513 Protecting the Bridge (2/2)

Strictly speaking, the letter was not written by the Dragon King but a merchant with business connections to the Meng family. He had instructed his servant to pass it to Second Young Master Meng, but as Meng Mingshu had been busy at that time, the servant had passed it to Xiao Fengchai instead—he knew that she was trusted to make decisions on Meng Mingshu's behalf.

The writer of the letter reminded Second Young Master Meng of 'their deal about number one and five' and also stressed the importance of the huge bridge at the Hui Kingdom, which spanned across the Xiaoyao Lake.

Meng Mingshu understood the meaning behind 'one and five'; it was obviously referring to his cooperation with the Dragon King and the assassinations of the Fifth and Eldest Young Masters of the Meng family. He had kept the matter a secret from Xiao Fengchai until the Dragon King's escape.

As such, Xiao Fengchai also understood the meaning of the letter. It was also how she managed to deduce that the Dragon King who was behind it.

”Is the messenger reliable?” Meng Mingshu asked, a little anxious. He was worried that the Golden Roc Fort was setting him up.

”I've sent people to check him out; he seems fine. Nobody else knows about 'one and five' as well. I'm more concerned about the bridge mentioned in the letter. The Dragon King seems to value it greatly.”

After all, Xiao Fengchai did not have an in-depth understanding of war and knew little about the strategic importance of the bridge. Meng Mingshu, however, was enlightened. ”So this was what the Dragon King wanted me to do for him—he wanted me to protect the bridge.”

”I thought the Dragon army was thinking about destroying it.”

”In the past, yes. But now that the tables have turned, so have the positions of each side. Now, the party that wants the bridge destroyed is the Golden Roc Fort.”

Smooth passage was something coveted by victors. For losers, they would logically want the paths leading to them destroyed as much as possible.

Meng Mingshu did not feel relieved in the least bit after realizing what the Dragon King's true intentions were. He did not wish to break completely from the Golden Roc Fort now, since it would put his life in danger.

”The Dragon King is giving you a choice. He's made his stand known, and now it's your turn,” Xiao Fengchai told him. She had managed to guess what he was thinking about.

Meng Mingshu lowered his head as he remained deep in thought and raised it only after a long while, still undecided. ”What should I do?”

”The best way to handle this would be to protect the bridge without anyone knowing that it was you who did it. I believe there will be a fair share of people in Hui City wanting to get in the Dragon King's good books now?”

Meng Mingshu suddenly thought of an idea on the spot.

At the same time, in a room not far from Meng Mingshu, another group of people were plotting to destroy the bridge before the Golden Roc Army.

”We'll let them kill each other at the south coast. The revival of the Kang Kingdom and the Xiaoyao Lake region shall be decided by the fate of the bridge,” said the Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom. He was so excited that his cheeks were red from exertion.

He was completely siding with Shang Liao, the new King of the Kang nation, now. They had come up with a drastic plan together: to destroy the bridge before the arrival of the defeated Golden Roc army and to send out ships to patrol the lake in an attempt to stop anyone from crossing the lake. Then, they would quickly gather troops and block the two passage ways leading in and out of the Xiaoyao Lake, so as to regain the sovereignty of their kingdom.

”What about those people in the Hui Kingdom?” asked Shang Liao. He was much more composed; he did not feel the need to get overly happy before their plan succeeded. It was hard to predict its outcome, and they would have to be ready to improvise.

”The King of the Hui nation is already close to being driven insane with fear; all he thinks about is escaping along with the Golden Roc Army to Jade City. Everyone under him is worried about their future, and a few high-ranking military officers are willing to serve Your Majesty. I've tested them—they're even willing to support your bid to become the 'king of the Xiaoyao Lake region'.”

Shang Liao grunted softly. The title had been thought up by the Prime Minister; he had already begun dreaming of becoming the 'Prime Minister of the Xiaoyao Lake region' even before their plan had taken shape.

”We'll make our move between 1 to 3 a.m., otherwise, it'll be too late. I still feel a little insecure,” said Shang Liao. He had been hiding in the royal palace for many days, almost always staying indoors; he was talking about being insecure about something else.

”Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I assure that Your Majesty will be 'safe' when we're destroying the bridge,” said the Prime Minister.

”I want to see solid proof of that.”

”Yes, you'll be able to see it very quickly, Your Majesty. At most in another two hours' time, in fact.”

The proof Shang Liao was referring to was the head of the old King. He did not wish to return back to his life of an 'ordinary' member of the royal family after succeeding with his other plans. If that happened, he might even be in trouble for having accomplished more feats than the old King of the Kang nation.

The Prime Minister respectfully took his leave to prepare the 'proof'. He needed the only navy in the Xiaoyao Lake as well as the new king's smarts; it was crucial to the success of his entire plan.

Immediately after the Prime Minister left, Shang Liao took out the secret report again. It said that the Dragon King had sent out a 1,000-person unit to set sail across the Xiaoyao Lake, their likely destination the Kang Kingdom.

”It's not easy to deal with the Dragon King. He acted even sooner than I had expected, but to realize my ambitions, I guess I have to undertake a huge risk at some point in time,”  With that in mind, Shang Liao decided that he would go all in.

”After all, how many people in this world would have such a chance?” he thought.

That very same night, both parties who wanted to protect and destroy the bridge respectively were kept busy.