The Prince of Kang Kingdom had been bought over by the Golden Roc Fort, and this immediately created a huge advantage for Shangguan Fei. Now that he had eight votes, even without the three unknown voters who could swing either way, he would still have five confirmed votes. He only needed one more confirmed vote to end up with at least a tie; two more, and he would surely be the prince consort.
On the other hand, the Prince of Loulan Kingdom only had seven votes with three voters who could possibly swing to Shangguan Fei. Unless the prince could ensure that all three undecided votes were cast on him, he could not win the contest.
As the contest raged on, the small courier station became a marketplace festered with conspiracies. It was so tense that even a very ordinary look from a very ordinary slave could spark off a series of conflicts and suspicions.
On the last day before the voting, two of the swing voters were revealed. They were the sons of different tribal chiefs. Even though they were simple-minded, they were not foolish. They were waiting for their ‘market value’ to shoot up—the Prince of Kang Kingdom was a good example: if they could not win over the hand of the princess, they would at least have carved out a sufficient chunk of money from the two big nations.
The Prince of Loulan Kingdom and the Special Emissary from the Central Plain found themselves pressed into a corner and worked hard to win more votes. Since the Golden Roc Fort had spent a significant sum of money bribing the Prince of Kang Kingdom, after half a day of bargaining, each side managed to win a vote respectively from a previously undecided voter. The vote count was now Shangguan Fei’s seven to the Prince of Loulan Kingdom’s six.
There was one remaining swing vote, and it belonged to someone who was yet to reveal himself. His choice would determine whether the Golden Roc Fort would win the contest or both sides would end up with a tie. If it were the latter, the contest would have to go on.
Gu Shenwei continued to double-cross both sides but he knew that he could not keep his act up for long: both Norland and the Central Plain were doubling up their efforts in interrogating each voter, and it would only be a few hours before he would be revealed as the remaining voter who could swing either way.
There was not much time left for him to act, therefore, he was the busiest person for the rest of that day.
The first person he went to visit was Shangguan Fei. Gu Shenwei decided that he would reveal some very important ‘truths’ to the Ninth Young Master.
“Rumor has it that I plan to slaughter everyone from the Golden Roc Fort,” he said, giving Shangguan Fei a shock the moment they met.
“That, that’s just a rumor. Of course, you would not move against us, especially me. Hehe, everyone has seen that we’re as close as brothers…”
“Your thinking is too naive. Others can claim that it’s just a front I’m putting up to create an alibi for the impending murders.”
Of course, Shangguan Fei knew about this train of thought. He had passed on the entire responsibility of garnering votes to his attendants and the special envoy from Norland and had spent the past few days worrying about this ‘rumor’. “What did you hear about, Dragon King?”, he asked.
Gu Shenwei stared at Shangguan Fei and replied only after thinking for a while, “If I hadn’t been dragged into this conspiracy, I would definitely not tell you about it.”
Shangguan Fei’s voice trembled as he spoke. “I understand. Even if we’re enemies, there are times when we’re in the same boat together. We are in such a situation now.”
Gu Shenwei nodded sternly as he replied, “The Special Emissary from the Central Plain wants to murder you and put the blame on me. The time he will act is tomorrow night.”
Shangguan Fei was really surprised now. He had believed that he knew the entire conspiracy inside out, but the Dragon King’s words had caught him unaware. “This isn’t possible, the Central Plain…”
Gu Shenwei cut him off harshly, speaking in a tone that did not allow any questioning. He wanted to forcibly implant the ‘truth’ into Shangguan Fei’s mind. “You’ve said it that enemies can be in the same boat together at times. The Central Plain has struck a deal with the Supreme King to make Shangguan Nu his heir apparent. With this, the Supreme King no longer needs you and Shangguan Hong, and the Central Plain no longer requires the assistance of the Great Snowmountain. Murdering both of you and planting the blame on me is a splendid idea which will kill two birds with one stone.”
“Eighth Brother? Father wants Eighth Brother to…” At first, Shangguan Fei still refused to believe the Dragon King, but as he spoke, he began recollecting more and more signs that validate Gu Shenwei’s theory. “You’re right, Eighth Sister-in-law has been very active and acting very arrogantly these few days, she must know something. However, how could Eighth Brother let her off when he’s back in the castle? She had done that with Father…”
“Everything is about benefits now. Since Shangguan Nu needs Luo Ningcha to convey messages to the Supreme King, naturally he must have made plenty of promises to her.”
Shangguan Fei believed at least 70 to 80 percent of what Gu Shenwei said, as he had guessed that his father wanted to kill him a long time ago. “Ha,” he laughed drily and nervously. “This is the Shangguan family for you. Brothers fighting each other, and a father and his sons trying to kill each other. I still thought that Mother would be able to convince him.”
“Lady Meng’s influence on the Supreme King is no longer the same as it was before,” Gu Shenwei pointed the cruel fact out, seemingly very knowledgeable of the happenings in the Stone Castle.
Shangguan Fei’s face had grown pasty white. He sat in stunned silence for a while before replying, “If that’s the case, no matter how close the both of us seem to be in public, Fa.. The Supreme King and the Central Plain still wish to move against me?”
Gu Shenwei nodded his head.
“How did you come to know about the entire matter in such great detail, Dragon King?”, asked Shangguan Fei cautiously. When dealing with the Dragon King, he was still extremely distrustful.
“Someone close to the Central Plains’ Special Emissary has leaked a secret to me: The emissary has detailed 10 top kung fu experts from the Central Plains and has mixed them amongst the 50 guards he brought along. Think about it, are they hiding their identities just to protect the special emissary from the shadows? He represents the Central Plains, do you think anyone would dare to lay a hand on him?”
Shangguan Fei rubbed his sweaty palm against the armrest of his chair, biting his lip. Suddenly, he lifted his head to speak after a long pause. “You already have a solution, haven’t you, Dragon King?”
The expression in his eyes was more of pleading rather than hoping.
Gu Shenwei nodded slowly. It was the crucial moment to convince Shangguan Fei, and he could not allow any flaw to be exposed. “But, I need your help. This is another reason why I chose to tell you the truth.”
There was a loud slapping sound as Shangguan Fei smacked his palm on the armrest. He had used too much force and literally smashed half of the chair into pieces. He got up quickly and laughed awkwardly, replying, “Please speak, Dragon King. Since we’re already on the same boat, I’ll definitely do my best to help.”
Gu Shenwei did not reply immediately. He stood up as well and paced to and fro for a while, considering the issue at hand comprehensively. “At the moment, the most pressing danger to us is the ten kung fu experts with the Special Emissary from the Central Plains. They’ll act latest by tomorrow night, and we have to strike before they do. We have to get rid of them tonight.”
“Tonight? Kill them in the courier station? Is, isn’t that declaring war with the Central Plains?”, Shangguan Fei said. He had wanted to sit down, but the chair was already tilted to one side; he could only support himself on the table and had to forcibly keep his legs upright.
“Of course, we cannot make our move in the courier station.” Gu Shenwei’s voice was becoming firmer and his tone was beginning to sound like an order; he wanted to leave Shangguan Fei with no choice. “I have people by the Special Emissary of the Central Plains. He’ll flee from the courier station tonight and try to escape into the palace. If I didn’t guess wrong, many of the 10 kung fu experts will be after him. When that time comes…”
Shangguan Fei was enlightened. “Splendid plan, Dragon King. If the kung fu masters from the Central Plains get killed in the royal palace of Stone Kingdom, no one can trace it back to us. The Special Emissary might even refuse to admit that they were his men.”
“I need your men to set up the trap.”
“Dragon King… can you not move on your own?”, Shangguan Fei suggested, a crafty look on his face. He was more than willing to not be involved in the entire matter.
“No, I’ve brought too few men with me and I can’t kill so many kung fu masters by myself. Besides, I don’t wish to openly break off relations with the Central Plains yet. It has to be your men, your best killers—your most trusted subordinates.”
Gu Shenwei’s tone had become extremely harsh, implicitly signifying that he was reprimanding and unhappy with Shangguan Fei. The latter trembled slightly as he replied, “I can send out 20 men. They were detailed by my mother and should be loyal to me.”
“Very good.”
Gu Shenwei gave detailed information on the specific time the mission would be executed as well as the location of the ambush. Shangguan Fei was extremely smart and could commit everything to memory after only hearing it once. However, there was something important that he was worried about. “Getting rid of the kung fu experts will only stall the inevitable for a while. Since my father… the Supreme King has decided to kill me and put the blame on you, Dragon King, I fear he won’t give up so easily.”
“His intention is but to blame me for breaking the ceasefire agreement. It’s very simple: after the princess has been engaged, the Great Snowmountain will very quickly declare war once more against the Golden Roc Fort. At that time, he’ll no longer require any more excuses.”
Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh of relief. He was enemies with the Dragon King, but could only confess his innermost feelings to him. “I don’t understand, Father clearly likes me and my sister. Even though Mother is not as favored by him as before, she has always wielded authority. Why does he want to act so ruthlessly? Even if he wants to put the blame on you, he doesn’t have to kill me; he could have chosen any killer or even someone else— Shangguan Hong, for example.”
“The Supreme King surely has his reason,” Gu Shenwei replied. He knew exactly what that reason was, but he did not want to tell Shangguan Fei at the moment.
Shangguan Fei sighed dejectedly. Earlier when he had embarked on the journey to the Stone Kingdom, he had deduced that his father wanted him dead from various hints given by his mother and many small signs that he spotted. Even though he had come up with many plans to tackle the assassination, there was something that he could never figure out: How could his father be so ruthless?
“Could it be because I was too weak all these years?” Shangguan Fei thought indignantly. He was full of loathing for the title of “Son of the Supreme King” and had to forcibly compose himself. He replied, “I’ll detail the killers. Please stay awhile, Dragon King. My sister wishes to see you.”
Gu Shenwei was preparing to leave; he had many things to see to. However, he paused for a moment and surprisingly replied, “Yes.”
Shangguan Ru put on an expressionless face and did not speak for quite a while. Gu Shenwei wanted to ask her if she knew that she was one of the sacrificial lambs chosen by the Supreme King, but managed to control his urge to do so. “You wish to see me?”, he asked.
“Right,” Shangguan Ru said. She pursed her lips together as she looked at the chair smashed into half by her brother. “I… Can you tell me something truthfully?”
“What thing is it?”
“What are you and Shangguan Fei getting at? He has an illusion that Father wishes to kill him. You’re making use of this against him, aren’t you?”
“Make use of him?”, laughed Gu Shenwei coldly. “It’s not that you’ve not seen his smarts before. It’s not even clear who is making use of who in our relationship.”
Shangguan Ru looked at Gu Shenwei, her jet black pupils turning from an expression of coldness to tenderness. Four seasons seemed to flash past in her eyes, and each left an indelible impression in Gu Shenwei.
“Haven’t you thought of…”
“No,” Gu Shenwei interrupted harshly. He thought that he was ruthless, but he was unprepared to reply to her question. “I want to fight till the end and kill all of my enemies. Besides, I want to be the prince consort of the Stone Kingdom,” he continued.
Gu Shenwei stormed out of the room, the thawing chill of winter blowing across his face. His heart was filled with brutal pride: he was no longer Slave Huan, and she was no longer the Tenth Young Master. The killing was coming and he did not allow himself a single shred of doubt.
Only the heavens knew that he was torturing himself as he tormented her as well.