812 Women (1/2)
The Second Consort breathed in a mouthful of the late autumn's cool air and closed her eyes to enjoy it, as if it were washing away all the dirt from her body. Meanwhile, she was still sitting firmly on her horse, unaffected by the bumpy road.
She liked riding.
”The Flame Foal is really a good horse. The former King Rizhu did have sharp eyes. If I were you, I would not lend it to anyone, not even Duodun.”
The Second Consort had raised this topic several times and each time Shangguan Ru would shrug and give the same answer. ”We actually need to move slowly. There won't be many area where the Flame Foal can gallop, so it's better to lend it to someone who really needs it.”
The Second Consort glanced back at the long line of soldiers behind her and complained, ”Why it is so troublesome to be a woman? Why can't we, like men, ride at top speed with only several hundreds of lightly armored troops? We can't we start riding at dawn, and arrive in the evening? Why must we move so slowly and spend a whole two days travelling?
”Because you are the Second Consort,” Shangguan Ru replied, all the while smiling as if the long line of caravans had nothing to do with her. ”Take the Khan as an example. The higher his position became, the less he could move around freely. I'm afraid that he also couldn't ride at top speed since when he moved, the whole Royal Court went with him.”
”Haha, that old dog.” The Second Consort didn't lower her voice at all for the next couple of sentences. The Khan, who was worshiped as a god in the various tribes of the Norland, was nothing but a skinny pervert in her mind. ”Believe me, he could still 'ride at top speed' sometimes. When he was too old to gallop across the grassland, he shifted targets to women as the territory he needed to conquer.”
Shangguan Ru blushed. The Second Consort had never been shy about saying such words. The Khan might have felt that they were refreshing, but it was hard for other people to accept them as easily. For Shangguan Ru, they reminded her of her father. The Unique King had once been obsessed with women, but had now taken the opposing path of giving up on women and pursuing real land and power.
Men were really like a different species, mercurial and unpredictable. But the Dragon King was even more different. Shangguan Ru's mind drifted away and her face turning redder and redder with each passing second.
The Second Consort stared at her and asked, ”You are thinking about the Dragon King, right? Look at your face. If the Dragon King sees you now, he would immediately depose of the queen in the Western Regions and marry you instead.”
Shangguan Ru chuckled to disguise her true feelings and slightly pulled on the reins before saying, ”Let's have a horse race. We'll lose our guards and see who can reach the young king Shulitu's camp first.”
The Second Consort looked at her in surprise. ”How could we do that? You are really…” Before she finished her words, she had already urged her horse to gallop forward. In the blink of an eye, she was half a horse-length ahead of Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru followed closely behind. Although she was not riding the Flame Foal, she was still full of confidence.
The entourage behind was thrown into confusion. After a short period of panic, the group divided themselves into two, and the smaller group of people started chasing after their masters.
The Second Consort whistled like a man as if she were a dozen years younger. At that time, Duodun had still been a little kid who had just lost his mother and always hung around her like a little dog, and the Khan had also not lost himself in the trap of pursuing immortality. He had often taken her out to wander around, and they had even visited the remote battlefield once.
Shangguan Ru's horsemanship wasn't as good as the Second Consort's, but she was lighter, and she could also use her lightness skills. As her body rose and fell with the bobbing motion of her horse, the horse was able to gallop at full speed, and gradually caught up.
The scene of the Second Consort and the instructor of the Land of Fragrance riding into the camp became the most talked-about incident of the day and its impact went way beyond the two's imagination.
The banquet in the camp of the Naihang Tribe was naturally interrupted by their arrival as both the host and the guest immediately left for the young king Shulitu's camp. Through the power of alcohol, the new King Rizhu seemed very excited and kept showing off to the surrounding people. ”The Second Consort is from the Naihang Tribe. You know, she's my aunt, or maybe my elder sister.”
The crowd flattered the new king all the way to the camp, and only two people did not join in on the chorus of praise. Gu Shenwei, who was usually reticent, only exchanged some glances with the counselor along the way. Neither of them understood why Shangguan Ru was here. The other man wearing a silent, gloomy face was Duodun, who warily avoided bringing the subject around to himself.
The new King Rizhu with a pink-white face, however, refused to let him go. As he sat on his horse, he stuck out his large hand and gripped Duodun's shoulder, saying, ”You were brought up by the Second Consort and can be considered as half a man of the Naihang Tribe. Do not forget about our kindness.”
Duodun snorted coldly before replying, ”The Khan is dead. She's not the Second Consort anymore.”
Zhesu, who was following behind, raised his voice at this moment and said, ”Both the Chief Consort and the Second Consort of the Khan hail from the Naihang Tribe. This will be a tradition of the Norland. No matter which descendant of the Khan inherits the throne, he has to obey it.” Then he turned to Shulitu and asked, ”Your Highness, if it were you, which one would you choose, the Chief Consort or the Second Consort?”
”Ah? I… I'm only twelve years old, and both the Chief Consort and the Second Consort are my great-grandmothers.”
”Prairie men don't care about this. If you really think that you are too young or are not senior enough in the family, then you should just give up the fight for the throne and live as an honest and worthy grandson. Choose your own Chief Consort and then we'll pick a pretty little girl from our Naihang Tribe to be your Second Consort.”
Embarrassed, Shulitu turned to Fang Wenshi and the Dragon King in a plead for help.
Zhesu and the new King Rizhu were entitled to be arrogant. They had just shown off the strength of the Naihang Tribe, the 100,000 troops. With such a powerful force, even though it was not enough to rule the prairie, it could greatly affect the overall situation. Shulitu and Duodun would fall into the awkward position of being attacked from both the front and the back if they offended the Naihang Tribe.
Fang Wenshi nodded slightly. Shulitu straightened up in turn and replied, ”Of course, if possible, I would choose the Second Consort. No one is more entitled to be the Chief Consort of the new Khan than she.”
Zhesu and the new King Rizhu laughed out loud and their entourage also cheered as if the matter had been decided with those words.
With a crisp sound, the whip in Duodun's hand cracked from being squeezed too hard. A companion immediately handed his whip over, but the loud snapping sound had already aroused the attention of the surrounding people.
The new King Rizhu laughed even more heartily and said in a louder voice, ”Haha, it seems that Duodun is jealous. The women of our Naihang Tribe are really special.”
Duodun's expression changed a few times but in the end, a smile lit up his face. ”Even if the Naihang Tribe sends me a hundred women, I'll take them all. I'm just jealous that I might not have a chance.”