535 Three Alliances (1/2)

Before things got worse, Gu Shenwei took actions on both sides. He had revealed Wei Song's plan to the messenger of Norland two months ago, so Shangguan Nu's testimony could pose no threat to him.

Shangguan Nu must have discovered that he had been sold out, so he had utilized his identity as the advisor of Wei Song to steal several letters between Wei Song and the Court of the Central Plain. Among these letters, Wei Song had vaguely mentioned his plan to assassinate the Khan in an attempt to divide Norland.

One of the key figures in his plan was the Dragon King.

”It was wise to have revealed Wei Song's plan to Norland,” Fang Wenshi said flatteringly. Since he had failed to stop the Dragon King and the Naihang Tribe from regarding each other as enemies, he started to work out other plans. He said, ”We have not lost this game yet. King Rizhu's plan will not succeed easily. I've found a reliable ally for you. As long as he is on our side, we can easily defeat King Rizhu and the Golden Roc Fort.”

Although they had been writing to each other, Fang Wenshi could not include everything in his letters. Therefore, Fang Wenshi took every chance to report all the information about the situation in Norland to the Dragon King. Even when he dined with the Dragon King, he didn't stop talking. Sometimes, he would comment on his own information.

Gu Shenwei slowly began to understand the overall situation in Norland through these talks.

There were over thirty large tribes in Norland. After years of collaboration, they had formed three strong alliances. Fang Wenshi named the three alliances, based on their stance and purpose, ”The elder son party -- King Dari is the leader, ranking first out of the ten lords in Norland. According to their tradition, he is the rightful successor of the Khan. He has the biggest influence among the ten lords, and about half the tribes overtly support him. Unfortunately, King Dari protected the Golden Roc Fort, and therefore he is an enemy to the Dragon King.”

”The Spoilt son party -- King Kuari ranks fourth, but he is the Khan's favorite grandson. On top of that, he has won the support of most of the civilians. As far as I know, although some tribes openly support King Dari, they privately serve King Kuari. Once the Khan passes away, the two lords will fight for the throne,” he continued.

”The Bystanders -- For self-preservation, some tribes volunteered to step away from fighting for the throne. They will also not get involved in the plots and fights between the other two parties. Whomever wins the fight will be their new Khan. At present, King Dari and King Kuari are in a fierce competition. Both parties want to rope in new allies from this party, so these bystanders are receiving lots of attention,” he went on.

Fang Wenshi sighed and continued, ”King Rizhu happens to be the leader of the Bystanders Party. He has a special identity. He is the only lord from the Queen's family, while the other nine are from the Royal Family. He is called a lord, but he has no claim to sit on the throne, so he will be a crucial figure. Whichever party wins his backing will be invincible. Therefore...”

”Therefore, I must improve my relationship with King Rizhu,” Gu Shenwei finished his sentence. He finally understood what the Military Counselor had meant.

”Just for now. Don't make others think that King Rizhu will turn his support to King Dari due to his hatred towards the Dragon King. Otherwise, perhaps King Kuari would desert us,” Fang Wenshi said.

”Do you have any plans?” asked Gu Shenwei.

”I think the hatred and revenge between you and King Rizhu is easily solved. Gu Lun was the one who killed King Rizhu's son, so the King only hates the Gu family. But your last name is Yang. Besides, your father worked for the Gu family, so there should be no hatred between the two of you. I am wondering whether the Dragon King could openly claim that the Golden Roc Fort is your only enemy. After all, it was the Golden Roc Fort that killed your father. No matter who was behind the scenes, they never intended to kill a servant from the Yang family. Do you agree with me?” said Fang Wenshi.

'”If I told my Military Counselor my real identity, he'd be greatly surprised,” Gu Shenwei mused. He said, ”I thought that you were opposed to my revenge.”

”Things have changed. Our former goal was the Western Region, and the Golden Roc Fort was just a strong force in it. It did us no good to challenge the Golden Roc. But now our goal has expanded to the whole world, and the Golden Roc Fort is just a small force that blocks us. Overtly claiming our revenge on the Golden Roc Fort might distract the attention of the bigwigs in Norland,” Fang Wenshi explained.

”But I heard that King Rizhu had the Golden Roc Fort's back. If he instructed the Supreme King to kill all the people in the Gu family, the two of them must have been on good terms,” said Gu Shenwei.

”Even if that were true, King Rizhu and the Golden Roc Fort can't trust each other. Now that the Golden Roc Fort is under King Dari's protection, they're involved in King Dari's fight for the throne. King Rizhu is eager to cut off his connection with the Golden Roc Fort. According to the information I gathered, King Rizhu hasn't cooperated with the Supreme King in the past few years,” said Fang Wenshi.

After musing for a while, Gu Shenwei said, ”Well, I can claim that the Golden Roc Fort is my only enemy. That's easy.”

”One more thing -- as for Old Man Mu, I advise that...we'd better turn him in,” said Fang Wenshi.

”Old Man Mu openly pledged allegiance to me. If I turned him in now, others will think that I'm a spinless master who betrays his subordinates. It's not a wise thing to do,” said Gu Shenwei.

In Gu Shenwei's eyes, Old Man Mu was still useful to him, so he did not want to hand him over to anyone. Besides, he had a good reason for this: the majority of the Dragon Army were from southern Tianshan. They had no idea what evil deeds Old Man Mu had done in northern Tianshan, as they had only heard that the dwarf had rendered outstanding service in the battle of the seaside slope. In their eyes, Old Man Mu was a loyal soldier of the Dragon King, not a devil.

”Of course we can't turn him in openly. We can...figure out a plan to satisfy both parties,” said Fang Wenshi. Before he met the Dragon King, Fang Wenshi had thought that Old Man Mu was a black sheep. He had confirmed that opinion about Old Man Mu after seeing him in person.

Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ”We'd better not. However perfect the hoax is, it will be exposed one day. We'll keep Old Man Mu with us. When we negotiate with King Rizhu, it will give us one more bargaining chip.”

”But King Rizhu will never negotiate with you. All the people in Norland know his violent temper. He's a narrow-minded man obsessed with achieving revenge on his enemies. Otherwise, he wouldn't still hate people from the Gu family now,” argued Fang Wenshi.

”Are you sure that Gu Lun was sent to Norland on a diplomatic mission thirty years ago?” asked Gu Shenwei.