Chapter 422: Lobbying (II) (2/2)
Although Consort Taizhen's laugh was bright and clear, Wang Chong could still hear a faint tinge of regret. If one wanted to fight in the light and shadow, and set up roots in the duplicitous confines of the palace, the best method was conceiving a dragon son.
But Consort Taizhen had just entered the harem; the Sage Emperor's princes were already mature. Even if she had such ideas, it was already too late.
Nothing could change this, and to Consort Taizhen, it was truly a regret.
Wang Chong naturally understood this, so he wisely elected to not continue down this line.
”Wang Chong, can you tell me why you so highly regard the Fifth Prince?”
Consort Taizhen's smile faded as she returned to her normal self. Her bright and beautiful phoenix eyes peered at Wang Chong, implying some deeper meaning.
”Your big uncle supports the First Prince. Everyone in the court knows this, and so do you. And yet you insist that I should support the Fifth Prince. What is going on with your Wang Clan? or perhaps you want to become opponents with your big uncle?
”Also, I've recently heard a rumor that the Fifth Prince encountered some mysterious expert that helped him reform his body, granting him the ability to cultivate, accomplishing the practically impossible. If my guess is correct, that mysterious expert behind the Fifth Prince is probably closely related to you, right?”
Her phoenix eyes blinked, a sharpness glimmering within them as they sought to pierce into the depths of Wang Chong's soul.
Wang Chong's mind trembled as he hurriedly lowered his head.
At the moment, the majority of the Imperial Palace, and all the princes, consorts, and concubines, were trying to find out how the Fifth Prince had suddenly had his body reformed and regained the ability to cultivate. They were also investigating that mysterious person behind him.
If someone were to find out that it was him playing tricks behind the prince, the entire Wang Clan would probably become the foe of all the princes, consorts, and concubines of the palace.
Thus, he had done his utmost to avoid meeting the Fifth Prince in public so as to prevent others from finding out.
And while meeting Consort Taizhen, he had done his best to avoid discussing his relationship with the Fifth Prince. However, Consort Taizhen was clearly not as simple as the outside world imagined her to be. She could not be so easily misled.
Wang Chong had not even brought up this topic, but Consort Taizhen had already guessed at the truth.
”Yes!”
Wang Chong replied without any hesitation.
One could not overestimate someone, but one also couldn't underestimate them. In the outside world, many people believed that Consort Taizhen had relied purely on her looks to reach her position but was otherwise an ordinary woman who lacked any other redeeming feature. But Wang Chong knew that this was anything but true.
No normal woman could be like her and endure so many criticisms for so long. A normal woman could never put up such a powerful struggle in the palace and manage to survive.
Many people, when seeing Consort Taizhen, were liable to focus on Yang Zhao at her side and believe that she relied on Yang Zhao for everything.
But Wang Chong knew that to think so would be the greatest of errors.
Before Yang Zhao had reached the capital, Consort Taizhen had already entered the palace and had even successfully put down roots. With or without Yang Zhao, she was not so soft and incompetent as the average person imagined.
'A trail of dust spurred by a concubine's smile, and no one knows that lychee is coming'1. Consort Taizhen was not so easily deceived or bullied as people might imagine.
Anyone who dared to underestimate the supreme beauty of the Great Tang as an empty flower vase would truly be committing a fatal mistake.
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1.The quoted line is from a poem by Du Fu. Consort Taizhen, otherwise known as Yang Guifei, was incredibly fond of eating lychee fruit. The enamored Emperor Xuanzong would have these fruits, which were grown in southern China, delivered by his fastest horses. Du Fu is saying here that the horse is so fast that the only thing visible is the trail of dust it leaves in its wake.