Chapter 1751 - King Qi's Plot! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Heh, that young scion of the Wang Clan is simply too cautious! Trying to lure him into taking the bait is no easy task. Amongst all of us, the only one I can use is King Qi!”
The Ghost King softly chuckled, indifferent to all the admiring gazes.
“Time stands on our side, and he can’t wait any longer. He was only remaining so reserved because he was waiting for the right moment, and this moment was none other than King Qi. Now that King Qi is moving, he is as well.”
Asura stepped forward and respectfully asked, “Senior, what do we do now?”
“We don’t need to do anything. The trap is set, and we just need to wait for him to walk into it.”
The Ghost King smiled, his right hand taking a black piece and placing it on the chessboard.
It struck with such force that the chessboard slightly quivered.
……
“Open the gate!”
King Qi was much faster than expected, and it wasn’t long before he had brought his nearly ten thousand soldiers up to the palace gates. With a great rumbling, the gates opened, and King Qi led his soldiers charging inside.
Bang!
Behind him, the Imperial Palace gates boomed shut. King Qi and his nearly ten thousand soldiers vanished into the darkness of the Imperial Palace like a mud doll in the ocean, and everything fell silent once more.
……
Not far behind, Wang Chong was rapidly approaching with several thousand soldiers when a scout rode up and nervously reported.
“Reporting! Your Highness, King Qi has led his men into the palace!”
The entire night was brimming with tension.
Wang Chong said nothing, dismissing the scout with a wave of his hand.
His harsh and vicious eyes stared at the distant Imperial Palace.
Its walls loomed like some massive beast curled up in the darkness as it watched over the entire capital.
From Wang Chong’s perspective, it seemed right in front of his face.
Time was short, as his soldiers were converging at this very moment. His mind began to rapidly turn.
Just a few moments ago, the sliver of energy that Wang Chong had locked onto King Qi had completely vanished.
Tonight was an extremely important night, and Wang Chong was not allowed a single error.
“Stop!”
When he was still several dozen feet from the Imperial Palace, Wang Chong raised his arm, and the entire army instantly came to a stop.
“Your Highness!”
Everyone looked at Wang Chong in shock.
“Zhang Que, how is Little Sha doing? Is there any movement in the Imperial Palace?”
Wang Chong suddenly turned to Zhang Que.
Zhang Que turned solemn, instantly understanding what Wang Chong meant. He quickly looked up to the sky and carefully listened.
More than three thousand meters in the air, the cries of gyrfalcons made it impossible to hear anything else. But after some time…
Creee!
Two short cries resounded through the darkness, completely different from those of the other birds.
Zhang Que hastily turned around and sternly said, “There’s nothing! There’s still no movement within the Imperial Palace!”
Wang Chong’s brow instantly furrowed.
……
Whoosh!
The sound of flapping wings traveled through the darkness.
An Eastern Palace guard rushed inside and reported, ‘Your Highness, the King of Foreign Lands suddenly stopped outside the palace!”
The Eastern Palace fell silent as everyone exchanged speechless glances.
“This… how could that be? Did he notice something?”
They were all uncertain and uneasy. It was one thing if he had chased King Qi all the way into the Imperial Palace, but instead, he had stopped right outside. They couldn’t help but have second thoughts. After all, this was the youngest War God in the history of the Great Tang.
“Kim U-Seok, have you still not killed that rock eagle?”
The First Prince suddenly thought of something, his brow creasing as he turned to Kim U-Seok.
“Your Highness, calm yourself. Your subordinate is doing his utmost and will eliminate that rock eagle soon.”
Kim U-Seok lowered his head, shame on his face.
The rock eagle belonging to the King of Foreign Lands Residence had an extremely shrill cry that even the people in the Eastern Palace could hear. For the Goguryeon Eagle King, that sharp cry was also a jeer aimed at him.
“Heh, Your Highness does not need to worry.”
The Ghost King spoke calmly and confidently, his wise and profound eyes seeing through all.
“There are hidden schemes and open schemes. We’ve made our move, and regardless of whether he’s realized it or what suspicions he has, he doesn’t have many choices.
“King Qi is already inside the palace. If he stops outside or even goes back to his residence, we can turn fake into real, the false into true, and begin our operation. On the battlefield, every second matters, and the slightest error will result in his defeat.”
Hou Junji smiled. As a strategist and commander, he needed to obtain victory through planning. This meant not just looking at himself, but at his enemy, not just at the present, but the future.
From the moment this battle began, Wang Chong had already lost.
“And if he charges into the palace …” Hou Junji turned to Zhu Tong’en. “Lord Zhu, you know the laws of the Great Tang. What is the punishment for a subject raising soldiers and intruding on the palace in the middle of the night?”
Zhu Tong’en’s heart chilled as he lowered his head and answered, “Execution and extermination of the clan!”
In any dynasty, intruding upon the Imperial Palace in the middle of night in full armor incurred the death penalty. This was the case even for Princes, let alone subjects.
“Death awaits with both retreat and advance. We just need to see what he chooses,” the Ghost King said, standing up from his seat. “Come! Let’s go and take a look, send him off on his final journey!”
He immediately began to stride out, the other members of the Eastern Palace following.
In the distance, all was quiet. Two large bronze gates and a set of high walls cut off this place from the outside world. Everyone here was quietly waiting.
“Your Highness, could he have noticed something and decided not to come in?” a general next to King Qi asked.
The gates had been closed for some time, but there was still no sound from the other side. It was like everyone had disappeared.
“Relax! He’ll definitely come!”
King Qi coldly laughed, waving around his right hand.
“If he doesn’t come, we’ll just advance into the palace, and besides…”
King Qi glanced at the gate and sneered.
“I even left a path for him.”
The gates had not been locked after King Qi entered, only slightly closed. A single push would be enough to open them.
Wang Chong, aren’t you supposed to be powerful? This king is waiting for you to come in!
As if in response to King Qi’s mental challenge, hooves began to thunder in the darkness, a tide surging toward the gate.
Boom!
After a seemingly interminable second, the heavy palace gates flew open under a tremendous force.
King Qi immediately spotted that familiar figure leading several dozen cavalry inside. King Qi’s eyes brightened, and savagery began to seep into them as his smile faded.
“Wang Chong, you’ve brought your own soldiers and intruded on the Imperial Palace! You must be plotting rebellion! Come; seize him at once!” King Qi thunderously roared as he urged his horse into a gallop and charged out of his hiding spot.
Wang Chong’s men were already seventy to eighty meters past the gate. At this moment, thousands of soldiers surged up from all sides to surround Wang Chong.
In a flash, King Qi’s men had surrounded Wang Chong.
“Protect His Highness!”
The cavalry that Wang Chong had brought immediately paled and formed into a protective circle.
“King Qi, such audacity!”
A rumbling voice like a peal of thunder exploded, stirring up a gust of wind. Wang Chong was the only person in this group who had maintained his composure, and his eyes instantly locked onto the distant King Qi.
“Hahaha, Wang Chong, at a time like this, you’re still trying to argue? Do you think this place is your King of Foreign Lands Residence? Arrest him!”
King Qi was brimming with satisfaction as he vented all the ill will that he had built up.
Ever since this little brat had experienced a change of heart and begun to interfere in the matters of the Wang Clan, he had not had a single day of happiness. On the contrary, a mighty King of the Great Tang and member of the imperial household had been forced to bow to a lowly commoner, suffering setback after setback and becoming the laughingstock of society. King Qi could not accept such humiliation.
He had suffered so many setbacks that when Wang Chong entered court, King Qi had become much more reserved and had refrained from speaking. There were even times when he simply didn’t attend court to avoid Wang Chong.
Had this ever once happened to the proud and dreaded King Qi?
But his restraint was not out of fear. He had just been waiting for the right moment, and now, the time had come to hold his head high and wash away his humiliation.
Boom!
The countless cavalry surrounding Wang Chong took out their gleaming weapons and converged on Wang Chong.
“Who dares?!”
Another thunderous roar exploded, imbued with vast majesty that made all the soldiers freeze in place.
“King Qi, you dare to plot rebellion?!”
A person’s name was like the shadow of a tree. In the Great Tang, Wang Chong’s list of dazzling military achievements imbued him with immense influence. Even experts in the military couldn’t help but feel an instinctual fear for the revered War God.
“Hahaha, Wang Chong, don’t speak nonsense!”
King Qi spread apart his arms and laughed.
“Everyone can see your treasonous actions. It is a clear fact that you have barged into the Imperial Palace at night with your personal soldiers, and you’re still trying to argue?”
“You’re the one speaking nonsense!” one of the officers at Wang Chong’s side couldn’t help but retort. “You clearly brought in the soldiers of the Penal Court and intruded upon the Imperial Palace. His Highness came to stop you precisely because he believed that you harbored ill intentions! Everyone knows that you are the true treasonous one!”
