Chapter 479: Discussion in the Hall (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong woke up four hours later.
"Young Master, all the representatives from the great clans are here!"
He heard a familiar voice at his ear. Opening his eyes, Wang Chong immediately noticed that Old Eagle was standing by his bed, his waist bent in a deferential bow.
Wang Chong froze for a moment before giving a bitter smile of understanding.
"Old Eagle, I know that you had good intentions, but you shouldn't do this again."
"Yes, Young Master. Old Eagle understands."
Old Eagle did not argue.
Wang Chong left the matter at that. Old Eagle didn't have a bad personality, and Wang Chong knew that he had done it for his own good, but time was short, and he had countless matters he needed to attend to. How could he allow himself to take a rest?
"Where are they all?" Wang Chong asked.
"In the reception hall. I only came to inform Young Master after making sure that they were all taken care of," Old Eagle said.
Wang Chong took in a deep breath, nodded, and quickly left his room.
……
The Wang Clan's reception hall was packed.
The representatives from the great clans filled the room. The Wang Clan was a clan of ministers and generals, its status far higher than the other great clans. Ordinary clans wouldn't even have the right to step through its main gate.
In addition, the Wang Clan was influenced by its Old Master and had very strict principles, so other clans were rarely invited into its residence.
For many of these great clans, this was their first time being invited into the Wang Clan Residence. However, the atmosphere in the hall was not harmonious in the slightest.
"Just what is the Wang Clan up to?"
"We've been waiting for so long, so why has no one come out?"
"Is that how the Wang Clan acts when they want to borrow people from us?"
"Hmph, what's this about borrowing people? Did you agree? I certainly haven't. Just want to see what reason the Wang Clan has for making this request."
"That's right, that's right. Not even revered Duke Jiu would do something like this, right? We ourselves don't have many True Martial realm warriors, so why should we lend them to the Wang Clan? And they're even asking for True Martial realm Tier 4 or 5!"
……
The crowd in the hall was buzzing with conversation, but the air wasn't very friendly.
"These people!"
This was the sight greeting Old Eagle when he led Wang Chong out, a sight that caused Old Eagle's brow to rise.
"It's fine!"
Wang Chong chuckled as he pulled the angry Old Eagle back from giving those people a beating. Unlike Old Eagle, Wang Chong only needed to sweep his gaze through the room to know what was going on.
"Someone here is leading the conversation!" Wang Chong softly said, the situation as clear as crystal in his eyes.
There were many great clans in the capital, but all of them would be very reluctant to lend their precious True Martial realm Tier 4 or 5 experts to another person.
But for all of these people to be of one mind, all working in concert to make a ruckus in the Wang Clan's reception hall, that wasn't normal at all. If there weren't someone making trouble in the background, there was no way this crowd would have been so united in their denunciations.
But Wang Chong didn't care that much.
If he had no confidence in this venture, he would not have dared. He wasn't just confident that he could merely persuade these great clans to lend him their experts. He believed that by the end, they would be more than happy to lend him their guards, even those people who were making trouble and leading the conversation.
In truth, by that time, he wouldn't be begging them. They would be begging him.
"I've let everyone wait!"
With a sweep of his sleeve, Wang Chong walked into the hall, Old Eagle at his side.
"It's Young Master!"
"Young Master Chong is here!"
Wang Chong's entrance immediately attracted the attention of the crowd. With a glance, Wang Chong could tell that while the number of people in the hall was quite large, it was only a small part of the number he had actually invited.
Moreover, many of these people were not actual members of these great clans, but their subordinates.
No wonder they were so easily incited by someone else, Wang Chong said to himself, instantly understanding everything.
"Young Master Chong, what do you need to borrow these people for?"
"Young Master Chong, Duke Jiu has always been revered by the people. If the Wang Clan needs it, our Li Clan will do our utmost to assist. However, even we are lacking True Martial Tier 4 and 5 experts!"
"Young Master Chong, I am truly sorry. Our clan elders haven't been present as of late, so we are momentarily unable to answer your request. I was sent here to express our apologies to Young Master Chong! I hope that Young Master can forgive us!"
"Young Master, these two Deep Sea Xuan Pearls represent our Yu Clan's courtesy. As for ten True Martial realm experts, please forgive us. We cannot do it. Our Yu Clan is already lacking in manpower, so I don't know if you're willing to accept two True Martial realm experts!"
……
Wang Chong coldly watched the proceedings. There were all kinds of people in the hall. Some of them directly refused, some found an excuse, fearing the Wang Clan's power, and others wanted to negotiate to reduce the number of people requested…
While he had been sleeping from the strike Old Eagle had delivered to his acupoint, that person in the shadows had proved very effective in their attempts to lead the conversation.
Yet Wang Chong was utterly unsurprised by this result.
Experts at the True Martial realm and above were extremely important to the great clans. Moreover, the Imperial Court had always strictly controlled the experts of the great clans.
Each great clan had a quota to meet in the army, and once a clan had too many experts, they would immediately be ordered to enter the army to follow the military's tune.
As a result, there had always been a limit to the number of experts under the control of the clans. Besides, clan experts were a special resource that couldn't be loaned out to others like silver or gold.
It was the complete opposite. If a clan found someone talented or strong, they would vigorously attempt to recruit them. Why in the world would they want to lend these experts to others?
From the very start, Wang Chong's request had been almost impossible to fulfill.
"Hmph, isn't it just twenty experts at True Martial realm Tier 4 or 5? This one will lend you forty!"
While everyone was making excuses or declining, a voice suddenly exploded like thunder in the ears of the crowd.
For a moment, the entire hall was quiet. Everyone turned to one particular extremely straightforward and outspoken young scion.
"Hmph, I wondered who it was. So it was Wei Hao! You're childhood friends with Wang Chong, brothers who basically shared the same pair of pants. Of course you would lend guards to him!"
An odd voice filled with derision quickly entered the ears of the crowd.
"But Wei Hao, I would just like to ask one thing. You casually declared that you would lend him forty True Martial realm experts, but are they actually yours? If I remember correctly, don't you have two older brothers? Wouldn't you have to ask them as well as your father, Duke Wei, first?"
A man dressed in silver walked out of the crowd, a sneer on his face. He had a stalwart body, and the emblem of a clan adorned his chest. He was clearly a guard from some clan.