Chapter 952 — The Heavenly Monarch's Fatal Flaw
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The monk and the Daoist were stunned by the woman's beauty, and for a moment they could not recover themselves. Then the Daoist said hurriedly, "Young madam, this place is Jingping. Where have you come from?"
"Jingping?"
That young woman was none other than Yun Chuxiu. Hearing this, her brows and eyes bloomed with delight, and she said, "Then this is the Primordial Realm. Jingping is the domain of that little fellow, the Shepherd Heavenly Monarch. I have heard he is a Jingping Overlord Physique, one of the so-called Three Heroes of the Jingping Reforms. This spirit-energy translocation bridge links two altars together. This palace built one in the Heavenly Court, and he left one in Jingping, and so the two bridges have joined as one..."
At this thought, she said, "Monk, Daoist, go and summon your emperor here."
The monk and the Daoist hurried back to the capital of Jingping. Before long, Ling Yuxiu arrived at the head of her civil and military officials. Yun Chuxiu's eyes lit up, and she laughed, "The emperor of Jingping is actually a woman. I have always said there is nothing so remarkable about a woman being emperor; it is only those old sticklers who find one excuse or another to put it off."
Ling Yuxiu led her host forward and paid homage: "The Son of Heaven of a small nation in the lower realm pays respect to the high divinity of the Heavenly Court."
Yun Chuxiu laughed, "No need for such ceremony. A woman as emperor is a fine thing; in truth it is not so shocking to the world. This palace admires you greatly. Since the Heavenly Court and the Primordial Realm are now joined, you may also come to the Heavenly Court from time to time, and keep this palace company to relieve my boredom. You need not remain forever in the lower realm."
She handed over a waist-token, saying, "Carry my waist-token, and you may come and go through the Heavenly Court without hindrance."
Ling Yuxiu thanked her and accepted the token, then said, "Jingping is barren, and the common folk have no means to make a living. But Jingping has a great many Directorate of Works factories. Might we go to the Heavenly Court to trade goods?"
Yun Chuxiu thought for a moment, then laughed, "What can your Jingping Directorate factories produce?"
Ling Yuxiu said, "From small daily necessities to great divine-weapon fleets, we can manufacture them all."
Yun Chuxiu's eyes rolled, and she laughed, "Can you manufacture spirit-energy translocation bridges?"
Ling Yuxiu nodded, saying, "The artisans of our nation have built such spirit-energy translocation bridges before."
"And the price?"
Ling Yuxiu summoned the Minister of Works, and the Minister of Works quoted a figure, using the currency of the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court minted its own coin, called the Heaven Coin, though the currency circulating within Jingping remained the Great Abundance Coin, and a conversion had to be made.
Yun Chuxiu was furious, and sneered, "That old dog of the Zaofu Heavenly Palace actually embezzled so much of this palace's money! What Jingping spends to build a single spirit-energy translocation bridge is not even one percent of what the Zaofu Palace spends!"
Ling Yuxiu did not dare speak.
Yun Chuxiu said, "Emperor of Jingping, come with this palace to the Zaofu Palace. Your Jingping will manufacture the components for the spirit-energy translocation bridges, and let the Zaofu Palace assemble them. The price will not be low."
Ling Yuxiu was overjoyed, and taking the Minister of Works and several heavy ministers skilled in the arts of calculation, she followed her into the spirit-energy translocation bridge.
Yun Chuxiu looked them over, and saw that among these heavy ministers there were actually two women. One of the young girls was a fox-spirit in transformation, making no effort to conceal the white fox tail behind her.