Chapter 1262: The Regent First Prince! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
In investigating the Sage Emperor's condition, Wang Chong needed all the information available regarding the Divine Martial realm. In this aspect, what was available to the public was far inferior to what was available to the Imperial Palace. For this reason, Wang Chong had requested the assistance of Fifth Prince Li Heng. Li Heng had always taken Wang Chong's requests seriously, so he had gotten his hands on much information as he could.
He had even dispatched Li Jingzhong to attend to Wang Chong.
”I understand! I will call you if I need anything!” Wang Chong indifferently said.
”Yes, this old slave will take his leave then. If Your Highness has any other requests, please give the order. In addition, His Highness has asked that if you discover anything or make any progress, he would like to be informed as quickly as possible. His Highness has always been an extremely filial son and is extremely concerned about His Divine Majesty.”
Li Jingzhong bowed to Wang Chong after saying this and quickly withdrew from the room.
Once Li Jingzhong was gone, leaving Wang Chong alone in the study, Wang Chong put down the book in his hands, looked out the window, and deeply sighed.
Given Wang Chong's present status and the assistance of the Fifth Prince, Wang Chong had far more books and texts available to him than most people in the world. Yet even after a sleepless night of browsing through countless texts, he had come away with nothing. The only information he had found regarding the Divine Martial realm was that trying to break into this realm was fraught with danger. Once begun, one could not be interrupted midway. But there had been nothing saying that failure to reach the Divine Martial realm would result in cultivation defect and constant decline of one's martial arts.
Now that he thought about it, in his last life, everything he knew regarding the Divine Martial realm and the Sage Emperor had come from legends and speculation.
In the entire world, very few people had ever been able to touch the Subtle realm or learn of its existence. Even the mighty Imperial Great Generals knew almost nothing about it. And this wasn't even considering the fact that the Divine Martial realm was above the Subtle realm.
If not for the Sage Emperor, many people would have probably gone their entire lives unaware of the existence of this realm.
Wang Chong had a career marked by constant victory, and he was hailed as the War God of the Great Tang's new generation. Even Qutaybah had died at his hands, and countless Great Generals would want to flee upon seeing him. However, the more he investigated and understood the Divine Martial realm, the more Wang Chong felt that there was an enormous chasm between him and the Sage Emperor.
Even the Sage Emperor who was greatly weakened after failing to reach the Divine Martial realm still possessed an unfathomable cultivation level. Even at Wang Chong's current level of cultivation, he still could not fathom just how powerful the strength of the Divine Martial realm was.
But when he thought about the Sage Emperor's condition as relayed to him by Yang Zhao and the chaos in the Central Plains once the Sage Emperor passed, Wang Chong felt like he needed to do something. Even if he had only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he still had to try and stop this all from happening.
……
As Wang Chong continued to gather up texts and search for information on the Divine Martial realm, during the court session of the next day, a surprising development took place.
”Acceding to the will of the heavens, the Emperor declares:
”The First Prince, Li Ying, as the eldest son, is polite and modest to the extreme, tolerant and courteous. To serve as an example to the princes, We have decided to temporarily have First Prince Li Ying preside over court, deciding all matters jointly with the Prime Minister and King Song. Thus is the Emperor's will!”
The massive dragon throne in the upper reaches of the hall was empty, the Sage Emperor nowhere to be seen. However, the Director of the Inner Court, Gao Lishi, had stepped forward, his whisk in one hand and a divine decree in the other, and loudly declared these words to the gathered officials.
Boom! Gao Lishi's voice was like a heavy weight being thrown into the court, causing a massive earthquake. The Sage Emperor had reigned for so many years, but he had never once failed to attend morning court, much less made anyone a regent. Moreover, according to the customs of the Great Tang, a regent would only appear when the Emperor was preparing to abdicate so as to prepare for the ascendancy of the future heir apparent.
But the Emperor was still in his prime and possessed peerless cultivation. This abrupt order left everyone uneasy.
”Eunuch Gao, just what has happened? Where is His Majesty? Why can we not see His Majesty?”
”Right! What's wrong with His Majesty? Why is the First Prince temporarily presiding over the court?”
A pile of officials immediately stepped forward, their voices panicked and worried.
”Eunuch Gao, just what has happened to His Majesty?” Wang Chong suddenly said.
While investigating what happened after a failure to reach the Divine Martial realm, he had never expected that the Sage Emperor would so quickly withdraw from the Imperial Court, concealing himself behind the curtain and allowing the First Prince to stand in for him. Wang Chong had an extremely ill foreboding, sensing that the Sage Emperor's condition was even worse than he had imagined.
Buzz!
The moment Wang Chong spoke, the entire Imperial Court instantly fell silent. Countless officials began to look back and forth between Wang Chong and Gao Lishi. As the Great Tang's King of Foreign Lands and after that string of incidents, Wang Chong had successfully branded his unyielding and determined attitude into the minds of the court officials.
Wang Chong now possessed unusual weight in the Imperial Court, becoming a leader of the court similar to King Song.
Gao Lishi's brow creased, and as he waved his horsetail whisk and prepared to speak, another voice resounded through the hall.
”I will answer this question for you!”
This sudden voice immediately caught the attention of all the officials. Even Gao Lishi turned in the direction of this voice. At the entrance to Taihe Palace stood a golden figure, tall, slender, and majestic, wearing a four-clawed-dragon robe. He stepped over the threshold and entered the hall.
The First Prince!