Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
As a descendant of the Khan, Tuosai had the privilege of being able to claim any tent on the prairie as his home, and even the camps of the Court Attendants Army were no exception.
One attendant helped him remove his gorgeous body armor while the other wiped the sweat from his face with a cold wet towel.
“It’s so stuffy,” Tuosai casually said, trying to show that he was amiable and easy to approach.
Gu Shenwei nodded approvingly but said nothing. The captain Wucuo pulled at his collar and fanned himself with his great shaggy, hairy hands. “My flesh is melting. This year is hotter than any other. Everyone says that the Khan became the Fire God and ascended to heaven, and I think it makes sense now. To me, the big fire in the Royal Court doesn’t seem to have gone out yet.”
Tuosai pushed away his two attendants and bowed his head in silence. Wucuo hurried to straighten up his armor and join him in solemn silence.
“Eight more hours.” Tuosai went straight to the point without the slightest bit of hesitation; his tone only carried with it a slight sense of urgency and mostly consisted of confidence. “This is a battle, a decisive battle between commander-in-chiefs. The vast majority of soldiers can only watch, as only a few people will have the honor of fighting alongside their commander-in-chief.”
“I hope to be among the honored men.” Gu Shenwei’s cold look was a good cover that made him appear calm even when lying.
Tuosai let out a long breath. Instead of giving an immediate answer, he carefully sized up the Dragon King. “I’m not a man of the Central Plains, so I’ll just cut straight to the point.”
“That would be best,” the Dragon King replied.
“The Dragon King has really disappointed me.” Tuosai stared at the other side with keen, sparkling eyes, trying to pierce through the Dragon King’s enigmatic and emotionless face. “You don’t seem to know who you are or what is even going on. You act on your own while under my protection, defying or even sometimes disobeying my orders.”
Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly. He was good at telling lies but he had a bottom line. Since Tuosai had crossed that line, he also bluntly said, “I think that there’s been a misunderstanding. I don’t know what the Second Consort said to you, but this is an alliance between equals. King Riyao is the commander-in-chief of course, but the Dragon Army and I are not your subordinates.”
Tuosai was stunned. In just a few days, he had gained the demeanor of a king but it was the first time he had encountered such a direct rebellion, and in his opinion, the king should not have experienced such an attitude.
This angered him to the point that he grabbed a saber from his entourage and strode towards the Dragon King.
Wucuo held King Riyao back in time. “Please calm down, Your Highness.”
“How dare he?” Tuosai asked in amazement and didn’t insist on going forward.
Wucuo gently took the saber back from Tuosai and handed it to the flustered entourage, meanwhile patting the young king on the back. “No offense, my lord, but the Dragon King is telling the truth. He’s a king of the Western Regions and a guest of honor. And as such, he can sit as an equal with the Khan at the same table.”
Tuosai seemed like he wanted to vent all his anger onto Wucuo, but he forced himself to suppress all his anger at the other side’s hint. He raised his head and laughed out loud, saying, “The Dragon King’s habit of being straightforward is really like a prairie man’s. Yes, we are equal allies and should focus on helping each other, not deciding who commands whom.”
“King Riyao is a well-deserved commander-in-chief and of course has the right to command. The head of the Khan has been found, and the covenant of the five days agreement is still in effect.”
Tuosai waved his hand, saying, “There’s no hurry for that.”
The guard at the door came in and reported, “The generals are here.”
Twenty-seven chiliarchs filed in and the tent immediately became very crowded. Tuosai, who had been looking forward to this moment, politely asked the Dragon King to stand beside him. He then coughed twice and said, “You are all subjects of my family, and your fathers are serving in my army at the moment.”
Someone wanted to get down on their knees but the place was so narrow that a commotion ensued from the attempted bows. Tuosai clapped his hands and stopped them. “The rules can be neglected today…”
Captain Wucuo motioned for the Dragon King to leave the tent with him.
Outside, it was even hotter. Wucuo angrily glanced at the sun before immediately giving up. He pulled the Dragon King a few steps away and said, “The Highness is still young and he’s not quite used to being a king yet, so let me tell you something.”
“Hmm.”
“The Court Attendants Army has a hundred and twenty-one chiliarchs in total. Thirty-four of them are permanent officers, and the rest of them are from various tribes who will only serve in the army for ten years.”
Gu Shenwei already knew all this. He also knew that not all of the twenty-seven chiliarchs summoned by King Riyao were subordinates of the King Riyao’s family; some of them were from King Kuari’s side.
Wucuo had said all this just to emphasize a fact. “The Court Attendants Army will definitely become my lord’s. This is dictated by the general trend. He will be the future Khan.”
“I never doubt that.”
Wucuo smiled. The Dragon King’s lies couldn’t fool him but he didn’t want to expose them either. “Anything can happen. If I fail to become the commandant, my lord will be unable to gain the support of the Court Attendants Army. It’s the worst thing that can happen and I will never let it become so.”
Wucuo’s hint couldn’t be more obvious. Gu Shenwei patted the scabbard by his waist. “I hope that my saber can help.”
“Hehe, that saber is very useful but what’s more useful is people. Instructor Shangguan of the Land of Fragrance seems to be very familiar with the officers,” Wucuo said in a casual tone but his eyes were firmly fixed on the Dragon King’s face, capturing his every twitch and facial change.
Gu Shenwei lowered his voice a little before saying, “Instructor Shangguan will exert her influence as far as possible.”
Wucuo nodded with satisfaction but he knew how unreliable so-called loyalty and trust were. A real threat was like salt in a dish, a little of which could make a bland dish tasty or a promise concrete. “Great. There’s one thing that I think my lord may have forgotten to tell the Dragon King. No matter who becomes the commandant tomorrow morning, a scuffle in the Royal Court is inevitable. For the sake of safety, my lord personally decided to bring the Dragon King’s Queen and the females of his family to his tent and have an army to protect them.”
“I’m very grateful to the lord for freeing me from worries.”
The Dragon King took his leave. Looking at his back, Wucuo felt that this young man was hard to control, but when he thought of the hostages in his hands, he felt relieved.
In the closed tent, Shangguan Ru was engaged in a heated discussion with Azheba and his fellow officers as if she were a member of the Court Attendants Army. At least, the officers seemed to think so.
When they saw the Dragon King come in, they momentarily paused their discussion. Shangguan Ru stood up and waved at him. “You come back just in time. We need your advice.”
The officers looked on guard, and Azheba asked first, saying, “Dragon King, how was your talk with King Riyao?”
“He summoned twenty-seven chiliarchs and asked them to swear allegiance to him.”
“Taking measures only when in urgency, King Riyao’s reactions are really fast,” one officer said with disdain. The kings had long begun winning over the chiliarchs or even centurions, and Tuosai was the last to act.
“And he needs my saber.”
No one spoke. If two armies were confronting each other, no one would be afraid of the Dragon King. But no one could stay calm when his saber within ten paces of them.
“King Riyao also hopes that Instructor Shangguan can persuade you to serve him.” Gu Shenwei revealed the whole truth. He believed that the rumor would soon spread everywhere, so it was better for him to show it all on his own initiative.
Shangguan Ru curled her lips and contemptuously said, “Tuosai really thinks highly of me. I’ve never pledged allegiance to him.”
“What did the Dragon King say?” Azheba asked, unnaturally.
“I agreed.”
The Dragon King’s answer caused an uproar in the crowd. Azheba stopped his fellow officers and said, “Of course the Dragon King would say yes in front of Tuosai. Aren’t we all the same?”
The officers calmed down and one of them asked, “What does the Dragon King really think?”
“My real thoughts are that I will help those who can help me the most in the future.”
The Dragon King’s answer was snobbish and straightforward. Most of the officers were of his age and were not quite used to his talking style. They preferred to listen to grandiose words about friendship and loyalties. Someone questioned, “The Dragon King only has one saber. What can he offer as help?”
“If the result of the election is not Commandant Gulun…” Azheba was more mature than the other officers and had also been the first to win over the Dragon King.
“Can’t we do it ourselves? Must we use someone else’s saber?” One officer defiantly said.
“Why don’t you understand?” Azheba looked a little edgy, “No matter who becomes the commandant, there will be a group of dissenters. They will try to protect their candidate just as we protect commandant Gulun. In that case, who in the camp is more suitable than the Dragon King to…”
Azheba didn’t say the word ‘assassinate.’ After pausing for a brief moment, he continued, saying, “We only have a brief window of opportunity. Once the new commandant comes out of his tent to receive the soldiers’ allegiance, killing him would cause a riot in the army, and no one wants to see such a thing.”
The officers fell silent for a moment. Then the youngest officer among them asked, “Won’t the Dragon King be punished for killing in public?”
Gu Shenwei explained, “First, I need someone to bring me into the tent where the result will be announced. This is simple. King Riyao will find a way; Second, I need a little chaos, either cheering or opposing moves. Either way, as long as the area is crowded, it’ll be fine.”
“And then what?”
Gu Shenwei looked at this noble officer who was two or three years younger than him and said, “There are many ways to kill a man, and several of them leave no traces. I will use one of those methods, and no one will suspect me as long as you don’t sell me out.”
“We will never betray the Dragon King,” the officers promised incoherently. Most of them had met the Dragon King for the first time this morning and weren’t particularly confident in this pale-faced and dispirited man of their age. They felt that the rumors and Shangguan Ru’s description of him had both been exaggerated. But when the Dragon King said these couple of sentences in a flat voice, they were suddenly filled with confidence and even a touch of fear.
‘There are many ways to kill a man.’ Only the Dragon King could speak these words and give off a unique and powerful deterrent.
“So, the Dragon King is still on our side,” said Azheba excitedly.
“I want to hear now about what you can do to help me in the future.”
The officers all turned to Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru had lost all desire to kill, but hearing the Dragon King’s words still made her heart beat wildly. It was hard to tell whether she was afraid or excited. “They will follow the Dragon King to the Western Regions to welcome Prince Duodun back, and also give the Shule Kingdom to you.”
“That’s also what Commandant Gulun meant,” Azheba added. This meant that the hundred thousand Court Attendants would head to the Western Regions, which was a much larger army than Gu Shenwei’s original plan of borrowing twenty thousand soldiers.
“You shall have my saber.”
Another alliance. Gu Shenwei felt that this would not be the last time.
Azheba and others took their leave. Red Bat wanted to hang up the curtain but stopped at Shangguan Ru’s signal.
When there were only the two of them left in the tent, Shangguan Ru asked, “Did you really mean what you said just now?”
“You know that I won’t join hands with Tuosai, so it doesn’t matter whether I’m telling the truth or not. With the current situation, I can only stick with them.”
Shangguan Ru heaved a sigh of relief and revealed a relaxed smile. “I always can’t see clearly in these situations.”
“I’m about to kill somebody. Don’t you mind?”
“I’m not a nun,” Shangguan Ru replied as she had thought of this question long ago and had prepared an answer ahead of time. “And you are also not a devil who kills the innocent. So I have nothing to worry about.”
The entanglement of intrigue, the intensity of the coming kill, and the meaningful smile between the pair of eyes all mingled and blended into a subtle atmosphere like the subtle hidden fragrance at midnight. Before Gu Shenwei even realized it, he had lost his control of himself and was holding Shangguan Ru in his arms, not having even heard what she just said.
