After doing all this, Su Shixuan, unwilling to disturb Wang Chong, chose a quiet and secluded path to the Wang Family Residence.
Far too many things had happened in this period of time, and His Highness was truly too tired!
The carriage was quiet. Wang Chong leaned against the side of the carriage, his head slightly raised, his mind in turmoil. Even after doing all this, he did not feel the slightest sense of relief. On the contrary, it only grew heavier. The people's aversion to war had reached such a level. Everyone believed that peace was too beautiful, too simple. Peace was something that one had to fight for, strive for, and strive for.
While many people were discussing how Khorasan was far away and how the war there had nothing to do with the Tang dynasty, no one understood that the same thing could happen in the Central Plains, could happen in the Tang dynasty. They simply did not understand that sometimes, it was not that one wanted to fight, but that one had to fight!
What happened in Khorasan was the real world.
"Boom!"
Just as he was deep in thought, the carriage suddenly jolted and came to a halt.
"What's wrong?"
Wang Chong opened his eyes and said.
"Your Highness, it's nothing. The road ahead is blocked. I'll immediately change to another path! "
Su Shixuan's voice came from outside the carriage. His voice was trembling slightly, tinged with panic. He immediately tried to change his path, but he was too late.
"We don't want war! … "
An earth-shattering, hoarse, and deafening shout suddenly came from ahead of them.
"The Tang dynasty has already had too many wars!"
"Anyone who dares to start a war will be everyone's enemy!"
"A general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand. In order to claim credit, the border generals are willing to do anything. We will never agree!"
"Just how many people will die? One hundred thousand? One million? Will those generals only be satisfied when the entire Divine Prefecture is littered with corpses? What does the war in Khorasan have to do with us? We don't want war! "
… …
In the carriage, Wang Chong paled as he listened to those fierce cries. He suddenly understood.
"Your Highness!"
Su Shixuan subconsciously turned his head to look at the carriage behind him, suddenly feeling an intense unease. The matter in the Imperial Court was fermenting, and the people of the capital were holding demonstrations. Tens of thousands of people had gathered together to loudly shout, and as Su Shixuan sat at the front of his carriage, he could hear the shouts coming from all over the capital.
"Let's move forward. I want to take a look."
After some time, Wang Chong's voice came from the carriage. It was abnormally gloomy, and even Su Shixuan felt his heart tremble. He unsheathed the sword on his waist and quietly cut off all the emblems on the car.
Whoosh!
At a corner of the carriage, a curtain was lifted, and Wang Chong looked outside through the window. In the capital, rows upon rows of buildings spread out endlessly in one's field of vision. Under a few fluttering banners, Wang Chong saw a group of people gathering. Thousands of people had gathered together. Near and far, on the streets and in the restaurants, there were people everywhere.
Some people had even brought over tables and chairs and were standing on them.
As Wang Chong looked over, he saw men, women, the elderly, the middle-aged, the children … all of them were shouting, their faces red and their ears red, all of them extremely agitated and shouting with all their strength. Wave after wave was brewing, and in the distance, Wang Chong could see even more people gathering and shouting.
At this moment, an extremely strange feeling surged in his heart. Shock, sorrow, pain … all sorts of emotions flitted through his mind, but the strongest of them all was a deep sense of regret. 'A general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand', 'a border general will do anything to claim credit'. The Imperial Court and the people of the capital had probably already begun to misunderstand war to this extent.
Just how much would the Tang Dynasty have to pay, how much blood would they have to shed before they would learn their lesson, abandon their childishness and innocence, understand the cruelty of this world, understand that those who fell behind would be beaten, understand that strength was the only way to protect oneself!
Rumble, rumble, rumble. The carriage continued to move forward. It blended in with the countless other carriages that were also stuck in a jam, so it did not attract too much attention. Through the carriage window, Wang Chong could see the countless anti-war protesters. His face was growing paler and paler.
"Why do we have to fight! The Hu are just like us, just ordinary people! We don't want to be the instigators of war! "
"Let the Hu resolve their own problems. The war between the Arabs and the Sassanids has nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty!"
… …
A series of shouts could be heard. Not far in front of them, a group of thousands of people had their arms raised high. Just as they rushed through the streets, another group of people followed closely behind, rushing over like a tsunami. One group, two groups, three groups … there were far more people protesting than had been imagined.
The war in the distant Khorasan was like a heavy bombshell, igniting the anti-war sentiments of the crowd.
Countless people took to the streets. Several hundred li away, they had already encountered seven or eight groups of protesters, their voices clamoring against the war. These hoarse shouts were like thorns stabbing deep into Wang Chong's heart. Wang Chong leaned against the carriage and closed his eyes. Every breath seemed to drain him of all his strength.
The carriage continued to advance.
Gradually, more news began to arrive from the Imperial Court, and the crowd began to change the direction of their protests. From 'peace, not war' to 'opposition to generals', they finally targeted Wang Chong.
"All of this was the King of Foreign Lands' idea! Everyone, march together and let the Imperial Court know our intentions! "
"Bring down the King of Foreign Lands!"
… …
Shouts shook the heavens and the earth, and in one of the busiest areas of the capital, Wang Chong could see seven or eight azure-robed Confucians gathered on a high platform, loudly criticizing him.
"The world is already at peace, so why does the King of Foreign Lands propose to attack Khorasan?"
"Four hundred thousand in the southwest and one million in Talas and Khorasan. He's already killed 1.4 million. Is that still not enough? Just how many more people does he want to kill? He actually proposed to send another army to Khorasan in the Imperial Court! "
"In the Tang Dynasty, the King of Foreign Lands is the greatest demon king of slaughter!"
"Bring down the King of Foreign Lands! We must have the Holy Emperor remove the King of Foreign Lands from all his posts. Our Tang Dynasty cannot tolerate such a demon king of slaughter! "
… …
Below the high platform, there was a sea of people. With a single call from a few Confucian scholars, countless people responded. Every time the Confucian scholars shouted, countless people would respond in a frenzy. The sound waves came one after another, like a tidal wave, shaking heaven and earth.
"These bastards!!"
Su Shixuan's eyes turned red, and he even felt like killing someone!
One was loyal to the empire, one was willing to sacrifice his entire family's life to reverse the tide, one was a hero who had risked his life for the sake of the Tang Dynasty when there were no soldiers available in the northwest. But in their mouths, he was a murderous demon king?
Had they forgotten how they had all turned out when their lord first returned to the city, how they had worshipped him and treated him as a hero?
It had only been a short time, but how had he become so fickle!?
At this moment, Su Shixuan felt like his heart was dripping blood. No one could insult his highness like this. Su Shixuan would rather die than see a hero of the Tang Dynasty be insulted and slandered in such a manner.
"I'm going to kill these bastards!"
Su Shixuan clenched his fists and prepared to jump out of the carriage.
"Forget it. Let them go!"
At this moment, a tired voice rang out in his ear. Su Shixuan's heart ached at this voice.
"But, Your Highness!"
"Let them go!"
Wang Chong said once more, his back leaning against the carriage, motionless. His eyes were extremely gloomy. He did not care about the malicious attacks and curses of the Confucians. What he truly cared about were the intense emotions of the common people around the platform. When those voices of rebuke rang out together with the Confucian scholars, it was even more painful than the ice-cold swords.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! "
At this moment, a childish voice came from the side of the road, attracting Wang Chong's attention.
"Subduing the Dragon, Subduing the Tiger!"
"Southern Swallow Returns to the North!"
"Supporting the Heavens and Supporting the Earth!"
… …
This voice, accompanied by the clattering of swords, was particularly distinct from the crowd.
With a thought, Wang Chong parted a curtain. On the side of the street, next to a medicine shop, a boy of seven or eight, dressed in blue robes, was brandishing a bamboo sword. Although the bamboo sword was light and powerless, the boy's eyes were clear and his expression serious.
The crowd around him was shouting, but it was as if none of it had anything to do with him. The boy was completely focused, as if the bamboo sword in his hand was the only thing left in his world.
"What are you doing? Don't you see that everyone is marching against the war? "
Suddenly, a loud voice came from the side. Before the little boy could react, a rough, fan-like palm stretched out from the side and fiercely slapped the back of his head. At the same time, the bamboo sword in the little boy's hand was snatched away. "Pa!"
"Didn't you hear what the restaurant said? Those who go to the battlefield have their guts pierced and their brains spilled out. I didn't raise you up to have you die on the battlefield. You're so young, yet you don't learn good things. Hurry up and scram back into the house and study! Remember, you're not allowed to wield a sword in the future! "
Along with that voice, a woman in a coarse skirt appeared behind the little boy with a stern expression. She pounced on his face and started scolding him.
"But, Mom, why?"
The boy raised his head, his face full of grievance as if he wanted to argue. But he was quickly cut off.
"There's no why. What's the point of being a soldier? Anyone who likes to fight is nothing good!"
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