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Chapter 821: Lineage

All young masters of Golden Roc Castle had their own respective green-faced assassin shadow guards. Although Shangguan Ru had never gained the identity of ‘young master,’ the Unique King had made a very rare exception and still send a shadow guard to protect her. Very few people in Golden Roc Castle knew about this. The Unique King made another exception by calling Qian Ying back when he had assigned the twins to the Stone Kingdom in Xiaoyao Lake on a suicide mission.

Qian Ying was far from pretty, and it was even very likely that she had disguised herself. With her head lowered and with her hands crossed before her chest, Qian Ying hadn’t said a word since entering the tent. Gu Shenwei never would have noticed such a person in normal circumstances.

“I asked her to spy on the Second Consort and we got plenty of intelligence.”

“You’ve been suspecting the Second Consort for a long time?” Gu Shenwei was actually surprised by this.

Shangguan Ru shook her head. “No. I did this for another reason.”

Qian Ying took the hint, bowed, and retreated towards the door. Before leaving, she raised her head and shot a quick glance at the Dragon King.

This movement didn’t escape Shangguan Ru’s notice. She smiled and said, “She was a little unconvinced about your kung fu. But my father gave an order, and I also had her make a promise. Even if you attack her right now, she won’t fight back.”

Shangguan Ru had faith in this green-faced assassin’s loyalty, so she had been willing to conceal her existence.

Gu Shenwei still couldn’t lower his guard — there was a green-faced assassin of Golden Roc Castle hiding right in his army camp. This made him feel extremely uncomfortable, as if the gate of his castle were wide open and he was constantly in mortal danger all the time.

Shangguan Ru could guess what the Dragon King was thinking about. “The green-faced assassins seldom participate in assassinations. They’re Golden Roc Castle’s last layer of defense, just like… stone walls.”

Even the Unique King’s sons didn’t know much about the green-faced assassins, so it was very natural that Shangguan Ru couldn’t provide any more information than that about them. Gu Shenwei didn’t want to linger on this subject, but the woman before him looked very strange, and his ingrained trust in Shangguan Ru began to falter. “Now can you tell me why you’ve been spying on the Second Consort?”

Shangguan Ru gave out a long sigh. “Originally, I was planning on telling you after I found some concrete evidence… But I guess I’ll reveal what I know so far. I’ve been investigating her true lineage, and I believe that the Second Consort’s an insider.”

Gu Shenwei was startled, and millions of questions ran through his mind, but he soon realized Shangguan Ru’s intentions. “Do you think I would give up seeking revenge because of that? Are you trying to prove that my family members actually have nothing to do with me at all?”

Shangguan Ru also seemed to be amazed, and a momentary look of pain in her black eyes indicated that Gu Shenwei’s words were indeed hurtful. “I won’t defend Golden Roc Castle, and I won’t protect it either. Even if the Gu family isn’t your real family, they raised you for many years and you should avenge their death. It’s just… It’s just the hatred that I hope you would let go of — not revenge.”

“What’s the difference?” Gu Shenwei abruptly interrupted. He didn’t even ask Shangguan Ru how she had known that he was a member of the Gu family.

“Seeking revenge is your right, and Golden Roc Castle deserves what’s coming for it, but hatred… Your hatred is unnatural. Currently, it can help you get your revenge, but in the future it will destroy you.”

At this moment, the glimmer of childishness on Shangguan Ru face had been completely replaced by concern, expectation, and pain — she had matured after enduring through all those tribulations. “I can’t watch you walk towards the cliff and do nothing.”

Gu Shenwei felt something in him loosen, but an intangible hand grabbed it firmly. “You don’t understand,” he said. Actually even he himself didn’t understand. “Hatred… is power. You can’t take it away from me.”

“Hatred is power,” Shangguan Ru repeated. She was too familiar with these words. In Golden Roc Castle, the whole grooming process of killers embodied this theory.

Gu Shenwei’s vigilance vanished. He still believed this woman just like he believed in himself, “You know about the whole thing?” He changed the topic, as he was not willing to continue discussing pointless issues.

Shangguan Ru nodded and explained, “Back when I was in the Royal Court, I met the Second Consort first. She was exceptionally interested in you, especially in your looks and birth date. I… then eavesdropped on her and King Rizhu. So your real name’s Gu Shenwei. And the two heads that my eighth elder brother bought back were fake?”

Shangguan Ru had grown up in Golden Roc Castle, so she acted naturally when talking about infiltrating and eavesdropping.

Here was yet another person who knew about his true identity. Gu Shenwei sat down, feeling a little nervous — not because Shangguan Ru knew, but rather that he had discovered that the defense network of the army camp was not flawless. “That’s a weird conundrum, and I’m still trying to figure it out. In normal circumstances, the second head should have never been mistaken for someone else’s, but it was unexpectedly accepted.”

“Nobody in Golden Roc Castle knew you, so it had to be the employer who identified the head.”

“I’ll find this guy,” Gu Shenwei said — he would find everybody related to the slaughter of his family, and through that, expand his hatred. “Do you really think that there’s something wrong with my family background? The Khan once assigned a slave girl to my father, but that was nothing but a stupid con game.”

Shangguan Ru gravely said, “The Second Consort must know something. It was by no means an impulsive move for her to suggest that she could pretend to be your mother. She must have some concrete proof — that must be how she came up with that idea in the first place.”

Gu Shenwei mulled over it for a while. He had regained control of his emotions now. ANd since Shangguan Ru had carefully investigated this issue, he could also take it seriously. “But that was just a trick. She just wanted me to believe that there was a bigger deal, but she actually wanted Shulitu to make a fool of himself in public. That way, Duodun would be the Naihang Tribe’s only choice.”

“Yes. Last night, Qian Ying eavesdropped on the Second Consort and Duodun’s conversation, but by the time she told me, it was very late. I wrote you a note, but there was not enough time for me to explain it in detail.”

Gu Shenwei could understand. As a green-faced assassin of Golden Roc Castle, although Qian Yuibg had to follow her orders and was not allowed to assassinate the Dragon King, she would never help him of her own accord. During the daytime, he didn’t quite understood Shangguan Ru’s message and had nearly been tricked. “It doesn’t matter. Duo Ercha ruined everything, and the Naihang Tribe will probably retreat.”

Shangguan Ru nodded to show her agreement for the Dragon King’s speculation. “There’s another thing. Duodun claimed that he is still in contact with the Waning Moon Hall.”

“Lotus has a posthumous edict of the old Khan’s, and Duodun’s name is on it. For this sole reason, they will never cut contact with each other.” Gu Shenwei had always favored taking a practical attitude over this fact, and it was also an important reason why he had never fully trusted Duodun.

“Is Duodun really the heir to the throne?” Shangguan Ru was amazed.

“Not exactly.” Gu Shenwei thought for a while and then decided to tell the truth, saying, “The Khan drafted two posthumous edicts. Duodun is in one, and Luoluo the other. The Khan asked me to make a choice between the two, but he died before I choose.”

Shangguan Ru’s eyes lit up. “So the previous Khan only met you once, but he still trusted you so much.”

“Are you saying that the previous Khan also knew something about me?”

“It’s possible.” Shangguan Ru became excited at this thought. “Selecting the heir to the throne is an exceedingly important issue. How could he easily entrust that task to an outsider?”

“Because outsiders will never compete with the Khan’s descendants.”

“But the previous Khan was wrong, wasn’t he? With some simple lies, an outsider can become a Norlander and even be related to the Khan’s lineage. The Second Consort tried to play this trick on you, and Luoluo’s also a bastard-son. Do you think that the previous Khan took no precautions against this?”

Shangguan Ru had convinced him. Every sign seemed to prove that her opinions were correct, but all of these facts still failed to overpower the feelings and impressions that had long been etched in Gu Shenwei’s mind.

“I lived with my parents for fourteen years. If you had seen the previous me, this current suspicion would never have arisen in you.”

“The previous you?” A smile appeared on Shangguan Ru’s face, and she seemed to be fantasizing about it. “What did he look like?”

Gu Shenwei was stunned. He didn’t expect that she would actually be interested, and nervously replied, “Er, I used to practice my family’s kung fu for almost ten years without achieving anything, but my family never imposed any punishment on me. Now you should have an idea of what I was like in the past.”

Shangguan Ru burst into laughter and the image of her elder brother Shangguan Fei appeared in her mind. But after realizing that the image had nothing in common with the man before her, the look on her face dimmed. The more prominent the Dragon King’s changes, the deeper the hatred in his heart was.

Gu Shenwei didn’t want to disappoint her too much, so he said, “I had two elder brothers and an elder sister. When my father was in the Norland, even if he did have an…”

Shangguan Ru shook her head. “No, it was you that the Second Consort was interested in and she became even more interested after knowing your approximate age.”

“You said this yourself: the Second Consort’s not trustworthy. Besides, my lineage won’t make any difference. It was my parents who died — this will never change.”

Shangguan Ru tried to avoid replying to him. As she looked around the tent, she smacked her lips and remarked, “I forgot that this was your tent; there’s no wine here.”

Gu Shenwei hesitated for a while, and then he walked to a corner, moved a pile of felt blankets aside, took out a small wine jar, weighed it in his hands, and finally tossed it to Shangguan Ru.

Shangguan Ru caught it, removed the lid and took a sniff. The alcoholic aroma caused an intoxicated look to spread over her face. “This is terrific! Where did you get this?”

“Xu Xiaoyi gave it to me.”

Shangguan Ru was very surprised — Xu Xiaoyi was a sycophant, so why would he give the Dragon King a gift that he didn’t like? Suddenly she understood. “This was originally meant for me and you stealthily hid it from me, right?”

Gu Shenwei had been seen through. “You drink too much.”

“Ha-ha,” Shangguan Ru didn’t see any bowls around so she lifted the jar and directly took a swig. Then she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and let out a long sigh of satisfaction. “This little jar of wine won’t do me any harm. Tell me — is there any more good stuff here?”

“No,” Gu Shenwei replied as he motioned at his simple abode. “You’ve seen everything.”

Shangguan Ru took another gulp as she said, “It’s such a pity that you can’t appreciate the beauties of wine.”

Actually, Gu Shenwei still remembered his previous experience of being drunk, which was why he had decided to quit drinking — others wanted to forget their pain, but he wanted to stoke it in his heart forever.

After Shangguan Ru had gone through about a quarter of the jar of wine, she reluctantly put it down when Gu Shenwei asked, “Why did Qian Ying know how to use the Waning Moon Hall’s knockout powder?”

“Golden Roc Castle used to be an ally of Waning Moon Hall and so we used to produce those pills in the castle as well. But then, pills were banned throughout Golden Roc Castle. After Waning Moon Hall breached the agreement and left the desert, there was no need for Golden Roc Castle to abide by the ban any more. This is Qian Ying’s explanation. As for the real reason why, I have no idea.”

Shangguan Ru was just as suspicious as Gu Shenwei. The process of pill-manufacturing was very complicated. Even if Golden Roc Castle had kept all the formulas, it would not be easy to return to their former pharmaceutical production capacity in a short time.

After this conversation, Gu Shenwei didn’t have to suspect Shangguan Ru any longer, and he could focus on dealing with his enemies again.

As if to correspond this thought, Fang Wenshi ran in hurriedly. Seeing Shangguan Ru, he was stunned for a while, but then he urgently said, “This is big. Luoluo’s army launched an attack and is headed our way.”