Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Like the Khan, Silver Condor also sensed a big conspiracy. He was standing seven steps away to the rear side of the Khan, where the candlelight and the shadows happened to intersect, and was watching every movement of all the people in the tent, including the ten kings.
When King Rizhu got drunk and started punching others without any reason, the crowd was riled up, but Silver Condor became nervous. Fortunately, nothing had happened. When Shangguan Fei stumbled to offer a toast, Silver Condor became nervous again but his eyes were fixed on the Dragon King.
The young man had a desperate madness. The Khan had claimed that all heroes were madmen and that he could persuade the Dragon King to lower his head and pledge allegiance. Silver Condor didn’t say anything but deep at heart, he was still skeptical about the Khan’s plans. In his view, the Dragon King was hard to control and predict, and the safest way to deal with him was to kill him.
Even when Shangguan Fei was frightened to the point of collapsing onto the ground and the young warriors at the same table with him came to help, his eyes were still on the Dragon King.
“Dragon King, run!” When the warriors shouted this, Silver Condor suddenly roused himself and rushed forward with his saber.
There were only ten men with sabers in the tent. Nine of them were standing at the door, and even though Silver Condor was the nearest to the Khan, he was still not close enough.
A total of seven warriors dashed at the Khan like mad men but in a disordered fashion, who had apparently drilled their movement many times before.
Silver Condor was capable of killing two of them in an instant but as long as one of the warriors escaped, a pocket dagger in their hands might kill the Khan.
Gu Shenwei was already very drunk but his mind was strangely clear and his hands and feet were still at his beck and call. As soon as the seven warriors acted, he turned the wine table over.
The Khan had described the Royal Court, which was full of plots, like a bull in heat. The plot had finally come to light, but the bull’s response was a little slow.
The whole thing happened so quickly that only Gu Shenwei and Silver Condor could react on the spot. The guests still wore a smile on their faces, with one hand holding the wine bowl and the other hand restlessly fondling the female slaves’ breasts. It was just that all of a sudden, the sound disappeared.
At this delicate moment, everyone was thinking rapidly. Should they keep silent or rush forward to show loyalty? Jump at the enemy to take the initiative or just faint and play dead?
The whole matter ended quickly which saved everyone present from making a decision. The Khan wasn’t dead, and not even a little wounded, so the choice suddenly became simple.
The overturned wine table had blocked the four warriors. Gu Shenwei made two straight punches and knocked down the fifth and sixth warriors. The last warrior was pulled down to the ground by Shangguan Fei who clung to the warrior’s feet and didn’t let go.
Silver Condor’s duty was not to kill. He took hold of the Khan and retreated several steps until his back touched the tent while pointing the saber in his right hand towards the front. He didn’t trust anyone here.
“Protect the Khan!”
No one knew who called it out first, but the tent was immediately filled with shouts. Everyone rushed to the Khan while pushing the others down. The slaves screamed, and the drinks were spilled everywhere. The guards with sabers at the door were blocked by the crowd and could only run over people’s head.
Then the crowd suddenly stopped as if they had stepped in front of a deadly dividing line, on the other side of which was the Dragon King and the assassins he had knocked down, and a little further inside was the Khan and Silver Condor.
“Silver Condor, don’t do anything stupid.” The one who spoke was King Shengri, whose hands were outstretched as if he were rescuing a drowning man.
Silver Condor suddenly came to his senses. He was so nervous that he had put the Khan in his arms like a baby but his right hand was still holding a saber, which gave off the image that he was kidnapping the Khan in the outsiders’ eyes.
Silver Condor anxiously let go with his left hand but didn’t lower the saber in his right. The crowd swarmed forward like a pack of wolves and he feared that the Khan would be swallowed by them.
The other nine guards had finally made it to the front line. They slashed their sabers and successively killed the six assassins who were still struggling to get up. The only assassin that survived the first round of massacre was the one whose feet were tightly grabbed by Shangguan Fei and couldn’t get up.
The guards raised their sabers again, ready to kill the two on the ground, and three of them even had their sabers pointed at the Dragon King.
It was exactly the environment Gu Shenwei disliked the most. He was in narrow space with numerous enemies surrounding him, and he didn’t even have a weapon at hand.
But he still punched out, a little faster than the guards with sabers.
The guards who stayed in the tent were no ordinary kung fu experts, but the narrow space also limited their performance. Besides, three steps away were those kings and aristocrats, and the Khan was also not far away. They could only stab up and down, not daring to brandish their sabers freely.
Gu Shenwei took this chance to defeat three guards, saving himself, Shangguan Fei, and also that warrior.
The other guards all turned to the Dragon King, and the Khan, who had been attacked, finally opened his mouth. “Stop.”
The guards lowered their sabers and lined up in front of the Khan. Judging from their standing postures, the one they were mainly guarding against was still the Dragon King.
The atmosphere in the tent was heavy. Everyone was nervously wondering whether they were guilty or not. King Shengri suddenly exclaimed, “The Dragon King is up to something…”
“Shut up, idiot.”
The Khan had regained his composure. He pushed aside the guards in the way and looked at the corpses on the ground. “Take him for interrogation. Not the coward but the one in his arms. Spread out. I’m not dead yet, so you don’t have to make that face.”
The crowd dispersed but their uneasy hearts didn’t rest yet. The plot to assassinate the Khan had finally happened, and no one knew how much blood would be needed to close this incident.
The female slave besides Gu Shenwei tasted the flavor of the blood first. After six warriors being slain near her, the blood had splattered all over her face. She gratefully looked at Gu Shenwei when he helped her up.
Looking at the nervous faces, the Khan suddenly laughed, “Look at you, you all look like you’ve never seen a dead man before. Where’s your mettle as men of the prairie? Who still remembers the first time I was the target of an assassination attempt?”
Not too many people in the tent had experienced the youth of the Khan. King Rizhu took a bowl of wine and said, “I heard that the Khan drank and danced on the corpses.”
“Well, now I can only drink a little wine, and I can hardly lift my feet to walk, let alone dance.”
It was King Rizhu who again brought the atmosphere alive. The nobles in the tent followed in performing the toast dance and war dance of the Norland. The jubilant atmosphere returned in an instant, and even more fervent than before. Everyone understood that this was Khan’s attitude towards the case and that the blood in many people’s bodies could flow as usual again.
Even though it was noisy, everyone clearly heard the Khan’s words. “The Dragon King saved my life. He’s the greatest hero today.”
The Khan didn’t mention Silver Condor and other bodyguards as that was their duty and there was no need for him to point it out.
“The Dragon King’s warrior didn’t forget to save me even when he collapsed on the ground, so he’s the second greatest hero.
Shangguan Fei flushed with shame but also felt proud of himself as he stood up. His legs were still weak, so he clumsily raised his hand and waved in the manner of a noble.
“These stupid kids wanted to frame the Dragon King and even shouted loud his name; they didn’t even think about who would believe them.”
King Shengri believed it, or he wanted to lead the suspicion to the Dragon King. Anyway, hearing the Khan’s words, his face became particularly red. He drank more wine than usual this evening.
The guards took the only captive away and the servants quickly carried away the corpses and the overturned short tables out, but the blood was left where it was.
“Blood can cheer people up.”
The Khan raised his arm again and motioned for the Dragon King to help him.
For him, the dinner was already over.
“Regarding the war games tomorrow, deal with it yourself.”
The crowd stopped making noises and stepped to the side, making a path for the old Khan.
The Khan left the tent. Before he could walk any steps further, two kings caught up and said in unison, “Let us interrogate the captive.”
“These warriors are from the Norland. They dared to assassinate the Khan, so they must have a strong support directing them,” said King Kuari, who seemed very calm.
“I’m sure I can find out who’s behind it before dawn,” King Rizhu added.
Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised. He didn’t expect that these two lords would join hands to ask for a trial. He soon realized that the two were using their completely opposing stance to gain the trust of the Khan so that they would not be affected by the incident.
Gu Shenwei had a feeling that the Khan already knew who the mastermind was and also knew that King Kuari and King Rizhu would join hands to take over the case, but he still thought it over for a while before indifferently saying, “I’ll leave it to you. Do not disturb me too early. I may have to sleep a little longer.”
“Yes.” The two kings bowed and retreated.
Looking at the retreating figures in the dark, the Khan poked the Dragon King’s waist like a naughty child telling a secret, “About these two, who do you think will win in the end?”
“The trial? I think…” Gu Shenwei pretended not to understand.
“You are wasting my trust. You are not even a man of the Norland, so you don’t have to be afraid of offending a king of the Norland.”
Gu Shenwei helped the Khan slowly walk forward while Silver Condor closely followed five paces behind, clearly able to hear the two’s conversation.
“The decision rests with the Khan. Whoever you point at will win.”
“Alas, if that’s what you think, then you are no different from the most ordinary herdsmen of the prairie. Yes, I have supreme power in my hands, and I can even arrange a way for some people, but I am not omnipotent.”
The Khan paused for a moment and complained of his backache before he continued. “The Norland has three major forces from the consorts’ side, and the most powerful force among them is the Naihang Tribe. My mother, the Chief Consort, and the Second Consort are all from the Naihang Tribe. The western part of the grassland almost became independent and I’m still looking for an offspring to compete with them. I once had high hopes for King Kuari, but he treats his people too harshly. I want to gain the support of the people but he doesn’t curry favor with the public at all.”
Their long talk had finally come to the core issues. Gu Shenwei found that the chain around his neck was getting tighter and tighter but he didn’t have choice, and nor did he find it painful.
From behind the two, Silver Condor admired his master from the bottom of his heart. The Khan had claimed himself to be a madman and he had proved this through his actions. Who would be so bold as to use assassination to win over a subordinate? The Dragon King had saved the Khan in public, which would cause him to lose the trust of the Central Plains and become more involved in the infighting of the royal family. He had no way out but to hold onto that decrepit arm.
Gu Shenwei was also aware of this so he decided not to conceal the information he had learned. “So the Khan has placed your hope onto Prince Duodun?”
“Hehe, that’s the real Dragon King. It must be the Second Consort who revealed a clue.”
“She didn’t say anything. I guessed it myself.”
“Right. But if she had kept her mouth shut, you wouldn’t have guessed at all.”
“Yes.” Gu Shenwei couldn’t deny it.
“But your guess is not wild enough.”
“Not Duodun… Not just Duodun?”
“Three.” The Khan stretched out three fingers of his left hand and shook. This was the pillar he had established for the Norland. “Their mothers are all slaves. It’s time to reap the power of the Consorts’ side. The Prairie needs the son of a humble woman.”
