Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 522 - 473: The Letter

Chapter 522: Chapter 473: The Letter
In the secret chamber of the Northern City Prince Mansion, the figures inside wore solemn expressions, and the atmosphere felt as oppressive as if it were solidifying.
"Prince Yue and Princess Guanghua actually came, and it seems they plan to stay in Taiyuan Prefecture for a long time..."
"The Telekinesis Masters we sent out during the day haven’t returned, likely captured by the garrison. The three printing and leaflet distribution points in the South City have also been raided."
"Will it implicate us?"
"It shouldn’t. Those weren’t people from the Prince Manor, but hired by other businesses, openly unconnected to us. The garrison won’t find any evidence pointing to us. The same goes for the leaflets."
"I said from the beginning that distributing leaflets was a terrible idea. What use is stirring up public sentiment? A Candle Cloud Telekinesis Master could suppress it with a flick of the wrist. It wouldn’t even need a Candle Cloud Cultivator; a few hundred old soldiers could flatten it."
"Without the surging public sentiment as a cover, do you expect our own Wang Family to charge into battle? Fighting against the court isn’t done this way. Besides, we are on the eve of war. Emperor Li Yu wants to use the noble families’ strength but also weaken their standing. We all have to maintain a balance where we struggle but don’t break."
"You want to struggle but not break, but does Li Ang? Just wait. By tomorrow, there will be a decree calling up the young men of our Wang Family. How many more of our nephews and grandchildren will die this time?"
"We must endure! This is the price we have to pay for being born into a noble family."
The discussion in the secret chamber gradually turned into a dispute, and the air quivered with ripples due to fluctuations in Spiritual Energy.
A bunch of insects.
Wang Bo Fan took a deep breath as he looked at the indecisive elders. One of his nephews and two of his illegitimate sons had died in the rat epidemic, shortly after the city was sealed off.
Could these elders not see that Emperor Li Yu was using Li Ang as a knife, taking the rat epidemic as an excuse to cut down the power of the Wang Family?
With their wisdom and experience, they had realized it long ago but instinctively didn’t want to admit it.
Without the courage for a do-or-die struggle, one would end up being slowly carved up by a blunt knife, just like now.
The arguing grew more intense. The few families still capable of taking action were blaming each other over the communication channels, accusing one another of failing to do their part, thus leading the Wang Family to their current predicament.
Wang Bo Fan watched the clan elders blame one another. Hearing the cacophony of voices, he slammed the table and stood up. "Enough!"
The chatter in the secret chamber instantly stilled. Wang Bo Fan swept his gaze around, looking into the eyes of the elders, and inquired in a deep voice, "Think of our Taiyuan Wang Family. Our legacy traces back to Situ Wang Yun of the Eastern Han, all the way to Prince Ji Jin of Zhou Ling. We have survived a millennium, enduring countless wars and changes of dynasties to stand unyielding. Even the Academic Palace does not share our lengthy history. Looking back, each dramatic change of times brought challenges to our ancestors far more terrifying than what we face. During the Late Sui, our Wang Family faced looting by various warlords and Sects. We barely survived, saved only by the sacrifice of our family’s Cultivators and our backing of the Li Yu Royal Family—that branch of warlords who helped us through the chaos."
Wang Bo Fan’s gaze lingered on those clan elders who were the loudest in the dispute, and he declared resolutely, "Past Emperors of Li Yu have never favored noble families.
"However, the current Emperor dreams of becoming an everlasting sage ruler. He dreams even in his sleep of thoroughly subduing the Five Families and Seven Hopes, smoothing the path of power for his descendants.
"The reason he allows Li Ang’s antics in Taiyuan Prefecture, indifferent to the stir we’ve created in Chang’an, is to use Li Ang and this heaven-sent rat epidemic to achieve his goal of weakening the Wang Family.
"Calling upon the young men of our Wang Family is just the beginning.
"If we show even more non-cooperation, Emperor Yu might issue a military order, forcing generation after generation of the Wang Family onto the battlefield.
"At that time, it won’t be just a dozen or so people dying, but an entire generation of the Wang Family."
"..."
The noise in the secret chamber gradually ceased, and the faces of the clan elders showed complex expressions, remaining silent.
Being trapped in the city with the plague was one thing;
setting foot on the battlefield, confronting the most brutal war among Cultivators, was quite another.
An elder leaned on his cane, his face gloomy. "Bo Fan, what do you suggest we do?" he asked. "We started by speaking kindly to that Li Ang and showed submission towards Chang’an, but still, we could not obtain forgiveness. Secretly distributing leaflets to incite public opinion was easily suppressed. Are we really destined to be stuck in the city, watching our young disciples fall ill and die one by one?"
"No," Wang Bo Fan sneered. "The sudden visit of Prince Yue and Princess Guanghua to Taiyuan Prefecture today has already made the Emperor’s will clear: he intends to weaken the Wang Family in one fell swoop. The word on the street is that Princess Guanghua came to Taiyuan Prefecture because she has a hidden affection for Li Ang and brought her brother with her. How could it be so simple?
"When a prince or princess travels, they are always under the surveillance and protection of the Imperial Palace Tributors. If the Emperor and the Empress in Chang’an didn’t give their nod, how could the Tributors allow Princess Guanghua to roam freely? This is a declaration; the Emperor will not let the Wang Family off easily, and the Wang Family will not be able to escape easily.
"Once we understand this, all our previous actions—like distributing leaflets, inciting the common people to crash coffins against the city gates, and targeting Li Ang—were all mistakes. This time, our adversary is not in Taiyuan Prefecture, but in the Great Ming Palace of Chang’an. And the way for us to survive..."
He slowly withdrew a letter from his bosom and gently placed it on the table in the secret chamber.
The candlelight flickered, illuminating the signature on the letter.
Zhao Ming, Yu Shi.
"A letter from Zhao Ming?!"
Amazed cries echoed in the secret chamber as several clan elders’ expressions drastically changed, while many others looked on with faces full of confusion. "What is Zhao Ming?"
The Five Families and Seven Hopes, all being thousand-year-old families, would secretly exchange intelligence and share news. However, among all the intelligence, information about Zhao Ming was the most secretive, known only to a few elders of each noble family.
Now, at the juncture of the family’s survival, those in-the-know elders looked at one another and revealed information about Zhao Ming, ranging from Jun Qianzi, who defected from the Academic Palace more than a decade ago, to the recent Qixi anomalous event in Chang’an.
"Zhao Ming’s main area of activity isn’t within the borders of Yu Country. Their actions are shrouded in mystery, and little is known about them, whether by the garrison or the noble families. It’s only known that most of them possess Candle Cloud Cultivation," an elder said gravely. "This includes the Suzhou Water Poison a few years back, which was the work of Situ Zhi, a Gu Master from within Zhao Ming."
"That’s right,"
Wang Bo Fan nodded and said, "As a Gu Master, Situ Zhi has a notorious reputation. He probably couldn’t stay in the Western Country, so he joined Zhao Ming for protection. During the Suzhou Water Poison incident, he was captured by the Imperial Palace Tributor Shen Tuyu and imprisoned in the garrison’s jail. And the sender of this letter, Yu Shi, claims to be Situ Zhi’s disciple."