Chapter 471: The War Begins! (1/2)
Chapter 471: The War Begins!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The incident in the southwest had entranced the entire empire. Even Wang Chong in his cell could feel the change in the atmosphere.
The people from the Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies had originally come to visit him every day, but now they rarely appeared. The prison guards who occasionally came in to deliver food also seemed distracted.
A somber air pervaded the capital.
It seems like the decision is about to be made! Wang Chong silently said to himself. Although he was worried, the imprisoned Wang Chong could do nothing but quietly wait.
”Chong-er!”
It was ten days later that he next met Wang Gen. His big uncle was dressed in his court robes, his face hard and grave.
Upon seeing his big uncle, Wang Chong felt his eyes begin to twitch while a terrible foreboding suddenly rose from his heart.
”The Imperial Court has already made a decision! Xianyu Zhongtong has been ordered to lead the 180,000 elites of the Annan Protectorate and immediately attack Mengshe Zhao to punish Geluofeng for his offense against the Great Tang!”
”What?!”
Wang Chong's heart went cold at this news, sending a shiver running throughout his body. Suddenly thinking of something, he lunged to the bars and asked, ”Big Uncle, how could this be? Didn't you, King Song, and Consort Taizhen all oppose? Were you three not enough?”
King Song, the Wang Clan, and Yang Zhao's backer Consort Taizhen were three mighty powers of the Great Tang Imperial Court, three figureheads. The united strength of those three should have wielded enough influence to alter the court's decision.
Wang Gen sighed and began to give a detailed recount.
After meeting Wang Chong, Wang Gen almost immediately went to see King Song. Together with Wang Chong's sworn brother Yang Zhao, the three were completely capable of changing the court's decision.
But both Wang Gen and Wang Chong had underestimated someone.
Wang Chong's eyes flashed with cold light as he suddenly asked, ”The Yao Clan?”
”If it was just the Yao Clan and King Qi, it would have been fine!” Wang Gen said with a shake of his head. Only those present would understand the intensity of that court debate. When the perennial hawks Wang Gen and King Song suddenly opposed the war with Mengshe Zhao, the entire court was stunned.
The hall had been silent for a very long time, no one able to speak. But the Yao Clan and King Qi were even more surprising.
These two had seemingly been keeping a watch on the Wang Clan and King Song this entire time. However, when those two opposed the war, King Qi and the Yao Clan, who had always been in favor of disarmament, suddenly took the opposite stance and loudly criticized King Song and the Wang Clan.
They said that these two were colluding with Geluofeng, had been paid off by him, and they also strenuously pushed for war with Mengshe Zhao. But everything would have been fine if that was all.
After all, the Yao Clan and King Qi were still inferior to the combined might of the Wang Clan, King Song, and Consort Taizhen. But in the end, someone completely unexpected, a most eminent yet also most inconspicuous person suddenly stepped forward and completely altered the result of this court debate.
”Who?”
Wang Chong's heart tightened.
Wang Gen gave a long sigh before giving the answer.
”The Prime Minister!”
Zing!
Silence reigned. Wang Chong gaped, and his pupils constricted. He found himself unable to say a single word.
”Li Genu1…”
This name was like a bolt of lightning. As it seared through Wang Chong's mind, it conjured countless memories.
In that moment, thousands of thoughts flew like lightning through his mind.
In the Great Tang Dynasty, there was no position higher than the Prime Minister. He was truly beneath only one and above the rest.
Both the Wang Clan and Yao Clan were closely related to this position. It was the primary reason for the Wang Clan's reputation as a clan of ministers and generals.
However, both the Wang Clan's Old Master, the revered Duke Jiu, and the Yao Clan's Old Master, Yao Chong, had already retired from the position of Prime Minister.
Someone new now held the post of Prime Minister.
Li Genu really was that man's courtesy name!
In the Great Tang Imperial Court, this person was abnormally low-key. Never before had the holder of such an illustrious position as Prime Minister stood out so little. Many people had even forgotten who he was.
However, Wang Chong had never dared to underestimate him.
”I didn't think that it would actually be him…”
A sharp light glimmered in Wang Chong's eyes.
In all of the Great Tang Dynasty, the one Wang Chong feared the most was not the Yao Clan or King Qi, but this Prime Minister who was often forgotten despite the prestige of his post.
In all of the Great Tang Empire, probably not even his big uncle knew just how terrifying this normally genial Prime Minister was.
Everyone was deeply underestimating the 'Lord Prime Minister'.
Wang Chong had never expected the Prime Minister to break custom and support the war in the southwest.
The combined might of the Yao Clan, King Qi, and the Prime Minister was enough to balance the might of the Wang Clan, King Song, and Consort Taizhen.
”…And there was one other thing. At the crucial moment, Zhangchou Jianqiong stood with King Qi and the Yao Clan!”
”Ah!”
Wang Chong was completely flabbergasted.
Zhangchou Jianqiong was part of Consort Taizhen's faction and they had a very close relationship. In fact, it had been Zhangchou Jianqiong who had helped Yang Zhao travel to the capital.
Consort Taizhen and Yang Zhao opposed this war, yet Zhangchou Jianqiong, the Minister of War, had stood with King Qi. No one could have expected this.