Chapter 1815 — Henceforth, Each to the Ends of the Earth
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
Bai Yuqiong and Yan Yunxi came to the imperial palace in the capital. Emperor Yanfeng, occupied with affairs of state, was much burdened by toil. Though the Heavenly Court had been broken, its power had been immense; though dead, it would not stiffen, and here and there remnants of the Heavenly Court stirred up trouble from time to time.
Moreover, with the Heavenly Court fallen, the heavens had no master; each acted for itself, and each had its own designs upon the throne of the Heavenly Emperor.
Bai Yuqiong offered counsel: "Your Majesty, when a host of dragons lacks a head, disorder is bound to arise in time. Now Jingping stands ascendant in the Yuan Realm, foremost among the heavens and greatest in strength. Should Your Majesty advance one step further, the chaos among the heavens will gradually subside. But if Your Majesty does not take it up, the disorder of the heavens will continue, and grow ever fiercer—no blessing for the myriad realms!
" Emperor Yanfeng said, "I understand all that Celestial Master Bai has said. But the world is held in common. If I were to style myself Heavenly Emperor, I would be turning a public instrument to private use.
For a short while it might serve, but in the long run I would surely become another of the Ten Heavenly Venerables. And if the vitality of reform were lost, I fear it could not endure. " He rose to his feet, his gaze turning to the world beyond, where Jingping flourished in all its prosperity, and said, "The Heavenly Emperor Taichu made the world a family possession, treating it as his own private estate. The Ten Heavenly Venerables, though they did not make it a family possession, were a cabal of interests, power circulating within their own little circle. I do not wish for this.
To do so—how would it differ from Taichu, how from the Ten Heavenly Venerables?
Jingping would only repeat the same mistakes!
" Bai Yuqiong frowned, and ventured, "Could Your Majesty set a term for the throne of the Heavenly Emperor? " Emperor Yanfeng grew interested and asked, "Speak, Celestial Master.
" "Your Majesty would take the title of Heavenly Emperor and establish the rule that, whether upon attaining the dao realm or after a certain number of years upon the throne, when the term is up, one must of one's own accord abdicate and yield to the worthy. " Bai Yuqiong was somewhat cautious; only after pondering a moment did she say, "Your Majesty is the founding sovereign. No later ruler will be able to surpass Your Majesty in achievement. If even Your Majesty does thus, later rulers will naturally not dare to sit forever upon this seat. Moreover, when the Heavenly Emperors of past ages abdicated, it was not through death, but through attaining the dao or retiring into seclusion. With the Heavenly Emperors of past ages before them, later rulers will not dare to act wantonly.
In this way, the worry of a family possession or of the Ten Heavenly Venerables is resolved. " Hearing this, Emperor Yanfeng's eyes lit up. He paced quickly to and fro, then suddenly said, "Then where do the abdicated Heavenly Emperors go?
Having long dwelt upon the throne of power, once they abdicate, they may well cling to authority.
If they meddle in the new governance, they will surely cause the new emperor much trouble.
" "That.
.
. " Bai Yuqiong found it hard to answer, and looked to Yan Yunxi, who likewise did not know how to answer. Power is the most seductive of things—so it was with the Great Emperor, so with Taichu, so with the Ten Heavenly Venerables. If the old emperor, after abdicating, still clung to power and controlled the new emperor, then the world would still be ruled by the Ten Heavenly Venerables! Just then, Granny Zhu, the village head, and the others returned from the Ancestral Court to have audience with the emperor.
Emperor Yanfeng, both startled and delighted, hastened to summon them.