"Milord …"
Xu Keyi hesitated, wondering what else he could say.
"Speak the truth!"
Wang Chong's brow furrowed in rage.
"Milord, the situation truly is bad. Master Zhu's influence on us is far greater than we imagined. Many places are protesting and criticizing us, and there are also people deliberately adding fuel to the fire. The current situation is extremely bad!"
Su Shixuan said, his voice extremely gloomy.
"Continue!"
Wang Chong gloomily said.
Because of the Imperial Court's orders, he had been grounded in his residence for two months. He could only rely on Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi for information. But Wang Chong had never imagined that they would dare to hide such an important matter from him.
The sight of Wang Chong's rage caused everyone to fall silent. They had followed Wang Chong for so long, but they had never seen Wang Chong get angry at his subordinates. It was clear that this matter had truly enraged him.
"Milord, the booksellers in the capital have completely banned us. No one dares to lightly offend the Confucians. Although we've established a new bookstore and are printing our own books, not a single one of our books has been sold."
"Continue!"
Wang Chong continued, his face ashen.
"The voices in the capital are extremely unfavorable to Milord. In this period of time, at least ten-some groups of people have been marching near our residence, but we've noticed and dispersed them. I don't know if the city guards have been negligent or if they've made some sort of mistake, but these people have managed to break through to our residence and disturb Milord! "
Su Shixuan hesitated for a moment, then stealthily glanced at Wang Chong and continued.
"In addition, we've just received news that the Ouzan Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate, in order to cooperate with the Confucian Sect, have announced that they will reduce their armies by fifty thousand and will further shrink their defensive lines to show their sincerity in coexisting with the Tang dynasty. This matter has already caused a ruckus in the capital, and the Imperial Court has even received a private letter from His Majesty Ouzan and Dalon Trinling, stating that the Ouzan Empire has no intention of making an enemy of the Tang dynasty, and that Milord is deliberately obstructing the two countries and plunging them into war! "
Su Shixuan said.
"In addition, there's news that Milord is bent on starting a war and is currently colluding with the Bureau of Military Personnel to use the Arab incident to once more recruit soldiers. Moreover, they are preparing to fight against Ouzan, the Eastern and Western Turks, Goguryeo, and Mengshe Zhao!"
Xu Keyi added.
"What?"
Hearing those words, Wang Chong widened his eyes in shock. During this period of time, he had been reflecting on his wrongdoings in seclusion and hadn't had any contact with Zhangchou Jianqiong. Never in his wildest dreams did Wang Chong expect such a rumor to spread.
"Sir, you have already tried your best in this matter. We just want to …"
"Enough!"
Before Su Shixuan and the others could finish speaking, Wang Chong sternly interrupted them.
Wang Chong's eyes were tightly shut as he stood there for a long time. In this short period of time, Wang Chong had never imagined that the situation in the capital would have worsened to this extent.
"Open the door!"
Wang Chong quickly opened his eyes and ordered.
"Milord!"
"Milord, you can't!"
Everyone grew anxious at Wang Chong's words and wanted to stop him.
They had stopped at least ten-some groups of people who had come to the residence to demonstrate, and they were all keenly aware of how intense the crowd was. Wang Chong could not go out at a time like this.
"Open the door!"
Wang Chong repeated. His expression was cold, and there was no room for negotiation.
Outside the residence, the sounds of guards being pushed and shoved could be heard. These guards alone were not enough to stop the furious crowd. Moreover, Wang Chong wanted to see for himself just how bad the situation had gotten. He had already been 'avoiding' for ten-some days, and he could not continue to avoid it.
Bang!
With a loud noise, the gate of the Wang Clan's residence was completely opened from the inside out. Dressed in casual clothes, Wang Chong stepped over the threshold and walked out.
Although he had heard the waves of noise from his study, only when he opened the gate and walked out did he realize what sort of state the Wang Family Residence was in. It was like he had gone from one world to another, as endless waves of noise came from all around him. Wang Chong looked around and saw that the crowd outside was so dense that he could not see the end of it.
"Down with the King of Foreign Lands!"
"Oppose the war!"
Shouts rose and fell, resounding over the horizon. The people gathered outside the Wang Family Residence were men and women, young and old. All of them were shouting until their faces were red to the ears, and they seemed extremely agitated.
At the gate, twenty-some fully-armored guards of the Wang Family Residence were doing their best to hold back the crowd, but in the face of these angry ordinary people who did not know martial arts, these guards did not dare to be rough. Even though each of them was powerful, they were all in a passive position. Stones rained down on these Wang Clan guards from all directions, and there were also many protestors who surrounded them, kicking and beating them with all their might.
These guards, despite their martial prowess, were beaten black and blue, and they could only use their hands to protect their vitals, neither saying a word nor retreating.
"Stop!"
Wang Chong finally couldn't help but call out.
"It's the King of Foreign Lands!"
This furious roar finally roused the enraged crowd from their stupor, and countless gazes quickly focused on Wang Chong. In an instant, all the sounds disappeared. The area in front of Wang Chong's residence was completely silent, no one saying a word.
"All of you, withdraw!"
Wang Chong said to the Wang Family Residence guards who had taken the beating in his place. This incident had nothing to do with them, and these guards were only taking the beating in his place. If not for him, they would never have been surrounded and beaten.
"But, Milord …"
The leading guard wanted to say something, but Wang Chong only waved his hand and interrupted him.
"Go. Leave this place to me."
Wang Chong sternly said. The ten-some Wang Family Residence guards hesitated for a few moments before finally dragging their injured bodies over the threshold and vanishing from the Wang Family Residence.
"King of Foreign Lands, you're finally willing to come out!"
"You ambitious bastard, we trusted you so much in vain!"
"You haven't shown yourself for so long! Is it because you have a guilty conscience? Everyone was wrong about you! "
… …
Another furious voice came from the crowd, and two pairs of eyes hatefully stared at Wang Chong. If looks could kill, Wang Chong would have died countless times over.
Wang Chong felt a stabbing pain in his heart as he stared at these hateful gazes. As a person who had lived two lives, Wang Chong had been constantly on the run to save the Central Plains, to save the Central Plains, to save these ordinary men, women, and children. He could care less about high positions and generous salaries, could care less about the Imperial Court stripping him of his authority, could care less about the rebuke and criticism of the entire Confucian school, but he could not care less about these ordinary men, women, and children.
"Everyone, please listen to me!"
Wang Chong's voice was loud and resounded over the residence like a peal of thunder. Upon hearing Wang Chong speak, the crowd once more fell silent and turned to him.
"King of Foreign Lands, you secretly colluded with the Bureau of Military Personnel to start a war with the other countries. Is that true or not?
"You privately gathered soldiers and defied imperial decree in order to start a war to satisfy your selfish desires. Is that true or not?!
"What do you mean by 'might makes right'? The other countries are already reducing their armies. Did you not see that? We trusted you in vain, but it turns out that you only wanted to satisfy your selfish desires and ask for rewards! "
"King of Foreign Lands, what else do you have to say!"
… …
Many people in the crowd shouted sternly.
"Everyone, listen to me! I never discussed with the Bureau of Military Personnel about gathering soldiers or starting a war with the other countries. These are just rumors. It's true that I privately gathered soldiers and defied imperial decree to open the armory, but all of this was to protect Anxi, Qixi, Longxi, and the capital. The general is on the battlefield, and orders cannot be obeyed. The situation on the battlefield can change at any moment. If I waited for the Imperial Court to decide, it would take a very long time. Not only would the Anxi Protectorate army be buried on the other side, even Anxi, Qixi, and the Qixi Imperial Armory would fall into enemy hands. I only did what I had to do. Rather than let those armaments fall into enemy hands and be used by the Arabs, it was better to open the armory ahead of time and use it to defend the Central Plains. "
Wang Chong's eyes were red, his hair fiercely dancing in the wind.
The matter of the Qixi Armory was a military affair, and Wang Chong had never explained much to anyone. Not even Xue Qianjun and the others had explained the matter of Qixi. But this time, Wang Chong was explaining to these ordinary people who knew nothing about the art of war.
"Wang Chong swears to the heavens that everything I do, everything I do, is without any selfish motives. If I break this oath, may the heavens punish me!"
Wang Chong sternly said as he gazed at the unfamiliar faces before him.
The moment Wang Chong finished speaking, the dense crowd in front of the Wang Family Residence instantly fell silent.
"Wang Chong, you've always said that the other countries are hiding their ambitions, but Ouzan first reduced its army by one hundred and fifty thousand, and then the Western Turkic Khaganate reduced its army by two hundred thousand and then another by fifty thousand. How do you explain this? Now, all of society is saying that you generals wrote 'Might Makes Right' to beguile the hearts of the people so that you can fight wars and gain merit. Isn't that right? "
A man in the crowd angrily bellowed, his face red and brimming with rage at being deceived.
These words made Wang Chong feel like a sword had been stabbed in his heart. His months of painstaking effort had been exchanged for these words. In the end, the hearts of the people had once more been deceived. As he gazed at the earnest faces of the people of the Tang dynasty, Wang Chong felt like his heart was being stabbed.
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