Book 11: Chapter 137

“… To avoid an erroneous indictment, a personal inquiry must precede the verdict. Heh, the minimum sentence is nine years and maximum is death. Good job personally overseeing it. My mantra is to rule with virtue. Save for serious crimes, I rarely execute anyone. Even if there are no innocents wrongly charged, the punishment is excessively harsh. Ministry of Justice’s Secretary Leng truly refuses to let a blemish exist. As a politician, he’s meticulous in everything he does. Not bad.

“The imperial examination is a few months away; preparations should begin, yet Ministry of Rite’s Secretary Zhang has not mentioned anything. Is he testing my son?

“Secretary Lie is constantly requesting more soldiers to train. I suppose the fiasco in Huzhou was the catalyst. If I were to trust the pugilistic world to him for a few months, we’d see infernos in every city. Good job rejecting his requests.”

“Uhm, Zhu’er has improved. He’s demonstrating the leaders.h.i.+p qualities of a state proctor. I’m pleased to see I was not wrong about him.”

Emperor Yuansheng held a thin sheet of paper out to the flame on a candle, never letting it out of his sights until it was useless black sc.r.a.ps. Emperor’s Entourage’s agents never ceased reporting to him in Nieyao while he was away.

Emperor Yuansheng heard all about Secretary Lie deliberately farting at the front of Red Prince’s estate eighteen times three days following Red Prince rebuking Secretary Lie for his harsh ruling. Even Red Prince leaving his manor to escape the stench was reported.

Secretary Lie was a menace on the battlefield and loyal in court. Howbeit, he was a problem in other departments. For instance, he had yet to understand the nature of the military movement in Huzhou when he caught wind of it, yet he got out of bed to barge into Red Prince’s abode in the middle of the night, demanding approval to march thirty thousand troops into Huzhou. Red Prince practically used every explanation in existence to calm Secretary Lie down. Thankfully, news that there was no need to be alarmed arrived half a day later.

“His Highness Red Prince has Prime Minister Li Si for literacy and civil education, and he has State Preceptor Lai for martial arts tuition. Your Majesty, your decision to trust me with an overseer position is most wise.”

“Indeed. His Highness is honest, upright, generous and tolerant. He is the best candidate for bringing stability to the imperial court.”

Regardless of how much a monarch liked Liu Shan Men and Qilin Guards, none of them would be able to replace Emperor’s Entourage as agents who served at the reigning ruler’s side. Obviously, there had been a fair number of agents following along on Emperor Yuansheng’s quest, but only a select few agents were permitted to listen in on major political news. One such agent was Dugu.

As third rank on Seventeen Hidden Dragons and an agent Emperor Yuansheng personally raised, he was granted access to more information than mere agents, such as Tie Hanyi. The reason Ye Luo was allowed to be in the same room as them was purely attributed to her pedigree.

“My boots are nice and s.h.i.+ny now, so that is enough of that. Zhu’er may have improved, but… he’s not the only one who has improved.”

Emperor Yuansheng burnt a letter he hadn’t even read. Because the letter came from Beiping, Dugu and Ye Luo knew who it was from, let alone speak up.

Although the decision to entrust national affairs to Red Prince was enough for everyone in the imperial court to speculate, Dugu and Ye Luo had no right to make any speculations.  They had no business interfering with who Emperor Yuansheng chose to crown or opining on the topic. As his ears and nose, they would never inquire about something not intended for them to know about.

Emperor Yuansheng mulled to himself for a while whenever he finished reading a letter. A while later, he smiled. “In saying that, I’m pleased with Zhu’er’s progress. I’m an embarra.s.sment compared to him, leaving national affairs in his hands while I am away.”

Dugu questioned, “Do you have a date in mind for your return?”

“If I don’t iron out the situation with Morcher, this campaign loses half of its purposes. Alas, the eleven sovereigns aren’t easy to deal with. I don’t know how long it will take, but I am sure it will take some time. By the way, I haven’t seen Tianhu for several days. Where is he?”

Dugu smiled. “You are aware he cannot sit still. Days ago, he kept mumbling ‘No, no, there is something odd about him,’ and left. He is ostensibly investigating something. Either way, I have not seen him, either.”

“The last Tianhu was also fond of disappearing without a trace before you know it, as well as embodying a mind that could have the pugilistic world dance in his hand. The current Tianhu certainly learnt from his predecessor. Miss Luo, I am not disparaging your father when I say this: the successor your father chose has learnt well from him.”

Ye Luo laughed. “Fret not, Your Majesty. While Sir Tianhu has stopped causing huge incidents in his wake, there has been nothing major for years thanks to his prompt solo responses. Was Gold and Silver Sect’s case not a prime example?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Judging from how restless he’s been for the last few days, I bet he’s about to serve me another grievance.”

“No matter how bad it gets, he still would not cause as much trouble as Ming Feizhen.”

“Don’t remind me of him. If you must, minimise mentioning him. Not a day goes by without him giving me a headache of some sort. Even when he was unconscious, I was stuck sitting for a month. The first day he’s back, he almost made me execute him. I really wonder if our horoscope’s eight characters clash. In any event, he’s a walking disaster.” Emperor Yuansheng opened a letter pertaining to an envoy of the imperial court scheduled to arrive at Nieyao.

Ye Luo queried, “Speaking of which, is Vice-Captain Shen really pregnant?”

“What hogwash is that?! Where did you here that from?!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Ye Luo poked her tongue out. “With that said, do you not feel Miss Shen and Ming Feizhen are quite close? He visits her room day and night. I saw him with my own eyes yesterday.”

To some extent, Emperor Yuansheng had a hand in bridging the gap between Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren. In his eyes, Ming Feizhen was heads and shoulders above Song Ou. More importantly, he was the only man Shen Yiren showed any interest in. He didn’t like the Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren pairing at first. Nonetheless, he accepted them over time. Out of parental love and guilt towards her parents, he would let Shen Yiren have her way even if the man she liked was a disappointment.

Emperor Yuansheng only had two qualms regarding Ming Feizhen. First of all, the true extent of his martial prowess was still a question mark. Secondly, he was Mount Daluo’s direct disciple. Ming Huayu was a man who married both Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Heavenly Broadsword patriarchs’ eldest daughters at the same time. If Ming Feizhen was also a playboy, poor Shen Yiren’s heart would break. For these reasons, he was scared silly when he thought she was pregnant.

Though his heart started beating hard again, Emperor Yuansheng couldn’t show it, covering it with an unnatural cough and exaggerated erect posture. “Baseless rumours, is what they are. I told Earl Ming to take care of Yiren because he is well-versed in medicine. Don’t make things up.”

“Of course. I would not dare make wild guesses. Besides, I quite like him. He has a sense of justice, and he’s funny, although he does have too many rumours around him.”

The Emperor pretending to read paused. “He… h-has a lot of rumours?”

“Plenty! Have you not read Officials’ Rumour Records? He is in every monthly issue.”

“What’s that?”

Dugu enlightened, “It is comedic gossip material that records lives of officials in the capital. That is why it appeals to those in the imperial court. It is not odd for you to not know of its existence as n.o.body would dare to accuse the imperial family. As your va.s.sals, they would not dare to let you read it even if there is nothing.”

Hmm… I must search for an issue to read when I have time.

“Did you want to hear about the exploits of Brother Ming in the issues?”

“No. The mere mention of him is enough to make me unlucky.”

Emperor Yuansheng held another letter over the flame, then opened another. Unlike the previous letter, this one was so trivial that he yawned. He looked back at the ashes of the letter he just burnt, then turned to Dugu. “Umm… Who is the envoy coming from the court?”

Dugu: “I-I do not know.”

“Then… what day are they arriving?”

“I do not know, either.”

“Then… what are they coming here for?”

“… Your Majesty, how would I dare to read a letter not even you read?”

“… Ming Feizhen, you plague!”

***

“Achoo! Is someone talking about me behind my back?”

I just dropped by Beussent’s tent to commission him, which was an easy task given my friends.h.i.+p with his s.h.i.+fu and the fact that he felt he owed me for clearing his tribe’s name, while Boss went to speak to His Majesty

Boss Shen’s idea was simple, efficient and effective: establish a Liu Shan Men branch in Nieyao. Frankly, I wouldn’t be able to bring all the Nanjiang youths with me back to the capital, either. Putting aside the difficult of placing that many people into homes, Liu Shan Men couldn’t handle that many new recruits at once. Secondly, so many of them were unfamiliar with our culture and language. We simply didn’t have the manpower to educate that many people out of the blue. To solve the problem, Boss wanted to choose around one hundred pure and gifted individuals to come with us, while the others ran the Nieyao branch.

We chose Nieyao as the spot to establish our branch in Nanjiang since it was my city, meaning it was under the imperial court’s governance. By extension, Nieyao couldn’t continue operating under Nanjiang’s rules. For now, it was acceptable to leave it in the hands of Heisina’s military and Shaman Faith. In the long term, the imperial court wouldn’t let it fly. Before even worrying about that, there was the fact that Beussent would pull his forces out once Morcher was ready to employ them again. As such, Nieyao needed its own armed force to maintain peace and order. That was where the Nieyao branch of Liu Shan Men came in.

I wasn’t worried about Beussent, but Shaman Faith… I didn’t mind speaking to them. My issue was… I couldn’t understand them.

Right when I was racking my brain over who to ask for interpretation services, I heard, “Long live my lord. Love live my lord.” They were a young group of girls who behaved familiar with me – without all the mad fanfare. “You are…”

“How can you memory be so poor, My Lord? They were your attendants mere months ago.”

“Iron Guardian? Why are you here?”

Behind Iron Guardian was an earnest face I recognised. “Yangyang!”

Yangyang leapt into my arms. “Your Majesty!”

“You sure have grown a lot.”

Only two months ago, she was a midget intimidating people with me, yet she had grown noticeably taller.

“Not at all. Yangyang is still young.”

I scrubbed Yangyang’s head and looked over my shoulder. “Why is everyone here?”

“Speaking on your feet must be uncomfortable. Please come this way.”

I followed Iron Guardian into a shrine that forced me to make turn after turn in order to reach the s.p.a.cious house in the back. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why everyone was respectful to him, yet they were almost ready to kneel upon espying me. Upon having us seated, Iron Guardian ordered food be served up while Yangyang poured me tea.

Basing my suspicion off his interactions with everyone, I asked, “Are you, by any chance, the supreme elder of Shaman Faith?”

“That is someone else. For now, this one is handling everything, though.”

“How are things at Shaman Monarch Palace?”

“Owing to the flimsiness of our faith, we were forced to accomplish some inconceivable things to earn support. Building the palace on Mount Wanyu was also a means to the same goal. Mount Wanyu is Shaman Faith’s erstwhile sacred grounds, making it a prime location for us to convert people. Nevertheless, Mount Wanyu cannot compare to the place Shaman Monarch was first crowned, which is why we have migrated into Nieyao. This one spoke to Supreme Elder not long ago, and we decided this one shall take care of the shrine.”

I was focused on finding proof of Six Evils dwelling in Nieyao when I read Shaman Monarch was enthroned in Nieyao, so I glossed over that part. The first Shaman Monarch built a palace that eclipsed all the palaces in Nanjiang – in addition to establis.h.i.+ng himself as someone superior to the state sovereigns.

Speaking of which, I still believed the first Shaman Monarch tamed Pangu because I just couldn’t imagine there being any legitimacy to him rising above all the sovereigns on his own, otherwise. Sky Palace was aware of the story, or they wouldn’t have dragged me into their plan. I d.a.m.n sure as h.e.l.l couldn’t wake Pangu from his slumber. That being the case, I doubted Sky Palace could. The problem was… the Shaman Monarch of yesteryear might’ve been able to.

I shook my head; I needed more time to unwind it all. One of the main reasons I accepted the role as Nieyao’s lord was to prevent Pangu falling into the wrong hands. Rather than monitor Pangu in someone else’s cage, why not monitor him from a cage I set for him? Whatever the case, I needed to create a system for monitoring the underground palace. There was a priority to things, however, and building Liu Shan Men came first.

“Since you’re here, I can save myself the ch.o.r.e of running around. I need your help with something.”

Iron Guardian smiled. “Just say the word. We still consider you Mount Wanyu’s Shaman Monarch His Majesty!”

Yeah, yeah, don’t crowd my plate with any more nonsense than is on there already.

***

I reported in to Boss Shen the next day. Yes, she already refused to rest after waking up for only a day. Nieyao was in no shape for Liu Shan Men to start operating out of, so she took over the room beside His Majesty’s office, set up a table, the four treasures of study and weapon racks.

Liu Shan Men in Nieyao was unemployed. Howbeit, with time, the establishment of the branch would bring in business.

Once we were done talking about our smooth-sailing plan, Boss Shen pulled me in to whisper, “By the way, be wary of Tianhu.”

“Tianhu? I haven’t seen him since I woke up. Why do I have to beware of him?”

Boss Shen glared first, then grabbed my chin. “What’s this?”

“Ch-chin?”

Boss Shen turned my face side to side via my chin. “What’s above your chin?”

“H-head?”

“You still want yours?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Then do as I say!” Boss Shen whacked my head

“Why’d you hit me?!”

“What do you know? Tianhu never lets go once he bites. The slightest suspicion will lead to him digging up even your ancestors’ bones to find out the truth. How many secrets do you have? Think about it.”

“Tianhu is Heavenly Fox, isn’t it? What fox? He’s clearly a dog!”

“Oh? What dog?”

“The one th-, hmm?” I turned my head to see a smiling face right by my shoulder – the type you’d see on a slimeball, a big slimeball.

Tianhu questioned, “Who are you talking about?”

What’s it to you? Which kennel did you come from?!

Glossary

Weapon racks – Imagine one of these on either side of the room (the most common setup): /uploads/images/%img%/%book%?w=507