Anyone who dared to provoke the Wang Clan at this point had to be mentally impaired.
While the esteemed Duke Jiu was famed for his high virtue, far too many had forgotten that he was a military man as well. He had fought wars, and he was the man who led the armies of Great Tang into the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates.
The ambush on his grandson had truly touched the bottom line of his tolerance.
"What are you waiting for? Get lost!" The green-robed manager kicked the two guards standing at the entrance away furiously before walking forward to Wang Chong. But just as he was about to greet the latter, Wang Chong shot him a glare, and a shudder ran through his body. He hurriedly backed away fearfully to the side.
It was a bustling sight within the manor. However, there was a particularly loud and conspicuous voice coming from the second floor which captured the attention of most inside.
After listening for a moment, a faint smile crept onto Wang Chong's lips. Following the source of the voice, he slowly walked up to the second floor. At the center of the second floor, he saw the back of a familiar figure. That figure was speaking excitedly amidst crowds of scions around him, and his story seemed to be popular among them.
"You won't be able to imagine it without seeing with your own eyes. That Iron Cloak Highwaymen actually..." That figure spoke animatedly, and his tone displayed his enthusiasm. At the same time, the crowd surrounding him was listening intently, and admiration was reflected in their eyes.
"Huang Yongtu..." Looking at the figure's back, Wang Chong suddenly called out.
Weng!
That excited voice suddenly came to a halt, and a jolt ran through the back facing Wang Chong. At this instant, it seemed like even the entire Huanxi Manor had fallen silent.
"Gongzi!" Huang Yongtu turned around, and upon seeing Wang Chong, his face seemed to pale for an instant before delight swiftly covered it.
"Gongzi, you have finally recovered!" Huang Yongtu said as he swiftly made his way toward Wang Chong.
"Un." Wang Chong nodded with a smile.
"Have you met Bai Siling and Xu Gan yet?"
"Not yet." Wang Chong shook his head as he stared deeply at the "delighted" Huang Yongtu. It was only two simple words he had spoken, but it seemed to verify the doubts Huang Yongtu harbored, and his face immediately warped in shock.
But it was what Wang Chong was going to say next that would leave Huang Yongtu trembling in fear.
"Huang Yongtu, do you know what happens to an ant who tries to squeeze its way into the battle between an elephant and a tiger?"
Peng!
Amidst countless astounded gazes, all the strength abruptly left Huang Yongtu's body, and he fell to his knees before Wang Chong. Sweat trickled profusely down his pale face.
Weng!
Upon seeing this sight, a commotion rippled through the crowd. There were a few scions who noticed the peculiarity in the atmosphere, and they hurriedly fled Huanxi Manor.
With the sharp instincts they had tempered through experience, they realized the potential danger behind the scene unfolding behind them. At the same time, there were also a few who recognized Wang Chong, and it swiftly dawned on them what was going on.
The issue of the son of the Wang Clan, Wang Chong, being ambushed had caused a huge uproar in the capital, and everyone knew that the Wang Clan was currently at the peak of its rage. Huang Yongtu had been spreading word about how he had fought alongside Wang Chong in the mission, but the sight before them told a completely different story!
All sorts of drama happened in the capital on a daily basis, be it fights, grudges, or romance.
There were some matters which one could interfere in, but there were also those which one had to steer clear of, regardless of the cost.
"Let's go!"
"This isn't something we should get involved with!"...
The scions hurriedly pulled their friends out of Huanxi Manor, and in just a few moments, with the exception of Wang Chong and Huang Yongtu, the bustling premises from a moment ago was completely emptied.
Peng!
The sound of the doors closing echoed from below, and deafening silence filled Huanxi Manor.
Both Wang Chong and Huang Yongtu represented two powerful clans in the capital, and considering the current situation in the capital, getting involved in the fight between the both of them would be unwise.
With his hands behind his back, Wang Chong waited patiently for everyone to evacuate and shut the doors before turning his gaze back to Huang Yongtu.
At this point, Huang Yongtu's face was already completely pale, and even his clothes were completely drenched with cold sweat.
"Aren't you going to explain yourself?" Wang Chong asked nonchalantly.
"Gongzi seems to already know everything. There's nothing for me to say," Huang Yongtu lowered his head and said.
"Hmph, you sure are candid." Wang Chong sneered. "Don't worry, Huang Yongtu. Today, I came to find you in my capacity as a member of the Wang Clan. Upper society has its own way of dealing with conflicts. I only want to ask you that doing all of this, can I take it as the Huang Clan's declaration of war toward our Wang Clan? You should have known that regardless of whether I died in the ambush or not, the Huang Clan wouldn't be spared the rage of the Wang Clan."
"Gongzi, this has nothing to do with our Huang Clan! This is something I willfully did on my own accord! If you must punish someone to placate your wrath, I ask of you to just punish me!" Huang Yongtu blurted out anxiously as his face turned yet another shade paler.
Wang Chong sneered coldly in response to Huang Yongtu's words.
Often, he chose to interact with others in his capacity as an individual, unwilling to exploit his background to force them into anything. But in this world, kindness would only be taken as a sign of weakness by others. Because he had chosen to lie low for the mission, he had nearly lost his life.
But those men seemed to have forgotten that he wasn't just the individual Wang Chong, he was also a son of the Wang Clan, a representative of one of the most prestigious clans in the capital.
If he wished to, he could easily use the influence of his big uncle, father, King Song, Consort Taizhen, the officials of the royal court, as well as the strength of the other clans, to push the Huang Clan into oblivion.
It had been seventy years since the Wang Clan was founded under his grandfather, and after years of development, it was no longer just a clan of ministers and generals. It represented a huge web of connections that spread across the entire Great Tang.
Many powers were involved in this web, and they represented the potential strength that the Wang Clan could tap into.
The Wang Clan never took the initiative to oppress others, but this didn't mean that the Wang Clan didn't have a temper. If one thought that they could get away with stepping on the Wang Clan's head, they were sorely mistaken.
"You recognized me since you first saw me at our meeting point, right?" Wang Chong asked.
"Yes!" Huang Yongtu admitted to it through gritted teeth.
"The subsequent snubbing along the way was also intentional, right?" Wang Chong asked once more.
"Yes!" Huang Yongtu nodded as large beads of sweat fell to the ground. He knew that it was meaningless to conceal anything from the young man before him at this point. "I thought of stopping, but it was already too late!" Huang Yongtu said with bitter regret in his voice as he lowered his head to the ground.
"Hmph!" But the only thing Wang Chong had for him was a disdainful sneer. "You're right, it's too late. A shattered mirror can't be mended. Tell your Huang Clan that I am waiting for an explanation. Life or death, the decision lies in your hands!" With those words, Wang Chong turned around and walked down the stairs. As he opened the doors of Huanxi Manor, he could vaguely hear sorrowful sobbings behind him.
"Gongzi, where do we go next?" Upon seeing Wang Chong, Old Eagle stepped forward and asked, a bird perched on his arm.
"Tell Bai Siling and Xu Gan to me
et me at the Royal Jade Pavilion," Wang Chong said impassively as he walked down the purple wooden stairs.
------
"I really couldn't have imagined that of us three, Huang Yongtu would be the traitor!"
Peng! In the third floor of the Royal Jade Pavilion, Bai Siling slammed her palm on the table furiously.
"Itruly underestimated him. To think that he had been feigning ignorance all along!" Seated beside Bai Siling, Xu Gan sighed deeply.
This was the first time the three of them were meeting after their parting half a month ago.
Ever since the ambush, Bai Siling and Xu Gan had known that there was a traitor among them.
After all, there were multiple roads leading from Longxi to the capital, and it would be impossible for the assassins to know the timing and the location if there wasn't an insider revealing crucial intelligence to them.
Thus, during the time of Wang Chong's recuperation, Bai Siling and Xu Gan made no attempts to reach out to one another.
They knew that the Wang Clan would surely investigate the matter thoroughly and uncover the culprit.
Thus, the first one whom Wang Chong chose to meet right after he recuperated would likely be the traitor. It was just that neither of them had expected that the silly-looking and reckless Huang Yongtu would turn out to be the traitor.
Indeed, one must never judge a book by its cover!
The truth was finally revealed, but the duo only found themselves sighing endlessly at the conclusion.
Chapter 383: The Relationship Between Clans!
Chapter 383: The Relationship Between Clans!
After all, they had fought alongside one another, and they had gone through life-and-death situations together. Thus, Bai Siling and Xu Gan had put considerable trust in Huang Yongtu.
They had considered their foursome a tightly-knit team which they could entrust their lives to, so they felt deeply betrayed when that ambush happened.
"This is truly disappointing. Back then, we even tried our best to save him from the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, and this is how he repays us," Bai Siling said indignantly.
"It can't be helped, our paths differ from his. From the very start, the Huang Clan hoped to join King Qi's faction," Xu Gan sighed.
Compared to Bai Siling, he was less affected by the incident. He had witnessed many collusions and betrayals occur over profits in the capital, and he had known that there would come a day when he would have to step into that world as well.
In truth, there was nothing wrong with Huang Yongtu's action, except for the fact that he had chosen to bet on the wrong person. This was also where the two of them differed. While Huang Yongtu had chosen King Qi, Xu Gan had placed his stakes on Wang Chong.
The fact that Wang Chong could escape from the assassination proved that his judgement was right, Wang Clan was indeed worth his support!
"There's just one thing that I am unable to figure out. How did you know the traitor was Huang Yongtu, and not us?" Bai Siling asked, intrigued.
She had been contemplating this issue ever since returning from the ambush. Of the four of them, who was the one who revealed the information to the assassins?
But no matter how she thought about it, she felt that the traitor couldn't be any of them. Or perhaps, she was unwilling to doubt the comrades whom she had fought alongside.
Bai Siling even thought that there might be a mistake in her conjecture, and that this entire matter was just a huge coincidence, or perhaps there might be something else that she had neglected.
But when she received news that Wang Chong had appeared in Huanxi Manor, the final shreds of hope that she had clung to dissipated.
At this point, the only thing she wanted to know was how Wang Chong could be so certain that Huang Yongtu was the traitor.
"Actually, that wasn't too difficult to figure out." Sipping on the fragrant cup of tea he held in his hands, wisdom gleamed in Wang Chong's eyes.
"It might be difficult for others uncover the news that I would be participating in a mission of the training camp, especially considering the secrecy measures of the Bureau of Military Personnel, but they couldn't possibly stop King Qi and the Yao Clan from finding that out, and I have no doubt that they would do so, too.
"In the mission, I would have to leave the safety of the training camps and the capital. In other words, that would be an ideal opportunity for them to make a move on me, and there was no way they would allow this chance to slip past their fingers. However, before we could venture too far away from the capital, we were already assigned veteran cavalrymen, and that would make it difficult for any assassin to strike.
"Thus, the only opportunity they had left to strike was when I returned from Longxi. But to do so, they needed someone to liaise with them from within, preferably one of us four."
At this point, Wang Chong sighed.
"Honestly speaking, I wished that I was just overthinking it, and maybe King Qi wouldn't touch me at all. However, the outcome has proven me wrong.
"Do you still remember what I said to you all after meeting the Big Dipper Army commandant right after the battle?" Wang Chong asked.
"I do. You said that you had to leave," Xu Gan replied.
"Un." Wang Chong nodded, and his gaze abruptly turned cold. "I said those words on purpose to test you all. Back then, the command to return had yet to arrive from the Bureau of Military Personnel, and leaving without official orders could easily be deemed as insubordination. In other words, if anyone were to offer to leave with me at the moment, he must be the traitor! There are two reasons behind that conclusion. First, he would lose the opportunity to strike if I were to leave alone, and that would mean the failure of his mission. Second, he had nothing to fear, since King Qi was backing him."
Hearing Wang Chong's words, Bai Siling and Xu Gan glanced at one another in shock. They didn't expect there to be such significance behind Wang Chong's words.
"But what if we had offered to leave with you in that situation? After all, we went there as a team, and we have undergone numerous life-and-death situation together, so there's still such a chance, right? Weren't you jumping to conclusions a little too soon then?" Bai Siling asked.
"You're right. If that was the only case, I would have only suspected him. But do you remember the letter pigeon that arrived at that moment?" Wang Chong uttered coldly.
Huang Yongtu had wanted to do him in, but he had grossly underestimated him.
"Was there something wrong with the pigeon?" Xu Gan frowned. He couldn't tell how the pigeon was involved in this matter.
"Do you mean to say that its arrival is too timely, and thus it's suspicious?" Bai Siling replied after a moment of contemplation. Thinking back, she did find it bizarre as well, but she chose not to think too deeply into it.
"That's one thing, but besides that, the content of the letter is something worth looking into as well. Do you still remember what was written on it?" Wang Chong asked.
With a frown, Bai Siling said, "Back then, Zhang Lin said that..."
"... Zhang Lin said that the Bureau of Military Personnel sent a message requesting everyone to report back to the capital after the third mission is completed!" It was Xu Gan who finished those words. He clearly remembered what Zhang Lin said back then.
"That's right," Wang Chong nodded. "The Bureau of Military Personnel wanted us to return after the third mission was completed. In other words, the Bureau of Military Personnel doesn't even know whether we have completed the mission or not.
"The Bureau of Military Personnel would never issue us new instructions without confirming whether we have completed the previous mission. This is probably their standard practice to minimize the possibility of military intelligence leaking out. Xu Gan, do you remember when we received the first command from the Bureau of Military Personnel?" Wang Chong turned to Xu Gan and asked.
"We received that at the first gathering point, right after we were assigned twenty cavalrymen each," Xu Gan replied immediately.
> "That's right. The Bureau of Military Personnel confirmed that we had reached the first gathering point before sending a letter pigeon over. It would never have sent the pigeon if we weren't there yet. I'm not too sure how they did it, but there is no doubt that they do have a way of ensuring that, and the easiest method of all would be time estimation.
"They probably estimated that we should have reached the first gathering point by that time, so they sent the letter pigeon over," Wang Chong said.
"Siling, do you recall when we received the second letter?"
"We received it after encountering the Iron Cloak Highwaymen. If what you said is true, isn't it weird that the royal court only sent us the instructions for the second letter after we had already encountered the target?" Bai Siling replied.
"That's indeed an estimation error on the royal court's part, but if you were to think about it, we have already completed the first mission by then, right? Even if we hadn't, we should have already failed by then. After all, the bandits and highwaymen would only become stronger the further we advanced, so the chances of success would have become even slimmer then." Wang Chong said.
Bai Siling and Xu Gan nodded in agreement. It was indeed true that they had completed the mission by then. If they hadn't, it was likely that they wouldn't have been able to do so from that point on.
"Besides, do you recall where the den of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen was?" Wang Chong asked.
"It was a hundred li away from where we encountered..." At this point, Bai Siling abruptly halted as realization struck her.
"That's right." Putting down his teacup, Wang Chong affirmed Bai Siling's deduction. "In order to catch us by surprise, the Iron Cloak Highwaymen left their base and galloped over a hundred li to attack us. In other words, the reason why the royal court made that estimation error was due to their inability to ascertain the movements of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen.
"Moving on, when did we receive the news regarding the third mission?"
"We received it in the Iron Cloak Highwaymen's treasure vault." Bai Siling was able to answer this one swiftly.
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