Chapter 519 — Sharing the Cooked Dragon Fish, a Guest Comes on a Starry Night
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
You are permitted to retire to your native place. " Note: The word "conference" appeared in the Records of the Grand Historian more than two thousand years ago; it may have been formed even earlier, and it is not a borrowed term. The other ministers thought to themselves in wonder: "His Majesty is in a good mood today; no heads rolled. Grand Secretary Yu lost only his office, not his head. He is in luck! " "Everyone, say nothing for a moment—quiet! " Shen Mu's voice came, calling out: "First, let me test whether the primordial spirits can communicate with one another!
Can you all hear me? " From within the Imperial Academy Hall, all sorts of clamoring voices answered, more than one: "Yes! Clearly! " Shen Mu asked: "When you drive the technique, do you feel any discomfort in your primordial spirit?
" The many primordial spirits in the hall were in an uproar. Suddenly one person's primordial spirit vanished with a bang, only to reappear a moment later—terrifying to behold.
There were also spirits that flickered in and out of sight, and some that drifted back and forth.
Laughter arose from every side, and the Imperial Academy Hall was filled with a chaotic din that left one dizzy. Shen Mu recorded the various anomalies, clapped his hands, and said, "All right, the meeting is adjourned!
" Everyone withdrew their primordial spirits, vanishing from the Imperial Academy Hall, and so ended the first Primordial Spirit Council in history.
Emperor Yanfeng turned his head to the court historian behind him and asked: "Did you record it?
" Holding a thick volume of records, the historian hesitated: "Your Majesty, this Primordial Spirit Council was merely Chancellor Shen playing about with a crowd of scholars. In total only a few words were spoken, and most of them were nonsense.
Must this be recorded as well? " Emperor Yanfeng sighed, and he heavily tapped the scroll on which he recorded the great affairs of state, saying with deep meaning: "If a thousand or a hundred years from now, people read the history of Jingping and search through all the official records, and nowhere find any mention of the first Primordial Spirit Council, later generations will point their fingers at your back and curse you!
Not only must you record it, you must draw it—paint the Primordial Spirit Council!
" Cold sweat broke out on the historian's forehead. He hastily set down the record of Shen Mu and the others' first Primordial Spirit Council, including the few words they had spoken, and thought with grievance: "These words are obviously nonsense.
Would later generations really curse me over such a trifle?
But if I do not record it, His Majesty will have my head. . .
" An hour later, Shen Mu returned from a thousand li away, and the other scholars also hurried back to the Imperial Academy, all shouting and bustling in a great uproar. Shen Mu summoned experts versed in numerology and divination, and on the basis of the anomalies he had recorded, they deduced the flaws in the technique. Before long, the technique approached perfection, with no more primordial spirits leaping free of their bodies. Shen Mu then climbed onto the roof of the Imperial Academy Hall with many scholars to correct the erroneous rune engravings. They toiled for half the day, after which a few fleet-footed ones ran out and tested again the out-of-body gathering of primordial spirits.
This time there were no strange primordial spirit phenomena. Emperor Yanfeng never left; he waited quietly until nightfall, and since the emperor remained, the civil and military officials dared not withdraw and had to stand there. When Shen Mu finished, he had the archivist of the Heavenly Records Tower set down the technique and the runic engravings. Only then did Emperor Yanfeng step forward and say: "Grand Chancellor Shen has rendered merit to the state.