Chapter 1126 — I Want to Marry You
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
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. . .