Chapter 267 — Slaying the Human Emperor

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping said: "Now that we are in the city, what shall we do?

" Shen Mu took out two pills and gave one each to Emperor Yanfeng and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. "To the imperial city, to the Altar of Heaven—to watch the crown prince ascend the throne and sacrifice to Heaven.

" The imperial city.

The Hall of the Golden Throne.

"Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years to our emperor! " Crown Prince Ling Yuxia of Jingping, robed in the dragon robe, sat upright upon the dragon throne, a monk standing at one shoulder and a Daoist priest at the other. Below, the civil and military officials bowed to the new emperor, a mighty spectacle. So many officials were there that the court hall was already filled with kneeling men; others knelt outside the hall, and still others upon the steps.

In the hall were envoys and embassies from several dozen nations, bearing the banners of their countries as they watched the rite. And several dozen cult masters and sect masters watched as well.

The rites of a new emperor's enthronement were exceedingly elaborate; by the time they were done it was nearly noon.

The spring sun gave little warmth. Ling Yuxia led the civil and military officials out of the hall, walking at their head, the ceremonial guard following close behind—among the guard many monks and priests, chanting sutras and scriptures in loud, resounding voices. Behind came the crown princess and a host of palace maids; the embassies followed after, and the heads of the great sects and clans came along toward the Altar of Heaven, the procession growing grander with every step. At Ling Yuxia's back came the Grand Guardian of the Heir, the Grand Tutor of the Heir, and other ministers of the first rank—men who had followed the dragon, his meritorious servants, his right arms, of the highest station.

With the emperor's "demise," Ling Yuxia had inherited the throne as a matter of course; yet he knew well that though he had roots at court, those roots were not firm. So he had summoned many eminent monks of the Great Tingming Temple and priests of the Daoist sect, demoted the officials who would not submit, and raised monks and priests to office. Of the civil and military officials at court, nearly half were monks and priests, chanting as they made their way to the Altar of Heaven—an exceedingly strange spectacle. As for the Duke of Weiguo, the Prince of Taishan, the Supreme Pillar of State, the Generalissimo of Heavenly Strategy, and others, Ling Yuxia, on the grounds of their "advanced years," had graciously permitted them to retire; they were to remain in the capital for the time being, and after the grand ceremony they might return home in silken splendor. Nearly half the officials at court had been sent into retirement—some of them still young. That too was a curious thing.

Ling Yuxia did not trust these "retired" officials. He could not let them leave the capital, fearing rebellion, and so kept them in a kind of house arrest within their own mansions, guarded by monks and priests of the Great Tingming Temple and the Daoist sect.

The Prince of Taishan, the Generalissimo of Heavenly Strategy, and the rest were still held in the imperial prison. Before anyone marked it, they had come to the Altar of Heaven. The officials poured out; the monks and priests, nearly half of them, took their places to either side of the steps.

Ling Yuxia, lifting his dragon robe, climbed the stairs alone, reverent and grave, while the crown princess and the women of the inner palace knelt below the terrace.

The stair was long—nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps. Ling Yuxia reached the top of the Altar of Heaven and was about to kneel in reverence when suddenly a deep, weighty voice said: "The Tathagata Buddha of the Great Tingming Temple has handed down a dharma decree. Let Your Majesty receive it. " A monk stepped forth, his countenance majestic and solemn, a wheel of Buddha-light behind him, the Tathagata's decree held up in his hands, and came before Ling Yuxia.

Ling Yuxia hurriedly knelt to receive it and said with all reverence: "This guilty subject receives the World-Honored One's dharma decree. " Below, the old ministers of the former dynasty frowned, heads bowed, saying nothing. The monks among the other officials chanted the Buddha's name in unison, Buddha-light blazing ten thousand fathoms from the backs of their heads—a magnificent sight!

In midair celestial flowers rained down in confusion, phantom shapes of gods and Buddhas appeared, marvel upon marvel—as though all the gods and Buddhas of heaven were blessing and praising him. The monk finished reading the Tathagata's decree. It said nothing more than that Emperor Yanfeng was without the Way, that Heaven was wroth and men resentful; that if the new emperor would labor diligently and keep to his proper place, the gods and Buddhas of heaven would send down blessing and long life, and the heavenly deities would protect him.

And so forth. The crown prince received the decree.

Then another Daoist priest stepped forth, holding up the Daoist Lord's decree, and said: "The Daoist Lord of the Daoist sect has handed down a decree.

Let Your Majesty receive it. " Ling Yuxia hurriedly knelt again: "This guilty subject receives the Daoist Lord's decree.

" The Daoist priests among the civil and military officials were not to be outdone; each of them worked his primal qi, conjuring dragons and phoenixes and every auspicious sign, dancing through the sky. The Daoist Lord's decree likewise said nothing more than that the new emperor should be diligent for the people, labor at governance, and not go in for reforms and the like.

And so forth. The crown prince received the decree, rose, straightened his robes, and was about to kneel at the center of the Altar of Heaven to beg Heaven's forgiveness. Then a voice came from far off, clear and ringing: "The Holy Preceptor, Cult Master of the Heaven-Sage Cult, delivers a decree in person.

Let Your Majesty receive it!

" At these words the whole Altar of Heaven, above and below, broke into an uproar; all turned to look whence the voice had come. Below the altar, the envoys of every nation, the cult leaders, gate masters, and sect masters who had come to watch the rite all turned to look as well.

Ling Yuxia came in a few strides to the head of the altar's stair and looked down from his height.

A youth was walking toward the Altar of Heaven with two monks and a Daoist nun. The two monks' steps were unsteady, and the nun seemed to be with child, her movements somewhat hampered.

Shen Mu, smiling, walked straight on toward the Altar of Heaven and said unhurriedly: "The Great Tingming Temple is a holy place. The Daoist sect is a holy place.

My Heaven-Sage Cult is a holy place as well.

Ling Yuxia—the Tathagata and the Daoist Lord did not come, yet you knelt to their decrees. This time the cult has come in person.

Will you not kneel to welcome it? " "The Nether Demon Cult Master! " Suddenly a clan head beside Shen Mu sprang up and struck at him with murderous intent.

At that very moment a great banner appeared out of empty air beside Shen Mu; its cloth rolled and blocked the clan head's blow. The banner unfurled, and behind it stood a mighty man with a sword case on his back; a flash of sword-light flew out and took the clan head's head. The great man with the sword case rolled his banner, lifted the clan head's head, and vanished. Among the watching crowd a headless corpse swayed and toppled.