Chapter 649 — A Sense of Loss

In the imperial palace, many of the maids wore the wan, sallow look of the underfed, and their clothing was exceedingly plain; some were seated outside the door of the imperial kitchen, plucking vegetables, and watching them, Shen Mu was seized by the illusion that he had wandered into a vegetable market. Surely the State of Jingping was wealthy beyond question: the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had opened two broad highways linking the Western Land and the Central Land, binding the West to Jingping, and trade flourished; Shen Mu had seen with his own eyes how the court, high and low, built bridges and paved roads and how the common folk lived in comfort. And yet the emperor and his palace had grown poor.

It must be the war in Taihuangtian that had drained the treasury, leaving the national coffers empty. The war in Taihuangtian was a bottomless pit; there was no economy to speak of out there, and once fighting began everything depended on Jingping as the great rear base, supplying Taihuangtian with baggage trains, military pay, grain and fodder, and primordial arms. What was more, the common people of Taihuangtian were migrating into Jingping without cease, and settling them, too, required money and grain from the treasury - no small expense.

No wonder Emperor Yanfeng, on learning that an alliance with the remnants of Chiming could turn a handsome profit, had been beside himself with delight and lost all decorum.

Before long Yan Zhigui came and said, "Your Majesty, the envoys have been settled in. May I ask, Your Majesty, how shall we conduct the negotiations with the envoys of Chiming? " Emperor Yanfeng handed Yan Zhigui the list Shen Mu had drawn up and said, "Negotiate according to the terms on this list.

And I will further grant the remnants of Chiming a place to dwell, open trading ports, break through roads - tower ships and flying carriages, everything they could wish for. " Yan Zhigui looked over the list and was startled; he glanced sidelong at Shen Mu and said, trembling, "Lord Shen, this list - you are not joking?

" Shen Mu said, "I am not joking.

Chi Xi will agree as well. These divine weapons and fine arms are of little real use to the remnants of Chiming; they have not the men to wield such things.

Lord Yan need remember only one point: it is they who have need of us, not we who have need of them. And one thing more - the Wheel of Creation must be obtained, by whatever means. " Yan Zhigui hurried off.

Emperor Yanfeng sighed with feeling: "For some time now reports of battle have come from Taihuangtian without pause. They set my blood racing and my heart in my throat by turns; I wished I could go to the front myself and slay the enemy.

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has compiled the cultivation methods of Taihuangtian, and I have pondered them long and gained a great deal - only that I cannot take the field myself leaves me with some regret. " Just as he spoke, a delighted voice rang out: "Oxherd! " Shen Mu looked toward the sound and said in surprise, "Sister Xiu! How have you come back from Taihuangtian?

" Ling Yuxiu came flying toward them; seeing Emperor Yanfeng standing right beside Shen Mu, she hastily slowed her pace, composed her face into something grave, and came forward with measured, dignified steps.

Emperor Yanfeng laughed: "There has been no great battle in Taihuangtian of late, so Xiu'er came home. I still have some state affairs to see to; I will go on ahead. " He walked away, turning his head from time to time to look back, and only when he saw that Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu stood there without any excessive conduct did he leave at ease. The moment Ling Yuxiu saw him go, she seized Shen Mu's hand and strode forward, laughing: "Since my father became a god he has grown more and more imposing - only a little sneaky with it.

He is probably still hiding in some dark corner watching us.

Let us go to the imperial garden and shake him off!

" Pulled along by her, Shen Mu stumbled forward at a run. They turned several corners and passed through several of those sky-arching galleries, until ahead of them they met a party of consorts out strolling together.

Ling Yuxiu hastily released Shen Mu's hand, put on a dignified air, and greeted the consorts with a graceful curtsy; only after the noble ladies had passed out of sight did she take Shen Mu's hand again and go running blithely on. A few steps further and they met a great train of palace maids escorting the Empress herself.

Ling Yuxiu was startled and hastily resumed the sober, proper image of a princess, bowing to the Empress: "Mother Empress. " The Empress drew her aside and murmured with her a while, then looked Shen Mu up and down and said with a smile, "Cult Master Shen grows ever taller and handsomer.

" Shen Mu felt there was something odd in the way she looked at him - rather like a mother-in-law sizing up a prospective son-in-law; he stood to one side, his face burning. Once the Empress had gone far off, Ling Yuxiu caught hold of him again and ran him onward at full tilt. At last they came to the imperial garden, and she burst out giggling: "It is so uncomfortable in the palace - bound by one ceremony after another, never free to be myself.

The jianghu is better; there a person can live wild and merry. " Shen Mu looked about as he followed her: rare flowers and strange blossoms, a beauty beyond telling - and yet there were also plots of vegetables, with many maids watering the greens and picking off insects. No doubt the palace had no money and must grow its own food. "Sister Xiu, has the Holy Maiden Xiang also returned to Jingping?

" Shen Mu asked abruptly, admiring the scenery. Ling Yuxiu flared up: "We have not seen each other in so long, and instead of billing and cooing with me, you ask after her?

How much do you miss her? " Shen Mu said hastily, "I have proper business with her, I do not miss her!

" "She is back! The fragrant little demoness came back with me!

" Ling Yuxiu stalked forward in a huff. Shen Mu hurried after her. The two came to a flowering tree, its blossoms in riotous bloom, the tree not tall; Shen Mu took a slender branch between his fingers, bent low, and breathed in the fragrance of the flowers, a smile rising on his face.

He roused the Three Primes Spirit-Meeting Formula, and just as his nose was about to touch the petals, his primordial spirit had already left his body. Ling Yuxiu saw his profile - clear and handsome - and felt that in that moment the scent of the flowers was a little intoxicating; her heart began to beat faster, her face flushed, and her breath grew hurried.

Elsewhere, Si Yunxiang suddenly felt a stirring in her heart and hastily roused the Three Primes Spirit-Meeting Formula; her primordial spirit left her body, and there she saw Shen Mu's primordial spirit come flying.

"Holy Maiden Xiang, Princess Xiu and I are in the imperial garden.

This is urgent, so I will speak bluntly.

" Shen Mu's primordial spirit sent out its thought-waves: "The Jingping treasury is empty.

Does the Sacred Cult still have money? " Si Yunxiang laughed: "You are dallying with that little minx Yuxiu in the imperial garden, and yet you come to meet your little paramour in secret - truly the manner of a demon cult master!

Yes, the Sacred Cult has money; buying up half of Jingping would be nothing to us.

Our cult's holdings are spread across the world, every hall blooming wherever it stands. Whether in the traffic between the Central Land and the Western Land or in the digging of mines and the forging of primordial arms, the Sacred Cult has a hand, and so the money flows in without cease.

" Shen Mu thought for a moment, then said, "Let the Sacred Cult keep back what it needs for daily expenses, and donate the rest to the emperor, for the emperor to use in the treasury. " Si Yunxiang rejected it at once: "No!

That is money the brothers and sisters of the Sacred Cult earned by their own skill.