Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei led soldiers to make an attack on a hidden stronghold of the killers of Golden Roc Fort.
Although he had received some clues, he still could not find Shangguan Jianyi. He had to do something to boost the soldiers’ morale, so he led this attack.
100 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and 50 savage archers disguised as guards and then followed the Dragon King into the city. As they were approaching the gate, they suddenly launched their sneak attack and surrounded a manor in the east of the city.
The manor belonged to the royal family of the Stone Kingdom. It was abandoned during the siege of the capital and had not been restored for some time. The intelligence obtained by the spies of the Great Snowmountain and Xu Xiaoyi indicated that there were about a dozen killers and machetemen of Golden Roc Fort stationed there.
Since they had prepared the attack well, the whole process was very smooth, like recreational hunting: swordsmen set fire around, leaving only one gap to force the enemies out of their hiding place, while archers shot the enemies from a distance to kill the those trying to escape.
Gu Shenwei watched the entire attack without intervening or allowing any of his swordsmen to rush in. In order to exterminate several killers, it was not worth sacrificing any of his soldiers.
A total of 11 people were killed. Judging by their weapons, three were killers and the others were employed machetemen.
Gu Shenwei led 50 guards to the capital and left 100 guards behind. After the fire went out, he thoroughly searched the ruins of the manor and made sure nobody was left.
Lin Xiaoshan was not allowed to take part in the operation. He stayed in the barracks to protect the future Queen of the Great Snowmountain.
Gu Shenwei summoned the King and the Princess at the same time to the Council Chamber of the royal palace.
The news that the Dragon King destroyed the stronghold of killers had spread to the palace. Therefore, when the Dragon King entered into the palace holding the hilt of his saber, in the eyes of the King and the Princess he was shrouded in a murderous atmosphere, surrounded with by a strong smell of blood.
The Princess was able to remain calm, but the King was shaking.
Gu Shenwei had a deep understanding that imagination always brought more fear than the fact. Although there were advantages and disadvantages, he had gained more benefits from it.
Gu Shenwei nodded indifferently and sat on the throne without ceremony. In the main hall, the King would sit on the throne; but in the Council Chamber, the Dragon King was the master.
Gu Shenwei saw the Princess’ face for the first time.
He could understand why Fang Wenshi fell deeply in love with the Princess. Even with a heart full of fear, the Princess had her own noble temperament which was a result of the education she received in the small courtyard of Jade City since childhood. Years of living a closed life made her used to the scene, even though it was unfamiliar.
A woman who had seen the world a little, even the daughter of the emperor, would not maintain this nobility at all times like her.
For Fang Wenshi, who had been struggling to survive for many years, the Princess was like a fairy goddess from heaven.
Although the King received the same education as his sister’s, his career as a puppet, like treading on thin ice, had worn away the ostentatious appearance. What remained was only the most real resentment and triviality. Even when flattering the Dragon King, he could not hide it, “I’m happy to hear that the Dragon King has destroyed several killers of Golden Roc Fort.”
“Well, I burned one of your manors,” said the Dragon King.
“Good job! As long as you got rid of those moths, you could also burn the royal palace,” the King replied.
“I will consider it, because the palace is indeed a good place for killers to hide.”
The King was stunned. After all, the palace was his home and the only place where he could give orders. If it were burned, he would not even be a puppet, so he regreted his talkative remark, “The palace is clean, and never–”
Gu Shenwei ignored the King but turned his attention to the Princess.
The weak Princess seemed unable to bear even a glance, and the panic in her eyes was on the verge of overflow. She did not know if she was shocked or actually braver than her brother, but she did not escape the eyes of the Dragon King.
Maybe the Princess was someone with whom Gu Shenwei could discuss business. He greatly changed his impression of her and said to her rather than the King, “There is one thing that I need your help with.”
Tomorrow was their wedding, so it was not very polite for them to meet, but the Princess did not care. When speaking directly to the Dragon King, she still felt very nervous and had not opened her mouth after several moments of deliberation. Her courage had run out, so she must accumulate it again.
The King was afraid that the Dragon King would actually burn the palace, so he flatteringly interjected, “You are so polite! The Princess is yours and you can give orders to her anytime. How else may I be of assistance?”
Gu Shenwei was still waiting for the Princess to answer.
The Princess took a breath slowly and said, “Please give your orders.”
“I hope that you can go out of the city to visit Jiang. She lived with you and accepted your care before; she misses you very much.”
The Princess did not understand government affairs, but she understood the purpose of the Dragon King’s move.
The Dragon King married two queens at the same time, and the people of Xiaoyao Lake felt that the Princess was humiliated. If she showed affection for Jiang at this time, it could alleviate the people’s dissatisfaction with him to a certain extent.
But this was indeed a shame. Jiang lived in the palace as a maid before but suddenly stood on equal terms with the Princess. Now the Princess was asked to go out of town to visit her, which was incompatible with the idea she had formed since she was a child.
Because the King had suffered far more serious humiliations than this, he did not care. As long as the Dragon King was happy and did not burn the royal palace, he could treat his sister as a slave. So he said, “No problem. They will be sisters in the future. When will she go? Now? I’ll order people to prepare a carriage.”
The King was like an impatient assistant and ran out of the Council Chamber to look for someone, hoping that the Dragon King would leave as soon as possible.
Only the Dragon King and the Princess stayed in the room.
Looking at the girl who would become his wife, Gu Shenwei felt that the Princess was a negotiator, and held something he desperately needed.
“You don’t have to go to visit Jiang,” Gu Shenwei said. Although this was a bit hypocritical, he would not force the Princess out of the city.
“No, I want to go.” When facing the Dragon King alone, the Princess became calmed down significantly. She said, “Tomorrow I will be your Queen, so I should think of you. Now the situation is chaotic, so I am happy even if I only contribute a little.”
After Zhong Heng met the Princess, he said that she would be a qualified queen. Now Gu Shenwei understood the Prime Minister’s meaning. Although she was still very shrewd when she said these words, sooner or later she would become familiar with them and make her words more credible.
Gu Shenwei tried to test her and then said, “I hope you know that you don’t have to marry me.”
She was stunned for a while, and the last tremor in her voice disappeared. She said softly, “What happened to the Dragon King?”
“The Dragon King is just an assumed name. I have no royal lineage, no palaces, and no hordes of slaves. The army of Golden Roc Fort will attack at any time; it may not be very long before I have to flee once again, and even I can’t guarantee your safety. So I can postpone the wedding until the situation is favorable.”
The Princess was confused. She did not know how to deal with the unexpected kindness of the Dragon King. He was not like the murderous man in her impression. Although she was eager to speak her mind, she was trained to suppress the nature from childhood, so she just said what she was supposed to say.
“The real kings don’t ask about their origins. It is rare for the royal families of the Western Regions to trace back five generations. In the past year, how many royal families have died by the sword? You don’t have to worry about me. If anything happens, I will commit suicide to protect your honor and never drag you down.”
In less than 15 minutes, Gu Shenwei had witnessed the strange changes of the Princess, from a frightened girl to more and more like the mother of a country.
The image of Lady Meng of Golden Roc Fort appeared in his mind.
The King had prepared the carriage and then ran to suggest that the Dragon king and the Princess could leave now.
Guards who stayed outside the city to search for the manor had also arrived, and reported that they found a remaining group of killers in Golden Roc Fort and killed them.
The Princess left the palace with only two court maids. Xu Yanwei was preparing for the wedding and did not follow her.
Tomorrow was the wedding, but the Dragon King took away the Princess at this time. The people in the city were very surprised and then found out the reason themselves. They said, “This is the custom of the Great Snowmountain. Jiang was taken to the barracks as soon as the wedding was announced. It was probably the same for the Princess.”
“The Princess is pathetic,” someone said.
“They’re just heathens,” another retorted.
In fact, Gu Shenwei escorted the Princess out of the city with 150 guards. Instead of leaving the city directly, he took a detour and destroyed another stronghold of Golden Roc Fort killers in the city.
Another five people were killed by the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, which was a balance for the assassination tide over the past few days.
The Princess sat in the carriage but heard the sounds outside clearly. She found that the killing was not as terrible as she had imagined, she did not hear tragic screams and violent roars, and the duration was very short. The carriage seemed to have just stopped and the extermination was over.
The Princess and the people of the city were impressed by the Dragon King’s retaliation, which was easy as if lion and tiger were playing with chickens and rabbits. The previous forbearance was no longer helpless, but a success.
In fact, Gu Shenwei only found these two strongholds by casting a huge net, and he knew very well that there were no important figures in the strongholds. A hasty encirclement and suppression would urge other killers to hide deeper and would also provoke a strong rebound from Shangguan Jianyi.
This was his purpose.
The arrival of the Princess was completely beyond Jiang’s expectation. As a result, she did not know how to cope with situation and was at the mercy of the moment.
Two future Queens appeared in the barracks at the same time, which made the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and the soldiers of the Five Countries very happy. The former saw their woman standing with the Princess, while the latter found that the Princess of Stone Kingdom was more like the Queen.
That evening, the Princess stayed in the barracks. She and Jiang would return to the palace together in the next morning and be formally sent to the Dragon King’s “temporary residence palace” to hold the wedding at noon.
The so-called “temporary residence palace” was the main tent in the barracks, which had been decorated from inside out.
The next day was the Dragon King’s wedding, so they had enhanced the defense in the barracks, which was several times stricter than usual. Lights were on all night and almost half of the soldiers participated in patrols.
But this still could not hold back the first-class killers of Golden Roc Fort.
Shangguan Jianyi did not want to be overpowered by the Dragon King’s encirclement and suppression, so he launched a larger assassination that night, targeting mainly swordsmen and savage soldiers of the Great Snowmountain, and the two Queens.
The macheteman Lin Xiaoshan finally had a chance to fulfill his promise.
