Chapter 206 — The Summoner of Demons

"Kill a few chickens? Am I one of those chickens, or the monkey?"

The corner of Pei Wujiu's eye twitched. Sick with apprehension, he pressed a few Great Feng coins into the eunuch's hand and, steeling himself, walked on toward the palace. He had not gone far when another decree eunuch came toward him, also bound for the Imperial Academy, and greeted him face to face: "Congratulations, Lord Gu!"

"What is there to congratulate me for, Eunuch?" Pei Wujiu said absently.

"Lord Gu, you do not know the half of it. Your Academy's Doctor has won merit in quelling the rebellion, and His Majesty has sent this old servant to bestow rewards on him and raise his office."

Pei Wujiu started, blurting out, "Raised again? A eunuch passed this way not long ago to raise his office, so how can he be raised twice in a row?"

That decree eunuch said, "His Majesty has said that the first time was because others failed in their duty while the Academy Doctor did his duty well, and therefore he was to be promoted, to the sixth rank proper. This time, it is because the Academy Doctor has won merit in putting down the rebellion and achieved shining deeds in the Southern Wilds, so he is to be raised once more, to the fifth rank, secondary."

Pei Wujiu took out a few Great Feng coins and quietly pressed them into his hand, mumbling, "So he has won merit. The Academy Doctor is a doctor of my Academy; his merit and his reward are mine to share in..."

"Indeed!" The decree eunuch smiled a coquettish smile and hurried off.

Absent-minded, Pei Wujiu walked on toward the palace and met yet another decree eunuch coming the other way, whose face lit with delight the instant he saw him. "Congratulations, Lord Gu! Joy to you, Lord Gu!"

Pei Wujiu's face darkened. "What is there to congratulate me for, Eunuch?"

"His Majesty has commanded this old servant to proclaim a decree, raising the office of the Doctor of the Imperial Academy!"

The old eunuch laughed. "The Academy Doctor Shen Mu has healed the wounds of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, and is promoted to Grand Master of the Palace of the upper fifth rank proper, with treatment equal to that of the Directorate of Education! Three promotions in a single day—a great joy for your Imperial Academy!"

Pei Wujiu nodded woodenly, took out a few Great Feng coins, and slipped them into the old eunuch's hand without anyone the wiser, a smile on his lips that did not reach his eyes. "I share in the honor too..."

When the eunuch had gone far off, Pei Wujiu's face was black as ink. As one man rises, another falls—let Shen Mu be promoted again and he would stand equal to Pei Wujiu himself!

Three promotions for him, and no small sum out of Pei Wujiu's own purse!

"Let him rise once more and I shall have to call him my lord."

Pei Wujiu steadied himself, went to see the emperor, and presented the roster of scholars slain in battle. Emperor Yanfeng was reviewing memorials. He looked up, took the list, read it through, and his heart ached. "Those scholars were the pillars and beams of Our realm, the mainstays of our nation's future, and only because word leaked out were they murdered by the rebels! I want to kill someone!"

Cold sweat sprang up on Pei Wujiu's brow. He did not dare speak; who could say that if he opened his mouth, the one the emperor wished to kill would not be himself.

Emperor Yanfeng rose and paced back and forth, then abruptly struck the table and cried out in anguish and fury, "The order was issued only as I was about to set out, telling the scholars where they were to go for their training—so why were they ambushed? Pei Wujiu, dear Lord Gu! You tell me: who leaked the word?"

Pei Wujiu considered, then said, "Judging by the fighting in Li Prefecture, the Vice Governor of Li Prefecture had already taken Lu County. When the Directorate of Education and the scholars reached Li Prefecture, the rebels deployed the Soul-Dragging Lure at that very moment—which shows that the rebel faction knew the precise hour the scholars arrived in Li Prefecture, as though they had foreknowledge of it. They must have gotten word that the scholars were coming before Lu County fell; only so could they still have had the strength to summon demons and call back souls after the county was taken. That means the word did not leak from the Directorate of Education or from the scholars, but rather..."

He hardened his heart and said, "...rather, it was leaked by me, or by those few first-rank ministers."

"The traitors—they are among us!"

Emperor Yanfeng sneered. "It seems someone among us wishes my rump shifted off this seat, so that he may sit in it himself. Those who came to court that day to deliberate, and who knew of this matter, besides you and me, were all first-rank ministers, several of the Crown Prince's tutors, and the Minister of the Masses, the Minister of Works, and the Dukes of the Realm. Which of them do you think it might be?"

Beads of sweat the size of beans stood on Pei Wujiu's brow. He clenched his teeth and said not a word.

Emperor Yanfeng shot him a glance and gave a cold snort. "You dare not say? Then you are not loyal to Us."

Sweat rolled down Pei Wujiu's brow. "This subject was sealed in ice in the Desolate Ruins for two hundred years and knows little of the court's ministers; I dare not speak recklessly..."

"Speak recklessly, then; I pardon you."

"This subject is dull by nature, and stupid besides—I even let the Academy Doctor swindle from me the court sword I wear, which shows plainly how dull I am..."

Emperor Yanfeng laughed in sheer fury, leveling a finger at his nose. "Do not try to fish in troubled waters with me! The Academy Doctor cheated you of your sword, so bow your head to him and apologize, and ask it back. If you are stupid, what use have I for a Grand Libationer like you? Pack up your bedroll and be gone this instant! Speak: whom do you suspect?"

Pei Wujiu ground his teeth, then flung up his head. "The Crown Prince's tutors are highly suspect!"

"What did you say?"

Emperor Yanfeng's rage was past containing; his imperial might burst forth and bore Pei Wujiu's head down until he had to bow.

Then all at once Emperor Yanfeng sagged, and waved a hand. "Lord Gu, you are very clever, very clever... You may withdraw."

Drenched in cold sweat, Pei Wujiu backed out of the hall.

"Come back," said Emperor Yanfeng.

The fine hairs rose all over Pei Wujiu. He steeled himself and went back in. Emperor Yanfeng said slowly, "The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has rendered great merit this time, and I have never once rewarded him. What do you think I ought to bestow on him?"

Pei Wujiu bowed his head. "What could Your Majesty bestow on him?"

Emperor Yanfeng shook his head. "There is nothing left."

Pei Wujiu thought for a moment. "Then bestow upon the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping beauties and wealth."

"Your thought is my thought."

Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "Only I fear he will refuse it, as he has refused before."

Pei Wujiu said hesitantly, "Much has happened this time. If the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is truly wise, he will surely accept this time."

Emperor Yanfeng was briefly stunned, then laughed. "You are a curious fellow too. I did not kill the chicken for you to watch, and you are no chicken. Go. And one thing more: stop provoking the Academy Doctor at every turn; you cannot afford to cross him. His power is beyond your imagining. Each time you put on those little shoes he makes for you, I am shamed on your behalf. It was I who overrode every objection to put you in your post; I do not care to spend my days wiping your backside."

Pei Wujiu, overcome with shame, withdrew, thinking, "I cannot afford to cross him? I? I am a towering magnate of the demonic path, one of the handful of figures that count for anything in the whole of the demonic way—and I cannot afford to cross a green boy of the Five Luminaries realm? Have these several hundred years of mine been lived in vain..."