Chapter 1643 — Handwriting Reveals Character

Yuchenzi said, "Aunt, this must be some misunderstanding. Aunt need not fear for your nephew; once I explain matters to His Majesty, the misunderstanding will be cleared away."

Bai Yuqiong stepped forward and straightened his clothing for him: "Set your mind at ease. I will find some way to preserve your life."

Yuchenzi breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that what she meant to preserve was not his life, but the life of the human race.

In the imperial study, Yuchenzi was brought forward under guard. Before the divine general could kick the back of his knees, he had already dropped to his knees of his own accord.

Hao Tianzun was holding the letter of surrender, reading it closely, and laughed: "In this letter Mu Tianzun did take some pains—he has actually listed out the whole of Jingping's wealth. He was thoughtful, at least."

He closed the letter, and his face darkened.

Yuchenzi gave a timely shudder. Hao Tianzun was plainly in far better spirits than before, but the sight of him inevitably recalled that passage in the letter which had displeased him. He said mildly, "Mu Tianzun sent you here, so you must be one of those glib-tongued creatures. Of all things in this life, what I most detest is a glib tongue..."

"Your Majesty, that old thief Mu is using your blade to kill!"

Yuchenzi hastily cried out his grievance at the top of his voice: "Let not Your Majesty fall for the old thief Mu's scheme!"

Hao Tianzun gave an "oh," and said with a smile, "You mean Mu Tianzun wishes to use my hand to kill you? What virtue or ability have you, that he would not simply remove you himself, but must borrow my hand to do it?"

Yuchenzi said, stiff-necked, "That thief Mu is licentious past all measure. I remonstrated with him again and again, and he came to dislike me. But I am a disciple of the Dao Ancestor; he cannot kill me without cause. So when he sued for surrender this time, he flung me out to die! I know every last detail of Jingping's foundations—he was deceiving Your Majesty in that letter! He has secretly held back a great deal of property, meaning to surrender and then live the merry life with Divine King Langwo and Emperor Yanxiu and a whole bevy of beauties!"

Hao Tianzun could not help laughing, and shook his head: "You measure a gentleman with a petty man's yardstick. Mu Tianzun has fought me for so many years; he is not that sort of rogue."

Yuchenzi said, "Your Majesty, once he surrenders he means to take his beauties and his gold and go back to Yongjiang to herd cattle!"

Hao Tianzun laughed until he could not straighten up: "The great Mu Tianzun, a cowherd?"

The Chancellor beside him said hastily, "Your Majesty, this Mu Tianzun was indeed of cowherd stock in his early years. Your servant has already made the inquiries: Mu Tianzun herded cattle at Yongjiang in his youth, and the name Mu comes from that. Emperor Yanxiu often calls him 'the cowherd' as a term of endearment. Your servant's informants in Jingping say that Emperor Yanxiu is searching for her old father and means to abdicate—most likely to go and herd cattle with him..."

"There is such a thing?"

Hao Tianzun was astonished: "My mortal enemy is such a man?"

Yuchenzi said, "Your Majesty, since the old thief Mu returned from Youdu, his heart of the Dao has collapsed. He knocks his head and kneels and bows; he calls on Heaven and Heaven does not answer, he shouts to Earth and Earth does not reply. He means to come and surrender and beg forgiveness with a rod on his back, making a spectacle of every sort of ugliness. It was only Ling Tianzun and Yue Tianzun and the rest who dragged him back by force. But the old thief Mu is set on surrender, and so he wrote the letter. Your servant was right there at the time. Because Your Majesty is wise and martial, and he was defeated by Your Majesty's hand, all his old grudges and fresh hatreds surged up at once, and he packed me off as his envoy, meaning to take my life!"

Hao Tianzun's interest was roused: "You were there when he wrote the letter? Tell me all of it!"

So Yuchenzi recounted Shen Mu's state of mind as he wrote the letter of surrender—though of course he cut out the part about Shen Mu stirring himself into a fit of emotion.

He gestured as he spoke, giving a vivid and exact likeness; he mimicked the way Shen Mu had looked as he wrote the letter so uncannily that Hao Tianzun roared with laughter.

Yuchenzi said, "The writing is the man, Your Majesty. Your Majesty may summon masters skilled in brush and ink, and have them study the letter; then Your Majesty will know whether your servant has deceived you."

Hao Tianzun was cautious as well, and glanced at the Chancellor.

The Chancellor said hastily, "Under Lord Wen Chang, Star Sovereign of Literature, there is a company of divinities skilled in the arts of brush and ink. They may be summoned to examine Mu Tianzun's hand."

Hao Tianzun waved his hand, and the Chancellor hurried off.

Hao Tianzun glanced at Yuchenzi kneeling below: "Rise. If your words are not false, I will spare your life."

Yuchenzi knocked his head again and again, and scrambled up.

Not long after, Lord Wen Chang arrived with his favored disciples. They paid their respects to Hao Tianzun, called for the letter of surrender, and studied it minutely. Sure enough, the feeling within every phrase and every word was read out by these great masters of the way of brush and ink, and what they found differed little from what Yuchenzi had said.

Hao Tianzun laughed: "The finest talents of the human race—the elder son Shen Ye, the younger son Shen Mu. The elder has already died by my hand; the younger has shattered his own heart of the Dao and turned back into a cowherd. I may sleep easy now!"

"Your Majesty, wait!"

Suddenly a voice came from beyond the imperial study; the man had not arrived, but his voice came first: "If Your Majesty trusts your servant, then drag this Jingping envoy out and behead him first, and at once send out the armies to chastise Jingping!"