Chapter 1778: Chongsheng Gate! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”By the way, Senior, those officials the First Prince imprisoned in Taihe Palace? You don't need to worry about them anymore.”
Wang Chong looked toward where the sounds of fighting were loudest and smiled.
”Senior is known as the Army-Shattering War God, so this lowly one did not dare to be careless. But this junior's reinforcements were never outside Taihe Palace. They were always inside!”
”What?!”
Hou Junji and Fei Yuhan instantly paled.
”This is impossible!”
The one who had said this was not Hou Junji, but Fei Yuhan.
”There are only officials and the general we assigned to guard the area inside Taihe Palace! You can't have possibly inserted soldiers within! There's nowhere to hide in that place!”
The matter of Taihe Palace was extremely important, as even if the rebellion succeeded, the First Prince would still have to obtain the acknowledgment of the people of the realm to become the true successor of the Sage Emperor. This necessitated the acknowledgment of the major officials, and so those officials imprisoned inside Taihe Palace played a critical role in the First Prince's plans. More importantly, the First Prince had given Fei Yuhan the duty of carrying out this mission!
Fei Yuhan's men had been the ones to move those officials out.
”And we inspected all those people! There's no way you could have pulled any tricks!” Fei Yuhan sharply said.
Hou Junji said nothing, but his face slowly turned grave. Although he wasn't responsible for this matter, he had specifically instructed Fei Yuhan to investigate all the officials Wang Chong was on good terms with to prevent any tricks. Logically speaking, Wang Chong could never have succeeded in any plan.
”Haha, of course, you would investigate those officials I was on good terms with or who opposed the First Prince, and this really wouldn't take much effort. However, did you also investigate those officials the First Prince was on good terms with? If I recall correctly, the Grand Preceptor didn't come to today's morning court session!”
Wang Chong glanced at Fei Yuhan and smirked.
Whoosh!
Upon hearing this, the man turned ghastly pale. Wang Chong was right. While more than half of the capital's top nobles and officials had participated in today's morning court session, the Grand Preceptor had not appeared. But as the Grand Preceptor was very old and was on the First Prince's side, there was little need for him to appear.
But Fei Yuhan clearly recalled that though the Grand Preceptor had not come, he had sent someone to observe and listen in his place. Could it be…
Fei Yuhan once more looked at Wang Chong's smirk, and he instantly understood what had happened. Despair surged over him. He had done his best to defend against any tricks, but he had never expected this move from Wang Chong.
”Withdraw!”
Hou Junji called out and then quickly turned to look at Wang Chong.
”To think that after sixty years, an individual like you would appear amongst the youth of the Great Tang. The Grand Preceptor is of extremely high status and is on good terms with the First Prince, so no one would take notice of him, and you exploited this very fact. If my guess is correct, those officials in Taihe Palace were already taken away by your infiltrators!”
”Heh, those soldiers were merely a distraction. Naturally, those officials were taken away by my infiltrators, so Senior has no need to continue worrying about it,” Wang Chong indifferently said.
”In addition, the Four Quarters Embassy, the Wang Clan Residence, and the King Song Residence? Senior doesn't need to keep worrying about them either. Thanks to Senior, this junior long ago made plans, and those places should be safe and sound. The soldiers Senior sent probably won't be coming back! And Senior also does not need to concern yourself over Zhang Zheng's army…”
Wang Chong faintly smiled.
Whoosh!
Hou Junji could still salvage the matter of the officials being saved from Taihe Palace, but when Wang Chong mentioned Zhang Zheng's army, he couldn't help but shiver.
”What do you mean?”
Once this night was over, the news of the rebellion in the Imperial Palace was certain to cause even greater turmoil. In any dynasty, a changing of governments was bound to cause an uproar in society, and when done poorly, would cause uprisings amongst the populace. In these situations, the armies on the border would play an important role.
Only with the combined efforts of the Imperial Army and the border armies could the situation be stabilized. This was why Hou Junji had mobilized Zhang Zheng's Beiting Protectorate army. But Wang Chong was indicating that things were not as simple as he had imagined.
”Heh, has Senior not noticed that Zhang Zheng's army has yet to enter the capital?” Wang Chong nonchalantly asked.
Hou Junji, Fei Yuhan, and all the Imperial Army soldiers grimaced. Yes, nearly thirty minutes had gone by, so Zhang Zheng's army should have already entered, but now that they listened, they found the capital rather quiet. A city through which tens of thousands of soldiers were marching could never be so quiet.
”What did you do? Did you still have soldiers?” Hou Junji suddenly asked. He had been observing Wang Chong this entire time and had determined that there was no way he could still have soldiers. Moreover, Zhang Zheng had already reached Gold Bull Mountain. If someone had come to stop him, it wouldn't be so quiet outside the capital. The sounds of such a battle should have been audible from the palace.