547 Asking for Help (2/2)

Gu Shenwei made great efforts, but was barely able to catch up with her. Although he had made progress in Lightness Skills these past few years, they were still his weakness, and they lagged behind hers.

Shangguan Ru paused behind a suburban hill, her lower body camoflauged with grass. Under a faint, starlit night, her dark eyes twinkled with concern.

Gu Shenwei was ten steps away from her.

The atmosphere surrounding them was awkward. Since their meeting on the grasslands, Gu Shenwei felt Shangguan Ru was a stranger every time they met since. Some people changed with time, while others always remained the same. Shangguan Ru was like the former, seeming to have transformed into a completely different person from years ago.

Gu Shenwei could hardly connect the woman in front of him with that bossy, kind, smart and gullible maid who had always dressed like a boy. In his eyes, the Tenth Young Master he had known had disappeared.

Gu Shenwei tried, but couldn't see Shangguan Ru as anything other than her former self.

Even so, he still felt embarrassed. For him, Shangguan Ru was a temptation that he was trying to resist. Eventully, he failed to resist his impulse to approach her.

Shangguan Ru opened her mouth first, looking awkward. It was not the scene she had imagined. She said, ”I hope you will do me a favor.”

”Yes, of course,” said Gu Shenwei.

Despite the fact that she had thrown stones into his tent, they were excessively polite to each other in this open grassand, which suddenly felt crowded.

”Save Shaomin,” said said, simply.

”Who is Shaomin?” Gu Shenwei asked in surprise. It never occurred to him that Shangguan Ru would seek him out to beg him to help a stranger he had never even heard of.

”My eldest brother's daughter,” she replied.

Gu Shenwei remembered this girl. Han Xuan had discovered women in the Golden Roc Fort's team when they left the Tongtian Pass. Shangguan Fei had investigated these women and found that one was Shangguan Chui's daughter. He told Gu Shenwei that perhaps she was going to wed to some dignitary in Norland to solidify the Golden Roc Fort's alliance with Norland.

Marriage was a common means to consolidate two parties' alliance. Gu Shenwei had married the Princess for that reason. At that time, he had not paid much attention to this girl, nor did he ask his men to further investigate her.

Shangguan Shaomin was two or three years younger than Shangguan Ru. They had known each other since they were little girls. When Shangguan Ru had been kept indoors, she always played with Shangguan Shaomin.

All of the Shangguan family members learned a lesson: never try to take revenge on family. Otherwise, you'd get yourself killed fast.

Shangguan Chui's children had received good care since his death. If everything went well, they would return this kindness back to the Supreme King, and Shangguan Shaomin would be the first one to do so.

”Why are you asking me to save her?” Gu Shenwei asked, looking confused. ”It's this maid's best fate to wed to someone important in Norland,” he thought.

”Do you know who the Golden Roc Fort intends to give her to?” asked Shangguan Ru.

”I have no idea,” Gu Shenwei replied. He did notice, however, that Shangguan Ru mentioned ”giving” instead of ”marrying”.

”A servant of King Dari,” she replied.

”King Dari is the Golden Roc Fort's most important supporter, so it's natural for the Supreme King to try to please his trusted follower,” he mused. Besides, Gu Shenwei did not like the tone Shangguan Ru used when mentioning ”servant”. ”Are you referring to Fu Yuan? He's King Dari's favorite servant. It does her no harm to marry him,” he replied.

Shangguan Ru flushed and said, ”You don't know. They aren't going to marry Shaomin to him, but give her to him as a gift. It's not a big deal. If she is sent to him, she can live a better life there than in the Stone Castle. But... but...” After pausing for a while, she finally went on, ”Fu Yuan is a eunuch, and he has... many eccentricities. Shaomin would be at his mercy once she was sent there.”

”How do you know this?” Gu Shenwei asked as he thought, ”Shangguan Ru just arrived here today. How did she get this private intelligence that I do not know?”

”I asked Old Man Mu to investigate Fu Yuan. He... he saw many things. When he came back, he told me that it was better to kill Shaomin than to let her live with that man,” she said.

Shangguan Ru flushed redder as she thought, ”Old Man Mu has a big mouth. He must have told me everything he heard and saw.”

All of a sudden, Shangguan Ru seemed to have turned into the Tenth Young Master that had asked Slave Huan for help. When Gu Shenwei noticed her tone and expression mixed with command and trust, he almost nodded yes.

”You saved Parro. Do you remember her?” Shangguan Ru asked as she softened her voice. ”This man is my biggest hope. Only he can think of the perfect plan to save her,” she thought.

”She was killed later,” replied Gu Shenwei.

”Yes, she was. But that was not your fault. This time, I will send Shaomin to the Land of Fragrance privately, and not let anyone know it,” Shangguan Ru said.

Shangguan Ru's words reminded him: ”The Land of Fragrance is far away from Norland. If they need to reach the Land of Fragrance, they must pass the area under the Golden Roc Fort's control. It's impossible not to alert the Golden Roc Fort.”

”The current situation in Norland is more complicated than I have foreseen. I do not want to cause more problems,”  he thought and then said, ”Forget about it. It's her fate and no one can change it. Since her father's death, she was doomed to suffering. There are people who are worse off than her. So many people suffer from pains and hardships, but we cannot save them all.”

”But you changed your own fate. I always thought that you would understand these things better than others,” responded Shangguan Ru as she stared at the Dragon King with shock in her eyes.

Gu Shenwei found it difficult to refuse someone's request for the first time in his life.