762 Taking Risks (2/2)

Xu Xiaoyi actually had something to report. ”Shang Liao, the General of the Right, has come early in the morning. Do you want to meet him?”

”What do you think?”

”Well, from what I know, it was all Shang Liao's idea to free Duodun and join forces with the Norland Army. Over the past few months, he has expanded his army into a powerful force in the Western Regions, but he's still unable to control the guards. Those one thousand people are still loyal to the Dragon King, so the decision to meet him or not … rests with you.”

Shang Liao looked more respectful than he had been at the banquet yesterday. After the greeting, he soon went to the point. ”There's one point that I hope the instructor will not misunderstand or listen to other people's slander. It was indeed my idea to ally with Prince Duodun but it was only because the situation called for prompt action. The Khan was dead, it was meaningless to keep the prince imprisoned. The Western Regions was in chaos at that time, if we didn't stabilize the Norland Army as soon as possible, Golden Roc Castle would have probably benefited from it.”

”I understand, and so does the Dragon King. A field commander must make the right decision, even going against the king's orders. The Dragon King is thousands of miles of away and did not even send a word of advice. General Shang made the right choice. Even if the Dragon King were in the Western Regions, he would do the same thing.”

Shang Liao seemed to feel a bit more relieved. ”I'll rest assured if the instructor and the Dragon King feels this way.”

”But I also have a small doubt. Why didn't General Shang send a message to the Dragon King? We've been pretty isolated for months.”

Shang Liao's face reddened a bit as he embarrassedly explained, ”Well, before the Khan ascended to Heaven, it was Golden Roc Castle and the Norland Army who jointly controlled the Heaven's Pass and strictly forbade people of the Western Regions from crossing the border. Later, when Prince Duodun came to power, he said that the Norland was in chaos and that it was inappropriate to intervene and make enemies too early, so he didn't lift the ban. So it's not that I didn't want to send a message; even the Dragon King's intelligence officer couldn't…”

”Oh, I see. The Dragon King once told me that General Shang could act on his responsibility as a talented general and for me to not interfere too much with you. So I did not dare see you first. In fact, I don't have much experience in warfare. Although I'm the instructor of the female soldiers, I haven't experienced any major battles. All I know is drinking, I hope that General Shang won't laugh at me.”

Shangguan Ru finally understood why the Dragon King is so paranoid and had so many tricks. When the people around him couldn't be differentiated from friend and foe, suspicions and plots would spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain.

After sending Shang Liao away, Shangguan Ru discussed some more things with Xu Xiaoyi. In the afternoon, Prince Duodun sent someone to invite her.

This was to be expected.

It was a small meeting. Duodun only had two friends with him, but the guards were much stricter. Shangguan Ru was asked to hand over all her weapons at the door of the tent.

When she handed over the wooden saber and the dagger, the guard was obviously surprised.

This time, without any polite greetings, Duodun went straight to the point. ”Many people, including my friends in the Norland, told me that the Dragon King and I are natural allies, and I believed and looked forward to it. Now I have a hundred thousand horsemen under my command. How many people can the Dragon King bring?”

The seventy thousand soldiers had suddenly become a hundred thousand. Prince Duodun was actually quite 'honest' in that regard. Shangguan Ru pretended to think for a while before replying, ”Twenty thousand soldiers from the Land of Fragrance, forty thousand from the Xiaoyao Lake, twenty thousand from the Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom, and a hundred and fifty thousand horsemen from the Royal Court. So there are two hundred thousand people at least.”

She also listed out an exaggerated number.

Duodun laughed. ”Honestly, I don't care about the other troops. As long as the Dragon King can bring eighty thousand men from the Norland, I'll respect him as a real king.”

”To tell you the truth, I don't know much about these things, but I think that Your Highness has a good chance of seeing that come to pass.”

”Heh, Instructor Shangguan, you've come all the way here in such a hurry. Could you just tell me what you are doing here?”

Shangguan Ru widened her eyes and put on a look of innocence. Then she turned to look at the two companions of Duodun.

One of them was tall while the other was short. The taller one had competed in drinking with her yesterday, but the short one hadn't.

”The Dragon King was afraid that Your Highness would be deceived, so he sent me here ahead of time to have a look.”

”What do you see then?” asked Duodun.

”I see that —”

Shangguan Ru suddenly made a move. She used the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and poked at the short man with the Heart Stopping Finger. This person's kung fu wasn't weak but she hadn't been disguised by Lotus. Shangguan Ru felt a bit relieved.

Duodun was stunned. The tall man immediately reached out for his saber, but neither of them could escape Shangguan Ru's lightness skill and finger technique.

As the three of them froze on the spot, Shangguan Ru continued speaking, ”I see that a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall is hiding around Your Highness.”

”How dare you! Stupid!” The tall man said indignantly, his face reddening. ”Do you think that you can escape? If you dare hurt His Highness, the whole Norland will hunt down the Dragon King.”

”Gambling is the weak's only powerful weapon.” As soon as she blurted it out, Shangguan Ru realized that this was something that the Dragon King had said before. But at the moment, she felt that it fit the situation quite well.

Gu Shenwei didn't want Shangguan Ru to take risks, but when things came to a head, she found that taking risks was often the most reasonable plan.

”There's one person who has never been mentioned, but I know he must exist.”

”Who?” It was still the tall man speaking for Duodun.

”The original Commander-in-chief of the Norland Army. I hope that he's still alive.”

”Yes, he's kept at…”

”Release him, and His Highness will be free and will also receive my sincerest apology”

Make an enemy for Duodun; this was Shangguan Ru's idea, and she thought that it was better than the Dragon King's original plan.