492 First Battle (2/2)
The King of the Hui nation was young, but he had many tricks in his mind. Gu Shenwei used to distrust his information, but not this time. ”The sharpest weapon is not saber or sword, but the mind.” He had heard similar words before, so he knew that the Prince did not make up these words.
”Shangguan Yun is the proudest and favorite disciple of Mr. Zhang Hui. They have similar ideas, which is not surprising at all.
Most importantly, those words that Shangguan Yun said suggested that his plan was to buy off betrayers surrounding me, or that he has already bought them.
The King of the Hui nation spoke confidently. It means that Shangguan Yun had confidence in his plan and he had found traitors for him.
That conversation had taken place after Shangguan Yun returned from the Land of Fragrance,” Gu Shenwei mused.
The first betrayer Gu Shenwei suspected was Shangguan Ru. ”She has been away from her 'side' for a long time, not to mention her 'loyalty.' Even if she was the traitor, at most she could close the gates of The Land of Fragrance to prevent the Dragon Army from entering, but she could play a major role to reverse the war situation.
Moreover, the Golden Roc Army has the advantage in numbers and weapons. The whole Western Region does not believe that I will win the final victory. It is useless for Shangguan Yun to buy off people around me.”
However, Gu Shenwei had to take precautions. When he worked out the ambush plan with Dugu Xian, he reminded himself to take all the factors into consideration-- one mistake in a link could ruin the entire plan.
However, the King of the Hui nation could not provide more leads. Gu Shenwei took people around him into consideration, including Maid Lotus, Chu Nanping, Xu Yanwei, Xu Xiaoyi, Zhong Heng and even the princess of Stone Kingdom and generals of five kingdoms. He discovered that all of them had the possibility of betraying him. ”If I thought more, I would lose the confidence in the whole Dragon army.
Perhaps that's Shangguan Yun's purpose,” Gu Shenwei thought.
Another man, across the Xiaoyao Lake, was considering this problem for the Dragon King.
Dragon King did not suspect Shangguan Fei for he had never considered Shangguan Fei as ”the people around him.” Besides, Shangguan Fei's betrayal would have very little influence on Dragon King.
When Chengguan Fei had sent Dragon King's words to Meng Mingshu, he had recieved news of the Dragon Army's failure in their first battle. He was aware that Meng Mingshu would not give Dragon King any response at that time.
Meng Mingshu left Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun in the palace. Meng Mingshu said it was for their safety, but they knew that they were imprisoned.
They were locked up in a room. Shangguan Fei was okay with this arrangement, but Long Fanyun was much displeased. However, he could not change it. In others' eyes, he was just a bodyguard who had no right to make requests.
”It's not so bad.” Shangguan Yun tried to be positive to their current situation. He continued, ”Meng Mingshu did not turn us in, which means that the Dragon Army has not lost the war. He must wait until the battle is decided before he makes a decision. This man is quite insidious. I underestimated him.”
”What will he do if the Dragon Army fails,” Long Fanyun asked.
”Well, I am going to have a good night's sleep, so do not let me imagine such a miserable ending. I can finally sleep on a bed. I missed the bed so much.”
Long Fanyun intended to sleep on the floor-- however, he sat there restless. He said, ”I need to go back. I can't stay here during the decisive battle.”
”It's not about staying out of the way. It's about preserving strength. Maybe the Dragon King intentionally kept us here to keep hope alive for the first-line of the Dragon Army.”
Long Fanyun did not think so. As for Shangguan Fei, he did not see any hope. He said, ”I have to go back. I need you to find a way to help me escape.”
He had to ask Shangguan Fei for help, as his knife had been taken away. Faced with the guards outside, he was like a tiger with its claws removed.
Shangguan Fei presented a series of ideas, but none would work. He just wanted to chat with Long Fanyun.
When he recognized Shangguan Fei's intention, Long Fanyun stopped talking. His heart had decided: He could no longer stand by waiting for the result of the battle.
In an attempt to tease Long Fanyun into talking, Shangguan Fei said, ”Ah, I remember. That old man is quite the character.”
Long Fanyun kept silent. Shangguan Fei continued, ”Do you know the man that Meng Mingshu sent away? He is the King of the An nation. Although I have never met him, I am sure he is the King because I saw his attendant hold the King's banner. Why didn't he stay in Jade City? I don't think he is anxious to return to his kingdom.”
Noticing that Long Fanyun was not interested in the King of the An nation, Shangguan Fei knew that he had to talk about the Dragon Army of the southern shore to attract his attention. He paused for a while, and said, ”The King of the An nation has no soldiers, horses, money or crops. All he has is his title. A man like him is perfect to be a puppet who could coax his former ministers and people to serve him and question whether Dragon King is right or not. The soldiers in the Dragon Army are unreliable.”
Shangguan Fei thought that this case was much likely to happen. He frowned and murmured, ”Dragon King must realize this and continue to fight longer.”
Long Fanyun was thinking about his escape plan, so he did not think too much about Shangguan Fei's words. He only remembered that Vice Commander of thousands, Wu Zongheng, who had been assigned a task, was from the An Kingdom. But he did not know how important Wu Zongheng's task was.