sent a letter. Please look it over!”
On another mountain not far from the Great Buddhist Temple, a golden-armored Eastern Palace guard kneeled on the ground.
“Good!”
On the summit, the First Prince’s eyes shone in delight.
“Hand it over!”
The First Prince was even more delighted once he read the contents of the letter.
“Zhu Tong’en, how many of the great clans have agreed to attend the ceremony?”
The First Prince folded up the letter and turned in the direction of the wind, a fresh and relaxed feeling in his heart.
Zhu Tong’en stood seven feet behind the First Prince as he bowed and reported, “Your Highness, at present, we have received more than five thousand replies, and at least eighty percent of the great clans have agreed to attend the ceremony. And this number is increasing, and we expect that even more will come.”
“Haha, okay!”
The First Prince rejoiced at this news.
“Senior Ghost King’s plan was truly flawless. To think that a mere Buddhist temple would be able to draw in almost all the renowned clans of the capital. This prince wasted so much time wracking his mind and taking such great pains to try and recruit all these factions!”
As he looked across to that dazzling and vast Great Buddhist Temple on the other side, as well as the vast crowd gathered in front of it, the First Prince finally and completely acknowledged the Ghost King.
His greatest worry had been his inability to obtain the support of the people. Without this foundation, he had always felt that his efforts to sit upon the throne had been missing something.
But now, things were different. As long as these great clans supported him, his position would be right and proper, as steady as Mount Tai.
The sun had just risen, and there was still a very long time until the time listed in the invitation cards would arrive. The First Prince’s sense was right. As time passed, more and more commoners gathered at the base of the mountain, and the First Prince received more and more letters. Each reply made the expression on the First Prince’s face even more dazzling.
“A wise man knows when to submit to fate! What does the opposition of the King of Foreign Lands matter? In the end, the great clans of the capital have chosen to stand with this prince. With the support of these clans, what can’t this prince achieve?”
A gentle breeze swept across, and the First Prince felt refreshed.
Once the day was over, who in the capital would dare to be his enemy?!
“Pass on this prince’s order! Inform all the representatives of the great clans and prepare for the opening ceremony!” the First Prince suddenly said.
“Yes, Your Highness!”
A guard rushed away.
The anticipated moment had finally come.
Bong!
With the resounding ring of a bell, the Great Buddhist Temple that the First Prince had financially backed was finally opening. As Buddhist chants filled the air, the countless commoners began to surge up the mountain.
“Amitabha!”
On the summit, nearly one hundred monks wearing golden kasayas stood in a row, a magnificent sight to behold.
For this opening ceremony, the First Prince had invited the head monks from various temples to join in the festivities.
Soon, the ceremony reached its most important phase.
“Gracious benefactors, thank you for coming to the opening ceremony for this temple. The merciful Buddha holds compassion for all living beings. The Buddhist texts say that to make offerings to the Buddha is to make offerings to all living things, and to sustain the Buddha is to sustain all life, a most meritorious deed. Thus, with the opening of this Buddhist temple, we request the support and offerings of the gracious benefactors. But as all beings are equal in the eyes of the Buddha, all offerings, no matter how big or small, are the same. Everyone can offer as much or as little as they are comfortable with.”
The genial abbot of the Great Buddhist Temple was an eminent monk who the First Prince had invited.
“This temple was only constructed with the assistance of the First Prince. His Highness has an esteemed and imperial status, but he holds a merciful and compassionate heart, truly a blessing for all peoples. Now, we invite the First Prince to say a few words!”
The abbot stepped backed and glanced at the nearby Li Ying.
The abbot had barely spoken when the m
ountain exploded with cheers.
“First Prince!”
“First Prince!”
“First Prince!”
The cheers resounded through the world.
As he saw the crowds cheer, the First Prince’s heart swelled with joy.
He felt as though he wasn’t standing at the peak of a mountain, but within the majestic Taiji Palace, receiving the respect and support of all his subjects.
“Everyone, as the abbot said, making offerings to the Buddha is the same as making offerings to all living beings. This prince supported the construction of this temple for the sake of my Great Tang, for the prosperity of all the people of the realm. This prince will take the lead and donate one hundred thousand strings of cash for the Buddhist temple to use.
“In addition, all the incense, oil, and money received in this ceremony will be used for charitable purposes, so that the Great Buddhist Temple can serve as a place of shelter for the orphans and widows of the area,” the First Prince loudly proclaimed.
Boom!
All the common folk of the capital cheered.
“The First Prince is truly a benevolent and kind person!”
“So the First Prince built this temple for the sake of the orphans and widows!”
“A kind and benevolent Prince is bound to be a kind and benevolent sovereign! That abbot was right! If the First Prince becomes the sovereign of the Great Tang, it will be a blessing to the people of the realm!”
All the commoners became excited at the First Prince’s words.
Many of the spectators to this ceremony had come due to the First Prince’s fame, and they had not expected to hear such words.
The cheering grew louder and louder, and as the First Prince took in their ardent cries and felt their sincere support, he grew even more energetic and joyful.
A single Buddhist temple had gotten him the support of the great clans and won the hearts of the people. There was no better deal in the entire world.
Bong!
With the banging of gongs, the ceremony began, and the representatives of the great clans began to come forward.
“The Li Clan of the capital donates eight thousand taels of gold to celebrate the opening of the Great Buddhist Temple!”
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1011
