Chapter 2134 - Struggle for Supremacy! (1/2)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Fourth Prince Barshad felt like he had been struck by a lightning bolt, his body shuddering and his face going pale.

Impossible!

Utterly impossible!

Barshad instinctively looked at his father, and on the throne, Ishbara Khagan sensed Barshad’s gaze and looked away.

Barshad’s heart instantly sank.

All of this had been planned out!

The Blackwater Shaman wasn’t present!

His father really wanted to kill him!

Barshad had never imagined that the truth would be so cruel. In vain had he tried to persuade his father and tell him the truth. The truth had never mattered.

“This…”

Let alone the others, even First Prince Irbis Shiyun, who had wanted to kill Barshad the most, was shocked.

His father had done this on purpose!

His father also wanted to kill his fourth brother?

This was not a result he had envisioned.

The matter with Shamul had naturally been his idea. He wasn’t such a fool as to send someone to directly assassinate Barshad. But Irbis Shiyun had never imagined that his father would be borrowing his knife to kill another and already knew everything he was up to. He felt somewhat panicked and confused.

“Academic Lu, We respect you as a scholar, not as a martial artist, but you are not permitted to speak nonsense in this place. This matter is a matter between the Western Turks, a private affair. I hope that the Great Tang will not interfere!”

Ishbara Khagan’s voice resounded through the tent, no longer able to keep its silence.

Though Lu Ting possessed meager strength, a scholar’s mouth was far more frightening than a martial artist’s strength.

Lu Ting chuckled and said, “Khagan, if you insist on saying that this is your family affair, Lu Ting has nothing to say. However, our Highness shares some friendly sentiment with the Fourth Prince. Our Highness was very concerned when he heard about this incident in the Western Turkic Khaganate. He has said that friends must help each other, and if the Fourth Prince is unjustly accused, our Highness will not stand by!”

The expressions of everyone in the tent turned strange, and the Tibetan emissaries almost wanted to curse out loud.

Shamul had attempted to assassinate the Western Turkic Khagan only last night, near daybreak, and Ishbara Khagan had locked down all the news on it immediately afterward. Wang Chong was far away in the Great Tang, and it would take more than just one day to come there and back. Just where had he learned of this incident?

Lu Ting was clearly lying.

“In addition, Khagan knows that though His Majesty the Emperor and our Highness are sovereign and subject, they are also good friends. Moreover, with the realm in turmoil and disloyal subjects unwilling to sit still, His Majesty has granted His Highness full control over the military. If His Highness insists on a matter, not even His Majesty will be able to stop him,” Lu Ting said insinuatingly.

“Absurd! Lu Ting, what are you saying?” one of the Tibetan emissaries rebuked. “Are you threatening the Western Turks? Someone attempted to take Ishbara Khagan’s life! Is your Great Tang trying to claim that black is white and take the side of the evildoer?”

Lu Ting possessed an elegant tongue that could talk black into white and turn the dead to the living. If he were allowed to keep talking, there was no telling what would happen.

“Hmph! General, you say that I’m meddling in the affairs of the Western Turks, but what are you doing? Do you think we don’t know why you paid a visit to the Western Turks? In the war of the southwest, you colluded with Mengshe Zhao to invade the Great Tang, but we did not raise trouble with you over it. In the Battle of Talas, you colluded with Arabia, but in our magnanimity, we let you go and did not settle accounts. Now, you are here, once more stirring up trouble. Do you really wish for our Highness to take up his spear, let out the horses, and bring his army to the plateau?

“Back then, Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi threatened Lhasa, forcing your sovereign to abandon the city and flee. At the time, altitude sickness forced the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian to turn back, his work incomplete.

“But the King of Foreign Lands has already discovered your secret. If you force His Highness’s hand, you will have nowhere to run this time!” Lu Ting coldly said.

“Youuu!”

The Tibetan general went stiff, unable to reply to the sneering Lu Ting.

Wang Chong had spread the term ‘altitude sickness’ across the world.

The Ü-Tsang Empire had regarded itself as the country protected by the heavens, the chosen people. With their geographic advantage, they could attack any country they pleased. If they encountered powerful foes, they could retreat back to the plateau without fear.

But because of Wang Chong and a small flower called roseroot, the myth had been destroyed.

The Ü-Tsang Empire had lost its natural barrier, and Wang Chong’s several campaigns had already wounded the Ü-Tsang Empire’s foundation.

And now, the Great Tang Empire was in the middle of expanding its army. If its one million soldiers attacked the plateau, not even the Imperial Minister would be able to stop them.

The Imperial Minister was mighty, but the War Saint was not easy to deal with.

And the main parties in this conflict were Youzhou and the Great Tang. For Ü-Tsang to intervene right now was putting the cart before the horse. To offend the Great Tang at this moment was not a wise decision.

Lu Ting looked at the furious Tibetan general and grinned.