Apart from Zhong Heng, the armies and the people of the Five Kingdoms were waiting for the Dragon King’s imperial wedding with the Princess of the Stone Kingdom.
Golden Roc Army had not appeared yet. Common citizens never expected that their arrival was delayed due to the cold winter. In their eyes, the Dragon Army had gradually stabilized its status among the Five Kingdoms, and all the loyal families began to support them openly. The Dragon King had helped the Crown Prince succeed the throne in the Hui Kingdom, which made other kings believe that the Dragon King would be a better ruler than the Supreme King.
The King of the Stone Kingdom treated the Dragon King in a defensive manner. Recently, this greedy king, whose ruling area was within the Royal Palace, had started to covet the territory of the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake. Considering the Dragon King’s current prestige and status, the King decided to ask him for help. He sent a eunuch to spell out his intentions to the Dragon King.
The King was afraid to mention it to the Dragon King in person, so he sent a eunuch to deliver his intention in a roundabout way. The eunuch said, “The King of the An Nation who fled Jade City is unlikely to come back. Now, the An Nation needs a ruler to control its overall situation. The Dragon King should consider it. After you marry our Princess, you’ll take over the Stone Kingdom, and our present King will have nothing to do. You’ll be busy fighting and have no time to manage the kingdom, so you need a trusted assistant to help you with the burden. My King perhaps could be of some help. The Royal Family of the Stone Kingdom has a say in the An Kingdom. Did you know? The ancestor of our King migrated from the southern bank…”
Gu Shenwei didn’t reject him immediately, even though the eunuch had a terrible expression. He just coolly expressed his gratitude to the King of the Stone Nation. As the Dragon King hadn’t refused his proposal directly, the King of the Stone Nation thought that he would receive the An Kingdom from the Dragon King as a gift after his marriage. Because of this, the King showed great concern about his sister’s marriage. He frequently sent people to urge the Dragon King to hold the imperial wedding soon.
“Anyway, the Dragon King’s imperial wedding with the Princess of the Stone Kingdom can’t be delayed,” Zhong Heng thought to himself.
Zhong Heng was the main supporter of this imperial wedding, because Zhong Heng felt it would teach the Dragon King how to pacify others, and he reminded him of this every time they met.
Due to his fear of Maid Lotus, Zhong Heng did not dare to mention the imperial wedding directly to the Dragon King. He knew that the female killer usually hid nearby, though she seldom was seen with the Dragon King.
Zhong Heng remembered Xu Yanwei’s warning. After a lot of hesitation, he resolved to risk his life to give advice to the Dragon King, and said, “It’s too bad that Queen Jiang passed away at such an early age. Given that, we should protect Queen Ju well.”
The Princess’ family name was Ju. After marrying the Dragon King, the Princess would be given the title “Queen Ju”.
Zhong Heng was giving a hint to the Dragon King that the Princess might be killed.
He was startled by Dragon King’s response.
New Moon Hall had joined the Dragon Army as an ally, so it was treated differently from other organizations. Gu Shenwei asked Maid Lotus for help. He requested Maid Lotus to send her disciples to protect the Princess of the Stone Kingdom.
Upon hearing this news, Zhong Heng ran to the tent of the Dragon King. As he arrived at the entrance, he stopped suddenly. He raised his head laughing, and then left slowly, without meeting the Dragon King. The guards standing outside the tent were shocked by the scene, thinking that the Prime Minister had lost his mind.
Zhong Heng laughed at his foolishness. He should have known that it was the Dragon King’s way of protecting the Princess. “No one knows Maid Lotus better than the Dragon King. It’s a smart scheme. In this way, he not only shows his complete trust of Maid Lotus and New Moon Hall, but also makes it hard for her to assassinate the Princess,” he mused.
Zhong Heng misunderstood the Dragon King, however. Among the Dragon Army, the disciples of New Moon Hall were the only force that could fight against Golden Roc killers in the dark. Chu Nanping’s and Hu Shining’s apprentices lacked both experience and strength. Given that, Gu Shenwei had to ask the disciples of New Moon Hall to protect the Princess. It was his only choice.
Besides, Maid Lotus’s recent behavior convinced him that he could trust her with this matter.
Tie Linglong had attempted to assassinate the Princess, but failed. Gu Shenwei guessed that it was at Maid Lotus’s instruction, but he let it go. He had been observing her behavior since she had returned from Jade City.
“If Shangguan Yun knew the complicated relationship between us, he would’ve utilized it to turn Maid Lotus and me against each other,” Gu Shenwei pondered. Outsiders could hardly imagine that there was a gap between them. This gap, hiding deep inside their hearts, was covered by superficial trust.
Maid Lotus did not have any abnormal behaviors since she had returned from Jade City. She just congratulated the Dragon King coolly, and then acted as if nothing had happened. Her only concern was the final fight with Golden Roc Fort next spring.
As for the Dragon King’s request to protect the Princess, Maid Lotus accepted it immediately. She sent three disciples, including Han Fen, to enter the Royal Palace.
Han Fen was a simple girl who couldn’t understand complicated schemes. In Maid Lotus’s eyes, Han Fen was the best one to protect the Princess.
Eventually, the Dragon King’s wedding ceremony was scheduled to be held on New Year’s Day.
Soon, Gu Shenwei received two letters of congratulations: one was within his expectations and the other was unexpected.
The letter of congratulation he had expected was from Shangguan Ru. She had sent an envoy to congratulate the Dragon King’s marriage from the Land of Fragrance. The envoy had come with a letter of congratulations and various precious gifts. However, the words in the letter were polite and formal, without showing any emotion.
The unexpected letter came from a monk of the Four Truths Temple named Fayan. His letter was long. Apart from congratulations and Buddhist doctrines, Fayan also recommended an eminent monk in the capital of the Stone Kingdom. He seemed to think that the Dragon King was interested with that.
Shangguan Hong had been sent to deliver a message to the military camp of Golden Roc Fort. Now he was back. Even if he got a chance, he would never leave the Dragon King.
Upon hearing that Shangguan Yun had left Xiaoyao Lake safely, Shangguan Jianyi ended his hidden life and began to show up in public again. He coldly received his nephew, but made no comments on the Dragon King’s truce proposal.
The Dragon King’s attitude towards peace was widely spread. Shangguan Hong had appeared as a messenger of the Dragon King. Ever since then, more people started to believe that the Dragon King was more than just a vengeful man.
The wedding ceremony was held as scheduled. Everything proceeded as usual before and after the ceremony.
Shangguan Yun had kept his word. He did not send any killers to start a fight. There were several of his killer strongholds under close surveillance in the capital of the Stone Kingdom, but the killers left suddenly, and the strongholds were empty.
“This oral truce is even more valid than most written agreements. The King of Xiaowan isn’t like the masters of the Shangguan family, because the Shangguan family would never do it,” many people thought in surprise.
The grand, but simple, wedding ceremony lasted a whole day. On that day, Dugu Xian found an opportunity to show off the results of his training efforts of the past two months. There were 3,000 armored soldiers, in groups of 10 or 100, lined up from the gate to the big camp of the Dragon Army. When the bridal sedan passed, they cheered and congratulated in chorus, waving their weapons in the air simultaneously.
The wedding banquet lasted from morning until midnight.
Xu Xiaoyi and Chu Nanping stayed together these days. They got drunk at the banquet, crying and laughing. On the way to toast the Dragon King, they fell down and were carried away.
Gu Shenwei had spent most of his time staying with the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. Among all the guests present, only they felt truly happy for the Dragon King. Meanwhile, they also grieved for dead Jiang. They remembered that Jiang was supposed to be there that day.
The Dragon King granted the swordsmen special privileges that day, which made them feel better. In the end, Long Fanyun and some others pushed the Dragon King to the entrance of the bridal chamber.
They were forbidden to approach the Dragon King within five steps, but they were allowed to break the rule that day.
Only a few were allowed to attend the wedding ceremony. Most soldiers still needed to stick to their posts, including Maid Lotus. No one could guarantee that Golden Roc Fort would not come to destroy the wedding.
Maid Lotus was on patrol near the Dragon King, as usual. She would never miss any suspicious signs. Now, with the disciples of New Moon Hall, she could extend her patrol area and ensure the security of the wedding ceremony.
Xu Yanwei thought that she was supposed to do her duty as the Dragon King’s mother, sister and friend at his wedding ceremony, so she accompanied the Princess and did not go for a drink at the banquet. It was late, but the Dragon King still had not shown up. She comforted the Princess, and kept sending people to urge the Dragon King.
The Dragon King finally showed up. Xu Yanwei was relieved at the sight of him, greeting him with a smile. Having realized that it wasn’t Pleasure Alley, she hid her smile immediately and left the room. When she passed the Dragon King, she reprimanded him in a low voice, “You’re too late. I’ve never seen a bridegroom as calm as you.”
“Out!” he said coolly.
Xu Yanwei was the only one who dared to disobey the Dragon King. Hearing it, she smiled slightly and whispered to him, “I’m more experienced than you. Would you like me to teach you how to…”
Gu Shenwei pushed her out of the tent.
The tent looked different. The ground was covered by layers of carpets. Gu Shenwei walked on them as if he stepped on soft clouds.
Gu Shenwei was sober because he had not drunk.
He stood there, staring at his newlywed wife.
The Princess wore a light and thin veil, so Gu Shenwei could faintly see her face. Although he realized that he had forgotten her appearance, his desire for sex started to surge.
Even though he was occupied by hatred, he was still a normal man. The desire for sex and hatred existed in his mind peacefully. Sometimes, he might be at the mercy of one or the other of them.
His first was Luo Ningcha, a woman he both despised and admired. After escaping from Golden Roc Fort, he had also had sex with other women. As he made love with them in the darkness, he could barely see their faces. The process was always brief, and he felt empty afterwards.
Affected by his Master, Tie Hanfeng, he thought that desire should be met instead of hidden. He took having sex for granted and was never content with it.
There had been a time that he believed his attitude towards sex resulted from the dangerous situation he was facing. Anyone hunted by Golden Roc killers was never relaxed.
After entering the Great Snowmountain, he strictly restrained his desire for sex in order to show others that he was an abstinent man. Only when he was in Jade City did he indulge in sex, but his sexual partner was still Luo Ningcha.
At that time, he had been in an even more dangerous situation. Gu Shenwei was shocked to find himself satisfied with the sex with Luo Ningcha. Later, he treated that woman ruthlessly to cover up his real thoughts.
He didn’t know why Luo Ningcha could satisfy his desire for sex. Others took her for just a beauty of the Western Region, but he knew the truth: He was the only person who had witnessed her evil side, and some of that was caused by him.
After a long time, he concluded that the satisfaction from sex had nothing to do with affection. The desire for sex could be easily satisfied. Tie Hanfeng’s explanation was reasonable: There was no need to fight against it, because you would ultimately be humiliated by it. To satisfy it was the best way.
Gu Shenwei married for two purposes. First, he wished to utilize this marriage to consolidate his status and help him become the King of the Stone Kingdom. Second, he wished to use the Princess to satisfy his desire for sex.
Now, he was driven by desire, and became impatient to see her face.
He lifted the veil, and saw the Princess’ appearance.
Undoubtedly, she had fine features. Compared to Luo Ningcha, she was even more stunning. With evident trails of tears on her face, she looked at Gu Shenwei with fear and suffering in her eyes. She looked like a victim who had sacrificed herself for the greater good.
At the sight of the Princess with her pitiful look, Gu Shenwei lost his interest instantly. All his former expectations vanished.
Maid Lotus raised her head, looking at the cold moon. Though the moon was far from her, she felt she was very close to it. But instead, she thought the uproar in the tents where the others were drinking cheerfully seemed far away.
She believed it and knew that she woud be the final winner.