Chapter 294: Something Odd
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Shangguan Ru, who recently celebrated her 17th birthday, had failed to become a Young Master and was instead, being used as a pawn for Golden Roc Fort's collaboration strategy. She was going to be married off to the Meng family.
The residents of Jade City had witnessed and was more than familiar with the feuds between Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi. Many people still remembered the battle between Kun Society and Horned Dragon Society, so they were not very optimistic about the marriage. This topic was constantly brought up for discussion around the city.
"Looking at these two, who do you think will hold the reins in the relationship?"
"Do you even need to ask? Whoever won the battle between the two societies at that time will call the shots in the marriage!"
The gossiping residents laughed knowingly. Rumor had it that Fifth Young Master Meng was going to marry into the Stone Castle. This rumor was, however, quickly denied. Meng family had decided to vacate the whole Bodhi Garden so that the newly married couple could live in it. The Bodhi Garden would be the newlyweds' living quarters from now on. Outsiders and even the Meng family themselves could not casually enter to admire the four-colored lotus flowers even if they wanted to.
Shangguan Ru had previously appeared at the Four Truths Temple after three years of not leaving the mountain. It was the Tenth Young Master's first public appearance and she had been seen standing together with the women of the Meng family. Many people then came to the realization that this was obviously an opportunity for the women of the Meng family to observe their future daughter-in-law.
This marriage between Stone Castle and Meng family must have secretly been in the works for a long time.
These two families had maintained the tradition of intermarriage all along. Lady Meng and several daughters-in-law of Supreme King came from Meng family, while his sisters and several daughters had also married into the Meng family. This, in turn, had caused a mix-up of the positions in the family hierarchy. Take Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi for example. Technically speaking, they were one generation apart. However, the residents of Jade City were quite accustomed to this and did not talk about it.
Everyone was more concerned about the reaction of the two families. Any bit of insider information would quickly spread to both North and South cities as well.
Shangguan Ru's side seemed to be very calm as there was almost no news coming from the Stone Castle. Even when the slaves going down the mountain were asked about it, they just stared blankly and replied, "It's quite alright. Miss did not cry or made a fuss about it. She is currently preparing her dowry, together with Lady Meng!"
Many people, therefore, came to the conclusion that the former Tenth Young Master had really turned into Miss Ru. This was not due to Lady Meng's strict discipline, but the power of time instead. "It is always the case for women! Mischievous when they are young, but they become more demure as they grow up, isn't it so? She is still a woman in the end. Sigh, what a pity. Such a beautiful and fine woman is too good for Meng the Fifth!"
Even by the standards of South City, Meng was not a good candidate for a husband as he indulged too much in wastefulness and debauchery.
The death of Shangguan Yushi had either caused Meng Mingshi too much grief or that the only feelings he was capable of feeling had all been spent on her. Anyway, he returned to his old ways less than six months after her death, with a renewed recklessness. He would always be found dead drunk in brothels in South City, the attendants and owners were so afraid of him that they almost closed their businesses and fled with whatever money they had. Several brothels owned by the Meng family were shut down as a result.
An experienced slave was then assigned to watch over the fifth young master, but even the slave was unable to stop him from sneaking out of the mansion. Climbing over walls, digging a hole, and putting on disguises were just some of the methods the young master used to sneak into South City.
Contrary to Shangguan Fei who was so terrified of South City, Meng Mingshi would rather rot in the filth of South City than lie on his comfortable bed in North City.
In the end, except for his grandmother who doted on him the most, his family had given up hope on trying to save this good-for-nothing son. He could do whatever he wanted so long as he did not embarrass the Meng family by dying in the hands of prostitutes and machetemen.
Rumor had it that the old lady of the Meng family did not like Miss Ru from the Stone Castle very much. The only reason she had agreed to this marriage was due to Meng Yuzun's persistent persuasion, and because she still harbored hope that this would be an opportunity to set her grandson back to the right path.
Wasn't the former Tenth Young Master the only person Meng Mingshi was afraid of? So let her come and handle him then.
One could only imagine how violent Meng Mingshi's opposition towards this marriage would be.
For several days in a row, the first question that the residents of Jade City asked as they entered teahouses was: "What did Meng the Fifth do again?"
Meng Mingshi first tried to hang himself, followed by jumping into the river, and even holding a saber up to his neck in front of his grandmother, but none of it worked. The hanging rope was either too thin or the ice in the river waters was too thick. His body was too weak from his indulgent lifestyle that he could not even hold a saber up against his neck for long.
After that, he tried to run away. He tried to escape in every direction possible except for the high mountain in the north side acting as a barrier. The furthest he managed to go was 30 miles away, before being spotted by a passerby, lying at the side of the road after collapsing from exhaustion and was sent back to North City.
The passerby was rewarded with hundreds of taels of silver. Once the news broke out, countless idle people were helping the Meng family to watch over the fifth young master, hoping that they themselves could also have the opportunity to "save" him just once.
Drained and exhausted, Meng Mingshi finally succumbed. After giving up, word had it that he told his grandmother with great sadness, "Just wait and see, Grandma, just wait to collect my corpse for me. She will kill me on our wedding night."
They had hugged and cried on each other's shoulders.
Gu Shenwei was more surprised than others upon hearing the news because he had seen Meng Yuzun and Shangguan Fei become enemies. He thought that would surely form an irreparable rift between the two families, but he didn't expect that they would end up closer instead.
Fang Wenshi the military counselor was not aware of the inside story but managed to see through to the real meaning of the marriage in a single glance. He said: "For the Meng family to agree to a marriage at this time only goes to show that they are willing to be bound together with Golden Roc Fort. The Supreme King can now act without worries in monetary aspects."
Fang Wenshi then sighed with envy. These past few days in his presence had made him realize that Dragon King was actually a poor man. He added, "As the military counselor, I have to remind you that you should not interfere in this matter, Dragon King."
"Why should I intervene in this matter?"
Fang Wenshi was a little confused since Dragon King seemed very angry. His impression of the Dragon King was someone who masked his emotions very well. He replied blankly, "Um, I just felt that Dragon King seemed to like... meddling in other people's businesses. The Great Snowmountain needs the Meng family just like Golden Roc Fort does. If we cannot win the support of Meng Yuzun, we should at least try not to offend him too much."
Gu Shenwei realized that he lost his cool, so he eased the tension in his voice and said, "I understand that it is unnecessary to interfere in this matter. Meng family and Shangguan family will eventually come together."
Fang Wenshi nodded and did not speak of the matter again. To him, the peace negotiations were the most important thing at the moment, and he believed the Dragon King was wise enough to not make foolish mistakes like these.
That was what Gu Shenwei thought as well, but he was unable to fall asleep at night. Something was definitely off with this marriage , he thought. Gu Shenwei even wanted to tell Fang Wenshi about what happened in the underground chamber of Bodhi Garden, so that he could hear the military counselor's views on the matter. But he quickly decided that it was best not to say anything about it. Fang Wenshi was already preoccupied with the peace negotiations and had no time for other trivial matters.
Almost everybody, including Fang Wenshi, felt that the marriage was part of the Supreme King's scheme which he had planned for a long time, but Gu Shenwei had a vague sense that Lady Meng had a lot to do with it.
There was definitely something odd about this. His desire to find out the truth grew stronger by the minute. He even knew who was the best candidate to dig information from.
Shangguan Hong was so insignificant in the Stone Castle that when Second Young Master Shangguan Tian died in Shu-lik, he did not receive any punishment after fleeing back to Jade City.
As the illegitimate child of the Supreme King, he had always lived in the Inner Residence. Similarly, because Lady Meng kept a close watch over him, he was able to spy on her as well.
Gu Shenwei decided to try his luck with Shangguan Hong.
After returning to Jade City, Xu Xiaoyi had quickly established a secret team to collect intelligence. There were always people in South City willing to take a risk and work for Golden Roc Fort's enemy for money. Although the intelligence team was far from covering the whole city, it was still useful.
Therefore, Gu Shenwei knew of Shangguan Hong's whereabouts as early as a few days ago.
After years of ordeals, Shangguan Hong had finally gained a bit of Lady Meng's trust. He now helped her run a few errands here and there.
This afternoon, Shangguan Hong had come to South City to collect a sum of money and decided to drop by a close prostitute's home to catch up. He knew Mr. Zhang Ji would say something along the lines of, "If you cannot endure hardships for a moment, how can you build up an empire that lasts forever?" But Shangguan Hong had had enough. Just two hours of relaxation was sufficient for him to return to Stone Castle and endure for another half a month.
Shangguan Hong was very afraid to bump into Dragon King again. Back in Shu-lik, he had been forced into divulging an important secret to Slave Huan. But he could not disobey Lady Meng's instructions, and he did miss that hypocritical woman as well.
Therefore, Shangguan Hong was not very surprised when Dragon King appeared with his saber at his waist as the prostitute left the room with the excuse of using the loo. His face turned pale, and the wine quickly tasted soured in his mouth but he managed to remain calm as he spoke, "Dragon... Dragon King, let's have a drink together."
Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, "I don't drink."
"Yes, right, that's my impression as well." Shangguan Hong wanted to stand up to Slave Huan as an equal, but his conviction was waning as he spoke, and he didn't know where to put his hands, so he continued saying, "Zhang Ji, Mister Zhang mentioned that he wished to meet you."
"Tell Mister Zhang I am always waiting for him."
"Sure, I will tell him. Why not... sit down and eat something."
Gu Shenwei sat down, but he did not touch the food on the table. It was a shabby brothel and paled in comparison to Pleasure Alley. The dishes were mediocre. "I came to ask you about something."
"Please ask away, Dragon King." Shangguan Hong said. He couldn't help himself, his tone was becoming more and more courteous.
"The marriage of Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi is Lady Meng's idea, am I right?"
Shangguan Hong pretended to think about it but the guise soon faltered under Dragon King's cold and relentless gaze. Regretfully, he began revealing everything that he knew about the matter. He should not have divulged the secret to Gu Shenwei at the start. Now he was always going to be at the whim of Dragon King.
"Yes, it's Lady Meng's idea. It happened the day the Ninth Young Master came back complaining that he almost died at Meng Yuzun's hands. Meng Yuzun knows kung fu and was interested in the secret manuscript that Dragon King has. You know about this already. Lady Meng was furious and went to settle the score with Old Meng. But somehow, it ended up in Miss Ru getting married to Meng Mingshi."
Gu Shenwei knew very well that Shangguan Hong knew exactly what had transpired despite his ignorant appearance. So he kept quiet and let him continue.
"Afterwards I heard, this is just what I heard... Apparently, Meng Yuzun spent a lot of money trying to settle the matter and reached an agreement with Lady Meng. They would snatch the secret manuscript from Dragon King's hands together. Then... then, the Ninth Young Master had an idea. He said that Dragon King would definitely interfere in the matter if his younger sister was married off, and they would catch you alive then..."
Shangguan Hong stole a look at Dragon King, wondering if what he said was correct.