Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun's big plan soon revealed itself .

It was not suitable for women to come along during the trip to Norland . Gu Shenwei chose Maid Lotus, Chu Nanping, Long Fanyun, and Shangguan Fei, along with 50 guards . Maid Lotus brought one-and-half New Moon Hall disciples .

The one disciple was Han Fen . Although she was talkative, she spared no effort delivering the Managing Master's orders . Most of the time, she hid like Maid Lotus and showed up only when it was necessary .

The half-disciple was Han Xuan . Actually, n.o.body had asked her to come along . However, she saw no danger in letting Miss Ming Zhen stay alone in the royal palace, so she sneaked out for this adventure . Thus, without any prior consent or permission, she quietly joined the Dragon King's procession on her horse . Many people had come to see them off, therefore no one paid much attention to her . The people thought she was merely sticking around because of her best friend, Han Fen .

At the Tongtian Pa.s.s, all of the well-wishers had returned, only she remained . Han Fen was touched, so she held Han Xuan's hand and tried to persuade her . "Go back, we'll separate here . The next time you go on a trip, I'll accompany you farther than you have today . "

"Go back? To where? I'm going to Norland with you . "

Han Fen had a one-track mind, but she was a New Moon Hall disciple and following rules was in her blood . Han Xuan's recklessness really shocked her . "But . . . but do the Dragon King and the Managing Master know?"

"Who knows? They're smart, they can probably guess . "

Han Fen decided to report it, so she fetched Maid Lotus . In front of the New Moon Hall Managing Master, Han Xuan appeared more justified in explaining her recklessness . "No, I won't go back . Look at your team, they're all kids . I have to look after them . What if you push Han Fen into a fire and she doesn't fight back? I'm the one who will save her!"

Maid Lotus had ditched her company in a mineshaft . Han Fen soon forgot about it, but Han Xuan was constantly upset about it .

Han Fen was both touched and shocked to the bone by her best friend's kindness . Han Fen would not dream of being so disrespectful to the Managing Master .

More surprisingly, the Managing Master approved . "You're a half-disciple of New Moon Hall . From now on, you obey my orders . "

"Normal orders, yes; into a fire, no . "

Maid Lotus did not take offense or give orders to her, but let Han Xuan wander on her own in the procession .

This half-disciple was more conspicuous than any other disciple . She failed to understand the rules or the necessity of concealing herself . She rode around on her horse and playfully plucked Han Fen from the team . Finally, if she was really bored, she would talk to whichever stranger, familiar or not, in the name of gathering intelligence .

Therefore, Han Xuan became out of tune with the messenger team . No one could see how this woman was necessary, but they never revealed an obvious surprise for the sake of the Dragon King .

However, it was the seemingly unwanted Han Xuan who discovered something strange in Golden Roc Fort's team .

Actually, Golden Roc Fort did not bother to hide . Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon Army had seemingly reached a truce, yet they were like cats and dogs . They even avoided each others' eyes to prevent any unnecessary speculation . Moreover, the two teams were separated by the Norland cavalry in between them . On the first day of the journey, Gu Shenwei did not obtain a single piece of information .

Nevertheless, Han Xuan was an exception . During her "intelligence gathering", she first inspected her team of more than 50 people, then a few hundred Norland guard cavalrymen, who always teased her with "intelligence" that she could not quite understand . And Han Xuan had to cross through them to get into Golden Roc Fort's team .

Soon after, she was kicked out . Thus, she rode up to the Dragon King's side . "No wonder you hate Golden Roc Fort, they're indeed lousy company . "

"Yes, they are . " Other people put up with Han Xuan for his sake, while the Dragon King himself had kept the strange woman because of Maid Lotus .

"Golden Roc Fort outnumbers us . There are 106 of them . But don't worry; I can take four or five of them at one time . You and Maid Lotus can take five or six respectively . The odds are in our favor .

"We have a truce . "

"For real?" Han Xuan asked out loud . "I thought it was just a rumor . I've prepared all kinds of plots and schemes . And you just quit?"

It was only half a day since they left the Tongtian Pa.s.s and Gu Shenwei was beginning to think about ditching her . For example, he could tie her up and throw her into the gra.s.s in the middle of the night . Some pa.s.ser-by would save her . And when she asked about it later, he would blame it on Golden Roc Fort .

"You can't mess around with everything . " However, it could only be in his imagination . Han Xuan had shown her face in the Dragon King's team . She probably could not make it to Xiaoyao Lake alive .

Han Xuan nodded seriously . "I see . "

"You'd better . . . go hide with Han Fen . "

"Why?"

"There are many men in the procession and the Norland men are up to no good . Aren't you afraid?"

"What's there to be afraid of? Moreover, there are many other women besides men in the team . Maid Lotus, Han Fen . . . and Golden Roc Fort women, plenty of them . "

Gu Shenwei held onto his reins . "Golden Roc Fort women?"

"Yes, one, two, three . . . seven of them in total, all wearing men's clothes . They drove me away immediately . However, the moment I approached them, I smelled women . Immediately, I thought that it must be a lady and her six servants . After all, Golden Roc Fort is richer than Gulping Wind Gorge, so six servants for a lady, very lavis.h.!.+"

Shangguan Fei was also riding along with them . Hearing Han Xuan's words, he looked the Dragon King in the eye and nodded, signaling that he would find out more about it .

In the evening, Shangguan Fei rode close by the Golden Roc Fort team under the guise of expressing grat.i.tude for the party the previous night . He insisted on throwing a party for them as well when they arrived at the Khan's royal court . After that, he got what he needed .

"Han Xuan's right . She's got a better nose than most of the men . You know who that woman is?" Shangguan Fei asked jokingly because he had been following the king for a long time and started to think that maybe he could act a little relaxed .

Gu Shenwei already had somewhat of an idea . "The Supreme King's daughter is too old for a political marriage, maybe he sent one of his granddaughters . "

It was easy for the Dragon King to guess since political marriages were pretty normal . Shangguan Fei felt a little disappointed . "It's my elder brother's daughter, about 16 or 17 years old . I remember that she's just a little younger than me . Well, I don't know which old man she'll be given to . I wish it won't be the Khan, with half of his body already in the grave . "

Shangguan Fei showed sympathy for his family . Gu Shenwei was surprised and gazed at Shangguan Fei thoughtfully .

"Don't get me wrong . " Shangguan Fei blushed as though it was something shameful . "It's just that . . . elder brother died a tragic death . His children . . . might be better off marrying people in Norland . "

Shangguan Fei and Gu Shenwei had driven the dagger together into Young Master Shangguan Chui's heart . Shangguan Fei never felt sorry about killing people, but he seemed to be unable to let go of Shangguan Chui's death .

Shangguan Fei's sympathy lasted only briefly . He could not even control his own life; he had no intention of interfering in somebody else's . "Well, again it's getting connected through marriage . It's been long-standing, and apparently, it's effective . Can Your Majesty guess who Zhang Ji is sucking up to?"

Gu Shenwei shook his head . Before Fang Wens.h.i.+ fed him with more information about Norland, he did not want to judge arbitrarily . That would be misleading .

"Women . . . I don't understand how women can be so powerful . Can one guarantee his loyalty after marrying the Supreme King's granddaughter?" Shangguan Fei shook his head in doubt, casting his eyes over Long Fanyun nearby .

The fact was women were not that powerful . Most of the time, they were special gifts, tokens of trust . What connected the two parties remained unknown to the world, so people had to focus on women and marriages .

Gu Shenwei was getting more interested in Zhang Ji's "big plan" .

It had only been the first day . The trip to Norland would take them nearly 20 days, so there was plenty of time for them to spy on each other .

The Norland people lived near brooks and gra.s.slands, they did not build cities . And where the Khan lived was the "royal court", like other countries' capitals .

Norland and the Central Plains were on the verge of a war . So to protect the bed-ridden Khan, the royal court was set in the center of the gra.s.slands, away from the borders .

There were about 500 Norland cavalrymen leading the way . Regardless of having women in the team, they rode fast . It was not that they were anxious, but they had to hurry to reach the next supply point on the same day .

A so-called supply point was just a temporary village in Norland . The villagers who received them warmly held the Khan's flag .

Gu Shenwei soon discovered that what Du Guxian said was right . Although there were many ethnic groups and different languages, all of them wors.h.i.+pped the Khan royals . Everywhere they went, the Khan's flag was carefully preserved . Herdsmen often came from far away and wors.h.i.+pped the flag, praying for the Khan's health and the well-being of their cows and sheep .

The chief of the Norland cavalry was a leader of 1,000 soldiers . He also took great pride in his mother being one of the Khans and talked a lot about it, which always made the villagers jealous .

Troops that were made up of people like that were really unlikely to become traitors, let alone pledge loyalty to other royal families .

Thus, it left having a puppet as the only choice . The Supreme King's granddaughter was probably marrying a puppet of Golden Roc Fort .

Gu Shenwei had a puppet also; however, Wei Song had provided the candidate . Thus, at the end of the day, it was the Central Plains' puppet .

He hoped that Fang Wens.h.i.+ had built the military base during the past months . He refrained from confessing everything in letters and intended to discuss the matter in person .

Considering the herdsmen's wors.h.i.+p toward the Khan, Gu Shenwei decided that a.s.sa.s.sination would be a bad idea . Once word got out, no matter how large the Dragon Army was, it would be devoured by the much larger Norland cavalry . A safer way would be for the Khan to die naturally .

Before finding out about Norland, Gu Shenwei's plan would remain like scattered pearls . In the end, he would need a practical thread to string them together .

Just a few of them would be sufficient, and Gu Shenwei was convinced that no one could guess his intentions, not even Zhang Ji .