534 Fat, White Man (1/2)

Fang Wenshi wanted to stop the Dragon King before he offended the Naihang Tribe, but it was too late.

As soon as Fang Wenshi entered the tent, he said to the Dragon King, ”I heard what happened last night. This time, you made a mistake. You should not have offended them over a thuggish devil. I should have arrived earlier to stop it. Now...”

Old Man Mu had never met a man who dared to speak to the Dragon King like this. Stunned, he asked, ”Who is this fat, white man?”

Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had not seen each other for six months. Fang Wenshi had gained a lot of weight.

This was the first time he had achieved his dream to be a counselor. He had brought a large sum of money to the hostile kingdom and lobbied for his master.

On his way to the Royal Court, he had considered running away with all the money. However, he never thought about it too seriously and continued on his way to the Royal Court. Every time he got scared or dispirited, he would think of the Princess of the Stone Kingdom, now Queen Ju. Thinking of her always cheered him up again.

Things change quickly, as does one's mind. Fang Wenshi had been disturbed by his feelings for Queen Ju. He had lost his appetite and could not sleep because he missed her so much. But as soon as he reached the Royal Court, he got rid of his frustrations. He thought that it was time to achieve his goal, so he resolved to make full use of this opportunity to impress the Dragon King or his life would be meaningless.

The Royal Court was the capital of Norland, and the encampment of the Khan was surrounded by all kinds of people, ranging from nobles to beggars. In the beginning, Fang Wenshi was worried that he might be in danger since he was the Military Counselor of the Dragon King. Soon he found that he had thought too much. Like other courts, the people serving the Khan had different attitudes towards the Golden Roc Fort. Some sided with the Golden Roc Fort, while some (including many powerful figures) were hostile towards them.

To find out who was hostile to the Golden Roc Fort, he deliberately told people that he was the messenger sent by the Dragon King. One night, he received a response. First, an unknown middleman came to him, then the manager of a tavern, next a butler, and finally King Kuari.

There were ten kings inferior to the Khan of Norland. All of them had a right to take the throne. According to their ranking, King Kuari was the fourth rightful heir, and King Rizhu was the last rightful heir. As for their power and prestige, it depended on their talents and supporters.

King Kuari was hostile to the Golden Roc Fort because the Supreme King's supporters were his political opponents.

By that time, the Dragon Army had not started a war with the Golden Roc Army, and no one in Norland believed that the Dragon King would defeat the Supreme King. However, King Kuari summoned Fang Wenshi and expressed his hope that the Dragon Army would fight with the Golden Roc Army. Actually, he was just using the Dragon King as an excuse to belittle the Supreme King in front of the Khan.

Fang Wenshi promised that the Dragon King would be the final winner in the battle of Xiaoyao Lake. He thought that he'd be better off dead if the Dragon Army was defeated. After all, he would never meet a wise master like the Dragon King again.

Soon, he heard the news that the Dragon Army had won the war. That night he received many invitations, most of which were from high-ranking bigwigs that he had not been qualified to meet before. Before he made any decisions, King Kuari took action. He sent people to escort him to his encampment, asked him to live there and treated him nicely.

Fang Wenshi never thought that he would receive such treatment. Suddenly, he had become an important figure overnight. He received four or five invitations daily. He accepted all of them so as not to offend anyone.

That was why the handsome Fang Wenshi had gotten fat and pale. Now he looked more like a sophisticated officer than a well-read scholar. He still dressed like a scholar, though.

”In the past, I would have sent Fang Wenshi away if he looked like this,” Gu Shenwei thought.

The fat Fang Wenshi was still an intelligent, insightful and ambitious man. Besides, his eyes had been opened ever since he got here. Within six months, he had learned more about Norland than he ever knew before. It wasn't long before Gu Shenwei realized that it was wrong to judge a person by his appearance. He had come to find out that his investment in his military counselor was not in vain.

Fang Wenshi stared at the man who had interrupted him and said, ”I'm Fang Wenshi, the Military Counselor of the Dragon King. Where are you from, you little, dark man?”

Old Man Mu did not have a dark complexion, but he had a wrinkled face. He replied, ”I... I'm the subordinate, guard, friend and military counselor of the female leader of the Land of Fragrance, whom the Dragon King trusts the most.”

Old Man Mu gave himself a series of titles, and then glared at Fang Wenshi.

”So you're Old Man Mu?” Fang Wenshi said, nodding. He then turned to the Dragon King and said, ”I heard a rumor that King Rizhu intends to find an excuse to defame you in front of the Khan. That's why I hurried here. However, I failed to come in time.”

Old Man Mu felt uneasy. ”That fat, white man hinted that I got the Dragon King into trouble. If the Dragon King takes his words seriously, all my former efforts to please the Dragon King would have been in vain.” So he said, ”Wait. The Naihang Tribe came to provoke us. We did nothing wrong. How can King Rizhu want to defame the Dragon King over that?”

Fang Wenshi did not expect to have to explain to the dark, little man. But considering that the Dragon King might have similar doubts, he explained, ”Here's the thing -- King Rizhu couldn't care less about affairs happening in the Western Region, but he is wary of the Dragon King over that matter with the Naihang Tribe.”

After having learned about his father's experience in Norland from Wei Song, Gu Shenwei had written to Fang Wenshi immediately. In his letter, he had asked Fang Wenshi to collect information on the hatred between King Rizhu and the Gu family.