Some of the Patriarchs fell silent. In the rule of the Old King, few of them had much contact with Helian Zheng and knew the young rogue only by reputation. As Hongji Le rose to power, they had been influenced by the idea that a young boy barely in his twenties could hardly be qualified to be King of the Steppes, but now that they saw the man for himself, they were shocked. Helian Zheng knew how to be tough and soft, and was bold enough to kill yet willing to bend his knees. While his father had sometimes been too honest and kind for a King, Helian Zheng was on a different level.
The Golden Alliance had gathered to depose the King, but it could only depose foolish and wicked rulers. It was, after all, supposed to bring prosperity to the steppe. In the past when the tribes had been in constant conflict, they had grown weaker and weaker and suffered indignities at the hands of Da Yue. None of the Patriarchs wanted that situation to return, and Hongji Le was a capable, powerful, and ambitious man; the Chieftains saw no reason not to support him. But if their young King was truly capable, they needed to reconsider — a foolish civil war would only destroy the alliances of the steppe and benefit their enemies.
Feng Zhiwei watched Helian Zheng, a quiet smile in her eyes. She had only come up with the plan for Chunyu Meng to blow up the mountainside, everything else had been planned and accomplished by Helian Zheng alone. The young King was a proud man and unwilling to hide behind the skirts of a woman, and she also did not want to interfere too much; if Helian Zheng could not secure the throne by himself, she would only be hurting him if she forced him onto it.
Even Feng Zhiwei did not know when Helian Zheng had prepared this Fire-Heart Lotus, but she was almost certain that Old King Kuku had never asked him to search for it. A drunk Helian Zheng had once confessed that he had quarreled with his old man before leaving for Dijing. The two had not spoken for over a month and the order to travel to Dijing had reached Helian Zheng when he was touring a border city between the steppe and Central Plains.
In Dijing, she had only ever seen him chasing women and climbing walls, but under that playful, knavish guise had lain a careful ambition.
While Feng Zhiwei sighed to herself, Helian Zheng approached his next target — a yellow-robed man in his thirties — but before Helian Zheng could speak a word, the man stood and lifted his cup, his voice loud: “Brother Jadran, we need no words between us. Even if this Yelye did not respect Old King Kuku, I would still remember when you saved me. When I was eleven, I was bitten by a venomous snake and you immediately helped suck out the poisoned blood. I came today only because my tribe elders asked me to, and I only ever wanted to understand the thoughts of the steppes, never depose you.” With those words, the man firmly lifted his cup once more and tossed back the liquor.
Helian Zheng laughed cheerfully and followed suit, finishing of his cup before slapping the yellow-robed man on the shoulder. “My good brother, if you war bitten by a cottonmouth again, your brother will definitely suck it good.”
Liu Hudan turned from her frantic hunt and leaned over, shouting in her shrill voice: “This brat really knows how to suck, and that year he almost sucked off my ti…”
Luckily, Feng Zhiwei was already there, firmly steering the old Queen away.
Yelye could only smile awkwardly.
Several more important Patriarchs changed sides and the deposition was doomed to failure. Hongji Le’s face grew darker and darker, and eventually he quietly glanced at a guard by the tent door.
But as the guard moved, Feng Zhiwei stepped in front of him and smiled:
“Where are you going?”
Hongji Le immediately called out coldly: “No woman is allowed to speak within the Golden Alliance Tent. Get out!
Every Patriarch agreed and turned disdainful eyes towards the young woman.
“Oh? Really?” Feng Zhiwei smiled back at the gathering of men. “Inside?”
She casually gestured.
A black light flashed.
A thick wave of Sword Qi arched through the tent fabric as if cutting through water, collapsing half of the large tent and many of the unlucky patriarchs could not dodge out of the way in time.
Chaos milled around until a measure of peace was restored as shocked and furious eyes turned to glare at the smiling face of the quiet new Queen who had just cut the tent roof in half!
Her cut had been incredibly artful and had left the other half of the tent roof perfectly intact. As the unlucky patriarchs clawed their way out of the pile of felt cloth and fine wood, Feng Zhiwei had already sat herself down near Helian Zheng’s people.
The woman sat elegantly, ignoring the ruins of the sacred Golden Alliance Tent as she addressed Hongji Le with a casual smile. “Look, great Patriarch, I have not entered the tent, may I speak?”
Indeed, she could not be said to be inside the tent, after all the tent roof on her side was completely gone.
Furious and unsettled breathing filled the silence — if Helian Zheng had caught the Patriarchs off guard and surprised them, Feng Zhiwei’s act was a thunderbolt to the head.
These proud steppe Patriarchs only thought of their women as decorative, and the women of the Central Plains must be even more so — fragile Chinaware that could shatter with the slightest bump.
But that fragile Central Plain’s princess with a smile as soft as the clouds above the mountaintop, so ordinary and tranquil, had taught them a new type of toughness with a single move.
“Now.” Feng Zhiwei announced from among the cloth and wood, smiling towards the patriarchs. “I have followed your rule and now you must follow mine — listen closely, I will only say it once.
“You have hoped that this stupid Golden Alliance Meeting will end with Hongji Le Golden Roc reorganizing the steppe lands and leading you all to a life of prosperity and happiness for generations to come… truly a wonderful dream.” The woman announced calmly, her robes dark as her black pupils, her eyes touched with faint disdain.
“What empty promises had Hongji Le given all of you? Fertile land to the large tribes? Money, grain, and cloth to the small?”
Silence followed and it was clear that her guess was spot on..
“Are you trying to divide us?” Hongji Le smirked. “Old King Kuku was terrible at distributing land and was never just. The Patriarchs have suffered under his injustice for a long time. Your simple plan will not resolve this with a few words!”
Feng Zhiwei ignored the man, grabbing a wooden stick and drawing a simple map of the Hu Zhuo land.
“Look. Let us guess how the future King Hongji Le will distribute land. Here, here, and here.” She pointed to the three areas closest to the King’s Court. “These must go to Fire Fox, Blue Bear, and Iron Cheetah?”
The patriarchs watched silently as a frowning Hunn asked: “Why would that be wrong?”
“It’s right. It’s very right.” Feng Zhiwei smiled, pointing to her drawing. “If we organize by power and contribution, Iron Cheetah will go here. Once King Hong takes control of the King’s Court, he will ally himself with Fire Fox and Grey Wolf to destroy Blue Bird and White Deer. As a result, Fire Fox will expand south into Blue Bird and Grey wolf expand north to White Deer. Ah… Congratulations Master Hunn, with a Wolfe and your left and a Fox on your right, a thousand generations of rule will be secured for all of eternity.”
