348 Ambition (2/2)
”The Dragon King will soon realize that he has no other choice.”
Zhang Ji spread a map open on the table and traced a finger in the north-east direction from Jade City past a sprawling desert and stopped at where the Stone Kingdom was marked. ”The Dragon King should've already won the title of prince consort. If he's smart enough, he won't move against the Ninth Young Master. However, he's separated thousands of kilometers away from the Great Snowmountain, and once news about the situation from the north reaches him, he'll bash his way across the obstacles in his path to save his own army. When it comes to that, he cannot afford to be merciful.”
Zhang Ji continued tracing his finger a little to the west of the Stone Kingdom and stopped at its border with the Kang Kingdom. ”The army of the Kang Kingdom is already waiting at this location. Once the Dragon King leaves the Stone Kingdom, they can move, and we can expect the destruction of the Stone Kingdom to come sometime soon.”
He then traced his finger northwards across the desert to its other side till where Shuangquan Village was marked. ”This will be burial ground of the Dragon King,” he said.
”He's stumbled around for so long that it's time for it to end,” Shangguan Fa said coldly. It was extremely humiliating for the Supreme King to have a traitor of the Golden Roc Fort to muster an army so close to the Jade City and to force him into a peace deal, and he needed a much larger ambition to be able to take it.
”The Dragon King has his uses,” said Zhang Ji in the tone of a tutor subconsciously. ”If it were not for him vying to become the prince consort in the Stone Kingdom and thereby drawing away the attention of the various powers from us, including that of the Central Plain, would the Third Young Master have been able to succeed in the north?”
”My only regret is that his death will come too swiftly for him.”
Zhang Ji shook his head in disagreement. He felt that the Dragon King was only a disruptor and could not even be considered to be a pawn in their game of chess with the other factions in Western Region; there was no need to accord him too much attention. He traced his finger in a north-east direction on the map and stopped at the mountain pass to the east of Jade City. This was where the combined forces of the Central Plain and Shangguan Nu were stationed at. ”I estimate that the Loulan Kingdom will descend into chaos after three days. This would force the army of the Central Plain to retreat, and our army can cross the grassy plains of Norland and occupy this spot at the mountain pass in the name of punishing Shangguan Nu, who has been an unfilial son. We'll then be able to take the provisions and fodder stocked up by the Central Plain over the years for our own use. This will ensure that the Central Plain will not have the ability to move westwards for the next three to five years.”
The two men swept their gazes across the entire map as if they had each piece of land in their grasp. This was a kind of feeling that even the best wine and the most charming woman in the world could not give them.
Zhang Ji drew a large arc with his finger from the mountain pass on the east side of Jade City until it reached the other one on the west side. To its north stood the Xiaowan Kingdom and Norland, while the camp of the Great Snowmountain stood to its south. In the middle of it all, slightly to the east, was the camp set up by Dugu Xian.
”Since the Third Young Master has already married the Princess of Xiaowan Kingdom, it's only a matter of time before he takes over the throne. Then, the army that we've hidden in that nation can finally be unleashed. 5,000 troops will attack Shangguan Nu, while another 5,000 will merge with Dugu Xian's forces. I estimate that we can completely wipe out the entire Snowmountain Gang within a month at most.”
The secret army in the Xiaowan Kingdom was the Supreme King's big secret, which he had kept hidden for many years. Within the Golden Roc Fort, only Zhang Ji had managed to guess it correctly from various scraps of leads he had. From there, he had deduced that the Supreme King was still ambitious.
The Supreme King's gaze shot westwards to Shu-lik even before Zhang Ji's finger had moved there. It was a huge piece of land, and the Jade City looked like a prison compared to its landmass. The Golden Roc Fort had been caged in this prison for all this while.
”Shu-lik can amass an army of at least 50,000,” said Shangguan Fa a little worriedly. It was an issue that was still troubling him even though he had discussed many times with Zhang Ji. It was also the hardest part of their plan.
”Their troops are scattered all over the country, and the largest force it can muster in a single location will only be about seven to eight thousand troops. If the 10,000 cavalry troops supplied by Norland advance quickly enough, Shu-lik won't have any chance of countering. After Dugu Xian has exterminated the Snowmountain Gang, he'll be able to supply more than 10,000 troops. His cavalry will advance through Shu-lik while his infantry holds down the territory he has won. I guess that within six months to a year's time Shu-lik will become a part of the Golden Roc Nation.”
”I cannot allow the killers to remain idle in the castle,” added Shangguan Fa. ”They shall create chaos in Shu-lik; even if they cannot withstand the might of an army, they can make sure it becomes leaderless.”
'Leaderless' led both of them to think about the traitor from the Golden Roc Fort who now called himself 'Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks' and they both laughed.
Hence, they decided that this would be their plan. There will still some kinks to be straightened out, and even if they managed to conquer Shu-lik, it would just be the first step to their plan of hegemony. The Central Plain could come with their huge army or Norland could suddenly turn ambitious and think of turning the tables against the Golden Roc Fort; these were things that they had thought about and come up with some preliminary plans against, but they were no cause for too much concern at the moment.
”The Ninth and Tenth Young Masters do not really have to die,” said Zhang Ji after a period of silence. He did not mention Shangguan Hong, as he knew that the Supreme King did not even consider this unfamiliar youth as his own son.
A cold light shone from the deep-set eyes of Shangguan Fa. He had kept his ruthlessness and cruelty hidden for far too long, so much so that the people around him had already forgotten about these two characteristics of him. He felt that it was time to let them wake up. ”They secretly learned the Wayless Qigong without my permission and deserve to die,” he said.
It was what Zhang Ji wanted to hear. He did not care about whether the twins lived or died, but he wanted to be sure that the Supreme King would not come to regret his decision and ask the tutor to pay in the future. ”Lady Meng would be extremely sad,” he said.
”That lecherous woman,” Shangguan Fa replied, spitting the words out vehemently. ”I'll let her live before I squeeze all the money from the Meng family. Once news of the death of the twins reaches the fort, let her know immediately.”
Zhang Ji was satisfied. Although Lady Meng had been foolish at one time, she was not to be taken lightly, and the grand plan for the Golden Roc Fort had only just begun. It could not fail because of her.
His gaze still remained fixed on the map, seemingly pondering something.
”Is there something wrong?”, asked Shangguan Fa.
Zhang Ji pointed to the westernmost part of the Xiaoyao Lake. It was the tiny Hui Kingdom. He traced a meandering path northwards, past the vast, sprawling desert until it reached the western border of Jade City, where it was not far from the camp of the Great Snowmountain. It was a treacherous route and would require nearly a month to traverse. ”I'm wondering whether the Dragon King will take the risk to return to his camp by this path, instead of by how he came to the Stone Kingdom,” he said.
Shangguan Fa was pleased to have the opportunity to make his own plans known to Zhang Ji. ”Slave Huan thinks that his kung fu is peerless, but he doesn't know that there are other masters in this world with skills that are beyond his wildest imagination. Rest assured, Mister Zhang. There are eyes on him. If he returns from the south by where he came, Shangquan Village will be his burial ground. If he advances westwards, he'll meet his end even sooner.”
There was nothing left for Zhang Ji to worry about.
More than a thousand kilometers away, Gu Shenwei was opening the kit brought by Shangguan Hong to him. There was only a note in it, and on it was written these few words: The Third Young Master has already become King of the Xiaowan Kingdom.