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The war had come to an end. Dragon army was chasing after the enemy troops. Given that, he had lots of complicated matters to deal with. All of a sudden, he was at a loss for he had no idea where to start.

It was important to reward subordinates for their loyalty. After all, the Dragon Army consisted of troops other than just those from the Great Snow Mountain. The rest of the soldiers had their own reasons to serve the Dragon King, one of which was money.

How to deal with the soldiers who had surrendered was also a problem. There were about 30,000 enemy soldiers who had surrendered, which outnumbered the current Dragon Army. Dugu Xian thought it was good to have as many enemy soldiers as possible, but none of them could be trusted. On top of that, Zhong Heng raised a more serious issue: “The whole of Xiaoyao Lake can’t afford a large army like this. The Dragon Army will have to steal food from the civilians within a month.”

In addition, it needed to be determined who was loyal and who was a traitor. Ever since the Dragon Army had won the war, it was like everyone who had ever been close to Gu Shenwei was a suspect. Now everyone was trying to expose everybody else, which only created more and more suspects.

“I have plenty to time to solve those problems later. Right now, my biggest problem is Shang Liao- the new King of the Kang Nation on the northern shore,” Gu Shenwei thought to himself.

Zhong Heng had been faithfully gathering intelligence. Within three days, he had collected a thick stack of information.

“Shang Liao has taken the bridge in the Hui Kingdom to stop the deserters of the Golden Roc Army from passing,” he reported.

“In the name of the Right General of the Dragon Army, Shang Liao accepted enemy soldiers who surrendered and banished the old King of the Hui Nation. Additionally, he took Hui City by force and sent a messenger to the Sha Kingdom to recruit anyone willing to yield to him,” he continued his report.

“Shang Liao accepted all the soldiers who surrendered, promising them that they would not be treated as prisoners. He allowed them to join the Dragon Army, and now the number of them has reached about 10,000…” he went on.

Gu Shenwei and Dugu Xian were planning to force the escaped Golden Roc Army to the northwest desert and then cut their water and food supplies. But now, Shang Liao had taken action before they had.

Shang Liao was one of the reasons that Gu Shenwei could not sleep. Gu Shenwei had always known that he was an ambitious person — otherwise, he would not have sent his army of thousands to take the capital of the Kang Kingdom. However, he had underestimated Shang Liao’s true level of ambition.

Zhong Heng stayed by the Dragon King’s side nowadays and hardly ever left him. He slept very little, and even when felt drowsy, he insisted on staying. He said, “The new King of the Kang Nation is bold. He dared to increase the number of troops in the name of the Dragon King.”

“I allowed it,” replied Gu Shenwei.

Zhong Heng looked at the Dragon King in surprise.

Gu Shenwei had reached an agreement with Shang Liao once upon a time: Once Shang Liao helped the Dragon King defeat the Golden Roc Army, the Dragon King would allow him to recruit troops at his will. However, as it turned out, Shang Liao had not played as an important role in the battle as Gu Shenwei had imagined.

“How…” Zhong Heng did not understand why the Dragon King would have made such an unwise decision. He continued, “You must have some other plan.”

Gu Shenwei shook his head and thought, “I have no other plans for now except to take the capital of the Kang Kingdom.” He said, “The Dragon Army will march on Jade City soon, and I need someone to take over at Xiaoyao Lake.”

“We have so many loyal generals and soldiers at your command,” replied Zhong Heng.

Gu Shenwei shook his head again. Zhong Heng was a smart man, but he did not think the way the Dragon King did. He continued, “I hope this man that I chose will consider Xiaoyao Lake as his homeland. I hope he is even willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of it. I also hope he is able to summon a group of like-minded comrades who would rather die than surrender to protect the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake.”

“But in this way, Xiaoyao Lake… would not belong to you, Dragon King.” Zhong Heng became more confused. Since he started following the Dragon King, Zhong Heng had been more like a teacher who often gave him useful advice. But now, he did not understand the Dragon King’s reasoning behind this move.

Gu Shenwei took a deep breath and asked, “Who dominates the Western Region now?”

“Norland,” Zhong Heng replied cautiously, trying to follow the Dragon King’s thoughts. “I must get some sleep later. Unlike the Dragon King, I am not young and energetic anymore,” he thought to himself.

“You’re right. At present, the real master of the Western Region is the Norland Cavalry. For the Dragon Army, Xiaoyao Lake and the Western Region, the biggest threat is not each other. The biggest threat to all of us is Norland and its servant, Golden Roc Fort,” explained Gu Shenwei.

“Do you mean that any force you support is really just a pawn against Norland and Golden Roc Fort?” asked Zhong Heng.

“It depends. Shang Liao will not be obedient, but sometimes he is more useful than a loyal general. For example, he dared to build an army under the pretense of freeing Xiaoyao Lake. Later, he will be able to recruit more local citizens than we or the Golden Roc Fort could ever get,” said Gu Shenwei.

Zhong Heng understood now, and thought to himself: “The Dragon King not only needs loyal generals and soldiers, but also strong allies.As a minister, I should not be discussing this issue any further. However, there is another problem that I must remind the Dragon King.” He asked, “What if the new King of the Kang Nation turns to Golden Roc Fort to fight against the Dragon Army at a critical moment, just as the old king did? Don’t you worry about that?”

Gu Shenwei did worry about it. He had been considering this question for several days now and had finally figured it out. “Allies can betray, just like enemies. Even my most trustworthy subjects might betray me. Anyone could turn traitor as long as I am seeking to rule the Western Region. I can’t trust anyone but myself,” he thought.

“Given all this, why should I bother to worry? I need people’s obedience and cooperation, not their love. As long as I have power, most of them will not dare to betray me,” he continued in his thoughts.

Gu Shenwei would never tell these thoughts to his loyal Prime Minister. It would show weakness. He raised his head, and paused for a moment. Then, he said, “I am going to hold a memorial ceremony for the generals and soldiers that died on the battlefield at the seaside slope. Get everything ready, and then send invitations to the five kings.”

“Of the five kings of Xiaoyao Lake, four are in the An Kingdom and only the new King of the Kang Nation, Shang Liao, is on the northern shore. These are not invitations, but summons. It’s a test and trial for Shang Liao. If he comes, it means that he is still the Dragon King’s ally. Otherwise, the Dragon Army will need to get ready for another battle before the enemy becomes a threat to them.” Zhong Heng mused.

Zhong Heng bowed, answered “yes,” and then left. “I will arrange this matter before sleeping,” he decided.

Gu Shenwei still couldn’t sleep. He tried lying on the bed and closing his eyes, but he could not fall asleep. Instead, he became more restless.

“Dragon King, may I come in?” someone asked outside his tent.

“Come in,” Gu Shenwei said, as he knew who it was. In the entire Dragon Army, only one person had such a privilege as to walk into his tent without permission.

Xu Xiaoyi came in, looking energetic. He said, “I saw the light in your tent was on, so I stopped by.”

“I see,” Gu Shenwei replied.

Xu Xiaoyi’s duty was to gather intelligence, as was Zhong Heng’s. Because of this, some conflicts between the two of them had taken place. Eventually, they decided to divide their job responsibilities to avoid such conflicts.

As Prime Minister, Zhong Heng openly gathered intelligence. But Xu Xiaoyi had secret sources, ranging from nobles to beggars and hooligans. These people provided intelligence to him confidentially.

After taking this job, Xu Xiaoyi had changed a lot. Within a year, he had aged quite a bit, growing his beard out, but he was still a man short in stature. Xu Xiaoyi was only a few years older than Chu Nanping, but now he looked like his uncle.

“Dragon King, did you read what I turned in?” Xu Xiaoyi asked courteously.

Gu Shenwei nodded yes. The pile of intelligence Xu Xiaoyi had sent was ten times thicker than what Zhong Heng had sent. The intelligence contained many important leads, which also contributed to his insomnia.

There were three piles of intelligence on the desk. Each pile was nearly 33 cm high. The Dragon King had read all of them.

Xu Xiaoyi lowered his head quietly. He was only responsible for collecting information. As for how to deal with the intelligence, that was the Dragon King’s call.

“I thought that the Queen Mother Wang of the An Kingdom was the real Princess of the Central Plain,” said Gu Shenwei.

Hearing this, Xu Xiaoyi grinned and said, “When I first heard that she was the Princess of the Central Plain, I doubted it. I didn’t believe the Princess of the Central Plain would be married to the king of a small country in the Western Region. Fortunately, she is from the Royal Clan. She thought the Central Plain would send troops to intervene, so she chose to side with her son, the King of the An Nation. We have evidence and witnesses that can prove she colluded with the Golden Roc Army.”

“Doesn’t Wu Zongheng work for her?” Gu Shenwei asked. He had read through the intelligence Xu Xiaoyi had turned in, and he trusted his information. He just felt a bit disappointed in Wu Zongheng.

“Yes, he does, but Wu Zongheng seems ignorant of the Queen’s colluding with the Golden Roc Army. Perhaps he… did not know about it,” answered Xu Xiaoyi.

Xu Xiaoyi seldom spoke in favor of a stranger. Gu Shenwei could not help but say, “He must have known about it, but he may not have been a part of the colluding with the Golden Roc Army directly. Like Queen Mother Wang of the An Kingdom and many others, he probably has a back-up plan to keep himself alive. Xu Xiaoyi, have you ever thought about having one yourself?” asked Gu Shenwei.

Xu Xiaoyi was terrified. He shook his head desperately, revealing his naivety. He gushed, “No, never. I just…”

Gu Shenwei waved his hand to interrupt him, saying “I don’t doubt your loyalty. You and your sister are my most trusted people.”

Xu Xiaoyi was relieved. But he suddenly realized the mistake he had made, thinking:”Those three piles of intelligence concerned nearly all the people around the Dragon King, including Maid Lotus, Zhong Heng, Dugu Xian, the Queen and many swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. My sister and I were the only ones not mentioned. Perhaps that’s why the Dragon King suspects me.” Instead of this he said, “You flatter me.”

“No, I do not,” Gu Shenwei said. He was angry. Xu Xiaoyi’s intelligence let him understand one thing.

“Betrayal comes from two things: One is hatred, like why Golden Roc Fort was betrayed. The other is self-interest. Strictly speaking, betrayal swings one way or the other. It is a normal instinct when people face danger. Anytime the situation changes, their loyalties will change, too,” Gu Shenwei reflected to himself.

“If I insist on the truth, I will incur more traitors,” he added to his thoughts.

“Burn all the intelligence. Do not let others know a word of it,” Gu Shenwei instructed.

Xu Xiaoyi was shocked and said, “Dragon King, the intelligence is true. I have proof of everything.”

“You did a good job, and your intelligence is useful. That’s why I want to burn it. I cannot risk letting anyone else find out about it and using it against us,” Gu Shewei explained.

Xu Xiaoyi said, “As you command, Dragon King.” He walked to the desk, and then turned around and said, “Dragon King, Little Chu has been gone for too long.”

Gu Shenwei nodded, acknowledging that he heard him.

Both Chu Nanping and Maid Lotus had not come back, as if they had just disappeared.

Gu Shenwei suddenly became aware of the true reason for his insomnia: Maid Lotus was not with him. He felt insecure without her by his side.