Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1014 The Struggle for the Throne
"Great Sage, is this really the place?"

Following the guidance of the Monkey King, the Venerable Xuanzang stopped in front of a magnificent mansion—immediately, this highly accomplished Buddhist monk couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Previously, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had been talking about Buddhism over and over again—Xuanzang thought that there were Buddhist disciples in the market using children as rafts to attack him.

Their usual lodging place is usually a well-known temple in the state capital.

But who would have thought that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, who led him all the way here, would not bring him to a temple—but to a magnificent mansion!

According to the words of the Monkey King, the thief was hiding in this mansion.

But this mansion...

Master Xuanzang's face was all scrunched up, like a bitter gourd.

He was granted a title by the Emperor and sent to the Western Paradise after participating in the Water and Land Dharma Assembly in Chang'an. The Water and Land Dharma Assembly was attended by princes, nobles, and commoners alike.

Even the governors and prefects of various prefectures, who were too busy with official duties to attend the Water and Land Dharma Assembly in person, sent their sons or brothers to attend on their behalf.

That is why, although he only experienced one Water and Land Dharma Assembly, Xuanzang had already recognized all the princes, nobles and high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty in China!

And this mansion just happened to belong to a prince!
Before the Water and Land Ceremony, Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin) bestowed titles of kings and marquises upon his sons. After the ceremony, he moved them all out of Chang'an, leaving only Crown Prince Chengqian in the city.

This mansion belonged to a prince who had been relocated by the emperor.

Li Ke!

Li Shimin's third son was enfeoffed as the Prince of Wu.

His mother was the daughter of Emperor Yang of the former Sui Dynasty.

The Sui Dynasty was a reunified dynasty that emerged after a long period of chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty—but like the Qin Dynasty, it perished after only two generations, and both emperors were equally tyrannical.

Therefore, although it was a unified dynasty, there was no Sui Dynasty—or rather, the Sui and Tang Dynasties were considered to share the same virtue during the cycle of the Five Virtues.

The Li Tang dynasty emerged victorious from among numerous rebel kings during the chaotic end of the Sui dynasty.

However, although the Sui Dynasty was destroyed, just as the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, the Tang Dynasty also left behind countless remnants of the Sui Dynasty!
These former Sui dynasty loyalists and descendants rallied closely around Prince Li Ke of Wu.

Before he was moved out of Chang'an, Prince Li Ke of Wu was always considered the greatest enemy of Crown Prince Chengqian.

He himself, along with the old guards surrounding him, had been attacking the power of Crown Prince Chengqian, wanting to replace him and inherit the Li Tang dynasty.

Most importantly, Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin) also doted on his third son.

Before he was moved out, many officials in the court, as well as many aristocratic families, once believed that Li Shimin had the intention of changing the crown prince.

Even now, although Li Ke has moved out of Chang'an, those around him still do not believe that he has withdrawn from the dispute over the 'foundation of the state'.

the reason is simple.

Although he was moved out of Chang'an, Li Ke, who returned to his fiefdom, not only had the title of King of Wu, but also served as the governor of Liangzhou.

The governor-general is in charge of all government affairs and oversees all military forces.

In other words: military power!
This King of Wu, while being moved out of Chang'an, also gained something extremely important!

With the precedent of Li Shimin's Xuanwu Gate Incident in mind, the princes of the Li Tang dynasty did not care much about titles that were merely nominal—instead, they valued real military power much more!
However, Li Shimin, who ascended to the throne through the Xuanwu Gate Incident, was always wary of a repeat of the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Therefore, he valued military power extremely highly and strictly forbade his children from touching military power.

The emperor has six teachers, and the crown prince has six officers.

—However, under Li Shimin's suppression, the six princes under Crown Prince Chengqian were all nominal and without real power.

In name only, there were six armies that served as the crown prince's support.

But those six armies existed only in name.

Therefore, when Prince Li Ke of Wu was moved out of Chang'an but granted military power, it is easy to imagine how strange the Crown Prince and his ministers in Chang'an looked at him!

For some, the relocation of the princes from Chang'an signifies that the foundation of the state has been settled and that the struggle for the crown prince position has come to an end.

For some others, however, the struggle for the foundation of the state truly began only after King Li Ke of Wu obtained military power.

Given this situation, when the monk Xuanzang discovered that the Monkey King had led him to the residence of King Li Ke of Wu, saying that the person who used children as rafts was hiding in this residence.

This must have been a terrifying thing for the Venerable Xuanzang!

After all, what it touched upon was not a debate about Buddhist doctrines.

Rather, it was the struggle for the throne among the princes!

This place is the human realm of the Central Region, a place covered by human morality.

In this land of humanity, the greatest upheaval is the upheaval of dynastic change, with each new emperor bringing a new court.

Second only to this turmoil of dynastic change was the turmoil of the struggle for the throne!

Such a disturbance, and its impact, if measured in terms of the cultivation levels of immortals and gods, is comparable to the scheming between Great Luo Immortals.

—At the very least, it's a storm caused by the death of a Great Luo Immortal, and the disciples of that Great Luo Immortal stirring up trouble in order to inherit his Dao Fruit.

Amidst such turmoil, let alone a mere mortal like Xuanzang.

Even the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, an indestructible and supreme demon immortal, is nothing more than an ant in this turmoil.

In such turmoil, only those at the Great Luo level are confident that they will not be swept away by the storm and act involuntarily.

If Buddhism and Buddhist teachings were to be embroiled in such a storm, the next emperor might just ban Buddhism altogether!

At this moment, the monk Xuanzang looked at the Monkey King with a resentful expression.

He realized for the first time that seeing too clearly really did not do him any good.

The Monkey King was equally helpless.

—If it weren't for the Wu Prince's mansion, he would have dealt with that thief long ago.

Under the heavenly rules, although immortals and gods are not allowed to kill mortals at will, if a mortal deliberately intrudes during the divine tribulations, then if he dies, it is naturally a wasted death!

"Is this the greatest calamity in the history of heaven and earth?" The Great Sage Equaling Heaven closed his eyes, as still as a stone statue, completely ignoring the resentful gaze of the monk Xuanzang.

He only sighed inwardly.

The beginning of this calamity, or rather, its origin, stemmed directly from the struggle for succession among mortals… This truly opened the eyes of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Of course, what shocked the Great Sage Equaling Heaven even more at this moment was not the origin of this calamity—but the cunning and scheming of these mortals.

Who could have imagined that a mere mortal's seemingly insignificant push would cause such a violent first wave of this calamity?
In the blink of an eye, the Monkey King's ears twitched slightly, and he immediately retreated to the corner of the wall, transforming into a stone statue there.

"The steward said that the monk Xuanzang had come to visit, but Xiao Wang thought he was mistaken."

"Unexpectedly, it really is the Venerable Xuanzang who has come here."

Just as the Monkey King turned into a stone statue, the gates of the Wu King's mansion burst open with a loud crash.

King Li Ke of Wu, dressed in the robes of a feudal lord, strode out like a god.

The wind he stirred up as he walked felt like a mountain pressing down on Xuanzang, making it hard for him to breathe.

“Great Sage…” Xuanzang turned his head and saw that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had silently turned into a stone statue, leaving only him in the original spot.

In that instant, even the Venerable Xuanzang, who was well-versed in Buddhism and remained unmoved even when he was scolded and humiliated by ordinary people at the afternoon market, was almost distorted at this moment.

Within Buddhism, there are two understandings of Buddhist teachings.

The former believes that Buddhism is supernatural power, and seeking Buddhism is seeking supernatural power.

The latter believes that Buddhism is Buddhism, and supernatural powers are supernatural powers.

Seeking Buddhist teachings in pursuit of supernatural powers is putting the cart before the horse—in fact, the existence of supernatural powers may actually hinder people's search for the fundamental truth of Buddhism.

The Venerable Xuanzang belonged to this latter school.

In the past, Master Xuanzang had always been dismissive of the supernatural powers in Buddhism.

Until now!

As the Monkey King turned into a stone statue before his eyes, Li Ke, the Prince of Wu, one of the main protagonists in the succession struggle, strode towards him with the imposing presence of a dragon and the tiger.

The monk Xuanzang was then forced to overturn his previous understanding of supernatural powers.

He was forced to revise his views on supernatural powers.

—The supernatural powers in Buddhism are not without meaning.

When necessary, that supernatural power truly has its purpose!

If he hadn't discarded those supernatural powers when he studied Buddhism and subsequently comprehended them, he wouldn't be in such a difficult situation now!
"The struggle for the throne!" Xuanzang cried out in his heart.

No matter how profound the Buddhist teachings are, they are meaningless in the face of this turmoil.

If the King of Wu avoids meeting him, there is still a possibility that the situation can be turned around.

But now, the King of Wu is making a grand display and is opening the central gate...

Under such circumstances, Xuanzang had no way to avoid it!
In the blink of an eye, Xuanzang realized what the situation was all about.

Clearly, there are some people with ulterior motives in this Prince Wu's mansion.

This afternoon, while I was giving a sermon at the market, those with ulterior motives diverted their attention to the Wu King's palace, intending to use me, the leader of Buddhism, as a tool to suppress the prestige of the Wu King.

As the leader of the Buddhist sect, he personally went to the Wu King's palace to demand an explanation—if the Wu King did not protect his subordinates, then the people's hearts would be scattered.

If he were to protect his subordinates, it would mean turning against Buddhism... and at the same time, his own reputation would become extremely bad.

Children are always the ones who receive special treatment—and someone who casually uses a child as a tool to attack an unrelated person is definitely a bad person!
This is why the clues and the people identified by the Monkey King's fiery eyes ultimately pointed to the Wu King's mansion.

Whether I like it or not, my existence has already made me a pawn in the struggle for the throne, affecting the balance of power!
Similarly, the King of Wu himself was also aware of the current situation.

His thoughts went on a deeper level than those of the Venerable Xuanzang.

—The Venerable Xuanzang was sent westward by order of the Emperor to seek Buddhist teachings.

In other words, this is an imperial envoy personally dispatched by the Emperor!
Its existence represents the dignity of the human emperor!
So, what does it mean that this imperial envoy, representing the emperor, was murdered in full view of everyone, and that the person who murdered him was connected to the Wu King's Mansion?
Therefore, when Li Ke learned that the monk Xuanzang was coming to his Wu King's mansion, he knew that he was facing the greatest crisis of his life!

If he mishandles the situation, then what he faces will not be as simple as failing to seize the throne—it will be a matter of death and annihilation!

Thus, faced with this predicament, the King of Wu chose a more direct and violent way to break the deadlock!

Since someone had brought the Buddhist master Xuanzang, a leading figure in Buddhism, to the Wu King's palace, and since someone wanted to use this Xuanzang to punish the Wu King.

So he decided to go all out and make a grand entrance by inviting this Buddhist leader.

This is an extremely dangerous move – in the struggle for the throne, one is either a friend or an enemy; there is no option to remain neutral.

It's fine until the situation is exposed.

However, if the situation is broken, then the people in the current situation will have to make a choice: to follow or not to follow.

If you follow, then you are naturally on the same path.

If you don't follow, then we'll be mortal enemies, and we'll be at each other's throats immediately!
He directly extended an invitation to the Venerable Xuanzang. If the Venerable Xuanzang accepted, then the King of Wu would immediately gain immense prestige.

However, if Xuanzang did not agree, it would be equivalent to Xuanzang rejecting him—which would also be equivalent to Buddhism rejecting him.

Buddhism is a doctrine recognized by the human emperor, and it possesses immense power.

If he is rejected by the Buddhist community, then given the shift in power, his elimination from the struggle for the throne will be imminent.

Even though it was extremely dangerous, he still took that step without hesitation.

He is gambling!
After all, he is still the King of Wu and the Governor of Liangzhou, in charge of the military and political affairs and the power here!

The invitation he personally extended was a pressure for him, but it was also a pressure for Master Xuanzang.

Under such pressure, how many people would dare to refuse his invitation?

So, I took the gamble!

……

What Li Ke could think of, Xuanzang could naturally think of as well!

This place is Liangzhou, the territory ruled by the King of Wu.

Now, the King of Wu has extended a grand invitation to me. How should I respond?
To refuse or to agree?
(End of this chapter)