Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Gu Shenwei was full of doubts but he could only work through them one by one.
The two sides had already agreed to a ceasefire by the time Shangguan Ru and others came back. As soon as he could, Gu Shenwei summoned Silver Condor to talk to him privately. Because of the ‘decree of Heaven’ from the Great Shaman, the head in his hand was becoming more and more important.
As a sign of trust, Gu Shenwei gave the last remaining Indra Fragrance antidote to the other side first.
Silver Condor accepted the pill but didn’t take it straight away. “When I entered the tent, the five maids were still alive, and said something strange, but it didn’t matter. Their smiles… were just like that of the disciple from the Waning Moon Hall.”
The five slave girls of the Khan had been trained by Han Fen, so they were bound to take on some of her habits. Silver Condor, therefore, was sure that the murderer was not the Dragon King.
“So you were interested in the Waning Moon Hall even before all this?” asked Gu Shenwei.
Silver Condor nodded and said, “It wasn’t the Waning Moon Hall that first caught my attention but rather King Shengri who rose up quickly compared to the rest of the ten kings and benefited a great deal from the death of the Khan. And many masters around the Khan also ended up joining his side. I never expected…”
Silver Condor had never expected that there would so many disciples of the Waning Moon Hall acting as guards and that their means would be so extraordinary.
“But I still do not understand.” Silver Condor thought that he had explained it clearly so he moved onto the next topic. “What’s your real relationship with the Waning Moon Hall and that woman Han Fen?”
“We used to be partners, but then we became enemies. Two years ago, we became allies again, but that broke yet again on the night the Khan was killed.” Gu Shenwei’s answer was short and vague but succinctly explained the whole process.
The expressionless Silver Condor suddenly revealed a smile. “The Dragon King seems to be particularly casual in the matters of establishing alliances.”
“Hmm, my general rule is that whoever comes will be welcome. Just a few tents away resides Shangguan Yun, the son of the Unique King; we’ve formed a temporary alliance.”
“The Khan would never have done something like that. He detested flip floppers, though he seemed to appreciate the Dragon King very much.”
“The main difference between the Khan and me is the same as that of innate power and the power gained through fights.”
Silver Condor pondered the words of the Dragon King for a moment before looking up and saying, “So you are even willing to ally with your foes as long as you two share some purpose?”
“Please do not take me as a casual person who’s always willing to show mercy to his enemies just because of common benefits. But for you, that is true.”
As he looked at the pill in his hand, Silver Condor sighed and said, “Sparing me three times. You have done so. My only purpose left is to find the real culprit and avenge the Khan. I owe him this.”
Silver Condor swallowed the antidote and continued, “My name is Mo Lin; it is my previous name and future name as well. I need a saber and —” Mo Lin, who had reverted back to his real name, took a breath and said, “Some rough straw paper.”
His internal energy was not fully restored yet, but Mo Lin bore the churning pain in his stomach and stepped out elegantly from the tent.
Fang Wenshi rushed in. He thought that he would be the first to be summoned and couldn’t help but be a bit jealous of the wing guard. “Is he willing to hand over the Khan’s head now?”
“We haven’t talked about it yet, but before we find out the truth behind the ‘Devil Bird,’ there’s no need to rush in searching for the head.”
Fang Wenshi shook his head but it actually meant he agreed with the Dragon King. The reason why the Dragon King had summoned him was not to comment on the wing guard, so he immediately began to explain, “Please forgive me for acting on my own, Dragon King.”
“By uniting the three armies into one, you’ve already made amends for it.”
“Hehe, many thanks for the Dragon King’s magnanimousness. I’m not interested in gaining merit, but only in avoiding mistakes. Well, the person who did most of the work was actually Queen Ju.”
This answer was really out of Gu Shenwei’s expectation. Queen Ju had no foundation in the Norland, so where did she find the ability to unite the three armed forces?”
Fang Wenshi misinterpreted the Dragon King’s expression and hurriedly added, “I never met with the Queen from beginning to end; it was all Xu Yanwei who passed her words along.”
“Hmm, tell me about it.”
After the Dragon King left the camp yesterday evening, Fang Wenshi had carefully thought about the current situation and concluded that the 10,000 horsemen of the Second Consort were the key to solving all their problems. The main issue was that gaining the trust of that clever woman was an insurmountable obstacle.
The Second Consort was indeed very clever. In her mind, her status depended on only three factors: The Khan, the 10,000 horsemen, and Prince Duodun.
The Khan was dead, and Prince Duodun was far away in the Western Regions. As a woman, she had to hold fast to her army if she wanted to retain a foothold in the Royal Court and keep herself safe.
She trusted the Dragon King, but not to the point of surrendering everything.
Fang Wenshi had then come up with a bold idea. After he returned to the Dragon Army camp, he sent someone to invite Xu Yanwei to talk.
Xu Yanwei reluctantly came to see him after being persistently invited three times in a row, and the first thing she said after entering was, “Do not play tricks with me. This Old Biddy here cares about people more than money now. Look at you, is the food on the prairie so good?”
“When did you become an ‘Old Biddy?’” Fang Wenshi asked in surprise. The two had had a short relationship before, and he had to admit that he really was not as handsome as before.
“Alas, I’m really exhausted by the Dragon King’s women. You don’t know how hard they fought in prison. I’m basically an ‘Old Biddy’ of the Dragon King’s now.”
Fang Wenshi smilingly shook his head and explained his plan.
Xu Yanwei was taken aback. “Are you courting death? You want to ‘sell’ the Queen and even ask her to volunteer to do so? Even if the Dragon King doesn’t… The Dragon King will kill you for sure.”
“From what I know of the Queen, she will surely consent. You only have to pass the word along with nothing to lose.”
“As the old saying goes, to be in the king’s company is tantamount to living with a tiger; a casual word may stir up big trouble, not to mention I’m serving a tigress — If you dare to let that get out, I’ll go around and tell everyone about how poor you are in bed.”
Fang Wenshi kept muttering ‘women are really hard to deal with’ in his mind as he makde a series of assurances, “No, no, of course not, I’m always close-mouthed and good at keeping secrets. Queen Ju maybe a bit harsh to others but not to you. Everyone knows what you mean to her…”
Fang Wenshi flattered Xu Yanwei for a while, until she finally agreed to deliver the message.
To her surprise, Queen Ju immediately agreed. “That’s a brilliant plan of the counselor’s. Send someone to see the Second Consort and tell her that I’d like to visit her right now.”
Xu Yanwei was a bit regretful. If she had known the Queen would react like this, she would have not deliberately emphasized the role of the counselor in coming up with the plan.
The Second Consort accepted Queen Ju’s request. On the way out, Xu Yanwei figured out the entire plan and realized what she needed to do.
This was a typical conversation between women. After exchanging pleasantries and courtesies, the topic soon turned to minor details. One said that she had a constant headache while the other would cover her heart and complain about a hidden illness that was flaring up.
Xu Yanwei often aptly interjected, inadvertently revealing how much the Dragon King cared about and loved this beautiful young Queen and how she had to report to the Dragon King daily about her physical condition.
The Second Consort was obviously very interested in this topic, but Xu Yanwei soon realized that she had gone too far. The Second Consort already had some inklings about the Dragon King’s true feelings, so she quickly adjusted her strategy, suggesting that the Dragon King had had many lovers before but in the end had finally chosen Queen Ju.
Queen Ju’s cooperation was perfect, who stopped Xu Yanwei from continuing and sighed helplessly and finally revealed her relief and small complacency as the victor.
“After all, it is the women who must make the sacrifices.” The Second Consort ended the small chat and asked, “You must be here to borrow troops for the Dragon King?”
Queen Ju admitted and said, “The Dragon King has always treated me with affection. The status of the Stone Kingdom’s royal family is also consolidated through the power of the Dragon King. But as a weak woman, I’m unable to repay his kindness. I thought for a long while and realized that there’s only one way for me to help him. I myself would like to remain here as a hostage in exchange for the Second Consort’s trust. I would not dare come here if you were a man and the Dragon King would also not allow me to come if he knew of my plan.”
The Second Consort took the hand of Queen Ju and said, “Please do not say ‘remain here as a hostage.’ How can I let the Queen of a country be taken hostage? But then again, it’s really inconvenient for you to live in the Dragon Army camp. There are more than a dozen ladies from the Western Regions living in my place right now. They are almost scared to death from the news of the war and are not as calm as you at all. Would you like to do me a favor and help me calm them down a bit?”
The moment they stepped out of the tent, Xu Yanwei and Queen Ju exchanged a glance. Both of them knew that their task had been successfully accomplished.
Fang Wenshi was still worrying about the result. As soon as he heard that Queen Ju would be staying in the camp of the Second Consort, he started counting the time so that he could ask the Second Consort again exactly an hour later.
But it turned out that the Second Consort would invite the counselor of the Dragon King of her own accord.
It was already late at night, and so without much idle conversation, the Second Consort cut straight to the point and said that she could lend out the 10,000 horsemen. “When we get to the Western Regions, the Dragon King must return the army to me.”
“Of course, this army will always belong to the Second Consort at all times and in all places. The Dragon King has his own army in the Western Regions and will naturally relinquish command when the time comes.”
“Also, I can lend the troops to the Dragon King, but you have to have the armies of King Riying and King Riyao join the Dragon King, too. I won’t let my 10,000 soldiers fight alone.”
This was actually the main reason why Fang Wenshi had been so anxious to acquire the military power of the Second Consort.
On the same night that the Dragon King was busy competing with the kung fu masters of the Central Plains in the refugee camp, Fang Wenshi had been busy forming alliances.
The next person to convince was the royal teenager, Shulitu. Without thinking too much about it, Fang Wenshi decided to just resort to harder methods if his softer persuasion wouldn’t work. He felt that it was unnecessary to use too many tricks against a kid.
As a result, Fang Wenshi had gone to see Shulitu late at night with a ruthless spirit, but ended up encountering an unexpected scene after entering the tent.
Han Wuxian was playing games with Shulitu and Nie Zeng, while several guards in the doorway were clapping their hands and cheering.
Shulitu and Nie Zeng were trying to hide themselves while Han Wuxian’s eyes had been covered by a blindfold, and her ears plugged with wax; she was attempting to find the two only through smell. She either reached out a finger to point at the two or flicked a bean to hit them. She was always dead accurate even when the two hid behind the guards.
Nie Zeng admired her skill from the bottom of his heart. Had it not been for the others around, he really would have wanted to kowtow to this madwoman and taken her as his Master.
As soon as Fang Wenshi entered, Han Wuxian smiled and said, “I smell the white fat fellow.”
Amazed, the crowd all applauded and cheered. Fang Wenshi put on a straight face and motioned to the guards to go away before saying, “I’d like to talk to King Riying alone.”
Han Wuxian unplugged her ears, and Fang Wenshi repeated his statement.
Still blindfolded, Han Wuxian asked, “Little Nie Zeng, shall we leave obediently?”
Nie Zeng shook his head and replied, “The Dragon King asked us to follow King Riying closely and that’s it. No one can make us leave except the Dragon King himself.”
Fang Wenshi blushed but dared not to lose his temper in front of Han Wuxian. He could only angrily stared at Nie Zeng, but the young killer didn’t budge at all.
Shulitu’s face was also blushing but that was because of the previous playfulness. He saved the counselor from embarrassment. “Say no more. I’m willing to join forces with the Dragon King. Counselor Fang, please get started now.”
Fang Wenshi was dumbfounded, not expecting that he was not the only person who was busy that evening.
