The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  The winds blew against the towers of Big Dipper City, creating a low howl. Fumeng Lingcha was wearing a full suit of armor as he stood atop the easternmost tower. Upon hearing these words, he looked up and took the letter.

  “Heheheh…”

  Fumeng Lingcha began to softly chuckle as the energy on his body surged and then erupted like flames.

  “After so long, this one’s day has finally come!”

  Fumeng Lingcha suddenly raised his head and looked toward the distant capital in the east. His eyes flashed with the cold light of a saber’s edge.

  With his own powerful strength and the assistance of his loyal Qixi subordinates, Fumeng Lingcha had successfully taken control of the Big Dipper Army, becoming a Protector-General in both name and reality.

  “Were all those kings and nobles born into their nobility? First Prince, I will definitely help you take the throne of the Nine and Five, so I hope you can fulfill your promise. As for Wang Chong… this time, I’ll definitely tear you to pieces!”

  (TN: ‘Were all those kings and nobles born into their nobility?’ was supposedly a question asked by Chen Sheng, the leader of the first rebellion against the Qin Dynasty. The question reflects the ambitions of the common folk, and in this case, Fumeng Lingcha’s ambitions.)

  Bang!

  With a shake of his hand, Fumeng Lingcha obliterated the letter, and little white flecks of debris poured out from between his fingertips.

  Bwoooom!

  A few moments later, horns began to bleakly blare across the western border, heralding the coming war.

  Chapter 1736 - Strange Activity on the Border! (II)

  Chapter 1736: Strange Activity on the Border! (II)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  In the distant Anxi, with Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing sent off to the capital and then dispatched to Mengshe Zhao by the First Prince, the elite Anxi Protectorate army had finally fallen under the control of the First Prince. Though the Iron Wall Army had been almost completely wiped out in the Battle of Talas, a starving camel was still larger than a horse. The support of the Bureau of Military Personnel and the various other parts of the Great Tang had allowed the Anxi Protectorate to once more gather a large number of elites, and so it still possessed considerable strength.

  “The time has come. Wait for my order. Be prepared to move out at any time!”

  In the night, two figures standing side by side within the Anxi Protectorate headquarters received the message and swiftly issued an order. A few moments later, the earth rumbled and dust churned as the armies began to gather.

  In the space of a single day, Beiting, Big Dipper, and Anxi had begun to mobilize their forces.

  Winds heralded a coming storm, and dark clouds had already begun to gather over the Central Plains.

  ……

  As the First Prince’s messenger birds flew out like bolts of lightning, on the lofty Tibetan Plateau, at the triangular gap that was like a pivot between Qixi, Anxi, and Big Dipper, gentle breezes were blowing and all seemed to be at peace.

  Roooar!

  “Ha!”

  The shouts of drilling soldiers traveled far along the wind.

  While the infantry drilled, nearby, rows of large ballistae set up on three-wheeled iron carts had been assembled in a single long line.

  With a thunderous clacking of switches, long ballista bolts hurtled forward, striking their targets in the center and blasting them to pieces.

  “Hyah!”

  Behind the ballistae, cavalry were galloping across the plains. At times, they would jump up from the backs of their horses, and at other times, they would lower their bodies and then acrobatically travel under the bellies of their horses and out again like monkeys. They constantly practiced various maneuvers on the backs of their horses.

  Not only that, as the warhorses charged, they shifted between numerous formations, gathering and scattering, all the while seeming like an unstoppable flood of steel that rushed forward.

  Behind them, the two steel fortresses at the triangular gap loomed, still shining and dazzling even from a distance.

  In front of these fortresses, two men on horseback watched. One of them had a stalwart body, bulging with muscle, making him seem like a giant. Just by sitting there on his horse, he exerted immense pressure.

  The figure next to him had an aloof expression and a slightly pale face, but his eyes were so tough that they seemed to be cast from iron.

  The only people at the triangular gap with such unique dispositions were naturally the commanders of this army, Li Siye and Su Hanshan.

  After a long time and diligent effort, the triangular gap finally seemed like a strategic military base. And all of this was largely due to Li Siye and Su Hanshan.

  These two had also not neglected their own cultivation while training their soldiers, and their auras were clearly much greater than before.

  “Your Mo Saber Unit is finally mature.”

  Su Hanshan glanced at the distant bare-chested Mo Saber soldiers, swinging, thrusting, and hacking with their nearly-two-meter-long sabers.

  The Mo Saber Unit that had been formed by their liege at the Battle of Talas had merely been a nascent form. But now, after constant revision and drilling, the Mo Saber Unit exuded an unstoppable momentum and had enough power to threaten any type of soldier on the battlefield.

  After Gao Xianzhi was called back from the Western Regions, Li Siye had also recruited all the members of the previous Mo Saber Unit, which had further pushed along the scale and discipline of his own unit.

  “If we ran into Qutaybah’s elite cavalry again, the result would probably be completely different!” Su Hanshan commented.

  While Qutaybah had been killed by Wang Chong and the Demonic Emperor Old Man, the elite soldiers he had led had still left a deep impression on every person who had taken part in that battle.

  It was an extremely high evaluation for Su Hanshan to say that Li Siye’s Mo Saber Unit could now defeat those powerful armies.

  “This is all due to His Highness!” Li Siye rumbled, his face calm in the face of Su Hanshan’s praise.

  “If not for His Highness’s idea, the Mo Saber Unit would have never been established, and this Mo Saber… I heard a few days ago from Yang Hongchang that the Arabs are apparently trying to copy us, but they’ve failed. The sabers they forge, while tough, are easy to break and can’t endure any force. They simply can’t compare to the Mo Sabers forged by His Highness! In other words, it was His Highness who created the entire Mo Saber Unit. I am simply carrying out his will.”

  The two of them seemed to think of something, their faces freezing as they fell into a long silence.

  Both Li Siye and Su Hanshan were extremely proud people, and if there was one person in this world who could win their sincere admiration and servitude, it was Wang Chong.

  This man was a figure brimming with miracles and absurdities. His stratagems that countless generals longed to obtain, Lion City in the southwest, the steel fortresses at Qixi and the triangular gap, the idea of assigning five men to a ballista, the Mo Saber Unit… these ideas had completely changed everyone’s understanding of military strategy. He seemed to possess a natural talent to make the impossible possible.

  In this world, nothing could stop him.

  Flap flap!

  The flapping of wings interrupted their reverie. They trembled and looked up, upon which they saw a massive messenger bird rapidly flying toward them.

  “It’s a letter from His Highness!”

  The two looked at each other in shock, their expressions transforming.

  Whoosh!

  Su Hanshan immediately extended a hand to receive the bird.

  “Heh, a secret order from His Highness. The First Prince has finally lost his patience and is about to move!”

  Su Hanshan coldly smiled after reading the letter and handed it over to Li Siye.

  “Is that so? They truly shouldn’t have provoke
d His Highness!” Li Siye said as he took the letter.

  “You and I are in complete agreement,” Su Hanshan said, a coldness in his eyes.

  “Pass on my order! Gather the army and prepare to move out!”

  War drums began to thunder across the plateau, and as countless soldiers gathered, that mood of peace and harmony vanished without a trace!

  Su Hanshan and Li Siye were far from the only ones to receive the order.

  In the southern region of the Great Tang, a white-tasseled general was leading two thousand cavalry along a mountain road in a remote area.

  These cavalry were all brimming with energy, and they moved with an unstoppable momentum that would exert considerable pressure on anyone who saw them.

  Awoooo!

  In the distance, several wolves sensed something, shivered, and then fled for their lives. An outsider who saw these people would certainly be shocked, for they were none other than Wang Chong’s elite Wushang Cavalry.

  “Hurry! Hurry! His Highness has ordered that we must reach the capital in two days, no matter what,” the white-tasseled general sternly ordered. This was none other than Guo Ziyi.

  The earth trembled and dust surged. A few moments later, the cavalry were gone.

  Similar scenes were taking place all across the realm. In places where the common folk could not see, numerous soldiers were readying for battle and mobilization, and numerous soldiers were marching night and day to reach the capital.

  In the space of a single night, the Great Tang had been utterly transformed.

  The distant capital, as the very center of this storm, was brimming with tension, but the common folk remained completely unaware, carrying on with their lives while immersed in peace and harmony.

  But strangely, both the First Prince and Wang Chong restricted themselves to merely issuing these orders for mobilization. A bizarre period of peace had settled in.

  However, above the King of Foreign Lands Residence and the Eastern Palace, countless birds soared the skies, a clear sign that this was merely the calm before the storm.

  The various great clans had clearly sensed something in this eerie stillness, and they closed their gates and quietly watched from the sidelines. No one wanted to be swept up into the vortex.

  Of course, many of these great clans had sensed something immediately after the Imperial Army competition.

  Whoosh!

  Messenger birds constantly flew in and out of the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

  “Your Highness, as you have ordered, we are keeping a close watch on Beiting, Big Dipper, and Anxi. The Mountain Team has just sent word that all three armies have begun to show strange movements. They seem to be mobilizing!”

  In Wang Chong’s study, Xu Keyi gravely bowed.

  After the Setting Sun Villa incident, Wang Chong had dispatched many spies to watch Anxi, Beiting, and Big Dipper. These people, disguised as Hu merchants or simple commoners, kept a close eye on the movements of the armies in these locations and were ready to send messages back to the capital as soon as possible.

  By now, Wang Chong’s scouts had created a system, using messenger birds, warhorses, smoke signals, and other kinds of signals, to swiftly and accurately deliver information.

  Xu Keyi paused before adding, “In addition, we just received word that the First Prince’s men have taken control of the capital’s nine outer gates.”

  Chapter 1737 - The Winds Before the Storm!

  Chapter 1737: The Winds Before the Storm!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong slowly closed his eyes.

  The capital had outer gates and inner gates. The inner gates were the four gates of the Imperial Palace, and the outer gates were the nine city gates of the capital. Anyone who controlled the outer gates controlled the ability to enter and exit the capital. As for the inner gates… the First Prince had taken control over them ages ago.

  Has it finally begun? Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  When the First Prince had used his authority as regent to take control of the inner gates, this had still been within the scope of his authority, so it had drawn little attention. But the First Prince had always been somewhat apprehensive about trying for the outer gates.

  After all, merchants and common folk flooded in and out of the outer gates every day, and attempting to limit the flow of traffic would probably even incur censures from the court officials. But it was obvious that the First Prince no longer feared any reprisals.

  More importantly, for Wang Chong, the First Prince’s taking control of the outer gates was a sign that he could no longer keep a lid on his ambitions and was finally about to begin his treasonous plan!

  “Has there been any other activity?” Wang Chong asked.

  “Nothing else for now. The First Prince has made no other major movements besides taking control of the outer gates. However, the First Prince did summon the commanders of the City Guard and had them replaced. In addition…”

  Xu Keyi hesitated for a moment before continuing.

  “We just received word from the Imperial Army that because Zhao Fengchen is heavily injured and unable to command the Xuanwu Army, he has been temporarily replaced!”

  Wang Chong silently digested all this information.

  Given Zhao Fengchen’s relationship to him, the First Prince could never have let him remain. His heavy injuries served as the perfect reason to remove him from command of the Xuanwu Army.

  As for the City Guard, it was also an important source of strength. While it didn’t have much fighting power and normally served to keep the peace in the capital, it was still an army and could play a critical role when the time came. The First Prince was not someone who would simply let it be.

  “I see.”

  After a long while, Wang Chong finally opened his eyes.

  “You may leave.”

  “Yes!”

  Xu Keyi bowed and quickly left.

  Not long after he was gone, Wang Chong also stood up. A cold breeze came in through his window. Wang Chong looked out and saw dark clouds hanging down, exerting an oppressive mood upon the capital.

  Winds would herald a coming storm, and while everything outside the window seemed calm, Wang Chong, the First Prince, and many great clans all knew that this wouldn’t last for long.

  It’s time I went out for a walk! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  Wang Chong was soon exiting the main gate of the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

  “Your Highness!”

  The Golden Guards quickly gathered around Wang Chong when they saw him about to leave.

  “You’re all dismissed. I wish to be alone.”

  Wang Chong waved his hand and then disappeared alone into the thronging crowds.

  The streets were as peaceful as they usually were. As Wang Chong strolled around, he saw that the elders, children, and women he passed by all had smiles on their faces. The children played with their paper pinwheels while attended to by their happy elders. None of them knew about the coming storm.

  Farther off, the people selling their steaming hot buns fresh from the oven, selling meat and tanghulu, the porters running around with loads on their shoulders… all of these noises combined into the din of life. Each of them was focused on their own livelihood, unaware of the coming catastrophe and the even greater calamity to follow.

  This was not Wang Chong’s first time experiencing such a scene, but it felt entirely different to him now.

  In the past, he had been an obscure spectator who was incapable of changing any of this, but now, he had come to stand on the entirely opposite end. Everyone’s lives and the fate of the empire rested in his hands. Even if it was for those mediocre faces and those clueless smiles, he would still do all he could to protect the empire.

  These thoughts only made several of Wang Chong’s convictions even sturdier.

  His eyes passed a peddler selling tanghulu, and Wang Chong suddenly walked
over and smiled.

  “I’d like a tanghulu, please.”

  In the past, Wang Chong would have never bought such trifling things from a place like this, but for some reason, Wang Chong dearly wanted to try out a tanghulu and experience for himself the now-precious life of an ordinary person.

  “Ah!”

  The peddler froze upon seeing Wang Chong, and then he hastily took a tanghulu from a rack and handed it over.

  “Young Master, a gift!”

  Wang Chong smiled, took the tanghulu, threw down an ingot of silver, and continued on his way.

  He continued to blindly stroll around the streets of the capital. Finally, Wang Chong stopped and found himself standing in front of a familiar place.

  Blue Phoenix Pavilion!

  (TN: This was previously translated as Bluebottle Pavilion.)

  On a nearby street stood a tall building, the familiar words on its large signboard almost forcing their way into his eyes. This was none other than the place where he had sold his first Wootz Steel sword.

  From a certain perspective, after Wang Chong’s rebirth, this was where he had begun to change the fate of the empire. Through the sword contest in Blue Phoenix Pavilion, he had made everyone in the realm understand the power of the Wootz Steel sword, and Wang Chong had used the Wootz Steel weapons to accumulate enormous wealth. This allowed him to set up the fortress by the Erhai, create the Wushang Cavalry, and buy many Western Turkic warhorses to establish a foundation for the empire’s cavalry force.

  Now, after all the momentous shifts the empire had been through, he had unknowingly returned.

  “Owner, get me a cup of tea!”

  Wang Chong suddenly turned around and entered the pavilion, returning once more to the second floor where he had displayed the sword.

  Blue Phoenix Pavilion was extremely quiet. There was no one present besides Wang Chong.

  After some time, there were footsteps at the stairs, and then an elderly and relaxed voice spoke up. “Youths are truly refined. You’re almost about to be thrown into prison, but you still have the interest to take in the sights. Are you reminiscing about the moment that made you famous?”

  The restaurant fell completely silent, even the owner and the waiters ceasing to whisper.