Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Azheba said, “I plead not guilty. If I am guilty, then I’m only guilty of being too stupid to fulfill the task assigned to me by His Highness. If the Dragon King wants to cut my head off for this, then I won’t say a word in defense. That’s it.”
Liman’s defense was even simpler. “I followed my orders and made my own judgment. I’ve never harbored malicious intent.”
The other five companions found that Liman’s remarks were more reasonable, so they tried to plagiarize his arguments. “I was also just following orders. If I’m guilty, then all the members of the Left Corps are guilty.” “I knew nothing about the conspiracies and I didn’t participate in them. I only did what Prince Duodun told me to.” “I shot three of Luoluo’s cavalrymen. Many people saw it.”
Duodun refused to defend his behavior. “I’m the Khan’s son. In this tent, young king Shulitu is the only one who can decide my destiny. I lost to him, and not to anybody else. As for my subordinates, they’re just a bunch of morons. They can do nothing except follow orders – and they did a lousy job in that, too.”
Azheba and the others lowered their heads. They knew very well that Prince Duodun was trying to protect them by taking on all responsibility himself, but they still felt ashamed.
Gu Shenwei remained silent. Indeed, Shulitu was the only one who was eligible to judge these people.
“This is a rivalry for the throne,” Shulitu said as he stood up. The Dragon King had been trying to avoid meeting anyone in the past few days, so they hadn’t consulted each other on what to do with this clique of Duodun’s. He had to speculate on the Dragon King’s thoughts and then make the decision by himself. “I, Prince Duodun, and horsewhip Luoluo – we’re all inheritors of the old Khan’s blood. No matter who ultimately wins, the same decision will be made, and the ones who lose will have to accept their destiny.”
Duodun raised his head. “I’m a loser.”
Three of the companions panicked. Trembling, they suddenly knelt down, but they couldn’t say a word. The others looked at them dismissively.
The tent was full of people, most of whom were generals and officers of various ranks. They would etch this scene before them into their memory and spread it through the whole army. As a result, what Shulitu and the Dragon King did in this tent would become a topic that the Norlanders would talk about again and again in the future.
He didn’t need anybody to remind him. Gu Shenwei knew that his best choice was to stay silent. Maybe he had acted impetuously, but there was also an upside to not having consulted Shulitu in advance – the young king would be able to impose the sentences without arousing anybody’s suspicion.
“Liman! You were indeed following orders, but they were treacherous orders. You said that you made your own judgement, but apparently you failed to see through this. You are guilty of betraying the allied forces, and you deserve the death sentence. But at the last moment, you managed to hold back Luoluo’s superior force with troops that numbered far fewer. You fought with great valor, which lessened the severity of your crime. You’ll be stripped of all your military ranks. From now on, you’re just a common resident.”
Shulitu’s first judgment was very reasonable. All the generals nodded in praise.
“Azheba, and you five people.” Shulitu then named the other five companions’ names one by one. “You participated in the conspiracies and also carried out them. You thought that you were fulfilling your duties, but your inability to stop your master’s wrong is worse than negligence. Your capital offence is inexcusable. You’ll be beheaded tomorrow morning.”
Azheba didn’t say anything. The two companions who were standing started quivering, and surprisingly, the three on the ground began to cry. However, none of them pleaded for their lives.
There was only one person left – Mo Chu. Although he had abandoned his army and had tried to flee, he had taken no part in those conspiracies, so he was spared from a trial.
“Duodun.” Shulitu’s voice was very flat, as if he were talking to a friend. “You shall take your own life. Do it before midnight.”
Duodun’s head was still erect. Lips twitching, he accepted all this.
Shulitu was right. This was a rivalry for the throne. If Duodun’s plan had succeeded, he would never have kept his promise and let Shulitu keep the title of King Riying. He would have definitely have killed all his rivals, even if the rival was only three or four years old.
The rise of an opposing side in the future was a nightmare for anyone vying for the throne.
It was totally silent in the tent. Shulitu was not the Khan yet, but from this moment on, everybody – including the Dragon King – believed that this twelve-year-old kid was more than qualified to be the Khan.
There were still some people who believed that Shulitu’s judgments were all in accordance with the Dragon King’s intentions. But even so, his performance was flawless.
The criminals were taken away. The generals held their breath as they left the tent, and it was only when they were a certain distance away from the tent that they dared to turn around. The giant main tent was almost empty. Shulitu, the Dragon King and the two bodyguards Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were the only ones left inside.
Shulitu exhaled deeply. Sitting on the soft couch, he felt a palpable sense of relief. A nervous smile appeared on his face. “I was very worried that many people would object to my rulings. A lot of generals liked Prince Duodun in the past.”
“You did a very good job,” Gu Shenwei said. “You displayed what true power should be like. Even the old Khan would have made the same judgments, so everybody was convinced.”
“What true power should be like,” Shulitu repeated in a low voice. “Actually it’s not that I wield true power, but that true power wields me.”
“There will be a process, and it might be a slow one, but eventually you will be able to handle the reins of power freely. The old Khan once told me that even he himself couldn’t do that until decades after he succeeded to the throne.”
“But because of just one mistake, he was still assassinated.” Shulitu sighed.
“Let that be a lesson to you.”
“Never try to pursue immortality when I’m old?”
“Don’t trust anyone too soon. The proof of loyalty is a long process of accumulation.”
Shulitu nodded gravely, but he didn’t quite understand what the Dragon King meant. Deep down in his heart, he was still afraid of this pale-faced man who carried a saber, so he always tried his best to show his childish side, and never asked any unwanted questions about the things he couldn’t understand.
“I spared Liman and didn’t execute Duodun and the others. I hope you won’t mind, Dragon King.”
“Of course I won’t. Like the others, I respect what true power should be like.”
Gu Shenwei bowed slightly to Shulitu when he was about to leave.
Now that he was in the empty tent all alone, Shulitu didn’t call anybody in for a long time. He was quietly savoring the feeling of power, trying to depict its looks.
After returning to his own tent, Gu Shenwei waited for the lobbyists to come.
The first one was Dugu Xian. Gu Shenwei felt a little rueful. This one-armed general was calm and sensible on the battlefield, and he seldom misjudged anything. But when it came to political disputes, he was indecisive and prone to being deluded by outsiders.
They chatted for a while. Dugu Xian wasn’t in the unhurried mindset that he had been in when analyzing the flow of the battle. Gu Shenwei directly asked him, “On whose behalf have you come interceding on? And to whom will you intercede for me?”
A surprised look appeared on Dugu Xian’s face, as if the Dragon King’s question was very abrupt, but he soon gave up on trying to conceal his intentions, because he knew that the Dragon King had seen through him. “It’s the Second Consort. She sent someone to me – I didn’t accept anything she promised me. I just feel that her words were somewhat reasonable – ”
“Say it. There’s no guilt in doing this.”
“She said that – well, the man she sent to me said that if you’re willing to spare Duodun, she promises that she will put the Naihang Tribe’s army under Shulitu’s command, and that she will then take Duodun to the northernmost area of the tribe and they will never fight for the throne again. I believe the overall situation of the Norland will be under our control if we have the Naihang Tribe’s support. It doesn’t really matter whether Duodun’s alive or dead at that point.”
Gu Shenwei nodded. “You can tell the one sent by the Second Consort this – the Dragon King rejected your intervention, because the Dragon King is not the one who made this judgment. Thus, he has no right to intervene in it.”
Upon hearing such a direct rejection, Dugu Xian’s face flushed slightly.
Gu Shenwei resumed talking. “The next thing I’m going to tell you is – Duodun must die. This is not about whether he has the strength to compete for the throne or not. The key issue is that Shulitu has to act like someone competing for the throne. He won this war, but he hasn’t pacified the entire grasslands. It’s very likely that Luoluo will regroup a vast army, and the other descendants of the Khan might also join in on the competition for the throne. Shulitu’s leadership will be doubted by his subordinates even if he shows even a little bit of weakness. They will think, ‘This young king is just a sickly, feeble, and indecisive kid. How can he become the Khan? For my own sake, I might as well switch sides to another more promising candidate.”
When the Dragon King voiced other people’s thoughts, he adjusted his tone slightly. The result was very vivid and completely different from his usual tone. Both amazed and afraid, Dugu Xian flushed even redder, and he hurriedly replied, “I understand. Currently, the troops might think that the young king and Dragon King are ruthless, but when the next war is coming, they will think that the more ruthless you are, the better.”
When Dugu Xian took his leave, the look on his face was unprecedentedly humble. He resolved himself to never say anything irrelevant outside of war to the Dragon King ever again.
After Dugu Xian, lobbyists visited Gu Shenwei consecutively, trying to intercede with the Dragon King. Among them, there was even a swordsman of Big Snow Mountain. He hesitantly went into the tent and had barely made any remarks when he flushed and left the tent by himself – the Dragon King hadn’t even spoken.
Gu Shenwei saw this as an opportunity to stabilize and enhance the troops’ cohesion. He inculcated some of these lobbyists with logical reasons while giving the others the cold shoulder.
He had been waiting for Shangguan Ru this whole time. He had been thinking that she would come to intercede with him on behalf of Azheba, or even for Duodun. But it was the Second Consort who came in person first.
Night had just fallen. The Second Consort had sent all the people she could, and finally, she understood. It had been her who had made all those wrong decisions in her panic, so she had to negotiate with the Dragon King herself.
Gu Shenwei believed that it wouldn’t be long before nobody would come to intercede with him ever again.
He politely received the Second Consort and politely said to her, “You’ve come to the wrong person. Even I have no right to interfere in Shulitu’s judgments.”
“It was my fault,” the Second Consort said with a smile. Duodun had to kill himself in less than four hours, but she seemed to be in no hurry at all, “I should have come earlier – before the judgment was given. As for whether you have the right to interfere with Shulitu’s decision, I don’t know. I only know that if I try to meet with the young king, that kid will shift responsibility onto you. So why try to beat around the bush? I chose to meet you, Dragon King.”
“It won’t make any difference. You served the old Khan for so many years, so you should know very well there’s no wiggle room in this situation.” Gu Shenwei remained very polite.
“Even 100,000 Naihang Tribe cavalrymen isn’t tempting enough for you? Or do you think that I’m just bluffing?”
“I have great faith in your capability, Second Consort. Tomorrow, if you’re still interested, I’ll be more than glad to talk with you about the Naihang Tribe. We can also talk about it now, but it will have nothing to do with Duodun.”
The Second Consort was not discouraged. After thinking about it for a while, she said, “Then let me put this straight. Shulitu can kill Duodun, but Dragon King can’t.”
“It was the young king who ordered Duodun to end his life.”
“No. You misunderstood me, Dragon King.” The Second Consort produced two pieces of well-folded cloth from her front inside pocket, cautiously holding it in her hand. “I can prove that Duodun is your maternal uncle, Dragon King. Thus, you shouldn’t kill him.”.
