An idea suddenly occurred to Gu Shenwei. Maybe this idea had been hiding in a corner of his mind all along, and it had just popped out when the best occasion arose.
He could just marry both of the two women in front of him. Yes, he already had a queen in Xiaoyao Lake, but he was the Dragon King, so he could have as many wives as he wanted. In the Western Regions, though it was not very common for a king to have multiple queens, it was not unprecedented. When several countries formed an alliance, they sometimes volunteered or were forced to have two or three queens of equal status, and most subjects found it understandable.
The three queens didn't even have to live in the same city, and they certainly didn't have to meet each other. Queen Ju would stay in the Stone Kingdom. Shangguan Ru could be in charge of in Jade City. And with regards to Lotus, she could live in any of the countries to the west of Thousand Horsemen Pass, in which she would be treated as the only queen.
Gu Shenwei believed there was a seventy to eighty-percent chance that they would agree. Shangguan Ru had already slept with him. Didn't she want a formal identity as his wife?
Lotus' thoughts were difficult to deduce, but Gu Shenwei had an inexplicable confidence that as long as he made the first move and acted modestly, Lotus would do anything for him. She might even abandon the Death Sutra that had always been a hurdle between them.
The imaginary scene of a king with three queens flashed across Gu Shenwei's mind briefly, but it left an extremely distinct impression, which made his heart flutter.
"Just a minor injury," he said, absent-minded and slightly flustered, as if his secret thoughts had accidentally been exposed.
Shangguan Ru glanced at Lotus from the corner of her eye. She wanted to say something but forbore herself from doing so. The third time she opened her mouth, she said, "Do you still remember the monk named Fachong from the Four Noble Truths Temple?"
Gu Shenwei nodded. He had once met Fachong in the Kun Society.
"Master Fachong's ideals have remained unchanged. As long as the Dragon King is willing to get rid of the Daoless Divine Power, he will help you. No strings attached," Shangguan Ru said with a sincere look on her face. She had almost forgotten about the presence of Lotus.
"Getting rid of the Daoless Divine Power doesn't require a monk's help," Lotus interjected blandly. "The method of dispersing internal energy is readily available. The Dragon King has already tried it."
Many years ago, when Gu Shenwei had first started practicing the Daoless Divine Power, he had already had an internal energy foundation. However, the two conflicted, so he had no choice but to use the method described in the manual to disperse his original internal energy. For a time, he had no internal energy at all. During those days, he hadn't dared to offend anybody, and he had even nearly been killed by a common servant.
This was exactly what Lotus was trying to remind him of. Dispersing one's internal energy on one's own account was totally different from the natural process of dispersing internal energy where one's internal energy would increase to a certain amount. The powerlessness caused by the latter was only temporary, but the one caused by the former was permanent, and one had to start all over again.
Shangguan Ru smiled. "Dispersing one's internal energy by adopting the method in the book would disperse all internal energy, including the Sumeru Mustard Energy that he worked so hard to cultivate. Master Fachong's internal energy is powerful enough to help you eliminate the Daoless Divine Power without dispersing the Sumeru Mustard Energy."
Lotus gave up arguing about this, and a bland and unconcerned look returned to her face.
Gu Shenwei's dream was instantly shattered. He had forgotten that not only was Shangguan Ru a daughter of his foe, but that she also had a wish that could almost be seem as bigoted, which was to eliminate all the kung fu that he had learned in Golden Roc Castle, starting with the Daoless Divine Power, and finishing with the Death Sutra. These two kung fu skills were the origin of all evils in her eyes.
The Death Sutra and that Servant Yao who they could barely remember anymore were also not the only things that stood between him and Lotus. There was also her pride. Regardless of how humble she used to be and whether she practiced the Death Sutra or not, under no circumstances would she ever agree to share the Dragon King with another woman.
Gu Shenwei discovered how ridiculous his dream was. Its owner's feelings was the only thing that the dream would consider, and the dream gave it a supreme status but ignored, and sometimes even twisted, others' thoughts.
Having a dream was the most simple thing, but in front of the brutality of reality, it happened to be the most fragile thing. It could be shattered with a gentle touch.
'This is a transaction,' Gu Shenwei told himself. The mutual trust and fondness between him and these two women was merely the bedrock of this transaction.
"I'm willing to accept Fachong's help," he said.
"Really?" Shangguan Ru was overjoyed. She could hardly believe what she had just heard.
Lotus' lips clamped tighter.
"But I have some conditions."
"What kind of… conditions?" Shangguan Ru was slightly confused. Fachong had unconditionally offered to help, but the Dragon King had "conditions," which seemed to go against the rule.
"I'll accept it after the kung fu competition, when I become the Lord of Jade City-"
"The Dragon King is not necessarily going to be the Lord of Jade City after the kung fu competition," Lotus corrected. For her, this was a transaction to an even greater extent. "The Dragon King once did the Waning Moon Hall a huge favor, and I want to return it by helping the Dragon King defeat Golden Roc Castle and Central Plainsmen, but I never said that I would forfeit the competition for the position of Lord of Jade City. You, I, and she will all still have to fight. The winner will become the Lord of this city."
"Then after the kung fu competition, no matter who becomes the Lord of the city, I'll accept Fachong's assistance and eliminate the Daoless Divine Power," Gu Shenwei put it in another way.
"Of course that's okay. This doesn't count as a condition," Shangguan Ru was relieved. "Fachong will surely agree, but why did you… "
After over ten days, the Dragon King had changed his mind just because he had been "slightly wounded." Back then, he had rejected her offer flatly, but now, he had spontaneously asked for help, so it was very natural that this change of attitude would greatly surprise Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru could barely conceal her concern for the Dragon King, but Gu Shenwei felt that there was an gap growing deeper and deeper between them. She couldn't understand how important his kung fu was to him, and she knew nothing about the Death Sutra, in particular.
Surprisingly, Lotus, who had been sitting there silently all along, immediately understood the Dragon King's intentions. He wanted to take a risk and increase his internal energy with the Death Sutra and then destroy the Daoless Divine Power before his internal energy reached a lethal level.
Gu Shenwei had two advanced kung fus. The Death Sutra and the Daoless Divine Power had the same origin and were the most compatible. It was possible to use one of them to destroy the other without a backlash.
The Dragon King always preferred to adopt unconventional methods, which Lotus had already become used to.
Gu Shenwei was still thinking about how to respond when Shangguan Ru said, "You don't have to answer if it's inconvenient. The monk won't ask about it anyway. The Dragon King imposed a ban on killing, so the Four Noble Truths Temple will no doubt strongly support you. Fachong will be more willing to help the Dragon King."
"Thanks," Gu Shenwei said. His tone became polite again.
Believing that the two people probably had finished talking, Lotus said, "The Dragon King still hasn't told me where you found those sword moves."
"They're in Golden Roc Castle. I saw them by accident. There are more than a hundred moves suitable for twenty-nine cultivation methods in total."
Upon hearing the Dragon King's words, Shangguan Ru became even more surprised than Lotus, but she knew that it was her turn to put on an indifferent look.
"These sword moves are totally meaningless to the people in Golden Roc Castle," said Lotus.
"Um. These moves are only powerful when they are applied to the Death Sutra Swordsmanship."
"Heh-Heh. This is so ironic," Lotus said with a sneer. "Is this all the Dragon King plans to tell me?"
"I want us to reach an agreement."
"Go ahead."
"No matter which one of us takes Golden Roc Castle in the future, that person should invite the other to go to the castle to learn those sword moves for as long as the other person wants."
"So it turns out that even the Dragon King hasn't learned all of them."
"There are some of them that I haven't learned."
Lotus pondered over it for a while. "Okay. This agreement is beneficial to both of us. I hope that we can live long enough to see that happen."
Shangguan Ru stood up. "I think that maybe I should give you two some privacy. You shouldn't let me know any secrets about Golden Roc Castle. I can't guarantee that I won't tell anybody else."
Lotus also stood up. "Actually this doesn't count as a secret. If the Unique King knows that those sword moves in the castle could be of great use, then he will definitely preserve them more carefully instead of destroying them. In his eyes, the Shangguan family will always be the owner of Golden Roc Castle."
Lotus' words were very direct, which was completely different from her formerly prudent manner. She turned around and then said, "I guess that there's nothing else that Dragon King wants to talk about, so I'll be taking my leave. There's no need for you to see me off."
As if it were some kind of competition, the two women raced to leave the tent. Lotus walked out first, mounted the donkey at the doorway, and then rode away. Han Fen rushed behind the donkey, trying to catch up with Lotus. At the outer gate of the camp, she gave up. Watching the Master Commander's receding figure, she literally cried this time.
It was getting late, but Shangguan Ru didn't return to Jade City immediately. Instead, she led her attendants northwards, heading for the Four Noble Truths Temple.
Zhong Heng walked into the main tent, full of admiration for the Dragon King.
"The new Governor has been identified."
"Um."
"His surname is Pang and his first name is Jing. He's the General-in-chief, Pang Ning's, younger half-brother."
"So he's on the Empress Dowager's side?"
"This is the strange part. Zhang You said that Pang Jing has always been on bad terms with his elder half-brother. Though he's close to Prince Xiao, he doesn't count as a member of Prince Xiao's faction. He's always been a nonconformist in the Imperial Court with no stable stance. Because of his powerful family, nobody can keep him in order."
"He got the appointment before Wei Song even died. Who's his backer?"
"I'm afraid that this is another one of the Imperial Court's methods of adjusting the balance of power. When the wrangle between two factions gets too intense, someone who's on neither side will be promoted to an important position. This is very common," Zhong Heng speculated on the situation according to his previous experience.
Xu Xiaoyi had someone deliver a lot of intelligence to the tent. Gu Shenwei left aside the issue of the new Governor of the Western Regions, planning to make a decision after observing tomorrow.
The ban on killing that was first imposed by the Dragon King was surprisingly popular. Large numbers of wandering sabermen were the first batch of people to express their support of this ban. Most of them had come to Jade City to kill people, but now, they found that they were facing a dire threat from several powerful forces and that it was more likely for them to be killed before they could kill anybody else. Thus, they readily changed their attitudes.
More than ten sabersmen villages along with forty to fifty sabersmen organizations of different scales all spoke out in support of the ban on killing. They also volunteered to subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards. In fact, soon after the news was spread, a lot of sabersmen flooded into the Department of Guards to seek justice.
Zhong Heng didn't start working right away. He planned to take office the next morning.
It was not dark yet. Under the pressure, the Heavenly Mountain Sect also imposed a ban on killing. As for Golden Roc Castle, they imposed the ban after midnight, posting bulletins everywhere in southern and northern Jade City. They claimed that Golden Roc Castle had imposed a ban on killing over two years ago, and that this was merely a reiteration.
Both the Heavenly Mountain Sect and Golden Roc Castle ignored the Department of Guards.
Almost at the exact same time, Prince Xiao's messenger arrived at the Dragon King's military camp. Because of the hustle and bustle, he was not received with due courtesy. After two hours, he met with the Dragon King. With both hands, he submitted the letter written by Prince Xiao himself.
The messenger had traveled as fast as he could, but he had still arrived merely half a day earlier than the new Governor of the Western Regions.
Gu Shenwei opened the envelop and read the letter. Prince Xiao had written this letter in haste because he had encountered the new Governor on his way back to the Central Plains. The general meaning of the letter was more or less the same as what Zhong Heng had told Gu Shenwei. Prince Xiao also specially reminded the Dragon King to not regard Pang Jing as a member of the Empress Dowager's faction. He said that this young general was different from his elder half-brother Pang Ning, and that Pang Jing was in support of the idea of pacifying the Western Regions at the lowest cost.
But at the end of the letter, Pang Jing optimistically told the Dragon King that Pang Jing loved kung fu and was close to the Luo Village. Together with the swordsman dispatched by the Luo family, he would surely help the Dragon King obtain the position of Lord of Jade City.
Since Prince Xiao was unconcerned with the affairs of Jianghu, he never knew that the first swordsman sent by the Luo family had already died to the Dragon King's saber.
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