The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “Very good!”

  The First Prince nodded.

  “You’re dismissed! Handle this matter properly! This prince does want to see even the smallest error!”

  “This old slave understands!”

  The old eunuch bowed and quickly departed.

  Meng Tu looked in the direction the eunuch had left and suddenly asked, “Your Highness, this matter is of utmost importance. Do you need your subordinate to send someone to eliminate him?”

  The First Prince waved his hand and sternly said, “That’s not needed! Someone is already keeping an eye on him!

  “This prince has a different matter for you to handle. Pass on my order! Have Huang Tianzhao increase the number of men guarding Taiji Palace. No one is allowed to approach without this prince’s order!”

  Meng Tu seemed to realize something. “Your Highness, are you worried that…”

  “It is always wise to be safe. At a moment like this, this prince will not tolerate any flaw!” the First Prince sternly said.

  “Yes!”

  Meng Tu bowed and quickly departed.

  Once Meng Tu was gone, the First Prince placed his hands behind his back and slowly turned to Hou Junji.

  “What other worries does Your Highness have?”

  “Ghost King, this prince has already given you my token and half of the Commander Tally, and all of the Imperial Army and the border armies we have are under your command. What comes next all depends on you!”

  “Your Highness, be at ease. Soon, Your Highness will have your wishes fulfilled!” Hou Junji nonchalantly said.

  “They’d better be!” the First Prince sternly said.

  The hall quickly fell silent, and once Hou Junji left, Li Ying was left alone.

  After some time, the First Prince looked around and then headed into his chambers. At the place where the treasured sword of the Crown Prince was displayed, the First Prince reached out and pressed against the wall. With the clunking of gears, a passage large enough to accommodate a single man appeared before him.

  The passage was pitch-black, but the First Prince stepped right in, making his way up to a familiar set of steps that he took downward.

  Bang!

  There was a large boom as the passage closed, but within the passage, lights began to brighten. The First Prince was unperturbed—this was clearly something he had experienced many times.

  At the bottom of the steps was a secret chamber, crudely built. There was nothing here except a stone platform, one meter long on each side.

  Despite the simplicity, above the stone platform, a large luminescent pearl had been placed, providing the only source of light in this chamber.

  But even more dazzling than the pearl was the golden casket on the stone platform, about one foot wide and half a foot long.

  The First Prince had just stepped onto the platform when it seemed like his soul was seized, and he stared in rapture at the mysterious golden casket.

  The dragon carvings on the casket clearly indicated that it was no ordinary box.

  Clap!

  Almost like he was possessed, the First Prince walked onto the platform and took off the lid of the casket, revealing the resplendent golden robe folded up within.

  The golden robe was embroidered with glistening sun and moon patterns, and also depictions of mountains, rivers, birds, beasts, and clouds. Most striking of all was the dragon claw in the middle and front, embroidered to appear as though it was reaching out from the earth.

  The scales on the dragon claw were so detailed that it seemed like the real thing, but most shocking of all was that this dragon had five claws.

  The serpent dragon had four claws, but only the True Dragon had five!

  And only the True Dragon, the Son of Heaven, could wear this dragon robe!

  There were nine grades to the robes worn by sovereigns, but it was only when they went to court that they would wear the Grade Nine Son of Heaven dragon robe.

  There were only three Son of Heaven dragon robes, each one embroidered with gold thread. One was worn by the Sage Emperor, and the second was kept in his chambers, similarly kept in a secret casket and guarded by the Dragon Guards. But the third was kept at the Weaving Department in case it was needed.

  The First Prince had obtained this dragon robe from the Weaving Department, and one could even see the symbol of this department on the golden casket.

  The First Prince looked uncertainly at the dragon robe, his chest rapidly rising and falling, his breathing turning ragged.

  He had stored this Son of Heaven dragon robe in this secret chamber some time ago. This was his greatest secret, and not even Meng Tu, Zhu Tong’en, or the Ghost King knew about it.

  When the First Prince found it hard to suppress his desires, he would come here alone and lovingly stroke the robe.

  The sparkling golden threads, the intricately detailed scales, and the craftsmanship that exuded resplendence, nobility, and supreme authority gradually enchanted the First Prince.

  “One day! One day, I will be able to wear this Son of Heaven dragon robe out in the open! And this day won’t be far!”

  The thought of the Imperial Army being entirely under his control made the First Prince’s face suddenly turn savage. Unable to suppress his ambition and desire, he seized the robe, and then with a shake, he put it on.

  Boom!

  Not even the First Prince knew that when he put on the dragon robe in his secret chamber, there was a massive boom of thunder in the skies of the capital, and an enormous bolt of lightning streaked across the night skies, crossing the entire length of the Imperial Palace and shooting off into the darkness.

  As if it had been struck by a fierce blow, the sky over the Great Tang began to shift.

  Buzz!

  In the northwestern part of the Imperial Palace, in the imperial observatory, the world had begun to sway.

  “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

  On the observation platform, seven astrologists had been focused on reading heavenly phenomena when they suddenly sensed the world falling into chaos.

  The observation platform they were on was also a giant sundial. The sundial embodied the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches, and was one with the stars in the heavens. It was several hundred years old and still unimaginably tough.

  But for no reason at all, the massive sundial began to fiercely shudder, and bits of stone began to break off from its edges.

  Yet this was only the beginning. Pa! A thin crack appeared at the center of the sundial and then rapidly began to spread outward. Ping! A second crack appeared, and then a third. The outer edge of the sundial was unable to bear the power, and almost one-third of it collapsed.

  “What’s going on? This is the dragon vein of the Imperial Palace, and this area was selected by ten of the best geomancers in Taizong’s reign. The ground here is exceptionally solid, so what in the world is happening?!”

  The astrologers paled in shock. The most unlikely place in the world for an earthquake to take place was the site of the imperial observatory, a site that had been selected after extensive geomancy and astrology. None of them could understand what was going on, but the world was still continuing to shift…

  “Look at that!” someone cried in alarm. One of the astrologers on the crumbling sundial suddenly looked up in shock.

  The other astrologers looked up as well, and then their bodies trembled in shock.

  “This is impossible!”

  The same thought passed through the minds of all the astrologers, and their eyes were brimming with disbelief.

  Above their heads, the clear and distinct stars had all dimmed, making it impossible to observe them.

  ……

  At the same time, beneath the Imperial Palace, in an underground cell, an old man with white hair and a body like a decaying tree sat cross-legged on the floor.

  Buzz!

  Suddenly, dust and gravel began to shower down from the walls.

  Ri
pples of emotion immediately began to travel across the calm lake of the old man’s mind.

  “This is…?!”

  The elder looked up in alarm, his fingers forming mysterious gestures in the air, prodding and poking like they were possessed. But after three such gestures, just when the old man was about to close his fingers back, an invisible energy surged in and forced his fingers apart. Such was this power that the elder’s entire right arm trembled several times.

  “Two suns in heaven, two masters in court! This is a shift in the Dragon Qi, a sign of changing sovereigns!”

  Master Yinshan felt his blood surge before he involuntarily spat out these words, his face paling.

  Chapter 1735 - Strange Activity on the Border! (I)

  Chapter 1735: Strange Activity on the Border! (I)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The heavens could not hold two suns, and a country could not have two masters. When there was a changing of sovereigns, the heavenly omens would become vague, and the stars would dim and make it impossible to read them. Only when the true sovereign appeared would their brightness be restored.

  “No, a simple changing of sovereigns wouldn’t cause such a major omen! This is an ill omen! An extremely ill omen!”

  Master Yinshan muttered to himself, his face ghastly white.

  ……

  Clap!

  At almost the same time, countless fortune-tellers who specialized in divination using the Book of Changes, who had just settled down to perform some divinations, suddenly snapped the bamboo tallies in their hands.

  (TN: The Book of Changes is associated with a divination method involving yarrow stalks, though the author uses bamboo stalks here for some reason.)

  An old man with extremely turbid eyes bolted to his feet and hollered, “Not good! Not good! Cui’er, pack the luggage! We’re leaving tomorrow as soon as the gates open!”

  This night was bound to be a restless one!

  ……

  In the southwestern part of the city, the King of Foreign Lands Residence was brightly lit. Wang Chong was standing in front of a sandalwood table and examining a map of the Great Tang. His brow was tightly creased and his expression extremely solemn.

  Zhao Fengchen had been defeated, and the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Imperial Army had come under the First Prince’s control. The situation was extremely grim, and Wang Chong was well aware that the First Prince was merely waiting for the right time. The Rebellion of the Three Princes could begin at any moment.

  Whoosh!

  Suddenly, a fierce gale ripped overhead, causing countless roof tiles to clatter.

  “This is…”

  Wang Chong put down the small red flag in his hand and looked up. He seemed to sense something, turned around, and slowly walked out of the hall.

  The winds were howling outside. It was already very late, and everyone should have been asleep, but Wang Chong could hear numerous dogs barking.

  Homes were lighting up as the residents were stirred into uneasy wakefulness by the barking.

  An oppressive and anxious current was running through the city.

  Wang Chong looked up and saw that the stars had dimmed, the dark clouds in the sky seeming even darker than usual.

  Wang Chong had a vague inkling of what was happening.

  Buzz!

  A moment later, the Stone of Destiny’s voice exploded in Wang Chong’s mind.

  “Warning! World Event! The Rebellion of the Three Princes has entered its final phase! The countdown has begun, the stars have dimmed, and the realm will change hands. User must expend any price to stop this rebellion. If the Sage Emperor dies, user will be deducted 1,000,000 points of Destiny Energy. In addition, if World Incident: Rebellion of the Three Princes affects user’s ‘True Dragon Plan’, if Li Heng dies, then the True Dragon Plan will fail and user will be obliterated!

  “Starting from now, user has only seven days to prepare! Begin!”

  Wang Chong stood motionless outside the hall, the winds throwing his robes into disarray.

  Wang Chong looked up at the dark skies and said to himself, It’s finally begun! Nothing could be seen in the darkness, but Wang Chong could feel countless thoughts surging through his mind.

  After crossing a path laden with fire and thorns, after throwing back one crisis after another, he had finally reached the most important turning point in the empire’s history.

  The course of history could not be stopped. Even though Wang Chong had tried his best, various factions had still managed to push that greatest rebellion in the history of the Great Tang so that it appeared at its proper time. This internecine strife that would utterly expend the strength of the country, leaving tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands starving, had finally come!

  But unlike the him of the past, who had been a mere bystander, he now had the strength to fight, to change it all.

  Whether it was the First Prince, Hou Junji, or those mysterious men in black, in this life, he would never let them succeed.

  “Zhang Que!” Wang Chong called out, his back to the door.

  A few moments later, a youthful figure emerged from the darkness and respectfully bowed.

  “Your subordinate is here!”

  “Pass on my order! Gather the soldiers!” Wang Chong coldly said, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, but suffused with inexplicable strength.

  Zhang Que’s body trembled, but his reply was without hesitation.

  “This subordinate will go!”

  Zhang Que was already withdrawing as he spoke, and a few moments later, countless messenger birds took to the skies.

  In this night that was both calm and restless, the destiny of the empire began to change, slowly shifting toward a fierce and unpredictable direction.

  ……

  The night soon passed, the moon and dim stars giving way to the sun.

  As dawn broke in the east, for many people, another ordinary day began. None of them knew that the empire had already changed.

  At the distant Beiting Protectorate headquarters…

  The winds blew across the lush plains of grass. There were still a few lingering echoes from the Setting Sun Villa incident, but the effects had not been as profound on the Beiting Protectorate.

  An Sishun had not been the first Beiting Protector-General, nor was he the last. This army of the north primarily consisted of Hu soldiers, and these Hu had long ago become accustomed to heeding the orders from the capital. For the Hu officers, it mattered little who the Imperial Court appointed.

  “Lord Protector-General, why is it that you come here every day to look to the south?” a blue-eyed Hu standing beneath the black banner of Beiting asked, in the middle of a lush field of grass.

  “Because I am waiting for someone!” A rough voice came from out of the grass, but there was a slight Han accent to the voice.

  “Waiting for who?”

  “When the time comes, you will understand!” the Han man replied.

  Whoosh!

  A gust ripped past, parting the grass and revealing that man. He was around forty to fifty, and his short and thick beard bristled like it was made of iron needles.

  But the most striking thing of all about him was his copper eyes. When matched with his pitch-black eyebrows, they endowed him with a sharp and wise gaze, the gaze of a man who hungered for power and authority.

  This man’s physical appearance placed him as a Han, but his body still exuded a thick Hu aura.

  The Smoke Signal General, Zhang Zheng!

  When An Sishun was sent off to the capital and jailed, Zhang Zheng, who had once vied for the spot of Qixi Protector-General with Wang Chong, had been appointed as the Beiting Protector-General.

  (TN: Previously mentioned in chapter 823 as Zhang Zhengbei.)

  Zhang Zheng had some reputation in both Beiting and Andong. He had once worked together with Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui, and he had a significant list of achiev
ements. He was the typical campaigning general, and he also had the rare talent of a proficiency in Hu languages, making him a top-class general who could also command the Hu.

  But for many court officials, there was something else about Zhang Zheng that was even more well-known, a different kind of status: one of the First Prince’s trusted aides!

  Amongst the numerous border generals and titled generals, Smoke Signal General Zhang Zheng had been the earliest to join the First Prince’s side. It was said that when Li Ying had gone to the border to temper himself, Zhang Zheng had been the general assigned to guard him.

  Zhang Zheng had once saved the First Prince’s life, and even the Sage Emperor had tacitly approved of their friendship.

  Flap flap! The beating of wings broke through the gusting winds, and before the Hu generals around could react, Zhang Zheng looked up.

  He saw a messenger bird with a golden beak coming from the south toward him.

  Zhang Zheng extended his right hand and received the bird. His eyes spotted the golden dragon ring around the bird’s right leg, and his heart leaped.

  Whoosh!

  Zhang Zheng removed the golden tube from the bird’s leg and took the letter out of it. As he looked over the letter, his face transformed.

  “The day is finally here!”

  Zhang Zheng heartily laughed as he crushed the letter, his face turning red with excitement.

  “Pass on my order! Gather the army!!”

  A moment later, the drums began to thunder and the earth to shake. Soldiers began to pour out of their barracks, and rumbling hooves resounded across the plains. The stench of war began to fill the air.

  ……

  At almost the same time, at the distant western border…

  Whoosh!

  A messenger bird descended into the illustrious Big Dipper City. Despite all the wars it had gone through, the city remained imposing and firm.

  “Milord, a letter from the First Prince!”

  A general originally from Qixi took the letter from the bird and handed it over.

  Buzz!