Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Han Fen knew nothing about where the Princess had hidden the book. She was just reluctant to leave the royal palace. “We’ll leave like that? Who’ll protect the Queen?”
No one answered her. Gu Shenwei did not evacuate everyone from the royal palace. He left many guards there to protect it.
Before he left, he wanted to teach a lesson to the King of the Stone Kingdom.
Although the Princess had done something wrong, she was still the Dragon King’s Queen. No one was entitled to humiliate her, especially the nominal King of the Stone Kingdom.
In the empty main hall, only four or five eunuchs stood near the Emperor behind the pillars, waiting to be called.
The King of the Stone Kingdom curled on the throne sideways, imagining that the court was full of civil and military officials. They were chanting about his virtues and achievements, while he remained dignified and was about to announce his sentence to the Dragon King.
Just then, the Dragon King walked into the main hall. He came alone, holding onto his hilt with his right hand. His face was pale and sickly.
“The Dragon King isn’t so lofty.” The King of the Stone Kingdom was still in his fantasy and did not fear the Dragon King so much. He straightened himself and said coldly, “There you are.”
“I’m here.”
“It doesn’t seem that I’ve called you.”
“No, you haven’t, I wanted to come.”
As the Dragon King got closer and closer, the sound of footsteps and the sound of a hilt rubbing against clothes were nearly unbearable in the empty hall.
The King of the Stone Kingdom suddenly woke up from his delusion. “He’s the powerful Dragon King who can take away my crown at any moment!”
The Dragon King suddenly seemed to be very formidable, and the King of the Stone Kingdom cringed like a shrimp. “Welcome, Dragon King, my brother-in-law and the dearest friend of the Stone Kingdom. I was looking forward to seeing you, and here you are.”
The flattery of the King of the Stone Kingdom could not have even convinced a three-year-old child. The resentment in his words was crystal clear. His limited power had been further reduced since the arrival of the Dragon King. He had expected the An Kingdom at the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, but received nothing. The Dragon King did not even give a decent dowry, let alone a country.
“You can meet me at any time.” Gu Shenwei could not respect this incompetent king. “Just as long as you walk out of the royal palace and go to the barracks on the outskirts.”
“Well, I’ll think about it.” The King of the Stone Kingdom did not look happy. “I won’t leave because you might take the last bit of my things in the blink of an eye.”
“I came today to ask you to do one thing.”
They were both kings, and the King of the Stone Kingdom was a real legitimate one. He would not be happy receiving orders. Even Prime Minister Yang Dou, who used to be the actual ruler, would offer some superficial courtesy to him.
The King of the Stone Kingdom flushed but suppressed his anger. Finally, he asked awkwardly, “And what thing it that?”
“Tell your sister that you appreciate what she did for the country and that the royal palace is her home. She can do anything she wants at home.”
This was beyond his expectations. “She’s always been a good girl, never asks for anything, and never talks back when I scold her. Now just after marrying the Dragon King, she not only lives in my palace, but also uses that advantage to bully me!”
“This is my royal palace, my home. She’s married the Dragon King and only lives here temporarily.” The King of the Stone Kingdom raised his head and recoiled back as far as possible from the Dragon King.
In any other country in the world, the Dragon King would have been standing below the stairs, rather than speaking in front of the throne.
Gu Shenwei looked down at the thin King of the Stone Kingdom. “Well, then you have to move out, and find yourself another place.”
“Wha… what? What did you say?” The King of the Stone Kingdom clutched at the edge of the throne as if it was his lifeline.
“I’ll take over the royal palace; you can choose any residence in the city and declare it to be the royal palace of the Stone Kingdom. From now on, this will be the Dragon King’s palace.”
“No, I won’t do that. This is the royal palace of the Stone Kingdom, and I am the King of the Stone Kingdom. No one can drive me away.” The King of the Stone Kingdom was more than a decade older than the Dragon King. But now he acted like a mad child, swinging his fists and shouting even if he could not possibly win.
At last, an old eunuch worked up the nerve to step forward. He smiled and said, “Your Majesty, you’ve mistaken the Dragon King. You two are family and share the royal palace. He can stay if he wants. And the Queen, your sister, is also the honorable master of the…”
The old eunuch tried to ease the situation for the King of the Stone Kingdom, but was interrupted by spittle.
The King of the Stone Kingdom spat and the spittle flew over the stairs in a perfect curve, landing on the old eunuch’s face. The old eunuch was hit by the unexpected spittle and withdrew humiliated.
“You shameless traitor, I’m still in the palace!”
The King of the Stone Kingdom was not stupid; otherwise, Yang Dou would not have chosen him over the Prince to take the throne. However, diseases and years of being the puppet of others had consumed all his wisdom. Only the halo of the king remained to support him this far.
Afterward, the King of the Stone Kingdom finally regained his composure. He asked coldly, “Can I stay if I apologize to her?”
“That’s up to the Queen.”
“Okay.” The King of the Stone Kingdom was too weak to sustain his anger and he quickly calmed down. “I’ll meet with my sister and tell her to stay here comfortably. She will have whatever rights I have.”
Gu Shenwei nodded but did not leave. His eyes were still fixed upon the King of the Stone Kingdom.
“You want me to do it now?” the King of the Stone Kingdom asked anxiously.
Gu Shenwei nodded again.
The King of the Stone Kingdom forced himself up and slowly walked down the steps. He looked back at the Dragon King a few times out of fear that he would take this advantage to sit in his place.
The King of the Stone Kingdom resolutely left the hall to seek reconciliation with his sister.
Gu Shenwei remained in front of the throne, as if he was really taking interest in the wooden chair. But he did not touch anything; instead, he snapped, “Come out!”
The old eunuch came out from behind the pillar and walked beside the stairs. The others had left with the King of the Stone Kingdom, only he remained.
“Please tell me your demands, Dragon King.”
He was a servant who knew how to please his master. Therefore, he would naturally bear grudges when he felt unappreciated.
“Tell me the truth,” Gu Shenwei ordered, still staring at the throne. Like his father Gu Lun, he hated eunuchs and thought that they were all treacherous.
“Yes, Dragon King.” The old eunuch knelt on the ground. “I shouldn’t say this, but only you can protect Xiaoyao Lake…”
The old eunuch spent a lot of time explaining why he had betrayed his master, how he considered not only the King of the Stone Kingdom, but also the Dragon King and the people of the Stone Kingdom. Finally, he disclosed his secret in one sentence: “A court maid is pregnant with the child of the King of the Stone Kingdom.”
Not receiving any response, the old eunuch added, “She’ll be giving birth in less than one month. If it’s a boy, she’ll have the Crown Prince of the Stone Kingdom.”
So many countries paid attention to the Princess because the King of the Stone Kingdom did not have a son. And if the Princess could give birth to a boy, that boy would be the eligible Crown Prince.
However, the King of the Stone Kingdom had managed to impregnate a woman and keep it secret. He must have feared that the Dragon King would sabotage him.
But the Dragon King was still silent, thus the old eunuch pushed him. “It’s not too late to do it. There are even few people in the palace that know about this.”
“Out.”
The Dragon King’s tone was cold and the old eunuch started to sweat before staggering out of the main hall. Standing in the howling wind, the latter suddenly had a realization. “How stupid! How could I urge him? He must already have his own plan. Why would he discuss it with someone like me?
“Or perhaps, he’ll murder me too!” The old eunuch was scared and ran back home. During the next few days, he did not attend the court meetings, claiming that he was ill.
Now only one remained. Gu Shenwei rummaged under the throne, and soon found a roll of carefully wrapped papers.
Although the Princess might have been good at plotting, she lacked experience. She had deliberately complained about her brother, faltered, and looked sad. She tried to distract the Dragon King away from her brother’s territory. But the flaw in her expression betrayed her.
Moreover, under the throne was indeed a great place to hide things. In the palace, no one except for the King of the Stone Kingdom dared to meddle with it. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus used to hide the “Sumeru Mustard Mantra” there as well.
No one saw Maid Lotus come in, but here she was, walking out from behind another pillar. She murmured, “The Princess will be a good Queen.”
“Just like the Queen of the Hui Kingdom, the Princess might be a fledgling now, but she’ll become increasingly arrogant and yearn for power more than the Queen of the Hui Kingdom did.
“She really will be a good Queen.”
But Gu Shenwei would not discuss that with Maid Lotus now. He asked her, “Can you imitate the Queen’s handwriting?”
“I guess I can. Given more time, I’ll do better.”
“There aren’t too many words.”
Gu Shenwei carefully untied the roll of paper. He glanced through it quickly, and then turned to the last few pages to read.
“Is this really the ninth chapter?”
“Looks like it.” According to his own practicing experience, Gu Shenwei was positive that it was the ninth chapter of the Wayless Book , the chapter that even the Supreme King did not possess.
Maid Lotus fetched pens and papers. She lay the white paper on the ground and knelt down, sitting on her feet, ready to imitate the Princess’s handwriting.
Gu Shenwei picked up a sheet and lay it in front of Maid Lotus to transcribe on.
There were only 500 or 600 words. The Princess wrote neatly, which made it easy for Maid Lotus to imitate her. She only needed to pay attention to the details.
Maid Lotus copied the entire sheet but altered a few dozen words respectively in seven places, thus, the meaning was completely changed.
Gu Shenwei was tampering with this Divine Kung Fu’s ninth chapter, just like what Maid Lotus had done to him.
Neither of them revealed that they remembered the past. They both were easily able to cover up that history now.
