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Chapter 696: Precocious Child

If judged by the standards of the Norland, he was a useless child, and had he not been of royal blood, his family would have abandoned him in the wilderness and he would be a small pile of bones by now.

He had actually been a normal baby when he was born, and on his first full moon he had giggled in the Khan’s arms, earning him lots of praise including one that said he was ‘precocious.’ As one of the countless flattering words that followed whomever orbited the Khan, this one comment was quite the apt appraisal.

Shulitu spoke and walked earlier than the other children but at the age of three, a serious illness struck him and changed his fate.

An unknown disease was spreading across the prairie at the time and many people died because of it, including Shulitu’s biological mother. He survived in the end, but the illness had taken its toll and his physique was greatly harmed. While the other children of his age were beginning to ride ponies and play with bows and arrows, he could only lie in a babysitter’s arms, wrapped in a thick blanket. This made him a laughing-stock among all the other children.

At that time, King Riying was his grandfather. The old king had watched his grandson grow up but each time he met him, his face only grew colder. It wasn’t until several years later when Shulitu was eight years old that the old king finally lost patience, and he took his grandson out of the warm nest of the babysitter and blanket, strode out of the tent, threw him on the nearest horse, and said, “Prove that you have the blood of the Khan in your veins. Your father and I can’t afford to lose any more face.”

For the first time in his lifetime, Shulitu sat on a horse’s back. Frightened and shivering from the cold, he turned to the babysitter and his father, the two who had always loved him the most, only to find that one of them was wiping her tears away while the other had his head lowered. None of them dared say a word for him.

The eight years old child suddenly came to understand that he was facing a critical moment in his life, and that the survival of his emaciated body depended on the horse under him and his stern grandfather.

Shulitu knew from then on that crying and begging were of no use, so he tried to straighten himself up, and imitate the rider’s way by shaking the reins gently.

The moment the horse leaped out, he fell heavily to the ground. Sore and dizzy, he faintly heard the cry of the babysitter, the rebuke of his grandfather, and the absence of his father’s voice.

The royal child’s next performance wasn’t stunning either, but it saved his life. He kept running after the horse and falling down. After two hours of hard work, he had finally mounted the horse and turned it around to return to his grandfather.

The old King Riying’s face was still frostily cold. Without criticism or praise, he grunted and strode away, somehow admitting that this grandson had earned the right to live.

Shulitu would never forget that day. For the next couple of days and nights, that scene played in his mind on an infinite loop, gradually becoming clearer and clearer with every re-imagining until it was finally permanently imprinted on his mind. Every time he woke up from the nightmare, the first thing he told himself was, “You have to be careful. Other people live to struggle, but you struggle to live.”

He learned how to ride, managed to draw an ordinary bow, and even cast off his dependence on the babysitter, but he still staggered behind his peers, and behind him was the reaper’s sickle.

His father invited many wise men from the Central Plains and the Western Regions to teach him. As a result, Shulitu’s intelligence burst out irrepressibly. Scholars, monks, Taoist priests, and mystics all praised the child but regretfully shook their head when they left. ‘This royal child was born in the wrong place. In the Norland, where people only value warriors, the exceptionalness of his mind is useless’ was what they all said.

The old King Riying was very dissatisfied with this. A weak grandson was already enough; if he became a bookworm, he wouldn’t be able to bear the humiliation anymore.

All the wise men were driven away from then on. But the two years of study had already left an indelible mark on Shulitu. From then on, his eyes were thoughtful and inquisitive.

That same year, the royal child’s fate changed again.

Shulitu’s mother was King Rizhu’s daughter. It was said that King Rizhu and the old Khan had taken turns hugging him when he was a baby, but strangely, he only vaguely remembered the hard chest of his great-grandfather and had no memory of his distinguished and high-profile maternal grandfather.

King Rizhu looked at his grandson with cold eyes as if he were a strange foreign creature, and his eyes only softened for a moment when he said, “You look just like your mother.”

King Rizhu left but every once in a while he would come back to talk to him about the history and influence of the Naihang Tribe, and teach him the ways of kingship. Occasionally, he would also casually chat with him for a while, showing a little more affection than his paternal grandfather.

No one had told him anything and King Rizhu would, of course, not tell a child the truth, but Shulitu soon understood his position. One day he asked his father, “Are my grandpas going to make me the Khan?”

His father was taken aback, and anxiously put his hand over his mouth and looked around in horror. When his father made sure that no one was around, he asked, “Who told you this?”

“No one, it’s obvious.” The ten years old Shulitu’s tone was so calm that he didn’t sound anything like a child at all.

His father stared at him for a while, then suddenly sighed. “You’ll be a good Khan but remember, never say those words out loud again. Especially in front of your grandpas.”

Of course Shulitu understood the seriousness of the matter; he just wanted to know if his life was secure.

It turns out that it had been secure for over two years by now. Shulitu saw that the two kings were doing well in their schemes and he was fine being their puppet. Over the past year, King Rizhu even occasionally revealed his fondness of this grandson. This made him dream that when his grandpa no longer needed a puppet, he might even leave him a place to live on the prairie.

But that hot summer, the dream shattered so completely and so suddenly that it took Shulitu a whole night to figure out that something drastic had happened in the Royal Court. The power dome, supported by the kings, would only break this badly under an external force.

He wanted to communicate all of his ideas to his father, the new King Riying, but never got a chance. His father’s sudden death came and passed before he could say anything and now he was the new King Riying, and a man who had never planned to be in his life suddenly broke in. The external force was now close to him.

Shulitu had heard of the Dragon King’s name since long ago and he still had a child-like curiosity in his heart. Killing people like flies, escaping hundreds of disasters, and owning a devil bird that ate people. These descriptions of the Dragon King had left a deep impression in his heart. He had once fantasized about seeing this devil of the Western Regions but had never imagined that he would be under the other side’s control one day.

The news of his father’s death was brought by a fat, white counselor. Shulitu didn’t talk much with him but he soon realized what ‘control’ truly was.

Fang Wenshi immediately took over all the paperwork and seals and appointed himself as the temporary guardian of the new king. Then he summoned all the officers whose ranks were higher than the centurion and explained the situation, claiming that King Riying had entrusted the orphan to the Dragon King before he died.

It was only then that Shulitu saw the dagger his father had left him.

The officers were all silent. They had heard of the great changes that had taken place in the Court Attendants Army and were confident in the 8,000 soldiers of their own tribe. So they all turned to the little master and waited for his reaction. As long as he said or hinted at something, they would immediately hack the white fatty into pieces.

Shulitu held the dagger in his own hands and stared at it for a long time. When some of the officers even put their hands on the saber hilt, he finally looked up and solemnly said, “This is the legacy of my father. Mr. Fang is telling the truth. From now on, the Dragon King will be my guardian.”

The calm of the royal child impressed Fang Wenshi. He had been prepared to take hostages if necessary and for this, he had brought Shangguan Fei, Liman, and a dozen or so other officers.

Shulitu didn’t quite understand his father’s meaning but he knew that this dagger held a special meaning for him. It was the engagement gift of his parents. Most people didn’t know about it, not to mention the foreigners. The fact that Fang Wenshi had brought this to him already meant his father really did trust the Dragon King.

But he had seldom heard his father mention this devil. King Riying’s tribe never lacked supporters. There were many powerful close relatives but his father had for some reason chosen the strange Dragon King.

Gu Shenwei had taken King Riying’s action before his death as an attempt to entrust him with the orphan and didn’t feel that he was cheating at all. If King Riying really wanted to entrust the orphan to someone else, he could have asked the Dragon King to give the dagger to that person, rather than simply naming Shulitu.

Gu Shenwei had heard earlier from the Second Consort that the puppet chosen by King Rizhu was the grandson of King Riying. From then on, he had been interested in this twelve year old kid. It was just that he hadn’t expected for them to be tied up together so quickly.

King Riying was not supposed to die this soon. Gu Shenwei had sincerely hoped to continue his alliance with him but the cold arrow ended it and brought him a new ally.

Gu Shenwei wasn’t thinking too much into the situation yet. After Liman and Azheba pledged their allegiance, another hundred or so officers followed along and pledged to follow the Dragon King while the other fifty or so men took their leave, promising that they would repay the Dragon King’s kindness somehow in the future.

Gu Shenwei wasn’t clear about why he had happened to win over these officers. He ordered Fang Wenshi to take over King Riying’s army on the east while he himself led the other officers to rush back to the camp on the west side.

Shangguan Ru ran ahead of everyone and even the grievous news. She had come up with a plan along the way. Instead of directly returning to the Dragon Army camp to dispatch the female soldiers, she went straight to the Second Consort’s camp as it was not far away.

The Second Consort had more than eighty thousand horsemen who were loyal only to her. Although she was still under house arrest, she was not in danger. Tuosai had a plan that involved using her, and the house arrest was just a precaution to prevent her from divulging information to the Dragon King.

After hearing that Tuosai had died and that a scuffle was about to break out in the Court Attendants Army camp, the Second Consort immediately realized that a shield of hers had fallen and acted immediately. She revoked her house arrest sentence with the excuse that she was visiting Luo Ningcha and summoned her army. After the troops lined up in battle formation, she announced the death of the King Riyao Tuosai to them.

By that time, Shangguan Ru had already returned to the Dragon Army camp. The female soldiers immediately entered a state of operational readiness and surrounded Tuosai’s camp, demanding that the other side to hand over Queen Ju and the others who had been ‘invited’ here.

After Gu Shenwei hurried back, the crisis had just lifted. More and more news trickled in and at last, King Riyao’s subordinates believed that their lord was dead and they became willing to lay down their arms and hand over Queen Ju, but they still refused to surrender.

Surrendering to a woman or a foreigner was an unimaginable humiliation for the Norland Calvary.

“Tuosai has a few brothers who are fighting for the throne. This time we should find someone more obedient,” The Second Consort suggested as soon as she met up with the Dragon King.

Gu Shenwei had already found a good puppet and if all went well, he hoped to be able to give more titles on Shulitu.

But he hadn’t yet gotten the time to speculate the thoughts of this twelve years old royal kid.