Chapter 267 — Slaying the Human Emperor

We drew ever nearer the capital, and the spies along the road grew more numerous. Though beyond its walls the world suffered flood and famine, war and ruin, the lands about the capital still sang and danced in peace; red silk was wound about many a tree, and the roads filled with foreign embassies hurrying to the capital. The enthronement of a new emperor was no small matter—all the more so since this new sovereign, before he had even taken the throne, showed at every turn how he differed from the dynasty before him: he treated foreign lands with kindness and was willing to make friends of them.

In the former reign, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had loved the use of arms. He had swallowed up dozens of nations, beaten the other great powers of the region into the dust, seized their lands, or forced them to submit as vassals and pay tribute—arrogance and bluster in the extreme. Before the Imperial Preceptor turned his armies upon the Wasteland Ruins, Jingping stood at the height of its power, waging war against five great nations at once; only after the Imperial Preceptor was assassinated did Jingping's road of expansion slow.

But the new sovereign of this reign was gentle and refined, full of courtesy. He treated Jingping's sects with kindness and received foreign envoys with impeccable manners. Not only did he return to the surrounding nations the lands that the savage, bloodthirsty Imperial Preceptor had conquered—he promised indemnities besides, and declared himself willing to mend relations with foreign powers.

The rule by which other nations did homage to Jingping was abolished by the new emperor as well. The foreign lands were delighted and lavish in their praise, calling the new emperor Ling Yuxia a wise ruler such as Jingping had not seen in fifteen hundred years. Beyond all this, the emperor not yet enthroned had widely invited the men of the sects to attend his accession ceremony.

And there were whispers that on the very day of his enthronement he meant to issue an edict of self-accusation—to take upon his own head the wrath of Heaven and the resentment of men that Jingping's years of reform had brought down, to beg forgiveness of the blue sky, praying that Heaven visit its punishment upon him alone and spare the countless multitudes of Jingping. "That is the cruelest stroke of all. " Shen Mu exclaimed in admiration again and again, and said to the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and to the emperor: "Two hundred years you labored at your reforms, toiling without rest, remaking the common notions of the world, driving forward the arts of the Dao and the divine powers. How many curses did you bear, how much heart's blood did you spend, how many men fought and bled for it—and only so did Jingping become what it is today.

One edict of self-accusation from the new emperor, and your two hundred years of labor, the two hundred years of soldiers who died for it, all go down the drain. That stroke—cruel. Cruel beyond measure.

" Emperor Yanfeng gave a stifled grunt. A tearing pain filled his chest; he wished to weep and had no tears. His voice was bitter and dry: "Yuxia. My good son. That blade is planted in my heart.

.

. " The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's face was as still as an old well. "Once we are in the capital, a few days will suffice for me to reach my old subordinates. Seven or eight of every ten ministers at court will support Your Majesty. Add to that the Dragon Guard, the forbidden army hidden within the nine dragon veins, and we can seize the capital at any moment. The only problem now is this: the Great Tingming Temple and the Daoist sect have left so many monks and priests in the households of these princes and ministers—in name to beg alms, in truth to keep watch.

Cult Master Shen, I need you to use the strength of the Nether Demon Cult to get me into the city to meet with them. " Shen Mu shook his head.

"There is no need for such trouble. " The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping was briefly startled. "The Great Tingming Temple and the Daoist sect have spread themselves too wide. They wish to hold the whole board in their hands, and in truth they are full of holes. " Shen Mu halted. This was Houji Town, less than a hundred li from the capital. They stopped before a griddle-cake stall, and Shen Mu, buying his breakfast, said: "It is like spreading a griddle cake.

Spread the batter too wide and it cannot withstand a single blow.

The wider they spread their cake, the thinner it grows; when the crown prince takes the throne, they will have too little strength left to guard themselves.

And the monks and priests they left in the houses of the princes and ministers will instead be held in check by those same princes and ministers, unable to go to the aid of the imperial city.

" The cake was ready. The stallkeeper wrapped it in yellow paper; Shen Mu took it and first handed it to the Imperial Preceptor's lady. She bit into it, her bright eyes glancing about, and said in a low voice: "You speak of all this so openly—are you not afraid of ears behind the wall? We have met a good many of the crown prince's spies on this road. " "I am not afraid. " Shen Mu smiled faintly. All at once the market fell silent—the passersby, the peddlers, the vegetable sellers, the vegetable buyers, the pig slaughterer, the hawkers—and every head turned, every gaze falling upon them as one.

"Cult Master!

" they said with one voice. Shen Mu waved a hand and laughed. "Carry on.

Do not disturb us.

" The Imperial Preceptor's lady was startled. Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "Orders given, prohibitions obeyed—that is the beginning of kingship.

Cult Master Shen, you frighten me.

Your Heaven-Sage Cult frightens me too.

" The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping nodded. "Orders given, prohibitions obeyed, all moving as one—that is the bearing of one who would be king, who would be emperor.

Your Majesty is right to be uneasy. But in twenty thousand years since the Heaven-Sage Cult was founded, not one of its cult masters has ever named himself emperor. Your Majesty may set his heart at ease.

" Emperor Yanfeng said in vexation: "You are all of the Heaven-Sage Cult—even you and your lady, Imperial Preceptor, are of the Heaven-Sage Cult, one a Heaven King, the other an incense master. I am the only outsider here, so you may all make a fool of me as you please! " Shen Mu said hurriedly: "Would Your Majesty care to join the cult?

" .

.

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"How do we enter the capital? " When they came outside the capital, Emperor Yanfeng gazed from afar at the city gate and saw it heavily guarded, with layer upon layer of inspections; to get in would be as hard as climbing to heaven. Today was the day the crown prince would ascend the throne and become the new emperor; on this day the new emperor would issue his edict of self-accusation at the Altar of Heaven, and the envoys of every nation, the cult masters and gate masters of every school, the heads of every great clan, and the civil and military officials besides, would all go to witness the rite. Hence the strict defenses. Shen Mu shook his head.

"No matter.

We shall simply walk in. " Emperor Yanfeng was briefly startled; Shen Mu had already led them to the gate, and the soldiers and officers there looked straight through them, letting them pass into the city.

"Are they of the Heaven-Sage Cult as well?

" The Imperial Preceptor's lady was briefly startled, and said quietly to Shen Mu: "The emperor is here. Do not be so ostentatious, or you will rouse His Majesty's suspicion. What the emperor wants is a state above which stands the cult—not a cult above which stands the state.

Cult Master, be careful. " Shen Mu looked at Emperor Yanfeng, and indeed a look of worry had come over his face. It was only natural: in the capital itself, the imperial guards holding the city gates were all men of the Nether Demon Cult—how could that leave him easy?