Chapter 291: Confrontation!
"Li gongzi, pleased to meet you. I am Wang Chong, the grandson of ex-Prime Minister Wang Bowu, and the son of General Wang Yan!"
Taking everything into his sight, Wang Chong immediately flicked his wrist and threw a golden token over.
Taken aback, Li Bing subconsciously caught it. Glancing downward at the token, his face immediately warped in shock.
Li Bing had never met Wang Chong before, and they didn't share any common social circles either. But nevertheless, there was no one in the capital who wouldn't be able to recognize the emblem of the Wang Clan.
Wang Bowu!
There was no one who addressed him by that name anymore. Everyone, and that included the qinwang and dukes of the empire as well, addressed him respectfully as Duke Jiu.
Li Bing never thought that the young man who walked over here from the forest at such a time would actually be Duke Jiu’s grandson, the legendary youth who caused a huge uproar in the Great Tang royal court a while ago!
How could he be here? Watching as the composed young man slowly walked over, fear surfaced in Li Bing's eyes.
The Wang Clan was one of the most esteemed clans in the capital, and in terms of standing, it was nowhere beneath the Duke of Liu.
"Brother Su, are you still able to hold on?" Ignoring Li Bing, who was currently in deep thought, Wang Chong walked through the crowd and headed straight toward the bottom of the tree, where the grievously wounded Su Hanshan was seated.
At this moment, the person he was the most worried about was Su Hanshan.
He was a potential great general who could possibly rival Go Seonji, Fumeng Lingcha, Geshu Han, and Zhang Shougui in the future, so Wang Chong couldn't allow any mishap come to him.
To Wang Chong's astonishment, it seemed like a slight divergence in the future events had occurred.
In his previous life, Su Hanshan was cold, arrogant, and solitary.
Even though the army he trained was known to be the number one in Great Tang and was capable of piercing through all formations, he had a fatal flaw—he only operated alone.
He didn't even get along with his fellow peers in Kunwu Training Camp, needless to say the others.
To him, no one could be considered an ally, so he rejected all possibility of working with anyone!
But bizarrely, every year, at this specific period, he would leave the military and visit a certain place in the capital.
Even when the war was at its worst, this habit of his didn't change.
It was capitalizing on this knowledge from his previous life that Wang Chong instructed Old Eagle to investigate this matter.
Just that, Wang Chong didn't expect his investigations to bring him to Duke of Liu, and such a matter even occurred.
If he hadn't appeared at this instant, would Su Hanshan really have died here?
Wang Chong had never considered such a possibility before.
At this instant, he realized that future events were beginning to diverge from the original flow of destiny he recalled.
"Brother Su, here is a recovery pill. It'll help you recuperate from your injuries."
Wang Chong took a recovery pill which he had obtained from Six-fingered Zhang from his pocket and passed it over.
Su Hanshan's face was still impassive and cold, as usual. He didn't take the recovery pill which Wang Chong passed over, and his gaze seemed to be pushing Wang Chong away from him.
Just that, when those pair of cold eyes fell on Wang Chong's figure, an inconspicuous hint of astonishment still flashed momentarily across his eyes.
Clearly, Su Hanshan hadn't expected Wang Chong to appear here at this very moment, at this very timing!
"He indeed hasn't changed at all!"
Having expected Su Hanshan's reaction, Wang Chong chuckled inwardly.
Even though both of them had shared a room on White Tiger Peak, they usually engaged in their own matters and rarely interacted with one another.
Su Hanshan also often disappeared early in the morning and returned only late in the night.
Thus, even though they were sharing the same roof, the time they spent with one another was minimal.
Under such circumstances, it would be a wonder if Su Hanshan would willingly accept Wang Chong's kind gesture given his personality.
"Li gongzi, let me take him away, and I'll owe you a favor. How about it?" Wang Chong asked confidently with a glance at Li Bing .
Given that both sides had already expressed their identity, this conversation could be considered to be a formal meeting between the Wang Clan and the Duke of Liu family.
Once the gongzi of a prestigious clan reached adulthood, their actions and gestures would represent their clan. As such, they rarely gave out their word.
Wang Chong believed that his favor should be worth more than Su Hanshan's life, and Li Bing had no reason to turn him down.
"Chong gongzi, pardon my nosiness, but this person, Su Hanshan, isn't a person from the capital, and he doesn't seem to have any ties with Chong gongzi. Thus, I hope that you can hand him over to me. My father has instructed me to bring him back regardless of what happens, so I hope that Chong gongzi can step back on this matter."
After a moment of hesitation, Li Bing uttered words that were contrary to Wang Chong's expectations. To think that he was still unwilling to let Su Hanshan go despite the situation!
Frowning, Wang Chong glanced at the pale-faced Su Hanshan on the ground.
The Duke of Liu actually personally issued an instruction to capture him?
This wasn't the normal stance one would take against a petty thief. Did this fellow have some dark history with Duke of Liu?
"Li gongzi, you must be misunderstanding something, my friend's personality has always been like that. Brother Su and I shared the same dormitory in Kunwu Training Camp's White Tiger Peak, and my grandfather has entrusted me with the responsibility of inviting him over to the Wang Clan as a guest. Just that, after waiting for a long while, I still didn't catch sight of him, so I came over to look for him. I didn't expect such a matter to actually occur. Li gongzi, I hope that you can let this matter go on my account. I'll surely pay the Duke of Liu Residence a visit another day to express my earnest apology."
Wang Chong also reacted swiftly in response to Li Bing's words. Since the other party brought in the Duke of Liu, Wang Chong decisively utilized his grandfather's name. Wang Chong didn't believe that Li Bing would be so arrogant as to snub even the esteemed Duke Jiu.
"Bullshit! Do you know how many of our comrades have this lad killed? Don't even dream of taking him away with just those few words of yours!" a guard from the Duke of Liu Residence bellowed abruptly.
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"Hmm?"
Wang Chong's eyes narrowed, and his gaze turned cold. Everything had already changed. He was no longer that profligate scion from before.
Outside of the clan, his presence represented the esteemed Wang Clan.
This was a conversation between the young master of a respected clan of ministers and generals, and the young master of a Great Tang duke's offspring. How could a subordinate be allowed to butt in on such an important conversation?
Even so, Wang Chong couldn't be bothered to argue with the subordinate. After all, this matter only reflected the lack of discipline among the subordinates of the Duke of Liu, and only the Duke of Liu would be embarrassed. He simply turned his gaze back to Li Bing.
"Back down! This isn't the place for you to speak!"
As expected, under Wang Chong's gaze, Li Bing couldn't maintain his calm, and he immediately reprimanded his subordinate. The latter hurriedly backed down in embarrassment.
"Chong gongzi, are you really determined to bring that man away?" Li Bing stepped forward and uttered deeply. His eyes were locked firmly onto Wang Chong's face, unwilling to let the slightest detail escape his gaze.
Duke Jiu asked him to invite Su Hanshan to the Wang Clan as a guest? Li Bing didn't believe a single word that Wang Chong said at all!
But nevertheless, that didn't change the fact that Wang Chong was here for this lad.
At this moment, Li Bing wanted to know whether there was still any ground for compromise or not. Was Wang Chong really determined to bring away this lad at all costs?
After all, the Wang Clan was not an ordinary clan. If it was on some other matter, there would be no harm conceding to them.
However, this matter was of exceptional importance to the Li Clan as well.
"Li gongzi, I believe that I should have already made my words clear. I must bring this man away no matter the cost!" Wang Chong declared, his finger pointing at Su Hanshan.
He didn't appear here in the middle of the night to allow Li Bing to drag Su Hanshan back to the Duke of Liu Residence. Regardless of what the latter's relationship with the Duke of Liu was, he was determined to bring Su Hanshan away.
"Chong gongzi, you don't seem to have... many people with you today?" Li Bing sneered coldly as he stepped forward.
As he spoke, his gaze swept across Old Eagle, who was standing behind Wang Chong at this moment. His meaning was clear—Wang Chong only had a Profound Martial realm expert beside him at this moment.
On the other hand, he had two beside him.
If Wang Chong were to further insist on this matter and a battle broke out, Wang Chong would be too busy fleeing for his life than to save Su Hanshan.
"HAHAHA! ..." Hearing those words, Wang Chong burst into laughter fearlessly.
"Li gongzi, surely you aren't so naive to think that I would come unprepared and alone to the Duke of Liu Residence?"
Weng!
Hearing those words, Li Bing lost his composure. If Wang Chong really had prepared experts in the surroundings, it would be impossible for him to bring Su Hanshan away with him today.
At the very least, if something were to happen to Wang Chong, the Duke of Liu Residence need not dream of getting away scot-free.
Given Wang Chong's current standing in the Wang Clan, the Wang Clan would surely exact vengeance upon the Duke of Liu Residence.
Putting aside Duke Jiu's influence in the royal court, just the alliance between the Wang Clan and King Song meant that all powers would have to tread carefully around them.
Not to mention, the Wang Clan and King Song were currently at the peak of their influence in the royal court. There were many officials and powers across the royal court that had decided to ally themselves with them.
On this aspect, the third generation Duke of Liu Residence couldn't possibly begin to compare with them.
If what Wang Chong was saying was the truth, Li Bing would really have to reconsider his options.
"Brother Li seems to be doubting my words?"
It seemed as if a flicker of flame was burning in the depths of Wang Chong's eyes. It wasn't too difficult to fathom what Li Bing was thinking of when he still refused to back down at this point. Thus, he raised an arm, signaling with a gesture.
Sou!
An arrow suddenly appeared on the ground right in front of Li Bing, the tip of the arrow nearly touching the end of his toenail. The back of the arrow was still reverberating from the immense impact of the arrow.
Seeing this arrow, Li Bing's heart suddenly sunk, and his complexion turned awful.
He didn't think that Wang Chong would really come prepared. That arrow already showed that much.
But even so, Li Bing was still reluctant to let Su Hanshan go.
The Duke of Liu Residence had spent so much time and effort to lure this lad into their trap. How could he possibly allow the other party to get away so easily?
More importantly, wouldn't the matter back then be exposed like that?
Li Bing couldn't allow that to occur.
Retreating was out of the question, but advancing wasn't an option either. In an instant, Li Bing was put at a dilemma.
Hualala!
Just as Li Bing was conflicted, hualala, a snow-white Western Regions eagle suddenly flew across the night sky.
This sudden commotion caught everyone's attention.
The Western Region eagle clearly belonged to the Duke of Liu Residence. Li Bing stretched out his left arm, and the eagle landed on it
Li Bing raised his right arm and took out a letter from the strong talons of the eagle.
TL Notes:
I'm not sure if Old Eagle is at Profound Martial realm at this point, but it is indicated that even if he's not at it, he's very close to it.