Chapter 012: The Banquet of Ultimate Bliss

After signing the contract with Lady Gremory, Wang Bo escorted her back to the underworld.

Then, he tied up loose ends, giving the chain supermarket and the automobile factory to the Cross's son, that loser... Wesley.

After all, he had occupied the identity of the man's father, even though Wang Bo didn't care much for this cheap son.

But since he was leaving, it was better to let this cheap son have these assets than to let others benefit.

Wang Bo believed that when Wesley saw the chain supermarket and the automobile factory, he would be overjoyed.

Ah, the life of the rich is just so dull.

Then, Wang Bo, along with Friday, the Conqueror, and Blackwing, left this world for the next.

...

After an unknown amount of time, when Wang Bo awoke again, he had arrived in a new world.

And he had a new identity, one that surprised him greatly.

An Lushan!

Yes, the very man who sparked the An-Shi Rebellion, leading to the Tang Dynasty's decline from prosperity.

Now, Wang Bo sat in a carriage, escorted by hundreds of soldiers, racing along the official road toward an unknown destination.

From the remnants of An Lushan's memories, Wang Bo quickly found his destination... Chang'an.

According to the information Wang Bo obtained, An Lushan was now the military governor of Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong, and any request he made to the court was granted.

He had gathered Zhang Tongru, Li Tingjian, Ping Lie, Li Shiyu, and Dugu Wensu by his side, put Gao Shang in charge of secretarial work, sent Liu Luogu to lurk in Chang'an as an intelligence agent, and promoted trusted generals like An Shouzhong, Li Guiren, Cai Xide, Niu Tingjie, Xiang Runke, Cui Qianyou, Yin Ziqi, He Qiannian, Wu Lingxun, Neng Yuanhao, Tian Chengsi, and Tian Qianzhen from the army.

Every month, people flocked to him with tributes of donkeys, camels, warhorses, falcons, and hounds, driving the common folk to destitution.

It could be said that An Lushan was already fully prepared for rebellion.

Whenever he wished, he could spark the An-Shi Rebellion.

The court seemed to have sensed his movements; Chancellor Yang Guozhong repeatedly advised Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, that An Lushan was plotting rebellion and should be killed early.

But Li Longji did not believe it, because An Lushan had performed too well in his presence.

Especially when An Lushan, without any shame, acknowledged the much younger Yang Yuhuan as his mother, and when entering the palace to see Emperor Xuanzong, he would first pay respects to Consort Yang. When the emperor asked why, An Lushan replied, 'Your subject is a barbarian; barbarians place their mothers before their fathers.'

With An Lushan being so shameless, how could Li Longji not be pleased?

He trusted An Lushan completely.

And knowing that Yang Guozhong and An Lushan had always been at odds, he only half-believed Yang Guozhong's slander.

But Yang Guozhong told Li Longji, 'Everyone knows An Lushan has rebellious intentions. If Your Majesty does not believe it, a test will make it clear.'

Emperors are always suspicious; even if Li Longji trusted An Lushan deeply, testing him wouldn't hurt. So Li Longji asked, 'How shall we test him?'

Yang Guozhong said, 'In a few days, it will be Yuhuan's birthday. Your Majesty should prepare the Banquet of Ultimate Bliss for her and invite An Lushan. After all, Yuhuan is his mother. How could a son not come to his mother's birthday?'

'If An Lushan does not come, or pleads illness, it will show he harbors disloyal intentions.'

Li Longji found this reasonable, so he issued an edict summoning An Lushan to court.

When the emperor's decree reached An Lushan's hands, his subordinates urged him not to go, saying the emperor harbored ill intentions and the journey would surely be fraught with danger.

They added that their forces were already strong and they should raise an army as soon as possible, attack Chang'an, overthrow the dynasty, and achieve a great enterprise.

An Lushan's heart stirred with the urge to rebel at this opportunity, but after weighing the matter repeatedly, he decided to go to Chang'an and attend the Grand Banquet of Ultimate Bliss.

This risk was taken for one reason alone: a woman.

One of the Four Great Beauties of ancient times, the imperial consort Yang Yuhuan!

But on the way to Chang'an, he was replaced by Wang Bo.

After examining the information left by An Lushan, Wang Bo was somewhat surprised. In history, when An Lushan was about to rebel, he always stayed hidden in his lair.

In the fourteenth year of the Tianbao era, which was this year, Emperor Xuanzong summoned An Lushan to the capital, but An Lushan pleaded illness and did not come. When the emperor arranged a marriage for his eldest son An Qingsong and ordered him to attend the ceremony, An Lushan again declined.

But now, An Lushan was risking execution to go to Chang'an for the sake of Yang Yuhuan.

This did not match history.

So Wang Bo could be almost certain that he had entered a world that was definitely not a historical one, likely a martial arts world like that of Di Renjie.

Of course, perhaps it was not a martial arts world but some other kind of world.

However, after receiving An Lushan's information, he found no characters or events he could reference, so Wang Bo could not immediately determine what kind of world he had entered.

Although this uncertainty surprised Wang Bo, he did not feel uneasy.

After all, Wang Bo was now very powerful.

As long as this was not a xianxia world or a mythological world where gods were everywhere, Wang Bo could basically handle it.

Even if Li Longji wanted to kill him, Wang Bo could retreat calmly.

But Wang Bo had not expected to have such a connection with the Tang dynasty.

He had experienced three ancient worlds in total, and two of them were the Tang dynasty.

Wang Bo even wondered if he had returned to Di Renjie's world, but after searching An Lushan's memories, he dismissed the idea.

In An Lushan's memories, Li Zhi did not die early, and Wu Zetian did not ascend the throne ahead of time.

From this, it was clear that this was not Di Renjie's world but another parallel world's Tang dynasty. What kind of world it was exactly remained for Wang Bo to discover.

Of course, perhaps this was a world Wang Bo did not know about, or one whose plot he had never seen.

That was not unusual.

The multiverse was far too vast; Wang Bo could not understand it all. The so-called plots he knew were merely a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction.

Compared to the immense multiverse, they were utterly insignificant.

The carriage jolted along, and under military escort, Wang Bo finally arrived in Chang'an on the day of the Grand Banquet of Ultimate Bliss.

When Wang Bo stepped down from the carriage and saw Chang'an, he could not help but sigh.

This ancient city was even more prosperous than he had imagined. From this, Wang Bo confirmed once again that this was definitely not a historical world.

No sooner had Wang Bo settled into the guesthouse for envoys than a eunuch arrived at the inn.