Just when the party was at its liveliest, a massive boom came from the floor below, silencing the crowd.
A racket ensued.
"What's going on?"
The crowd put down their wine cups and began to frown.
This restaurant was one of the best on Qiaolong Street. At the start of this party, the management had been informed that they weren't to be disturbed unless something unusual happened.
And there was nothing normal about this situation.
"What's going on? Didn't we already tell them? We said to not randomly disturb us."
"Call the manager over and ask!"
The sailors showed their unhappiness on their face. Anyone who had their private party disturbed would be displeased.
Wang Liang felt that something wasn't right. But before he had time to think, the sound of somebody climbing the stairs broke his train of thought.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
The manager of the restaurant was faster than imagined. It only took a few moments before the blue-clothed and rough-skinned manager appeared at the stairwell and before the partygoers.
His head was bowed very low as he apologized, and he added, "Dear guests, I truly am very sorry. Today, this little store has been reserved by someone. Please, guests, leave as quickly as possible!"
The manager's words instantly soured the faces of the crowd. Clearly, someone had reserved the entire place and was starting to drive people out.
"What joke is this? That we didn't drive people out is already rather good of us, and now someone dares to drive us out?"
"Manager, do you not know when we got here?"
"Are you making a joke here? Do you not know how many people are here with us!"
……
To be driven away while they were getting drunk instantly infuriated the crowd, but Wang Liang had managed to suppress his anger.
However, hearing such a rude request still made Wang Liang a little angry.
The Wang Clan was a clan of ministers and generals, and given their current status, it was easy for them to reserve an entire restaurant and drive everyone else out.
But Wang Liang had not done this. This was their first gathering since the start of spring, and Wang Liang had only reserved a part of the tables on the second floor. He had left the first floor and a few banquet rooms on the second floor for others.
Wang Liang was not one of those domineering people, yet the manager's sudden request that they leave had still piqued his anger.
"Manager, just who…" Wang Liang patiently began, but before he could finish, he was interrupted.
"It's me!"
A rude, domineering, and threatening voice resounded in the room, bringing with it the thick scent of sheep. As the voice faded, peng! A bronze-armored boot thudded onto the second floor.
The entire restaurant seemed to tremble at this step!
Everyone in the restaurant instantly paled!
Chapter 441: Storm!
Chapter 441: Storm!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
On the spirit vein mountain, all was still.
A gorgeous hall loomed in the spiraling white mists at the top of the mountain. In a study within this hall was an exquisite desk made of refined iron, decorated with carvings of birds, flowers, insects, and fish.
And behind this desk, Wang Chong was cultivating while working.
It had been more than half a month since he had defeated Xu Qiqin in the chess game. When Xu Qiqin had appeared in Deflecting Blade Manor according to their agreement, Wang Chong had put aside his affairs there and moved his work back to the spirit vein.
At the moment, all of Wang Chong's attention was on the southwest. The matter involved one hundred and eighty thousand troops, and also the Mengshe Zhao, Ü-Tsang, and the Great Tang. There were countless things that he needed to handle, and this wasn't a problem that he needed only a moment to resolve.
Wang Chong could only take care of them little by little.
"Old Eagle, is the letter to Annan Protector-General Xianyu Zhongtong ready?"
"It's ready! In addition, this subordinate has also prepared a gift that has already been sent to the Annan Protectorate."
"Mm, we must develop a relationship with Xianyu Zhongtong. In the future, we will still have many things that we'll need to communicate with him on."
"Your subordinate understands."
"In addition, prepare a million taels of gold and have it delivered as quickly as possible to the southwest. Give it to Zhang Shouzhi!"
"This… Milord, we've already given two to three million taels of gold. We've already greatly exceeded the originally planned sum. That city is a bottomless hole!"
"I have a meaning with everything I do. Just do everything as I say! In addition, arrange to have me meet with Lord Zhang of the Bureau of Military Personnel…"
"Yes, Young Master, your subordinate understands!"
……
Through Old Eagle, Wang Chong issued order after order.
"Young Master, Young Master, it's bad!"
At this moment, a burst of shouts disrupted the peaceful mountain.
Bang!
Before Wang Chong and Old Eagle could react, the door to the hall slammed open. A uniformed guard of the Wang Clan practically scrambled inside.
Upon seeing this guard, Wang Chong and Old Eagle simultaneously frowned.
"What's happened that's got you so panicked?" Wang Chong asked unhappily.
This uniformed guard was clearly not one of the spirit vein's guards. Wang Chong had remembered ordering the clan's guards that they were forbidden from entering the spirit vein.
And Wang Chong was no fan of this panicked display.
But the guard kneeling on the ground apparently did not notice Wang Chong's complexion.
"Young Master, it's bad! Somebody beat up Young Master Liang!"
The uniformed guard was sweating, and the words he relayed instantly caused Wang Chong's and Old Eagle's expressions to morph. But the second set of words from the guard caused Wang Chong's heart to sink into the abyss.
"…Young Master is currently heavily wounded, and it's unknown whether he'll make it. The followers at his side were also all injured. They weren't able to find a way to communicate with Young Master, so they had me come and inform Young Master."
Finishing his message, the guard kneeled on the ground, unmoving.
"What!"
Wang Chong slapped the table as he immediately stood up.
"How is this possible? The capital is a vital area under the feet of the Son of Heaven! Who would dare to heavily injure him there? And moreover, he had so many people at his side. How did he get injured?"
Wang Chong was stunned beyond belief. His older cousin Wang Liang was extremely important to his plans and without him, many of them would not be able to proceed.
And more importantly, Wang Liang was his relative, one that Wang Chong completely trusted and was very difficult to replace.
But Wang Chong was still more shocked at the fact that Wang Liang had been heavily injured. Wang Chong clearly remembered that he had placed no small number of guards at Wang Liang's side, and Wang Liang himself had gained the allegiance of many experts on his voyage.
A normal person wouldn't even be able to approach him, much less heavily injure him.
"What sort of person was this?"
Wang Chong's mind was in turmoil.
In the capital, the people of the Wang Clan could be considered rather low-key. But the Wang Clan was still a clan of ministers and generals, and it was already rather good that they didn't bully ordinary people. Yet now there were people who dared to bully and humiliate the Wang Clan, and right in front of the Son of Heaven.
At this moment, Wang Chong's heart was filled with rage.
"This subordinate does not know. I only know that the ones who did the beating were a bunch of Hu, and the ones leading were some Four An Brothers," the kneeling guard
said. But before he could get any further, he was interrupted by Old Eagle.
"You said the Four An Brothers?"
"You know them?" Wang Chong twisted his head to turn to Old Eagle.
"Yes, they are new Hu nobles who began to get famous in the capital in the last month. The Four An Brothers are four Hu who are said to have coincidentally met on their journey to the capital. They all happened to have the surname 'An', so they all swore to be brothers. In addition, because their clans have Hu Generals in the Imperial Court that hold key posts on the border, they hold a lot of influence in the capital, and even greater influence over the Hu.
"Because our circle has basically no intersection with the Hu and because Young Master has always asked me to investigate the southwest, the northwest, the Yao Clan, King Qi, Deflecting Blade Manor, and the spirit vein, I carried out this investigation of my own volition and hadn't told Young Master yet. However…"
Old Eagle paused for a moment, then continued, "The four Hu with the surname An are called An Wenzhen, An Xiaojie, An Yaluoshan, and there's one other that I haven't finished investigating, but I hear that he's related to the Administrative Aide for Lanzhou…"
Boom!
Before Old Eagle had finished, he saw Wang Chong freeze, his face utterly dumbstruck. It was like someone had dealt him a thunderous blow.
Old Eagle had followed Wang Chong for so long, yet he had rarely seen Wang Chong in this state. His eyes were wide open in rage, all the blood in his body had seemed to flow to his face, and the veins on his forehead were bulging out. It was a face to be dreaded and feared.
"Old Eagle, what did you say were the names of those people?"
Wang Chong seemed to be in a state of extreme agitation, but his voice was abnormally cold and calm, so cold that it seemed to be devoid of heat.
The state of extreme agitation and the extreme coldness of his voice formed a stark contrast. Even the Wang Clan guard noticed that there was something strange about Wang Chong and raised his head in surprise.
"An Wenzhen, An Xiaojie, An Yaluoshan…"
As Old Eagle was talking, he heard a clattering of metal. That iron desk in the room had been instantly thrown aside by some powerful energy. Old Eagle saw a blurry black silhouette flash past his eyes, and Wang Chong was gone.
"Carry out my orders. Mobilize all the guards of the Wang Clan; have all of them prepare to move out. Send word to Deflecting Blade Manor to have Li Siye, Miyasame Ayaka, and Wei Anfang prepare to move out, and also mobilize all the guards of Deflecting Blade Manor!
"Summon Steel Arms. Order him to put aside his current mission and immediately return!
"Meet up with Luo Tong and notify King Song. I need all the help they can provide!
"Gather Zhao Jingdian, Sun Zhiming, Zhuang Zhengping, and Chi Weisi, and have them prepare to move out! Send someone to the Huang Clan and tell Huang Qian-er to immediately return!
"Tell all the great clans in the capital that we have good relationships with to send out their experts. Tell them that the Wang Clan will owe them a favor!
"Gather up all the strength that we can gather up!
"Hurry!"
……
With this last word, Wang Chong had already vanished down the mountain, leaving the galloping of hooves ringing through the air.
In the hall, Old Eagle and the guard were dumbfounded.
Boom!
Almost immediately after Wang Chong left, a massive bolt of lightning, dazzling as could be, seared over the spirit vein. Dark clouds began to gather and fierce winds began to blow.
With Wang Chong's final order, the entire capital began to quake. Like some fine-tuned apparatus, the Wang Clan went to work.
Countless experts began to emerge, from the Wang Clan's residences, from the spirit vein mountain, from Deflecting Blade Manor, from the Zhang Clan, the Huang Clan, and the other great clans on good terms with the Wang Clan.
Deflecting Blade Manor had been completely emptied of guards and experts.
On the spirit vein, Zhao Jingdian, Zhuang Zhengping, Chi Weisi, and the others, who had all been immersed in cultivation, absorbing the spiritual energy, quickly left as soon as they received Wang Chong's order.
At the same time, all the Imperial Army instructors that Wang Chong had gathered also left.
Even the home of Wang Chong's family and the home of his big uncle Wang Gen were quickly emptied and were now eerily quiet.
For the first time, four places usually so heavily guarded that they seemed like dragon ponds or tiger caves were completely unguarded.
This situation affected many other great clans of the capital, as these clans had received Wang Chong's request and dispatched their experts.
No one knew what had happened, but everyone felt unease from this sudden mobilization. It felt like a storm was coming.
The great clans of the capital were all used to the Wang Clan being inconspicuous and meek. This large-scale mobilization was unprecedented.
"The weather's about to change!"
In the courtyards of a great clan, an elder of this clan raised his head to the dense clouds in the sky, a look of deep concern in his eyes.
All beasts could hear the roar of a tiger, and even snakes and insects had to yield before the march of the elephant.
The Wang Clan was so inconspicuous that many people occasionally forgot them, forgot that they were one of the most elite clans of the empire.
But the Wang Clan was publicly acknowledged across the empire as a clan of ministers and generals. Wang Chong's order was like a prologue, a prologue to the massive creature that was the Wang Clan slowly rising out of the water to reveal itself to the world.
……
"This is the star of ill omen!"
Right when Wang Chong was leaving the spirit vein, nobody knew that deep within the Imperial Palace, a gale suddenly blew in from the north of Taiji Palace and over a violet and circular platform.
This was a sumptuously decorated platform, its surface covered with circle after circle of strange inscriptions, all of them seeming to harbor some unique power.
If one looked down from the sky, one could see that this purple platform looked like a giant compass, and this compass was covered in circle after circle of mysterious symbols.
This was the star observation platform, the oldest building in the entire Imperial Palace!
At this moment, an old man robed in white, seemingly possessing great virtue and prestige, was looking up at the sky in consternation as a shooting star streaked across the southwest.
Chapter 442: An Yaluoshan!
Chapter 442: An Yaluoshan!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Astrology had occupied an extremely important role in every dynasty.
And the star observation platform, as the place where astrology was performed, had a transcendent status and was highly regarded by every sovereign. Let alone the princes and princesses, not even the consorts and concubines of the harem could approach this place.
In the entirety of the Imperial Palace, the Star Observation Platform was the only place that was allowed to be north of the Emperor's living chambers.
It was no easy task to construct a star observation platform. It required the right time, geography, and the unity of the people.
Only those places where man interacted with the heavens, where the laws and principles of the world could be felt, were suitable for a star observation platform. Only astrologers could construct a star observation platform. And only in a year when the energies of the world were most favorable for carrying out projects would one be able to construct a star observation platform.
And it was a one in ten thousand chance to fulfill all three conditions at once.
Thus, a thousand years ago, even though Shi Huangdi was known as a supreme sovereign who began the tradition of Emperors in the Central Plains, and though his empire and army were unprecedentedly powerful, a hundred astrologers had still fail
ed to build a star observation platform, even though they had used several decades.
The Great Han had only managed to construct their own star observation platform by using the foundation established by the Qin.
When the Great Tang was occupying the capital of the Sui, the first place they occupied and put under their protection was this star observation platform.
The will of the heavens was vast and difficult to fathom.
But one could observe the heavenly phenomena. One could recognize a leopard from seeing its spot through a tube, and a single leaf was enough to know that autumn was coming!
True astrologers using the star observation platform might not be able to see the entirety of the will of the heavens, but they could glimpse a corner of fate.
"A star is falling to the west, an incredibly inauspicious sign! The heavens are changing over the Great Tang!"
As the winds howled, the white-haired elder sat on the star observation platform, a great agitation on his chest.
As the chief of the palace astrologers, he had seen all sorts of inauspicious signs, but he had never seen one so inauspicious as a star falling to the west.
Amongst the imperial astrologers, one had to look back at least three hundred years for any similar records, when the Sui was in its final days!
The elder hurriedly stood up, his concern growing. Finally, he rushed off into the depths of the Imperial Palace.
This matter could not be underestimated. It concerned the fate of the empire, so he had to report it to the Sage Emperor as quickly as possible.
……
The capital, the Huang Clan.
"I'm full. The rest of you can continue eating!"
Huang Qian-er was seated at the table, a large silver sword at her back. The moment she received Wang Chong's message, she pushed away from the table, stood up, and, under the confused gazes of the rest of the Huang Clan, swiftly left through the main gate.
No one knew what had happened, but Huang Qian-er clearly remembered the agreement she had come to with Wang Chong before leaving. She had been allowed to return to the Huang Clan for one month, during which Wang Chong would not summon her beforehand.
Huang Qian-er didn't know what had happened, but she knew that something must have happened to Wang Chong!
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