817 A Surprise (1/2)

The Second Consort stared dazedly at the Dragon King. She was not as confident and ostentatious as usual. After a while, a surprised look surfaced on her face, as if she had just recognized him.

”Sorry, my mind was wandering.”

”It's okay.” Gu Shenwei had to admit that he didn't find anything suspicious in her and that she did indeed look like a love-stricken woman. With her unyielding personality, it was likely that she would resort to extreme measures to get whatever she wanted.

”Did Shangguan Ru tell you everything?”

”She didn't tell me much.”

”Sometimes I feel curious — what kind of hatred could be so strong that you would be willing to even give up the one you love? The Khan was different, though. Manipulating women from opposing tribes was his favorite. He said that he derived a pleasure of dual-conquests from one move.”

Gu Shenwei had heard similar words from the Khan's mouth. Back then, he had found them unacceptable, and he still did now. ”I didn't come here to discuss this.”

”Ha-ha, I'm just running my big mouth again. But I'm a woman, so I hope that you don't mind. Why did I invite you here again? Oh, right — Duodun. He's an adorable guy, isn't he?”

Gu Shenwei nodded and then blandly said, ”He can be adorable when he wants to be, but it's a pity that I'm not as lucky as you are, Second Consort. I've never seen him act adorably.”

”Ha-ha.” The Second Consort gave a laugh as hearty as usual before replying, ”That's right. Duodun's exactly like that. After all, he was the Khan's favorite son and this is a talent that he was born with. Everybody else was trying to be as quiet as possible before the Khan, as if even a yawn would be highly disrespectful towards him. But Duodun always acted naturally and he knew his limits. He dared to talk back, act cute, and he would even cry and smile whenever he wanted to. And he turned out to be the Khan's favorite child.”

”It seems that he learned a lot from the Second Consort.”

Upon hearing this, the Second Consort was stunned. ”Yes, he did learn a lot from me. I'm like a… Am I too old?”

”To be honest, I'm not good at guessing other people's age.”

The Second Consort burst into laughter again before letting out a long string of sighs. ”This is what happens after the Norland split and waned — the Dragon King is starting 'to be honest' with me. If the Khan were still alive, you would've come up with some pleasant lies.”

Gu Shenwei raised his head and debated internally for a while before saying, ”That's true. But I'll have to ask you to forgive me, Second Consort — the weak's flattery towards the strong is all fake. After the Khan died, many lords arose, and there were many more people I had to flatter. However, my patience is limited.”

”The truth is not only harsh, but also terrifying.”

”That's why I hope that the Second Consort can fight back with the truth.”

There was a momentary ferocity in the Second Consort's mien as she fiercely replied, ”The truth is never a woman's weapon. We have alternatives.”

The two then confronted each other silently. Gu Shenwei was trying to push the Second Consort into talking about her true feelings for Duodun, but his first attempt had failed.

”I'm waiting for you to name your price.” Gu Shenwei tossed the previous failure aside and made another try.

The Second Consort smiled faintly as she replied, ”I have many conditions.”

”You can state them one by one.”

”No matter who becomes the Khan, I will be the consort — this is my bottom line. Those 'honest' remarks of yours reminded me that I can't ever afford to lose my status.”

”I'm afraid that that's not my decision to make. I came to the Norland to ask for help, not to rule everything.”

”Of course you can't rule everything, but you can still influence Shulitu, my great grandson. That kid knows what he's doing and maybe someday, he will surprise all of us and become the Khan. I need a promise from him that he will marry me if he becomes the Khan.”

”I can try.”

”Then we can talk about the rest of my conditions after you 'try.'”

The Second Consort refused to make a single concession.

”Fine.” Gu Shenwei pretended to repeatedly weigh the pros and cons in his head. This was a straightforward negotiation. Whatever the other party's condition was, he had to affect an air of awkwardness onto it. ”I'll have Shulitu make a statement.”

”In public?”

”In public.”

The Second Consort felt that she had won a small victory, so she smiled happily. ”Tell Shulitu that there's no need for him to be worried. He doesn't have to ever touch me, and I don't want to touch him either. I won't even live in the Royal Court after becoming the new consort, so he can marry any woman he wants to. All I want is the identity of 'consort.' Also, he's not allowed to interfere in the relationship between me and Duodun.”

”I don't think that Shulitu's old enough to be concerned with these issues.”

”Ha-ha, he's still an innocent boy. It's kind of cruel to involve him in the fight for the throne already. Alright, here's the second condition. I want a pasture to the north of the Heavenly Mountain, and to the south of Naihang Tribe. I prefer to stay close to my 'family,' and I'm willing to be Dragon King's neighbor.”

This request was a little unusual, so Gu Shenwei immediately became vigilant. ”What makes this any different from splitting the Norland apart?”

”They're very different. I'm the consort of the Khan. After I die, Shulitu can have the pasture back. You see, all my ambitions are limited to my lifetime. I don't think that the young king would mind waiting a couple years, right?”

”The Second Consort's conditions are becoming more and more difficult to meet.”

”I've already reminded you.”

”You still haven't told me what your bargaining chips are. Helping Shulitu defeat Duodun? He's not even sure to lose yet, so he shouldn't have to make such enormous sacrifices in advance.”