452 Trus (2/2)

”It's a good proposal. The Third Young Master once said, 'The Supreme King attained his status as a killer, but his fame as a killer has surpassed his fame as a king. To be a real king, you should weaken killers' influences. It means to diminish the killers' numbers and turn them into a group hiding in the dark. As for the fight between kings, the army should be the only force they resort to. Even if Golden Roc Fort successfully assassinated the Dragon King and the Dragon Army broke up, it would do the Fort no good. Instead, the fight would be regarded as a common massacre in Jianghu, and the Supreme King's army would be a laughingstock,'” Chipo replied.

”These sound like the words of Shangguan Yun,” thought Gu Shenwei.

”Others have spent years working out a set of theories, but Shangguan Yun figured out countless theories when he was shut up in the dungeon for years. He could give everyone a theory, and the theory would work on them,” he mused further.

”Shangguan Yun belittled killers so that bandits like Chipo would feel important. He was smart to please the bandits without ever mentioning them,” Gu Shenwei thought some more himself.

Shangguan Yun was a different person in Golden Roc Fort. Even if he was able to return to the Fort and become the successor of the Supreme King, he probably already had a method in place to manage it. Gu Shenwei knew a lot about Golden Roc Fort, but he could not use any of it to fight against Shangguan Yun.

Maid Lotus restored her identity as a guard of the Dragon King. Then, she ordered all the disciples of New Moon Hall who were over forty to head to the periphery to keep watch. The only exception was Han Fen, who was the only one she trusted.

She had heard about Shangguan Yun's proposal on assassinations. As Shangguan Hong expected, the news began to spread after dawn. Now, even the soldiers in the military camp had heard about it.

The soldiers supported this proposal, indeed. Golden Roc killers didn't kill many of their companions, but this had already caused panic among them. Those alive were extremely nervous, thinking they might be killed at anytime.

They weren't afraid to be killed in the real battlefield, but they dreaded the killers who took action at night. Even the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, who had fought against Golden Roc Fort for years, did not want to live in fear every day, always wary of the saber which might stab them at anytime.

”Why did Shangguan Yun do it?” Maid Lotus asked with confusion. Since she had traced Shangguan Yun for two months, she had gotten to know him better. She never believed that the Third Young Master would do anything to weaken his strength.

”He has two purposes,” Gu Shenwei replied. He had figured out the game Shangguan Yun was playing. ”Firstly, his proposal might be sincere. If Golden Roc Fort wants to show off its strength to Norland, they have victory in the battlefield, using their army. Secondly, he wants to keep Shangguan Jianyi safe,” he continued.

Maid Lotus said with her eyes wide open, ”Shangguan Jianyi?”

”Yeah,” Gu Shenwei nodded. He thought it was Shangguan Yun's main purpose. He proceeded, ”Shangguan Yun hid his identity and pretended to be his uncle. In this way, Shangguan Jianyi has to disappear and can't show up in public, or he might be in danger. Shangguan Yun ran away from the west. If I can take action immediately, then I can manage to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi before the news gets to the Shuangquan Village in the east.”

”Now Shangguan Yun's non-assassination proposal makes it hard for me to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi,” thought Gu Shenwei.

”I don't care about others' positions, but I have to consider my soldier's stance,” Gu Shenwei thought to himself.

”I can go and assassinate Shangguan Jianyi for you,” Maid Lotus offered, ”since the proposal didn't reach New Moon Hall.”

Gu Shenwei refused.

Whether or not to stop assassinations was not the only problem that Shangguan Yun had left to the Dragon King. The trust crisis was even more difficult to solve.

”Hu Shining reminded me that I couldn't trust the killer apprentices. But in fact, besides the kids, anyone else who met Shangguan Yun might have been persuaded by him,” thought Gu Shenwei.

”Did Shangguan Ru really refuse all of herThird Brother's requests? Was Maid Lotus affected by Shangguan Yun after tracing him for almost two months?” he wondered.

”After considering Shangguan Fei's words, even I, myself, think that Shangguan Yun's proposal makes sense to some degree,” he mused.

”Now my top task is to erase all traces left by Shangguan Yun,” Gu Shenwei meditated.

Later, Chipo was beheaded in public. This time, he indeed died, and no one paid to buy his life.

Gu Shenwei had kept him alive because he needed to give the citizens of the Hui Kingdom an answer. Chipo was announced as the chief criminal involved in sieging the city, the Queen's treason and the ministers' rebellion. His infamous reputation made these crimes seem more credible.

Then, the Dragon Army took their leave and returned to the Stone Kingdom.

Gu Shenwei took the young prince with him. The Prince had returned to the Hui Nation and succeeded the throne. Given that, the Dragon King decided to hold the Prince's younger brother hostage as collateral. The new King of the Hui Nation was not afraid that Dragon King would kill his younger brother, and believed he would send him back.

Soon Shangguan Hong became a messenger again. He left for Shuangquan Village to deliver a better, non-assassination proposal on behalf of the Dragon King. This proposal mainly expressed that Golden Roc Fort shoud admit that Dragon King possessed Xiaoyao Lake.

Dugu Xian had once said that it would at least take a year to train a qualified army. Gu Shenwei thought now that he could utilize this chance to buy himself some more time.

Prime Minister Zhong Heng greeted the Dragon King anxiously. ”The Dragon King's wedding can't be put off any longer. But how do I mention it to the Dragon King in front of Maid Lotus?” he wondered.