Chapter 1778 - Chongsheng Gate!

“By the way, Senior, those officials the First Prince imprisoned in Taihe Palace? You don’t need to worry about them anymore.”

Wang Chong looked toward where the sounds of fighting were loudest and smiled.

“Senior is known as the Army-Shattering War God, so this lowly one did not dare to be careless. But this junior’s reinforcements were never outside Taihe Palace. They were always inside!”

“What?!”

Hou Junji and Fei Yuhan instantly paled.

“This is impossible!”

The one who had said this was not Hou Junji, but Fei Yuhan.

“There are only officials and the general we assigned to guard the area inside Taihe Palace! You can’t have possibly inserted soldiers within! There’s nowhere to hide in that place!”

The matter of Taihe Palace was extremely important, as even if the rebellion succeeded, the First Prince would still have to obtain the acknowledgment of the people of the realm to become the true successor of the Sage Emperor. This necessitated the acknowledgment of the major officials, and so those officials imprisoned inside Taihe Palace played a critical role in the First Prince’s plans. More importantly, the First Prince had given Fei Yuhan the duty of carrying out this mission!

Fei Yuhan’s men had been the ones to move those officials out.

“And we inspected all those people! There’s no way you could have pulled any tricks!” Fei Yuhan sharply said.

Hou Junji said nothing, but his face slowly turned grave. Although he wasn’t responsible for this matter, he had specifically instructed Fei Yuhan to investigate all the officials Wang Chong was on good terms with to prevent any tricks. Logically speaking, Wang Chong could never have succeeded in any plan.

“Haha, of course, you would investigate those officials I was on good terms with or who opposed the First Prince, and this really wouldn’t take much effort. However, did you also investigate those officials the First Prince was on good terms with? If I recall correctly, the Grand Preceptor didn’t come to today’s morning court session!”

Wang Chong glanced at Fei Yuhan and smirked.

Whoosh!

Upon hearing this, the man turned ghastly pale. Wang Chong was right. While more than half of the capital’s top nobles and officials had participated in today’s morning court session, the Grand Preceptor had not appeared. But as the Grand Preceptor was very old and was on the First Prince’s side, there was little need for him to appear.

But Fei Yuhan clearly recalled that though the Grand Preceptor had not come, he had sent someone to observe and listen in his place. Could it be…

Fei Yuhan once more looked at Wang Chong’s smirk, and he instantly understood what had happened. Despair surged over him. He had done his best to defend against any tricks, but he had never expected this move from Wang Chong.

“Withdraw!”

Hou Junji called out and then quickly turned to look at Wang Chong.

“To think that after sixty years, an individual like you would appear amongst the youth of the Great Tang. The Grand Preceptor is of extremely high status and is on good terms with the First Prince, so no one would take notice of him, and you exploited this very fact. If my guess is correct, those officials in Taihe Palace were already taken away by your infiltrators!”

“Heh, those soldiers were merely a distraction. Naturally, those officials were taken away by my infiltrators, so Senior has no need to continue worrying about it,” Wang Chong indifferently said.

“In addition, the Four Quarters Embassy, the Wang Clan Residence, and the King Song Residence? Senior doesn’t need to keep worrying about them either. Thanks to Senior, this junior long ago made plans, and those places should be safe and sound. The soldiers Senior sent probably won’t be coming back! And Senior also does not need to concern yourself over Zhang Zheng’s army…”

Wang Chong faintly smiled.

Whoosh!

Hou Junji could still salvage the matter of the officials being saved from Taihe Palace, but when Wang Chong mentioned Zhang Zheng’s army, he couldn’t help but shiver.

“What do you mean?”

Once this night was over, the news of the rebellion in the Imperial Palace was certain to cause even greater turmoil. In any dynasty, a changing of governments was bound to cause an uproar in society, and when done poorly, would cause uprisings amongst the populace. In these situations, the armies on the border would play an important role.

Only with the combined efforts of the Imperial Army and the border armies could the situation be stabilized. This was why Hou Junji had mobilized Zhang Zheng’s Beiting Protectorate army. But Wang Chong was indicating that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

“Heh, has Senior not noticed that Zhang Zheng’s army has yet to enter the capital?” Wang Chong nonchalantly asked.

Hou Junji, Fei Yuhan, and all the Imperial Army soldiers grimaced. Yes, nearly thirty minutes had gone by, so Zhang Zheng’s army should have already entered, but now that they listened, they found the capital rather quiet. A city through which tens of thousands of soldiers were marching could never be so quiet.

“What did you do? Did you still have soldiers?” Hou Junji suddenly asked. He had been observing Wang Chong this entire time and had determined that there was no way he could still have soldiers. Moreover, Zhang Zheng had already reached Gold Bull Mountain. If someone had come to stop him, it wouldn’t be so quiet outside the capital. The sounds of such a battle should have been audible from the palace.

“Heh, dealing with Zhang Zheng doesn’t need that many soldiers. I simply sent Senior… a piece of paper!”

A vicious light flashed in Wang Chong’s eyes.

The mention of this piece of paper caused Hou Junji and Fei Yuhan to tremble in shock and understanding, and they were rendered speechless.

Silence!

The entire area fell into an eerie silence!

Wang Chong and Hou Junji silently stared at each other, both their eyes gleaming as brightly as stars and as sharply as swords.

When evil grew one foot taller, the righteous would grow by ten feet. In this ‘chess game’, Hou Junji and Wang Chong had been scheming against each other, but the one thing Hou Junji had not expected was that the letter he and the First Prince had received from Zhang Zheng was a forgery.

To think that Wang Chong’s plans would be this meticulous…!

His calculations had seemingly begun even before the start of this game.

“Good, good, good!”

Hou Junji finally broke the deathly stillness.

“Truly amazing! As expected of Su Zhengchen’s disciple! You forged a letter from Zhang Zheng, and if my guess is correct, you’ve also taken control of the capital’s outer gates.”

Wang Chong said nothing, as there was no need to answer. Neither he nor Hou Junji could have left any obvious flaws in their plans. By now, the outer gates of the capital had naturally fallen into his hands.

“You’ve truly got a good head on your shoulders, and even I must express some praise for your abilities. Su Zhengchen went his entire life without taking a disciple, but he was truly fortunate to find someone like you in his twilight years. So what a pity it is that despite your outstanding abilities, you chose to stand on the wrong side.”

Hou Junji placed his hands behind his back, took in a deep breath, and regained his composure.

“Even though you forged Zhang Zheng’s letter, broke my Hundred Thousand God-Devil Execution Formation, and saved the officials in Taihe Palace, you still can’t change anything. The Imperial Army is still within the Imperial Palace, and you will need several hours to break through them. In addition, I have also stationed a force at the gate leading to Taiji Palace, Chongsheng Gate, commanded by Grand Marshal Bai Hanzhou. You will need even more time to break through that force. But alas… you don’t have the time. If all goes as expected, the battle at the heart of the Imperial Palace will soon be over. Once all the Dragon Guards fall, no one will be left to stop the Imperial Army!

“Despite all you’ve done, in the end… you will still lose!!”

Hou Junji shook his head and shot Wang Chong a pitying gaze.

Making plans truly was important, but in the end, one also needed to look at one’s strength and luck! Wang Chong was very capable, but in Hou Junji’s eyes, his struggles were futile.

“You said so much, but in the end, Senior has not won and the dust has not settled. Is that not so?”

Wang Chong was surprisingly nonchalant.

Hou Junji was taken aback and fell silent. This wasn’t the first time Wang Chong had said this tonight, and while he might have scoffed at first, after all that had happened, even someone as conceited as him didn’t dare to say any more.

Hissss!

In the bronze incense burner, the last sliver of smoke slowly dispersed into the air. The match on the board was over, but not the battle within the Imperial Palace. The winds continued to carry the roar of battle. Li Siye, Guo Ziyi, and the Lone Silence Ancestor were advancing with their army at astonishing speed toward Chongsheng Gate, which was guarded by Bai Hanzhou.

The soldiers at the Center Gate, Qian Gate, and Kun Gate, were no longer capable of stopping them.

Wang Chong was waiting, and so was Hou Junji!

Wang Chong was waiting for the news that Chongsheng Gate had fallen, and Hou Junji was waiting for the news that Taiji Palace had fallen. This battle had reached its final act, and despite the chess game being over, the surrounding area remained brimming with tension.

……

Deep within the palace, at Chongsheng Gate…

“That kid truly can’t be underestimated! He even managed to break Hou Junji’s formation!”

Atop a high palace wall stood a slender figure in a black robe. A design featuring seven bright stars had been woven onto the chest of the robe.

The Tianfu Divine Lord!

Wang Chong would have immediately recognized this man as the Tianfu Divine Lord he had previously defeated.

Although the Tianfu Divine Lord had been defeated, he had not been injured and could still fight. In this rebellion, the Tianfu Divine Lord had been assigned as the guardian of Chongsheng Gate.