Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Xiaowan Kingdom was located north of Heavenly Mountain and west of Heaven’s Pass. Although it was one of the countries of the Western Regions, it bordered the Norland and was defenseless against the attacks of the powerful Norland Cavalry. So, from the very first day of its founding, it had been a loyal vassal of the Norland.
“It’s a small country with a total area less than two hundred square miles and a population of less than a hundred thousand, but it’s one of the safest countries in the Western Regions as it hasn’t had a major war in at least the past fifty years,” Shangguan Yun introduced as the host.
“Until you usurped the throne,” said Old Man Mu blatantly, frowning as he gazed at the deserted street.
Gu Shenwei had led 10,000 horsemen to the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom; half of them were stationed outside the city while the other half had entered it.
The city was built in such a way that it leaned towards the mountains so that almost two-thirds of it was embedded into the valley. The cliff actually acted as a part of the city wall. The outer wall consisted of two stone walls. Though they appeared quite old, the wall was easy to hold, but hard to attack.
To the citizens, all of the people here, including the host Shangguan Yun, were outsiders. So it was no wonder that all the houses had silently and vigilantly shut their doors.
Shangguan Yun was not be angry. He shook his finger at Old Man Mu and said, “Strictly speaking, it was a smooth transition. The royal family had no male offsprings so the kingship would naturally be transferred into the hands of outsiders. I was just lucky enough to be favored by the princess.”
“Then why did I hear that Dugu Xian, the General of the Left under the Dragon King, is a royal descendant of Xiaowan Kingdom? Shangguan Yun, why don’t you abdicate and let him inherit the throne? Then I’m sure everyone in the world will give you a thumbs-up.”
Shangguan Yun knew that Old Man Mu was joking, so he chuckled and explained, “Dugu Xian voluntarily renounced his right of inheritance. He loves fighting but there’s no war to fight in the Xiaowan Kingdom.”
The palace was around the corner by now. Shangguan Yun sighed and said, “Finally I’m home.”
Old Man Mu never gave up an opportunity to mock at him. “Pfft, have you ever lived here for longer than a month?”
“It’s about the feeling.” Shangguan Yun still did not care about his remarks. “As a wandering hermit with no fixed abode, I’m afraid that Hero Mu wouldn’t be able to call any place home?”
Old Man Mu was stunned by the word ‘Hero.’ It took him a while to figure out that it might have been used satirically, but he had already missed the best timing to refute.
The gate of the palace was wide open and the guards, armed with spears, stood in neat lines with their head held high. Over ten eunuchs had lined up to greet the return of the Cloud King.
“Where’s my princess consort?” Shangguan Yun asked cheerfully. “The Dragon King is here, but she doesn’t have to hide from him.”
An old eunuch bowed and replied in a trembling voice, “The princess consort… left a few days ago.”
“Left? Why wasn’t I notified? Where did she go?”
“I sent a letter. Your Majesty may not have received it. The princess consort has gone to the Loulan Kingdom to visit her aunt, the princess consort of Loulan.”
Shangguan Yun’s smile grew bigger. “The prairie is too big and this kind of thing happens all the time. Dragon King, I’m really sorry, but it’s not that bad. We will be more comfortable now.”
Gu Shenwei didn’t care about this kind of thing at all. Long Fanyun led his guards into the palace to scope it out. Meanwhile, Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong assisted him in arranging the defense, making sure not to leave any gaps.
After all the arrangements were made, Gu Shenwei went into the palace to take a rest. He had just entered the room when Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher entered and warned in unison, “The Dragon King has to be careful.”
“This Shangguan Yun looks quite insidious,” said Old Man Mu.
“This entire palace looks like a trap.” Even Dog Butcher could tell that something was strange about it. “He said that the queen went to go visit her relative, but it felt more like she was seeking refuge.”
“I have my own ideas.” Gu Shenwei was not a gullible person.
Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher exchanged a glance. In the end, it was still Dog Butcher who asked, “Dragon King, we are not staying here forever, are we? When… can we leave?”
“I have my own ideas,” Gu Shenwei repeated.
The two old men left disappointed and blamed each other for tactlessly trying to get at what the Dragon King really wanted.
That evening, Shangguan Yun hosted a banquet for all, and the next day noon, the Second Consort returned the favor outside the city.
The Second Consort actually refused to stay in the palace on the pretext that she was more used to sleeping in tents. Actually, her real thoughts were well known to many. The Second Consort couldn’t wait to meet up with Prince Duodun, but her identity and status demanded that she should be reserved and wait for Duodun to invite her before visiting.
Azheba arrived at the Xiaowan Kingdom on the same day. He failed to bring back Prince Duodun’s invitation, not even a letter, which made the Second Consort feel confused and disappointed. The banquet, therefore, ended hastily.
After sending away the irrelevant guests, the Second Consort directly asked Azheba in front of the Dragon King, “What did Duodun say?”
“His Highness hopes to meet with the Dragon King as soon as possible…”
“What did he say to me?” The Second Consort didn’t care about the presence of the Dragon King as he already knew everything anyway.
“Uh, His Highness hopes that the Second Consort can have a good rest and not get too tired.”
The Second Consort frowned. She was a smart woman, but always lost her mind when it came to the matter of Prince Duodun. Fortunately, she stuck to her bottom line and did not reveal anything in front of the Dragon King. “You guys can go on talking business. I’m too tired and I need to take a rest.”
Azheba did not want to comment on the Second Consort’s behavior so he went straight to the point. “His Highness asked me to make a suggestion to the Dragon King.”
“Go ahead.”
“His Highness is willing to trade 70,000 of his cavalrymen that are stationed in the Western Regions along with a large piece of land on the North of Heaven’s Pass for all of the Norland Cavalry left in the Royal Court. If you agree, these 70,000 soldiers will belong to the Dragon King and will become people of the Western Regions.”
Gu Shenwei seemed a bit surprised. “That’s not quite the deal we discussed.”
“What His Highness is proposing will be better for both sides. His Highness can immediately take over and handle the battle against Luoluo while the Dragon King will have an overwhelming advantage against the Golden Roc Castle in terms of military strength.”
“That’s all?”
“And… His Highness wants the head of Shulitu. An army can’t have two commanders-in-chief and there only needs to be one of the Khan’s descendants.”
“It sounds quite reasonable. What do you think?”
The Dragon King’s words caught Azheba by surprise, and he stammered out, “I am a subordinate of Prince Duodun so it wouldn’t be right for me to advise the Dragon King.”
“Honestly, I thought that you’d stay in Heaven’s Pass and not come back.”
“His Highness actually sent me here to deliver a message…”
“So you are Prince Duodun’s messenger now?”
Azheba thought for a while before answering, “Yes, I thought that I made myself perfectly clear about that.”
“That’s right,” Gu Shenwei said flatly and ended that line of conversation. “And my answer is that I need to think about it for some time. Since you are the messenger for both the Prince and someone that I trust, I’ll leave it to you to set up the meeting; the sooner the better. I’ll give him an answer in person.”
“Yes.” Azheba was about to leave when he suddenly remembered that he had left something unsaid. “Instructor Shangguan is also at Heaven’s Pass.”
Gu Shenwei nodded.
Azheba didn’t know whether the Dragon King had found out a long time ago or had just heard it from him. The Dragon King was always hiding his feelings and was a secretive person. But Azheba immediately realized that he really wasn’t worthy of the Dragon King’s trust, and that it was better not to know anything at all.
After leaving the tent, he hadn’t gone far before an officer stopped him and said that the Second Consort wanted to meet with him.
The Second Consort dismissed all other people in her tent and met with Azheba alone. This was an unusual courtesy. “No one else is around now. Tell me the truth.”
“Yes.” Azheba explained Prince Duodun’s plan in its entirety, “His Highness hopes that the Second Consort can stay here and stabilize the Dragon King’s mind, and also to try to reassure the army just in case something happens, so that we will not be caught unprepared.”
“So he thinks that I’m still useful?”
Azheba knew he had to say something to reassure the Second Consort. “His Highness means that there’s ample time ahead. Now that it’s wartime, it’s better to not leave any opportunities for others.”
“Heh,” The Second Consort sneered. “So I’m a hot potato now? This isn’t the Central Plains where everything is full of unnecessary and over-elaborate formalities. Give me 50,000 horsemen and I can shut everyone up.”
“The Second Consort is right but it’s not just about shutting people up.”
The Second Consort obviously knew this as well. “I just said that casually. Do not tell Duodun. I’ll do what he wants, but I’d bet that the Dragon King will accept his offer. He’ll have his own territory and army and has nothing to lose. Why would he not agree?”
Azheba didn’t know what to say.
Gu Shenwei suddenly found that he had no one to consult with. He had left Fang Wenshi in the Royal Court to watch over Shulitu. Chu Nanping, Tie Linglong, and Nie Zeng were just inexperienced teenagers. Long Fanyun was simple and honest. Han Wuxian only cared about hunting Lotus. None of them could provide any meaningful advice on such a matter. Old Man Mu was talkative and seemed to know a bit about everything, but Gu Shenwei did not want to discuss this with him.
Only Shangguan Yun was left.
Gu Shenwei already had a decision in mind, but he still wanted to discuss it with someone, especially Shangguan Yun still had many secrets hidden.
Shangguan Yun, who wasn’t surprised by the Dragon King’s sudden visit, ordered someone to serve tea. “I know that the Dragon King does not like to drink.”
“Tea is good.”
Glancing at the spacious study, Shangguan Yun said, “There’s a downside to living in a big house. I didn’t sleep well last night, as I was constantly wondering if I forgot to lock the door properly.”
“The palace is even a little smaller than Golden Roc Castle, but you are not used to it?”
“I left the castle when I was a teenager. And when I went back, I was locked up in the dungeon. And it was full of people. A killer or two might pop up from underneath a rock if you turned it over. It made me feel reassured.”
“A normal person would be worried upon seeing a killer.”
“Right, that’s true. So, many people would also be surprised that the Dragon King actually believed me.”
“Hmm. Many people would be surprised, but I do like the capital of the Xiaowan Kingdom. It’s hard to find such a strong city so close to both the Norland and the Western Regions.”
“Hehe, the Dragon King must have the same doubts as I do. Since the foundation of the Xiaowan Kingdom is as a vassal of the Norland, why would it have built such a fortified capital city?” Shangguan Yun looked as excited as a child. “There’s no one alive to explain, so I could only look for the reason in ancient books. Unfortunately, books here are as rare as those of the Norland, so I could only ask for help from the dead.”
“The royal mausoleums.”
“Heh heh, I respected the former king and barely damaged it. Anyways, I found the reason. This city was the result of a whimsical idea of a Khan. He was afraid that he would lose the throne so he built himself a refuge, but he ended up dying peacefully in his bed and never used this city.”
“So it can withstand the siege of tens of thousands of people?”
“Yes, and it only a few thousand soldiers are needed to do so. The only issue would be running out of food and supplies.”
Gu Shenwei narrowed his eyes slightly. “You said that our alliance would only be in effect in the Norland.”
“Yes, but the Xiaowan Kingdom is a vassal of the Norland. I’ve never considered it a country of the Western Regions.”
“Do you have any other way of convincing me besides your words?”
Shangguan Yun looked up and thought for a moment before replying, “If the Dragon King has a chance to visit Jade City again, you can observe the changes in the Meng family and from that find some reasons to believe me.”
It really was a coincidence. Gu Shenwei really did plan to visit Jade City again.
