荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Chong had grown up in the capital, and for there to be so many Hu in this place was usually not worth causing a ruckus. But as he looked around, Wang Chong realized that there were even more Hu in the capital now.

Goguryeons, Tibetans, Turks, Arabs... they could all be spotted in the crowd.

Wang Chong had spotted ten-some Hu spies in the crowd, but the ordinary people around them all had kind faces and seemed completely unaware.

“Haha, the world is in harmony, so there’s no need to be strangers! Take it!”

Nearby, the owner of a store smiled as he placed a bolt of cloth in the hands of a Hu who had clearly undergone martial arts training.

“Heh, we’re all family, so why so distant? I know that you don’t have much money, so I’ll give this to you at half price!” a nearby store owner said.

“Take care, and remember to come back! Just like the Secretariat Advisor says, everyone in the world is part of the same family. You don’t have to be polite around me.”

Enthusiastic voices were ringing in Wang Chong’s ears, and everywhere he looked, he saw genial faces completely oblivious to the danger around them.

Wang Chong felt the stabbing pain in his heart only get worse, and he hastened his pace as he pressed forward.

Everywhere he looked, the capital had undergone a thorough transformation in mood. The capital of the Great Tang was like an unguarded city, everyone completely opening themselves up.

As he pressed forward, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. “Eh? Isn’t that the King of Foreign Lands?”

Wang Chong still pressed on for a few moments, but a moment later, he remembered the voice and trembled in shock.

“Cheng Qianli?!”

He had fought alongside Cheng Qianli in the Battle of Talas and could not possibly mistake his voice.

But Wang Chong remembered that Cheng Qianli and the Anxi Protectorate army were standing guard in the Western Regions. They couldn’t leave their post without a military decree, so why had he appeared in the faraway capital?

Wang Chong suddenly raised his head, and sure enough, Wang Chong spotted that familiar figure in the crowd.

His posture was straight and his head held high. His body exuded a fierce flame that had been tempered through thousands of battles. It was none other than Vice Protector-General Cheng Qianli of the Anxi Protectorate. And in front of him was yet another unexpected figure.

Gao Xianzhi!

“How?!”

Wang Chong’s body trembled in shock, and his mind was in utter disarray.

Cheng Qianli’s appearance here was surprising enough, but for him to appear with Gao Xianzhi was abnormal to the extreme.

A Protector-General was a Great General existence. Their movements could set the entire world into motion.

Their prestige and status were linked to the safety of the border regions. In normal circumstances, unless specifically summoned by the sovereign, they would spend thirty to forty years without seeing the capital.

“Protector-General Gao, General Cheng, why are you here?”

Wang Chong rushed over to the pair, and at almost the same time, Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli parted the crowd and walked over to Wang Chong.

“Wang Chong, you’re finally awake!”

A sincere look of joy appeared on the faces of the pair when they saw Wang Chong.

“Qianli and I paid a visit to your residence, but you were still unconscious then. We happened to hear that you had gotten better and were on our way to see how you were doing, but to think that we would run into you!”

A thousand cups of wine were not too much when friends met. As a Great General, Gao Xianzhi normally kept up a dignified and steady appearance. It was only in front of Wang Chong, the youngest King of the Great Tang, that Gao Xianzhi would show this sort of warmth.

But Wang Chong was in no mood to chat.

Wang Chong stared at them and asked, “Lord Gao, General Cheng, what’s going on here? Why aren’t you garrisoned in Anxi, instead showing up in the capital?”

Buzz!

Their smiles instantly vanished, their expressions turning somber.

“This...” After a few moments of silence, Gao Xianzhi revealed the truth. “Wang Chong, I won’t hide it from you. I’m actually no longer a Protector-General. The Imperial Court stripped me of my military authority. The Anxi Protectorate army is now under the command of several supervisors from the Confucian Sect.”

On the side, Cheng Qianli had become taciturn.

Boom!

Wang Chong’s eyes flew open in disbelief.

“In truth, we weren’t the only ones to be called back. Almost all the generals on the borders have been recalled. The fate of the military is set,” Cheng Qianli grimly said.

Wang Chong said nothing, but his heart was heavy and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Your Highness, the Confucian Sect holds the Imperial Court and the entire empire. We’ve lost the ability to contend against them,” Cheng Qianli sorrowfully said.

As a general who had fought all his life, he was naturally unwilling to accept this conclusion, but the First Prince was serving as regent and was colluding with the immensely powerful faction that was the Confucian Sect. With this faction in control of the Imperial Court, no one could stop it.

Wang Chong felt extreme grief stabbing at his heart like a sharp needle. Although the pair had kept their words brief, he could naturally understand what they were feeling.

They had fought for Anxi for more than half their lives, but the turtledove had seized the nest of the magpie, driving them out.

“Let’s go! For this rare meeting, we should have some drinks until we’re good and drunk!”

Gao Xianzhi put his arm around Wang Chong’s shoulders and the three of them made their way to the closest tavern.

This gathering lasted from noon to nightfall and beyond. Wang Chong returned to the estate very late in the night.

Day after day went by, during which Wang Chong finally linked together the events that had taken place while he was unconscious.

At the same time, the news from the border was sent to his estate.

Whoosh!

This news came in the form of various messenger birds flying in.

‘The latest news from Ü-Tsang is that the Tsenpo is recruiting soldiers in Bariba Canyon and is secretly training them. Our estimates place these soldiers at six hundred thousand, and this number is only getting larger. Your Highness, please make a decision!’

‘On the seventeenth, we learned that the new king of Mengshe Zhao, Fengjiayi, has begun to recruit the Man tribes and is also training a large number of wild elephants to reestablish his military corps. Our scouts say that Mengshe Zhao has trained around fifty thousand elephants, ten times the size of the original White Elephant Corps. Your Highness, please give your instructions!’

‘On the fifteenth, the scouts sent a report. A group of scouts disguised as a Goguryeon merchant caravan managed to smoothly infiltrate the eleven southern cities of Goguryeo. After paying with the lives of ten scouts, they finally learned that Yeon Gaesomun’s southern navy is engaging in large-scale construction of warships and training of marines. More than four hundred thousand marines have been gathered and are preparing to attack the Great Tang by sea.’

‘We received a report from the northern border on the nineteenth. There have been no battles for several months, but not long ago, one of our supply caravans was ambushed by an unknown assailant. Two thousand peasants were killed and the escort force of one thousand cavalry was completely wiped out. All the weapons and foodstuffs with the caravan were plundered and have not been tracked down yet. Although there is no firm evidence, we are basically sure that it was the work of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Based on the information we’ve gathered, the various Hu have begun to adjust their tactics to work from the shadows, continuing to pose a major threat to us!

‘All the border armies have been strictly forbidden by the various army supervisors from investigating the attack, and the soldiers are extremely unhappy!’

The letters came flying into Wang Chong’s hand in a veritable snowstorm, and each piece of news jabbed at Wang Chong’s heart and made him even more worried. The Great Tang was surrounded by danger, but no one seemed aware.

Although Wang Chong had gathered all this information, with the Imperial Court under the control of the First Prince and Li Junxian, any countermeasure he took was meaningless.

No matter what, this can’t be allowed to continue! Wang Chong said to himself, his mind made up.

But at this moment, another matter completely upset Wang Chong’s plan.

“Chong-er, your mother has something to discuss with you.”

Three days later, Wang Chong’s mother appeared in his room, her expression unprecedentedly solemn.

“You’re no longer that young, and based on the customs of the capital’s nobility, you’re at the age where you can get married and start a family. Your mother was truly frightened over your recent spell of unconsciousness, and after a great deal of thought, your mother has decided that it’s time for you to start a family.

“Your mother sees that you have already developed feelings for the young lady of the Xu Clan, and while you were unconscious, she was taking care of you the entire time, staying by your side day and night, even losing weight. Of all the women of the capital, this child is the one your mother has taken the greatest liking to.

“Thus, while you were unconscious, your mother has decided if you woke up, I would let this child become the daughter-in-law of our Wang Family.”

“What?!”

Wang Chong was stunned by these words, completely caught off guard.

“What? Are you not willing?”

Madam Wang scowled, her voice tinged with displeasure.

“This... child would not dare.”

Wang Chong hastily lowered his head. He had always regarded his mother with extreme respect and did not dare to speak a word of argument. Madam Wang’s eyes softened.

“Thus, after you woke up, your mother went to the Xu Residence. The Xu Clan Patriarch has already agreed and Lady Xu has also given the nod of approval. This child is probably smitten with you.

“The start of the next month is an auspicious time to get married. Your mother has already invited a famous matchmaker of the capital and prepared for the ceremony, so the two of you can get married on that day. In this way, your mother can hold her grandson a little earlier. Your mother does not want to suffer such a fright again,” Madam Wang sternly said.

Wang Chong stood in a daze, and it took some time for him to break out of the stupor. This was far too surprising. Wang Chong had never imagined that his mother would mention this matter to him. He was still too young and could still fight for a few more years.

But when he saw his mother’s expression, he knew that his bout of unconsciousness had had a major effect on his mother, resulting in this proposal. It was evident that his mother was extremely serious.