440 Enter the Capital (1/2)

The King of the Hui Nation was a fat, old man. Gu Shenwei met him when he formed an alliance with the Five Kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake. In Gu Shenwei's mind, he was a sophisticated king who was not as mean and sarcastic as the King of the Stone Nation. Although the King of the Stone Nation was isolated, he never thought to seek support from others.

It had been over a month since the Dragon King had come to the Hui Kingdom, but the King of the Hui Nation had still not shown up. He had only sent a messenger to deliver his words to Gu Shenwei. This time, the King did not please Gu Shenwei as he had done before.

Gu Shenwei told no one his intentions before he left. After he had breakfast, he summoned the Vice Commander of Thousands, Wu Zongheng, and commanded him to round up the guard troops.

Wu Zongheng had followed the Dragon King for a while. During that time, he had learned the way his new master dealt with things. So, he carried out the order immediately, without a word.

The guard troops of the Dragon King included 300 savage archers, 300 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, 200 slaves from the Land of Fragrance, 100 nobles, 100 bandits and the Vice Commander of Thousands. The Vice Commander of Thousands, Wu Zongheng, was the leader of the guard troops, and he had been an officer in the An Kingdom in Xiaoyao Lake. Among these people, some of them the Dragon King trusted and some he did not.

As for the people in the Hui Kingdom, such an army was odd and scary.

Most of the soldiers of this army were in high spirits, for they had just eliminated the bandits. With a single command, they could enter into a fight soon.

It was about a two-day journey from Willow City to the capital of the Hui Kingdom, but the guard troops arrived at the capital the next morning, because they marched without resting.

At the sight of their arrival, the guards at the gate panicked. They dropped their weapons immediately before closing the door and staring at the unknown army with fear. The civilians who were entering or leaving the capital quickly dispersed.

Wu Zongheng sent a team to take over the gate. In the meantime, he commanded the rest of the soldiers to get down from their horses and rest nearby.

A minister of the Hui Kingdom ran to the gate hurriedly, having been told that the Dragon King's army had arrived there. He was unhappy with their behavior, for he thought it would disturb the residents. But at the sight of the Dragon King, he was startled. He immediately knelt down on the ground and kowtowed to the Dragon King respectfully.

”Your presence flatters us... Why didn't you send your man to inform us in advance, so that we could be ready to greet you?” he asked.

”Take me to your king,” Gu Shenwei said, not getting down from his horse, for he had no intention of hearing the minister's flattery.

”What?” The minister said, not comprehending the Dragon King's words. He then understood and replied, ”I see. The Dragon King wants to meet the King. His Majesty will be...very glad. However, however, the Dragon King has promised...”

When Gu Shenwei came here to help the King, he had agreed not to take his army into the capital. He turned around and pointed at the soldiers around the gate and said, ”They will not enter the capital.”

”I already have a thousand elite soldiers taking over the most important gate of the capital. It's only a matter of time before I own it,” Gu Shenwei thought to himself.

The minister was stunned. He suddenly saw the loophole in their former agreement. In the agreement, it only forbade the Dragon Army from entering the capital, but it didn't forbid the Dragon King to enter, not to mention which army would guard the gate.

”So does the Dragon King want to see His majesty alone?” asked the minister.

Gu Shenwei, of course, would not take this risk. He waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers behind him walked out. They all carried sharp weapons and resolute expressions. Although they were dressed in civilian's clothes, they did not look like civilians at all.

There were fifty soldiers in total. They were personal bodyguards selected by the Dragon King. Their captain was Long Fanyun, a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain.

Long Fanyun was the chief of Canopy Peak. Although he could have been the Commander of Thousands, he had refused that title and given the post to another man in his clan. In this way, he could be the guard of the Dragon King.

He realized that his martial arts was far from being as good as the Dragon King's. He knew Maid Lotus and the Dragon King were better partners than he and the Dragon King would have been. But when he heard that the Dragon King was selecting personal bodyguards, he signed up first.

Long Fanyun was given a saber by the Dragon King in the battlefield. He regarded it as his highest honor, and thought it was his duty to protect the Dragon King for the rest of his life.

He knew he was no match for Maid Lotus in regards to climbing, flying and assassination. In the battlefield full of knife and spears, however, he was confident that he could kill more enemies than she could. Therefore, he thought he was still useful to the Dragon King.

Gu Shenwei accepted Long Fanyun's allegiance. As they would be in a war soon, Golden Roc Fort had attached more importance to him. Given that, he realized that he needed more guards to protect him instead of depending upon Maid Lotus alone. After all, one man's strength was limited.

Gu Shenwei rode to the center of the capital with his personal bodyguards, leaving the stupified minister to stand there alone, wide-eyed. Capitals in the Western Region basically had the same layout, and their royal palaces were always in the center of the capital. He knew any road would lead him to the Royal Palace, so he didn't ask the minister to lead the way.

There were no civilians in the street. All the doors along the street were closed. Even the newly opened shops had their doors shut, and the owners of the shops, along with their guests peeped outside through the cracks in the doors.

Gu Shenwei was already accustomed to civilians' fear towards him.

All of a sudden, the Dragon Army had appeared from the mountains, most of its soldiers being from the legendary Land of Fragrance and the distant Great Snowmountain. How could civilians in Xiaoyao Lake not be startled?

To occupy Xiaoyao Lake, the Dragon King must change the civilians' attitude towards him. But that was not his most pressing issue right now.

Halfway to the palace, another five ”civilians” joined the guards and whispered in the Dragon King's ear.

When they had first arrived at the Hui Kingdom, Gu Shenwei had sent several spies to the capital to collect intelligence. After all, good intelligence was important to him, especially when he arrived in a new kingdom.

Gu Shenwei had risked sneaking into the enemy's stronghold before. At that time, only a few knew his real identity, but things had changed since then.

Shangguan Fei was one of the spies.