Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When he heard the Commandant call out the Dragon King’s name, Fang Wenshi stood up in preparation to argue for his lord. But Gu Shenwei motioned for his counselor to sit down and decided to face the challenge himself.
“I was a killer once.”
The Commandant ignored the word ‘once’ and stared at the Dragon King’s face with a stern expression, asking, “Do you think I am right? That the Khan was killed by a professional killer.”
“I don’t know. The Commandant gave too little information.”
The tent was dead quiet. No one wanted to make a fuss about such things because any word could cause disaster to fall onto their heads.
“What else do you need?” The Commandant’s voice grew harsher.
Gu Shenwei steadfastly stared back. It wouldn’t be this easy if the Commandant wanted to test the Dragon King’s true feelings. “For example, the five maids. Since they were there, they should have seen some clues.”
“Of course they are dead, the Dragon King definitely thought of that, didn’t he?”
King Zuori who had just claimed his title let out a short laugh as if he thought the scene was very interesting. Under the puzzled gaze of the others, he coughed twice in embarrassment but didn’t say anything.
“As for the truth, it is whatever the Commandant says. I will not ‘think’ randomly because even if I think of a hundred possibilities, it won’t change the facts at all.”
The Commandant was silent for a moment and seemed very dissatisfied with the Dragon King’s answer and on the verge of breaking out. But when he spoke again, his tone had softened a lot. “Alright, I’ll just say what I saw then. The five maids of the Khan were sitting on the bed in a circle, equidistant and naked. They all had knives in their hands and blood on their bodies, especially on their lips. In the center of the circle was the Khan’s remains, headless and some parts missing. This is the scene that I saw with my own eyes, without any opinions of theories added in.”
Everyone knew that the Khan was dead but very few people knew of the details of the murder scene. As generals who had gone to war themselves, they had seen countless corpses and even killed many people with their own hands, but they were still stupefied by some the Commandant’s hints.
“Are you saying that they ate the body of the Khan?” The fat King Zuori asked in a low voice with a look of disgust.
“I think so.” The Commandant stressed the word ‘think’ while his eyes remained resting on the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei was one of the few who remained unmoved. “Who identified the remains of the Khan?”
“It was me myself.”
“On what grounds?”
The Commandant put out two fingers. “First, those five slave girls were the Khan’s maids and that isn’t something that can be debated. Second, I’m the Khan’s brother and I recognized his thing. I can assure you that you would never find another one that is as big as his in the whole prairie.”
The second basis, which was said by the serious Commandant, had an extraordinarily comical effect, and everyone burst out laughing. King Shengri patted his forehead and cried, “Yes, I saw it once when I was little. It was huge. I was so scared that I couldn’t sleep for days. If I were the five maids, I probably wouldn’t be able bear it and would have wanted to kill someone too.”
The atmosphere became more active. King Zuori jumped to his feet and said, “I heard that a real hero’s thing is different from a commoner’s. So it’s true. I say let’s not argue anymore. Let’s just take off our pants here and compare whose is bigger, and the one who has the biggest will be the new Khan.”
Before his voice had died away, King Zuori knew that he had said the wrong thing again, though he did not know what. The laughter suddenly all stopped and the eyes shooting towards him all became cold as if he were a fool.
King Zuori sat down with his head low and kept swishing the bowl of wine in front of him, feeling that he might be a real fool.
The Commandant continued to steer the conversation. “What else do you want to ask, Dragon King?”
“The head was missing?”
“Yes, we can’t find it anywhere.”
What Gu Shenwei had seen appeared in his mind; he clearly remembered that the head of the Khan was sitting on a bronze plate and that the corpse had been casually stuffed underneath the quilt.
“It’s really strange.”
“What’s so strange about it?” The Commandant seemed to know that the Dragon King was an insider and questioned him closely.
“It’s odd that a killer who had carefully placed the five maids there to plant the crime onto would take away the head and leave an obvious loophole.”
“Well, there’s something even stranger. I was told that the Dragon King had sneaked into the palace on that night. I wonder if it is true.”
The Commandant’s questioning made everyone turn to the Dragon King. King Zuori tried to speak again but held back, his face turning red.
Heart thumping, Fang Wenshi didn’t know how the Dragon King would answer.
“Yes, I went to the palace that night.”
The Dragon King had just admitted it. The Commandant was lost in his own thoughts. The participants either didn’t care or looked at each other with anger and suspicion, all thinking that blood might be shed at this meeting. Their guards all became vigilant and were ready to save their lords in time of danger.
King Zuori felt that he couldn’t be wrong this time so he jumped up and pointed to the Dragon King, shouting, “I knew it was you, little king of the Western Regions. You’ve been at the Royal Court for a long while and continued to linger around and wouldn’t leave. You must have evil intentions. I was wondering how you could be qualified to join today’s meeting, and it turns out that even the Commandant suspects you.”
King Shengri looked at his nephew with contempt. Now that all the powerful kings were dead, he could easily stand out from the crowd. “My foolish nephew, do not accuse others randomly. You and your bodyguard are no match for merely a finger of the Dragon King.”
“Let’s fight together and avenge the Khan!”
King Zuori’s bodyguard had no choice but to come forward and support his lord’s decision, but he was pleased to see that none of the kings had responded.
King Zuori blushed, turned his head, and glared at his staff officer, “Of course, the Commandant is in charge here today. I’ll listen to him.”
King Shengri put his hands on his belly and looked at his uncle who was a year or two younger than himself, “With a hundred thousand Court Attendants in your hand, your words carry the same weight as that of the Khan. Commandant, please go ahead, do you think that the Dragon King is the murderer?”
“No, he isn’t.”
“Why?” King Zuori asked in surprise and began to wonder whether all of them had banded together to make a fool of him.
“Because he hasn’t gained any benefits from it so far.”
It was true that Gu Shenwei hadn’t received any benefits. The Khan had died a bit early and his alliance with the Second Consort was not promising. In the eyes of the nobles of the Norland, it was more like that he had taken shelter at a random refuge when there was no way out. Even the Second Consort had to be sheltered by King Riyao for her to barely keep her position.
“King Riyao works together with the Dragon King, they…” King Zuori frowned because the old King Riyao was King Kuari’s ally but King Kuari was said to be assassinated by the Dragon King. The relations between the two were even more complicated than he had imagined.
King Riyao Tuosai snorted. He would not speak for the Dragon King, but he had to guarantee his own interests. “My father didn’t commit suicide for fear of punishment, and my army was shattered afterwards. What benefits did I get?”
The old King Zuori killed himself out of fear but this only caused more gossip to spring up. Gossip that King Zuori was the most scared to hear. He smote the table and rose to his feet then sat down with his hands on his knees, wheezing. He was not afraid of Tuosai but rather the stern gaze of the Commandant.
The Commandant had focused his attention on the Dragon King, and no one would let him change the subject. “But I want to know. What was the Dragon King’s purpose behind entering the palace that night?”
“The Khan had invited me to talk about something.” Gu Shenwei told the truth.
“Since you were invited, why did the Dragon King sneak in?” asked one of the kings.
“The Khan wanted to see if I was capable enough.”
“You saw it?” asked the Commandant.
“No, I went into the palace but wasn’t able to find the Khan, so then I left.”
Gu Shenwei didn’t intend to tell the truth in public because that would only arouse more suspicions.
The Commandant looked down as if he was going to pick up the wine bowl in front of him, then casually said, “After leaving the palace, you assassinated King Kuari.”
King Riyao Tuosai knocked down a plate of meat by accident in his surprise and interrupted, “King Kuari wasn’t killed by the Dragon King…”
He had to make that clear so as not to give the impression that he was betraying his father and cousin by sheltering the Dragon King.
“Let the Dragon King explain himself,” replied the Commandant, his voice not loud but more than powerful enough.
“King Kuari was killed by the people of the Waning Moon Hall. I was there but I didn’t partake in the assassination. If you did a serious investigation, you might still be able to find some witnesses.”
“Waning Moon Hall?”
“A killer organization, of which most of the members are female.”
“There aren’t many female killers. The Dragon King has a few under his command, right?”
“Hmm, the Waning Moon Hall used to be an ally of the Dragon Army’s but we broke with them on the night of the Khan’s assassination.”
“Lies, it’s all lies. How could it be that coincidental?” King Zuori was always unable to keep his mouth shut.
The Commandant stayed silent for a moment before turning to the other participants. “It’s true that there are female assassins in the Royal Court. Not one, but many, at least fifteen. They were involved in the assassination of the generals of the kings.”
“A bunch of women?” This time it was not just King Zuori, as the others were also surprised.
The Commandant nodded. “I have definite evidence which I can’t take out at the moment. King Shengri may be willing to give an explanation.”
King Shengri laughed aloud and grabbed the knife that was used to cut the meat and stuck it on the table. “So, after all this roundabout way of talking, the Commandant is actually suspecting me just because I now have the largest number of cavalry and the widest territory in the whole Royal Court? That’s a great way to get rid of a dissident.”
“It has something to do with the cavalry and the territory, but that’s not all. Those female killers are hiding in your camp and after each assassination, you are always the direct beneficiary. I’ve been wondering who could approach the Khan without any hindrances? Probably only a woman.”
The Commandant’s conjecture was a little off but was very close to the truth. Gu Shenwei couldn’t help but admire him.
It was obviously much easier to gain the trust of the kings by forcing the Dragon King to reveal the name of the Waning Moon Hall instead of directly telling the truth himself. Although the Commandant had stayed away from the insidious and complex court discussions for many years, he didn’t seem unfamiliar with it at all.
King Shengri pulled the knife out and held it in his hand, “Everyone, haven’t you noticed it yet? Today he’s going to get rid of me and tomorrow it will be King Riyao’s turn, and who will it be the day after tomorrow? It’s the one who has the greatest power. The Commandant wants to destroy everyone and be the Khan himself.”
The Commandant let out a roar like a furious lion. “You rebellious thief of the Norland, traitor of the Prairie. Stop your discord, and hand over all the female killers within two days. We will easily know who killed the Khan after an interrogation. You’d better not escape, and do not waste any time relying on the power of the devils. I will chop all the killers you send into two pieces and send them back to you! ”
Everyone was astonished by the Commandant’s rage. King Shengri was stupified at first but then fiercely hurled out the knife in his hand.
The only guard behind the Commandant flew forward, grabbed the knife, and laid it lightly on the table, swiftly and neatly, obviously demonstrating that he was a top-notch master.
Gu Shenwei heard Fang Wenshi whisper, “The Commandant is in danger.”
He was thinking of the same thing as the counselor.
