808 Line (1/2)

For the first day of the contest, the Dragon King was to compete with Prince Duodun over who was more popular among the soldiers.

Shulitu had brought 90,000 or so horsemen with him. This meant that there were 50,000 horsemen of the Court Attendants Army that had been left at the site of the Royal Court to guard the Khan's tomb until next summer.

Shulitu had spent great effort in choosing the location of the camp, ultimately deciding to settle down about thirty miles to the north of the midpoint between Heaven's Pass and the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom. This meant that it was about a day's travel on a fast horse for both allying members.

The two competitors demonstrated their different approaches from the very beginning. Gu Shenwei had only brought two hundred guards with him while Duodun had brought three thousand of his best horsemen. When the two sides met outside the camp, the ostentatious and extravagant side was immediately obvious.

Duodun greeted the Dragon King warmly, and then the two expressed their concerns for each other. From the viewpoint of an innocent bystander, they would have believed that the two were best friends and that their alliance was unbreakable.

”Is this the little king, Shulitu?” Duodun curiously pointed at the small figure at the gate of the camp. According to the order of seniority in the family, Shulitu should have been regarded as his grandson, but the two had never met each other.

”Yes.” Gu Shenwei jumped off of his horse and handed the reins to Long Fanyun.

Duodun hesitated briefly. According to the traditions of the Norland, riding into a camp on a horse wasn't rude. Regardless, he quickly decided to jump off of his horse as well and hastily walked forward to catch up with the Dragon King. Stepping on the withered weeds, he moved forward side by side with the Dragon King toward the camp that was destined to belong to him.

Shulitu was dressed in a full suit of armor which didn't fit him very well, and the physical awkwardness belied his thoughts. As he looked at the two men who would decide his fate, the only thing he could think of was that they were really tall. Even the Dragon King he was familiar with seemed to be much taller.

As the two grown-ups, one cold and the other passionate, walked closer, Shulitu subconsciously wanted to retreat. However, he tried to control his body, smiled, and tried to repeat what he had gone over many times in his mind. Between the Dragon King and Prince Duodun, it seemed inappropriate no matter which one he greeted first. And should he greet them with ”Your Highnesses” or ”Your Honorable Kings?”

Things didn't go as Shulitu thought they would. Before he could even say anything, Duodun had picked him up and exclaimed in a loud voice, ”The victor of the dispute among the kings, the new king who rose during the scuffle of the Royal Court. Haha, you are a worthy great-grandson of the Khan.”

A bit flustered, Shulitu struggled, but wasn't able to break free of Duodun's grasp. The heavy armor that he could barely put on seemed to be as light as a feather in Duodun's arms. ”Your Highness, please…”

Duodun turned around and faced the three thousand horsemen he had brought with him, and shouted in an even louder voice, ”Hail to the new king!”

The whistling of men, neighing of horses, and crack of whips thundered out like a sudden prairie thunderstorm. To the horsemen inside and outside the camp, however, this was a very familiar sound. So they all joined it and the 'storm' grew even more violent.

Duodun put him down and then grabbed his left hand as if he were leading a pony, and then walked into the camp together with him, to the cheers of the soldiers and generals.

Shulitu lurched along with his other hand holding onto his helmet. The confidence he had taken great pains to build up had completely disappeared. He seemed to have returned to those old days when his grandpa, the old King Riying, had put him on horseback and forced him to ride it as proof that he was a true descendant of the Khan.

The Dragon King was completely ignored. He walked through the crowd like a ghost. Numerous eyes passed by him in their eager search for the figure of Prince Duodun.

From the first step and through his walk through the camp, Duodun had usurped the host's role. Gu Shenwei directly walked to his own tent. From time to time, he could still hear the outside cheers sound out.

The counselor was waiting for him in the tent.

Fang Wenshi seemed to be fattening up at an unstoppable rate. Gu Shenwei could barely remember the thin scholar he had seen at their first meeting.

”Listen, Duodun's really something.” Fang Wenshi went straight to the point without any greetings, even though they hadn't seen each other for nearly two months.

”He's good at it.”

”Let me guess. Most of the cheers came from the soldiers of the kings rather than the Court Attendants Army.”

”You should go out and look yourself.”

Fang Wenshi shook his head and said, ”There's no need. I've seen enough of it. Liman and Azheba won many supporters over for Duodun. After the two left, the supporters continued their efforts to win over even more people, and a considerable number of soldiers have already accepted Duodun as the new Khan. Only the Court Attendants Army is picky and refuses to decide until they see him.”

”It seems that Duodun has gained the upper hand.”

”Not really.” Fang Wenshi was happy to have a chance to refute the Dragon King as he said, ”Liman and Azheba have inadvertently helped the Dragon King a great deal.”

”Oh?”

”The two are relatively simple-minded. They are dead set on having the Dragon King and Duodun enter an alliance and thus had also said the same things about you when they courted the supporters — part of the cheers outside are also for the Dragon King.”

”I didn't recognize any cheers for me.”

”Hehe, the soldiers call you the 'Faceless Man' or 'Ice King' in private. Who would dare show too much enthusiasm in front of you? So while some of the support can't be seen on the surface, I'm sure that the cheers would not have been as loud if Duodun had walked into the camp alone.”

”Looks like Duodun and I are going to tie this round.”

”What does the Dragon King think of this man?”

”He will strike first.”

Fang Wenshi understood what he meant. In fact, he had been making all his plans based on this premise. ”The Court Attendants Army is an obstacle that Duodun can't get past. These soldiers' hands are stained with the blood of the Khan's family and they have doubts about all the princes and fear retaliation. Duodun's supporters can't change the army's viewpoint, and he has to rely on himself.”

”What about our plan?”