Chapter 1583 - Pusan Tuoye!
Chapter 1583: Pusan Tuoye!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Everyone, hear my order! None of the Hu are allowed to escape! His Highness has said that there is an important individual within this crowd. If he manages to escape, you will be held responsible!”
Xu Keyi stood erect in the middle of the Public Order Squad cavalry, his eyes like cold beads of ice.
“Yes, Milord!” the cavalry thunderously replied.
As Xu Keyi gazed at the turmoil and listened to the crying and shouting Hu, his face turned cold.
When he had followed Wang Chong on campaigns, chasing down Hu soldiers and killing a million, the corpses had stretched to the horizon.
All the Hu before them had been stricken with fear and fright. But now, some nonsensical peace accord had made the Hu start acting recklessly, even going so far as to use their numbers to block the gates of the palace.
Bang!
The earth rumbled as Xu Keyi’s Public Order Cavalry joined the rest in charging into the crowd of Hu.
Neeeigh!
And this was still far from over.
Not long after Xu Keyi’s forces had arrived, another force came riding out of the western part of the city.
In order to make its peace treaties, the Confucian Sect had disbanded many soldiers, and Wang Chong had used these disbanded soldiers to form his Public Order Squads, using the name of the Bureau of Military Personnel to recruit them. At this moment, the number of Public Order Squad cavalry outside the palace gates had reached nearly ten thousand.
“What’s going on? Why hasn’t Young Master come out yet?”
On the edge of the crowd, the Confucian Sect experts could only watch in rage.
This was an extremely sensitive moment, and Wang Chong was their greatest foe. At this crucial time, how could they not be observing the movements of Wang Chong’s Public Order Squads and the Hu? In truth, they had known the moment the Hu had begun to gather that an incident would occur.
But though they had predicted this, they had never expected Wang Chong’s reaction to be so swift and intense.
“There’s a court session right now, and Young Master is the Secretariat Advisor, so he can’t leave,” said the member of the Confucian Sect in charge of intelligence, Bamboo Mirror, his eyes filled with concern.
“Do we just have to watch this happen?” Sword Ghost said with great unwillingness. They were at a critical point in the peace talks, but it was all about to be ruined by a bunch of boorish warriors. This left him fuming in anger.
At this moment, Elder Song finally spoke, his eyes wise and perpetually calm.
“Calm yourself. Now is not the time to decide things with emotions. They are regular soldiers under the Bureau of Military Personnel. If we strike now, what will be our excuse? Defying the Imperial Court? We have no valid justification at this time, and can the members of our Confucian Sect really deal with nearly ten thousand people?”
He had been the only one to maintain his calm amidst the crowd of Confucian Sect disciples, the only one able to restrain them.
“Look at that!”
Just when the red-faced disciples were arguing and hesitating, boom! Turmoil appeared in the crowd. All the spectating commoners suddenly turned in a single direction.
The Confucian Sect disciples had also noticed this new development.
“It’s him!”
Following the gazes of the crowd to the west, they saw a young man wearing a golden crown and a dragon robe, riding upon a horse with pure-white hooves. Thronged by the crowd, he rode forward like the morning sun rising from the east.
Although this man was young, his every movement exuded extraordinary dignity and grace, but what left the greatest impression of all was his aura of invincibility.
“The King of Foreign Lands! It’s the King of Foreign Lands!” someone shouted out, and the spectating crowd in front of the palace gates immediately exploded with cries of alarm.
A man’s name was like the shade of a tree!
Even though Wang Chong’s ‘Might Makes Right’ had been criticized by Master Zhu and taken as heresy, few officials in the court could match his influence.
Li Junxian, with his eloquent tongue, had become famed throughout the realm for his ability to make the various countries disband millions of soldiers.
But even then, the influence of the King of Foreign Lands was not far behind.
As a scion of a clan of ministers and generals, and the grandson of Duke Jiu, Wang Chong had led an army of several thousand into a situation where an army of hundreds of thousands would have been defeated.
With just a hundred-thousand-some soldiers, he had stabilized the Western Regions and killed more than one million Arab soldiers, ending the pride and ambition of that western power.
And Wang Chong was also the Son of Heaven’s disciple, a King who had been personally crowned by the Sage Emperor.
Li Junxian could not compare in any of these aspects.
Even though he had been missing for more than a month, even though he had been defeated in the militarist-Confucian conflict, now that he had reappeared, he once more became the most dazzling existence in the capital, the center of attention.
Even though the Confucian Sect had tried to brand him as a ‘Demon King of Slaughter’, this had only added to his prestige and reputation.
The Confucian Sect had done the exact opposite of what they had desired!
“Damn it! He’s here!”
Sword Ghost, Bamboo Mirror, and the white-robed girl all paled at the sight of this familiar figure, as did Elder Song.
Their hearts sank and they felt an immense pressure on their shoulders, but there was also a deep fear and hatred!
This man’s edge was simply too sharp. Even after his previous setback, Wang Chong did not seem at all dejected. On the contrary, he seemed to have become even more mature after his trials.
Even Elder Song was alarmed to see Wang Chong’s bearing!
This man was far more difficult to deal with than they had imagined!
“Wang Chong!”
Just when all the spectating commoners, the Confucian Sect, and even the Imperial Army soldiers on the gate were looking at Wang Chong, someone loudly shouted, drawing the attention of the crowd.
Several young and sumptuously dressed Hu were emerging from the center of the Hu crowd to meet Wang Chong.
When all the other Hu were fearful and panicked, these noble Hu showed no fear or evasiveness. Their confident demeanor as they approached Wang Chong made them stand out from the crowd.
“Not good! It’s the foreign Princes! This is a problem! Pusan Tuoye is a newcomer and has no idea how formidable Wang Chong is! There might be an incident!”
Elder Song’s composure finally broke.
Pusan Tuoye and another one with the surname ‘Ashina’ were Turkic royalty.
Other than inviting the Hu of various countries to the Great Tang so they could understand the Great Tang’s policies and kindness, the Confucian Sect had also placed a priority on inviting foreign Princes and Princesses so that they could experience the culture of the Great Tang, hoping that they might adopt a friendly view of the Great Tang so that they would favor a long-term peace.
Of these foreign royals, the most outstanding of them was Pusan Tuoye. He had arrived at the capital the latest, but he was the leader that all the other royals trusted and looked to.
And unlike the other foreign royals, Pusan Tuoye was actually ranked rather highly when it came to inheriting the throne. Thus, the Confucian Sect had always taken great care of him. But Elder Song and Sword Ghost had never expected Pusan Tuoye to appear amidst the protesting Hu at a crucial time like this.
“Who’s there?”
Wang Chong slowly turned his horse around. Everything had been going exactly as expected.
But Wang Chong quickly spotted a group of unique Hu.
The young Hu leading the group suddenly said, “This one is Pusan Tuoye, the seventh son of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Do I have the right to pay respects to the King of Foreign Lands?”
At the same time, he looked around at the members of the Public Order Squad blocking his path. He had a proud expression and clearly had a high opinion of his status.
“Let them come over!”
Wang Chong grinned. As he led his horse over, he made a gesture, upon which the Public Order Squad members opened a path for Pusan Tuoye.
Pusan Tuoye had a fearless expression on his face as he led the foreign royals and several emissaries to Wang Chong. His head was held high, not even backing down in front of the ‘Demon King of Slaughter’.
Pusan Tuoye looked at Wang Chong and loudly asked, “I have heard that Your Highness is both intelligent and experienced, one of the wisest people in the Great Tang. Your Highness, in the Great Tang, is it the rivers or the sea that is larger?”
“Ha!”
Wang Chong grinned. He knew what was happening, but he decided to play along anyway.
“It’s naturally the seas that are larger!” Wang Chong immediately replied.
Pusan Tuoye raised an eyebrow. “Then can I ask Your Highness: in the Great Tang, is it the sun and moon or the stars that are larger?”
“Naturally the sun and moon!” Wang Chong answered, a smirk on his lips.
“Then can I ask Your Highness, in the Great Tang, is Your Highness greater or the sovereign greater?” Pusan Tuoye finally asked, revealing his true motive.
Buzz!
Wang Chong showed no reaction, but Su Shixuan, Cheng Sanyuan, Old Eagle, and the others instantly paled. This Turkic Prince had been leading up to this question.
Pusan Tuoye clearly had ulterior motives with this question, implying that not even the Son of Heaven could control Wang Chong and casting suspicion on his actions.