255 Nerve (2/2)
”No. Is this Zhang Ji hard to deal with?” asked Xu Xiaoyi, while handing a hand-written name list to his Brother Huan. Gu Shenwei received the list and gave it a glance. There were more than 30 names on it, but Zhang Ji was not here.
”It's hard to say,” Gu Shenwei replied briefly. In his eyes, Zhang Ji was a better counselor than Fang Wenshi. If he had a chance, he would like to hire Zhang Ji as his military counselor.
Unfortunately, he did not have such an opportunity. At this moment, he had no choice but to trust Fang Wenshi, a boastful scholar, who had claimed that he had a way to persuade Prime Minister Shi to cooperate with the Great Snowmountain. Gu Shenwei had to lead his army out of the mountain. Otherwise, he would never be able to avenge his family's death or contend for hegemony.
Fang Wenshi grew increasingly anxious in his room at the inn. He had been in Shu-lik city for three days but still did not get the gold. To make matters worse, the Dragon King had been absent since telling him to wait here for a message three days ago.
”The Dragon King didn't tell me what kind of message he would deliver to me or when he would send the message back. That's probably because he still can't fully trust me, but it's not a big deal. No counselor can win his lord's trust before attaining outstanding success. When I succeed in persuading Prime Minister Shi to help us, both the Dragon King and the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain will be deeply impressed.”
Fang Wenshi felt much consoled by that thought and then he silently recited the speech he had prepared one more time. ”My logic is irrefutable. Who will continue to support the Golden Roc Fort after hearing my speech? No one else has such a deep insight into the political situation in Western Region like me.”
”Hahaha!” Fang Wenshi felt thrilled and laughed. A moment later, picturing how surprised the Dragon King and the swordsmen would be when he succeeded, he began to sneer, ”Hee-hee.” When he turned around, he was astonished to find out that there was a swordsman standing at his door and looking at him in surprise. ”The Dragon King wants to meet you,” said the swordsman.
Fang Wenshi was greatly displeased. ”These swordsmen just don't know how to behave themselves. They always speak coldly to me and enter my room without knocking on the door first.”
Upon his return from the city, Gu Shenwei summoned his military counselor. ”Mr. Fang. Are you a brave man?” asked Gu Shenwei the moment he met Fang Wenshi.
”Of course, I'm a counselor. We counselors are powerless, but we dare to argue with kings. Do you still think that I don't have enough nerve?” replied Fang Wenshi.
”That's good. I've prepared everything for you. Now, you can go to the Prime Minister's mansion. The moment you entered the city, someone will give you the gold.”
Fang Wenshi cupped one of his hands in the other before his chest to accept this command and said, ”Dragon King, please wait here for good news.” In fact, he felt a little nervous about going to the Prime Minister's mansion at such short notice, but he did not want to appear hesitant since he had just boasted that he was a brave man. Besides, he believed that he could perform well since he had practiced for several days.
”Much obliged for your assistance, Mr. Fang,” Gu Shenwei nodded and said.
Fang Wenshi and a swordsman, who worked as his guard and servant, mounted their horses and rode to the city. When they arrived at the city gate, they saw Xu Xiaoyi waiting there. Behind Xu Xiaoyi, stood 10 burly men who carried five large wooden boxes.
Although Fang Wenshi could not see the contents of the boxes, he still felt excited. ”Those boxes must be filled with gold.” Usually, a counselor could spend the money given to him as he wished and keep a portion of the money for himself. Nevertheless, Fang Wenshi did not get such a chance.
He comforted himself by thinking, ”This is the first step. Just like doing business, I have to invest first and then I can make a profit,”
Toward evening, when they came to the gate of the Prime Minister's mansion, a butler immediately walked out to receive them. Xu Xiaoyi stopped at the door and did not follow the others into the mansion.
After the butler ushered them into a reception room, an eunuch-in-chief came out to receive them. Fang Wenshi could not help sighing in his heart, ”That's the power of money.” In the past, he had tried to bribe servants with five or ten taels of silver at the gates of some powerful people, but this could not earn him a chance to meet the powerful people, not even their butlers.
About half an hour later, Prime Minister Shi stepped into the room. He was a natural leader who had a commanding presence and an amiable tone of voice. Fang Wenshi had such a good time talking with him. The counselor always hoped to assist a leader like Prime Minister Shi in contending for hegemony in Western Region. ”Unfortunately, I can only work for a former Golden Roc Fort killer now,” Fang Wenshi sighed secretly.
However, things did not turn out as the counselor had planned. The Prime Minister subtly avoided talking about the Great Snowmountain during the conversation and concluded the meeting in less than 15 minutes, promising the counselor that he would find a proper time to introduce them to the King of Shu-lik. Throughout the meeting, Prime Minister Shi gave no clear indication of when he would introduce them to the king, but he still received their gold and ordered his servants to carry the boxes away. He did not even treat his visitors to a meal before sending them away.
When Fang Wenshi listlessly walked out of the reception room, he began to hate that hypocritical Prime Minister who had fooled him during the meeting. In the meantime, he was worried that he would not be able to give the Dragon King a reasonable explanation. He had heard numerous perfunctory promises like this one and was pretty sure that Prime Minster Shi would never introduce them to the King of Shu-lik.
Fang Wenshi walked toward the gate of the Prime Minister's mansion, deeply absorbed in thoughts. When he was about to walk out of the gate, someone shouted behind, ”Stop him!”
Upon hearing that, a dozen guards at the gate simultaneously unsheathed their weapons. Fang Wenshi was startled, and his swordsman immediately stepped forward to protect the counselor. The swordsman had not brought his heavy sword with himself, so he could only fight with bare hands. It was obvious that he had no chance to defeat the guards.
The eunuch-in-chief hurriedly ran to the gate and spluttered, 'How dare you! Arrest them!”
When the guards surrounded them, Fang Wenshi plucked up his courage to ask, ”Chief, is there anything wrong? As a common saying goes, 'When two countries are at war, the envoys are never executed.' Given that, you can't...”
”Who cares about some f*cking common saying!” the eunuch-in-chief cursed, his face flushed with anger. ”Why is there half a human head inside the box? Who did this?”
The eunuch's words staggered Fang Wenshi. He was so shocked that he nearly fell to the ground. Now he finally understood what the Dragon King meant by asking whether he was a brave man.