Chapter 315: Surprise Attack
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei decided that he would be the first to get rid of the threat from the Meng family, even though he knew very well that many would oppose. But he was ready to justify himself to even the most ardent opponents.
However, there was no need to explain to Maid Lotus, who was willing to follow Dragon King anywhere. The more time they spent together, the more they became indifferent and calm, as they were in the past. Maid Lotus would never reveal anything in her mind.
As one could well imagine, it was the military counselor Fang Wenshi who raised the strongest objection, saying “This… Your Highness, we had a deal. How can you change your mind so quickly? Allow me to be frank, you are not even remotely eligible for the hegemony, let alone succeeding in acquiring it. Be patient and wait for several years. Do not get yourself in trouble.”
“We spent a long time in preparing for the plan. The Prince of Shu-lik and I had agreed on it, and this has nothing to do with anyone else. I am sorry I did not inform you before carrying out the plan,” Gu Shenwei answered.
Fang Wenshi hoped he could control his facial expression better but he could not conceal the look of indignation and worry. He did not understand what tricks Dragon King was playing and how the prince of Shu-lik was involved.
In the last few days after the fake Dragon King incident, Shu-lik sent messengers to Jade City, with the prince disguised himself as one of them. He brought his sister Tie Linglong with him and wanted to have a conversation with Dragon King.
The prince was a practical person. He did not care about the Great Snowmountain’s immediate “betrayal” after traversing Shu-lik territory, or at least he did not show it. “Considering that the Western Region is a mess, Shu-lik hopes to make more friends instead of enemies.”
That night, the Prince suggested: after today, Dragon King could take up Jade City, as long as the mountain pass in the west was ceded to Shu-lik.
There were mountain passes on both the eastern and western border of Jade City. Being the most important passage to enter the Western Region from the north, the two mountain passes had been the biggest concern to Shu-lik for many years, especially the one on the west, which was next to Shu-lik’s border. Once the Norland army reached the pass, they could drive directly to the heart of Shu-lik.
Therefore, to obtain the western mountain pass was the principal but concealed agenda of Shu-lik. Neither the Norland nor the Central Plain would allow Shu-lik to occupy the fortress just like that.
“I see”, Fang Wenshi suddenly understood and blushed. He always thought that he had succeeded in giving an opportunity for the Great Snowmountain to use the mountain pass by virtue of his glib tongue. He had not expected that Shu-lik had ulterior motives.
It was with the excuse of surveilling the swordsman of the Great Snowmountain that Shu-lik had sent an army of thousands of men near the western mountain pass. This army, in the name of preventing the war from spreading to Shu-lik, was actually eyeing covetously the strategic fortress.
Fang Wenshi suddenly doubted on his own ability, and said, “The King of Shu-lik and the Prince are really crafty. I’m afraid the ministers are still in the dark.”
“A country’s actions are all justifiable,” Gu Shenwei said. He did not think that Shu-lik had gone too far. On the contrary, it gave him more confidence to seek hegemony in the Western Region. Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei did not think there was anything wrong with the military counselor’s ability, and he said so, “If it had not been for your eloquence, Shu-lik could not have sent an army there without showing its true intentions.”
Fang Wenshi was much relieved and grinned shyly. “Well,” he said, “there must be something special about Shu-lik that made it the biggest country in Western Region… Alas, I profess to be a counselor, how did not anticipate that my efforts were highjacked by Shu-lik?”
Then he recalled that the original conversation had been about getting rid of the threat of the Meng family, and asked, “How about the Meng family? What was it that caused hatred between them and Shu-lik?”
It was actually Gu Shenwei’s idea to remove the Meng family’s threat. He had long understood that the Great Snowmountain was running short of capital, and had not choice but to pay a high price to avoid the Meng family’s surveillance. This had become the Great Snowmountain’s Achilles’ heel.
But when he opened his mouth, the words and emerged were different. The military counselor had never supported the idea of attacking the Meng family, he used to say that in order to attack, it was necessary to have “justified reason”. Therefore, Gu Shenwei said, “It’s known to all that the relationship between Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family is complicated. If Shu-lik wants to take hold of the western mountain pass, it faces the threat of the Meng family’s blocking the commercial routes.”
“So do we really need to take action against the Meng family now?” Fang Wenshi asked, somewhat frustrated. He could not help but have some admiration for rich men, especially the richest one in the Western Region.
Gu Shenwei nodded, and he said, “In fact, the war has already begun. It just needs more time for the news to reach Jade City.”
The “news” mentioned by Dragon King spread through the streets at noon the next day, and people were worked themselves into a frenzy to find out every detail about the war.
At the same time, several banks and shops of the Meng family in Shu-lik, were attacked by a group of unknown bandits. People were killed, houses were burned, and most of the gold and silver looted. As a result, the exchange of bank notes was put on hold for a long time.
Before everyone could understand what happened, more news came in the evening.
It was not only the banks and shops in Shu-lik that had been attacked but also nearly 60 of the Meng family’s properties distributed in more than 20 countries in the Western Region. In total, one-third of the family’s properties had been burnt to ash, amounting to unfathomable losses.
It was said that Meng Yuzun, the forefather of the Meng family, was furious when he heard the news. He blamed it on Dragon King, announcing, “He will come to a tragic end!”
However, there was no evidence to link these attacks with Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain. The attackers, who looked like typical bandits, were at least seven or eight, at most 20 or 30, bouncing around with the main aim to rob.
However, the attacks took place one after another that it seemed like it had been pre-planned, with the news spreading to Jade City the same day. It was beyond mere roving bandits’ ability to do.
Fang Wenshi was also puzzled by this, and he asked, “Your Highness, how did you find these people?”
“Tuo Nengya,” Gu Shenwei explained briefly, “as soon as the temporary armistice reached its end, sent some machetemen in batches to Shu-lik as the Prince had instructed. The machetemen went to different places and took action at the appointed time.”
Fang Wenshi shook his head with a wry smile, feeling that he had been given the cold shoulder again, but he believed that Dragon King had his reasons. Anyway, the most important task of the military counselor was the peace negotiation, he did not spare any effort in making more plans.
Meng Yuzun would not extinguish his rage easily. He had long been pondering how to obtain the secret manuscript from Dragon King, and now, the desire for revenge went beyond everything else.
That night, the Residence of Dragon King was attacked three times.
The first attack included the money-faced machetemen and bandits, most of whom were involved in the last robbery of the Residence of Dragon King. They had suffered terribly in the last incident with the fake money and were mocked in taverns, brothels and betting arenas.
It was the same people who attacked the Residence of Dragon King again after accepting some of gold and silver of unknown origin. This time they came in greater number and with a larger goal–They came not only for money, but also for lives.
However, having encountered Wildhorse’s gang in the past, these attackers did not plan to fight but were only shouted to demonstrate their power. Once they were met by the fierce attack of the guards of Residence of Dragon King, they immediately dispersed, hiding in the nearby streets for half an hour, and then snuck away.
Meng Yuzun had made a mistake. He shouldn’t have paid them in advance.
The second round of attack was much fiercer, and in consequence, the end was even more tragic.
Due to the armistice, the regular killers of Golden Roc Fort could not openly attack Dragon King. Therefore, Meng Yuzun hired a group of retired killers, who were still very skilled and had abilities was far beyond the average macheteman, despite the fact that they were past their peak.
There were only around 70 retired killers. They were divided into three groups, which took turns to lure the guards of the Residence of Dragon King into battle, while the idle groups attacked from behind.
That was a fierce battle. Both the attacking and defending groups used almost the same tactic: lure and attack.
Meng Yuzun had made another mistake. His desire for revenge was so strong that he launched an attack impatiently before the enemy had let down their guard. Therefore, the guards of the Residence of Dragon King still had high morale and the best strategies.
Even so, the guards of the Residence of Dragon King suffered heavy casualties. It was not until Maid Lotus and the disciples of New Moon Hall under her lead appeared at the last moment that the situation was reversed.
Among the more than 70 retired killers, fewer than 10 managed to escape with their lives.
Before the battlefield was cleared, the third round of attack began.
Meng Yuzun wanted so desperately to kill Dragon King that he even sent out a group of hidden female killer of the Tianji Society.
It turned out that this was the most serious mistake he had made that night.
Tianji Society’s training methods were strict. There was only one problem: in order to keep assassinations confidential, members of Tianji Society had little practical experience. Neither Lady Meng, who lived a secluded life in the Stone Castle and knew nothing about kung fu, nor Meng Yuzun, who stealthily cultivated kung fu and rarely showed it to others, had ever anticipated the fatal flaw.
The corpses and cut-off heads rolling everywhere messed up the female killers’ plan and left no space for them to stand. The frightening guards of the Residence of Dragon King and ferocious disciples of the New Moon Hall scared them to death.
The battle ended quickly. Members of the Tianji Society, established by Meng Yuzun and Lady Meng, proved to be far from the level of real killers.
When the morning came, and from that day on, experienced residents of Jade City regarded Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain as a powerful force. They said, “No one could rival Dragon King except the Stone Castle killers. Old Meng fell into a pit this time.”
No one knew Meng Yuzun’s feeling. This gave him great shame, but he still had to force a smile and carry out the day’s most important task.
Meng Mingshi’s marriage with Shangguan Ru was to be held as scheduled, before noon.
Now Meng Yuzun needed the support of the Supreme King more than ever. This marriage was of great significance to him.
This was also what military counselor Fang Wenshi worried about the most. “We are pushing the Meng family to the Golden Roc Fort” he said, sighed and shook his head. But to his relief, Dragon King seemed to have no intention of interfering with the wedding. Dragon King looked calm as if he had already accepted the fact.
Fang Wenshi did not care about offending the Meng family. But he had a strict principle: Counselors could indulge in women and wine, but the masters had to be free from desires. Acting impulsively for any woman would never bring good results.
Residents of Jade City swung between watching the Dragon King’s slaughter and the grand wedding ceremony. In the end, most people still thought the wedding ceremony more entertaining and flocked to the main streets of North City to watch the most sensational wedding reception. The last time the whole city happened to be so excited was for Shangguan Nu’s wedding with Luo Ningcha.
The Meng family’s wedding procession lasted for several miles. The leading percussion band had already reached the center of North City, when the end of the procession had not yet completely left the Meng’s residence.
Meng Mingshi rode on his horse, in low spirits and surrounded by Golden Roc killers as guards. He did not show any joy of being the bridegroom on his face, nor did he respond to the onlookers’ cheers.
