There were only a few drinkers in the small, filthy and dim tavern. Like a group of lions who had already eaten their fill, they would stare at every customer who walked in until they sat down, joining in as onlookers with the rest of the crowd to the next customer who walked in after.
As soon as Gu Shenwei walked in, he noticed that traditions here were completely different from Jade City. These people were rude, and they lacked danger awareness, not knowing that their stares might actually get themselves killed.
Zhong Heng waved at him from the innermost corner that was dimmer than usual.
“Quite a good place you chose, yeah,” Gu Shenwei spoke as he sat down, no longer being stared at by others.
“No choice, there’s only this tavern around here,” Zhong Heng replied, smacking his lips with a dreamy expression on his face. “Close your eyes and imagine here as Southwall. I haven’t gone back to that place for more than three years, and I really miss the fine wine there.”
Gu Shenwei noticed that Zhong Heng used the word ‘back’. For someone who was not a resident of Jade City, but from the Central Plain, he had actually regarded Jade City as his home.
Zhong Heng was the assistant of the Special Envoy sent by the Central Plain to Xiaoyao Lake. He met Dragon King in private as old friends.
It had been almost 10 days since Gu Shenwei left Jade City.
Located at the east of Jade City, this place was called Shuangquan Village. It was the last courier station towards the south before entering the desert, but it was still within the border of the city. It would take about five to seven days to travel through the desert as it wasn’t very big, and right across from it was Xiaoyao Lake.
All the forces traveling toward the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake would need to reorganize here. They could rest, store up clean water, and hire guides if needed.
It was here that Gu Shenwei joined the Special Envoy sent by the Central Plain as they prepared to leave for Xiaoyao Lake together.
To him, Zhong Heng was glib and experienced when it came to officialdom, therefore Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised when he noticed Zhong Heng looked somewhat shabby as if he had experienced some difficult times. He said, “The fine wine in Southwall is still the same as before, but Lord Zhong, you seem to have changed a lot.”
“Haha, yes, it’s getting worse by the day, but who could have imagined, Dragon King, gee,” Zhong Heng said in amazement. As if they had just met for the first time, his gaze was locked on Dragon King’s face the whole time.
“I haven’t thanked Lord Zhong yet. I heard from the military counselor that you helped a lot.” Gu Shenwei didn’t really enjoy Zhong Heng’s gaze and was perplexed because he wasn’t so rude before.
“Hey, the gold belonged to you anyway. I was just helping to take care of it. I was beyond elated when you were willing to give me 20 percent as a remuneration. Dragon King, you are really smart. If you didn’t write to tell me about the whereabouts of the gold, I would have thought you had transferred it all away, instead of it being buried underground.”
Gu Shenwei once assassinated Wei Lingmiao and buried carriages of gold into a big pit within the camp. According to the agreement, the gold was split into four-four-two parts, among himself, Shangguan Nu and Zhong Heng respectively.
Two years ago, when Gu Shenwei was on the run, he heard that Shangguan Nu was very shocked by Slave Huan’s origin and had the intention to join hands with his father to hunt the renegade down. He sent a letter to Zhong Heng and entrusted him to dig out the gold, offering it to Shangguan Nu as a form of goodwill.
At that time, Gu Shenwei had already decided that he could not allow the crack in Golden Roc Fort to heal again. If Shangguan Nu was a small enemy to him, then his greatest enemy was Shangguan Fa.
“It ought to be so. I will need to rely on your help once again, Lord Zhong.”
Zhong Heng looked around and said in a low voice, “Don’t expect too much from me, Dragon King, let alone the other guy.”
“The other guy” here referred to the Special Envoy for Xiaoyao Lake. The reason Zhong Heng asked to meet Dragon King in private was to let him know more details about the Special Envoy. His motive for doing so was due to the 2000 taels of silver that Zhong Heng received every month from Dragon King without fail for a few years now. If there was a lapse in payment, it would also be supplemented afterward.
“Oh?” Gu Shenwei already felt that the Special Envoy for Xiaoyao Lake had a lukewarm approach towards him, but he did not know the reason for it.
“He is a close friend of Lord Wei and is very mindful of Dragon King.”
“Wei Song is back in the Western Region again?” Gu Shenwei’s heart raced as he asked. Half of the revenge for the massacre of the Gu family was related to Golden Roc Fort, and another half was related to Wei Song. He had always wanted to understand the truth behind it; however, that year, Gu Shenwei did not manage to seize him in time as Wei Song fled to Shu-lik and borrowed paths from Norland and return back to the Central Plain.
Zhong Heng nodded and answered, “Yes, you need to be careful, Dragon King. Mr. Wei is now the Commanding Officer for the Western Region. He is in control of the major political affairs in the Western Region now. It’s hard to say what is the Central Plain’s approach towards Dragon King.”
Zhong Heng was also extremely vigilant towards Wei Song. When he was still the commandant under the Governor, he almost died at the hands of Wei Lingmiao. He faked his death and escaped from Jade City with the help of Slave Huan. Finally, just when he was getting on track in the Central Plain army, he knew his future would be unstable again upon knowing that Wei Song took on the role of Commanding Officer for the Western Region.
“Will he let the Central Plain change their approach to support Golden Roc Fort instead?”
“Of course not. The Central Plain will not change their main strategy, but honestly, he’s not that supportive of Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain.”
The two of them chatted for a while more before they walked out of the tavern one after another as Zhong Heng footed the bill.
Fang Wenshi mentioned that there would be a lot of obstacles on this trip. His biggest assurance was banking on the support of the Central Plain, but even this was shot down unexpectedly. Not to mention that Gu Shenwei had not even stepped into the territory of Stone Kingdom yet.
Shuangquan Village was a very small village, with only about 30 to 40 households. The livelihood of the whole village was to provide clean water and guides for business trips that come and go. Winter was usually the off-peak season, however, this year’s winter seemed different. Within a few days, there were already seven to eight teams gathered here and the numbers were increasing by the day.
Several monks lined up and passed by the front of the tavern. Zhong Heng suddenly let out a sigh. “The King of Stone Kingdom is probably bogged down as we speak.”
“They are the monks from the Four Truths Temple.” Gu Shenwei remembered that there were no monks here yesterday.
“Four Truths Temple has a great influence on the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake. Several kings become monks at the temple after abdication. I bet these monks are going to the Stone Kingdom as well.”
This was yet another ominous sign that Golden Roc Fort was determined to get the throne of Stone Kingdom.
The two of them bypassed the tavern and saw the Golden Roc Flag waving high in the wind within steps.
The Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei had arrived.
Compared to the small troop that Gu Shenwei brought, Shangguan Fei was almost bringing along a small army.
Golden Roc Fort set up their camp just outside of the village, but their scale was almost like that of a village. Gu Shenwei bid farewell to Zhong Heng and went back. Lin Xiaoshan immediately came to report that there was a total of 200 people from Golden Roc Fort, and among them were 100 guards, with the rest being handymen for transporting the dowry.
The monks from the Four Truths Temple came with Shangguan Fei as expected.
After Lin Xiaoshan left, Maid Lotus came with updated news: There were 50 killers in Shangguan Fei’s camp, meant to protect the Young Master full-time.
Even if 10 Princesses were waiting in the Stone Kingdom, Shangguan Fei would never leave North City or the Stone Castle if he was given a choice. In order to make him rest assured, Lady Meng even sent out all the guards available within her power. 50 killers and 50 machetemen were more than enough to start a mutiny in the Stone Kingdom.
Gu Shenwei brought 30 men, and most of them were swordsmen. Only Maid Lotus and Guan Shang came from New Moon Hall, while the rest remained in Jade City to deal with possible attacks.
Gu Shenwei still had to guard against Wildhorse as he was still at large.
That evening, Gu Shenwei unexpectedly received an invitation from Shangguan Fei to meet him.
The meeting place was chosen by Dragon King to show no signs of malice. Gu Shenwei chose the small tavern at the front of the village as the distance between their accommodations was almost the same.
Everybody, from the manager to the customers was ousted out of the tavern. The place belonged to the border of Golden Roc Fort so the orders from the assassins in black carried a lot of weight.
Shangguan Fei seemed very nervous. He wanted to laugh freely but could only get some hollow laughter out of his throat. “I didn’t expect that we would be competitors, Dragon King.”
Both parties could bring an attendant according to the agreement, so Shangguan Fei brought Shangguan Hong along. Although they were half-siblings, looking at the way Shangguan Hong carefully stood with his hands at his sides, there was no difference between him and a slave.
Zhang Ji already harbored intentions to abandon this unqualified master and Gu Shenwei actually felt a little sympathy for the guy as he was probably oblivious of it.
Shangguan Hong pretended that he did not know Dragon King at all, and did not bother to even lift his head.
Gu Shenwei’s attendant, Lin Xiaoshan, stood dutifully behind Dragon King.
“I really didn’t expect it.” Gu Shenwei felt that it was a wrong move for the Supreme King to let his ninth son asked for the Princess’ hand in marriage. “I didn’t expect that you would actually be interested in the Princess.”
Shangguan Fei blushed; only very few people know that he didn’t like women, and unfortunately, Gu Shenwei was one of them… and he knew it very well.
“The peace negotiations are currently ongoing between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort. For now, we are at a temporary armistice,” Shangguan Fei said suddenly, sounding somewhat impatient.
That’s right. There is still half a month left before the temporary armistice ends.”
“By that time, the peace negotiations will definitely be successful, without a break in between.” Shangguan Fei added immediately.
“I hope so.”
“No matter what, the temporary armistice is now in effect.”
“Yes.”
“Not just in Jade City, but also in Stone Kingdom as well.”
“Yes.”
Feeling a little relieved, Shangguan Fei said, “I believe in you, Dragon King. So, we are… competing uprightly, no using of ploys or schemes.”
“Yes, no ploys or schemes, everything has to be under the sun, above board and forthright.”
Shangguan Fei was deeply puzzled when Dragon King answered so readily until he understood what he actually meant. Compared to Dragon King, he was unable to be “above board and forthright”, that was his weakness.
Shangguan Fei looked similar to his sister in terms of appearance, thus he should be quite good-looking if not for his shifty eyes and constantly evasive gaze. Gu Shenwei was perplexed; how could the difference be so vast between this pair of siblings?
“Let’s make a deal, Dragon King.” Shangguan Fei hesitated for a moment, before finally deciding to state his real purpose.
Gu Shenwei made no comment. Opposite him, Shangguan Hong got the hint and retreated out of the tavern. After glancing at Dragon King, Lin Xiaoshan soon followed as well.
With just the two of them left, Shangguan Fei was even more nervous. He kept looking at the saber on Dragon King’s waist. Then he said, “You know, I have never once thought of becoming the prince consort or whatever, but these are the Lord’s orders. I cannot defy him.”
Gu Shenwei kept silent. He could not fathom what deal Shangguan Fei could offer him.
“As for me, in fact, I have no ambition. All I wanted was to continue to be the Ninth Young Master safely and have no ambition to inherit the throne. Don’t listen to the nonsense that people had been spreading.”
The Supreme King had only five sons left: one was in prison, another one turned traitor, another was illegitimate, and one more could not be publicly announced. Only Shangguan Fei seemed normal on the outside and the throne did seem like it should belong to him. But Shangguan Fei was most afraid of being targeted from all sides.
“What are you trying to say?” Gu Shenwei was becoming impatient. Shangguan Fei seemed to treat him as Slave Huan still, which made him angrier by the minute.
“Very simple,” Shangguan Fei said as he took a step back. “Give up the idea of killing me, and don’t stop me from marrying the Princess, I’ll… give you my sister.”
Looking at the furious expression on Dragon King’s face, he immediately added, “You can see her anytime. She’s in the camp as well.”