Translator: Henyee Editor: Henyee
It was only a few months ago that Gu Shenwei had first received the invitation from Norland and then begun intensive negotiations, and it was around then that he had asked Xu Xiaoyi to set up an intelligence system in the prairie.
The task was not going well. Xu Xiaoyi had appeared before the Royal Court as a businessman but realized there that the method he had always used to deal with the people of the Western Regions didn’t work well for people of the Norland. He tried several times, but before he could get familiar with the rules here, he was already in danger of being betrayed and had to flee hastily.
Fang Wenshi had actually gained a firm foothold in Norland at that time, but Gu Shenwei still asked Xu Xiaoyi to stay away from him, partly because he didn’t fully trust his counselor. He hoped that his three hideouts would be independent of each other.
Xu Xiaoyi had failed, but one fallout from the failed plan was that he had left three of his men behind to continue lurking around and look for an opportunity to open a path to success.
After he went to the Royal Court, Gu Shenwei hadn’t contacted these three people until he desperately needed a place to hide someone.
Senior Shou was already keeping a member of the royal family at his place, so Gu Shenwei didn’t intend on putting more people there, so he asked Lotus to find one of Xu Xiaoyi’s men.
This man, who also lived in the livestock market, was nominally a cattle and sheep dealer. Although he had made no progress towards building an intelligence system these past several months, he had done well in terms of business and had made a small fortune.
From the very beginning, he was ready to offer the Dragon King a temporary hiding place, and so he had placed his corral on the periphery of the Royal Court. He had many tents, several of which were even equipped with underground chambers. If not from fear that the Royal Court was always moving, he would have dug an intricate underground network of roads to connect all the chambers.
After confirming the identity of Lotus, he offered a tent, the exterior of which looked like an abandoned utility room. However, it actually contained enough essential supplies last three people seven or eight days. The excrement could be directly poured into the excavated underground space, and only the water needed to be separately transported.
The conditions weren’t very good compared to the ‘prison’ in the camp of Golden Roc Castle, but Shangguan Shaomin was quite satisfied. She had been looking forward to this day after her little aunt, Shangguan Ru, promised to save her.
The only thing that made her nervous was that she had to stay with two strange women in one room. When she could no longer beat it anymore, she finally meekly whispered that she needed to pee. After which, she rushed out blushing red with a racing heart, barely making it to the bathroom in time.
Lotus began to ask questions after the tension in the atmosphere had diffused somewhat, but Shangguan Shaomin knew nothing about her mission. The Unique King and other ordinary killers had never asked anything of her, so she could only serve her time and wait for her family to arrange her marriage.
“Thank you for saving me … heroines, I don’t know how to repay your great kindness.”
Lotus was briefly stunned upon hearing the word ‘heroine’ and felt quite strange about it. But Han Xuan was very happy. She proudly nodded, sat down close to Shangguan Shaomin, and affectionately put her arms around her as if she were her own young lady.
Shangguan Shaomin gratefully looked at her, her eyes full of tears. She had not enjoyed such care for a long time. Even since her father died, even her own mother had become cold and nervous, not to mention those snobbish relatives and servants.
“You don’t have to thank us. We’re all working for the Dragon King,” Lotus said in a gentle tone that she herself felt was unfamiliar. She had already determined this girl had no ill intentions, so in order to uncover more clues, she had to guide rather than coerce her.
“Mm, I’m very grateful to the Dragon King, and also my little aunt. Did she … not come?”
“It’s not yet the right time for her to show up right now.”
Shangguan Shaomin nodded understandingly but she was still a little nervous. From Lotus, she felt an oppressive aura similar to the majesty of the Unique King.
“You are not safe yet. Only by thoroughly thwarting the conspiracy of Golden Roc Castle can you be sent to the Land of Fragrance.”
“Yes, I know. I wish I could help, but …” Shangguan Shaomin hated her ignorance and lack of ability.
“Just think about it carefully. Has anyone said anything to you? It may be a hint or a reminder, anything that made you feel a bit weird could be a clue.”
Shangguan Shaomin carefully thought for a while, “No, actually the castle … no one in Golden Roc Castle wanted to talk to me, and even the maidservants avoided talking with me unless it was necessary.”
“Oh, poor you.” Han Xuan’s sympathies grew, and her eyes began to moisten. “You’re even more miserable than my miss. After all, you are the granddaughter of Unique King, I can’t even imagine how you got through it all.”
Shangguan Shaomin lay her head down on Han Xuan’s shoulder and finally released all her pent up tears. After a while, she found that she had wet the other’s clothes. Very embarrassed, she repeatedly apologized while wiping it carefully with a handkerchief. Han Xuan, however, grabbed it and wiped the tears away for her instead.
Lotus waited in silence. She might not have had many emotions left in her heart, but she still knew when was the best time to open her mouth. “Tell me about Feng Qin.”
Feng Qin used to be a servant of Golden Roc Castle, who had secretly pledged to spend the rest of his life with the young lady. For her sake, he was willing to be a robber and even came to the Royal Court to assassinate King Dari’s favorite minion and King Kuari himself. This whole incident caused a sensation. Both Gu Shenwei and Lotus, however, were skeptical about it and thought that it was a made-up story from Golden Roc Castle.
Shangguan Shaomin blushed and lowered her head again, and curtly said after a long while, “He’s the only one in the castle who would like to talk to me, but I didn’t expect … expect that he is still joking around as always.
This was what Han Xuan admired about Shangguan Shaomin, “You’re better than my lady. You were only fourteen years old two years ago, weren’t you? And you’ve already set yourself up a good man who is affectionate and faithful. You are so unlike my lady, who has finally found one except that he’s dead. It really worries me.”
Shangguan Shaomin’s face became redder, “No no, I never said anything about … marrying him. That was just his own wild idea. He suddenly redeemed himself two years ago, I thought … he had forgotten about me.”
“But he has been putting you in the heart and willing to die for you, except that he acts a bit silly. Why kill people, when rescuing and eloping with you would have been just as effective? Alas, men are always like this.” Han Xuan felt sorry for him. Then she looked up at Lotus and said, “We’ve come this far, so what are your thoughts about saving Feng Qin?”
Lotus shook her head, “Feng Qin is kept in the prison of the Norland, and no one can rescue him. Miss Min, I’m sorry, but neither the Dragon King nor your little aunt can help you with this.”
“I understand,” Shangguan Shaomin said in a low voice. “I hope he will not suffer too much.”
Lotus finally found a flaw, “Feng Qin used to be reckless?”
“Ahh? No, he worked in the castle, how could he be reckless?”
Two years as a robber was enough to change a teenager’s temperament, but for a servant of the castle, it still felt a little bit short.
“I have a question for you.”
“Go ahead, I’d very much like to help my benefactor.”
“How close were you to Feng Qin?”
This question was still a little too straightforward. Shangguan Shaomin’s heart pounded rapidly, not knowing how to answer.
“How can she reveal out?” Han Xuan unconsciously stood on Shangguan Shaomin’s side and treated her as if she were her young lady. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to answer that.”
But in Lotus’ mind, the other side had to answer the question, but she didn’t speak it out. Shangguan Shaomin hesitated for a while before she looked up and said, “I know what you mean. Feng Qin and I are innocent. While we did share … our feelings with each other, we never crossed the bottom line, not to even mention secretly pledging to marry each other. He … he’s a servant after all.”
Shangguan Shaomin’s voice became lower and lower. She knew that her two life-saviors and the Dragon King had all been servants before.
But she was telling the truth. As a young lady, no matter how low she fell, there was a sense of identification that could not be removed.
“Are we meddling in your business? You actually had the chance to marry the Khan and become a princess consort.”
“No no.” Shangguan Shaomin hurriedly defended herself, “I never wanted to be a princess consort. Golden Roc Castle was always sending me back and forth like a gift. Even if I were married to the Khan, they would still not let me go. They would continue to make use of me whenever there was a chance. I would rather follow my little aunt to the Land of Fragrance.”
Shangguan Shaomin saw everything clearly but she still didn’t know that the man she was going to marry would probably be the Khan.
Feng Qin appeared more and more suspicious, but she couldn’t ask any more out of Shangguan Shaomin. As she looked at the girl in front of her, Lotus felt the girl still had some secrets. “I need you to think again …”
Han Xuan bluntly interrupted Lotus, “She’s startled and frightened and must be very tired already. It won’t be too late to ask her again tomorrow.”
Shangguan Shaomin nodded at Han Xuan with relief, “It doesn’t matter. As long as I can repay the Dragon King even a little bit, I’ll do whatever I can, It’s just that … I’m too dumb, I haven’t even heard of any gossip in the castle.”
“It doesn’t have to be something they said. Is there anything that you felt weird about, like if they asked you to learn a seemingly insignificant skill, or gave you something to carry around with you all the time?”
Lotus changed her way of asking. Killing people wasn’t always done though a saber or sword. Golden Roc Castle might have trained Shangguan Shaomin in the art of poison without telling her.
“No, I can’t do anything except recognize a few characters and do some simple needlework. … Um … nothing.”
“What do you remember?” Lotus immediately caught the other side’s momentary hesitation.”
“Nothing, I …” Shangguan Shaomin blushed and could not go on.
“The Dragon King and your little aunt have taken great risk to save you. If we can’t expose Golden Roc Castle’s plot in the Royal Court, no one will get out of here alive.” Lotus moderately pressed on her.
“It’s all right,” Han Xuan softly comforted, “We’re all women, so what can’t you say in front of us?”
Shangguan Shaomin almost curled up in Han Xuan’s arms, kept her head lowered, and said in a voice that couldn’t be smaller, “They’ve been forcing me to eat something very … disgusting and scary. And every once in a while, they forced me to … take a bath.”
“What’s wrong with taking a bath?” Han Xuan didn’t understand.
“They, they …” Shangguan Shaomin couldn’t speak it out, so she whispered into Han Xuan’s ear.
Han Xuan’s eyes widened in surprise and turned to look at Lotus, “Apply things down there? Do all the women in Golden Roc Castle bathe like that?”
Lotus finally found a clue. Then she asked a series of questions, asking in detail about the flavor and shape of the food and medicine. Shangguan Shaomin didn’t know the name, but after the initial shyness, she tried to describe the procedure as vividly as possible. She couldn’t help crying when re-mentioning the traumatic experience and could only speak intermittently.
She had been tortured for more than a year until ten months ago, and if it had not been for Lotus’s inquiry, she would have died without mentioning it.
Han Xuan was filled with indignation as she listened and repeatedly scolded Golden Roc Castle for being shameless. And Lotus finally understood the assassination means of Golden Roc Castle.
“Shangguan Shaomin’s body will be the murder weapon.” She said to the Dragon King, “Female Gu was originally a secret art of Waning Moon Hall. It’s mentioned in one of the books I read and I thought that it had been lost long ago. I didn’t expect that Golden Roc Castle had secretly kept it. To put it simply, the man who sleeps with a girl who’s been implanted the Gu has to pay the price of his life.”
‘Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun must be furious and are trying to counterattack. This is our chance to turn the table on them, and the opportunity to ascertain Shangguan Ru’s whereabouts,’ Gu Shenwei thought.
