Chapter 337: Sound Out
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After a night in the desert and two more nights dealing with the group of bandits, Gu Shenwei arrived in the Stone Kingdom three days later than the others. A lot of people were surprised to see him arrive at the courier station of the Stone Kingdom, but they skillfully masked their shock.
Maid Lotus did not bring a lot of Blood Coagulation Pills with her and was unwilling to use them on the bandits, thus she used the Jueyin Touch to help them remove the effects of the Bliss Needle.
Jueyin Touch was similar to Mama Xue’s Peripheral Force. Although it would not take effect immediately, the latent danger of qigong deviation had already taken root in the body. As a result, the six bandits had no choice but to listen to Maid Lotus.
Moreover, the newly subdued bandits were very unreliable. Gu Shenwei dealt with them for two days and pried out a lot of information from He Sancai’s mouth. He ordered a dozen of them who were relatively trustworthy to contact more of their fellow people to come to the Stone Kingdom, while the rest continued to hide in the desert on standby.
On the second day after arriving in the Stone Kingdom, he went to visit Yang Dou – the Prime Minister – along with other suitors.
Yang Dou was shrewd and crafty. Although there was already a certain someone in mind for the Emperor’s son-in-law, he still put on a flawless act that nobody could see through. On behalf of the king, he proposed five criteria for choosing a son-in-law: family background, literary talent, kung fu, wealth, and character.
Everybody quickly measured their own advantages and disadvantages with others and put forward questions and demands one after another. The Prince of the Kang Kingdom insisted that “family background” should be the most important criteria, while others felt that “literary talent” or “character” should be the core of the criteria instead. No one touched on “kung fu” and “wealth” because they knew that among the suitors, nobody could win against Dragon King in terms of kung fu, and nobody could win against the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort in terms of wealth.
But these two men did not say a word from start to end and just let everybody else fight it out.
Both Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fei were very clear that the person who could decide on the choice of the prince consort was not Prime Minister Yang Dou, nor was it the Princess herself or the King of the Stone Kingdom; it was up to the two Special Envoys from Norland and the Central Plain.
Faced with the complicated situation, Yang Dou displayed his ability and persuaded every suitor who put forward different opinions one by one. He ensured that the whole process of choosing the prince consort would be fair and reasonable, giving everyone a chance.
The whole morning was spent in quarrels as the suitors engaged in a battle of words with each other. In the end, Yang Dou emerged as the winner because none of the five criteria for choosing a son-in-law were changed despite the heated discussions.
At noon, the palace hosted a banquet for all the guests to enjoy.
The King of Stone Kingdom only showed his face briefly at the banquet and did not say much. After drinking a glass of wine symbolically, he left his seat and the banquet was instead hosted by the Prime Minister.
The king was different from the memory that Gu Shenwei had of the Second Prince. He was much older and his already thin body looked even frailer now. Like a candle in the wind, it seemed like he could collapse anytime.
All suitors stayed in the courier station outside of the city, and the real competition would begin after meeting with one another this time.
On that night, Gu Shenwei draped a cape and paid a visit to the Special Envoy from the Central Plain.
On the surface, the Central Plain remained a supporter of Dragon King and Gu Shenwei did not intend to fall out with him too soon. Moreover, from what He Sancai confessed, it was Wei Song – the Commanding Officer of the Western Region – who instigated the assassination of Dragon King. It was still not clear whether the Special Envoy was aware of it.
The Special Envoy from the Central Plain was named Lin Tao and he was a military commander. After working as an official in the Western Region for many years, his words were filled with nostalgia for the Central Plain, and all he wanted was to retire and return back to his country. “I am a southern man, Every time I close my eyes, images of regions abound with rivers and lakes, as well as boats floating in the watery towns, fill my mind. Yet, when I open my eyes, there is nothing but yellow sand all around me. I would never come to the Western Region ever again in my next life. Hehe, I heard that Dragon King is from the Central Plain as well. Where’s your hometown? I’ve long heard of General Gu’s reputation, but it’s a pity I lack fate to meet him…”
Gu Shenwei humored him carefully as he was not very good at dealing with such figures from the officialdom. He thought that Zhong Heng could be a very useful advisor if he was worthy of his trust.
Next, Lin Tao talked about the bandits in the desert, “They’ve overestimated themselves! These people, how dare they lay their hands on the Dragon King! But Dragon King, you are too polite indeed. If you knew that there were people trying to block your way, why didn’t you let me know then? Although I didn’t have a lot of men under me and they only had average abilities, it would still have been possible for them to help you keep a lookout, you know, Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei thanked Mr. Lin sincerely for his concern and naturally pinned Golden Roc Fort as the instigator of the bandits. “Supreme King had always wanted to get rid of me, but he’s afraid of the wrath of the large countries and hasn’t dared to send his own people. It’s shameless that he actually encouraged these unpopular bandits to trap me to death in the desert.”
“Shameless indeed,” Lin Tao said sternly after listening to what Dragon King said, vouching firmly to him. “The Central Plain will guarantee the safety of the Dragon King, and this is by no means empty talk or intimidation. As long as we have explicit evidence that Golden Roc Fort is behind this, we will send our troops to the Supreme King. No matter how good his kung fu is, it’s impossible for him to defeat the tens and thousands of troops that we have!”
For Lin Tao to actually give out such a clear threat as the Special Envoy of the Central Plain, it goes to show that as the confidant of Wei Song – the Commanding Officer of the Western Region – he was definitely aware of this “shameless” attack.
The two talked again, and Lin Tao slowly moved onto the real business. His mood was not very optimistic as he said, “The Stone Kingdom is very important, isn’t it? The Stone Kingdom guards one of the two major entries of Xiaoyao Lake. Once you obtain the Stone Kingdom, you will acquire the entirety of Xiaoyao Lake – these words were indeed true. Although the five kingdoms are not big, they are rich in resources, especially the refined iron from Wushan; it’s unparalleled in this world…”
Lin Tao leaned towards Dragon King and then said, “Golden Roc Fort is determined to win the marriage proposal this time and they have the backing of Norland. The five criteria listed by Prime Minister Yang were obviously more advantageous for Golden Roc Fort as well. Do you have any countermeasures, Dragon King?”
Gu Shenwei prepared several plans but he did not intend to tell Lin Tao about it, therefore he beat around the bush and first talked about the hatred between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort. After that, he talked about how the support of the Central Plain was important to them. All in all, it was just a common conversation, until, finally, he said, “The Great Snowmountain has just been recently established, thus we are still weak in strength and are also nearly a thousand miles away from Xiaoyao Lake. We don’t have any foundation here as well – in fact, there is no need for it. My purpose for coming here was not to become the prince consort but to stop Golden Roc Fort from growing their wings.”
Lin Tao bowed his head in deep thought and was somewhat surprised, saying, “I see. Actually, Dragon King does have what it takes to be the prince consort of the Stone Kingdom. Look at all these people coming to ask for the marriage in hand: they are all princes. How are they comparable to you, Dragon King? Haha, but since the Dragon King has no intention of vying for the throne, I should not force you. I feel that, however, Dragon King should choose a competitor who is well-matched in strength and can be pit against Golden Roc Fort, and then fully support him. As long as he becomes the prince consort, Golden Roc Fort naturally won’t be able to get what they want.”
Gu Shenwei was clearly aware that this was the true intention of the Special Envoy of the Central Plain. It was also a major reason why Wei Song – the Commanding Officer of the Western Region – dared to assassinate Dragon King and was not afraid of ruining the strategy of the Central Plain.
There was little use for weapons in this secret struggle. After thinking for a moment, Gu Shenwei said, “In fact, I was thinking about this for a long time as well. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with the many countries of the Western Region, and therefore don’t know which of these suitors is worth manipulating. Mr. Lin, you’ve been an official in the Western Region for a long time, so perhaps you can offer me some advice?”
Appearing to be vexed as though he could not make up his mind right now, Lin Tao said, “It’s indeed difficult to find another suitor who can compete with Golden Roc Fort other than Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei was intending to sound out his opinion, so he asked, “What about the Prince of the Kang Kingdom? I understand that the two countries had made marriage engagements in private.”
At this juncture, the experienced and vicious Lin Tao revealed part of his true self. Without thinking, he quickly objected to Dragon King’s suggestion and said, “No, that’s not good. The Kang Kingdom is weak and has always been under the covert control of Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. It’s highly possible that he will go back on his word at the last minute, and this will ruin your plans, Dragon King.”
The two of them did not come to a conclusion that night. Lin Tao claimed that he would still need to understand the situation before giving Dragon King a more specific suggestion.
Gu Shenwei returned to the accommodations that the courier station had arranged for the Great Snowmountain. He first summoned Lin Xiaoshan and inquired about Xu Yanwei.
“She has been sent to the palace and nobody noticed.”
Gu Shenwei nodded. The most advantageous weapon in his hand for this marriage proposal battle was probably Xu Yanwei. She was very confident in being able to persuade the King of the Stone Kingdom and even seemed very happy to see him again. She said, “The Second Prince is a very nice man; he’s gentle and considerate. Alas, if only I had followed him to the Stone Kingdom, my life would have been very different, wouldn’t it?”
Xu Yanwei never once remembered the bad things done by her customers. Even when the Second Prince had once sent someone to kill her, she did not resent him. Being a little afraid, she asked, “He won’t do anything to me again, will he?”
Gu Shenwei let Jiang follow as a maid and sent Guan Shang as a guard to ensure Xu Yanwei’s safety.
Gu Shenwei believed that the King of the Stone Kingdom was unable to protect even himself. The sudden appearance of Xu Yanwei would only give rise to more suspicion, and he would not dare to lay his hands on her at all.
Lin Xiaoshan seemed quite worried, so he said, “There are a lot of spies planted by Golden Roc Fort in the palace and I am afraid that they might harm Madam Xu, Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei looked at Lin Xiaoshan and pondered over his words. The macheteman blushed slightly under Gu Shenwei’s stare.
“Rest assured, there are suitors from all countries residing outside the city. Even if the people in the palace realize who Xu Yanwei is, they will not dare to lay their hands on her.”
Lin Xiaoshan agreed without saying much and excused himself.
In the afternoon of the next day, Zhong Heng came to visit. He conveyed Lin Tao’s suggestion and said, “Prince of the Loulan Kingdom: he has a noble family background and is skilled in both literary and martial talents. Great wealth resides in his kingdom and his character is impeccable. He can be the strongest competitor against Golden Roc Fort, and Mr. Lin hoped that Dragon King could find a chance to meet with him.”
“The Loulan Kingdom,” Gu Shenwei repeated in a low voice.
The Loulan Kingdom was the closest kingdom to the Central Plain out of all the countries in the Western Region. They had been a loyal spokesman for the Central Plain forces for many years. The kingdom was thousands of miles away from Xiaoyao Lake and was separated by a vast gobi desert even, thus for them to even know about the news of the Princess seeking a husband and appearing on the list of suitors was a miracle in itself, so to speak.
Golden Roc Fort and Norland were adamant, but the Central Plain was a force to be reckoned with as well.
Dragon King did not express his views for quite some time. Zhong Heng, who was usually the best in beating around the bush, suddenly become very direct and said, “May I know how I should report back to Mr. Lin, Dragon King?”
“Say I completely agree with it, and please let Mr. Lin arrange for us to meet as soon as possible.”
By right, the meeting should have ended by now, but Zhong Heng did not leave the room. After rambling for a while, he finally stated his true intention, “Has the Dragon King ever had doubts that perhaps Golden Roc Fort was not the instigator for the bandits in the desert?”
Every month, Zhong Heng would receive a sum of taels from Dragon King. Likewise, he also had grudges with Wei Song – the Commanding Officer of the Western Region; however, Gu Shenwei still couldn’t trust him completely, so he probed, “What do you mean, Lord Zhong?”
Beating around the bush like this could take up a lot of time and Zhong Heng was fully aware that he would need to show his sincerity first in this game, so he put his cards on the table and said, “Lord Wei would never let you off, Dragon King, and he would never let me off either. He knew the culprit behind the death of Master Wei Lingmiao. If I guessed correctly, once the marriage of the Princess of the Stone Kingdom is settled, the two of us would be met with mishaps, Dragon King.”