Ju Chi sat in the dark room in a daze. He didn’t understand the Dragon King’s behavior, and hated his own cowardice. “I should have stood up and taken responsibility for it, then the midwife wouldn’t have been taken away.
“We’re partners.” He blamed himself.
Soon, he comforted himself, “I had no choice. The midwife doesn’t know very many secrets, so she won’t get others involved. But if I got caught, dozens of people would be killed once I failed to withstand torture.”
“However, the Dragon King knows everything.” Thinking of this, he could feel his heart beat faster. He had once been afraid of the Dragon King’s saber and sword, but now he was more scared of his eyes. The Dragon King seldom fixed his eyes on him, but he found the Dragon King’s eyes were like sharp daggers and his secrets would be exposed to him once their eyes met.
Ju Chi had considered slitting his throat, but he couldn’t find a weapon. He had also planned to knock himself out against the wall but gave up, for he was being closely watched by the guards at the gate.
When the Dragon King turned up, Ju Chi was extremely relieved. He wouldn’t have to live in fear and self-reproach much longer.
The guards left, leaving the Dragon King and Ju Chi alone in the room.
Standing opposite the injured guard, Gu Shenwei felt sick about what he was going to do next. “Why do people keep secrets? Why can’t we solve problems through a deal or fight?” he wondered.
Knowing this was naive, Gu Shenwei adjusted his mind quickly. He began, “You’re the 14th descendant of the founder of the Stone Kingdom. According to seniority, you’re the current King of the Stone nation’s uncle.”
“I didn’t know the Dragon King is so interested in the genealogy of the Ju family,” Ju Chi said. He tried to be calm but failed. He knew no one could save him. He proceeded, “I will tell you nothing. Just kill me.”
Gu Shenwei got closer and whispered to him, “You have no idea what death is. You don’t know the pain a man feels when he’s stabbed by a saber or a sword. Or the fear he feels when he finds himself passing away. You don’t know how panicked and helpless your family will be when they are told of your death. You don’t know if they will be homeless and die in a dirty ditch before next winter. And all of this will happen if you don’t treasure your life.”
Ju Chi’s face convulsed. He stared at the young man in front of him with anger and frustration in his eyes. He shouted, “You’re lying. They… Someone will take care of my family.”
“No, they won’t,” Gu Shenwei said, shaking his head. Words were like weapons and they were as difficult to master as Death Scripture. Even after years of practice, he still couldn’t claim himself a master in this field. “Anyone who offers a hand to your family is your accomplice. Once I find them, I will declare them guilty immediately. In this way, the rest will avoid your family like the plague.”
Ju Chi grabbed the chair’s armrest tightly. He overused his strength; blood gushed out from the wound on his left arm. He cried, “You are a demon and you won’t rule Xiaoyao Lake for long. You will be killed before my family gets hurt.”
“So is this your plan?” Gu Shenwei asked in a softer tone. He stepped back and said in an amiable tone, “You plan to collude with the Golden Roc Fort to defeat the Dragon army and kill me before the war.”
Ju Chi replied in disdain, “Both you and the Golden Roc Fort are invaders. We wouldn’t collude with them. We…” When he realized he had said too much, he shut his mouth immediately.
“Do you think you can keep me in the dark?” Gu Shenwei asked.
Ju Chi was ashamed he had leaked information. “I shouldn’t be irritated by the Dragon King. I’m several years senior to him.” He reflected. Then, he lowered his head and decided to hold his tongue.
“Since you’re reluctant to tell me the truth, I will assume I’m right,” Gu Shenwei said confidently. In fact, he didn’t know much about their plan.
A couple of days ago, Xu Xiaoyi and Zhong Heng had collected the intelligence. It was said that recently a hidden force of soldiers from the five kingdoms was planning to take action and fight against the Dragon army. But it didn’t mention specifics.
If this murder hadn’t taken place in the palace, Ju Chi would not have been exposed.
“You should know that civilians in the Stone Kingdom long to live a peaceful life and they hate war. Especially when both parties aren’t kingdoms from Xiaoyao Lake. So you are planning to utilize their dissatisfaction.”
Ju Chi raised his head to glimpse at the Dragon King, and then lowered his head immediately without a word. Observing his response, the Dragon King knew his assumption was correct.
Gu Shenwei’s theory was based on the intelligence he had gotten. Every day he would receive a large amount of information and most of it was regarding civilians and soldiers. Important matters were rarely ever mentioned. But with this intelligence, he could know the real thoughts of the civilians and soldiers of the five kingdoms.
“In the past, military forces in the five kingdoms were weak. Currently there are approximately 20,000 armed soldiers, but they don’t belong to the five kingdoms,” he continued for he had confidence in his theory. “So you thought soldiers in the five kingdoms should fight for their own kingdoms instead of for the Dragon King. You found that many people had the same point of view as you. You joined hands and intended to steal control of the troop of 20,000 soldiers.”
Ju Chi lowered his head so as not to betray his thoughts. He was sure that the Dragon King was a demon who could discover people’s thoughts through their expressions and behavior.
“You don’t want to see the war break out. If I win this war, it will be very difficult for you to incite civilians to rebel against me. You will face a huge loss in soldiers. You hate both outcomes. Therefore, you are planning a rebellion before the war.”
Ju Chi trembled with fear. He even suspected there were traitors in their organization.
“You needed an excuse for the rebellion, one which could arouse rage amongst the masses. Then you found the perfect person, the court maid who had had your king’s child. But as a decedent of the Ju family, you didn’t want to sacrifice the unborn baby who has the blood of your king. So you found another pregnant woman and disguised her as the court maid, and then killed her to arouse public outcry. If your plan is successful and the Dragon King dies, the 20,000 troops will belong to the five kingdoms. At that time, you plan to bring the pregnant court maid to the public and no one will mind your little trick.”
“You’re wrong,” Ju Chi denied in a low voice. In the Dragon King’s eyes, his weak denial was more like an acknowledgment.
“Oh, I almost forgot. You want to see the gender of the baby first because you think only a boy deserves your protection. If it is a girl, will you kill her?”
“I would never kill an innocent person!” Ju Chi shouted with anger. He was losing his control over his emotions. He had taken the bait even though he knew it was a trap.
“An innocent pregnant woman and her poor unborn baby have died. Can you deny that it wasn’t your doing? Didn’t you hurt yourself on your shoulder out of guilt afterwards? Idiot, sacrifice is necessary if you want to imitate a killer.”
Sweat was streaming down Ju Chi’s face, because he couldn’t forget the pregnant woman. After killing her and opening her belly, he had spread the blood on her face to cover her appearance. It had been a nightmare he would never forget. He hadn’t dared to close his eyes since then for he was afraid of seeing that terrible scene.
“You bribed the midwife. What about the maid who served Hai Tang? She ate your poison.”
“You know everything, everything…” Ju Chi murmured. He seemed to be on the edge of losing his mind.
“You want to be a hero. You want to distinguish yourself,” Gu Shenwei continued. “You want to turn me and the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain over to the Supreme King after we die to seek his forgiveness. Even though war is unavoidable, you believe that you can manage to guard critical forts and withstand the enemy with your own strength.”
“But we failed,” Ju Chi responded with a bitter smile on his face. Except for names, he had nothing else to hide. “You knew our plan, didn’t you? That’s why you unveiled it in the end, to turn a campaign against you into a show that supports you.”
Gu Shenwei took it as a compliment, but he made no response. In fact, he had just figured all this out. Discovering Ju Chi’s plot was a coincidence.
“Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence.” Gu Shenwei thought to himself. He knew more of the matter.
“Do you know you have been used, all of you?”
If the Dragon King had said it as soon as he came in, Ju Chi would have sniffed at him. But now, he stared at the Dragon King in confusion, considering his words.
“There is more than one secret in the palace. A pregnant court maid isn’t the biggest secret, but you were told of this and encouraged to take action last night. In fact, you were actually covering up another plot.”
“No one incited me. It was my own plan,” Ju Chi said firmly. He was more willing to be an independent loser than a fooled man.
“You think it’s your plan,” Gu Shenwei said, emphasizing the word “think” in particular. “You can leave now.”
Ju Chi was a mess, because he didn’t understand what the Dragon King had just said. After a while, he asked in amazement, “What did you say?”
“You can leave now.”
“Why?” Ju Chi asked. He couldn’t believe it. He knew that the Dragon King was releasing him for another purpose.
“I need you to be bait,” Gu Shenwei replied straightforwardly. But his answer increased Ju Chi’s doubt. He continued, “You companions will wonder why you have escaped punishment when the midwife was caught. I hope they will come to you for answers.”
Ju Chi’s face flushed when he thought of this. “The Dragon King not only plans to use me as bait, he told me his plan, as if I’m a fool at his mercy with no other choice.”
Gu Shenwei lost interest in Ju Chi’s confession. Many things could be evidence, but words were only a part of it.
Gu Shewei walked outside and turned back at the gate. He said, “If you find you’re being followed, don’t be nervous. The followers are my men. If someone tries to assassinate you, then he must be the one who was using you. I need to remind you that this fellow is merciless and cruel, and capable of sacrificing several people to achieve his goal.”
Ju Chi found that indeed he had no choice. Although he knew he was bait, he had to stay alive. He had to send a warning to his companions. He didn’t believe all of the Dragon King’s words, but he started to shake his determination.
“Is he from the Golden Roc Fort?” he asked.
“You will know soon,” Gu Shenwei said. He pushed the door open and left.“Both of us will know soon,” he thought to himself.
On his way to the princess’ bedchamber, the Dragon King ran into Maid Lotus. After receiving her task from him, she asked, “The King of the Stone nation probably participated in the plot, didn’t he?”
Facing Ju Chi, Gu Shenwei had avoided shifting the subject to the king. But he didn’t need to conceal it from Maid Lotus. “The royal family is always the main participant in plots. Who else would take it for granted that those 20,000 troops belong to the five kingdoms?”
He went to meet the princess. He wanted to hear the royal family’s plot from her.