Staring at the large map on the table in front of him, Shangguan Jianyi was thinking about something else. He glanced at his nephew Shangguan Yun beside him, dissatisfied with his slackness.
Shangguan Yun did not seem to take the war seriously at all. He was leaning over in his chair to make himself comfortable, holding a glass in his hand; not drinking, shaking the glass gently. He always had an uncaring smile on his face, as if everything going around was not his business and he was merely an observer.
Many generals, especially young ones, supported and even worshipped Shangguan Yun. However, Shangguan Jianyi did not care for him.
The uncle and nephew did not have much likeness in appearance. Although Shangguan Yun resembled his father, the Supreme King in the appearance, the two were quite different in manner; Shangguan Jianyi did not look like the masters from the Shangguan family with their sunken eyes and long faces. His gloomy and vicious temperament was almost the same as that of his cousin.
Shangguan Jianyi could admit that his nephew was a very capable leader. He just wished that he could be more serious in his attitude. “It seems that there are still many people in Xiaoyao Lake willing to follow the Dragon King. It is said that there are not enough ports and ships to carry them,” he said.
Shangguan Yun replied, “That’s not a bad thing. We know people in the south support the Dragon King, while the people in the north are for the Golden Roc Fort. This way it is very clear to tell friend from foe.” He could have put on airs when he talked, as he was very skillful in switching tones; instead, he decided to be frank with his uncle.
Seeing that his nephew was deliberately evading the issue, Shangguan Jianyi decided to be blunt. “You shouldn’t have planned the rebellion. Your task was to retrieve the “Wayless Book” and avoid unnecessary troubles. In my opinion, the uprising only gave the Dragon King more opportunity to unite the army.”
Shangguan Yun let out a long breath. It sounded like a lament of shame but was more like a habitual expression of being comfortable. He responded, “Winning and losing are common, never mind losing to the Dragon King. My failure can be taken as respect for him.”
“Hmm! He calls himself the Dragon King? He’s just a… ”
“A servant who escaped from the Golden Roc Fort. Yeah. I know where he came from. However, this does not affect his current status. This young man is very interesting, indeed.”
“You are the King of Xiaowan, not a child. Whether he is interesting or boring should not be your concern,” Shangguan Jianyi commented in a stern tone. He was annoyed by Shangguan’s lack of ambition.
“I’m afraid I’m in no better a situation than the Dragon King.” Shangguan Yun yawned lazily. “The King of Xiaowan has no real power; otherwise, you wouldn’t have dared to talk to me like that.”
Worded as a joke, Shangguan Yun’s words sent a chill through Shangguan Jianyi.
Shangguan Jianyi did not know much about his nephew. He had only heard about some imprudent and foolish acts he had committed several years ago. It was completely beyond his expectation that his nephew had been able to gain the Supreme King’s trust and taken on important tasks.
The competition for power within the family would never come to an end. Lady Meng had been down; the Third Young Master had risen. Shangguan Jianyi even suspected that the Supreme King had released Shangguan Yun from the dungeon to balance his power.
“It’s not just you. The Shangguan Family has not yet had a solid foundation.” Shangguan Jianyi continued carefully, “That’s why this upcoming battle is so important. We are not only going to destroy the Dragon King and occupy Xiaoyao Lake, we are also going to show the world that the Golden Roc Fort’s army is powerful, not just a subordinate of Norland.”
“That’s why I wish the Dragon King was stronger. How can we show the world how powerful we are by destroying a weak enemy?”
Shangguan Jianyi raised his head slightly and pretended to think seriously about his nephew’s opinion. “Well, it makes sense. Maybe we need to be defeated by the Dragon King several more times or offer him 20,000 soldiers.”
“Hah, hah, hah…” Shangguan Yun laughed. “Uncle, you just can’t forget my failure. You seem to be forgetting that you also failed years ago when you went to the Stone Kingdom and planned a series of assassinations, all of which ended up with no success.”
“Humph!” This was one of the reasons he was not pleased with his nephew. “It’s all because of you. You claimed that the Dragon King had the “Wayless Book” and insisted on stopping all fights. You delayed my follow-up plan, otherwise——Humph! I hope you’ve got the real one.”
“Only the Supreme King can tell whether it’s real, and he is willing to pay a huge price for it.”
Shangguan Jianyi noticed that when the Third Young Master mentioned his father, he always addressed him as the “Supreme King”. Maybe it was out of respect; it also sounded like estrangement. “Then why are you still here? Hurry up and take the remaining chapter back to the Stone Castle. Ask the Lord to examine it.”
“Don’t worry. The Supreme King said I am still young and need to learn more from you. And I don’t think it will take long for us to win the war. Maybe a month? We have 80,000 fighting against their 30,000. Our odds of winning are overwhelming.”
Shangguan Jianyi ignored the irony in his nephew’s words. “War is never easy to predict. Look at Norland. It took them only a few months to occupy the whole Shu-lik; however, there are two small towns that have been under siege for more than a year and have not been taken down yet. The Dragon King was not willing to fight in the Stone Kingdom and retreated to the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, thus wasting me a lot of time.”
“It won’t take a year, will it?”
What Shangguan Jianyi really wanted to tell his nephew was: You are not the supervisor of the army; you are not qualified to inquire about these matters . Instead, what he said was, “No. The war will be over come summer, and then the army will march eastward to join Norland in the fight against the Central Plain.”
“The Dragon King chose to retreat to the An Kingdom on purpose, using its narrow terrain to defend our tens of thousands of cavalry fighters. Besides, we have no boats, which is also a problem.”
Shangguan Jianyi didn’t like the word “we”. Although the cavalry nominally belonged to the Xiaowan Kingdom, he was the one who had put all the effort into the whole process from establishment to training, while Shangguan Yun sat in a dungeon doing nothing.
“I have my own way.” Shangguan Jianyi moved his fingers here and there on the map to show that he was busy and had no time to keep chatting with his nephew.
Shangguan Yun was not clever enough to shut up; instead, he stood up and leaned over to Shangguan Jianyi. He peered at the map and said with a smile, “Uncle, are you going to build a bridge?”
Shangguan Jianyi was taken aback. Only a few people knew about the plan, and he was sure that no one would dare to divulge the secret. And both his fingers and his looks had avoided the key position on the map.
“We can give it a try.” Shangguan Jianyi understated, unwilling to reveal a word. It’s not that he did not trust his nephew, nor did he suspect his nephew would betray the Supreme King. He just would not share strategy with him. He still believed that he was the commander of the 80,000 troops, while Shangguan Yun was just a special guest.
“Ha ha.” Shangguan Yun was determined to poke his nose into the matter. He pointed to the only suitable location for the bridge in Xiaoyao Lake and said, “I wonder if the Dragon King is aware of the importance of this place. A few hundred soldiers would be enough to station here. It would also be a huge trouble.”
“Then let the Dragon King win again and be happy about it.” Shangguan Jianyi was not ready to speak the truth.
Shangguan Yun smiled in relief. He knew that his uncle was prepared, and the Dragon King would be most unfortunate this time.
Gu Shenwei indeed did not have much energy to care about a small point on the map. For more than half a month, he had been busy moving everything onto the ship, all the while guarding against any attacks from the Golden Roc Army.
In the beginning, he and Dugu Xian had kept the going-south plan to themselves. In this way, he could avoid any internal controversy as well as prevent the Golden Roc Army on the other side from formulating a response plan in advance. However, secrecy also had an unwanted effect. Not everyone was ready; especially the common people who had decided to follow him. To these people, going south meant that they would leave their homeland forever. They wanted to tear down their houses and take every piece with them. This had greatly slowed down the transportation progress.
As a result, there were many conflicts between the army and the people. At one point, the Dragon King had even had to intervene and persuade a stubborn farmer to give up his old yellow cattle himself.
“I helped with the delivery at his birth. He is like my son,” the sincere farmer said. Although he had been offered a large compensation, he was still reluctant to part with the old ox.
Zhong Heng, who had not yet crossed the sea, was standing beside the Dragon King when this happened. He turned to the Dragon King and said, “People are a resource and also a fetter. Sir, I am afraid you can’t be as free as before.”
It was not the first time that Gu Shenwei had won support from people. He had the support of the Great Snowmountain residents too. But they were able to take care of themselves without his protection. These people were different. Without the Dragon army, they were like a group of lambs to the slaughter.
Most of these people were the soldiers’ family members and were therefore very important for the morale of the army. The Dragon army could not abandon them.
However, the most difficult times had passed. In another day or two, the transportation of the common people and their belongings would be complete. The next step would be to send the more than 10,000 Dragon soldiers across the sea.
The Golden Roc Army’s vanguard unit had reached the border, and there had been a few large-scale battles, first in Willow City on the west, then at the outpost in the east.
In both battles the Dragon army was ordered to stay inside to defend. In three days, they would abandon the city, march to the nearest dock, and then cross Xiaoyao Lake by ship with the assistance of the rear army.
In only three days.
The Dragon King would be in the last batch to board the ship.
There was another dispute ahead. Gu Shenwei urged his horse toward it. Using his authority as the Dragon King, with a bit of extra monetary compensation, was always an excellent way to settle disputes.
The dispute was between a group of soldiers and an obviously large family, an old couple with women and children, and like many families, without young men.
“My two sons have gone to war to fight for the Dragon King, and now all of us have to leave our home. If you don’t allow us to take our stuff, how are we supposed to survive once we’ve crossed the sea? Do you think we can rely on the Dragon King to support us?”
The soldiers only smiled wryly. When they saw the Dragon King, they respectfully backed down.
The old man didn’t recognize the Dragon King. Seeing that the soldiers had backed down but didn’t kneel, he assumed the young man was a low-ranking officer. Angrily, he shouted, “Boy, you have to judge. We need these things to survive. Why can’t we take them with us?”
Gu Shenwei could see why the soldiers were vexed. The family was driving a cart pulled by two cows, carrying pots, bowls, pans and all kinds of appliances, even carrying a big bed. It was difficult to get them on board.
“Sir, we have these things in the An Kingdom. You don’t have to take them there.”
“That’s easy for you to say. How can we afford all new things?”
With a hint from Gu Shenwei, the guard at his side handed a piece of paper to the old man. Gu Shenwei told him, “With this, you will receive daily necessities when you get to the An Kingdom.”
The old man took the paper, looking at both sides over and over. Illiterate, he asked his daughter and grandson for help. It took the three of them quite a while to finally be convinced that the paper was useful. The old man put the credential away carefully, took a last look at the cart, and pulled out a few things to carry by hand.
“Alas, this is all we have. If we had known this would happen, we would have chosen to cross the sea from the west.”
The old man sighed repeatedly. Gu Shenwei did not fully realize the true meaning of his words at this moment. He nodded and let them pass. This was one of the biggest mistakes he had made in fighting against the Golden Roc Army.
“When you see the Dragon King, tell him for me.” The old man walked out a few steps and looked back. “Tell him that he must win. The lives of everyone in our entire family are in his hands.”