872 Sounding Someone Ou (2/2)
”That won't be necessary. Withdraw all of your men.”
Shangguan Fei's eyes lit up, ”The Dragon King wants to… Heh-heh. I never asked anything and I know nothing. I'll take my leave right now.”
Gu Shenwei didn't intend to stalk Shangguan Hong himself, but he did have someone call him back.
Long Fanyun came before Shangguan Hong. He was able to sit up by himself now. Red Bat had found a skilled craftsman and made a comfortable reclining chair. Two swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain had volunteered to be his chair carriers.
”You should've sent someone here instead.”
Gu Shenwei didn't want Long Fanyun to exhaust himself. The reason why he had assigned this Captain of Guards so many duties was because he wanted to spare him the feeling of being a burden. He hoped that Long Fanyun would take some days off and focus on rehabilitation. But it was to the contrary. Long Fanyun worked extremely hard from dawn until dark every day, and he had even asked Red Bat to teach him to read so that he could help with those military documents.
Long Fanyun shook his head. He didn't want to be regarded as a disabled person and just wait in his tent for the Dragon King to come to him. Raising the letter in his hand, he said, ”I received this just now. You should take a look at it, Dragon King.”
The two chair carriers nodded at the Dragon King to pay their respects and then left the tent. Gu Shenwei took the letter.
It was a petition, the general meaning of which was that assassinations had been happening frequently in Jade City with heavy casualties, that the residents were in panic, and that they hoped that the Dragon King would intervene and resolve the crisis. At the end of the letter there was a note saying that there were copies of this petition, which had been delivered to the Dragon King, the Unique King, Prince Xiao and the prince of Shule Kingdom respectively. These four people were the supreme commanders of the four armies stationed outside the city.
There was nothing special about the contents of the letter, but the signatures at the end caught Gu Shenwei's attention. The names of the Four Noble Truths Temple and the Kun Society were among the signatures of the businesses and persons, but there was neither a comma nor a space between them, as if they were the same organization. Judging from the meticulous writing style of this letter, this didn't seem like a clerical error.
Gu Shenwei returned the letter to Long Fanyun.
”I made a decision without your permission and let Red Bat go into the city to visit… Instructor Shangguan,” Long Fanyun said uneasily.
”Good. Tell me when she comes back.”
”Actually, it's fine for Instructor Shangguan to come here and meet the Dragon King alone.”
”She's the leader of the Kun Society now,” Gu Shenwei corrected. ”You'd better get used to this form of address.”
”Aye,” Long Fanyun answered reluctantly. He was willing to sacrifice his life for the Dragon King, but in his eyes, this ”Lord of the Five Peaks” was still a total myth and he couldn't understand him out no matter how hard he tried.
Shangguan Hong returned at dusk. He entered the tent in a hurry and gave a moderate bow. His eyes were on the ground and there was no nervousness or fear on his face, which had been present the last time he had met the Dragon King. ”Shangguan Hong pays his respect to the Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei gave a brief ”Um” sound and continued to read the piles of documents by the lamplight. After reading through a dozen of them, he raised his head. ”When will you return to the Stone Kingdom?”
”In about five or six days. I have a heavy procurement job to do for the queen, and a couple of those items are rather difficult to find.”
”I also prepared some gifts. Take them with you when you leave.”
”Yes.”
”Are you willing to return to Stone Kingdom?”
Shangguan Hong abruptly raised his head, glanced at the Dragon King, and then quickly lowered his head. ”Of course. I owe everything to the queen and I'm willing to be her loyal servant for the rest of my life.” After a pause, Shangguan Hong added, ”As long as the Dragon King is willing to allow me to.”
”The queen does need helpers, but so does the Dragon Army. I want you to stay in the army. What do you think?”
Shangguan Hong's breathing became a little heavy, but it soon returned to normal. He humbly said, ”I'm more than happy to stay. I also want to make a contribution, but I'm afraid that my poor kung fu skills and stupidity might cause trouble for the Dragon King.”
”That won't happen. I'm a shrewd judge of character.”
”Shangguan Hong will forever be grateful for all the things that the Dragon King has taught me and all the favor that the Dragon King has done for me.”
Shangguan Hong seemed to have learned how to deal with the Dragon King in just a few days.
”Good. I'll dispatch you to the Iron Mountain camp to be Madam Luo's bodyguard.”
Shangguan Hong raised his head and looked at the Dragon King again, apparently amazed by this assignment. ”Yes.”
”While being her bodyguard, you should also keep an eye on Prince Xiao. He's from the Central Plains and is not familiar with Jade City. If anything goes wrong, you're to report to me right away.”
”Yes. I understand,” Shangguan Hong bowed even lower to hide the astonished look on his face.
”What kind of reward do you want if you manage to make a contribution?”
”The trust of Dragon King and the queen is the greatest reward for me.”
”That won't be enough. Maybe I'll allow you to cut off a head or two.”
Shangguan Hong raised his head for the third time. He didn't know whether the Dragon King was sounding him out or if he really meant it, but there were indeed a couple of heads that he desperately wanted.