The Taste of It

"These scribblers really are abominable!" Wei Yuan slammed the report heavily onto the desk. The reports were filled with all manner of rumors about Wei Yuan. Thanks to extensive efforts deployed by the Development Bureau, the origins of many of these rumors had quickly been traced. Unexpectedly, many had originated back during the Qingming training course. Back then, gathered together with time on their hands, the scholars had loved nothing more than pondering and speculating on what the Realm Lord liked to do for fun. Judging him by their own standards, they had concluded that the Realm Lord's tastes had to be exceptionally wild and depraved. As for just how wild, everyone could only give free rein to their wildest imaginations. Reading up to this point, Wei Yuan was tempted to issue an edict: From now on, private gossip regarding the Realm Lord is strictly forbidden within the training courses! But after some thought, he felt that would look too deliberate, and in the end, he could only drop the idea. Still, the rumors had produced noticeable effects. In this latest round, the Nine Nations had pulled out all the stops to send Wei Yuan beautiful women—though sending beautiful men crossed a line, and Wei Yuan had no idea where that particular rumor had even come from. In the midst of his annoyance, Wei Yuan checked the date. It was now the spring of the twenty-first year of Zhaoning. The Crown Princess was already on her way back to the capital and had likely not arrived yet. The terms proposed by Great Tang this time were actually quite generous: marrying a princess down to Wei Yuan. But that was not the crucial part; the devil was in the details. Great Tang currently had several princesses, and they could be tried out one by one. Whichever gave birth to a boy would officially marry down to him. Then, that boy would automatically become the Regent King of Great Tang, a title to be inherited hereditarily in the future. Had this been a century earlier, Wei Yuan might well have agreed. When he had just established Qingming, he might have agreed as well. But now? To Wei Yuan now, it felt much like being made Regent King of some petty county. The territory was tiny, even if the title sounded intimidating. The second condition was that Emperor Zhao would adopt Wei Yuan as a son on behalf of the late emperor, making Wei Yuan the elder brother of the current emperor, which would make it only natural for his descendants to oversee the state. When Wei Yuan had looked over these two terms, he had merely sneered. Had it not been for the Crown Princess's eloquent tongue, he would have blasted Great Tang's diplomatic mission out of Qingming long ago. In the past, so long as the Martial Ancestor's ward remained unbroken, both terms would have been quite favorable, conferring legitimate status and moral authority. But now that the Martial Ancestor's ward had broken, bringing about the backlash of a thousand years of suppressing heaven and earth, everyone knew Great Tang's karmic destiny was spent. To cozy up to the imperial house at a time like this was not acquiring orthodox legitimacy; it was becoming a remnant of a fallen dynasty. Wei Yuan had forgotten which dynasty it started with, but remnants always had to be thoroughly purged; in any case, that precedent had been set long ago. Clearly, Emperor Zhao and the Regent King harbored ill intentions, still scheming with absurd, unrealistic notions at a juncture like this! If not out of consideration for the Crown Princess... Wei Yuan sighed. If it were him, the proper course of action right now would be abdication. Sadly, Emperor Zhao and his ilk still clung stubbornly to the imperial throne, leaving them destined to be swept into the dustbin of history. Qingming had no room for relics and remnants of the old regime. Wei Yuan put away the map. The chaos engulfing the world would drag on for some time yet; no one had shown signs of emerging as the new emperor, and the war was far from over. The main issue was that Great Tang's territory was simply too vast. Even if the Nine Nations advanced a thousand li every single day, it would still take an eternity to swallow an entire realm. Just then, an attendant arrived to report that an old acquaintance had come to visit. Wei Yuan was somewhat curious. Which old acquaintance was acting so mysterious, unaware that so long as one was in Qingming, nothing could escape his eyes? With a shift of divine sense, Wei Yuan looked into the reception parlor and saw a woman seated there. With vermilion lips and bright white teeth, tall and slender, she was an imposing beauty full of heroic spirit, yet right now she seemed uneasy and ill at ease. Her gaze darted about and her whole body was taut, almost as if she were preparing to mount an assassination. Shangguan Qianmo? Wei Yuan remembered her, but found it bizarre. With his current cultivation, even if he sat there motionless and let her stab him, she might not even pierce his skin. The Shangguan family was considered a pillar of the Sword Palace; how could they be so shortsighted as not to send someone stronger if they wanted an assassination? Could it be that she harbored some immensely powerful immortal artifact on her person? Wei Yuan felt one could never be too careful. He focused his divine sense and swept it across her, seeing through everything in an instant! Wei Yuan was stunned. Cultivator robes inherently possessed the function of shielding against divine sense; it was a fundamental property. Moreover, even Dao Foundation cultivators could constantly protect their bodies from prying divine senses, let alone someone like Shangguan Qianmo in the late Dharma Idol stage. To ensure she wasn't deliberately hiding something, Wei Yuan had intentionally augmented his divine sense with realm domain power—only to find that she was completely defenseless. Her robes were undefended, and her dharmic power was undefended. In the eyes of a cultivator, this was no different from walking around naked. With that single scan, Wei Yuan saw everything he should and shouldn't have seen. Especially what he shouldn't have seen—and he had verified that nothing was missed. Fortunately, since she hadn't raised any defenses, she hadn't detected his scan either. As long as it was left unmentioned, the awkwardness could be avoided. Wei Yuan stepped into the reception parlor, took the head seat, instructed a maidservant to serve tea, and asked in an amiable tone, "What brings you here?" Shangguan Qianmo kept her eyes fixed on the tips of her feet, not daring to look up at all. Her hands instinctively wanted to cover herself, yet knowing that would look far too deliberate, she forced herself to refrain. To relieve the tension, she could only dig her ten fair, pale-pink-nailed toes firmly against the floor. Seeing that she did not answer, Wei Yuan took a sip of tea and asked again, "Does the Shangguan family require my assistance with something?" Shangguan Qianmo was startled and blurted out instinctively, "How did you know it was my family..." Halfway through the sentence, she realized her slip and hurriedly corrected herself, "It was my own idea... I wanted to... to come see you." Wei Yuan smiled faintly and asked, "Have you seen Xiaoyu? If I remember correctly, there is still an engagement between you two that hasn't been broken off. If the Shangguan family wishes to advance their standing in the Sword Palace, the Xiao family's support is certainly more than enough. As long as it isn't an unreasonable request, I can also put in a word with Palace Master Bai." Shangguan Qianmo said, "Xiaoyu already said long ago... that I would only slow down his sword draw." Wei Yuan chuckled. That certainly sounded like something Xiaoyu would do. The kid had loved aggravating people ever since he was small, as had been apparent during the Immortal Sect Unified Examination back then. Too bad for him, he had run into Wei Yuan that time and gotten thoroughly thrashed. Now understanding the situation, Wei Yuan asked, "Then what does the Shangguan family want?" Shangguan Qianmo replied, "The family head wishes to contend for the position of Deputy Palace Master. However, the current Deputy Palace Master who has yet to ascend to immortality may share a similar cultivation level with our family head, but possesses greater attainments in the sword dao and has ties with True Monarch Xuanyue. Our family head thought that if our clan could produce a junior of extraordinary capability, it might give us a chance to take that next step. And so, he dispatched me to Qingming to beg... to beg..." Her toes dug even harder into the floor, but she could not bring herself to finish the sentence. Asking a sword cultivator to beg was worse than killing them. Having heard this much, Wei Yuan understood completely. With Shangguan Qianmo's aptitude, ascending to immortality was hopeless, and reaching Scenery Command was already a stretch. The Shangguan family hoped Wei Yuan would step in and elevate her to the late Scenery Command stage so that she could at least become a senior elder in the Sword Palace, which would greatly augment the Shangguan family's influence. In fact, she didn't even need to truly reach late Scenery Command; it would be enough simply to let everyone know her Dao path was open. As for the method, it was naturally Wei Yuan's shared mind-manifested world. The Shangguan family had recognized the potential of this shared mind-manifested world. Most importantly, it could confer authority; as long as Wei Yuan was willing to bestow some formidable heaven-and-earth authority, Shangguan Qianmo could certainly reach the late Scenery Command stage. As for the rental fee, she was already sitting right before Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan said, "Don't fret. For Xiaoyu's sake, I will look into a solution. Go and rest for now." Shangguan Qianmo acknowledged the order and withdrew, feeling both relieved and somewhat disappointed. Wei Yuan remained seated where he was, quietly reflecting. First the Crown Princess, then Shangguan Qianmo, and behind them a long line of aristocratic clans and sects waiting for an audience—whether goods or people, everything was virtually his for the taking. He remembered when he had first met Shangguan Qianmo; she had been a sharp, unyielding sword cultivator who would rather break than bend. Now, she had sat completely undefended before him. Wei Yuan sighed softly. So this was the taste of standing at the pinnacle of the world. No wonder throughout the dynasties, so many wise sovereigns and Immortal Lords had, to varying degrees, lost themselves in it.