Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The situation wasn’t as chaotic as Gu Shenwei had imagined it would be.
Ever since the news that the Khan was seriously ill had reached the general populace, the people who were familiar with the Royal Court’s traditions had begun making their preparations. This was especially apparent with the herdsmen whose wealth was mainly livestock that were left in the suburbs to breed. For them, as long as they could leave the city, they would not suffer a great loss if an emergency occurred.
Many people had died, most of whom were old and sick, along with some inexperienced foreigners. All of the tents had burnt down except for the royal palace camp in the north, but the base of the Royal Court remained standing. This was a city on the move, so it could be rebuilt at any time. All it required now was a new Khan.
The meeting place of the kings was at the southernmost area of the Royal Court. Anybody entering the temporary camps could still see the bare ruins, around which smoke still coiled towards the sky in many places. Most of the dead had been taken away by their relatives and friends but there were still some corpses left on the spot. The remains of the flesh and blood had attracted many carrion birds circling in the air.
The Commandant of the Court Attendants Army seemed to want to influence the kings through this method but it turned out to be a complete failure. At this critical moment, all of the kings were trying to show their brutal and ruthless sides by looking at the ruins with admiration. Some of them even took a few deep breaths and coldly remarked, “What a glorious smell of flesh.”
Gu Shenwei was also looking at the ruins but in his mind, he was wondering where Lotus was hiding. As he turned his head, he noticed the Commandant of the Court Attendants Army, one of if not the most important figures of the Norland as he was perhaps the only one who could turn the tide and stabilize the situation.
The Commandant was the Khan’s half-brother and had been in charge of the Court Attendants Army for nearly thirty years. His position was so firm that many people even suspected that he had brainwashed the Khan.
Fang Wenshi had investigated the situation and the truth was that the Commandant had paid a heavy price for his position. He had never married, not to mention children. He volunteered to live like a eunuch, seldom attended the frequent banquets of the nobles, and never express any opinion on the battle for the throne even on the most private occasions.
In short, he was a nearly invisible Commandant, someone who would have probably never shown up if the kings had not wounded each other during the tangled warfare.
Dressed in heavy armor, the Commandant was a grave old man who looked slightly hefty but was still very vigorous compared to his peers in sixties. He was standing at the door of the tent to greet the incoming guests.
This was a capable man who had hid all his strength under an unattractive appearance. Gu Shenwei secretly appraised the Commandant as such while walking towards him.
The Commandant obviously recognized the Dragon King. Without needing an introduction, he nodded and said, “The Dragon King is early. Please come inside and have a rest.”
Bland greetings indicated that the negotiations later would be a fierce battle.
Gu Shenwei was the fifth to arrive. The tent was very large, and a dozen or so female slaves were nervously setting up the table with wine and meat as well as serving tea and water to the guests. Fang Wenshi took advantage of the occasion and introduced the four people already there to the Dragon King in a low voice. “The fat guy there is King Zuori’s son. He immediately claimed the title of King Zuori the day his father committed suicide. It’s said that several of his brothers are competing with him. That bearded man is the son of King Rixin who died in the battle…”
Before Fang Wenshi could finish his words, more participants had arrived. Some of them were not kings of Norland but instead powerful counselors who either had control of a remnant army or commanded deep reverence among the people and were therefore invited to participate in this meeting that would decide the fate of the Royal Court.
Regardless of if they hated or supported each other, they communicated mostly by eye contact and rarely spoke.
Finally, King Shengri and the Commandant entered the tent together and broke the hostile silence.
For this rare gathering, King Shengri’s army had drawn back ten miles and he himself, as previously agreed upon, had brought only two people in his entourage: one guard and one staff officer, the same as the others.
“Aha! There are quite a lot of people!” cried King Shengri as if this were a regular, common feast of the Norland. “The Dragon King has arrived, haha. Be careful everyone. He has the least soldiers outside, but inside here, he’s the most dangerous person. We are no match for him even if all of our strength is added up.”
Gu Shenwei hadn’t brought his saber with him but King Shengri’s words weren’t exaggerated. He could kill many of the people present here even with bare hands.
One of Fang Wenshi’s tasks was to save the Dragon King from embarrassment, so he said with a smile, “But as soon as the Dragon King leaves the tent, he will not be able to escape the pursuit of the Norland people even if he runs to the ends of the earth.”
King Shengri wanted to hold the meeting in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere but like the Commandant, he had failed at the very beginning. No one laughed with him, and the hostility only became more apparent.
The fat new King Zuori challenged the authority of King Shengri first. His position in his tribe wasn’t stable so he was eager to gain some prestige at this meeting. “Now that everyone’s here, let’s cut the crap and choose a Khan now. Please allow me to recommend myself, as for the reasons…”
“Because you weigh the most?” The big bearded King Rixin interrupted with disdain, saying, “I don’t care if we choose a Khan or not right now. My father was killed by a villain, and I must take the revenge first. I need an explanation, King Riming.”
Although King Riming had escaped the melee, his losses weren’t small. When he was questioned by his nephew, his suppressed anger was stirred and he became so incensed he couldn’t help but slam the table and rise to his feet. “Little bastard, do you know who you are talking to? Damn it, this is war. It’s perfectly normal to die. How can you blame others when your father just had bad luck? Let’s fight again if you are unconvinced, to see who’s the real loser.”
King Riying, one of the surviving kings, got up and said, “We’re family, so what’s this hatred all about? The Central Plains has already amassed a large force on the border and will march in at any moment. That’s the biggest threat the Norland is facing. If you ask me, I’d rather not fight among ourselves and we may as well wait some time before choosing the new Khan. Let’s fight against the Central Plains together, and whoever earns the most credit will be the new Khan.”
A counselor ventured to interject, “But without the Khan, we can only fight the enemy separately and we’ll certainly be no match for the Central Plains.”
“The Central Plains people are timid and overcautious. One of our soldiers can fight ten of theirs. Give me a hundred thousand Court Attendants, and I’ll bring back the Emperor’s head.”
“Give you a hundred Court Attendants? Huh, the first thing you would do is kill all of us.”
“Revenge!”
“Choose the new Khan!”
“Fight the Central Plains!”
…
The female slaves all retreated to the side to give more room to the quarrelsome kings, some of whom had already rolled up their sleeves and were ready to fight.
King Shengri seemed to like the scene very much, as he continued to fan whatever flames his words could reach. “Your father died too miserably; I don’t want to be the Khan so choose whoever you like except for me; the Central Plains is our biggest enemy, how can we not fight them?”
Gu Shenwei watched on silently and listened to Fang Wenshi introduce the relationship and strength of the various parties present. As the only outsider here, his words carried little weight. In fact, the main reason that he was able to attend the meeting was that the Second Consort couldn’t join it due to her being a woman.
“King Riying,” Gu Shenwei whispered.
Fang Wenshi nodded slightly in affirmation and said, “That’s him.”
Both Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had noticed the same man in the battle of words. The old King Riying wasn’t dead, though he had given his title to one of his sons. Of all power transitions of the “king” title, this was the smoothest and least controversial.
The new King Riying was in his thirties and had a flat face common for the Norland. He didn’t talk much but each time he spoke he could always win agreement from one or two people. Unawaringly, he had become the new king with the least enemies, and it was him who eventually put an end to the meaningless quarrels while simultaneously flattering the strongest. “Everyone, we’ve all been invited by the Commandant, so why not let him say a few words first?”
Behind the Commandant stood ten thousand Court Attendants, the most powerful force in the Royal Court at the moment, so his words were naturally of great weight. All the people closed their mouths one after another, leaving only a few still glaring at each other.
The Commandant, like the Dragon King, had been watching in silence and waiting for the time to speak. And his first words startled everyone. “I feel ashamed of you.”
Some pretended not to care, some jumped up in anger but finally sat down obediently. After all, of the ten thousand Court Attendants Army, just half of them was enough to destroy either side.
All of the main armies of the kings were stationed on the frontier, and it would take at least a month to deliver the message and dispatch the troops, during which the Court Attendants Army had the absolute advantage.
“I heard the cry for revenge,” the Commandant continued. Amongst the people present, he wasn’t the oldest but had the highest seniority in the family, and that gave him the right to criticize others, “But no one mentioned the Khan. Have you all forgotten? Just five days ago, the old Khan was assassinated and beheaded, and the whereabouts of his head is still unknown.”
King Shengri coughed and said, “I remember that we made a rule not to mention it for the moment.”
The death of the Khan had caused so much controversy that everyone was suspected. No conclusion had been drawn because no one had clear evidence in their hands. So before the meeting, everyone had agreed to avoid mentioning the Khan, but no one had expected that the first person to break the rule was the meeting’s sponsor — the Commandant of the Court Attendants Army.
“But we’ve also made the rule that we would talk it out and we would put an end to the chaos in the Royal Court, but I’ve seen the chaos getting worse,” the Commandant said coldly.
The atmosphere solidified again. The Commandant, who rarely participated in the court discussions, suddenly became aggressive, which surprised the kings and counselors who knew him.
Everyone thought of the hundred thousand Court Attendants, and even King Shengri no longer raised any objections but agreed instead. “Who doesn’t want to avenge the Khan? But who did it?”
“The murderer is sitting among us.” The Commandant scared the others again.
“Who is it? Please point it out, Commandant. I’ll kill him!” cried King Zuori sternly. But he was the only one whose voice echoed through the tent. Lonely and embarrassed, he slowly sat down, his face becoming ghastly.
“The murderer thought he was clever and wanted to frame the five maids of the Khan.” The Commandant continued and seemed to already have all the answers. “But he overacted. The scene was too clean and the stupidest thing was that he took the head away.”
The Commandant paused for a moment, glancing over everyone in the tent, but his eyes not staying on anyone. “I would say, it had to be done by a professional killer.”
Gu Shenwei was more surprised than anyone, for he clearly remembered that it was the five slave girls who had killed the Khan. Lotus had left the corpse of Shangguan Nu and the poisoned wing guard Green Falcon to frame King Kuari.
Why then did the Commandant say that the scene was clean?
“Dragon King,” The Commandant called a name for the first time. “You’re a killer, aren’t you?”
