446 Surveillance (1/2)

”That 'little girl' was lured into the ancestral shrine,” said Han Fen. She insisted on calling Chu Nanping a ”little girl” and did not know any more details about the current situation of the young swordsman.

Over the past two months, she had obediently followed the directive of her Managing Master and never gotten close to the ancestral shrine situated to the north of the royal palace. She had done nothing else but keep a strict watch over the shrine from morning to night everyday. Therefore she knew all the people inside the shrine and could easily tell a sneaky killer from the priests and handymen at a glance.

Although she was somewhat crazy just like the other disciples of the New Moon Hall, she was much more observant than common people.

”The little boy was trying to lure you into the shrine. I've been spying on this place all this while and I've never seen him before. Upon seeing him tonight, I knew that something was going to happen and secretly followed him. To my surprise, I saw you, Dragon King. I've always wanted to meet you, but I didn't get such a chance back in Jade City. Hee-hee, you're quite different from what I imagined. I thought you would look as serious and mature as an old man,” said Han Fen.

Gu Shenwei did not know how Maid Lotus had described himself to Han Fen, but this was not an issue for him now. Worrying that Han Fen would start rambling about something irrelevant, he decided to end this topic as fast as he could, so he said, ”Well, sooner or later I'll become an old man.”

Han Fen burst into laughter as if this was the funniest joke she had ever heard. She laughed so hard that she got tears in her eyes. Gu Shenwei waited for a while, and when her laughter subsided, he asked, ”I've a question. Did you guys come here after the bandits?”

”Yes, we've been closely after them all the way, but none of those stupid men discovered us,” replied Han Fen.

”When did you enter this city?”

”At the beginning of the siege, when Chipo sneaked into the city, we followed him.”

”All the other people have testified that Chu Nanping entered the city before the siege and lived in the inn before he disappeared for no reason at midnight. However, this Han Fen said that she saw 'the little girl' being lured into the ancestral shrine after the siege. What did Chu Nanping do in the city during those days before he entered the shrine?” Gu Shenwei wondered in bewilderment.

”Where's Chipo?” asked Gu Shenwei.

”I don't know,” replied Han Fen.

”Is Maid Lotus still tracking him down?”

”I don't know.”

”Where're the other disciples of the New Moon Hall?”

”They've been sent out to perform tasks by Managing Master. I don't know their specific situation.”

As Han Fen was unable to give any detailed answers to his questions now, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that she had already told him everything that she knew.

Given this, he let her leave and continue to keep watch on the ancestral shrine. ”This woman is crazy, but she takes her task very seriously. Besides, she has already told me the whereabouts of Chu Nanping,” he thought to himself

After knowing that Chu Nanping was captured by his enemies, Gu Shenwei thought that the boy was probably doomed but he still felt confident about facing off against his enemies. No matter what, they could not compete with him now, as he had a 1,000-strong guard troop inside the capital and another 1,000-person troop stationed at the border.

Despite that, he still felt curious about the boy he had been tracking tonight and thought, ”That boy seems to be an apprentice. However, besides the Golden Roc Fort, only I'm still trying to train young killers.

”The Golden Roc Fort would never send an apprentice to perform such a task outside the fort, so he's probably one of my apprentices. Why did my own apprentice want to lure me into a trap?

”Han Fen might've saved my life, but she also made me lose the chance to find out the truth tonight.”

Now that he knew the whereabouts of his enemies, he decided to act cautiously to avoid alerting them. The next morning, he dispatched his soldiers to occupy some important places in the city on the pretext of strengthening control over the capital. During this process, he inconspicuously surrounded the ancestral shrine.

A small team of soldiers was ordered to search the ancestral shrine, but they did not discover anything special about this place. This temple was quite spacious, but there were only 20 or so imperial priests and 50 handymen inside it. They did not find any child or anyone suspicious inside the shrine.

Gu Shenwei guessed that there might be some hidden passages inside the ancestral shrine, but he could not torture the widely-venerated priests to get the answer. Given that, he decided to find the answer in the royal palace.

Now, all the important and powerful people of the Hui Kingdom were imprisoned in the palace.

The first person he summoned in the palace was the old prime minister. Upon seeing the Dragon King, the old man swore that he was forced to serve the queen. ”I've watched the crown prince grow up. The late king entrusted him to me just before his death, and I promised him that I would try my best to help the crown prince to ascend the throne. I really feel ashamed of my deeds...”

This 70-year-old man sniveled and wept ruefully, showing his deep repentance for his actions. Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei could not help but think, ”Compared to the queen of this country, this old man is such a highly sophisticated actor.”

To his disappointment, this old prime minister, who had been in power for decades in the Hui Kingdom and should be very familiar with the ancestral shrine, contended that he had never heard that there was a hidden passage or secret chamber inside the ancestral shrine. ”The Hui Kingdom is just a small country with a small population. We usually don't build such things. However, no matter how small a country is, the royal family of the country may have some secrets that outsiders don't know. Unfortunately, I'm just an outsider. The queen may know more about such issues. The late king trusted her very much.”

By saying so, the old prime minister easily cleared himself of the suspicion. He was well aware that once the crown prince returned to the country, the queen and the little prince would never be back in power. He decided to put all the blame on them at this moment, as he did not need to worry about them taking revenge on him in the future.

Beyong his expectations, the Dragon King was not moved by his acting at all. The young lord ordered his soldiers to send the old prime minister back to his room and keep him under strict supervision. He forbade anyone from talking to the prime minister and only arranged some guards to deliver meals to him everyday.

After that, Gu Shenwei went to meet with the queen. He discovered that every time he met the queen, her attitude was somewhat different. The queen knew how to enjoy good times very well but found it quite hard to face bad times. After the first two meetings with the Dragon King, she finally came to understand that even if Shangguan Jianyi kept his promise, she would have to figure out a way to keep herself and her son alive before he returned with a large army.

”Welcome back, Dragon King. What can I do for you?” She was no longer arrogant or flirtatious and talked in a submissive tone with only a little sarcasm.