Chapter 118 — The Supreme Sovereign
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
A wooden sword was lodged in his chest; it was the seventy-second, and seventy-two wooden swords in succession had struck the same spot upon his chest, the blade sunk into his flesh and nearly piercing his heart.
Luckily, as he was flung through the air he had thrown open the other divine treasuries he had sealed, and his mana had recovered; only thus had he escaped death at Shen Mu's hands. But the shame this time was shame before the whole Grand Academy, shame before the emperor himself, shame before the court officials — and shame before foreign lands as well.
— Among those several hundred civil and military ministers upon the steps were several envoys of foreign states.
Emperor Yanfeng laughed: "Guozijian, you have done yourself proud indeed, to be beaten like this by a primary-school scholar.
Who struck you? Summon him up here and let me see what manner of man dares lay hands on a fourth-rank grand official of my court. " Daoist Lingyun's shame redoubled; he wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl inside.
The young Patriarch summoned another Guozijian and had him accompany Daoist Lingyun, saying with a laugh: "Your Majesty, Lingyun most likely underestimated his foe and let the primary-school scholar seize the initiative. Still, this primary-school scholar has no small skill, to have beaten Lingyun so badly; even I am moved to curiosity and would like to see who possesses such ability.
" Before Chunyang Hall, Shen Mu was utterly unruffled; he looked back and saw that the scholars behind him still had not come to their senses — only the girl called Si Yunxiang was staring at him with wide eyes, and when she saw him turn his head she hastily withdrew her gaze and stood with her head down, plucking at the hem of her clothes.
"Such a bashful manner — this is absolutely not Granny Zhu! " Shen Mu thought with full confidence.
Just then, Daoist Lingyun and another Guozijian came striding over; the boy attendant hurried to meet Daoist Lingyun, crying, "Master—" Smack.
Daoist Lingyun felled the boy with a single palm, and the other Guozijian frowned: "Brother, why must you be so petty as to vent your spleen on a child? " Daoist Lingyun's face was dark as he looked at Shen Mu, the fury in his heart hard to dispel; stiffly he said, "Come with me!
" The other Guozijian glanced at the remaining scholars: "You come along as well.
The great trial at Chunyang Hall is halted for now. " The scholars came to their senses and hurried after them.
When the group reached the foot of the steps before the Grand Academy Hall, their hearts could not help pounding hard; no one had known there were so many people here, and all of them personages of note in the empire — even the emperor among them!
Shen Mu looked about him, then reined in his gaze: eyes upon nose, nose upon heart. Wei Yong was standing below the steps as well, though not in the trials; seeing Shen Mu, he wanted to call out, but restrained himself, fretting until he scratched his ears and cheeks. Emperor Yanfeng laughed: "Which one is the primary-school scholar who sent my Guozijian flying?
Step forward and let me see you. " Shen Mu stepped forward, lifted his head, and faced the emperor directly, thinking, "So this is Emperor Yanfeng, the present emperor of Jingping? " Emperor Yanfeng was somewhat different from what he had imagined.
In his imaginings, Yanfeng should have been a heroic and martial figure, awe-inspiring as a god; but this Yanfeng was rather amiable, robed in a yellow dragon robe with a red belt inlaid with gold and jade about his waist, his face a little plump, his brow broad, his nose high and straight, and he wore four strands of mustache: two upon the upper lip and two upon the lower, the lower pair much shorter than the upper, yet not at all incongruous — someone must trim it for him often, for it was neat and orderly, and lent him no small air.
Emperor Yanfeng studied him curiously for a moment, then laughed: "Very young.