Chapter 119 — To Take the Head From Your Neck

The whole Grand Academy was silent as a tomb; not a sound could be heard.

Emperor Yanfeng had plainly been moved to speak from the heart, and meant to seize this chance to overawe his ministers, to bind their hearts to his, so that sovereign and subject might be as one. After a moment he smiled and sat down again: "I have let myself go somewhat.

Guozijian, bring me the register. " Daoist Lingyun hurried forward with the register held up in both hands; Emperor Yanfeng took up the vermilion brush, wrote a few words after Shen Mu's name, and said, "From this day forth, he is a disciple of the Son of Heaven.

" With that he closed the register and handed it back to Daoist Lingyun. Then he looked to the young Patriarch. "Grand Libationer, the choosing of scholars is properly your office.

I have overstepped and chosen for you. What say you?

" The young Patriarch smiled.

"Your Majesty is sage and wise, a man of great talent and grand design; it is a blessing for the Wasteland. " Emperor Yanfeng laughed heartily and shook his head again and again.

"Flattery. Flattering me again.

Enough, then; let the scholars continue their trials. " The Guozijian of the Grand Academy took the order and set the many scholars to their contests once more. A few primary-school scholars had still not finished their examinations, and these too were tested together before the Grand Academy Hall, with Daoist Lingyun again presiding.

Even had Daoist Lingyun wished to let the sons of great officers and nobles through, he could do nothing. After all, those present were powerhouses whose eyes were sharp as snow; the least trickery on his part would be seen through at once.

The great examination barely ended by afternoon; some rejoiced and some grieved, and for the grand-academy scholars especially the contest was savage and merciless. To enter the Grand Academy, one might say, was to be one in a hundred. Among the primary-school scholars only five places remained.

Those of illustrious birth were, after all, the more deeply learned and surpassed the sons of humble houses; of those five scholars, only the one called Si Yunxiang passed the great examination and became a Grand Academy scholar, and the other four all came of great and illustrious houses.

It was not that scholars of humble birth did not strive, but that their resources were limited.

The primary schools and the grand academies taught the same martial arts, the same spells, the same swordsmanship; however finely one practiced them, one could not break past that hedge. The great houses, besides cultivating what the primary schools and grand academies imparted, possessed the peerless arts handed down in their own families, from their ancestors, and from their sects, and had elders at home to guide them; hence the small proportion of scholars from humble gates. Shen Mu saw it all, and thought: "If this goes on, I fear the upper ranks of Jingping will in the end be held by the great houses and the sects; the sons of humble gates will never have their day, and can never rise to the court. And so the state cannot long endure.

Emperor Yanfeng has a mind to reform; whether he can change this, I do not know. " In such a state of things the ruler is forever the ruler, and the strata harden between them; and among the rulers some faction must inevitably grow great, greater and greater, holding more and more resources, until at last it becomes a cancer in the empire. Then when the scholars of humble gates rise in revolt, the cancer seizes the moment to stir up wind and waves, and the empire falls in a single day. When the great examination was over, the Guozijian assigned lodgings.

Whoever became a Grand Academy scholar had a dwelling of his own in the Grand Academy; the place was called the Scholars' Lodge, where scholars dwelt. Each scholar had a compound of two courtyards, one within the other; the Grand Academy scholars lived apart in their own lodgings, where everything one could wish for was provided, and servants kept house and cooked and washed, so that the scholars need not trouble themselves with the small affairs of living. Those of some standing might even bring their own servants or maids; Shen Mu had nothing at all, and so of course had no such concerns.

"I wonder whether Xue Hu'er might be brought here too.

When matters on this side are settled, and I have seen the Patriarch, I will go and fetch her. " Shen Mu wandered about to look his fill. The jade peak on which the Grand Academy stood was far greater than he had seen at first: hills within the hill, caves within the caves. Besides Chunyang Hall, Qingyang Hall, and the Grand Academy Hall, there were a dozen or so palaces of every kind, and the Tianlu Tower besides. Tianlu Tower was the place where books were kept, and it had its own Secretariat; the word says what it means, keepers of secret books. The books in Tianlu Tower were the texts and records the empire had gathered from every sect beneath heaven, stored within the tower and watched over by the Secretariat.

Shen Mu halted to look, and saw the tower swarming with people coming and going, a bustling crowd, most of them Grand Academy scholars, and some of the imperial clan besides. "Young Sect Master, you have come all this way to this place.

How does it strike you? " A hoary voice came from behind him.

Shen Mu turned, bowed low in greeting, and said, "Patriarch. " It was the young Patriarch himself. Though he had the look of a youth, his voice was very old; he smiled.

"No need for such courtesy. " Shen Mu steadied himself. "On the road here I saw the state of Jingping, and it struck me hard.

My heart is far from calm. " The young Patriarch's interest kindled and he stepped forward.

"Oh?

Tell me.

" Shen Mu fell in beside him, talking as they walked. "I looked as I went, and everywhere in Jingping I saw the signs of a great flourishing.

The arts of the Dao and divine powers are in daily use among the common folk, new each day. Rain is drawn down in drought and clouds dispersed in flood, near to miracles.

Ships sail the sky and boats run on land, and the alchemist's art has been put to the everyday uses of the people; the work of creation is marvelous.

Jingping has its disorders, but they cannot last long, and after them it will be mightier than ever. " The young Patriarch led him to a lake upon the mountain and stood at the water's edge, where jade willows cast their shade, and asked with curiosity, "Which do you think has the greater future, the sects or the state? By your account, you hold that no sect can stand against a state? " Shen Mu nodded. "The primary schools, the grand academies, and the Grand Academy have already settled it: Jingping is the greatest sect under heaven, and all other sects are but its primary schools and grand academies, furnishing it with scholars and nothing more. How can such sects contend with Jingping?

" The young Patriarch sat down. Two fishing rods lay on the bank; he gave one to Shen Mu and kept one himself, cast the bait into the water, and smiled. "Yet the realm is in great disorder now.

Many sects have seized the chance to rebel, sparks setting the plain ablaze; and on top of that the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is gravely wounded. To my eye Jingping is in peril, and may be destroyed at any hour. " Shen Mu cast his line and bait into the water too, and laughed despite himself. "Patriarch, you are teasing me, are you not?

The Imperial Preceptor is only letting them run in order to catch them, meaning to sweep up every opposing force in the realm at one stroke. That cannot fool me, and of course it cannot fool you either. " The young Patriarch watched the lake, his face grave, and after a moment said, "It is more than letting them run to catch them; you have left out the stratagem of self-injury. The Imperial Preceptor is indeed gravely wounded; his hurts are severe.