Chapter 206 — The Summoner of Demons
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Kill a few chickens? Am I one of those chickens, or the monkey?"
The corner of Pei Wujiu's eye twitched. Sick with apprehension, he pressed a few Great Feng coins into the eunuch's hand and, steeling himself, walked on toward the palace. He had not gone far when another decree eunuch came toward him, also bound for the Imperial Academy, and greeted him face to face: "Congratulations, Lord Gu!"
"What is there to congratulate me for, Eunuch?" Pei Wujiu said absently.
"Lord Gu, you do not know the half of it. Your Academy's Doctor has won merit in quelling the rebellion, and His Majesty has sent this old servant to bestow rewards on him and raise his office."
Pei Wujiu started, blurting out, "Raised again? A eunuch passed this way not long ago to raise his office, so how can he be raised twice in a row?"
That decree eunuch said, "His Majesty has said that the first time was because others failed in their duty while the Academy Doctor did his duty well, and therefore he was to be promoted, to the sixth rank proper. This time, it is because the Academy Doctor has won merit in putting down the rebellion and achieved shining deeds in the Southern Wilds, so he is to be raised once more, to the fifth rank, secondary."
Pei Wujiu took out a few Great Feng coins and quietly pressed them into his hand, mumbling, "So he has won merit. The Academy Doctor is a doctor of my Academy; his merit and his reward are mine to share in..."
"Indeed!" The decree eunuch smiled a coquettish smile and hurried off.
Absent-minded, Pei Wujiu walked on toward the palace and met yet another decree eunuch coming the other way, whose face lit with delight the instant he saw him. "Congratulations, Lord Gu! Joy to you, Lord Gu!"
Pei Wujiu's face darkened. "What is there to congratulate me for, Eunuch?"
"His Majesty has commanded this old servant to proclaim a decree, raising the office of the Doctor of the Imperial Academy!"
The old eunuch laughed. "The Academy Doctor Shen Mu has healed the wounds of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, and is promoted to Grand Master of the Palace of the upper fifth rank proper, with treatment equal to that of the Directorate of Education! Three promotions in a single day—a great joy for your Imperial Academy!"
Pei Wujiu nodded woodenly, took out a few Great Feng coins, and slipped them into the old eunuch's hand without anyone the wiser, a smile on his lips that did not reach his eyes. "I share in the honor too..."
When the eunuch had gone far off, Pei Wujiu's face was black as ink. As one man rises, another falls—let Shen Mu be promoted again and he would stand equal to Pei Wujiu himself!
Three promotions for him, and no small sum out of Pei Wujiu's own purse!
"Let him rise once more and I shall have to call him my lord."
Pei Wujiu steadied himself, went to see the emperor, and presented the roster of scholars slain in battle. Emperor Yanfeng was reviewing memorials. He looked up, took the list, read it through, and his heart ached. "Those scholars were the pillars and beams of Our realm, the mainstays of our nation's future, and only because word leaked out were they murdered by the rebels! I want to kill someone!"
Cold sweat sprang up on Pei Wujiu's brow. He did not dare speak; who could say that if he opened his mouth, the one the emperor wished to kill would not be himself.
Emperor Yanfeng rose and paced back and forth, then abruptly struck the table and cried out in anguish and fury, "The order was issued only as I was about to set out, telling the scholars where they were to go for their training—so why were they ambushed? Pei Wujiu, dear Lord Gu! You tell me: who leaked the word?"