Chapter 2331: Li Heng Still Remembers!
The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it sounded like a boom of thunder in Wang Chong’s ears, causing his body to shudder as he raised his head.
The nearby Li Heng was staring at him with sharp and bright eyes.
His face was extremely calm, but the trembling of his lips and sleeves betrayed his agitation.
“Your Majesty, you…”
Wang Chong looked at Li Heng, his mind in turmoil.
Sovereign and subject were so for a lifetime. In truth, he and Li Heng had a very deep connection, but it seemed like Heaven had wiped everything away, making everyone forget about Wang Chong’s existence.
Wang Chong had secretly tried before, but even those who traveled with him to Sindhu, Young Master Qingyang and Old Eagle, had been affected by the Celestial Palace and forgotten about him. And now that he had ‘left’, all of the pressure of the empire was placed on Li Heng’s shoulders.
Wang Chong had infiltrated the palace as a general and followed the palace attendant to the study only to take a look at Li Heng from a distance and then leave.
After all, now that everyone had forgotten him, the relationship between sovereign and subject no longer had a meaning.
Wang Chong had never imagined that Li Heng actually remembered him.
The Imperial Palace was the center of the capital, and logically, it should have been where the effects of the Celestial Palace were the greatest. But it seemed like Li Heng wasn’t affected at all.
Had Heaven intentionally let Li Heng go, or was there a mistake? But how?
“It’s you! It’s really you!”
Li Heng was ecstatic as looked at Wang Chong.
“I just knew that I wasn’t misremembering. Although all the officials in the court said that We were wrong and that the Great Tang had no King of Foreign Lands, that everything was false, We always believed that it was all true.”
Li Heng had felt very tired lately, like he had been in a dream all this time.
On a day that he couldn’t remember, he awoke to a very strange sensation, as if something had changed. Everything had somehow become unreal.
But he still vaguely recalled that the marriage between Wang Chong and Xu Qiqin was coming, and he was the matchmaker for this wedding.
Thus, just as before, Li Heng summoned a major official of the Bureau of Rites, but to his surprise, when Li Heng mentioned the name ‘Wang Chong’, the rites official was confused, asking him who Wang Chong was. He claimed that he knew of no such person and even thought about requesting the Bureau of Revenue to seek this person out.
Li Heng was infuriated at these comments, believing that this official was making fun of him. He had placed extreme importance on the marriage between Wang Chong and Xu Qiqin. For Li Heng, Wang Chong was both teacher and friend, and he would permit no one to humiliate him.
Li Heng had immediately removed that rites official from his post, and then he summoned another official to ask for an update on the matter. But to his surprise, all of them claimed that they had no idea who Wang Chong was.
Li Heng had been dumbfounded.
The Bureau of Revenue, the Bureau of Rites, the Bureau of Punishments, the Bureau of Military Personnel… the officials of the Six Bureaus would never be so bold as to join together to deceive him. Li Heng sensed that something was wrong.
Calming down, Li Heng described Wang Chong’s numerous achievements, how he had reversed the situation in the war of the southwest, won the war of the northwest, the war against Arabia, the war in Youzhou… Wang Chong had a dazzling set of accomplishments that was unmatched throughout the ages.
But after Li Heng finished talking, everyone had baffled looks on their faces, and Taihe Palace was deathly still. Not a single person remembered any of these incidents.
Li Heng felt a sensation of utter absurdity.
He immediately went to find King Song.
King Song’s line had been friends with the Wang Clan for several generations, and Wang Chong had been one of the people King Song had the highest opinion of. King Song had also been one of the most strenuous promoters of Wang Chong throughout his career. While everyone else could forget Wang Chong, King Song could not.
But to Li Heng’s shock, even King Song had forgotten of Wang Chong’s existence.
Though he strained his mind to the limit, in the end, he shook his head. At that moment, Li Heng’s mind was blank from the immense shock.
And what he learned after that left him completely stupefied.
The guards he had sent to the Wang Family Residence had reported that there was no such residence in the southwestern part of the capital, nor was there a King of Foreign Lands Residence. Even the families of Wang Chong’s big uncle Wang Gen and little uncle Wang Mi had disappeared.
This was no longer a problem of whether anyone remembered Wang Chong. They fundamentally didn’t exist.
That Wang Chong and the Wang Clan seemed to only be delusions in Li Heng’s mind.
The court was concerned, and the Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor had even sent the imperial physician to check on Li Heng, like he had come down with an illness.
At that moment, Li Heng felt unprecedented solitude, and he had even begun to doubt his own memories.
But he was still a sovereign, the one Wang Chong had called the Lord of Resurgence. Li Heng quickly stopped mentioning the matter, treating the matter as a momentary joke.
But in private, Li Heng continued to have his secret guards investigate the matter.
Though the entire world doubted him, Li Heng still had some outstanding traits, and he quickly found some suspicious points.
If everything about Wang Chong was really a dream, then it was a dream that was far too detailed. He could even clearly recall many irrelevant routine details.
Most importantly, while everyone could forget about Wang Chong, it was impossible to wipe out the records in the annals regarding Wang Chong.
Wang Chong’s resounding achievements were all recorded in the official histories for reference. The dynasties of the Central Plains had always excelled in this aspect, and so long as he could find those records concerning Wang Chong, this farce would fall apart.
To Li Heng’s consternation, when he sent people to seek out those books, he found that all the records had been modified. The history recorded in the books was completely different from what he remembered.
The sovereigns of the Great Tang had all been ambitious and wise, mighty and powerful. They constantly vanquished the surrounding countries, and during the Sage Emperor’s reign, the countries of the world had already become obedient, with only Arabia and Goguryeo still rebellious. In order to unite the world, Li Heng had personally led a campaign and defeated Arabia and Goguryeo, ensuring that his reign would stand out in the historical record.
These two victories caused the people of the Central Plains to celebrate and his deeds to be recorded in the history books. And after these last two wars, all the other countries were awed by the Great Tang and agreed to be annexed, allowing the entire world to be united under one empire.
After reading these records, Li Heng was flabbergasted. He had no impression of these two campaigns he had personally led, but it was all there in the history books.
Li Heng found it very difficult to believe. What sort of faction was capable of such a feat? Not only had they wiped everyone’s memories, they had even edited the history books.
At that moment, Li Heng understood that the truth, whatever it was, was far more complicated than it seemed.
Li Heng buried this secret deep in his heart and stopped mentioning it entirely. He continued to attend the morning court sessions and review memorials as if nothing had happened. However, he knew deep down that something had changed.
Li Heng had never imagined that he would see Wang Chong at a time like this.
“Wonderful! I knew that you would come back.”
It was possible to hear Li Heng’s excitement in his words.
Wang Chong also rejoiced. At the very least, there was someone in the capital who remembered him, and this person was the Son of Heaven.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Heng got straight to the point. The sight of Wang Chong caused many memories to float back to the top of his mind.
“This was all done by that Celestial God Organization, right? After thinking about it, this is the only faction capable of this.”
“Mm.”
Wang Chong nodded. Rather than hiding anything, he told Li Heng everything that had transpired.
Li Heng was stunned to hear that Heaven had appeared.
“So it was him! Imperial Father’s greatest enemy! If it’s him, everything can be explained.”
If Heaven had taken action, anything was possible.
After a few moments of silence, Wang Chong said, “But there is one thing that I find extremely strange. The entire capital is under the influence of the Celestial Palace. I’ve checked; all of the Dragon Guards, Zhangchou Jianqiong, and all the others have been affected by the Celestial Palace and have forgotten about my existence. Why is it that only Your Majesty hasn’t forgotten? Why do you still have memories connected to me?”
“This… We also do not know. In truth, I have no idea what happened, but that Celestial Palace you spoke of has no effect on Us,” Li Heng said. Not even he could explain why he was unaffected.
The study was quiet as Wang Chong dropped his head and began to think.
Li Heng didn’t possess a very high cultivation level. Although Wang Chong had performed Blood Reformation for him, as the Son of Heaven, he simply had too many matters to handle. He was also not some peerless talent like the Sage Emperor, so it was foreordained that he would never get too far on the martial arts path. At the very least, there were many experts in the capital and the Imperial Palace stronger than him, but even they had their memories wiped. There was no reason for the weaker Li Heng to be unaffected.
And in the capital… Li Heng was mediocre and didn’t stand out. As for some low-chance accident, this could happen to anyone else, but Wang Chong didn’t believe that it could happen to the Great Tang’s Son of Heaven.
“Your Majesty, can you tell me your sleeping routine and what you have been eating in this period?” Wang Chong finally said. After some thought, he had decided that this was the only angle he could start from.
Wang Chong sensed that if he could find out what had happened with Li Heng, he might be able to develop a way to resist the Celestial Palace’s influence and help everyone in the capital, including his parents, in breaking free from Heaven’s influence.
It had always been a taboo to ask about the daily routine and diet of a sovereign. There were special people in the palace who recorded it, but major officials were strictly forbidden from inquiring about it. But Li Heng revealed all the details without hesitation.
Deep down, he also wanted to know why he was the only person out of so many people who was unaffected. Besides that, he also hoped to help Wang Chong find a way to deal with Heaven.