Chapter 940 — The Plague God Descends
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
In Yaochi, new maidservants had replaced the old, and these newcomers were more attentive than ever, more skilled at tending a person's needs even than Yan'er. Their faces wore smiles, their figures were soft and graceful, and they were diligent besides—any request could be satisfied. Shen Mu knew that they had seen how the maidservants before them had died, and feared for their own lives; that was why they were so careful.
Only, for now, he had no power to change the Heavenly Court. After the harrowing upheaval of the previous night, the Heavenly Court remained as peaceful and serene as before; though the disturbance had been enormous, no one in the Heavenly Court spoke of it, as though nothing had happened at all.
The Yaochi incident had caused too great a stir; to conceal it completely was impossible. The reason people did not speak of it was simply that they dared not. Still, those with clear eyes in the Heavenly Court could see its situation plainly.
The Heavenly Court seemed unbreakable, yet the Yaochi incident of the night before showed that this colossus was in truth riddled with holes, in danger of splitting apart at any moment. The coming of Heavenly Venerable Mu had merely hastened that process of division, sharpening the contradictions that had once lain hidden until they could no longer be reconciled.
Most eyes remained fixed upon the Yaochi incident; it was the first great matter Heavenly Venerable Mu had stirred up since arriving in the Heavenly Court—and the very first thing he did was split the Heavenly Court asunder!
The Yaochi incident of the previous night was the first eruption of the Heavenly Court's hidden currents. If there was a first time, there would be a second and a third; the contradictions within the Heavenly Court would grow ever sharper, until at last they could not be contained!
Yaochi quieted, and it was not until two days later that the Yun family's Grand Ancestress came to Yaochi at the head of the Yun widows, saying she had come to visit Yun Jianli. This Grand Ancestress was the beloved wife of Heavenly Venerable Yun, and in the days of Longhan she had been the Empress of the Xiaohan Heavenly Court.
Later, when Xiaohan was defeated in war—its people dying, surrendering, or fleeing—of Heavenly Venerable Yun's line only this Grand Ancestress escaped, and she was with child at the time. Because of Heavenly Venerable Yun's status, the Longhan Heavenly Court did not make things hard for her; the Heavenly Emperor brought her and her son into the Heavenly Court, established the Yun Estate, and enfeoffed her as Lady Yunxiao.
Yet then the Yun family's blood curse appeared: generation after generation, the eldest sons of the Yun family died suddenly upon reaching adulthood, leaving behind a house full of widows.
Though many of the widows remarried, no small number remained, so that the Yun Estate was filled with formidable women of forceful character, fiercely protective of their own, whom no one dared lightly provoke where the men of the Yun family were concerned. Accompanying Lady Yunxiao and the others was a historian of the Heavenly Court, who recorded the meeting.
Heavenly Venerable Mu received Lady Yunxiao in person; the two sides held cordial talks in the Manhui Corridor Pavilion, conducted friendly exchanges, and shared their views on the present age of prosperity and flourishing in the Heavenly Court. In truth, however, Lady Yunxiao came in towering fury, leading her host to demand satisfaction; from the first she wanted to seize Yun Jianli and haul him back to be locked up, and she reproached Heavenly Venerable Mu for placing Yun Jianli in danger.