Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Tuosai raised his head and squinted at the clear sky, believing that it would be a perfect day.
‘How fortunate I am,’ he thought. His cousin King Kuari and father King Riyao had actually both died on the same day, and as a result he had inherited both of their powerful forces. From that moment on, he felt that he was destined to eventually become the Khan. The feeling only grew stronger until it finally reached a climax on this special day.
The two most powerful forces leftover from the remnants of the Royal Court were about to have a decisive battle. The Commander-in-chief of one side had surprisingly been assassinated and the corpse was now in his possession.
King Riyao looked at the Dragon King who was beside him and felt a great sense of satisfaction and superiority. This man might have an ambiguous relationship with Luo Ningcha, but after today, he would no longer be a threat. A self-proclaimed little king of the Western Regions actually wanted to compete for power in the Norland. What a ridiculous thought that was.
“The Dragon King has done a great service today, but you let the wing guard Red Kite escape, your faults outweigh your contributions. You’ll have to think it over and give me a reasonable explanation later.”
King Riyao’s voice grew stern as he evaluated the Dragon King’s actions and his riding speed increased correspondingly. By the time he was finished with his words, he was a horse’s distance ahead of the Dragon King.
Distance was power. Tuosai had put into practice the royal families of the Norland’s rules for the first time and was very satisfied.
The entourage swarmed to catch up, forming a tight circle between King Riyao and the Dragon King. They were more familiar with the rules than their lord and knew that the Dragon King had been banished and would perhaps never be able to rise up again.
Azheba and the other officers, however, approached the Dragon King.
The corpses had been taken away by King Riyao. Now, they were in the same situation where they might be relegated or even banished from the royal court after the new commandant took office.
“What is Tuosai going to do?” Liman asked first. He was not used to calling the other side ‘King Riyao’ yet.
“He will go to the Court Attendants Army and announce the death of the Commandant himself.” Azheba sighed. Choosing who to announce the news was a subtle political maneuver. Ideally, they would have used the opportunity to support a new commander who was inclined towards Prince Duodun, but they had failed.
“Will the Court Attendants Army pledge allegiance to Tuosai?” Gu Shenwei had a few questions in his heart as well.
“No.” Azheba was quite certain about this. He had spent eight or nine years in the Court Attendants Army and had a thorough knowledge regarding the thoughts of the generals and soldiers. “The Commandant of the Court Attendants Army cannot inherit the throne. This has been the rule for many years and will not change just because of Tuosai. But Tuosai can demand for an immediate election of the new commandant when he returns the corpse. And with his interference, it will be clear who the new commandant will be loyal to.”
“Tuosai has been very invested in winning over the Court Attendants Army. He might have already have a candidate in mind,” Gu Shenwei guessed.
“Wucuo.” The officers called out a name in unison.
“Wucuo is a captain of the Court Attendants Army and also from King Riyao’s tribe. He’s Tuosai’s uncle, though not a particularly close one,” Liman explained.
Gu Shenwei stayed silent for a while before asking, “Who would you choose?”
All the officers turned to Azheba, who bit his lip and replied, “Gulun, the vice-commandant of the Court Attendants Army. He is one of the previous Commandant’s most trusted men. He came from a small tribe and has no background to speak of. We usually contacted the Commandant through him.”
“When you enter the camp, immediately go to Gulun and tell him to not take part in the upcoming fight for the position.”
“Why?” Azheba and others were taken aback. They had actually hesitated before coming to win over the Dragon King and did not completely trust him yet, and thus were not used to the sudden orders he had a habit of giving.
“At least do not join in for the first round.” Gu Shenwei couldn’t explain the reasoning behind his orders, because much of his decision-making process was based on guesses.
“First round? Won’t the commandant be elected right away?” Azheba asked on behalf of the crowd.
“I suppose not. Does King Shengri have any supporters in the Court Attendants Army?”
The officers listed off several names. King Shengri had been silent in the Royal Court for a long time and held little influence. Although these three or four people had a connection with him, they were not really supporters.
Gu Shenwei had a feeling that King Riyao Tuosai was walking into a trap.
If the Commandant had really been persuaded to leave the camp by a mole, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would have had many opportunities to kill him, but they had supposedly coincidentally chosen to do so in the early morning and also on the path Tuosai had to take. If it had not been for Han Wuxian who had discovered the assassination, the body would have been in Tuosai’s hands since long ago.
Gu Shenwei was familiar with Lotus’s means because these were all his old tricks.
The news of the Commandant’s assassination was already been spread by the soldiers of King Riyao. The soldiers of the frontline remained combat-ready, but the camp behind had opened up to Tuosai who was returning the bodies.
Both the Dragon King and those officers were minor characters now. Azheba and others went to see vice-commandant Gulun while Liman led the Dragon King to rest in a tent.
“They have to consult with Commandant Gulun. Although the death of the Commandant is very sad, it’s also an opportunity that they won’t easily let go of.” Liman believed in the Dragon King but he was not even an officer in the Court Attendants Army. He was staying in the camp as a friend and had little influence.
Gu Shenwei nodded to show that he understood. If he were Azheba and others, he would also find it hard to give up fighting for the commander’s position just from a stranger’s word.
Standing at the door, Gu Shenwei lifted the entry flap and looked around for a moment. “The soldiers are lowering the flag.”
In front of each tent stood flags marking their subordination. As Gu Shenwei watched, the flags fell down one by one, and all the soldiers stood at the door with their sabers unsheathed and bowed their heads in silence around the flags.
“As always, the soldiers who are not familiar with the Commandant will grieve as much as they can, but the generals who talked with him every day are in a hurry to forget him.” Liman sighed with emotion. “Sometimes I feel that this whole situation is so unbelievable. When the Khan was alive, everyone thought that no one would dare touch even a hair of his. But he was killed by several women. He died so easily. I knew that this is the truth, but I just can’t believe it even now. Those slave girls were also from the Norland.”
Gu Shenwei was also very surprised. Many of Lotus’s tricks had been adapted from his but her plot to assassinate the Khan had been done in a bolder manner than he could have ever imagined, and that plan had even succeeded.
The difference between him and her was that little bit of madness.
Liman also went to the door and looked out for a while before returning to his original place and continuing to vent. “Do you know what scares me the most? The god-like Khan died, and no one is trying to avenge him or even uncover who the real culprit is. The blaming and framing of each other is nothing more than a means to seize power. Dragon King, no offense, but please let me say something impolite. If I were the Khan’s son, I’d have killed you already. Because you were in the Khan’s tent and that alone is enough.”
“A lot of people think the same as you.” Gu Shenwei didn’t tell Liman that the wing guards had already tried to kill the Dragon King.
“Well, the royal families believe that you have something to do with the death of the Khan, but they have no desire to take revenge. On the contrary, it’s the ordinary soldiers outside who are willing to bury themselves with the Khan if given the order. But they don’t believe the Khan was killed, and instead think that he ascended to Heaven and became a god. What I see is a great schism in the Norland and compared to that, the battles between the lords is a mere trifle.”
Gu Shenwei looked at Liman with a somewhat surprised expression. He didn’t expect him to say such a thing.
Liman looked back up at the Dragon King and seriously asked, “Is the Norland really going to perish? Will the Central Plains Army soon sweep across the prairie and reduce us all to slaves?”
“There will always be a man of the Norland that reunites the prairie. Don’t you trust Prince Duodun?”
“That was before, and the divide between the royal family and soldiers was not so clear then, but now… Now I doubt anyone can save the Norland.” Liman covered his face with both hands and sighed in dismay. He had bottled these words up in his heart for a long time and dared not seek solace from his friends. He could only confide in the less familiar Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei thought that there must be other reasons for Liman’s negativity. He was just about to ask when Azheba came in. Liman immediately stood up, showing a look of eagerness. “How is it?”
“Commandant Gulun wants to see you,” said Azheba. Liman complied with the order and left, and Azheba stayed behind this time. “Commandant Gulun has decided to take part in the election, and many of the officers support him. But he thanked the Dragon King for reminding him and hoped that the Dragon King will stay in the Court Attendants Army afterward.”
King Riyao Tuosai’s attitude to the Dragon King was very clear now. So, Gulun was actually making a promise to protect the Dragon King euphemistically.
Gu Shenwei neither rejected nor agreed to the proposal. He thought for a while and changed the topic. “I hope that I’m wrong. Anyways, the assassination was ordered by King Shengri. He will not simply sit back and watch the position of the Commandant fall into the hands of outsiders. Watch out for his moves; Tuosai and his supporter are nothing to be afraid of.”
The officers were all skeptical when Gu Shenwei had made the suggestion on the road, and Azheba had been no exception. But this time, he appeared very serious and even slightly deferential towards the Dragon King’s words. “The Dragon King is right. King Shengri has proposed a truce and said that he would personally come to express his condolences to the former Commandant with several other lords.”
“Sounds like he has a well-thought-out plan.”
“It’s not clear who he supports. Several potential candidates are being watched, but this is not a complete solution.”
Gu Shenwei knew why Azheba had sent Liman away and stayed alone now.
“Instructor Shangguan often comes to the camp.” Instead of getting to the point, Azheba pivoted to Shangguan Ru. “I’ve never seen a girl be loved by so many soldiers. Ah, I didn’t mean anything by that…”
Perhaps thinking that the word ‘love’ was inappropriate, Azheba was somewhat anxious to explain. Gu Shenwei interrupted him, saying, “I see what you mean. She’s a good officer and deserves to be loved by the soldiers.”
Gu Shenwei wasn’t surprised. Shangguan Ru had always been vigorous and unrestrained in her behavior ever since she was little; she had even gotten along very well with the bandits of the Iron Mountain as if she were a fish in water, which was a small wonder. She had the unique ability to make people look past her appearances and pay more attention to her other virtues, even though she was as good-looking as Luo Ningcha.
Azheba smiled. “Instructor Shangguan is very loyal to the Dragon King. Many soldiers of the Court Attendants Army have been influenced by her and have a very good impression of the Dragon King.”
“Just say what you think. It’s better for us to speak our minds at a time like this.” Gu Shenwei didn’t want to talk to Azheba again about Shangguan Ru.
“Commandant Gulun and I hope that the Dragon King can draw his saber to help us if the results of the election are not satisfactory.”
