544 Banque (1/2)

Gu Shenwei almost had to run a race against King Rizhu's horse.

Everything was ready. Gu Shenwei and King Rizhu were in a heated debate about the race. The crowd stood around them, shouting and adding to the tense atmosphere. People in Norland were always keen to watch entertaining and amusing things. The nobles' faces turned red with excitement, for they were interested in a human-horse race. If someone dared to stand up and go against the crowd, he was likely to get punched in the face.

King Shengri was more excited than anyone else. He slightly recovered from his drunkenness, and then named himself as the judge without asking anyone else's permission. He yelled out, ”Who is more qualified to be a judge than me? Just stand up.”

King Kuari stood aside and looked at the Dragon King and King Rizhu with a smile on his face. He wanted to know how the Dragon King would handle this. ”King Rizhu can easily win this race as long as he proposes to increase the distance. Even a kung fu master with excellent Lightness Skills can only take the lead for a miles or two. Once the distance increases, he will become fatigued and eventually lose,” he mused.

The crowd came up with ideas for betting on the race. They thought Flame Foal was not enough of a payment to the winner of the race. They suggested adding hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the bet. Some even proposed the two rivals should add their lives and limbs to the bet.

Gu Shenwei made no response, but stared at King Rizhu silently. ”I believe that he will drop out of the race soon,'” he thought.

Within about half an hour, King Rizhu's expression had changed a lot. To begin with, his face turned black with anger, and then red with fury. As the bet increased, his face turned pale with anxiety. By the end, the crowd was in a frenzy. However, he managed to put on a pleasant expression, opened his arms to stop the noise and announced that he was quitting the race.

”It's my fault. I should not have accused the Dragon King of stealing my horse without any proof. I think it was a coincidence, or maybe the Dragon King was framed,” explained King Rizhu to the crowd.

”That makes sense,” Gu Shenwei responded.

Rude as King Rizhu was, he knew how to concede at critical moments. He knew it was time to retreat by the look the Dragon King gave him.

”This young man was a killer. Although he declared himself as the Dragon King and built an army, he still acts like a killer. Now that he has dared to steal my most precious horse over some small conflict, who knows what else he will do,” pondered King Rizhu.

”Not to mention that if I lose the race, I will be in an embarrassing situation, while the Dragon King will strengthen his reputation. If I win the race, I do not know what he will do to Flame Foal,” King Rizhu thought further.

”I quit the race. No more games. The Dragon King is a distinguished guest of Norland. Dragon King, please forgive my rudeness. Attention, please. Anyone present who helps me find Flame Foal will get ten thousand taels of silvers and ten female slaves from me. Besides—” he continued as he gazed at Dragon King and added, ”he will be my friend.”

The nobles were disappointed when they heard this news. But they did not dare embarrass King Rizhu, so they kept unhappily silent . However, King Shengri stood up and shouted, ”You quit the race? Are you kidding me? I have already made my bet. No, you cannot quit the race. You must continue the game.”

King Rizhu was upset with King Shengri's words. When King Kuari noticed the anger on King Rizhu's face, he thought that he, as the host, should intervene to keep things from becoming any worse. He said, ”King Shenri must have had too much to drink. We will have a match soon. The Tournament of the Royal Court will be held in ten days. We can enjoy exciting games every day then.”

”The Tournament of the Royal Court,” King Shengri murmured. He then turned to look at the Dragon King and asked, ”Dragon King, will you join it?”

Fang Wenshi had not mentioned it before, so Gu Shenwei did not respond. However, King Kuari replied for him, ”Of course the Dragon King will join it. It's a magnificent event. How could he miss it?”

King Shengri staggered away, intending to leave. After several steps, he turned around and told the Dragon King, ”Dragon King, bring your giant roc next time. That roc is more interesting. People in the Golden Roc Fort are fools. They caught two rocs and killed them. How stupid of them!”

The crowd dispersed and started drinking and bragging. King Kuari whispered to the Dragon King, ”King Rizhu is fond of horses, while King Shengri is obsessed with birds. Please do not blame them if they have offended you.”

”I think that the two Lords are blunt, but interesting men,” said Gu Shenwei.

”Haha, the Dragon King is an open-minded man,” replied King Kuari.

”As for the Tournament of the Royal Court —” began the Dragon King.

”Well, I made another mistake. I thought that everyone in the world had heard of it. The Tournament of the Royal Court is an annual festival in Norland. It used to be held in autumn, but this year will be different. Once we go to war with the Central Plain, we do not know when the war will end. Therefore, we will hold it in June, ahead of schedule. Its competitions will include kung fu competitions, war games, horse races, dog races, and so on. I am sure that the Dragon King will win the bravery contest this year with your brilliant martial arts skills.”

King Kuari made this ”mistake” deliberately. In this way, he openly declared that the Dragon King was his ally before Gu Shenwei could oppose it.

”I'm not good at kung fu competitions. Besides, I'm an outsider. It's not proper for me to join this tournament,” said Gu Shenwei.

King Kuari looked around, grabbed Gu Shenwei's arm, and pulled him into a quiet corner. King Kuari whispered to him, ”Your Majesty, please do not blame me for making the decision for you. I have my reasons for letting you participate in the bravery contest.”

”What?” asked Gu Shenwei, surprised.

”You're an honored guest of the Khan, so you were supposed to have been summoned by him. You must know that many people in the Royal Court are hostile towards you. That's why you have not met the Khan yet,” explained King Kuari.

Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised, for he had foreseen many things, but not this. ”I thought I could meet the Khan as expected. What is it? Who can stop the Khan from meeting me?” he mused.

King Kuari noticed the confusion on the Dragon King's face and continued with a bitter smile, ”It's unbelievable, isn't it? Everyone thinks that the Khan is regarded as a god in Norland. But even the god can't do anything he wants. A court needs more than two pillars to support it. As the Khan, he has to balance the powers in Norland or his realm will be in danger. What the Khan cares about is not the speaker's words but his identity and status.”

King Kuari started to speak in obscure and complex words again. Although Gu Shenwei did not understand his words, he realized that this young lord considered himself as the Khan of Norland. That was why he saw things from a different perspective.

”What could they gain if they managed to stop the Khan from meeting me?” asked Gu Shenwei.