Chapter 1126 — I Want to Marry You

Gongsun Yan finally let Shen Mu go. Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief and hurried off to Shangjing to see Ling Yuxiu and tell her of the matter.

Ling Yuxiu laughed. "I have gone to the Heavenly Court many times to pay my respects to the various Tianzuns, so I know a good deal of its etiquette. I will coach Yan'er myself, and she will not disgrace herself.

You may set your mind at ease. " She went with Shen Mu to see Gongsun Yan, and asked, "If it truly turns out as you expect, and Yan'er is enfeoffed as a Yuanjun, what rank of office is that?

" "The greatest of the feudal lords of the Yuan World, akin to the Ancient Gods' Four Emperors, the Black Emperor, the White Emperor, and the like, though in authority she will fall slightly short. " Shen Mu said, "The Ten Tianzuns of the Heavenly Court may well enfeoff her with half the Yuan World, and set her forth to contend with Xiaotianzun.

" Ling Yuxiu was shaken inwardly. In the Heavenly Court's eyes Jingping was a tiny state, not worth a thought; she, the sovereign of Jingping, was no more than the bumpkin emperor of a bumpkin country.

Had Jingping not been rich, and useful besides, the Tianzuns of the Heavenly Court would never have deigned to glance its way. And now Gongsun Yan was to be enfeoffed as a feudal lord, riding abreast of the Four Imperial Emperors, her authority above Ling Yuxiu's own. Yet if it was as Shen Mu said, and Gongsun Yan was being pushed out to fight Xiaotianzun in the ring, would that not be her ruin? In her heart Gongsun Yan had always been that pure, simple girl; how could she be a match for the deep-scheming Xiaotianzun?

In both martial strength and cunning, Gongsun Yan fell far, far short of him. Reading her face, Shen Mu knew her worry, and said with a smile, "Xiaotianzun may be displeased, but he will accept it.

He still has need of me, after all, and he will not lay a hand on Gongsun Yan. " Ling Yuxiu's heart eased, and she walked on shoulder to shoulder with him, then said abruptly, "These past days my ministers at court have often memorialized, urging me to take consorts.

" She halted, and said with a half-smile, "Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, they say that a Son of Heaven cannot be without an heir, and so they bring it up again and again. " Shen Mu stopped too, turned his head and looked at her, and said softly, "And what did Your Majesty say?

" "I told them that the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has not yet taken a wife, and toils for the sake of family and state; surely my resolve cannot be less than the Imperial Preceptor's?

" Ling Yuxiu laughed. "And so they fell silent. But every so often some minister raises the matter again.

So I want to ask you: when will you marry? Once you are married, I will take consorts.

" Shen Mu looked at her quietly, and after a moment said, "Whom would you have me marry? " "Gongsun Yan, Si Yunxiang, the Sword God Shanghuang, Yan Jingjing will do as well!

" Ling Yuxiu's expression was complicated.

"Marry whichever you like. I do not want to watch you running about alone.

Once you are married, my heart will be at rest! " Shen Mu shook his head and laughed. "I do not wish to marry any of them.

I have no time now.

The Jingping reforms have not yet succeeded; I have no energy for such things.

" "You are only trying to hold me back! " Ling Yuxiu flared up. "Cowherd!

I should never have met you back then! " Around them people turned to look. Ling Yuxiu hastily composed herself and walked on, grumbling, "If you will not marry, how am I to take consorts?

Am I your little heifer, to be tethered for a lifetime?

I met you in the prime of my years, and we have both wasted them.

" Shen Mu caught up with her. "Can you cast aside your throne? Can I cast aside my post as Imperial Preceptor of Jingping? If we cannot, then this is all we can be. " Ling Yuxiu shot him a glance and smiled.

"In the future, if we win, and I have not filled my harem, and you have not married. . .

" Shen Mu said calmly, "Then I will no longer be the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. " Ling Yuxiu's eyes reddened.

"And I will no longer be emperor.

" "I will marry you," Shen Mu said with a smile.

"Mm.

" Ling Yuxiu turned her head away.

Xuandu.

The Earth Mother Yuanjun lodged herself within the Yuanmu core, and Tiangong gently steeped this Yuanmu core in the Heavenly Pool. The Heavenly Pool was no ordinary thing either: though it was not the equal of Hongmeng primal fluid, it was a chain of starlight drawn from countless galaxies, and as far as the eye could see it shimmered with silver light. The Yuanmu core drew on the star-water of the Heavenly Pool, put forth roots and sprouted by degrees, and soon sent out branches and leaves. Before long a great tree stood in the Heavenly Pool, and a few days later the Earth Mother Yuanjun walked out from the tree, naked, without a stitch on her.

Seeing this, Tiangong plucked down cloud after cloud and refined a set of garments for her, and dressed her in them.

The Earth Mother Yuanjun laughed. "Tiangong, I would not have guessed you were such a considerate soul.

" Tiangong laughed.

"Do not jest, Earth Mother.

There is no soil in my Heavenly Pool; you can draw only on the star-water, not on the power of the Xirang. That is not good for your growth. " The Earth Mother Yuanjun said, "There is Xirang in abundance in the Ancestral Court.

Fetch some.

.

. " "Do not even think of touching the Ancestral Court! " Tiangong was furious.

After a moment he softened his tone. "The Ancestral Court you must never touch. The West Emperor should still have some Xirang. I will swallow my pride and beg some from him for you. " The Earth Mother Yuanjun sat at the edge of the Heavenly Pool and looked up at the vast, boundless Tiangong.

"Fellow Daoist, will you truly indulge Mutianzun so? Today he can kill me; tomorrow he can kill you and Tubei! You and I are both leaders of the Ancient Gods. Do you feel no grief at the fox's death when the hare dies? " Tiangong's white brows streamed; his white brows were long belts of stars, and he said unhurriedly, "Earth Mother, you are not an Ancient God born of the Dao. You came into being by inheriting the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, and so you do not know my mind. You have a heart set on merit and power; you took root in the Yuan World and were polluted for too long.

Ancient Gods such as we should keep far from the dust of the world, walk in accord with the Great Dao, and take no hand in the affairs of the world.

" "Hypocrite! " The Earth Mother Yuanjun sneered. "Keep far from the world and walk in accord with the Great Dao?

If you were truly so aloof, why did you, Tubei, Tianyin, and the two women of Guixu all move against the Creator race in those years? " Tiangong's gaze fell upon her, and his voice was distant and high. "The wars among the Creators had already endangered the cosmos. They manipulated us Ancient Gods and made us fight their battles; we were controlled by them, with no will of our own. Had they been allowed to go on, the Ancestral Court would surely have been destroyed, and with the Ancestral Court destroyed, the whole cosmos would have collapsed and ceased to be. In those years I heard the voice of the Dao that gave me birth, and it told me that the Creator race must be destroyed. Earth Mother Yuanjun, did you not hear that voice? " The Earth Mother Yuanjun was briefly taken aback, and shook her head.

"I did not.

" Tiangong said, "I heard it. I felt the Great Dao impelling me: the Creator race must be destroyed, they could not be allowed to go on wreaking ruin. I asked Tubei, and he too had heard the Dao of Youdu impelling him to wipe out the Creator race. You are not an Ancient God born of the Dao, and you have your natural limitations; perhaps that is why you did not sense the call of the Great Dao. " The Earth Mother Yuanjun sneered. "There you go again, dragging in this and that, changing the subject!