The strong, 50,000 man army of the Golden Roc Fort, which was assembled at the very last minute, was not too different from the army of its enemy, which consisted of many different factions brought together by the Dragon King. It also had a convoluted background, with less than a quarter of its soldiers loyal and dependable, which comprised of its core group. The other soldiers were from nations enslaved by the Golden Roc Fort. Even many of the mercenaries it had hired were not making it very clear as to which side they were on.
This army was originally meant to conquer the Xiaoyao Lake region and was to use the even weaker army of the five nations as practice. Little did the Golden Roc Fort expect for the Dragon King and the swordsmen of the Great Snow Mountain to suddenly reapper from the Wushan mountain range.
The battle of Xiaoyao lake was an extremely important one for the Golden Roc Fort. During the previous battles, the cavalry of Norland was undeniably the main force and the Golden Roc army had only followed behind it to occupy territory that had already been conquered. There were not many opportunities for it to display the capabilities of its soldiers.
Spouses look for matching qualities in each other while business partners should be on par in terms of capabilities. Shangguan Jianyi knew fully well the pros and cons of entering into an alliance with a large nation. Not only did he have to defeat the Dragon King, he had to make it a decisive victory so as to earn even more respect from Norland.
Intelligence gathered in the Stone Kingdom, however, showed that the Dragon King seemed to be preparing very well for the battle and even if the Golden Roc Fort prevailed, it would come at a huge cost. As such, after some consideration, Shangguan Jianyi decided to temporarily delay the battle and switch tactics by engaging the Dragon King in another type of warfare which gave the himsel an upperhand.
Dragon King could never compete with the Golden Roc Fort in amassing first class killers.
Shangguan Jianyi’s target was not to kill the Dragon King – the cost was too high and probability of success too low – but to spread panic in the Xiaoyao Lake region. This would cause the already uncertain level of fighting spirit of the Dragon King’s army to waver even more, until huge divisions were created.
When the army of the Dragon King was reduced to the few surviving swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain, it would never be able to hope to withstand the unstoppable force that was the heavy cavalry of the Golden Roc Fort. At that time, it would not matter if Shangguan Jianyi decided to use fire attacks or setting traps for his enemy.
Gu Shenwei put himself in the shoes of his enemy and came up with the above deduction. Zhong Heng reminded him, “Don’t be too careless as well, Dragong King. You are everything to the Great Snow Mountain. If the Supreme King is killed, he will simply be replaced by another one. But if you are killed, there will never be a second Dragon King again.”
Zhong Heng knew how to flatter. He used to be the commandant of Jade City and at that time, the Dragon King was just an apprentice assasin from the Golden Roc Fort who had not graduated. Now, their statuses were reversed, but Zhong Heng still managed to take it in stride and play his role very well.
Gu Shenwei stared at him as he replied, “It’s what worries me the most. Shangguan Jianyi can assassinate anyone – you, me, the royal family of each nation, right down to the most ordinary soldier. Any of whose deaths will create a panic, everyone will say that I, the Dragon King, don’t have the ability to protect my men.”
Gu Shenwei rapped his desk twice with the fingers on his left hand. “I definitely don’t have the capability to combat this problem, nor is it effective enough to use many people against assasins.”
The Dragon King was different from the previous superiors that Zhong Heng had worked with in the past. He did not like to beat around the bush and disliked pointless praises even more so. Zhong Heng decided to cease resorting to flattery, as he was also very clear that the Dragon King was speaking the truth. If Shangguan Jianyi decided to change the assassinations into indiscriminate killing without specific targets, it would deal a crippling blow to the Great Snow Mountain’s army.
“You don’t have the ability to protect everyone and Shangguan Jianyi doesn’t have the capability to execute a perfect operation. The panic caused by killing even a thousand common soldiers will dissipate after the enemy Commander is captured,” said Zhong Heng; he was only considering the final results.
Gu Shenwei had struck up a deep interest in his opponent, who had so far kept himself hidden among the shadows. Shangguan Jianyi was different from normal assasins; he was bold and unconstrained, while being willing to sacrifice hundreds of spies to determine the authencity of the two supply depots. It was hard to find a pattern in the actions of such an opponent.
Gu Shenwei had to ‘create’ the pattern for Shangguan Jianyi.
There were bound to be a few people he wanted to kill the most.
The wedding between the Dragon King and the princess was to take place three days later. Zhong Heng had already tried his best to cut down on the activities during the ceremony, but the bride was a princess and certain segments could not be overlooked. If they were, it would be insulting to her.
News of the wedding created the wonderful effect of easing some of the tension amongst the locals. Firstly, the people of the Stone Kingdom started to refer the Dragon King possesively, for example, “It is only our Dragon King that is worthy of the princess…”
The soldiers from the Stone Kingdom who were residing in the barracks did not necessarily become completely loyal due to the wedding, but at the very least, they were no longer worried if the Dragon King was planning to massare them. The tension felt by the soldiers from the other four nations had also diminished slightly.
The veterans of the Dragon King’s army were elated for him. Their feelings for this strange land growing significantly.
Taking advantage of the general good mood, the Dragon King appointed Dugu Xian as the General of the Left .
As the Dragon King’s second-in-command, Dugu Xian would have various reponsibilities, such as restructuring, training and the selection of battle strategy. Other than not being able to move the troops around at will, he was practically the Commander of the entire army.
Each faction had exactly opposite reactions to the appointment.
The soldiers and officers of the five nations trusted the Dragon King even more. Dugu Xian used to be their Commander and had tried to wipe out the Great Snow Mmountain many times in the past. If he could be pardoned, so could they.
Other parties were indifferent, except for the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain and the machetemen left behind by Tuo Nengya, who vehemently opposed the appointment.
The chiefs led dozens of swordsmen, furiously, to question the Dragon King. Some of them even drew their heavy swords and waved them around. To a casual onlooker, it looked as if they wanted to fight the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei knew them well. They were uncouth and direct but simple-minded. The act of drawing their swords was only a way for them to express their feelings, just like scholars waving their fans. As such, he was not angry, but patiently explained his decision to them instead.
He told them that Dugu Xian was a professional general and bore no hatred or ill will toward the Great Snow Mountain. The Xiaowan Kingdom was in the hands of the Supreme King and Dugu Xian’s family and friends had become hostages; he had been forced to work for the Golden Roc Fort.
Gu Shenwei was exaggerating, as Dugu Xian did not have much feelings for his homeland and loved ones; what he upheld was purely professionalism. He could serve anyone.
To Dugu Xian, there was no such thing as loyalty, and it was exactly why Gu Shenwei trusted him.
But this image of Dugu Xian would prevent him from receiving approval from the swordsmen of the Great Snow Mountain. As such, Gu Shenwei left that part out.
The chiefs grudgingly accepted Gu Shenwei’s explanation, but none of them seemed very convinced.
Also, none of them took their leave. They looked at each other and seemed to have something to tell the Dragon King but did not know how to start.
Somewhat surprised, Gu Shenwei asked, “Is there anything else?”
Everyone remained silent, until the most esteemed of them, the one-eyed chief Long Xiaoshi, spoke up, “There’s indeed something. Erm, you are going to be marrying the princess soon, Dragon King. Erm, we’re all happy, erm, but, erm…”
It was rare for a swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain to beat around the bush.
Long Xiaoshi coughed a few times before eventually spilling everything out. “But, sir, you’re the Dragon King of Great Snow Mountain. Your first queen should be a woman of Great Snow Mountain.”
They had come to force him to marry one of their own people.
The swordsmen were embarrassed at first, but once Long Xiaoshi spoke, they became direct again. Long Fanyun, the chief of the Canopy Peak, who had always been the most ardent supporter of the Dragon King, was also of a similar mind as his countrymen in this instance. “If the Dragon King marries woman of the Great Snow Mountain before or together with the princess, it would be our greatest honor,” he said.
“Marrying the princess is for steadying the morale of our army. I thought all of you knew that?,” Gu Shenwei replied. He had to tread lightly, as he did not want the swordsmen to be disappointed, nor did he want to give them false hope. “Furthermore, we’re so far away from the Great Snow Mountain now. I don’t think you can make one of the ladies from your tribes suddenly appear here.”
“There’s no need to conjure her out of thin air. There’s one now,” replied Long Xiaoshi immediately. He looked pleased, evidently having already believed that the Dragon King had agreed to their request.
Gu Shenwei was stunned for a while before realizing that there was indeed a woman from the Great Snowmountain in the capital of the Stone Kingdom.
Jiang, who was from Luoshen Peak, was the Dragon King’s personal maid. She had been residing in the royal palace ever since arriving at the Stone Kingdom. As the Dragon King was constantly busy and facing danger upon returning to the Xiaoyao Lake region, he did not bring her from the city.
Gu Shenwei suddenly came to understand something as he thought of the clumsy and constantly blushing Jiang. “So, you’ve set me up long ago,” he realized.
The swordsmen were blushing slightly as well. They were ashamed to have deceived the Dragon King, but some part of them was a little pleased at the same time, when they knew that their plan was successful.
“Jiang is the best lady from the Great Snow Mountain, we…” Long Xiaoshi had intended to continue speaking before the Dragon King cut him off with a wave of his hand.
“I’ll consider it,” replied Gu Shenwei perfunctorily. The simple-mindedness of the swordsmen usually worked in his favor, but it could also occassionally be quite troublesome for him. Marrying the princess of the Stone Kingdom was meant to pacify the people of the five nations, but marrying another woman at the same time would achieve the opposite results; they would think that the Dragon King was belitting them.
The swordsmen were still unsatisfied, but the Dragon King was obviously asking them to leave. As such, they could only take their leave.
Though Gu Shenwei believed that the matter could not be resolved so easily, he could only try to delay making a decision for as long as possible.
After not even a quarter hour after the swordsmen had left, another three people came looking for him to persuade him. This time round, Gu Shenwei did not even insinuate to them that he would consider taking Jiang as his first wife.
The three warlocks from the Great Snow Mountain were of great importance to the Dragon King and many times in the past when they consulted the Empyrean for signs, the Dragon King always received huge support from it. This was not entirely due to chance or ‘divine will’.
The warlocks bowed respectfully to the Dragon King and then remained silent.
Gu Shenwei was in a dilemma. There was no way for him to reason with the warlocks, but he was also reaping what he sewed; in the past, when he negotiated with them, one of the promises he made was for them to pick his queen for him.
He had no idea that they had already made their choice long ago and had even sent her to him.
When Jiang had just been sent to him, Gu Shenwei actually had some slight suspcions, but as the warlocks had never made any request, he had slowly forgotten his doubts.
“Alright,” Gu Shenwei said. He did not have a choice; the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain were too important to him. “I will marry the princess and Jiang simultaneously.”
Before the Dragon King had even agreed, news that he was going to marry Jiang as well had already begun spreading. The swordsmen took it as something they could be proud of and spread it eas far as they could; it was already impossible to contain the news.
Zhong Heng came running over just as the warlocks left. “Dragon King, they say that…”
“That’s right.”
Zhong Heng was stunned. He knew the Dragon King must not have had any room to maneuver to be making such a decision. “Do they know how dangerous this is?” he asked.
Gu Shenwei shook his head. How could he possibly explain to the swordsmen that there was an ulterior motive for marrying the princess and appointing Dugu Xian as his Left General? He had wanted to use both of them as bait to attract Shangguan Jianyi’s attention.
The swordsmen and warlocks did not know that their good intentions were placing Jiang in danger.
Zhong Heng had not told the Dragon King about another of his worries – would his marrying of two women at the same time cause another woman to become his enemy?
He felt a headache coming. “Women are even harder to grasp than the fickle Shangguan Jianyi,” he thought.
When it was close to midnight, Shangguan Jianyi moved on his first target and started a spree of assassinations. He would use human heads to build a wedding present for the Dragon King.