Chapter 261: Borrowed Blade
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
On the surface, Prime Minister Shi controlled the government of Shu-lik. However, there were definitely great dangers hidden within.
He didn’t agree with the other ministers, but he didn’t care. The Prince stood on the side of those ministers which caused the situation to be different. Although the King of Shu-lik was only in his forties, his physical condition was not good. Prime Minister Shi was worried that, once the king died, the Prince would succeed the throne. This would be unfavorable to him, so his idea was to preemptively become the king himself.
The original collaborator that decided this was Shangguan Tian, but he did not yet announced his temptations. The Second Young Master of Golden Roc Fort had suffered a crushing defeat in the competition with the Dragon King. Therefore, Prime Minister Shi quickly changed his mind.
He gave a promise in a secret conversation with the Dragon King: he would fully support the Great Snowmountain after usurping the throne. He will, not only allow passage across their roads, he will also supply grains for the horses, weapons, and armor, however he could not lend them troops. The Shu-lik country could not publicly stand on the side of the Great Snowmountain.
Gu Shenwei asked his military counselor, “How trustworthy are the words of the Prime Minister?”
Fang Wenshi recalled every detail of his meeting with Prime Minister Shi. “I want to say that this matter is concluded. Prime Minister Shi has been persuaded by me. If he becomes king, there are eight or nine times out of ten that he will regard Golden Roc Fort as his enemy.”
“What I mean is that this isn’t going to be a plot to kill someone, right?”
“Oh.” Fang Wenshi tend to focus on the grand scheme of things, thinking less about details and conscientiously thought for a while before continuing, “He wants to usurp the throne, this cannot be fake. Hence, he invites you as a killer. It should be sincere, but you must prevent the possibility that he may blame the regicide on the Great Snowmountain after he successfully accomplished his plans.”
This was exactly what Gu Shenwei was worried about. No one is willing to bear the charge of killing their brothers. If Prime Minister Shi turns on them, then the Great Snowmountain would face imminent danger.
After dawn, Fang Wenshi, on behalf of the Dragon King, was to see Prime Minister Shi and brought with him a specific assassination plan. He also put forward two requirements: First, Prime Minister Shi has to write down his promises in black ink on white paper and stamp them with public and private seals. Second, he must provide the details of the guards of the palace. The Dragon King did not want any accidents to occur during the assassination.
Prime Minister Shi quickly agreed to the second article. His own henchmen were among the guards in the palace. He had clearly revealed the guard patrol routes, the times when their shifts will change, the position of the alarms, and so on. After Prime Minister Shi finished writing it all down, he handed it over to Fang Wenshi.
As for the first article, Prime Minister Shi was a bit ambiguous. The Dragon King could not completely trust him, but the Prime Minister also did not want to be so easily handled by others. Furthermore, his commitment to write everything on paper and stamp it with his seal would be ironclad evidence of his rebellion. If any of this ends up in the hands of the King of Shu-lik then it would bring great calamity.
The two bargained like businessmen. Take a step back and I’ll let a foot. They struggled for a long time before finally reaching a compromise. Prime Minister Shi wrote all the promises and stamped it with his seal, but did not give it to Fang Wenshi. However, he agreed to hand it over on the day when the assassination plan has been completed.
One hand handed over the money while the other hand received the delivery. Thus, the assassination of the King of Shu-lik was set in motion. The time was set for after the second round of Breaking Obsession in two days and the location was the main hall of the palace.
The Prime Minister’s mansion aside, Gu Shenwei was not idle and was running around all day long.
He first went to Xu Xiaoyi. He did not talk about the assassination plan as he only came to inquire for intelligence.
Xu Xiaoyi had received news that Shangguan Tian had lost trust in the Prime Minister, but he did not give up. He immediately sided with the other ministers. Moyang was originally part of the opposition party against Golden Roc Fort, but he became a supporter with the efforts of Shangguan Tian. Compared with the Great Snowmountain’s messenger, he held a huge advantage, that is, he could talk privately with the King of Shu-lik. Even if Fang Wenshi was irrefutable, Shangguan Tian was incapable of admiring the subtle influence of the military counselor.
Helping Prime Minister Shi seems to be really the only choice.
After having said that, Xu Xiaoyi secretly lowered his voice. “Someone wants to see you. Who would you never think of?”
Xu Xiaoyi revealed a hint of smug and felt that it was very rare for Brother Huan to have such a hard time.
“Shangguan Hong.”
Xu Xiaoyi was taken aback at the name that Gu Shenwei had said. “You… How did you know… have you met him?”
In fact, Xu Xiaoyi showed his own prowess. His expression showed that the person who saw him was a person whom Gu Shenwei was acquainted with. With a little intuition, Gu Shenwei thought of Shangguan Hong almost instantaneously. In fact, he was just the person he wanted to see.
Whether in Golden Roc Fort or in Shu-lik, Shangguan Hong’s status was embarrassing. He had been recognized as the son of the Supreme King for several years, yet he still did not receive the title of Young Master. Everyone considered him to be a chess piece within the hands of Lady Meng, and an insignificant piece that was occasionally picked up and used, and then discarded immediately afterwards.
He had followed his second brother to the Shu-lik country, and also took the position of an overseer. Shangguan Tian was so cold to his brother and even treated him like a slave. When he competed with the Dragon King, Shangguan Tian had been hiding beside Prime Minister Shi. Shangguan Hong stayed with the Golden Roc security agency, just like everyone else.
Even the slaves and servants did not take care of this “Master Hong”, and no one wanted to provoke the Second Young Master’s suspicions.
This brought a benefit. Shangguan Hong was a lonely man, and no one paid any attention to anything he does. Because of this, he was able to secretly go see Xu Xiaoyi and ask for the Dragon King, killer Yang Huan. He did not recognize that this man with a small mustache grown across his face was a teenager that came out of Jade City, and even thought that he was one of the Dragon King’s men.
There was a small pub in a narrow alley behind the Golden Roc security agency. Shangguan Hong avoided everyone to drink here every day. Since childhood, he was known as a trust-fund baby. Even being a son of the Supreme King had failed to change him. The cheapest and worst quality of wines was on the table, as well as a dish of peanuts as snacks. When he tasted the wine, he was reminded of Zhang Ji’s teachings of personal examples and verbal instructions over the past few years.
But this day was far from over. Shangguan Hong felt that his patience was about to pass the limit. Zhang Ji kept saying that time was not ripe and that it was best for him to keep a low profile. The old bookkeeper had hidden himself throughout his whole life and was naturally full of patience, but he still wanted to have a good time with the youngsters.
The patron with black and thin whiskers at the table across from them have been chatting with the manager. When the manager went to collect the bill, he probably thought that working by himself was too boring so, while carrying snacks and wines and without being invited, he sat opposite Shangguan Hong.
“What?” Shangguan Hong was already drunk, squinting his eyes to size up the uninteresting guest.
“One drunk person is not as good as two drunk people. The more the merrier.”
There was a fat fish in the dishes that this guest had brought. Shangguan Hong was touched by it but then he secretly despised himself. If Zhang Ji saw him like this, he would certainly be scolded again. “That old thing,” Shangguan Hong cursed in his heart and raised his chopsticks and furiously picked at the fat fish.
Shangguan Hong ate quickly for a while and found that the guest sitting across him did not move his chopsticks, so he pushed over the peanuts on his side and said, “Here, have a taste.”
The guest shook his head and asked, “Is Mister Zhang Ji doing well?”
Shangguan Hong’s chopsticks halted in the air as he opened his mouth. Suddenly he felt embarrassed beyond words. If Zhang Ji had not repeatedly insisted, he would not want to meet with the killer Yang Huan. In his mind, this was Slave Huan.
His association with Slave Huan was already not right from the beginning, and have not been seen since. He was also a master by name, but he always took money from the slaves and worked for the slaves.
“Oh, he’s well. I didn’t expect you to come today,” answered Shangguan Hong.
Gu Shenwei came here as soon as he received the message from Xu Xiaoyi. He had been observing for a long time before deciding to reveal himself after he confirmed that there were no traps. After seeing Shangguan Hong, he once again started to feel his initial doubts. Zhang Ji was such a deeply profound counselor, why did you choose the most incompetent son of the Supreme King to assist him?
“I hope that you have brought me some useful information,” said Gu Shenwei.
This sentence was rather condescending and it roused Shangguan Hong’s hatred as it surged within his heart. However, after years of submissive humiliation by Lady Meng, he was able to skillfully hide his emotions. His face revealed a meaningful smile and said, “It’s definitely useful, but it’s not quite appropriate here.”
Gu Shenwei said, “There is this Old Charm restaurant about three blocks away. Have you heard of it?”
Shangguan Hong nodded.
Gu Shenwei continued, “After half an hour, go there and find a guest named Gu.”
Shangguan Hong nodded again, and there was a sense of excitement in his heart. What Zhang Ji said was right, conspiracies are the most interesting games in this world. It secretly determined the fate of all beings. It is the power of the strong. Chopping and killing were nothing more than tools for the strong to achieve their goals.
Old Charm restaurant provided quiet and secluded private dining rooms, which was a good place to prevent eavesdropping. However, Shangguan Hong still spoke in a low voice and whispered, “Mister Zhang said that the Second Young Master must have different ambitions. With the Lord secretly voting for Norland and the Eighth Young Master surrendering to the Central Plains, the Second Young Master could only receive help from the Shu-lik country. This visit was to exterminate the Great Snowmountain only in name, but they actually want to borrow troops–“
Shangguan Hong made a slashing action. Gu Shenwei stayed calm and collected, thinking that as the number of sons of the Supreme King was becoming fewer and fewer, their ambitions were becoming bigger and bigger. He didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing for his revenge. He then said, “You should report this to Lady Meng and the Lord. It would be a great contribution.”
“How can this be carelessly said? I don’t even have any evidence,” Shangguan Hong said while being puzzled by Slave Huan’s cold reaction. Zhang Ji has said that Slave Huan would definitely be interested in this. Gu Shenwei explained, “You still don’t understand? If the Second Young Master borrows a big army from the Shu-lik country, then the first ones to suffer would be the Great Snowmountain. The Shu-lik must extinguish them first to eradicate any future worries. Only then will they send their troops to attack Jade City. Mister Zhang said that friends and enemies are all things at one time and one place. At this moment, we should form an alliance and jointly deal with Shangguan Tian.”
Shangguan Hong was too anxious. Before he waited for the other party’s response, he already said everything in his heart. Therefore, Gu Shenwei believed his words about eight or nine out of ten. Then he asked, “What is Shangguan Tian’s specific plan?”
“I don’t know, but I heard that he had hooked up with the chief minister named Moyang and was conspiring against the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort,” answered Shangguan Hong.
“What does Zhang Ji want me to do?” asked Gu Shenwei.
“Hey, you are a killer, what else is there for you to do?” Shangguan Hong said while drooping his head and feeling a little embarrassed. Then looked up at Slave Huan again as he hoped to show a firm will.
It was another plan to kill a person with a borrowed blade. Zhang Ji wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of the Second Young Master and pave the way for the future of Shangguan Hong. Gu Shenwei was well aware of this. He then said, “I will think this over. We’re in the Shu-lik country, I can’t casually kill people here.”
Shangguan Hong did not understand the meaning behind his words. He thought that Slave Huan did not believe in himself, and hurriedly threw out the last piece of information, “You don’t want to kill, but people want to kill you. Those killers that arrived a few days ago haven’t left yet, and have been staying at the Golden Roc security agency. Who do you think their target is? It’s definitely you. He who strikes first gains the advantage, and those afterwards will suffer. Zhang Ji has said that this is the only choice if you and the Great Snowmountain want to survive.”
For the second time in two days, Gu Shenwei heard the phrase “the only choice” and he couldn’t help but wonder if he really only had one choice.
