Chapter 39: Revealing One’s Edge
Wang Chong could discern from his big uncle’s expression what he was thinking of. To be honest, Wang Chong did not really like this big uncle of his. He tended to put on airs and often used his authority to put down his family members.
He always acted haughtily before Wang Chong’s parents and looked down on them.
Wang Chong did not like him, and Wang Chong also knew that he didn’t like him, his parents, his big brother, his second brother, his little sister… His entire family!
If possible, Wang Chong would rather have his big uncle never appear before him.
However, putting aside his hateful attitude, the Wang Family didn’t really have any conflict with him, needless to say, grudge.
Most of the time, everyone’s interests were aligned with one another.
Taking this incident for example, if Wang Chong’s father ended up falling for Yao Guang Yi’s ploy, not only will Wang Yan lose his official position, big uncle and the entire Wang Clan would be implicated by the matter as well.
Thus, even though big uncle hated his parents, he still rushed here anxiously. At such a timing, he wouldn’t rub salt into their wounds. Rather, he would try all means possible to help his father.
This was the truth of the Wang Clan. Even though there were a few dark dealings within, everyone came from the same bloodline and everyone was the descendant of the Wang Clan. They were operating on the same boat and if something happened, everyone would be affected.
Thus, regardless of whether Wang Chong liked this big uncle of his or not, as long as Wang Chong wanted to change the destiny of the Wang Clan, as well as the destiny of the Central Plains, Wang Chong needed to persuade his big uncle and receive his assistance.
“I’ve been acquainted with Ma Zhou for quite a period of time, and while I was hanging out with him, I treated him as a soulmate, treating him with my utmost sincerity. However, I never thought that he would betray me; he raped a lady under broad daylight and claimed that I was the one who ordered him to bring that lady to me. Eventually, I found out that he was under Yao Feng’s commands and he intentionally got close to me to do me in.”
Wang Chong said with an ‘indignant’ expression. At the same time, his mind was flying about the place, thinking of the words he should say:
“This was the first time I opened my heart to make some friends, and I didn’t expect that it would end like that!”
“To think that Ma Zhou was commanded by Yao Clan gongzi Yao Feng to do such a thing. I didn’t know that there was such a backstory. If so, it’s no wonder that you would head to the Vast Crane Pavilion to cause a ruckus.”
Big Aunt Wang Ru Shuang nodded her head. She was a female and after marrying out, she could only be considered as half a member of the Wang Clan. As such, she didn’t really bother herself much with the affairs of the clan.
Wang Chong and Yao Feng’s conflict had been reported to the emperor, so it was natural she knew it, but she wasn’t aware that there was such a background to the matter.
“What’s your main point?”
Big Uncle Wang Gen said indifferently.
He already knew all of these earlier on, and that was including the background of Ma Zhou. He had investigated them properly after the matter happened, and if not for him blocking the matter, Wang Chong would have been arrested and locked in jail for the crime of raping a female civilian.
However, he didn’t say all of these.
Wang Gen wasn’t bothered about whether Wang Chong was a victim of the matter or not. It didn’t matter to him whether Yao Feng was the one who intended to inflict harm on Wang Chong first or not. He was only bothered that the uproar Wang Chong caused in the Vast Crane Pavilion and his beating up of Yao Feng had been reported by the Yao Clan’s Old Master to the emperor.
In this conflict, the interests of the Wang Clan had been adversely impacted!
This was what he was concerned with!
The ending was more important than the process!
This was also the reason why he angrily stomped to the Wang Family right after the meeting at the royal court ended. Whether Wang Chong was framed or not was not even of importance.
Sitting by the side, Madam Wang was listening into the matter with an embarrassed look. Her mouth moved, but she didn’t feel like it was her place to say anything at this point.
“It was after this matter that I woke up and realized that I had committed a lot of mistakes in the past.”
Wang Chong could discern the thoughts of Wang Gen, but he paid it no heed and continued on with his story.
Wang Zhu Yan and Wang Ru Shuang nodded their heads. They could sense Wang Chong’s changes, but they didn’t know the reason behind the change before this.
Wang Chong’s words were acceptable by them. Even though Wang Chong had suffered a setback in the hands of Ma Zhou, he was able to wake up before it was too late. This was something that for the Wang Clan to be delighted about.
Taking this into sight, Wang Chong was satisfied with the impact of his words and continued on:
“Yao Feng had treated me like this, and naturally, I was unsatisfied ending the matter just like this. Thus, I intentionally got close to him with the intention to deal with him so as to vent the hatred within. Just that, I didn’t expect that I would unintentionally overhear the news that Yao Guang Yi’s invitation to my father for a gathering at the Vast Crane Pavilion was actually a ploy to divide father from King Song!”
In the main hall, Wang Chong’s Big Uncle Wang Gen, Big Aunt Wang Ru Shuang, Uncle Li Lin, and Cousin Wang Zhu Yan’s bodies trembled. Even astonishment was reflected on Wang Chong’s mother’s face. Clearly, this was the first time they were hearing of the ‘truth’ behind Wang Chong’s matter.
Yao Feng had sent Ma Zhou to deal with Wang Chong, and Wang Chong was furious at him for that, so he ran over to look for Yao Feng to question him. But while doing so, he unintentionally overheard the shocking secret of the Yao Clan wanting to deal with the Wang Clan. This was a rational explanation that everyone here could accept.
If the Yao Clan had fallen because of this, it was truly the decree of fate. Yao Guang Yi’s loss wasn’t really that surprising anymore.
Taking their reactions into sight, Wang Chong nodded his head with satisfaction within. This was the excuse that he had squeezed his brain juice out to come up with.
If he had said that he had heard the news from some other scion that he hanged out with, big uncle would only think that it was luck on his part and that it had nothing to do with his own abilities.
However, if he had headed over to exact vengeance on Yao Feng and overheard the Yao Clan’s plan, this made the entire event different. ——At the very least, this was the result of ‘diligence’ on his part rather than sheer luck.
“… Yao Guang Yi is a cunning person, it was impossible for him to have any good intention at heart inviting father for a gathering. I knew that I had to mess up their meeting no matter what, but the Vast Crane Pavilion was tightly guarded by the experts of the Yao Residence. It was nearly impossible for outsiders to get in. Thus, considering that it was a nearly impossible task for me to barge in, I decided to work on Ma Zhou instead.”
Then, Wang Chong recounted what that had happened between him and Ma Zhou after that. Everyone knew of the matter with Ma Zhou, so there was no need for him to lie on that aspect.
“That makes sense. For you to be able to think of making use of that Ma Zhou, seems like you have some wits.”
Big Uncle Wang Gen nodded his head and offered a rare praise to Wang Chong.
Bizarre expressions appeared on the faces of Wang Chong’s big aunt, uncle, and cousin. On the other hand, Wang Chong’s mother was delighted.
Everyone knew that big uncle was an austere man who rarely smiled, needless to say, compliment others. Having married into the Wang Clan for so many years, this was the first time Madam Wang was hearing him compliment her own son.
Clearly, Wang Chong’s actions in the Vast Crane Pavilion had received his approval.
“Such a weird feeling!”
Wang Chong saw his cousin Wang Zhu Yan winking at him. He couldn’t help but find this situation amazing. From a long time ago, he and his big uncle shared a mutual dislike for one another and listening to the compliments of someone you dislike was a bizarre feeling.
Regardless, blood is thicker than water. They came from the same bloodline, and Wang Chong was still delighted to receive the approval of an elder. However, before Wang Chong could relish in the sensation, big uncle’s authoritative voice sounded once more:
“I won’t ask you about the matter in the Vast Crane Pavilion then. Since you were able to overhear about the matter in the Vast Crane Pavilion from Yao Feng, I reckon that it should have been the same for the matter of King Song summoning your father. However, what about the incident by the borders? Did you overhear that as well?”
“I have known Yao Guang Yi for many years, and I have crossed blows with him in the royal court multiple times. I understand his means and personality very well. Vast Crane Pavilion and King Song are both in the capital, and Yao Feng often walked to and fro the Vast Crane Pavilion, so it wasn’t really bizarre for you to happen to overhear a few things from him.”
“However, the matter at the border was completely different. The fewer the people who know of the matter, the more likely it would succeed. Given Yao Guang Yi’s personality, he might not have even told his closest aide about the plan, needless to say, his son. So how could you have possibly known that he would use such a method to set your father up and have him retreat 50 li in advance?”
Yao Guang Yi wasn’t any ordinary man. Wang Gen knew this fact better than anyone else, even more so than Wang Chong. His plans were often crafted very carefully and secretly, and he did all preparations to prevent anything from going awry.
If Wang Chong had heard of the matter of the Vast Crane Pavilion from Yao Feng, that was still understandable. However, it was definitely impossible for Wang Chong to overhear the fact that Yao Guang Yi intended to head to the border to set Wang Yan up.
Being a powerful official in the royal court, Wang Gen had many eyes and ears in the capital, so rarely could news hide from his notice. However, he had not heard of a single word on this matter.
Similarly, the old acquaintances and students of the Old Master in the military hadn’t heard anything as well.
Where could Wang Chong hear of news that even the two of them didn’t know of?
“Here it comes!”
A strike of lightning flashed across Wang Chong’s head. This was the climax of the show today. Big uncle, big aunt, uncle, father, and the others, they may not know exactly what Yao Guang Yi would do, but they understood his personality.
Even big uncle who was well-informed of the affairs in the capital did not know that Yao Guang Yi was going to deal with Wang Chong’s father by the borders, yet an useless ‘failure’ of the Wang Clan was able to know of it in advance. This was probably the main issue that left many people, including Wang Chong’s grandfather, perplexed.
Regardless of whether it was his father who was still by the borders, his grandfather who was in the Four Quarters Embassy, or the big uncle before him, this was probably the main issue that they were interested in. Whether he would be able to convince them, change their impression of him, and become an highly regarded member of the clan would depend on this.
“I didn’t hear of this matter, I guessed it!”
Wang Chong said.
“Guessed?”
Other than Wang Chong’s mother, everyone else was flabbergasted. Big Uncle Wang Gen’s thick eyebrows twitched violently, as though this was the first time he was meeting the true self of the ‘failure’ of the Wang Clan.
“How did you guess it?”
Big Uncle Wang Gen asked. This answer that Wang Chong just provided was even more shocking than if he had said that he had overheard it from Yao Feng.
“Yao Guang Yi was always thorough in the things he did. Even though his action of scheming against father seemed like a grudge between the Wang Clan and the Yao Clan, it was, in fact, a political struggle between King Song and King Qi. This was a huge affair with far-reaching implications.”
“The matter in the Vast Crane Pavilion had been foiled by me and my little sister, but Yao Guang Yi wasn’t the type of person to give up that easily. That would be underestimating his means. Back then, I was sure that he would have some other plans.”
“Since his plan in the capital had failed, it was unlikely that he would pull anything here anymore. Thus, the best way for him to deal with my father was outside the capital, and of which, the only place where Yao Guang Yi could pull his schemes at was at my father’s deployment site.”
“I have studied the map carefully and I realized that Yao Guang Yi’s deployment site and my father’s deployment site weren’t too far away from one another. Thus, I concluded that it was the best place, as well as the most probable one, for Yao Guang Yi to launch his moves!”
The moment Wang Chong’s finished his sentence, the entire main hall plunged into complete silence. If a pin were to drop now, the sound would surely be deafening. Everyone looked at Wang Chong in astonishment and for a long moment, they couldn’t find a word to say.
Wang Chong’s words were logical. If it were Wang Chong’s elder brothers or some other intelligent young talent who said such words, the crowd wouldn’t be surprised at all.
But Wang Chong——
This was too shocking!
At this moment, even Wang Chong’s big uncle forgot to speak!