The Human Emperor

“Very good! We devoted all our strength to assisting you, so now, it is time for you to serve us!”

Genesis Supreme extended a hand, and a bronze box covered in exquisite inscriptions appeared in it.

“During your audience, I hope that you can offer the object within to the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor. Relax; it is of no danger to you. It will only have a very small effect on the situation in the Central Plains. If you succeed, the time it will take for you to dominate the realm will greatly decrease, and you will become the True Dragon, Son of Heaven, all the faster!” Genesis Supreme sternly said.

“Even if it were a little dangerous, it would be fine. But you are sure that this thing will work?” An Yaluoshan said.

He did not need to open the box or ask any detailed questions to roughly guess at his aim.

Only if the Sage Emperor died would he have a chance to replace the dragon. In this aspect, both sides shared the same goal.

Genesis Supreme simply chuckled in reply.

An Yaluoshan understood and said no more.

“There is one last matter. That one known to you as the Child of Destruction—every day he lives is another day that I will find it hard to reach my desire…” An Yaluoshan said.

“Hahaha, be at ease. Although we have no way of entering the capital, if you are outside of the capital, we can guarantee your safety. As for within the capital, you are currently the Andong Protector-General, a major border official with an imperial decree. Not even he would dare to recklessly move against you. With your abilities, you should be able to easily deal with him,” Genesis Supreme said.

On his throne, An Yaluoshan finally cracked a smile. He had been waiting for exactly these words.

“Give the box to me. Tomorrow, I will set out. You may rest easy knowing that I will deliver your ‘precious’ smoothly into the Sage Emperor’s hands,” An Yaluoshan said, an eerie light in his eyes.

Dragon Qi!

This was his true objective.

He was not merely going to deliver a gift.

……

Twenty-some days flew by in the blink of an eye, and it was soon time for the feast of all countries. While the Great Tang was rich and powerful, never before had it held such a sumptuous feast of all countries.

The feast had yet to begin, but the entire Imperial City was already festooned with bright lanterns and streamers, awash with a joyous mood.

The Battle of Talas, the war of the northwest, the Youzhou war…

These wars had all left the Tang people panicked and uneasy, but now, they were all in the past. The grandiosity of the feast of all countries calmed their minds, and standing at the entrance of any tavern in the capital, one could see the streets packed with people and carriages.

With this unprecedented feast nigh, everyone in the capital was dressed in their best attire.

The taverns, tea houses, inns, and restaurants had all hung up large red lanterns and brightly-colored silk banners.

And at the city gates, carriages from the various countries had lined up as they waited for entry.

These carriages were also decorated with silk streamers, and beautiful lanterns hung from their roofs. Inside the carriages were various treasures and letters of good will the countries had prepared to offer to the Great Tang.

The Sage Emperor of the Great Tang had announced to the world that he was holding a feast of all countries, and almost all the countries, except those in the most remote corners of the world, had sent emissaries, including a significant number of Princes and Princesses. Even those small countries bordering Arabia had sent Princes, Princesses, generals, and high officials.

While the world was vast, when it came to wealth and military power, no one could surpass the Great Tang after the war of the northwest.

This was the true hegemon of the world!

But unlike the Arabian Empire, the Great Tang had a much softer touch. This was also why all of these various kingdoms had seized this moment to come with their precious gifts.

This was the best opportunity to get on good terms with the Great Tang and the Sage Emperor, and the best way to avoid an invasion.

At the western gate, a puzzled voice came out of a carriage pulled by four highland steeds. “Great General, this feast is just for the Great Tang Emperor to flaunt the strength of his country. Is there really a need for us to travel so far to deliver this state letter to their capital?”

After a moment of silence in the carriage, a deep and gruff voice replied, “Your Highness, we currently have no choice but to come. The moment the Great Tang’s Son of Heaven made his announcement, if all the other countries came with their best while our Ü-Tsang sent no one or only ordinary emissaries, how would the Great Tang treat us?”

Inside the carriage was a muscular figure, his cheeks carrying the characteristic highland blush. This was none other than the last Great General of the Ü-Tsang Empire, Namri Songtian.

Next to him was a young man, and while his actions were rather timid, his opulent attire was evidence of his unusual status.

This was the Second Prince of Ü-Tsang, Mangri Rinda.

The last time Ü-Tsang had sent an emissary, it had been Dusong Mangpoje, and with him had been the First Prince, not the Second Prince.

But Dusong Mangpoje had been slain at the Battle of Talas, and as for the First Prince, he had deeply offended Wang Chong on his visit to the capital and had been taught a sharp lesson by him.

Ü-Tsang naturally did not dare to send the First Prince at this time, so it could only send its Second Prince.

In the carriage, Mangri Rinda fell silent at Namri Songtian’s words.

The power of the Great Tang was at its peak now that Arabia had been vanquished. Meanwhile, Ü-Tsang was weak and drained. If it offended the Great Tang at this juncture, giving it any sort of pretext, the consequences would be unimaginable.

When the roof was too low, one had no other choice but to lower their head.

For the first time, Mangri Rinda felt a stifling oppressiveness.

“If we don’t want to offend the Great Tang and become everyone’s enemy, we have to come. But we haven’t come this time merely to deliver the official letter. You should have heard those stories about the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor, yes?” Namri Songtian said.

“Yes!”

Mangri Rinda restricted himself to one word, not daring to say more.

“In the past, the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor was wise and powerful, but now, he seems like a completely different person. Past sovereigns of the Central Plains and sovereigns of other countries might have been willing to hold this sort of grandiose feast of all countries, but that man would never do such a thing! There’s something strange going on here. His Majesty sent us both to get on good terms with the Great Tang and also investigate the situation in the Great Tang.

“Alas, the Great Tang is simply too powerful right now. Otherwise, we really might have been able to exploit this opportunity.”

Namri Songtian deeply sighed.

In any other dynasty, the news of this sort of Emperor in the Central Plains that loved to feast and make merry would immediately prompt Ü-Tsang to invade. But now, until it knew the truth, Ü-Tsang did not dare to act recklessly.

The carriage soon fell quiet, with only deep sighs suffused with an indescribable melancholy.

It was not just this Tibetan Great General arriving at the capital.

In a tavern in the western part of the city, a middle-aged Hu man leaned against the railing, looking down at the festive capital.

“All these countries are coming to pay respects to the Emperor! Such magnificence!”

The Turkic middle-aged man derisively smirked.

“Great General, many important figures have come to the capital this time,” a Turkic youth next to Wunu Shibi said. “Ü-Tsang, Mengshe Zhao, the kingdoms of the Western Regions and even farther west, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, and even Goguryeo, who the Great Tang just had a war with, have all sent generals and high officials.”

“When the Sage Emperor calls an audience, who would dare to not come?! Yeon Gaesomun doesn’t want to see his country crushed, so he would naturally send an emissary,” Wunu Shibi jeered.

“But if it was merely to have an audience with the Sage Emperor, there would be no need to send so many officials. I feel like there’s something else going on with this feast!”

“Haha, if First Prince is able to sense this, then perhaps His Majesty was right about you!”

Wunu Shibi chuckled as he flicked over a slip of paper that was the width of two fingers.

“This is an intelligence report we received recently. First Prince, please take a look.”

“Ah?”

The First Prince of the Western Turkic Khaganate, Irbis Shiyun, was astonished.

The slip of paper was covered in information, and as he looked down to glance at it, he trembled in shock.

“How could this be? The new Andong Protector-General is in conflict with the King of Foreign Lands!”

Irbis Shiyun was in disbelief. The Tang Empire was at the height of its power, and its two most dazzling general stars, the ascendant An Yaluoshan of the northeast and the conqueror of Arabia, Wang Chong, were both deeply favored by the Great Tang’s Son of Heaven.

An Yaluoshan was particularly favored. It was said that this feast of all countries was being held for him.

It was unthinkable that these two crucial figures of the Tang Empire had once fought with each other!

“Ha, who says it can’t be true?” countered Wunu Shibi. “This news came out not too long ago, but it’s been about two years since the incident. While it was covered up at the time, with the appointment of the new Andong Protector-General, all the countries probably know about this incident.”

An amused smile appeared on Wunu Shibi’s face. This would be just an insignificant incident in the past. After all, Wang Chong had quarreled with far too many people.

But now was different. With An Yaluoshan’s outstanding performance in the Youzhou war and his victory over Yeon Gaesomun, he had ascended from a nameless general of Youzhou and stepped onto the world stage as the focus of all the countries.

Everyone was now gathering intelligence on him, and given that this feast of all countries was said to be held for him, it was even more worth gathering information on him.

And Wunu Shibi’s men had made an unexpected harvest half a month ago.

“The incident was two and a half years ago. At that time, the feared King of Foreign Lands of the Great Tang was merely a sixteen-year-old with not a single feat to his name, and he had never met An Yaluoshan, who had yet to become the Andong Protector-General. But on a stormy night, he led a group of soldiers charging into a tavern to hunt down this man with whom he had no relationship, no grudges or quarrels. Don’t you find it strange?”