Chapter 1737 - The Winds Before the Storm!

Wang Chong slowly closed his eyes.

The capital had outer gates and inner gates. The inner gates were the four gates of the Imperial Palace, and the outer gates were the nine city gates of the capital. Anyone who controlled the outer gates controlled the ability to enter and exit the capital. As for the inner gates… the First Prince had taken control over them ages ago.

Has it finally begun? Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

When the First Prince had used his authority as regent to take control of the inner gates, this had still been within the scope of his authority, so it had drawn little attention. But the First Prince had always been somewhat apprehensive about trying for the outer gates.

After all, merchants and common folk flooded in and out of the outer gates every day, and attempting to limit the flow of traffic would probably even incur censures from the court officials. But it was obvious that the First Prince no longer feared any reprisals.

More importantly, for Wang Chong, the First Prince’s taking control of the outer gates was a sign that he could no longer keep a lid on his ambitions and was finally about to begin his treasonous plan!

“Has there been any other activity?” Wang Chong asked.

“Nothing else for now. The First Prince has made no other major movements besides taking control of the outer gates. However, the First Prince did summon the commanders of the City Guard and had them replaced. In addition…”

Xu Keyi hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“We just received word from the Imperial Army that because Zhao Fengchen is heavily injured and unable to command the Xuanwu Army, he has been temporarily replaced!”

Wang Chong silently digested all this information.

Given Zhao Fengchen’s relationship to him, the First Prince could never have let him remain. His heavy injuries served as the perfect reason to remove him from command of the Xuanwu Army.

As for the City Guard, it was also an important source of strength. While it didn’t have much fighting power and normally served to keep the peace in the capital, it was still an army and could play a critical role when the time came. The First Prince was not someone who would simply let it be.

“I see.”

After a long while, Wang Chong finally opened his eyes.

“You may leave.”

“Yes!”

Xu Keyi bowed and quickly left.

Not long after he was gone, Wang Chong also stood up. A cold breeze came in through his window. Wang Chong looked out and saw dark clouds hanging down, exerting an oppressive mood upon the capital.

Winds would herald a coming storm, and while everything outside the window seemed calm, Wang Chong, the First Prince, and many great clans all knew that this wouldn’t last for long.

It’s time I went out for a walk! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

Wang Chong was soon exiting the main gate of the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

“Your Highness!”

The Golden Guards quickly gathered around Wang Chong when they saw him about to leave.

“You’re all dismissed. I wish to be alone.”

Wang Chong waved his hand and then disappeared alone into the thronging crowds.

The streets were as peaceful as they usually were. As Wang Chong strolled around, he saw that the elders, children, and women he passed by all had smiles on their faces. The children played with their paper pinwheels while attended to by their happy elders. None of them knew about the coming storm.

Farther off, the people selling their steaming hot buns fresh from the oven, selling meat and tanghulu, the porters running around with loads on their shoulders… all of these noises combined into the din of life. Each of them was focused on their own livelihood, unaware of the coming catastrophe and the even greater calamity to follow.

This was not Wang Chong’s first time experiencing such a scene, but it felt entirely different to him now.

In the past, he had been an obscure spectator who was incapable of changing any of this, but now, he had come to stand on the entirely opposite end. Everyone’s lives and the fate of the empire rested in his hands. Even if it was for those mediocre faces and those clueless smiles, he would still do all he could to protect the empire.

These thoughts only made several of Wang Chong’s convictions even sturdier.

His eyes passed a peddler selling tanghulu, and Wang Chong suddenly walked over and smiled.

“I’d like a tanghulu, please.”

In the past, Wang Chong would have never bought such trifling things from a place like this, but for some reason, Wang Chong dearly wanted to try out a tanghulu and experience for himself the now-precious life of an ordinary person.

“Ah!”

The peddler froze upon seeing Wang Chong, and then he hastily took a tanghulu from a rack and handed it over.

“Young Master, a gift!”

Wang Chong smiled, took the tanghulu, threw down an ingot of silver, and continued on his way.

He continued to blindly stroll around the streets of the capital. Finally, Wang Chong stopped and found himself standing in front of a familiar place.

Blue Phoenix Pavilion!

(TN: This was previously translated as Bluebottle Pavilion.)

On a nearby street stood a tall building, the familiar words on its large signboard almost forcing their way into his eyes. This was none other than the place where he had sold his first Wootz Steel sword.

From a certain perspective, after Wang Chong’s rebirth, this was where he had begun to change the fate of the empire. Through the sword contest in Blue Phoenix Pavilion, he had made everyone in the realm understand the power of the Wootz Steel sword, and Wang Chong had used the Wootz Steel weapons to accumulate enormous wealth. This allowed him to set up the fortress by the Erhai, create the Wushang Cavalry, and buy many Western Turkic warhorses to establish a foundation for the empire’s cavalry force.

Now, after all the momentous shifts the empire had been through, he had unknowingly returned.

“Owner, get me a cup of tea!”

Wang Chong suddenly turned around and entered the pavilion, returning once more to the second floor where he had displayed the sword.

Blue Phoenix Pavilion was extremely quiet. There was no one present besides Wang Chong.

After some time, there were footsteps at the stairs, and then an elderly and relaxed voice spoke up. “Youths are truly refined. You’re almost about to be thrown into prison, but you still have the interest to take in the sights. Are you reminiscing about the moment that made you famous?”

The restaurant fell completely silent, even the owner and the waiters ceasing to whisper.

“You’re here!”

Wang Chong continued to look out the balcony, his hands behind his back.

“Heh, you don’t seem surprised.”

The man in the black robe at the entrance was none other than Hou Junji!

The entire capital was tense and countless soldiers were moving in the shadows, dark clouds threatening to engulf the city, entirely because of these two people.

But at this sensitive moment, these two core individuals had appeared in the same measly Blue Phoenix Pavilion.

“Why should I be surprised? Weren’t you the one who arranged the meeting?” Wang Chong indifferently said, appearing as if nothing in the world could shake him.

“Oh?”

A hint of surprise flashed in Hou Junji’s eyes, then he walked up to Wang Chong and stopped.

“Where did this come from? This old man has never exchanged any messages with you, or did Kim U-Seok go behind this old man’s back and tell you something?”

Wang Chong held his hands behind him and indifferently said, “The saber has left its sheath, hanging overhead but yet to fall. You seem to have something to say, or did I mistake Senior’s meaning?”

Despite the question, Wang Chong’s expression seemed absolutely certain.

The First Prince had taken over the Imperial Army, Anxi, Beiting, and Big Dipper, but after seizing the outer gates, he had done nothing else. While others might not have seen anything from this, it was a clear signal to Wang Chong.

One man had control over all the First Prince’s soldiers, but before the decisive confrontation, he wanted a meeting.

“That’s right!”

Hou Junji profoundly glanced at the youth and slightly nodded.

“I finally understand why someone as picky as Su Zhengchen made an exception after so many decades and chose to make you his disciple in his old age!”

Hou Junji had always been slightly hostile to Wang Chong, but this could be considered the highest of praises from him.

“You remember our deal from before?”

Hou Junji smiled.

“Do you still think the Fifth Prince can ascend the throne of the Nine and Five?”

“The dust has not settled until the last moment, and no one knows who has gotten the deer until it is dead. Is it not too early for Senior to say these words?”

Wang Chong finally turned around.

Bzzz! As their eyes met, the air itself seemed to freeze.

Hou Junji in his black robe seemed so weak that he couldn’t even truss a chicken. He seemed like nothing more than an ordinary old man, but Wang Chong keenly understood that this man was an unprecedented menace to the empire. The Setting Sun Villa incident and the Big Dipper City incident, the initial Great Buddhist Temple incident, and the recent Imperial Army competition had all been his handiwork.

And things were still far from over. This old man had yet to fully unleash the power of the Army-Shattering War God.

“Haha, at this stage, you still won’t concede? Let your master come out! If he doesn’t come out, he will never get the chance!”

Hou Junji’s eyes flashed as he finally revealed his true motive for meeting Wang Chong.

“I presume that he does not want to see the Great Tang’s Imperial Palace turn into a sea of fire!”