The Human Emperor

“Wang Zhongsi pays respects to Your Highness!”

From a distance, Wang Zhongsi clasped his hands and bowed. His expression was solemn and his eyebrows were locked together. He looked entirely different from his usual self.

“Haha, Lord Junior Guardian, what brings you here?”

Surprisingly, the First Prince, who had been ashen-faced and unwilling to let Wang Zhongsi come in just a moment ago, immediately began to smile the moment Wang Zhongsi walked in.

One would have almost believed that someone else had been speaking.

Wang Zhongsi got straight to the point. “Your Highness, Eunuch Gao has been injured. What’s going on here?”

“Is that so?”

The First Prince frowned as if he was hearing this for the first time.

“Eunuch Gao has been injured? How could this be? Meng Tu, in a little while, take some gifts and go and see Eunuch Gao to ask him how he’s doing. In addition, Lord Junior Guardian, Eunuch Gao is a martial artist, so it’s quite normal for him to be injured while practicing. There is no need for Lord Junior Guardian to be too concerned.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Meng Tu understood and bowed, also acting as if he was hearing about this for the first time.

Wang Zhongsi immediately frowned. There were no flaws in their argument, and even though Wang Zhongsi had already gathered some information on his own, there was nothing he could say.

“Let’s put aside the matter of Eunuch Gao being injured for now. What is going on with the Sage Emperor? I went over to see him, but no one is allowed to approach his chambers, and it seems like all the guards outside have been switched out. Moreover, I recognize a few of the guards as belonging to the Eastern Palace! What’s going on here?” Wang Zhongsi gravely said, not relaxing in the slightest.

He had refused to believe Wang Chong’s words in the restaurant. Starting a rebellion was no minor crime, and even though he knew that there was truly something wrong about the First Prince, it wasn’t so bad that he would commit treason.

This was the Sage Emperor they were talking about!

Who in the realm would be so audacious?! And why would the First Prince dare to do such a thing?

But when he got back to the palace and performed his own investigation, his understanding of the world was overturned. More and more suspicious points cropped up. If Eastern Palace guards were even appearing at Taiji Palace, how could he not be suspicious?

Even now, deep in his heart, Wang Zhongsi did not believe that the First Prince was truly thinking of such things. But whether it was true or not, the best way to prove it was to personally ask the First Prince.

“I have always revered Imperial Father, and while I am currently running the government as regent, my greatest concern has always been Imperial Father’s condition. I have dispatched several of my guards so that Imperial Father can rest without worry, undisturbed by outsiders. Lord Junior Guardian, is this not very normal?”

The First Prince smiled.

“To protect the Sage Emperor, you would even make it so that Consort Taizhen, the Grand Protector, the Grand Tutor, and all the other officials cannot approach?” Wang Zhongsi loudly said.

“Junior Guardian, are you questioning this prince?!”

The previously smiling First Prince suddenly darkened, his voice growing louder and his eyes sharper.

Whoosh!

The entire hall became still, as if it had been frozen in time and space.

Wang Zhongsi and the First Prince stared silently at each other, the atmosphere somber.

Although the First Prince was a member of the imperial household, he had always been extremely respectful to Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi. This kind of situation had never happened before.

Wang Zhongsi said nothing, but as he stared into the First Prince’s eyes, a tinge of grief appeared in his eyes. He was no fool. A fool could not have become the Great Tang’s War God or granted the Great Tang ten-some years of peace.

This matter had been like a tumor. He had seen things and heard things, but he had simply not been willing to think of the possibility. Or perhaps one could say that he had always believed in the innate goodness of human nature. After all, his experiences in life had served as excellent proof of this.

But not everyone could be like him, taken into the palace by the Sage Emperor after his father’s death, adopted as a son, and diligently instructed.

One incident in the palace could be explained as a coincidence, but so many taking place at once forced him to more deeply ponder the problem.

Wang Zhongsi’s eyes were red as he sternly said, “Your Highness, please tell me that I am overthinking things. Please tell me that His Majesty is fine, that you will quickly have that Goguryeon leave, that you will recall the guards around Taiji Palace, and that you will return Eunuch Gao to Taiji Palace! Tell me none of what I’m worrying about will occur!”

There was still a sliver of hope in his eyes, and he inspected every inch of the First Prince’s face as if he wanted to peer into the depths of the First Prince’s soul through the subtle shifts in expression.

“You’re too impudent!” the First Prince harshly rebuked, his face like a sheet of ice. “Does this prince need to explain to you what this prince should be doing and shouldn’t be doing?!”

The word ‘impudent’ made Wang Zhongsi’s heart tremble. He had interacted with the First Prince for a long time, and not once had the First Prince used this word to him.

At that moment, he finally realized something.

The First Prince seemed to realize that he had made a slip of the tongue, but even so, his stance would not change.

“I have heard that past Lingnan, near Jiaozhi, there is a place called Siam. That place is rather far, so the administration is rather lacking, and the officials of the Great Tang are not very willing to go. Recently, there’s been some upheaval there, but there are no court officials to handle it. You have not left the Imperial Palace in some time. Leave today, before sunset, and preside over Jiaozhi for the Imperial Court.”

The First Prince turned his back toward Wang Zhongsi, his face ashen as he spoke.

The hall was quiet. Everyone could sense the First Prince’s anger, and no one dared to speak. Behind the First Prince, Wang Zhongsi couldn’t hide the disappointment in his eyes.

He didn’t care how remote the place was or that the place was far from civilization. What he truly cared about was the First Prince’s stance.

As the Sage Emperor’s adopted son, he had grown up in the palace. In other words, he had personally watched as the First Prince grew up.

The First Prince had always given him the impression of a good-natured and modest man, a true gentleman. Wang Zhongsi had always believed that, given the wisdom of the Sage Emperor, it was only a matter of time until the First Prince inherited the throne.

Once the First Prince ascended the throne, Wang Zhongsi believed that they could have the same relationship as he had with the Sage Emperor, sovereign and subject complementing the other’s flaws and working together for the prosperity of the empire.

But after knowing the First Prince for so long, Wang Zhongsi suddenly found the Li Ying before him a complete stranger.

“I would like to see the Sage Emperor before going to Jiaozhi,” Wang Zhongsi said.

“There’s no need! You should set out within two hours! This is a decree!” the First Prince coldly said. He flicked his wrist, and a metal token clattered to the floor. On it were written the words ‘Acting Regent of State’.

This was the First Prince’s regent token.

When it came to regency, the Great Tang had continued the tradition of previous dynasties and created a token specifically for the regent to use. This was to prevent people from refusing to heed the orders of the regent, who was also the heir apparent.

When the regent token was taken out, no one could defy the order.

This was the first time since the First Prince had become the regent that he had used the token! And he had used it on Wang Zhongsi.

When Wang Zhongsi saw the First Prince throw the token to the floor, he instantly paled. But he quickly regained his composure.

“The subject receives the decree!” Wang Zhongsi respectfully said. He soon departed, but before he did, he took one last, disappointed glance at the First Prince’s back.

‘The sovereign serves as a model for the subject, and the subject loyally serves the sovereign.’ If the sovereign wanted the subject to die, the subject had no other choice but to die. This was a principle that had been bored into his bones. No matter what the First Prince’s order was, he could not refuse it.

But this had never been the answer he wanted to hear!

……

“Your Highness, you forget yourself!”

A few moments after Wang Zhongsi had left, a voice resounded through the hall, and a figure with thumping footsteps emerged from a shadowy corner.

The Ghost King held his hands behind his back, wearing his usual black robe, his eyes flashing.

Hiss!

The First Prince took in a deep breath as he composed himself.

Wang Zhongsi’s visit had been too sudden. He knew why he had lost control of himself. Wang Zhongsi simply knew him too well. Perhaps in the past, this wouldn’t have amounted to anything.

But everything had changed.

He was no longer his past self. But alas, Wang Zhongsi had not changed one iota.

He was simply too honest and upright!

This was why he had distanced himself from Wang Zhongsi as of late and found excuses to not see him.

“Something isn’t right. The Junior Guardian doesn’t have the temperament to investigate such things. What happened here? There must have been a triggering event!” the First Prince suddenly said. After his initial shock and anger, the First Prince instinctively sensed that something wasn’t right.

The Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian was completely different, whether it was his sudden appearance, the questions he had asked, or his attitude. Upon second thought, all of this was simply too bizarre.

“Oh.”

The Ghost King frowned at these words and began to think. But a moment later, a sharp light gleamed in his eyes.

“If my guess is right, I’m afraid that man went to find him!”

“What?!”

The First Prince was stunned. Even though the Ghost King hadn’t mentioned anyone specifically, the First Prince immediately understood.

“Wang Chong, you bastard!”

The First Prince’s fists clenched, and the veins bulged from his forehead in anger.

“It seems that our young King has a complete grasp of our secretive actions. But there’s still one thing I find strange. That Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian doesn’t play a very important role in our plan. For what reason did he go to such great lengths?”

The Ghost King’s brows furrowed as confusion appeared in his eyes.

The First Prince also froze. Even if Wang Chong wanted to sow discord between him and the Junior Guardian, even if things went as he wished, what sort of advantage did it give him in the overall situation?

The First Prince just couldn’t understand.