675 Officer (2/2)
Gu Shenwei didn't pay any attention to the two. Everything had changed so fast. He had changed from being a war-watcher to a war-taker, and now he had to solve all the problems at hand quickly. So he ordered Nie Zeng, Han Wuxian, and the five golden roc killers to immediately return to the Dragon Army camp and bring back some soldiers. He and the five teenage killers would stay at the site to guard the corpses while Shangguan Fei followed the request to tell someone from the Court Attendants Army.
Liman had been staying at the camp of the Court Attendants Army, meeting with friends, and seeking information for the Dragon King these past two days. Gu Shenwei hoped that he would come in handy today.
The first to arrive was not the Court Attendants Army but rather King Riyao Tuosai who had also come from the west to watch the battle.
Tuosai quickly approached the scene while under the protection of one hundred guards in silver armor, one thousand ordinary horsemen, and dozens of kung fu masters.
Gu Shenwei and the five teenagers remained lurking in the grass. They were barely able to cover up the dozen or so corpses before the army passed by just a few dozen paces away. The rumbling of the horses' hooves shook the ground. And they could be exposed as long as a single soldier turned his head to look around.
As the troops passed by, a distinct trace of trampled grass was left on the prairie. Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief.
Shangguan Fei finally returned, followed by seven or eight officers.
The officers jumped off of the horses and ran straight to the corpses, and all turned silent after examining them.
Liman, who was among them, pointed at the other eight corpses and asked, ”Were they the assassins?”
Gu Shenwei nodded.
An officer who appeared to be the leader of the crowd also asked, ”No one was left alive?”
”No.” Everything happened too fast. It was already difficult for Han Wuxian and the killers to catch up with the assassins, not to mention the fact that the other side were disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. So it was very hard to keep them alive.
The officer questioningly looked at the Dragon King, ”You were here just in time to catch up to the assassins but didn't have the time to save or capture anyone alive?”
”Sometimes things just happen.”
Liman came over and introduced him, saying, ”This is the Dragon King, and this is the chiliarch of the Court Attendants Army, Azheba.”
Gu Shenwei remembered this name. Xu Yanwei had escaped from the prison with this person but at that time he had just been a centurion.
Xu Yanwei had said some weird words, suggesting that Azheba was fond of Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei didn't take it to heart at that time, but now he suddenly felt a surge of anger after seeing the other side and being impolitely questioned by him.
Azheba seemed to feel the anger, so he softened his tone, ”Please forgive me, Dragon King. The Commandant was assassinated and I am acting flustered.”
The officers gathered around Azheba. ”What should we do? King Shengri is still challenging us over there, and the whole army is waiting for the Commandant.”
”Take the body back. Do not release the news. Let's do as we see fit.”
”It'll be hard. We are just a bunch of centurions and chiliarchs, and we can't control the whole army. We need a general to take command,” said one of the officers.
Azheba was silent for a moment. He had just been promoted to chiliarch and had little prestige in the army. Although he had many friends, most of them were young men without a high rank. ”It's the only thing we can do. Let's choose a suitable general, hand the body of the Commandant over to him, and then let him announce the news. Then we'll all take him as our new leader.”
The officers obviously had to discuss some secret affairs so Gu Shenwei and Liman walked away. The five teenage killers who had been lurking nearby had never showed up.
”Alas, this situation troublesome. We just gained the trust of the Commandant and were about to persuade him to support Prince Duodun. How could this happen? How could he leave the camp with so little people?” Liman looked quite frustrated.
”His guard claimed that there was a mole before he died.”
Liman took a glance at the officers and said, ”It's very possible. Not many people could persuade the Commandant to venture outside of the camp. I'm sure that we'll find the mole soon.”
”The key is who will succeed the Commandant's position.”
Liman glanced back again and said, ”Right. As the Dragon King knows, there's a serious rift within the Court Attendants Army and only the Commandant could suppress it. Now that he's dead, it will be very hard to maintain the integrity of the Court Attendants Army. All we can do is to try to retain the biggest fraction.”
What Liman hadn't said was that if they really wanted a piece of the pie, then just the Dragon King's title and the identities of several noble officers were not enough. They had to choose a royal heir.
The officers finished the discussion but didn't reveal the results of their discussion. Azheba invited the Dragon King to go with him to the camp of the Court Attendants Army. ”There are rumors everywhere in the Royal Court right now. It would be better if the Dragon King went there in person just to prevent the soldiers from gossiping.”
Gu Shenwei agreed. He didn't verbally call out the hidden teenage killers, and instead hinted for them to follow far behind.
The ruins of the Royal Court were not far away now. Gu Shenwei could even see the two armies currently locked in confrontation as well as a few small armies looking on from the sides.
A group of hundreds of horsemen ran at them head-on and began to separate dozens of steps away, encircling the team carrying the bodies.
What Gu Shenwei did not want to see had happened. The scouts had discovered Azheba and the other officers which then attracted the attention of King Riyao. Naturally, he led his troops there to investigate the cause in person.