荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“Milord, King Song’s men will be here soon,” Su Shixuan said, bowing.

“Reporting!”

As the two were speaking, a guard of the Wang Clan rushed inside.

“Milord, the chief guard of the King Song Residence, Luo Zhen, is outside seeking an audience.”

“Let him come in!”

Wang Chong’s eyes flashed as he waved his hand. A few moments later, a black-bearded man 1.9 meters tall and fully armored strode inside.

“Your Highness, King Song asked me to personally deliver this letter to you!”

Luo Zhen bowed and offered the letter with both hands.

“King Song says that this matter is highly urgent, so he had me personally deliver it!”

Wang Chong immediately extracted the letter from the envelope. After merely glancing at it, Wang Chong grimaced. There was a large blot of blood on the paper, and for a moment, Wang Chong felt his heart tremble.

Wang Chong continued to read the letter.

This letter was a routine report from a spy King Song had placed at King Qi’s side to report on King Qi’s daily routine. Although King Qi was cautious with his actions and left behind no evidence, a man who put in effort would not be let down. In the end, the spy had managed to obtain some information. He had managed to get a chance to eavesdrop on a conversation King Qi had with one of his advisors.

The two of them had at some point unknowingly veered into talking about the Confucian Sect. The advisor mentioned that King Qi was helping the Confucian Sect and was essentially a subordinate, which might cause the officials of court to take him lightly. But King Qi did not care. Moreover, it was mentioned that the Confucian Sect possessed enormous influence and strength, commanding many powerful experts. They even had quite a few experts at the peak Saint Martial and Great General level.

King Qi saw that they were incredibly strong and could help him with the Wang Clan and King Song, so he had agreed to cooperate.

King Qi and his advisor also mentioned that the Confucian Sect was in the middle of gathering power for a major operation in the Imperial Court. If they succeeded, they would be able to completely alter the structure of the court!

Buzz!

Wang Chong’s heart was given a jolt by these words. The Imperial Court had already experienced a massive shift before his return from Khorasan. Many of the officials in King Song’s faction, whether they were civil officials or generals, had either defected or been transferred out of the capital to be replaced with many unfamiliar faces.

In this aspect, the Imperial Court’s structure had already experienced a large shift. Wang Chong found it difficult to imagine how there could possibly be a greater shift. Just what did they mean by ‘completely altering the structure of the court’?!

Wang Chong felt an intense danger.

He continued reading, but the letter came to a sudden stop here.

Wang Chong stood in a daze, his mind in turmoil.

“What happened to the spy King Song sent?” Wang Chong suddenly said.

“His current location is unknown. King Song has already sent people to look for him,” Luo Zhen said.

Wang Chong’s eyes dimmed. When he had seen that blot of blood, he had already guessed at something. Although King Qi was conceited, he was also paranoid, and he had many assistants at his side. King Song’s spy had probably already been discovered.

“Thank King Song for me. Su Shixuan, have some people send money to his family. In addition, find some people to join in the search. See if we can’t find him and rescue him,” Wang Chong said.

Though the hopes were minuscule, even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he couldn’t give up.

“Your subordinate understands!”

Su Shixuan and Luo Zhen quickly departed.

Wang Chong stood in his study, immersed in a contemplative silence. He had originally believed that with King Song serving as co-regent in the Imperial Court, there wouldn’t be any major problems. At the very least, unreasonable proposals could simply be denied. But it seemed as if his way of thinking had been too simple. At the very least, if King Qi and the Confucian Sect dared to try to completely alter the structure of the court, they were confident in their chances of doing so.

It seems that I can’t remain uninvolved with the court any longer! At least for now, I have to participate in the morning court sessions! In this way, King Song will also have some support in the court! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

With this thought in mind, Wang Chong quickly left his study.

......

Three days later, Wang Chong washed up, changed into his red imperial robe, and, escorted by the family servants, walked out of the Wang Family Residence. An ornate and gilded carriage was parked outside.

The sky was overcast, and only a few thin rays of morning light had just emerged from the east.

Whoosh! At this moment, a carrier pigeon flew down into Wang Chong’s hand. Wang Chong glanced at the letter before crumpling it into a ball.

“Is everything ready?” Wang Chong calmly said.

Su Shixuan bowed and said, “Your Highness, everything is prepared! King Song’s carriage is waiting at the palace gate for Your Highness so that you may enter the court together.”

Wang Chong grunted and nodded, then raised the curtain to step into the carriage.

“Hyah!”

With a shout, the carriage began to roll in the direction of the palace gate.

Around half an hour later, Wang Chong’s carriage finally arrived.

Another ornate carriage was waiting for him at the palace gate, the image of a dragon upon it clearly indicating the identity of its owner.

Although all the Kings of the Great Tang used the image of the dragon, these dragons were all different. This sort of dragon with golden eyes and silver pupils was used by King Song.

“Milord!”

The moment Wang Chong’s carriage appeared, a slightly-bowed figure stepped forward. It was none other than Luo Zhen, whom Wang Chong had met just a few days ago.

“King Song is waiting up ahead for Milord!”

Wang Chong nodded and swiftly entered King Song’s carriage.

“Hyah!”

The moment Wang Chong got in, the wheels began to move, taking the carriage toward Taihe Palace.

The Imperial Palace was an area of critical importance, and it was forbidden to ride horses or use carriages in its confines. However, King Song had a golden token bestowed by the last Emperor on the former King Song that allowed him to use a carriage to traverse any part of the Imperial Palace, excluding Taihe Palace and the rear palace. This was a right that King Song exclusively enjoyed.

“Did you see all the information I sent you?”

King Song leaned against the back of the carriage, his expression cold and aloof.

“I did!”

Wang Chong nodded as he seated himself across from King Song.

“Their target this time is He Qingrong. No matter what, they cannot be allowed to succeed!”

He Qingrong was a lower-rank-two official and one of King Song’s important advisors. He wielded significant political authority within the court.

King Song’s faction had already been weakened once by the Confucians, but after a short period of silence, the Confucians were once more eyeing one of King Song’s close advisors.

“He Qingrong has spent many years in the court. This time, they intend to use the flood control and irrigation projects in Jiangnan to transfer him out of the capital. Jiangnan suffers from frequent floods and is deluged every rainy season. The Imperial Court has always wanted to bring this problem under control, so not too long ago, it was finally decided that three million taels of gold would be invested into large-scale excavation of canals and irrigation channels, bypassing the Jingchu tributary. At the time, I thought that this was for the benefit of the country and people, and did not try to stop it, but I hadn’t imagined that they would have ulterior motives. In the end, they proposed that Bright Minister He Qingrong should lead the project.

(TN: Jiangnan means ‘South of the River’, the river here being the Yangtze.)

“He Qingrong is a native of Jiangnan, so they’re using this reason in the hopes that they can get He Qingrong out of the capital. Today’s morning court session is to discuss this topic,” King Song sternly said, a look of recollection in his eyes.

From the irrigation projects of Jiangnan to the transfer of He Qingrong, these people had proceeded step by step, their plans closely linked. Even King Song had not imagined that these people would be so shrewd and farsighted.

“Any official should be capable of overseeing the excavating of canals and irrigation channels in Jiangnan. Even if He Qingrong is a Jiangnan native, that’s no reason to send him out of the capital to oversee the project,” Wang Chong sternly replied.

“In normal circumstances, there would naturally be no need, so they had a few people from He Qingrong’s hometown appear and request that He Qingrong honorably return home to oversee the irrigation project. They even prepared a commemorative stele for him. The He Clan has always been a major clan in Jiangnan, and many people made this request. King Qi seized this matter to have He Qingrong leave.

“Though this matter is different from being banished from court, he’s still being transferred from the capital. In addition, irrigation projects are time-consuming and will need two to three years at the minimum. By that time, the situation in the Imperial Court will have already been settled and doing anything else would be too late,” King Song solemnly said.

The Imperial Court was a place of constant bickering and backstabbing. The schemes playing out within were far more complicated than one could imagine. Even King Song, a seasoned veteran who had spent decades in court, would not dare to say that he could not be led on by another.

“Even if people from his village are requesting it, He Qingrong can still refuse. The country is above all, and He Qingrong can’t possibly place the desire of his fellow villagers above the welfare of the entire empire,” Wang Chong sternly said.

“It’s not that simple. If this were all, He Qingrong really could just refuse. But if the requests of the villagers are joined by the serious illness of He Qingrong’s mother, everything is different,” King Song said, his brow tinged with worry.

Buzz!

Wang Chong’s body trembled. This was truly not something he had expected. In the Central Plains, the concept of filial piety was branded deep into the minds of the people, and it was regarded as the highest virtue. He Qingrong could refuse the requests of his fellow villagers, but if he did not return while his mother was seriously ill, he would be unfilial. In any dynasty or era, this would be certain to result in censure from the court, and He Qingrong probably wouldn’t even be able to keep his official post.

“He Qingrong is a lower-rank-two official and a loyal subject of the court. Why is it that he’s an official but his mother is still in Jiangnan?” Wang Chong asked.

“He Qingrong once tried to have his mother move to the capital, but she was attached to her hometown and unwilling to leave Jiangnan. In addition, all their relatives live there, so He Qingrong couldn’t do anything to change her mind.”

King Song couldn’t help but sigh.

The carriage fell silent, neither of them saying anything.

A few moments later, Wang Chong opened his eyes. “Have you investigated the situation in Jiangnan? Why did these two things happen to so coincidentally align? Jiangnan happened to need an irrigation project the moment He Qingrong’s mother became seriously ill?”

He still found this matter to be rather suspicious. It was simply too much of a coincidence that He Qingrong’s mother had become seriously ill at this time. He instinctively felt that this was man-made.