448 A Falling Chamber (1/2)

Gu Shenwei and Han Fen sneaked into the ancestral shrine but found no trap there—no killers were lying in ambush and there was no hidden passage or secret chamber.

The Dragon King did not find Chu Nanping, Hu Shining or any of his apprentices either.

Twenty soldiers from the Dragon army were standing watch at the main entrance of the shrine and patrolling in shifts. The priests and handymen inside the shrine were asleep and the entire place was very quiet.

Gu Shenwei and Han Fen circled around the place and searched it twice while avoiding the soldiers, but they found nothing suspicious about this place.

Gu Shenwei suddenly realized something.”I nearly fell into Shangguan Yun's trap. He deliberately sent the three apprentices out to irritate me. He wants to spur me into sending my troops to raid the shrine, as this would definitely stir up resentment among the people of the Hui Kingdom.

”Not only did Shangguan Yun deceive me, he also deluded Maid Lotus into believing that there was a trap inside the ancestral shrine. She even ordered Han Fen to keep watch on it.

”He must've spotted Han Fen a long time ago and asked his subordinates to sneak in an out of the shrine from time to time to make her believe that this place was indeed very suspicious.

”As for Han Fen, she might've never thought of this possibility. Perhaps she even doesn't care much about whether there's a trap inside the shrine. She's just performing a task given by her Managing Master, which is to remind me that this place is dangerous and to protect and assist me after we meet.

”Shangguan Yun must've assumed that once I knew that he was hiding inside the ancestral shrine, I would send my troops to demolish the building. He never expected that I would take the risk of breaking into the shrine on my own. It turns out that I've made a wise decision tonight.

”When it comes to scheming, everyone seems to have different knacks. As for Shangguan Yun's style, I need to spend some time figuring it out,” thought Gu Shenwei.

Although he always believed that human nature was evil, he still could not help but feel surprised at Shangguan Yun's change.

He clearly remembered the night when he had first met with that man. At that time, Shangguan Yun had been locked up in the dungeon and looked at the moon through the window with a smile on his face, behaving like a poet. He was nothing like his father except for their uncanny resemblance. He cared about his little sister and despised merciless killers. He was angry and sad about the misfortunes of his friend and his lover. He even tried to assassinate his ruthless father.

Back then, Gu Shenwei had often thought that Shangguan Ru would have grown up like her Third Brother, since the values they shared were so irreconcilable with the life in the Golden Roc Fort. He had never expected Shangguan Yun to suddenly become a totally different person. Shangguan Yun had once been quite a rebel of his family. He had sworn that he would have never unsheathed his saber, but now he suddenly became the most trusted son of the Supreme King.

”Now, Shangguan Yun is the King of Xiaowan. Why did he even bother to take the risk of coming here personally? Besides, he has spent two months setting up such an intricate trap. Did he just want me to lose the support of the Hui nation?” Gu Shenwei wondered.

Once again he felt confused.

Han Fen turned out to be a good partner except for one thing—she was too talkative. The moment she noticed that the Dragon King had let his guard down, she automatically declared that her task had ended and approached him saying, ”This shrine is not so spacious as it appears to be on the outside. It would be better if we came here during the day.”

If Gu Shenwei had come here with Maid Lotus, he would have discussed the current situation with her. Unfortunately, now he only had Han Fen. It would cost him a lot of time to clarify the situation for her, let alone seeking advice from her.

”Come with me,” Gu Shenwei said. He had already decided what to do next.

Han Fen seemed to be able to switch freely between being a crazy woman and professional killer. The moment she heard the Dragon King's command, she immediately became a quiet killer and retreated into the shadows several steps away, faithfully guarding the blind sides of the Dragon King.

During his previous visits to the royal palace, Gu Shenwei had always entered through the main entrance, but this time, he and Han Fen sneaked in.

When they broke into the queen's bedchamber, she was sleeping together with the little prince, who was almost 10 years old. The boy was experiencing a nightmare and would scream occassionally.

The queen slept lightly, and every time her son screamed, she would subconsciously pat him a few times to comfort him.

Suddenly, the little prince sat up and lifted up his head to look at the blurry figure in front of the bed. He then drifted back into sleep for a while before his reason told him that what he had just seen was not a dream.

He nudged his mother awake.

The moment the queen opened her eyes, she was filled with uncontrollable rage. She was angry that the Dragon King humiliated her increasingly strongly each time, as if she were just a lowly slave woman in the palace.

”You're so unworthy of your title, Dragon King,” said the queen grumpily. She had decided to give in to the Dragon King but now, as anger rose in her, she totally forgot about the decision she had made during the day. ”You're even unworthy of being called a man. Go out, please, if you still have some respect for the late king of the Hui nation.”

”Respect?” Gu Shenwei retorted in a sarcastic tone. He had wasted a lot of time in this country because this woman had provided him with a lot of distorted information. ”When you hooked up with him, your husband was still alive, wasn't he?”

”What're you talking about?” the queen sat up abruptly and shouted. Although she was dressed in a proper gown, she still used her blanket to cover herself up.

”Who killed the previous king, you or him?” asked Gu Shenwei.

”I have no idea what you're talking about.” The queen had softened her voice this time, but she had not yet given up resisting.

”Every time you mentioned the name Shangguan Jianyi, you looked somewhat uneasy. I guess that's because you have a special feeling for this man and feel quite unnatural to use another man's name to refer to him,” said Gu Shenwei, while thinking, ”Shangguan Yun probably used his uncle's name to introduce himself during his talks with my apprentices and the ministers of the Hui Kingdom, and only the queen knew his real name.”

Gu Shenwei had felt that something was not quite right about the queen since the very beginning, but had never thought of such a possibility. He just did not have a sharp nose for this kind of thing like Xu Yanwei did. If Xu Yanwei had been here, she would have figured out the thing between the queen and the mysterious man a long time ago.

”So you know everything?” asked the queen, vigilantly.

”Almost everything. Now, tell me, how did the previous king die?” asked Gu Shenwei. In fact, he did not care much about the death of the old king. He just wanted to use this as a conversation starter to get the queen to speak out the truth.

”It's none of my business. I didn't kill him,” said the queen, hastily. By her reaction, Gu Shenwei could tell that the old king must have been murdered.

”So why did he kill the king?” asked Gu Shenwei.