826 A Letter of Challenge (1/2)
Mo Chu had gone through many ups and downs in his life. He had once served in a position only second to the king, and he had also been a prisoner before. Even the numerous crises he'd survived in the past couldn't compare to the shock and suspicion he felt now. He even felt horrified.
Sitting in the Commander-in-chief's tent, he met batch after batch of generals, drew up plans, planned routes, and assigned tasks — these were all routine procedures and he had no difficulty carrying them out. The Dragon King's troops and Duodun's were receiving equal treatment. Mo Chu had only spared a few positions for his own followers.
The first night passed quietly.
As he got up very early the next day, Mo Chu regained his composure. He ordered the army to break camp and waited for the two sides to approach him.
Duodun and the Dragon King adopted entirely different approaches.
When he was taking his noon nap, Liman entered his tent and sent Prince Duodun's greetings and the Second Consort's invitation. However, nobody on the Dragon King's side said anything to him the entire day. Dugu Xian and Li Shun merely fulfilled their duties normally and didn't make a single extra remark.
His meetings with the Second Consort and Duodun were all pleasant. All three of them were people that the Khan had valued greatly when he was alive, so they naturally had a lot to talk about. Mo Chu sentimentality recalled that he had once drunk the ”urine wine” made by Duodun, which quickly bound the two together.
Duodun ordered all of the officers who had participated in the previous mutiny to apologize to old general. Everyone of them drank a big bowl of wine, severely reprimanded themselves for their prior deeds, pulled out their sabers, and requested him to punish them with death.
Mo Chu magnanimously forgave all of them as he said, ”To be honest, your deeds remind me of the Khan, Your Highness. Heh-heh. Back then, with only a few guards, he once stormed into the camp of our front lines and questioned the Commander-in-chief why he hadn't launched an attack yet. The troops performed brilliantly in that battle and it was one of the most wonderful battles that the Norland cavalry has ever fought.”
Duodun didn't apologize himself. His main goal was to display the loyalty of his subordinates. Indeed, as long as he gave the order, dozens of officers, including several of his closest companions, would take their own lives before the old general.
Meanwhile, the Second Consort was responsible for mediating between them. ”The Khan must have had his own profound reasons to have sent the both of you to the Western Regions. Alas, it was a pity that he ascended to the Heavens too early, and didn't leave any clear instructions about a lot of things, which has caused many misunderstandings.”
Of course, Mo Chu understood what those ”profound reasons” were, but he pretended otherwise. ”That's true. The Khan was a visionary ruler and he never made useless arrangements. I really wish that I knew what he was thinking, but I can only be sure of one thing — that he definitely appreciated prince's straightforwardness and decisiveness. Ha-ha.”
The Second Consort also burst into laughter at Mo Chu's comment. ”The grasslands absolutely needs straightforward and decisive people, especially now. The Khan accidentally ascended to the Heavens, and now the Norland lacks a leader. Everybody wants to grab a slice of the pie, and even outsiders have their own malicious [;pts.”
Mo Chu nodded his head repeatedly, but refused to make any concrete remarks.
The Second Consort was too embarrassed to continue talking, so she signaled one of Duodun's companions to speak up.
”Golden Roc Castle is nothing more than a small sect in the Western Regions. Shangguan Fa shamelessly calls himself the 'Unique King,' but he's merely the leader of some killers. It was really surprising that he actually dared to interfere in Norland affairs.”
Amazed, Mo Chu asked, ”Golden Roc Castle interfered in the Norland's disputes?”
”A member of the Unique King's advisory board is working as a counselor in Luoluo's army,” Duodun answered readily. ”It is said that Golden Roc Castle will hand over Thousand Horsemen Pass to Luoluo. Since the Dragon King has an irreconcilable hatred with the Unique King, he must have assigned many spies to Jade City. Thus, this news should be reliable.”
”Yeah, the Dragon King has spies everywhere, even in Heaven's Pass,” Mo Chu replied perfunctorily, looking preoccupied.
After drinking for a little bit more, all of the officers took their leave, leaving just three people in the tent. Duodun made his intentions clear at this point. ”The Dragon King suspects that you've been colluding with Golden Roc Castle.”
”No way!” Mo Chu's face was filled with shock. ”I may be the Governor of Jade City, but I seldom have any contact with Golden Roc Castle. Besides… I'm just an old man. Why would Golden Roc Castle even bribe me?”
”The Dragon King's counselor almost publicly declared that the old general's a mole,” said Duodun coldly. ”Of course, I don't believe that. But what does the Dragon King really think?”
”The Dragon King's sinister and sly,” added the Second Consort. ”His recommending you as Commander-in-chief was definitely not born out of any good intentions. The one he truly wanted to recommend was actually Dugu Xian. You have to be careful, old general.”
”Ha-ha. There's no need to worry. The Dragon King's merely an outsider. I think that his strength in the Western Regions is not even as great as Golden Roc Castle's, right? I have prince Duodun and the young king on my side, so why should I be afraid of him?”
”Yes, that's right. When it comes to experience and vision, we youngsters can never compare to you, old general. The Dragon King's basically a little worm; he can never be a threat to us.”
For the rest of the time, they just enjoyed the feeling of drinking wine. After making the excuse that he was going to lead the army to somewhere the next day, Mo Chu left Duodun's tent before the third night-watch. For a Norland wine feast, leaving at this time was actually a little early.
Duodun's face went cold as soon as Mo Chu exited. ”Such a wily old fox. I should have taken him down a peg.”
”Don't do that yet. At least wait until we beat back Luoluo.”
Duodun frowned — he was also a little discontented with the Second Consort. ”You talked too much just now. People might think that I have no opinions of my own.”
The Second Consort smiled and stroked Duodun's strong back as she mildly replied, ”Fine. Whatever you say, I'll just listen quietly from now on.”