Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The surname of this envoy of the Central Plains was Ma, and his full name was Ma Lian. He was in his forties and his official position was that of Imperial Minister or some other sinecure. It was a little unusual for him to come to the Western Regions to investigate military exploits. Wei Song's explanation for this was, "Prince Xiao had a slight disagreement with the General-in-chief. Since the people in the Imperial Court already trust Prince Xiao, they sent a civil official here as a reward for the troops."
Wei Song's introduction was very brief and almost the same as the one given by Prince Xiao. And then he asked, confusedly, "Do you suspect Ma Lian, Dragon King? It's very unlikely. As far as I know, he never held any grudges towards Lord Gu. Actually they barely ever interacted with each other."
"I have some speculations." Gu Shenwei had been paying attention to Wei Song's every expression, but he found nothing suspicious. This old fox concealed his true thoughts very well and didn't show any signs of them. "The one who hired Golden Roc killers to kill my entire family must be a dignitary of the Central Plains. I once pretended to be the son of Yang Zheng and tried to avenge the murder of Gu family through that avenue. The Central Plains should have known about that by now. The one behind it all won't just stand by, and he'll probably send someone here to investigate. Who else is more suitable to perform this task than the envoy? Lord Wei, you said it yourself: Ma Lian's appointment is somewhat unusual. Even if the Imperial Court trusts Prince Xiao, it should have sent a civil official of a higher rank and with more power to the Western Regions."
Wei Song frowned slightly. After contemplating for a while, he said, "The Dragon King's words are reasonable, but… they're all speculations, and there's no proof. My suggestion is that the Dragon King shouldn't make any rash decisions. The situation is very favorable, and the Imperial Court will soon confer Dragon King with a t.i.tle. With your military exploits, you can just identify yourself and then tell the emperor what happened to your family. I'll vouch for the Dragon King with my own life. With the emperor's order, finding the one behind it all will be as easy as winking."
"It seems like this is the only way. After all, the Central Plains is too far away and there's very little I can do."
"Hha. You managed to throw the Norland into chaos all by yourself. Even if that mastermind's status is only second to the emperor, he's probably hiding in fear now."
When the two parted, the atmosphere was very harmonious. Wei Song even shed tears. "Fortune and misfortune always go hand-in-hand. Your current achievements are more than enough to comfort the souls of your deceased family members."
After returning to the camp of the Dragon Army, Gu Shenwei sat alone in his tent. The desire to take revenge swelled inside of him and he had to try very hard to stop himself from a.s.sa.s.sinating Wei Song.
A guard outside reported, "The Prime Minister's here."
Gu Shenwei immediately stood up and his look returned to normal. The Prime Minister had arrived just in time, as he desperately needed an advisor and counselor.
Zhong Heng knew the true ident.i.ty of the Dragon King, and Wei Song was also his enemy. So, he had unconditionally supported the Dragon King in his revenge from the very beginning.
"In Jade City and Xiaoyao Lake, Wei Song escaped death twice. I can't let him get away again." After briefly exchanging the usual pleasantries, Gu Shenwei immediately went to the main topic.
Zhong Heng had traveled a long way here and there was still some fatigue on his face. He had come up with a plan on his way here. "We have a good opportunity right in front of us."
"Hmm."
"I'm not familiar with this Central-Plains guy Ma Lian, but according to my knowledge of the Imperial Court of the Central Plains, even though this Imperial Minister is just a sinecure, anybody in this position is under the immediate command of the emperor, and a lot of them were promoted to other positions with actual powers. And by convention, one has to make a contribution to get promoted. I think that this a.s.signment of Ma Lian is a sign of his imminent promotion."
Gu Shenwei began to understand Zhong Heng's intentions. "The greater the contribution Ma Lian makes in the Western Regions, the higher the status he will be granted after returning to the Central Plains."
"Exactly."
"But he's just here to reward the troops with food and drink, and in pa.s.sing, investigate the military exploits. These things will never count as a great contribution."
"Um. When an envoy is on an official visit, it will count as a contribution as long as everything goes smoothly. But you're right. It won't be a great contribution. If Ma Lian is truly ambitious, then he will try to achieve more."
"As long as there's a chance, everybody will be ambitious. Confirmation of Prince Xiao's fraudulent claim of military exploits will surely be a great contribution, right?"
"Certainly. But I suspect that Ma Lian wouldn't dare to claim that contribution. The emperor trusts Prince Xiao very much, so it's not that easy to bring him down. And he even might offend the emperor by doing this. So, we can bait him with a contribution of incriminating someone else of a lower status."
Zhong Heng was a Central Plainsman, and his tone was full of respect when he mentioned the emperor.
Gu Shenwei felt like he had come to the right person. "Ma Lian, Ma Lian. Whose side is he actually on?"
"Didn't Prince Xiao say anything?"
"Prince Xiao said that Ma Lian has always stayed away from the political disputes of the Imperial Court, and he barely has any contact with any of the other sides. But I suspect that things are not that simple. Besides… I also suspect that he's aware of my true ident.i.ty."
Zhong Heng knew what the Dragon King was worried about. After thinking for a while, he finally said, "I'm afraid you'll have to test him out, Dragon King. If we confirm Ma Lian's stance, then it will be much easier to drive a wedge between him and Wei Song."
Gu Shenwei agreed with him. Seeing that there was an inexplicable smile on Zhong Heng's face, he was a little surprised. "What?"
"This conversation with the Dragon King reminds me of that Cripple Tie." Zhong Heng knew that Tie Hanfeng had died to the Dragon King's saber, so he didn't show any respect when talking about him.
"One has to sever the targets' relations with others before killing them." This remark had been imprinted onto Gu Shenwei's heart, and he had even adapted it into his strategy of fighting for supremacy.
"Wei Song's biggest backer is the Central Plains, and the person he's directly related to is the General-in-chief, Pang Ning. As long as these two relations are severed, all the other details are insignificant." Zhong Heng paused briefly before continuing to say, "We can a.s.sume that Ma Lian is indeed not on anybody's side, and that he's willing to catch those treacherous court officials who are colluding with foreign enemies. The Dragon King can then have your counselor write a couple of letters to Wei Song in the name of the Khan. With these letters as evidence, things will be much easier."
Things were easy to say, but in reality, they were very complicated. Why would Wei Song collude with the Norland which was already divided? Why were there only the Khan's letters? Where were Wei Song's letters in reply? There were many details that demanded a plausible explanation. If both Ma Lian and Wei Song were insiders and partic.i.p.ants in the ma.s.sacre of the Gu family, things would be even trickier. But at least,the plan was beginning to take shape. Gu Shenwei nodded and said, "Let's do this. Tomorrow, the envoy and I will reward the troops who partic.i.p.ated in the battle of Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s. I'll do my best to suss out his stance. Come with me, Prime Minister."
"Yes. There's another issue. We want to kill Wei Song, but Wei Song must also want to avenge his son's murder… "
Recalling his conversation with Wei Song, Gu Shenwei said, "That's true. Wei Song also has a plan, and he's very confident."
"If we can see through Wei Song's plan in advance, then we might not need to forge the Khan's letters."
As if mumbling to himself, Gu Shenwei said, "Wei Song won't use the army of the Central Plains, just like how I won't use the Dragon Army. If he took part in the conspiracies back then, then he will surely ask the Unique King for help again."
Zhong Heng felt that the Dragon King's speculation was very reasonable. "It's been a long time since they last tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate Dragon King, right?"
"Um. I fear that this is only a delaying tactic to trick me into letting my guard down."
Zhong Heng also began to worry. It had been only a year since the Dragon Army was built, and its foundation is far less solid than that of the armies of the Central Plains or the Norland. It isn't even as solid as that of the armies of those small countries in the Western Regions. If the Dragon King died and n.o.body managed to take command of this army that consisted of troops from complex backgrounds, his position of Prime Minister would become meaningless. "Fortunately, you're familiar with the Golden Roc killers' tactics. You know about the enemies as well as yourself."
This was a fact that Gu Shenwei hadn't told him - Golden Roc Castle had an elite force that he knew very little about.
Ma Lian had never forgotten about his ident.i.ty of the envoy of the Central Plains. The next morning, when he was in the tent facing the Dragon King, his manner was neither arrogant nor modest. But when he was outside the tent in front of those troops, he appeared very haughty and held the scepter himself, as if it were a part of his body.
Their first stop was the encampment of the Dragon Army. The Dragon King's guard troops had partic.i.p.ated in the battle of Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s and suffered heavy casualties. They had just finished regrouping and had been supplemented with troops. Ma Lian read the emperor's imperial edict of rewarding the troops, which was well-written, and even Gu Shenwei could barely understand those words, not to mention common soldiers. By comparison, those gold, silver and cloth were much more practical.
Ma Lian picked a dozen troops and asked them about the battle in detail. A clerk recorded their answers. The taciturn swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain barely gave him any impression.
And then, with those guard troops and 1,000 Central-Plains soldiers as escorts, Ma Lian and the Dragon King moved through northern Jade City by entering from the east gate and exiting through the west gate, heading for the encampment of Shule Kingdom.
The soldiers numbered 2,000. It didn't count as a large number, but this movement across northern Jade City caused a sensation throughout all of Jade City. This was the first time that a regular army had entered northern Jade City in decades.
Gu Shenwei was lucky enough to witness the hospitality of the residents of the Jade City again.
The last time had been when the coffin with the Big Head G.o.d's body had entered the city. Back then, the residents were shocked by Luo Ningcha's beauty as it was her first time appearing in public. It was so chaotic that the streets had been blocked off. The people totally forgot the horror that the Big Head G.o.d had once aroused in them.
The second to last time had been when Luo Ningcha had gotten married. The marriage between the a.s.sa.s.sin King and the Bandit King had received everyone's blessings along their way. The path had been covered with petals, and the crowds had extended from the west gate to the stone bridge in front of Golden Roc Castle.
And today, on this occasion, there were even more onlookers. Large numbers of residents of southern Jade City had poured into northern Jade City before daybreak and had been waiting for almost four hours. At first, the scene was rather quiet. Most residents just quickly raised their heads to glance at the Dragon King and the envoy of the Central Plains before lowering their heads right away. Before long, someone yelled "G.o.d bless the Dragon King" and ignited the excitement of the crowds.
Originally, the words "G.o.d bless the Dragon King" had been used by the swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain to hail the Dragon King. But at this moment, it became the catchphrase of thousands of people. Many people started yelling it even before they saw the figure of the Dragon King.
Among the many "relations.h.i.+ps" that the Unique King had, the one between him and the Jade City was the most vulnerable and also the most useless one.
With his head up, Gu Shenwei received the cheers of the crowds, as if he had already become the Lord of Jade City.
This scene gave Ma Lian, who was visiting the Jade City for the first time, a deep impression. After exiting the city through the west gate, his att.i.tude towards the Dragon King became politer, and he even addressed the Dragon King as "Your Highness." Zhong Heng kindly reminded him that the Dragon King had never let anybody else call him "Your Highness".
It was from this moment on that Ma Lian's interest in the Dragon King became more and more intense.
Shule Kingdom's troops numbered 10,000, and more than half of them partic.i.p.ated in the battle of Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s. They had only been under the Dragon King's command for a very short time, but they were even more loyal to him than some soldiers of Xiaoyao Lake. Infected by them, all Shule Kingdom troops were highly respectful of the Dragon King. Having disposed themselves in a neat formation in advance, they yelled "The Dragon King" in unison again and again for a long time.
The prince of yjr Shule Kingdom went out of the camp and welcomed them in himself. He behaved even more humbly than the common generals.
Not only was Ma Lian interested, but also he began to look amazed. He didn't expect that the Dragon King would be able to establish such extensive support at such a young age.
Rewarding the troops took them a long time. Ma Lian decided to spend the night in the army camp of the Shule Kingdom. He selected some soldiers and officers and inquired them about their thoughts. This time he asked some more detailed questions, but the answers he got were all similar. "I just followed the Dragon King's flag."
Zhong Heng was responsible for communicating with Ma Lian, and in private, they seemed to have already become friends. Zhong Heng felt that things were going smoothly, so he made a suggestion to the Dragon King that they should sound out the envoy's att.i.tude towards Wei Song right now.
