Chapter 267 — Slaying the Human Emperor
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 6
"There is no need for such trouble. " The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping was briefly startled. "The Great Tingming Temple and the Daoist sect have spread themselves too wide. They wish to hold the whole board in their hands, and in truth they are full of holes. " Shen Mu halted. This was Houji Town, less than a hundred li from the capital. They stopped before a griddle-cake stall, and Shen Mu, buying his breakfast, said: "It is like spreading a griddle cake.
Spread the batter too wide and it cannot withstand a single blow.
The wider they spread their cake, the thinner it grows; when the crown prince takes the throne, they will have too little strength left to guard themselves.
And the monks and priests they left in the houses of the princes and ministers will instead be held in check by those same princes and ministers, unable to go to the aid of the imperial city.
" The cake was ready. The stallkeeper wrapped it in yellow paper; Shen Mu took it and first handed it to the Imperial Preceptor's lady. She bit into it, her bright eyes glancing about, and said in a low voice: "You speak of all this so openly—are you not afraid of ears behind the wall? We have met a good many of the crown prince's spies on this road. " "I am not afraid. " Shen Mu smiled faintly. All at once the market fell silent—the passersby, the peddlers, the vegetable sellers, the vegetable buyers, the pig slaughterer, the hawkers—and every head turned, every gaze falling upon them as one.
"Cult Master!
" they said with one voice. Shen Mu waved a hand and laughed. "Carry on.
Do not disturb us.
" The Imperial Preceptor's lady was startled. Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "Orders given, prohibitions obeyed—that is the beginning of kingship.
Cult Master Shen, you frighten me.
Your Heaven-Sage Cult frightens me too.
" The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping nodded. "Orders given, prohibitions obeyed, all moving as one—that is the bearing of one who would be king, who would be emperor.
Your Majesty is right to be uneasy. But in twenty thousand years since the Heaven-Sage Cult was founded, not one of its cult masters has ever named himself emperor. Your Majesty may set his heart at ease.
" Emperor Yanfeng said in vexation: "You are all of the Heaven-Sage Cult—even you and your lady, Imperial Preceptor, are of the Heaven-Sage Cult, one a Heaven King, the other an incense master. I am the only outsider here, so you may all make a fool of me as you please! " Shen Mu said hurriedly: "Would Your Majesty care to join the cult?
" .
.
.
"How do we enter the capital? " When they came outside the capital, Emperor Yanfeng gazed from afar at the city gate and saw it heavily guarded, with layer upon layer of inspections; to get in would be as hard as climbing to heaven. Today was the day the crown prince would ascend the throne and become the new emperor; on this day the new emperor would issue his edict of self-accusation at the Altar of Heaven, and the envoys of every nation, the cult masters and gate masters of every school, the heads of every great clan, and the civil and military officials besides, would all go to witness the rite. Hence the strict defenses. Shen Mu shook his head.
"No matter.
We shall simply walk in. " Emperor Yanfeng was briefly startled; Shen Mu had already led them to the gate, and the soldiers and officers there looked straight through them, letting them pass into the city.
"Are they of the Heaven-Sage Cult as well?
" The Imperial Preceptor's lady was briefly startled, and said quietly to Shen Mu: "The emperor is here. Do not be so ostentatious, or you will rouse His Majesty's suspicion. What the emperor wants is a state above which stands the cult—not a cult above which stands the state.