529 Mee (1/2)

They had set off from the Tongtian Pass. On the 10th day of the journey, Gu Shenwei encountered Shangguan Ru.

It was purely accidental. Shangguan Ru wrote a letter saying that at the invitation of the second wife of the Khan, she would start from the Land of Fragrance, go via the northeast entrance of Xiaoyao Lake, and finally enter Norland through the Qianji Pass at the eastern border of Jade City.

There were stories behind the name Qianji Pass. At that time, Shangguan Nu and Bighead Kingpin's coalition forces were stationed near the Jade City border. Later, it turned into a military camp of the Central Plains. When the Supreme King launched a coup attempt, Shangguan Yun led a thousand Xiaowan Kingdom cavalrymen to raid the military camps and successfully drove away the hidden danger at their doorstep. Then, they built a checkpoint at the mountain pass and called it ”Qianji Pass”.

Shangguan Ru had set off earlier. When she arrived in Xiaoyao Lake, Gu Shenwei was in Shu-lik. Gu Shenwei waited for a few days on purpose so she would outrun him.

Therefore, if everything went right, the two teams taking different routes were not supposed to meet.

Something wrong happened during the night at the Qianji Pass. Shangguan Ru's team spent the night at the border. It was during the third watch that five intruders lurked into a tent. Before they could act, a female soldier was awakened and let out a scream that the entire checkpoint could hear.

Thus, the intruders fled and no one was hurt. Shangguan Ru deployed more guards and all the tents soon returned to peace. However, one man became riled up and swore that he would catch those daring intruders.

Old Man Mu said, ”There aren't many men in the team, I must take the responsibility.” And then, he scurried off and went on the hunt for five days and six nights.

On that early morning, Shangguan Ru was already impatiently waiting. She intended to leave the next day. And that was when Old Man Mu returned.

In front of him were five men in ragged clothes. Every 10 steps they took, they knelt down and kowtowed. Their foreheads were bleeding from it. They looked like devoted believers praying to the gods. Arriving at the encampment, they shouted hoarsely that they were animals and begged the female soldiers for forgiveness.

Old Man Mu had captured them in one day, and during the rest of the time, he made the five of them kotow.

The five of them were all machetemen who occasionally robbed people. And upon hearing that all the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance were beautiful, they could not keep their lecherous thoughts at bay.

They were young; otherwise, they would not have carried out the plan once they heard the name.

Old Man Mu circled the five people and kicked whoever was cutting corners on the movements. ”If I hadn't promised the good girl...”

Everytime Old Man Mu blurted out that sentence, a macheteman was about to get hit. Thus, they became fearful of the ”good girl” and also hated her. They wondered what oath this wicked old man had taken.

That was how the ”Queen” of the Land of Fragrance became known for being vicious. After being released, the five people bragged about their adventure. At first, they tried to convince people that they almost succeeded, but the bumps on their foreheads greatly discredited their stories. Thus, they started to talk about how vicious the female soldiers were, hinting that their mere survival had not been easy.

Unexpectedly, they became popular in taverns and bonfire encampments. Shangguan Ru and her 1,000 female archers had gained themselves a reputation of being ”vicious”.

When the stories traveled to Jade City, the residents there were all quick to take the stories for granted. ”It's the Tenth Young Master. She tried to burn Jade City before. Who would be that desperate to mess with her?”

After the seaside slope battle, the Land of Fragrance female soldiers became known for being gallant, which was a stereotype that was hard to change.

But Shangguan Ru did not ever want that to change. First, she did not care about other people's opinions; second, she was never a dainty girl. Furthermore, the reputation yielded some benefits. The 200 guarding Norland cavalrymen who were leading the way never for a second had a wild thought.

Shangguan Ru brought 1,000 female archers, not to protect herself—she was included in the truce agreement between the Dragon King, Norland, and Golden Roc Fort—but to demonstrate at the invitation of the second wife of the Khan.

Old Man Mu took the demonstration more seriously than Shangguan Ru. ”The Queen of Norland is called Yanzhi. Norland is different from other countries; it has two queens, the first Yanzhi and the second Yanzhi. The Khan usually doesn't get to choose his first wife; several large tribes take turns choosing the Queen for him. But for the second wife, he can choose whoever he likes.”

Old Man Mu lived in northern Tianshan for years. He was familiar with Norland and had formed his own opinions. ”So, the second wife usually enjoys a favored position. It's said the current second-Yanzhi exceeds all previous Yanzhis. She married the Khan as a teenager, and gained a title in less than a year. She also has her own troops. It's no wonder that she's interested in you, you two would surely get along.”

”They're not my troops, I'm just...

”... breaking them in for the Dragon King. But don't you think you have claimed more responsibility for them than His Majesty? The soldiers already enjoy a reputation in the world, we might as well make it big; otherwise, their ambition and greed will come after us.”