Chapter 268 — Seeking Only the Great Dao

The wife of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping also came onto the Altar of Heaven and looked ahead. Shen Mu sheathed his sword; Emperor Yanfeng watched his retreating back; the young woman watched them both, her face clouded with worry. The bloody battle soon subsided.

The monks and Daoists of Daitingming Temple and the Daoist sect—some died, some fled—but most lay dead here, their blood staining the Altar of Heaven. Blood gurgled down the steps, from the nine hundred and ninety-ninth step to the very first, pooling at the feet of the foreign envoys and the heads of the various sects and orders who had come to observe the ceremony below.

The Altar of Heaven, that place of sacrifice to Heaven, was dyed blood-red. "Long live the Emperor! Long live, long live!

" someone cried, suddenly falling to their knees.

Clatter— On the Altar of Heaven and below it, whether officials or embassies, or the heads of every sect, order, and clan, all dropped to one knee and cried with one voice: "Long live the Emperor!

Long live, long live!

" Emperor Yanfeng turned and stood before the highest step, spreading his arms wide to face the kneeling of his subjects. After a moment, he raised both hands in a gesture: "Rise. " The wife of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping looked at Emperor Yanfeng.

Behind him stood Shen Mu and the eight Inspectors of the Nether Demon Cult, also upon the Altar of Heaven, and they had not knelt. "My lord, Sect Master Shen lets his brilliance show too keenly; I fear it bodes ill," she said softly to the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping.

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping glanced at Shen Mu and shook his head. "To him, the kingdom of Jingping is merely a place of tempering.

Killing the Crown Prince was no more than one trial in that tempering.

He carries no such worries, and the emperor, within and without, must indeed rely on him greatly. " The Imperial Preceptor's wife was startled: "Tempering? " The Imperial Preceptor nodded: "Tempering. " The Crown Prince's rebellion this time—in league with the Daoist sect and Daitingming Temple, seeking to rise up, murder the emperor, and seize the throne—wrought no small damage or consequence.

In the records of the court historians, it might be no more than a plain sentence: "On the eighteenth of the second month, Crown Prince Yuxia rebelled; on the sixth of the third month, he was put to death.

" Just that simple.

The details were not for outsiders to know. Much of the story could only be found in unofficial histories, most of it hearsay and unreliable.

Yet after rebellion came a bloody purge. The officials of the Crown Prince's faction had their homes seized and families exterminated; the monks and Daoists of Daitingming Temple and the Daoist sect were dragged to the execution ground.

The beheadings at Caishikou ran from the seventh of the third month until early in the fourth before they were barely done. There was an incident in the midst of it: the Crown Prince's head was never found. The Crown Prince's head had vanished.

Though they searched all around the Altar of Heaven, it was never found, and Emperor Yanfeng did not order a thorough investigation. Then the emperor issued an edict stripping Crown Prince Ling Yuxia of his name, erasing him from the imperial genealogy and ancestral temple, and demoting the Crown Prince's birth mother—the late former empress—to the rank of concubine. Emperor Yanfeng also shuffled officials, promoting young scholars selected from the Imperial Academy and choosing capable men from the various armies and ministries to fill the vacant posts.

A few days later, the emperor summoned the Second Prince Ling Yushu back from the frontier to report on his duties.

A few days after that, feeling unwell, the emperor named Ling Yushu Crown Prince and regent to oversee the government.

"Yushu, now that you oversee the government, what will your first act be? " Emperor Yanfeng asked when he summoned Crown Prince Ling Yushu.

He did not think highly of this second son. Among all his children, Ling Yushu was hardly remarkable; he was not the boldest, nor the most gifted.

He had, in fact, admired Ling Yuxia—so bold, so daring, so gifted—only he had been too bold and too daring. His other elder sons had died young, outlived by him. Ling Yushu pondered.

He had only just returned from the frontier battlefield, and the months of hardship had given him a more commanding air and a greater resolve. This time, when Ling Yuxia colluded with Daitingming Temple and the Daoist sect in rebellion, Ling Yushu escaped calamity by being absent from the capital. "Your son would abolish my elder brother's.

. .

" Ling Yushu said gravely. Emperor Yanfeng's face darkened. "You are the eldest son now. I have no such son as him. " Ling Yushu paused, then said: "Your son would abolish the treaties he signed with foreign nations, reclaim the ceded lands, and clear away the lands the sects swallowed in the chaos.

Now that the Daoist sect and Daitingming Temple have suffered greatly, with more than half their masters lost, your son would seize the chance to reclaim most of the sect lands of the Daoist sect and Daitingming Temple.

" Emperor Yanfeng's expression eased a little. "And then? " "Your son would relieve the disaster on your behalf.

But before that, your son would first issue an edict of self-accusation. .

.

" Emperor Yanfeng flew into a fury and shouted: "Say that again!

" Ling Yushu bowed and said gravely: "Your son would first issue an edict of self-accusation, take the causes of these natural disasters upon himself, pray that Heaven cease sending calamity and tribulation, and soothe the hearts of the people. " Emperor Yanfeng's face remained dark. "Who taught you this? " he said coldly. Ling Yushu was taken aback.

"Your son.

.

.

" "I asked you—who taught you this? " Emperor Yanfeng rose, beside himself with rage, pacing back and forth. Suddenly he shouted: "You are my son.

I know you through and through—you could not have spoken those words!

They are not the words of a second prince; only one seated on the throne could see so clearly and reason so truly!

Speak—who taught you?

" Cold sweat sprang to Ling Yushu's brow. He gritted his teeth and answered honestly: "After returning to the capital, your son went to visit the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. It happened that the Palace Counselor was treating his wounds. Your son spoke with them, saying that Father Emperor might question him on affairs of state and test him, and so sought their counsel. .

. " Emperor Yanfeng's anger eased. "The edict of self-accusation—which of them proposed it? " Ling Yushu said: "Both the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and the Palace Counselor spoke of it. They said this calamity was a punishment sent down by the gods, and that it would be better to comply with the gods and take slow measures.

To force matters would only bring ruin. Better that your son issue the edict of self-accusation than Father Emperor.

If Father Emperor issues such an edict, it is a denial of the reforms; your son is Crown Prince, and may dissemble. " Emperor Yanfeng's expression eased further. He sat down and continued: "I know that with your wit and courage, you would not dare speak such words—someone must have taught you, and so I feigned anger. When I ask you of state affairs, do not merely repeat what they taught you; give me your own views as well. " Ling Yushu assented.

Emperor Yanfeng sighed: "I do not worry about the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping; I worry about the Palace Counselor. I fear that one day, when he and I are gone, you will not be able to contend with him. This time I have lost all my cultivation; my divine treasury has been shattered, and it will be hard to cultivate it back. That is why I have made you regent to oversee the government.

You must be diligent and cautious.