The Human Emperor

Wang Chong said nothing. He could guess at what Old Master Yao was thinking and sense what he was feeling, but he was unmoved. For him to let Yao Feng go despite the grudges between the two clans was already quite lenient.

Wang Chong’s greatest concern was the answer he desired from Yao Chong. A matter of state was far more important than a puny Yao Feng.

His status and cultivation level were no longer the same, and his field of vision had naturally changed as well.

He and Yao Feng no longer lived in the same world.

“Go!”

Old Master Yao waved his hand. It was no longer proper for Yao Feng to hear what came next.

Yao Feng did not dare to argue. Lowering his head and holding his face, he quickly left.

Once Yao Feng was gone, the entire room fell silent. All of the maids and guards also withdrew. Wang Chong could sense that there was not a single person within several dozen paces of the room.

Wang Chong glanced at Yao Chong, his expression turning serious. He knew that it was time for the main topic.

“Your Highness, everything has its trail. If you truly want to find some clues, you should look through the palace books from thirty-some years ago. What you find might surprise you. This is the most I can tell you.”

As Yao Chong spoke, he sighed and slowly stood up.

“Your Highness, it’s getting late. I won’t keep you. For some things, knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing. Your Highness, remember, the fewer the people that know about this, the better. Sometimes, even speculation is a crime.”

Wang Chong felt his heart pulse as these words reverberated through his mind.

Yao Chong seemed to be implying something, but no one could really guess as to what the old fox was really saying.

“Thank you, Minister Yao!”

Wang Chong stood up, bowed, and said no more, beginning to make his way toward the door.

‘Palace books from thirty-some years ago’ was already more than he had expected from Yao Chong. Wang Chong was confident that if he followed this trail, he would find something.

Just when Wang Chong was about to reach the main gate, a voice called out. “Wait a moment!”

Startled, Wang Chong stopped and turned around.

After some hesitation, Yao Chong had followed Wang Chong.

“Your Highness, do you know why it is that I do not enjoy raising flowers or bamboo, instead choosing to raise so many birds and hang up so many bird cages in this Four Quarters Embassy?”

“I do not.”

Wang Chong smiled, knowing that Yao Chong would give the answer.

“Haaah…”

Yao Chong sighed. He walked to a place not far from the main gate, put down his cane, and took a hwamei from a metal footstool.

Unlike the other birds, the hwamei was not in a bird cage. Instead, a thread on its right leg kept it tied to the footstool.

Yao Chong untied the thread, and the hwamei began to jump around in Yao Chong’s palm, happily singing. It was clearly extremely familiar with Yao Chong.

“The birds I raise are the finest specimens gathered from across the land. The guards of Four Quarters Embassy worry that they will fly away, so they use threads to tie them to metal footstools, but they have no idea that these birds will never fly away.”

As Yao Chong spoke, he lightly pushed his palm upward. The hwamei happily flapped its wings and took off.

But the hwamei had only flown a few dozen feet before its body grew unstable, and it plunged from the sky back to the ground.

“Balance?”

Wang Chong frowned as he uttered this word. With his perceptive Psychic Energy, he could see everything clearly. The reason the hwamei had lost its balance and fallen to the ground was that Yao Chong had cut several feathers from its right side.

The cut was not very obvious, but the feathers had been carefully selected so that the left and right feathers were now ‘out of balance’.

The tail feathers had also been trimmed!

“Yes, balance!”

A look of praise flashed in Old Master Yao’s eyes as he looked at Wang Chong.

“I stood in the court for decades, experiencing all kinds of storms: factional disputes, political disputes, militarist-Confucian conflicts, struggles over imperial authority… No matter how great the wave or which two sides were fighting, I managed to stand firm. No matter which Emperor was enthroned, I had their favor. This was all because of balance.”

Old Master Yao picked up his cane and looked forward. At this moment, his thin and shriveled body erupted with an enormous and intimidating power that made even Wang Chong raise an eyebrow in surprise.

Old Master Yao was acknowledged in the political circles of the Great Tang as an evergreen tree. Any sovereign that took the throne could not disregard him, and all the officials respected him. No storm of any sort could do anything to him, and only Old Master Yao knew the secrets and reasons for his success. Wang Chong had not imagined that he would summarize his experience and tell his secrets to the grandson of his lifelong opponent.

“Minister Yao?” Wang Chong asked in confusion.

“I had two children. The eldest died at a young age, and while the second son, Guangyi, has some intelligence, it is small wisdom that isn’t worth displaying. Moreover, his personality is too impatient, and it will be difficult for him to accomplish any great things. As for that child Feng-er, he was born slow-witted and cannot be very useful.”

Old Master Yao seemed to not hear Wang Chong as he shook his head and talked to himself.

“This is a principle I developed through my experiences in life, but no one in the Yao Clan can inherit it. This has been the greatest regret in this old man’s life. And the majority of the capital’s people are either feckless or fools, none of them able to enter my vision and inherit my teachings.

“This old man did not expect that the only person who can inherit my teachings would be that old rascal’s grandson.”

Old Master Yao emotionally sighed.

He had questioned Yao Guangyi, Yao Feng, and others with the same question. The majority of them had been befuddled, and even Yao Guangyi had needed him to almost reach the very end of the lecture to understand.

But Wang Chong was different. He had understood the principle with barely any prompting at all.

Yao Chong could not help but be overcome with emotion and sigh.

“Heh!”

Wang Chong completely understood what Old Master Yao wanted. He was planning to reluctantly pass on the principles he had learned through his political career to his foe’s grandson.

“I’ve accepted Old Master Yao’s good intentions, but the so-called path of balance is something similar to the Confucian school’s Doctrine of the Mean. While they are different, their differences are not too great. Such a principle is one thing when the world is at peace, but if the Central Plains is in danger while everyone keeps to this principle and looks out for themselves, their desire for personal gain making them too afraid to step forward, the Nine Provinces will be in peril, the Great Tang in peril, and the people in peril!

“This path of balance is only good for maintaining the achievements of one’s predecessor and not building upon them. It is not the path Wang Chong upholds! If Minister Yao is planning to pass it to me, there is no need.”

Wang Chong grinned.

Yao Chong was taken aback by these words.

“Good! Yes, a method for maintaining achievements. You are right. This law of balance is not suitable for you. This old man was overthinking things.”

Yao Chong smiled, feeling relieved.

Every person had their own path to follow, and based on the path this Wang Clan scion had already taken, this method truly did not suit him.

With a wave of his sleeve, Wang Chong left Yao Chong’s residence. Yao Chong stood at the gate, and though he had been rejected, he had a relieved smile on his wizened face.

Wang Chong opened his carriage door and entered. An elegant figure was seated within, exuding a soft fragrance.

“How was it?” Xu Qiqin asked. She had been very surprised to hear that Old Master Yao had summoned Wang Chong.

Wang Chong’s smile faded as he sternly said, “Old Master Yao doesn’t have much time left!”

Old Master Yao had not seemed like the commanding official he had been for most of his life, appearing more like an ordinary old man handling his last affairs.

An elder statesman of three governments, Minister Yao was revered by all levels of society. Only at the very end of his life, for the sake of the continuation of his clan, would he ever lower his proud head.

And when Wang Chong had examined him through the True World ability, he could tell that the eighty-some-year-old Old Master Yao couldn’t last for much longer.

Wang Chong couldn’t help but sorrowfully sigh at this. Regardless of their wrongs or rights, a man was to be respected at death. While the Yao Clan and Wang Clan had fought for a very long time, there was no doubting the contributions Old Master Yao had made toward the peace and prosperity enjoyed by the Great Tang.

“Move out!” Wang Chong ordered.

“Hyah!”

With a shout, the carriage left Four Quarters Embassy.

……

Upon his return from Four Quarters Embassy, Wang Chong had Lu Ting and Yang Zhao examine the palace books from thirty years ago and quickly made a discovery.

“Your Highness, we examined all the books in the palace. All of the records regarding the court officials and generals, including those of Duke Jiu and Minister Yao, are complete, but there’s been a small problem…”

In the main hall of the King of Foreign Lands Residence, Xu Keyi bowed as he wondered how to explain what they had discovered.

Wang Chong’s brow creased as he asked, “What problem?”

“This… The records in the palace are all complete and well-preserved. Taizu, Taizong, Gaozu, Gaozong… the records of all the previous Emperors of the Great Tang are all there, but a large portion of the information regarding the Sage Emperor has gone missing. There is only information pertaining to after the Sage Emperor took the throne!” Xu Keyi sternly said.

Wang Chong sat upright in his chair and blurted out in shock, “What!?”