Chapter 307: War of the Princes!
"You brat, to think that you have such a huge spirit vein outside of the capital. When were you intending to inform me of this matter?"
Marquess Yi grabbed Wang Chong's shoulder and exerted her strength. Creak, Wang Chong’s bones groaned in protest.
Wang Chong had reached Origin Energy Tier 9 pinnacle, but his cultivation still wasn't a match for Marquess Yi yet.
"If Marquess Yi wishes to cultivate there, I'll welcome you there anytime. You can drop by the spirit vein whenever you want to, there won't be any restrictions on you," Wang Chong replied.
Despite Marquess Yi's slim build, the immense strength that she exerted with her hand was no joke at all. Wang Chong could tell that she was far stronger than Abutong.
"Good, I'll forgive you for now then!" Hearing Wang Chong's words, Marquess Yi's eyes lit up, and she loosened her grip. "Right, some good friends of mine want to tag along as well!"
"That is of course not a problem too! Feel free to bring them along..." Wang Chong immediately replied without any hesitation. In any case, the spirit vein was huge, so a few additional people wouldn't make a difference at all. Furthermore, considering their relationship with Second Sister Wang Zhuyan, he wouldn't act so miserly with them either.
"That's more like it!" Marquess Yi released Wang Chong's shoulder with a smile reminiscent of a blooming flower on her lips. Having achieved her extortion, she looked around and noticed the Deflecting Blade Manor behind Wang Chong.
"Hmm, your manor doesn’t look too bad." Marquess Yi spoke as if she was seeing it for the first time.
This manor of mine has been completed for a long time already, how can you have only seen it now?
Wang Chong was rendered speechless by Marquess Yi's response. True, the Vermilion Peak might be a little far away from this manor, but to have only seen it now...
He had heard from Second Sister that Marquess Yi was a martial arts fanatic, and that seemed to be very true at the moment.
Wang Chong beckoned a guard from the Deflecting Blade Manor over and instructed him, "Luo Cheng, take Marquess Yi in to take a look."
"Yes, gongzi." The guard hurriedly led Marquess Yi up the mountain and into the Deflecting Blade Manor.
After Wang Chong finally sent that fearsome woman away, Zhao Jingdian heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "Gongzi, what do we do now?"
A frown reappeared on Wang Chong's forehead as he gazed at the crowd beneath him silently.
"Have the men gather the names of those who are interested in joining the Deflecting Blade Manor and hand it to me.
"I intended to take the Deflecting Blade Manor forward a step at a time, but it seems like there is no need for it anymore. This is a good opportunity," Wang Chong spoke resolutely, looking at the bustling crowd beneath him.
As the saying went, "Opportunity and disaster are like two sides of a coin. They come together and are interchangeable". Even though he was caught off-guard by this turn of events, it was undeniable that this could be seen as a good opportunity as well.
If he could grasp it well, it could be a chance to further his aims.
Thus, Wang Chong came to a decision.
Under Wang Chong's leadership, the guards began to gather the names of those in the area.
The crowd, which was dissatisfied at being obstructed by the guards, immediately cheered Wang Chong's name in excitement.
Even those who had intended to do Wang Chong in couldn't have expected the latter's reputation in the training camp to soar over this matter.
Hualala!
---
Soon after Wang Chong instructed his men to gather the names, a white dove dove down from the sky.
Today sure wasn't going to be a peaceful day.
Upon seeing Big Uncle Wang Gen's seal on the letter, Wang Chong was taken aback.
After a moment of hesitation, he opened the letter and looked at it.
The letter which Big Uncle Wang Gen sent over only had a few lines of words asking if the spirit vein beyond the capital truly belonged to Wang Chong.
However, it was this ordinary letter without any concrete content that made Wang Chong's heart sink.
The terms Big Uncle Wang Gen used were extremely polite, different from his usual, casual tone.
This was very unlike Big Uncle Wang Gen. It seemed as if he had sent this letter at the request of another.
Given Big Uncle Wang Gen's current standing in the royal court, there were very few people who could put him in such a difficult position.
Wang Chong only had to give it some thought to figure out who the other party was.
Wang Chong sighed deeply as he kept the letter with a heavy heart.
If Wang Chong's conjecture didn't fail him, the person who left Big Uncle Wang Gen so distressed was probably the First Prince.
When Wang Chong first received the letter from his teacher, saying that someone dressed in the armor of the royal guards had appeared in the vicinity of the spirit vein, he already had a bad premonition.
And everything happened as he had suspected!
The person who brought the seer to the spirit vein and announced the news was probably a prince, and the one who made Big Wang Gen write the letter was another...
The thing which Wang Chong had been worrying about had finally happened.
In this life, the matter which Wang Chong didn't wish to get embroiled with the most was the "War of the Princes". The "Vast Crane Pavilion incident", "Consort Taizhen incident", "regional commanders incident"... All of these matters could easily result in the downfall of a prestigious clan, but none of them could compare with the severity of the "War of the Princes".
Regardless of which era one was in, the War of the Princes was always the most dangerous matter to get involved with.
A single mistake could result in the regret of a lifetime.
The ancient Yu the Great intended to pass his throne to Count Yi, but the latter ended up being killed by Yue the Great's son, and his body was torn apart by five horses!
This was how vicious the War of the Princes could get.
Anything that involved the struggle for imperial authority was bound to be callous and vicious in nature.
Their failure in the Vast Crane Pavilion incident still allowed the Wang Clan to hold its ground for many years, and even the Consort Taizhen incident only resulted in the demotion of the Wang Clan to normal civilians.
But as for the War of the Princes...
As soon as the new emperor ascended the throne, those who supported the opposing princes would find their entire clans completely exterminated.
Even an emperor as wise as Yu the Great had his own successor being torn to shreds by his own son, needless to say about the others after him.
Such had been the case when the incumbent Sage Emperor came to power, so why should there be any exception this time?
Wang Chong had always consciously shied away from the War of the Princes, trying to remain uninvolved as far as it was possible.
But this spirit vein had swept Wang Chong into the most dangerous vortex in Great Tang.
The First Prince stood behind Big Uncle Wang Gen, and the mysterious prince who dispatched the seer to find the spirit vein... With these two princes getting involved in this matter, there was no doubt that more would soon come knocking on the doors of the Wang Clan.
And that was where the trouble lay.
Amidst this crisis, such a thing known as the 'correct decision' didn't exist at all. There was no ground one could stand on to definitely remain safe. Doing anything was a mistake in itself, and the more one did, the deeper one would sink... But not doing anything was a mistake as well!
With such thoughts in mind, Wang Chong could only sigh deeply.
"All that has to happen will happen. I'll just count my steps as I take them."
Soon, Wang Chong turned around and returned back to the Deflecting Blade Manor.
------
"What a powerful spirit vein!"
Just as Wang Chong was busy in the Deflecting Blade Manor, he was unaware that a haughty, crimson-robed lady was currently standing at the edge of the Vermilion Bird Peak. A fiery martial halo reminiscent of blazing flames shone beneath her feet. Along with an austere court nanny beside her, she gazed in the direction of the Deflecting Blade Manor.
Behind them were more than a dozen ladies dressed in court wear. Each of them possessed exceptional cultivation, and even the weakest of them was a True Martial realm. As such, their presence was exceptionally conspicuous in the training camp.
"Your Highness, this is a good opportunity. It is by the will of heavens that we are in the Kunwu Training Camp, we mustn't let this chance slip by our fingers!" the austere nanny spoke. From the slight golden hue on her skinny, withered fingers, it could be seen that she had cultivated some kind of unique martial arts.
And held in her five fingers was a letter containing the most recent news from the capital.
Under her instructions, a scout had already proceeded to scope out the spirit vein, and the news he sent back was that the spiritual energy contained in the spirit vein was unbelievably concentrated.
And more importantly, the spirit vein covered a wide region.
This news was sufficient to move any power in the capital.
Without a doubt, anyone who gained possession of this huge spirit vein would obtain a vital edge in the War of the Princes.
"Since that is the case, let's take it." , Princess Ni Huang said without any hesitation, holding her head up high. The brilliant splendor of her halo made her astounding features even more beautiful.
"We will surely have to gain possession of it, but that lad isn't a simple figure..." the old nanny frowned. Even though she had been living in the royal court for far too long, spending most of her time by Princess Ni Huang's side, she was still kept abreast of the happenings outside.
The old nanny began to fill Princess Ni Huang in on the various rumors she had gathered regarding that lad.
"Hmph, and here I was wondering what kind of formidable figure he could be. In the end, he's just nothing more than a fellow who is all words," Princess Ni Huang replied in disdain after hearing of the regional commanders incident.
"No matter how big the Wang Clan is, can it be compared to the royal family? I don't believe that he will dare to refuse me if I were to ask him to hand it over! Besides, even if he were to refuse, all we have to do is to beat him into submission. I don't have the hobby of being rejected." Princess Ni Huang clenched her fists, and a powerful aura gushed forth from her. For a moment, the entire cliff tremored.
This was the incredible strength that Profound Martial realm experts harnessed at their fingertips.
As a member of the royal family, she had the qualifications to be proud. Before her, not even Abutong was worth anything.
"Your Highness is right. No matter how powerful the Wang Clan is, they are no more than servants of the royal family. I'll escort Your Highness over later on. If that lad were to dare to utter a word of refusal, your humble servant will teach him a lesson in Your Highness's stead and have him obediently hand the spirit vein over," the old nanny nodded as a bone-chilling smile surfaced on her lips.
No matter what the princess wanted, even if it was the stars in the sky, she would obtain it for her.
That was her mission as a servant!