414 Gathering the City (1/2)
Long Fanyun led five hundred elite troops to rush to Gulping Wind Gorge overnight. They caught up with Ha Chilie just in time, as he was about to lose support.
On the second day after Dragon King and Maid Lotus had left, the fat chief and his ten children and grandchildren were poisoned to death.
Maid Lotus gave them the most common pills that could only last them for another day. The antidote to the scattering technique had been very hard to prepare. Maid Lotus did not have much left on her hands. Having to save some to ward off her enemies, she had not wanted to waste it on people who had nothing to do with this matter.
All of the important men in the fat chief's family had fallen in the attack. Since there was no leader among the surviving descendants, they started to fight amongst themselves.
The Dragon King left too soon, and Ha Chilie's authority had not yet been established. He won little support in the name of the grandson-in-law of the fat chief, and even became the target of power struggles. He was unjustly criticized many times, with some people openly claiming that he was linked to the death of the fat chief.
In those two days, Ha Chilie was in danger and in no less trouble than the Dragon King. Several sons and grandsons of the fat chief spent all day gathering a team of supporters. News spread quickly of these teenagers preparing to kill Ha Chilie and then close the north and south gates.
Ha Chilie hardly slept. He clung to his long-saber every moment, preparing to defend himself against the enemy's attack.
At a most critical moment, Miss Ming Zhen played a significant role. She was only fifteen years old and was too shy to speak in front of outsiders, but she had already learned the art of collaborating and scheming. It was with her help that Ha Chilie had met many influential people at Gulping Wind Gorge and made promises to them in order to win their support.
The residents of Gulping Wind Gorge were divided into two distinct factions: those who supported the Dragon King, and those who supported Golden Roc Fort.
No one was concerned with the lives of the weak. The bodies of the dead lay about, uncollected. Everyone was waiting apprehensively for a final decisive battle.
If it had not been for Long Fanyun's army that had arrived just in time, a bloody battle would have started in the village. No one could have predicted the winner.
Five hundred strong swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain could deal with any problem. Most people in the village had accepted a certain fact: Gulping Wind Gorge had already fallen to the Dragon King. Many of the dissatisfied and those who feared retribution fled overnight and disappeared.
Long Fanyun went after the Dragon King. So he left a hundred soldiers to be commanded by Ha Chilie and led the remaining four hundred men without stopping, reaching the capital of the An Kingdom only a day after the Dragon King.
The gates of the city were firmly shut. Long Fanyun had no way of knowing what went on in the city. He could only find a suitable place to set up a garrison and send troops up the city walls to shout at the city guards; however, no one answered.
At this time, Gu Shenwei had been thinking of ways to harvest the prickly fruit that he had planted: to tell the residents of the city that he was the Dragon King.
He had intended to force the city to admit the facts with a tough attitude, and then offer kindness in exchange for the residents' obedience. In the end, someone had helped him to resolve this embarrassing situation.
The queen mother had sent someone to summon ”General Gu”.
Troops inside and outside of the city were waiting for Gu Shenwei to make a decision. After hesitating a while, Gu Shenwei finally decided to see the former princess from the Central Plains.
The queen mother received Gu Shenwei in the main hall of the royal palace. The throne was empty and the ministers were absent. There were only scores of eunuchs and court maids in the hall who were as old as the Queen Mother. After the incident last night, she could hardly trust the young maids.
Upon sobering up, the queen mother regained her elegant demeanor. She despised the self-proclaimed lone king and naturally would not regard the Dragon King as true royalty. Hence, she gave the excuse of being old and feeble, and bowed to the Dragon King like an elder meeting someone of the younger generation, and avoided a sensitive power struggle.
Gu Shenwei was not bothered by this stunt. To him, it was no time to fight over fame and status.
The queen mother seemed to have a little understanding of the Western Region's situation, especially the forces related to the Central Plains. She knew a thing or two such as the alliance between the Dragon King and the Central Plains-- she had heard this from someone. As for the split that happened afterward, she knew nothing as neither side had been open about it.
However, she was also very naive. After beating around the bush, she first thanked the Dragon King for his rescue last night. Later, she started to talk about how naive Norland and Golden Roc Fort were. She then talked about the five countries of the Xiaoyao Lake: especially the short-sightedness of the An Kingdom, the foresight of the Dragon King, and so on.
Gu Shenwei listened patiently to the old lady's nagging and finally understood her intention.
It turned out that the queen mother was extremely dissatisfied with her son, the current king of the An Kingdom, and hoped to force him to abdicate. She would allow her grandson to succeed the throne ahead of time and herself govern the country as the Queen Mother.
This was a story about political infighting. This was not surprising to Gu Shenwei. So he solemnly agreed, yet added several restrictions, such as the support of the An Kingdom for the Dragon King, the public support of the Central Plains, and the like.
The most critical thing was, the queen mother had to explain to the masses and generals that ”General Gu” was the Dragon King, and that the Dragon King had no intentions of slaughtering the city nor indulging the army in plundering.
The queen mother did not understand Gu Shenwei's half-hearted intentions. She had gladly accepted the conditions and agreed to allow the Dragon King to give orders in her name in the palace hall.
Gu Shenwei summoned groups of men one after the other. First, guard leader Wu Zongheng, and others. They were the only professional soldiers among the scores of mob members.
The queen mother solemnly expressed to the guards that the Great Snowmountain was now allies with the Central Plains. The Dragon King was a friend of the An Kingdom, ”General Gu” to the masses, and the person who was sent by her to infiltrate the city. As for conscripting the men in the city to form an army, it had also been her idea.
The soldiers were stupefied. Wu Zongheng guessed that General Gu must have come from a formidable background and might even have been the Dragon King himself, but he was still surprised to hear the truth.
”How... How is this possible? General Gu is even going to lead everyone to resist the Dragon King.” Wu Zongheng was astonished and violated royal etiquette, questioning the queen mother's words.
The queen mother looked ill and Gu Shenwei felt that he should speak. ”You don't have to resist the Dragon King. The Great Snowmountain army is only passing by. As long as there are sufficient ships, the troops will leave immediately. I assure you, in the name of the Empyrean of the Great Snowmountain, that we will not loot or burn the city and the residents of the city are safe.”