294 Something Odd (2/2)

Fang Wenshi then sighed with envy. These past few days in his presence had made him realize that Dragon King was actually a poor man. He added, ”As the military counselor, I have to remind you that you should not interfere in this matter, Dragon King.”

”Why should I intervene in this matter?”

Fang Wenshi was a little confused since Dragon King seemed very angry. His impression of the Dragon King was someone who masked his emotions very well. He replied blankly, ”Um, I just felt that Dragon King seemed to like... meddling in other people's businesses. The Great Snowmountain needs the Meng family just like Golden Roc Fort does. If we cannot win the support of Meng Yuzun, we should at least try not to offend him too much.”

Gu Shenwei realized that he lost his cool, so he eased the tension in his voice and said, ”I understand that it is unnecessary to interfere in this matter. Meng family and Shangguan family will eventually come together.”

Fang Wenshi nodded and did not speak of the matter again. To him, the peace negotiations were the most important thing at the moment, and he believed the Dragon King was wise enough to not make foolish mistakes like these.

That was what Gu Shenwei thought as well, but he was unable to fall asleep at night. Something was definitely off with this marriage , he thought. Gu Shenwei even wanted to tell Fang Wenshi about what happened in the underground chamber of Bodhi Garden, so that he could hear the military counselor's views on the matter. But he quickly decided that it was best not to say anything about it. Fang Wenshi was already preoccupied with the peace negotiations and had no time for other trivial matters.

Almost everybody, including Fang Wenshi, felt that the marriage was part of the Supreme King's scheme which he had planned for a long time, but Gu Shenwei had a vague sense that Lady Meng had a lot to do with it.

There was definitely something odd about this. His desire to find out the truth grew stronger by the minute. He even knew who was the best candidate to dig information from.

Shangguan Hong was so insignificant in the Stone Castle that when Second Young Master Shangguan Tian died in Shu-lik, he did not receive any punishment after fleeing back to Jade City.

As the illegitimate child of the Supreme King, he had always lived in the Inner Residence. Similarly, because Lady Meng kept a close watch over him, he was able to spy on her as well.

Gu Shenwei decided to try his luck with Shangguan Hong.

After returning to Jade City, Xu Xiaoyi had quickly established a secret team to collect intelligence. There were always people in South City willing to take a risk and work for Golden Roc Fort's enemy for money. Although the intelligence team was far from covering the whole city, it was still useful.

Therefore, Gu Shenwei knew of Shangguan Hong's whereabouts as early as a few days ago.

After years of ordeals, Shangguan Hong had finally gained a bit of Lady Meng's trust. He now helped her run a few errands here and there.

This afternoon, Shangguan Hong had come to South City to collect a sum of money and decided to drop by a close prostitute's home to catch up. He knew Mr. Zhang Ji would say something along the lines of, ”If you cannot endure hardships for a moment, how can you build up an empire that lasts forever?” But Shangguan Hong had had enough. Just two hours of relaxation was sufficient for him to return to Stone Castle and endure for another half a month.

Shangguan Hong was very afraid to bump into Dragon King again. Back in Shu-lik, he had been forced into divulging an important secret to Slave Huan. But he could not disobey Lady Meng's instructions, and he did miss that hypocritical woman as well.

Therefore, Shangguan Hong was not very surprised when Dragon King appeared with his saber at his waist as the prostitute left the room with the excuse of using the loo. His face turned pale, and the wine quickly tasted soured in his mouth but he managed to remain calm as he spoke, ”Dragon... Dragon King, let's have a drink together.”

Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, ”I don't drink.”

”Yes, right, that's my impression as well.” Shangguan Hong wanted to stand up to Slave Huan as an equal, but his conviction was waning as he spoke, and he didn't know where to put his hands, so he continued saying, ”Zhang Ji, Mister Zhang mentioned that he wished to meet you.”

”Tell Mister Zhang I am always waiting for him.”

”Sure, I will tell him. Why not... sit down and eat something.”

Gu Shenwei sat down, but he did not touch the food on the table. It was a shabby brothel and paled in comparison to Pleasure Alley. The dishes were mediocre. ”I came to ask you about something.”

”Please ask away, Dragon King.” Shangguan Hong said. He couldn't help himself, his tone was becoming more and more courteous.

”The marriage of Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi is Lady Meng's idea, am I right?”

Shangguan Hong pretended to think about it but the guise soon faltered under Dragon King's cold and relentless gaze. Regretfully, he began revealing everything that he knew about the matter. He should not have divulged the secret to Gu Shenwei at the start. Now he was always going to be at the whim of Dragon King.

”Yes, it's Lady Meng's idea. It happened the day the Ninth Young Master came back complaining that he almost died at Meng Yuzun's hands. Meng Yuzun knows kung fu and was interested in the secret manuscript that Dragon King has. You know about this already. Lady Meng was furious and went to settle the score with Old Meng. But somehow, it ended up in Miss Ru getting married to Meng Mingshi.”

Gu Shenwei knew very well that Shangguan Hong knew exactly what had transpired despite his ignorant appearance. So he kept quiet and let him continue.

”Afterwards I heard, this is just what I heard... Apparently, Meng Yuzun spent a lot of money trying to settle the matter and reached an agreement with Lady Meng. They would snatch the secret manuscript from Dragon King's hands together. Then... then, the Ninth Young Master had an idea. He said that Dragon King would definitely interfere in the matter if his younger sister was married off, and they would catch you alive then...”

Shangguan Hong stole a look at Dragon King, wondering if what he said was correct.