Chapter 1670 — I Simply Won't Sign
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
After the Spring Festival, Shen Mu led the Jingping delegation to the Heavenly Court. No sooner had they arrived than Emperor Haotian summoned Shen Mu to him, to talk of heaven and earth and all things under the sun, and would not let him meet with the delegation. On the other side, the Jingping delegation was shut up in the Splendid Heavenly Palace.
The Heavenly Court sent out tens of thousands of civil officials, giving the Jingping envoys no rest and no sleep, and no food or drink either, negotiating in relays, quarreling until the Splendid Heavenly Palace was a bedlam of dogs and chickens. Yuchenzi, Wei Suifeng, Prince Youming and the rest who led the Jingping delegation could not hold out, and one after another signed the contract. More than half a year had already passed. Emperor Haotian had the thick contract packed into jeweled carriages and sent to the rear palace; it took seven jeweled carriages to hold it all.
He smiled, "My dear Minister Mu, the matter of Jingping's surrender has been negotiated. I have not treated you shabbily. Of the various benefits, whatever could be yielded, I have yielded.
Now it is your turn to sign. " Shen Mu leafed through the seven cartloads of contract, reading them one by one. His expression could not help but change; the more he read, the darker his face grew. Seeing his face grow uglier and uglier, Emperor Haotian could not help but knit his brows slightly. When Shen Mu had finished reading the seven cartloads of contract, he flicked his sleeve and sneered, "This contract—I will not sign it!
If I do not sign, no one else's signature is worth anything! " Emperor Haotian was enraged.
He straightened up, and a Daluo Heaven of One Qi surfaced from the Ultimate Void, its majesty covering heaven and earth, shrouding the whole Heavenly Court.
Coldly he said, "My dear Minister Mu, you will not sign? Are you toying with me?
" Shen Mu, neither servile nor overbearing, said, "Your Majesty has taken away the greater part of Jingping's benefits; the others get only broth and dregs, while I have come away with nothing at all. Does Your Majesty acknowledge that I am Your Majesty's greatest rival? Am I not worth even broth and dregs?
If Your Majesty holds your humble minister lightly, then Your Majesty holds himself lightly. " Emperor Haotian's gaze fell upon his face, looking straight into his eyes. "You have retired into seclusion. What do you want so many benefits for? You should set my mind at ease, let me sleep without worry—not prepare to rise again in the east!
" Shen Mu said bitterly, "Your minister still has a whole household to feed. . . " Emperor Haotian laughed in his fury.
"If you do not sign today, I will send down a single order and have the Heavenly Venerable Xu wipe out half of Jingping's people!
" The Dao-heart sealed layer upon layer within Shen Mu's body unbound itself one layer after another, and his will to fight soared to the heavens. "As many as you can wipe out, that many can I revive!
" Emperor Haotian burned with rage. He sneered, "You think I cannot deal with your resurrection divine power?
I will send their souls into the Ultimate Void, cast them into the Ruins of Return, stuff them into the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court, annihilating them utterly—which one can you bring back? " Shen Mu's breath faltered and sank. Just then, the Minister of the Upper Prime suddenly hurried in, his face full of anxiety; catching sight of Shen Mu, he swallowed his words. Emperor Haotian said coldly, "Speak!
There are no outsiders here!
" The Minister of the Upper Prime hesitated, then said, "Your Majesty, Yuji, Shixiu, Lingshu and Lingyuan—the four great heavens—have rebelled. They have killed the rulers of those four heavens and sworn an oath to march against the Heavenly Court.
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