Death Scripture
/ Death Scripture 446 Surveillance
Over the past two months, she had obediently followed the directive of her Managing Master and never gotten close to the ancestral shrine situated to the north of the royal palace. She had done nothing else but keep a strict watch over the shrine from morning to night everyday. Therefore she knew all the people inside the shrine and could easily tell a sneaky killer from the priests and handymen at a glance.
Although she was somewhat crazy just like the other disciples of the New Moon Hall, she was much more observant than common people.
"The little boy was trying to lure you into the shrine. I've been spying on this place all this while and I've never seen him before. Upon seeing him tonight, I knew that something was going to happen and secretly followed him. To my surprise, I saw you, Dragon King. I've always wanted to meet you, but I didn't get such a chance back in Jade City. Hee-hee, you're quite different from what I imagined. I thought you would look as serious and mature as an old man," said Han Fen.
Gu Shenwei did not know how Maid Lotus had described himself to Han Fen, but this was not an issue for him now. Worrying that Han Fen would start rambling about something irrelevant, he decided to end this topic as fast as he could, so he said, "Well, sooner or later I'll become an old man."
Han Fen burst into laughter as if this was the funniest joke she had ever heard. She laughed so hard that she got tears in her eyes. Gu Shenwei waited for a while, and when her laughter subsided, he asked, "I've a question. Did you guys come here after the bandits?"
"Yes, we've been closely after them all the way, but none of those stupid men discovered us," replied Han Fen.
"When did you enter this city?"
"At the beginning of the siege, when Chipo sneaked into the city, we followed him."
"All the other people have testified that Chu Nanping entered the city before the siege and lived in the inn before he disappeared for no reason at midnight. However, this Han Fen said that she saw 'the little girl' being lured into the ancestral shrine after the siege. What did Chu Nanping do in the city during those days before he entered the shrine?" Gu Shenwei wondered in bewilderment.
"Where's Chipo?" asked Gu Shenwei.
"I don't know," replied Han Fen.
"Is Maid Lotus still tracking him down?"
"I don't know."
"Where're the other disciples of the New Moon Hall?"
"They've been sent out to perform tasks by Managing Master. I don't know their specific situation."
As Han Fen was unable to give any detailed answers to his questions now, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that she had already told him everything that she knew.
Given this, he let her leave and continue to keep watch on the ancestral shrine. "This woman is crazy, but she takes her task very seriously. Besides, she has already told me the whereabouts of Chu Nanping," he thought to himself
After knowing that Chu Nanping was captured by his enemies, Gu Shenwei thought that the boy was probably doomed but he still felt confident about facing off against his enemies. No matter what, they could not compete with him now, as he had a 1,000-strong guard troop inside the capital and another 1,000-person troop stationed at the border.
Despite that, he still felt curious about the boy he had been tracking tonight and thought, "That boy seems to be an apprentice. However, besides the Golden Roc Fort, only I'm still trying to train young killers.
"The Golden Roc Fort would never send an apprentice to perform such a task outside the fort, so he's probably one of my apprentices. Why did my own apprentice want to lure me into a trap?
"Han Fen might've saved my life, but she also made me lose the chance to find out the truth tonight."
Now that he knew the whereabouts of his enemies, he decided to act cautiously to avoid alerting them. The next morning, he dispatched his soldiers to occupy some important places in the city on the pretext of strengthening control over the capital. During this process, he inconspicuously surrounded the ancestral shrine.
A small team of soldiers was ordered to search the ancestral shrine, but they did not discover anything special about this place. This temple was quite spacious, but there were only 20 or so imperial priests and 50 handymen inside it. They did not find any child or anyone suspicious inside the shrine.
Gu Shenwei guessed that there might be some hidden passages inside the ancestral shrine, but he could not torture the widely-venerated priests to get the answer. Given that, he decided to find the answer in the royal palace.
Now, all the important and powerful people of the Hui Kingdom were imprisoned in the palace.
The first person he summoned in the palace was the old prime minister. Upon seeing the Dragon King, the old man swore that he was forced to serve the queen. "I've watched the crown prince grow up. The late king entrusted him to me just before his death, and I promised him that I would try my best to help the crown prince to ascend the throne. I really feel ashamed of my deeds..."
This 70-year-old man sniveled and wept ruefully, showing his deep repentance for his actions. Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei could not help but think, "Compared to the queen of this country, this old man is such a highly sophisticated actor."
To his disappointment, this old prime minister, who had been in power for decades in the Hui Kingdom and should be very familiar with the ancestral shrine, contended that he had never heard that there was a hidden passage or secret chamber inside the ancestral shrine. "The Hui Kingdom is just a small country with a small population. We usually don't build such things. However, no matter how small a country is, the royal family of the country may have some secrets that outsiders don't know. Unfortunately, I'm just an outsider. The queen may know more about such issues. The late king trusted her very much."
By saying so, the old prime minister easily cleared himself of the suspicion. He was well aware that once the crown prince returned to the country, the queen and the little prince would never be back in power. He decided to put all the blame on them at this moment, as he did not need to worry about them taking revenge on him in the future.
Beyong his expectations, the Dragon King was not moved by his acting at all. The young lord ordered his soldiers to send the old prime minister back to his room and keep him under strict supervision. He forbade anyone from talking to the prime minister and only arranged some guards to deliver meals to him everyday.
After that, Gu Shenwei went to meet with the queen. He discovered that every time he met the queen, her attitude was somewhat different. The queen knew how to enjoy good times very well but found it quite hard to face bad times. After the first two meetings with the Dragon King, she finally came to understand that even if Shangguan Jianyi kept his promise, she would have to figure out a way to keep herself and her son alive before he returned with a large army.
"Welcome back, Dragon King. What can I do for you?" She was no longer arrogant or flirtatious and talked in a submissive tone with only a little sarcasm.
Gu Shenwei could not help wondering whether the crown prince would be a rival to this woman in the future. On second thought, he realized that this fragmentation of the royal family was not necessarily a bad thing for him. He could still make the crown prince the next king, but he did not have to help him in eliminating all his enemies.
The little prince changed completely. He was hiding behind his mother throughout the conversation.
This was the normal reaction of a child under the age of ten in the face of the Dragon King.
"Is there any hidden passage or secret chamber inside the ancestral shrine?" asked Gu Shenwei.
The queen was surprised to hear that the Dragon King was interested in the ancestral shrine. "No, I've never heard His Majesty mention such a thing, but if you're looking for a secret chamber, I can let you use the secret chambers inside the royal palace. In fact, they can't be counted as secret chambers. They're just secluded rooms known by a few people. As to hidden passages, there's no such a thing in this city. This isn't the first time that the capital has been besieged. No one is said to have sneaked out of the city through a hidden passage before," replied the queen.
"Have you ever heard of Chipo?" asked Gu Shenwei.
The queen shook her head. Chipo was famous among the bandits in the Western Region, but the royal families had never heard of this name.
"Did some strangers enter the city during the siege? I need you to think carefully before answering me."
The queen thought long and hard about the matter and then she lifted up her head while asking, "Is this thing very important to you?"
Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, "It seems that the queen has not yet admitted defeat. She still wants to squeeze every possible benefit out of the negotiation for herself and her son by providing me with the information that I'm interested in. She probably even thinks that she can turn the tables on me by doing this."
"Yes, it's very important." Gu Shenwei deliberately gave her some hope and tempted her to tell him the truth.
"You probably have already known this, Dragon King. The Hui Kingdom was not the only one who secretly offered support to the Golden Roc Fort during the war. Many countries were two timing you before the end of the war."
"Well, that's why I didn't kill you. You're just a little bit more hasty than the others. Anyhow, do yourself a favor and don't trust the Supreme King. He's not used to sharing his power with anyone else and will feel uncomfortable when you make a vital contribution to his cause. At that time, he'll kill you."
The queen looked at the Dragon King in surprise. She had never expected him to give her such a piece of advice. "Thank you, Dragon King. I'm just a woman and don't know much about such things. Don't laugh at me."
After a moment of silence, she added, "One day during the siege, about 10 people suddenly came here to find Shangguan Jianyi. He received them personally and talked with them in private at night. The next day, he left the Hui Kingdom together with them. He said... I mean, Shangguan Jianyi said that they were going to persuade the soldiers from the five countries around the Xiaoyao Lake to betray you." Gu Shenwei was surprised that she told him this thing without asking for anything in return.
"Shangguan Jianyi and about 10 bandits? They can't stir up much trouble for me. Chipo's Kung Fu is good, but not superb. When it comes to assassination skills, he can hardly compete with an ordinary Golden Roc Fort killer.
"The queen seems to be honest with me now. She even appears to be very willing to cosy up to me. Nevertheless, I still can't overcome my distrust of her. She seems to have told me lots of important information, but none of these things are convincing enough.
"Maybe I can torture the little prince again to make her tell me the truth. That child is her weakness.
"However, at this moment, I can't raise any specific question or prove that she has been lying to me all this while. Even if I use the little prince to threaten her, she will possibly lie again," thought Gu Shenwei.
He carefully observed the queen while gripping the hilt of his saber. He was certain that the queen still had a secret and this secret had nothing to do with Chu Nanping or the other questions he had asked her before. She learned quickly and got increasing better at hiding her true feelings. However, she was still a beginner and would accidentally reveal her true feelings from time to time.
After talking with the queen, he left the palace and returned to his camp. He planned to wait another day before sending his troops to occupy the ancestral shrine.
It was not a good idea, especially when he intended to permanently station his troops in the Xiaoyao Lake region and motivate the locals to join his cause against the Golden Roc Fort. He needed the Hui nation's support.
The Hui people had not been hard on him when he had thrown their queen and ministers into prison, since those people had deliberately concealed the death of their previous king and planned to make the little prince the next king. However, if he occupied a country's ancestral shrine without giving its people any reasonable explanation, the people would take this as a public humiliation and be filled with righteous indignation.
Given this, he sincerely hoped that he could solve the problem tonight.
The only clue he had now was Han Fen, a smiley and crazy girl. She had Maid Lotus' broken sword in hand and was performing a ridiculous task in the capital of the Hui Kingdom. Gu Shenwei could not deny that she did look like a disciple of the New Moon Hall but he could not completely trust her, since he remembered clearly that there were some disciples of the New Moon Hall considered Maid Lotus as their enemy. They were determined to kill her and would do anything to achieve that goal.
Considering that his encampment might be spied upon, Gu Shenwei made some arrangement before his departure. He asked a soldier to pretend to be him and discuss military affairs with Long Fanyun and Wu Zongheng in his tent.
Upon hearing the Dragon King's very risky plan, both of the two military officials were strongly against his decision. However, they were not Zhong Heng and Fang Wenshi and unable to dissuade him from doing that.
In fact, Gu Shenwei had not told them his entire plan. He never intended to take any risk. Instead, he only planned to create an excuse for the Dragon army to openly search and occupy the ancestral shrine tomorrow.
He spotted Han Fen at about 9 pm. She probably slept during the day and kept watch on the shrine at night, so she looked very energetic at this moment. She crouched on a roof near the shrine and every now and again, she would move to another place to get a better view of the shrine.
Gu Shenwei discovered her when she was moving to a new place but he did not follow her. One hour later, he saw her come back to her original position, not alone but being followed by three people.
Han Fen had stopped the Dragon King from tracking the young killer down last night, and thus had alerted the enemies.
Gu Shenwei looked coldly at them from afar, not planning to help Han Fen out.
Chapter end
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