Chapter 22: Fighting Over Him

THE GREAT HALL was filled with candlelight, and the stout coal brazier within burned merrily. Flanking the brazier were a pair of auspicious beast statues that had been enchanted to move. One functioned as a bellows, opening its mouth to shout, "His Imperial Majesty awes the Nine Provinces!" as it made the fire blaze more brightly. The other shouted, "His Imperial Majesty's fortune floods the heavens!" as it opened its mouth wide to inhale the rising smoke into its belly.

Murong Lian had gifted these two bootlicking golden beasts to the emperor, who loved them deeply, but Mo Xi's opinion was that only the mentally impaired could find joy in such garbage. At present, these two bootlickers had just finished their inhale and exhale routine, and they let out twin metallic belches before curling up by the brazier and falling still.

Mo Xi glanced across the palace hall. Almost every Shennong Terrace healer was present. Gu Mang was restrained in the middle of the hall, guarded by the elite cultivators of the palace. Someone had put him under a hypnosis spell, and he was presently unconscious.

The emperor was reclining on the pale yellow cushions of the imperial throne, wearing black robes and the beaded imperial crown. His face was jade-like in its beauty, his features exuding a clear willfulness. He had been resting with his eyes closed, but upon hearing the rustling of robes and hurried footsteps, he opened them and glanced down.

"Everyone's here?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, Elder Yu of Chengtian Terrace has not yet arrived," an official replied.

The emperor scoffed. "The old geezer's getting on in years—not even a snowy owl messenger can wake him. We think it's high time the leadership of Chengtian Terrace goes to someone more worthy."

"Your Imperial Majesty, please calm yourself…"

"Do you think we aren't calm?" The emperor rolled his eyes and sat up straight. With a wave of his pale yellow sleeves, he said, "Gentlemen, take your seats."

"Our thanks to Your Imperial Majesty," the entire hall intoned.

"We understand you're displeased to be called to the palace in the middle of the night. Perhaps you're even secretly cursing our name."

One of the old nobles had barely sat down before this statement made him fall in haste to his knees. "What is Your Imperial Majesty saying?"

"All right, all right, get up. Don't give us that load about emperors needing to set an example for their subjects—it's so annoying. If you want to curse us, then curse away. As long as you don't let us hear it, you can curse to your heart's content."

A few old nobles looked at each other. This youthful emperor of theirs was possessed of a strange and intractable temperament, which to a one they found unfathomable.

Although he manifestly shared sentiments with the conservative senior nobles—to the point that he had removed Chonghua's greatest slaveborn general not long after his ascension—his manner was consistently unorthodox, and he approached every situation as if determined to establish a new world order.

"We know you want to get out of here to go back to sleep, mollify your women, and visit your prostitutes," the emperor said wearily. "We will be brief."

They were struck speechless.

This was simply absurd. Did any other emperor in the Nine Provinces and Twenty-Eight Nations behave like this?

"Elder of Shennong Terrace."

"This subject is here!"

"Report on Gu Mang's condition tonight, as well as the results of the examination."

"Understood!" The leader of Shennong Terrace stepped forward, made an obeisance, and relayed his account of how Gu Mang's spiritual energy had suddenly gone berserk. Then he said, "The spiritual core inside Gu Mang has indeed been broken. He has no spiritual energy, but…"

"But what?" the emperor asked.

The healer lowered his head. "We found powerful malevolent qi in his chest."

The emperor mulled this over. "Malevolent qi…"

"Yes. This official has determined that Gu Mang became frenzied due to this malevolent qi. Unfortunately, Chonghua has always followed the righteous path and has no contact with immoral demonic ways, so Shennong Terrace's knowledge of such things is limited. All we can say for certain is that the Liao Kingdom must have done something to Gu Mang's heart; but to acquire further details, I'm afraid we'd…" His expression was harrowed, his voice trailing off.

"You don't need to be afraid," the emperor said. "Just say it, no harm in that."

The healer made further obeisance. "I'm afraid we'd need to wait for Gu Mang to die in order to dissect his heart," he said.

"You mean if we wanted to know what's wrong with him right away, we'd need to kill him right now?"

The healer hesitated. "Yes."

"Useless trash!" the emperor spat.

The Shennong Terrace elder fell to his knees in terror. "Your Imperial Majesty, this official is incompetent…"

"You are indeed! What would we want with a corpse? He's riddled with traces of the Liao Kingdom's magic! So long as he's alive, we can study him. What use is he dead? So we could bury him for the fun of it?"

"Y-Your Imperial Majesty…"

"Find another way!"

"B-but Gu Mang's mind is broken," the Shennong Terrace elder said. "Hardly any traces of those magic techniques remain, and I'm afraid—"

It was then that Murong Lian lazily raised his voice. "Elder, whether Gu Mang is in fact mentally broken is still yet to be determined." He flicked his eyes over to cast Mo Xi a meaningful glance. "Isn't that right, Xihejun?"

Mo Xi said nothing.

The elder swallowed with difficulty. It was already terrifying to be called "useless trash" by the emperor, but now Wangshu-jun was interrupting him, and the ruthless killer Xihe-jun had gotten involved too. He felt like he was about to faint.

Only after stuttering for several seconds did the elder manage to speak. "B-but this official has examined him multiple times. Gu Mang truly…truly can't remember anything. His nature is completely bestial. Why…why would Xihe-jun suggest that his mind is intact?"

Mo Xi replied, "Gu Mang was able to summon a demonic weapon."

The Shennong Terrace Elder let out a sigh of relief. "Xihe-jun misunderstands," he said hastily. "Although it is often said that summoning either holy or demonic weapons requires reciting an incantation, that isn't necessarily true. When its owner's emotions are exceptionally strong, or if they're in a very dangerous situation, the weapon may still be summoned, even without the incantation. So that…that does not prove anything."

Mo Xi listened without making a sound. His expression was frosty, but his eyes stared unblinkingly at the unconscious Gu Mang. Mo Xi looked perfectly unruffled—no one had seen that his grip on the sandalwood armrest had left a hairline crack in the wood.

Another noble spoke from among the group. "Your Imperial Majesty, regardless of all else, Gu Mang is simply too dangerous. If not for the timely arrival of the guards today, I'm afraid he would have killed many more people!"

"That's right! Think of the sins he's committed. Why has Your Imperial Majesty continued to extend mercy?! Why not kill him and be done with it?!"

Murong Lian's sort, who believed it was more interesting to keep people alive to torture them, were in the minority. The majority still held to primitive rules: an eye for an eye, a life for a life. Many nobles had blood feuds with Gu Mang, and they couldn't let an opportunity like the one that had presented itself today pass them by.

Cries of "Execute Gu Mang at once!" filled the hall.

The emperor twirled a string of jade beads on his hand—then smashed it down onto the sandalwood table. "What are you yammering on about?" he bellowed.

The crowd fell silent at once.

"What a racket. First the harem won't shut up, and now it's the court's turn. We've got a headache coming on!" The emperor pointed at the Shennong Terrace elder. "You're nothing more than useless trash! If it weren't for Jiang Fuli's refusal to take your position, we would've fired you a thousand times over!"

The Shennong Terrace elder could have cried. His was a difficult and unrewarding position to start; if it weren't for Jiang Fuli's refusal to take his position, he would've begged to resign a thousand times over too.

The emperor cooled down somewhat and abruptly turned to another official. "When is Jiang Fuli coming back?" he asked.

The official fell to his knees. "Your Imperial Majesty, this official is also useless trash. This official doesn't know where Medicine Master Jiang has gone…"

"Enough. You can get up." The emperor waved a hand, impatient. "At least you're not useless trash. Jiang Fuli is hard to keep track of. If you don't know, forget it."

The official was close to tears. "Many thanks to Your Imperial Majesty."

The emperor looked up at his crowd of subjects. "If we wanted to kill the traitor Gu Mang, we could have done so two years ago. We obviously have our own reasons for keeping him alive thus far."

It was clear that some nobles still wanted to speak. "Hold your tongues," the emperor warned testily. "Let us finish. We are aware many of your friends and family have had the misfortune of falling by Gu Mang's hand, and that you want to deal with him once and for all. That way, your hatred will be avenged.

"However, aside from retribution, Chonghua wouldn't gain the slightest advantage from that vengeance. So, we will keep Gu Mang alive.

Though the marks left on him are too faint for Shennong Terrace to glean any useful information, Jiang Fuli might be able to accomplish what Shennong Terrace cannot. If there's anything Jiang Fuli cannot accomplish now, he might still be able to in the future. We can wait."

After a moment, he continued, his tone severe. "The memories Gu Mang lost…are useful. The spells on Gu Mang's body…are useful. Gu Mang himself…is far more useful alive than dead.

"Chonghua has never cultivated the demonic path and only employs proper techniques to sustain our cultivation. However—if we fail to even try to understand them, if we refuse to make progress or to gain intelligence about the Liao Kingdom…" He sneered. "Then we think, sooner or later, Chonghua will be no match for Liao!"

The emperor wanted to study the demonic path of the Liao Kingdom? An array of different expressions crossed the faces of those gathered.

"But…"

"How can Chonghua dabble in dark magic? Even if we do it to know our enemy, it's still outrageously dangerous."

One of the nobles present was the elder brother of the emperor's favored concubine. Being exceptionally stupid, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Imperial Majesty, if you want to understand the Liao Kingdom's black magic, can't you just take a few more captives? Why does it have to be this one?"

The emperor rolled his eyes. "Because the Liao Kingdom has already poured so much effort into him. He is unique. How hasn't that sheer idiocy of yours killed you yet?"

At that, everyone fell quiet.

After a spell, Murong Lian rose and bowed to the throne. "Since Your Imperial Majesty has explained his reasoning to us," he said, "this subject naturally won't object. It's only that…"

"Speak."

"Today's events demonstrated that the malevolent qi in Gu Mang's body is extremely potent, capable of breaking through the protective barrier outside Luomei Pavilion. It is no longer safe to keep him there." He paused.

"If Your Imperial Majesty can trust this subject, why not let me take Gu Mang into the custody of my manor? This subject will keep strict watch over him as atonement for allowing this day's disaster to unfold."

The emperor thought this over, looking weary. "Mn…this could be a solution…"

"Many thanks to Your Imperial Majesty," Murong Lian said. "Then —"

Before he could finish, a low voice interjected.

"No." Mo Xi, who had sat mute with his eyes closed all this time, finally spoke up from his sandalwood chair. He looked up at Wangshu-jun and repeated his objection. "No. You cannot take him away."

At first, the emperor was taken aback. Then he stroked his chin with surprise and interest, looking between Wangshu-jun and Xihe-jun.

Murong Lian stiffened, the corners of his mouth curling into a sneer. "What special insight does Xihe-jun possess? Weren't you the one who thought Gu Mang might still have his memories?"

"I did say that." Mo Xi rose, his height and the expression on his face both intimidating. "So I will take him into custody."

Murong Lian's gaze sharpened. "Why, exactly?"

Mo Xi was curt. "Because you can't beat him."

"You!"

Mo Xi turned toward the throne. "Your Imperial Majesty, though Gu Mang has been stripped of much of his power, if he were to go berserk again, he would prove to be as formidable as he was today."

"That sounds reasonable…"

"You're aware of his martial prowess. In terms of one-on-one fighting, few in Chonghua could best him," Mo Xi said, cool and steady. "I ask Your Imperial Majesty to send Gu Mang to Xihe Manor. I will keep him under total control and prevent him from harming Your Imperial Majesty or any other individual in Chonghua ever again."

After a moment, Murong Lian smiled contemptuously. "Xihe-jun uses such pretty language, but are we really supposed to believe that you mean to protect Chonghua and His Imperial Majesty?"

"What are you implying?" Mo Xi asked.

"What am I implying?" Murong Lian tilted his pale face as he narrowed his eyes. "Does Xihe-jun truly not understand what I mean?" He lowered his chin and gestured in Gu Mang's direction. "By taking him in, wouldn't you only be trying to protect him?"

"What nonsense is this?" Mo Xi's face instantly darkened. "Gu Mang nearly died at my hand not hours ago—you think I'm protecting him?"

"What was that? Nearly?" Murong Lian shot him a cool, fluid glance. "He's still alive, isn't he? Besides, right outside this hall, when I asked whether you truly wanted to choke Gu Mang to death with your own hands, did you answer?"

Mo Xi replied with barely suppressed rage, "Why should I tell you?!"

"Whether you wanted to, whether you're willing—yes, why should you tell me? Your relationship with him, your private affairs, why should they be shared with anyone else? Heh, my fellow gentlemen are quite forgetful, so why don't I give you all a reminder?" Murong Lian's eyes glinted. "All those years ago, didn't Xihe-jun's friendship with General Gu transcend class?"

This proclamation left the crowd not shocked so much as at a loss for words.

Mo Xi and Gu Mang had been inseparably close; everyone knew this. However, it was also common knowledge that Gu Mang had nearly stabbed Mo Xi to death after defecting. Since that stab, their relationship had long since passed the tipping point.

Everyone was embarrassed. Some people laughed awkwardly without agreeing. Someone even said, "Wangshu-jun, that was ages ago. What more is there to say…?"

But Murong Lian seemed to have expected this response. He snorted indolently, the corners of his mouth curving more dangerously. "All right, then I won't speak more on it." He met Mo Xi's gaze again, smirking. "Let me ask Xihe-jun a question: You've always been ascetic and proper, unsullied by houses of pleasure…so, I dare say, what were you after when you secretly visited Luomei Pavilion in search of Gu Mang?"

Mo Xi's heart pounded. So that attendant had indeed reported his visit to Luomei Pavilion to see Gu Mang. But he didn't intend to deny it. Turning his dark eyes away, he said, "For revenge. What else?"

"If it was for revenge, why did you personally offer him water to drink and food to eat?" Murong Lian savored each word as he hissed them out like a venomous snake. "Could it be that seeing your Gu Mang-gege in pain…hurt you?"

If they hadn't been in the palace of Chonghua with the emperor watching mere feet away, Mo Xi would have pelted Murong Lian with a barrage of fireballs. It was entirely possible that Murong Lian's head would have been smashed right off.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Mo Xi said angrily. "You followed me?"

Murong Lian scoffed. "Like I would need to follow you. Luomei Pavilion belongs to me, doesn't it? Moreover, you have only yourself to blame—could it be that you were afraid people would find out?"

As their argument grew heated, one of the nobles tried to intervene. "Let it go. Xihe-jun has always been cold of face but kind of heart. He was just giving some water to someone dying of thirst. Wangshu-jun, why be so aggressive…?"

"Just some water?" Murong Lian's eyes flashed with a chilling light. "Ridiculous. In matters of vengeance, it would be rare enough for someone to resist kicking an already fallen opponent, and here Xihe-jun is offering him aid in a time of need. Such depths of moral righteousness have truly opened my eyes."

He bent toward the throne. "Your Imperial Majesty may deny my request to take custody of Gu Mang, but Xihe-jun must not be allowed to take him back to his manor."

It was rare for the emperor to see Mo Xi and Murong Lian argue so heatedly at court. Headache forgotten, he watched with rapt interest. After receiving this request from Murong Lian, he found himself undecided. "Well…" he muttered.

The emperor's hesitation compelled Murong Lian to continue. "Xihejun gave Gu Mang water even when he was confined at Luomei Pavilion. If Xihe-jun were to take Gu Mang into his home, who knows what else he would give him?"

These words contained a sly hint of innuendo within their derision. Some of the nobles thought Murong Lian was going too far, and they shot meaningful glances his way in an attempt to get him to shut up.

Visiting male prostitutes didn't raise eyebrows in Chonghua, but actual relationships between men were wholly forbidden. This was especially true for pure-blooded nobles like Mo Xi—the spiritual energy in their lineage was far too precious to waste. The righteous choice for such men was to carry on their bloodline, so Chonghua forbade them from engaging in unseemly affairs.

Furthermore, how could an aloof and noble person like Xihe-jun associate in such a way with filthy, lowborn trash like Gu Mang? The nobles felt this strained belief; they thought that Murong Lian had gotten rather too carried away in his desire to slander his rival.

Only Mo Xi, the victim of slander himself, knew the jab had landed.

"Xihe-jun, you wouldn't want to raise any questions about your allegiance," Murong Lian drawled. "You'd best stop meddling."

After a breath, Mo Xi turned, his expression hostile. He glared at Murong Lian to ask, "And if I refuse?"