Chapter 467: The Furious Capital!
Chapter 467: The Furious Capital!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Clack!
Footsteps on the stairs rang out clearly through the gloomy prison. While Old Eagle was auctioning off the spirit vein and causing a great stir, Wang Chong was welcoming a guest.
It was actually an old acquaintance, wearing a snow-white robe, a cold expression, and the emblem of the Chamberlain of Dependencies.
"Wang Chong, what are you up to?" Zheng Chenzhou slowly walked up to the bars, looking through them at the cross-legged Wang Chong.
"Lord Zheng isn't helping the Hu suppress the Han?" Wang Chong flatly said, not even raising his head.
A flash of rage crossed Zheng Chenzhou's face at Wang Chong's dismissive tone.
"Wang Chong! Don't get too smug! Do you still think that you'll be able to leave? The Wang Clan is influential, but it can't touch the Chamberlain of Dependencies!"
"I never said anything about the Wang Clan intervening in this place. Wasn't that you?" Wang Chong indifferently said.
"You!" Zheng Chenzhou angrily bellowed, then fiercely brushed his sleeve. "Wang Chong, this was a chance that you gave us! You actually dared to kill someone in broad daylight. Does your Wang Clan still have any respect for the law?"
Wang Chong's eyes twinkled for a second as, for the first time, he didn't immediately respond.
"…There are some things that have to be done. You don't understand, and I don't blame you for that. In the future, you'll understand what I was talking about."
"Hmph, murder of another is paid with a life. A country has its laws and the clans have their regulations. Even the Son of Heaven will answer to the people when committing a crime. Let me tell you, Wang Chong, no matter how powerful your Wang Clan is, I'll make this prison your home!" Zheng Chenzhou harshly said.
In the entire capital, Wang Chong topped the Chamberlain of Dependencies' black list. If one had to point out a person in the capital that the Chamberlain of Dependencies hated to its bones, who was like a dagger to its back, then this person would undoubtedly be Wang Chong!
But Wang Chong just had to be no ordinary scion, and he also wasn't that rash, so the Chamberlain of Dependencies had been unable to deal with him for a very long time.
If they didn't use this chance, they would find it very hard to take care of him in the future.
Wang Chong was silent. In a rare sight, he didn't reply.
"I actually wish I could fulfill your desires. Alas, you won't be able to keep me imprisoned," Wang Chong finally said, a hint of sorrow in his indifferent voice.
"Hah! Wang Chong, don't think that we don't know what you're up to outside. I'll tell you now, even if you sell your Wang Clan's spirit vein and bring in all that money, it will still be useless," Zheng Chenzhou sneered.
"So, all of it was for the sake of this?"
Wang Chong suddenly raised his head and sneered, his eyes glowing like flames.
Zheng Chenzhou felt like the air had been sucked out of him and, for a moment, he couldn't speak.
"Hmph, I don't know what you're saying," Zheng Chenzhou icily said, but his eyes inadvertently looked to the side, afraid to meet Wang Chong's gaze.
"Hah, when did the Chamberlain of Dependencies start caring so much about what's being bought and sold in the capital? Hm, it seems like Old Eagle is selling off the spirit vein at a pretty high price, no? Even the Chamberlain of Dependencies can't sit still and sent someone over to probe me out?"
Wang Chong grinned.
Although he was smirking, Wang Chong's gaze was sharp and profound, as if it could see through the deepest depths of one's soul. Zheng Chenzhou was much older than Wang Chong, but in front of this teenager's gaze, even he felt embarrassed and uncomfortable, like he was naked and all his secrets were being bared.
Old Eagle's auctioning off the spirit vein naturally couldn't be hidden from the Chamberlain of Dependencies, and given how much of a threat and trouble Wang Chong posed to the Chamberlain of Dependencies, it would naturally take the strictest of precautions and keep a close eye on him.
One could say that every strange movement Wang Chong made couldn't be hidden from the Chamberlain of Dependencies!
Given the Chamberlain of Dependencies' status and authority, it was essentially unprecedented for it to act so carefully around a mere teenager.
But when one thought about all the problems Wang Chong had made for the Chamberlain of Dependencies, such as the Regional Commanders incident, the Ü-Tsang First Prince incident, or this current incident…
Every member of the Chamberlain of Dependencies, from top to bottom, including Zheng Chenzhou, felt that this was not an overreaction. If a teenager could cause so many problems, what would they do when he got older?
If they didn't deal with Wang Chong now and imprison him to resolve the 'problem', they couldn't even imagine what sort of beehives he would go riling up next.
"Hmph! Wang Chong, don't get cocky! The Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies are almost done negotiating. When that time comes, I'll see how you can laugh your way out of this place!"
With a sweep of his sleeve, Zheng Chenzhou strode off in a huff.
"The Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies…"
Wang Chong stared blankly at Zheng Chenzhou's retreating figure. After a long time, he sighed.
It wasn't important how the Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies dealt with him, because a massive storm was about to engulf the empire.
Boom!
The news from the southwest arrived faster than Wang Chong had imagined. The day after Zheng Chenzhou left his prison cell, a piece of news stunned the empire.
King Geluofeng of Mengshe Zhao in the southwest had attacked Jiange City on the border. Governor Zhang Qiantuo of Jiange had committed suicide while the entire city had basically been razed to the ground!
And this had happened more than half a month ago. Geluofeng had sealed off this information so that even the nearby Annan Protectorate didn't know.
Only after Mengshe Zhao's army completely withdrew did those trade caravans making their way to the city discover that gruesome scene.
The spread of this news made the empire quake. All the members of the Imperial Court were so stunned that they couldn't speak.
Bang!
A hand smashed against a table, striking so hard that the palm reddened and the table almost cracked into pieces.
"Bastard! Did Geluofeng go crazy? He dared, he dared to attack a city of the Great Tang!!"
The one who spoke these words was not someone from the Bureau of Military Personnel, but an imperial censor of the court. His beard was prickling up in anger, an expression of his absolute fury.
"Absurd! What is the Annan Protectorate doing? The Imperial Court has been providing them ample grain and silver for so many years so that they could stand around and let this happen? It was such a nearby city, yet they didn't even know that it had been attacked!"
"Geluofeng wants to rebel! The Great Tang has been kind to him, yet he dares to return with hostility and attack it!"
"Immediately send out the army and exterminate Geluofeng!"
"Mengshe Zhao is acting too wantonly!"
……
All officials, whether martial or civil, and even the officials from the Bureau of Personnel and Bureau of Revenue, government offices normally not even involved in the military, were enraged by Geluofeng's actions.
A few officials from the Bureau of Military Personnel even submitted petitions to the Imperial Court.
Victory and defeat were commonplace for a soldier. The Great Tang had been established for almost three hundred years and was surrounded by great powers. Such wars had happened repeatedly and were no rare event.
The Andong Protectorate, the Anxi Protectorate, Longxi, and Beiting… this had happened in all these places. But the nature of this incident was completely different.
Although such things had happened in the past, they had never reached this scale. And what had never happened before was someone of Geluofeng's status personally leading the attack on the border!
The southwest border had been peaceful for decades, with the Great Tang and Mengshe Zhao living in complete harmony. Moreover, unlike the other powers surrounding it, the Great Tang had given Mengshe Zhao a great deal of assistance.
The writing, language, culture, and courts of the two countries were identical.
If the Great Tang was the teacher, Mengshe Zhao was the student. But this time, the student had disobeyed the teacher and destroyed a city of the Great Tang, even caused the death of a Great Tang governor.
Everyone felt betrayed!