Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei did not punish Fang Wenshi. After all, the military counselor had only been guilty of adoring the Princess; he committed no egregious acts. He apologized to Dragon King, crying like a child. Dragon King accepted his apology like an adult and comforted him.
As for the plan to unite with Norland, Gu Shenwei had to reconsider, because it was created by the military counselor on impulse to rid himself of his lust for the Princess. Therefore, the Dragon King certainly could not agree to it impulsively.
Before meeting his military counselor, he had thought that he should bring envy and hate and punish Fang Wenshi harshly. But he found that envy and hate were not rooted in his heart from the beginning. He hoped to show that men had the right to their fiancée, but he found that he did not care it at all.
Gu Shenwei could not remember the Princess’s face, but only the expression of fear, tension, and resistance.
” This is just a small matter, ” he thought, ” I marry the princess to win people’s support in Xiaoyao Lake. It has nothing to do with love or even with the Princess. ”
On the way back to the barracks, he abandoned these silly ideas and turned to thinking about the battle with Shangguan Jianyi’s killers, the battle with the 50,000-strong army of Golden Roc Fort, and more wars after the final battle. Although the Great Snowmountain lost more than ten soldiers through two nights of battle, they also gained many clues. The hiding place of the killers of Golden Roc became more and more apparent.
Gu Shenwei occasionally glanced at the macheteman Lin Xiaoshan. An idea flashed across his mind, but he calmed down quickly.
Jiang was destined to marry the Dragon King, which was crucial to both the Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain. Anyway, this would not change because of a macheteman.
Lin Xiaoshan’s self-control was much better than Fang Wenshi’s, for example, whenever he heard about the Dragon King, he showed the same deferential attitude as usual, and his vigilance remained very high. He was always the first to respond when there was trouble around him.
It was better to remain silent than to be clear about this young macheteman– this was Gu Shen’s final decision.
Back at the barracks, Gu Shenwei summoned Dugu Xian. Left General had been in the office for two or three days and had been doing nothing. Gu Shenwei wanted answers.
Dugu Xian lost an arm, which truly made him the “lone” general. He did not fully recover from his injury and was a little withered, but it was nothing serious.
At the right moment, he desired to meet with the Dragon King.
“I know about the situation of the soldiers. The source of the Dragon King’s army is very complicated,” said Dugu Xian.
“Yes, so I need a professional general like you to turn them into real soldiers,” the Dragon King replied.
“Training can begin at any time, but this isn’t the most urgent problem at present. Although there are 20,000 soldiers in our army, the troops come from various sources. Because of the vast differences in tactics, they can only act independently. There are many soldiers who fight bravely, but also quite a few cowards who avoid fighting, so the number of qualified soldiers is actually less than 20,000.”
Gu Shenwei nodded and encouraged Dugu Xian to continue. This was indeed one of the fatal shortcomings of Great Snowmountain army. Swordsmen, machetemen, savages, slaves, nobles, tribes, mine thieves, and some who came from five countries all differed enormously. Some even hated each other. The seeds of betrayal were planted everywhere– one small trifle could lead to unexpected consequences.
“Therefore, I’ll reorganize the whole army before training to remove misunderstanding and differences among each troop. Thus unifying the command and structure of the army,” Dugu Xian concluded.
This was the best solution to the problem, perhaps the only one. Gu Shenwei had a similar plan before, but he did not carry it out. The first reason was that he lacked time and energy, and the second was that he worried the generals and soldiers would misunderstand this move.
The smallest of things could cause mayhem. It was hard to say what kind of trouble would be caused by such a large reorganization, given that it affected so many people.
“We mustn’t be too hasty in this matter.” Gu Shenwei did not want to change the status quo before he was sure.
After several days’ understanding, Dugu Xian realized how difficult it was to completely reorganize an army. “Do you worry the soldiers from five countries will oppose reorganization, Dragon King?” Dugu Xian asked.
Soldiers from five countries had always been the core of the army. As the Dragon King’s most trusted soldiers, the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain enjoyed many privileges. The leaders of each nation had supreme power over their own tribe; at times even the Dragon King could not intervene. In every battle, the Dragon King gave orders to chiefs and they, in turn, commanded their soldiers.
Once reorganized into a regular army, there would be no difference between swordsmen and other soldiers, which would be difficult for many people to accept.
Dugu Xian did not think too much. He thought Dragon King was worried about the soldiers from five countries, so he continued, which was his main purpose to meet Dragon King, “The soldiers from five countries are not very reliable, but they have received some regular training and will be the first available force with a little more training. For the time being, Shangguan Jianyi will not take action, but it won’t be long before he finds out we’re bluffing. He’ll certainly attack us next spring at the latest, so we don’t have much time left.”
Gu Shenwei almost guessed what Dugu Xian wanted to say, which was another difficult problem to solve.
“The most important thing is to grab the hearts of the generals and soldiers from five countries. Dragon King, please forgive me for saying too much, but it isn’t a good idea to marry two queens at the same time.”
The Kang, Sha, Hui and An Kingdoms once formed a coalition to attack the Stone Kingdom. But after joining the Great Snowmountain army, they resolved their differences and stared at foreign soldiers together with suspicion, especially the few swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain whom Dragon King trusted most.
At first, marrying the Princess of the Stone Kingdom was to appease the hearts of the people of the five countries, but the appearance of Jiang disturbed the plan, and the things that the Great Snowmountain took pride in made five countries dissatisfied.
The Princess of the Stone Kingdom, who appeared in public only once, suddenly became the symbol of hope for the soldiers from five countries.
On one hand, they were their strongest supporters, on the other hand, they were the most urgently needed power, so Gu Shenwei was in a dilemma.
It was more difficult to make a reasonable arrangement to balance people’s benefits than destroy the enemy– a problem unsolved by both ancient and modern emperors alike. As his power expanded, Dragon King also encountered the same problem.
After leaving Dugu Xian, Gu Shenwei summoned the five generals once again. The generals of the An Kingdom all pleaded guilty of involvment in the betrayal, and therefore some people were newly promoted, including the head of guards Wu Zongheng.
Wu Zongheng was originally a low-level gatekeeper in Anguo city. When the king fled, he did not even think of him; but he showed some leadership qualities when the city was about to fall into chaos. Gu Shen transferred him from the An Kingdom and he earned several promotions, and eventually became the leader of the An Kingdom army.
Of over a dozen generals from the five countries in Xiaoyao Lake, only he was a civilian.
Things were more serious than Gu Shenwei imagined. Although the generals were submissive and obedient to the Dragon King, everyone kept silent when it came to the imperial wedding to be held the day after next, especially the generals of the Stone Kingdom who felt dejected, and ashamed.
Wu Zongheng was appreciated by Dragon King, and he was trusted by him to a certain extent. So he was elected to express everyone’s true thoughts. “We’re wondering if, well, if the Dragon King, uh, can the imperial wedding… be staggered, only one day, can you marry the Princess first…” he stuttered and stammered.
The Prince of the Kang Kingdom wanted to marry the Princess at first, but he failed. He was still bitter, and at this moment he sided with the generals. He was not punished for speaking rudely in front of the Dragon King, and this emboldened him a bit. So after Wu Zongheng finished speaking, the Prince said, “Dragon King will marry the Princess of the Stone Kingdom, which is a great honor to Xiaoyao Lake. As everyone knows, the wedding was nearly a year ago. But I don’t know, when did Dragon King decide to marry ‘Princess’ of the Great Snowmountain?”
The generals all nodded and felt these word expressed their feelings. There was no issue of how many women the Dragon King could marry and make Queen. There were many small countries in the Western Region where this sort of thing was not unusual, but one Queen had to come first above all others. The Princess of the Stone Kingdom chose the Dragon King as her bridegroom, which had been tested again and again. But a girl named Jiang from the Great Snowmountain, a maid, would also marry Dragon King and suddenly hold the same status as the real Princess.
Gu Shenwei remembered that his father said those in high positions should speak and act cautiously unless they made up their minds to follow through to the end; so he expressed his understanding of the concerns of the generals and soldiers from five countries, yet made no promises.
It was a good idea to marry the Princess the first day and Jiang the next day. Gu Shenwei was confident that he could convince the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, the key was to convince the three warlocks.
These three warlocks were the medium between Dragon King and the Empyrean and they held one of the Dragon King’s most important secrets. They were very stubborn and insisted that the Dragon King carry out his original promise: The first Queen he married had to be a woman from the Great Snowmountain. He could also marry another woman, but only one day, or even a quarter of an hour later.
Gu Shenwei considered killing these three warlocks, but he quickly abandoned this plan because his belief in the Empyrean occupied an important position in the life of the Great Snowmountain. Gu Shenwei was not related to the Great Snowmountain, but he was honored as “Chief of the Dragons and King of the Five Peaks,” which greatly depended on “providence.”
He still needed these warlocks, and they may soon be of use to him.
The battle against Shangguan Jianyi’s killers carried on. People were killed everyday, but Dragon King’s upcoming wedding had captured the attention of most people.
Gu Shenwei had to find the best way to solve the problem, which was not to satisfy only one side but to satisfy everyone.
Zhong Heng was a veteran at solving problems, but Gu Shenwei did not plan to ask him for advice. This involved something personal, which was the secret he could not reveal.
He decided to find a solution on his own.
It was getting dark. Gu Shenwei finished his work early and entered a random tent to have a rest.
As expected, Jiang was sent in advance by the chiefs, preparing dinner, waiting to serve the Dragon King.
Outside the tent, it seemed that Lin Xiaoshan decided not to rest. He stood guard faithfully, refusing to take shifts.
Some people were in favor of the Dragon King’s wedding arrangements, others were not. Gu Shenwei found he was in an absurd dilemma. He thought, “Why not let Lin Xiaoshan take Jiang away? But if so, the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain would lose face and suffer quite an embarrassment, which would go against my true intentions.”
Jiang nervously laid out bowls and chopsticks still as nervous and impetuous as before. As soon as Dragon King entered the tent, she broke a bowl and juice spilled all over the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Jiang apologized with a red face, hurrying to wipe the floor with a cloth.
“Leave it be,” said Gu Shenwei as he sat on the sleeping mat. He pointed at the empty place beside him and said, “Come here.”
Jiang seemed to be struck by lightning. With a face as red as blood, she bit her lip to force herself to remain calm and walked step by step towards the Dragon King. Sitting by his side with her body quivering and head hanging, her irregular breath was like an enduring sob.
“How much do you like Lin Xiaoshan?” Gu Shenwei remained unmoved and ask the frightened girl bluntly.
