Chapter 1645 - A New Clue!

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The Great Buddhist Temple incident had come to an end, but its effects were still being felt. With the backing of Wang Chong and Yan Wenzhang, and the promise of the First Prince at the summit, the Imperial Court quickly set up a Charity Office specifically to handle the matter of orphans and widows.

The news of Wang Chong’s personal donation of twenty million taels of gold for the orphans and widows was spread throughout the capital and the empire.

The generous words and benevolent acts of the King of Foreign Lands had earned him the widespread praise of the capital, and the streets and alleys were filled with admiration for him.

“Bastard!”

In the Eastern Palace, the First Prince could only gnash his teeth at the news. He had been the originator of the Great Buddhist Temple incident, and he had invited all the great clans, but in the end, it was Wang Chong who had received the support of the people.

As for the First Prince who had built the temple, he had been tossed aside.

“Have the calculations been finished?” the First Prince suddenly asked, not even turning his head.

An extremely wise-looking Eastern Palace advisor moved around the beads of an abacus before lowering his head and giving a report.

“The calculations are done. According to the records in the ledger, thirty-five million taels of gold were received in donations. Five hundred thousand taels were left in the Great Buddhist Temple, and the rest was taken away by the Grand Scribe!”

This number made the hall fall silent, and the First Prince’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Thirty-five million taels!

This was even more than Wang Chong had donated, nearly double. This made the First Prince the greatest donor of this event, and also the greatest loser. But despite his contribution, it was Wang Chong who had taken all of the prestige.

The First Prince hated Wang Chong to his very core!

In this oppressive air, an old and deep voice spoke, instantly assuaging the mood with its mere presence.

“There is no need for Your Highness to be so vexed. It is only thirty-five million taels of gold. Your Highness has the realm, so why worry about this trifling money?”

At this time, the only person who could speak like this to the First Prince after such a major defeat and humiliation was the Ghost King.

Not far from the First Prince, the Ghost King was reading through a book, not even raising his head as he spoke.

This Ghost King… to think he would speak with this sort of tone to His Highness.

Nearby, Zhu Tong’en and the other Eastern Palace advisors glanced at the Ghost King with complicated looks. Anyone who had dared to speak to the First Prince like this in the past would probably already have their head rolling.

But for some reason, the First Prince was extremely respectful to this mysterious Ghost King, treating him completely unlike his other advisors.

“Senior, it was your idea to build the Great Buddhist Temple, but now we’ve lost everything, and can’t even tell which of the clans attending the ceremony are sincerely loyal, yet Senior still seems able to laugh,” the First Prince sternly said.

Everyone could sense that the First Prince was suppressing his anger, and he was surprisingly succeeding, showing incredible restraint in front of the Ghost King.

At this point, the Ghost King chuckled and finally put down his book.

“Who said that it’s impossible to tell which ones are truly loyal to you?” the Ghost King said lightly.

With these words, the Ghost King instantly had the attention of everyone in the hall.

“Right now, I have a rough understanding of this King of Foreign Lands you speak of. I have to say that his action was rather unexpected. Encouraging the great clans to attend the ceremony and then funding their donations, and then pushing things along so that all the money is taken away for the sake of orphans and widows—this entire plan was meticulously designed. But in the end, it’s all minor.”

The Ghost King placed his hands behind his back and slowly rose from his chair.

“This… What does Senior mean?”

The advisors were stunned, and even the First Prince frowned in confusion.

“You don’t get it?”

The Ghost King chuckled, his every movement oozing dominance.

“No matter how the King of Foreign Lands reacted or what he tried, we’ve reached our goal in this operation. With the Great Buddhist Temple, Your Highness has made it clear to all the great clans of the capital that you are recruiting. Although the King of Foreign Lands interfered and reduced its effectiveness, those who wish to join Your Highness will now join.”

“Ah?!”

The First Prince was surprised. He had never even thought about what the Ghost King was saying.

“Senior, you mean that we didn’t fail?”

“Hmph, how could that be?” the Ghost King said indifferently, waving his sleeve. “It’s late now, and this old man judges that they’ll start to move over the next few days!”

“Reporting!”

As if in response to the Ghost King’s words, a Golden Guard of the Eastern Palace rushed in.

“Your Highness, we just received a letter. Please look it over!”

The Golden Guard got down on his knees and offered a letter with both hands. An Eastern Palace advisor hastily walked over to take the letter and deliver it to the First Prince.

Taking the letter, the First Prince glanced at the clan insignia upon it and froze. He then swiftly opened the letter and looked through it. He glanced at the Ghost King, his mouth slightly open in shock.

The Ghost King had clearly guessed correctly, but the First Prince had never imagined that those great clans would be so quick.

“This is only the beginning. I have already agreed to help Your Highness, so all Your Highness needs to do is wait for the good news!” the Ghost King declared, his robes beginning to rustle around him as his body erupted with a tyrannical aura.

For the Ghost King, the Great Buddhist Temple was just a small test. If that youth had made no response, it would only prove that he wasn’t even worth the Ghost King’s personal intervention.

But that youth had now passed his first test. The Ghost King would now personally take action and deal with the Great Tang’s new War God. This great game had only just begun!

……

Meanwhile, after returning from the Great Buddhist Temple and arranging for the Imperial Court to handle the matter of the orphans and widows, Wang Chong returned to his own residence, where everything calmed back down.

“No matter what, I have to find out what’s going on with Eunuch Gao and His Divine Majesty!”

In the main hall of the King of Foreign Lands Residence, Wang Chong stood next to a table, the index and middle fingers of his right hand lightly tapping upon it.

The Great Buddhist Temple incident had made Wang Chong develop many theories, and these theories only made Wang Chong more anxious to know of Eunuch Gao’s condition. But the entire Imperial Palace was engulfed in a black mist that made it impossible to find out what was going on.

Going by the information that he had gathered, what had happened to Eunuch Gao was far too abnormal.

It seems that I might have to make a trip to the Imperial Palace myself! Wang Chong said to himself.

Officials had many restrictions when entering the palace, and many places were forbidden to them. If he wanted to look for clues on Eunuch Gao, he would have to go at night. According to the laws of the Great Tang, this was a major taboo, but Wang Chong was past caring about such things.

The matter of Eunuch Gao remained a mystery, but several days later, there was a surprising development.

The combined power of Yang Zhao, Li Jingzhong, Zhao Fengchen, and Bian Lingcheng had finally found a clue in the Imperial Palace.

“What?! There was a fight in the palace, and someone even died?”

In the main hall of the King of Foreign Lands Residence, Wang Chong shot to his feet and stared in shock at the two eunuchs who had come to deliver the message.

“Your Highness, this truly is the case. We questioned the eunuchs and maids, and in the end, we found a man called One-Armed Wu who is responsible for transporting trash and wastewater out of the palace. From One-Armed Wu’s place, we discovered many bloody bandages. They are made from a material that ordinary maids and eunuchs don’t use, so their presence in the palace is definitely unusual.

“Following this clue, we managed to track down several maids and eunuchs, but these people didn’t know much. They said that around half a month ago, they were ordered to Taiwu Palace to clean up trash, and those bloody bandages had been inside. According to them, there were a lot of bloodstains on the floor, but they didn’t know many details.

“And while we were investigating, we discovered that the maids and eunuchs who had been sent into that palace had all disappeared. Only one palace maid was left, as she happened to have been transferred to serve under Consort Hui.

“Not only that, we continued to pursue the clues and learned of something else. Also half a month ago, some corpses were secretly transported out of the palace. The witnesses said that the hands of those people were curled like hooks and their skin was even whiter than mutton-fat jade, clear signs that they cultivated some special art. Moreover, their skin was also as tough as steel, which left a particularly deep impression on the Imperial Army soldiers manning the gate. This was because when they went up to inspect the corpses, someone slapped their hands away and sternly reprimanded them.”