Chapter 917 - 355: Loving You
Today is a grand court day for the Shangjing Court.
Immortal Emperor Jiang Xuan personally presides over the court, consulting with the Cabinet Advisors and a host of central and regional dignitaries on the upcoming Human Dao Assembly.
The Human Dao Assembly is held once every thousand years; every past session has been a turning point that decides the fate of countless powers under heaven.
In the past, Shangjing, exalted as an Immortal Dynasty, was unaffected by the Human Dao Assembly; now that it has fallen to an Imperial Dynasty, naturally everything must be reconsidered from the beginning.
Right Minister Gong Tianrui and Left Minister Pei Weiyi stand to the left and right of Jiang Xuan, demonstrating their rank in this Court as beneath but one person, above ten thousand.
However, Pei Weiyi’s position is for the most part merely symbolic; she seldom takes part in deliberations. It is basically Gong Tianrui who presides over affairs.
As the officials present their counsel, Jiang Xuan sends a voice transmission to Pei Weiyi,
"You need not attend court any longer. In today’s Shangjing, there is no stage left for you to display your talents."
How could Pei Weiyi not understand Jiang Xuan’s meaning. This was to release her from the body of a subject. She is, after all, the woman of that Lord of All Beings—how could she remain a vassal to another?
Though Fan Wubing had never said anything of the sort, Jiang Xuan himself felt ill at ease. Moreover, he felt that what Pei Weiyi had done for Shangjing had long surpassed what Shangjing could provide her in return.
Pei Weiyi replied,
"I have yet to find a suitable place to go; I can only endure for now. If You Majesty wishes to reform the Court, then remove me from this post of Left Minister, and do not trouble yourself over my feelings."
Jiang Xuan asked,
"Isn’t by the Lord of All Beings’ side precisely your proper place?"
Pei Weiyi paused for a moment. "I would hardly be of any help, and fear I would end up as nothing more than a gilded canary. However... he did say to me before that, if this world still requires a Yin Yang School, then I may go and seek it back. But I find it hard to know whether this world still needs a Yin Yang School."
Jiang Xuan thought for a while and said, "I believe he likely was not asking whether the world needs it. He was asking whether you wish to do so."
"How do you mean?"
"After all, what the world needs or does not need—no one can pronounce on that. Only what exists, and can withstand the trials of all beings, is truly needed. Prime Minister Pei, he actually cares about you very much, it’s just..." Jiang Xuan chuckled, "That Lord of All Beings... in truth he’s also somewhat... what was that word again, one I heard before from Ye Zongsi—’tsundere’, I think. Roughly, the more he cares, the less forthright he becomes."
Pei Weiyi lowered her lashes. "Is that so. It seems I am the one who does not know him well enough."
"Then what do you think?"
Pei Weiyi smiled faintly. "After this, will the Heavenly Dao return to being the aggregation of the will of all beings, as it once was?"
"Yes."
"Then I shall resume my days of ’knowing Heaven’s principles and comprehending the patterns of fate’."
Jiang Xuan smiled. He was glad for Pei Weiyi’s choice.
Elsewhere, once the officials’ counsel had concluded, Gong Tianrui sought Jiang Xuan’s opinion.
Jiang Xuan was fully aware of the thoughts of the central and regional dignitaries, and was just about to speak, when his brows suddenly knit together. His spirit rang as though a great drum were being struck, quaking in his heart with the force of a mountain collapsing. He froze, his shoulders beginning to tremble uncontrollably. As though he did not dare believe what he had just sensed, he turned his head toward Pei Weiyi in a stiff motion, only to see that she too was petrified.
Jiang Xuan understood the cause and effect at once.
He murmured under his breath,
"You’ve returned..."
Forcing down the myriad emotions in his heart, he composed himself and calmly continued the court session.
Once he had announced the end of court, he did not stay a moment longer, urgently setting the Circulation Dao into motion, heading for the southern Taiping Continent.
In the ruined Slaughter Hall, after ten thousand years apart, he finally beheld his elder sister, Jiang Ran.
Not a trace of Immortal Emperor’s majesty remained in him; he was like a lost lamb. Nor did he show any man’s toughness—his face was streaming with tears, fragile as a porcelain doll that would shatter at the lightest touch. He sobbed out,
"Sister, is this some heart demon’s illusion I’ve stumbled into?"
Jiang Ran no longer needed to rely on a wheelchair, yet she was still unaccustomed to walking truly on both feet. With Fan Wubing’s support, she came before Jiang Xuan.
She reached out to brush away her younger brother’s tears, answering softly,
"This is neither heart demon nor illusion. I stand before your eyes, and you before mine."
"Wu..."
Jiang Xuan shut his eyes, a low sobbing sound ceaselessly rising from his throat.
...
This day was of extraordinary significance to Shangjing; after crossing the gulf carved by fate, they at last welcomed home their Eldest Princess.
The name "Jiang Sha" sank completely into slumber within the long river of years, and in its stead the name "Jiang Ran" spread across the world.
The people recalled all that concerned her.
After returning to Changning City, visitors came from all directions to offer her the care and blessings that represented their respective powers.
Yet considering that she had only just returned, and that both her body and spirit were still frail, Jiang Xuan declined all requests for audience from those other than her intimates.
In a tranquil palace deep within the Shangjing Emperor Palace,
Ye Wuyue clutched Jiang Ran’s hand, weeping until she was all tears. In private, she did not possess the rock-solid heart she had as Ye Zongsi; rather, she was a person of abundant feeling.
Yet before her, Pei Weiyi had already wept once. This greatly surprised Fan Wubing, who had never imagined she had such a side; he secretly asked,
"How come you cried too?"
Now that Pei Weiyi no longer held the identity of Cold-faced Judge, she looked in every way like someone untouched by worldly dust, concerned only with Heaven’s principles, a mere Yin-Yang Master,
"Naturally, that’s your doing. After you made me witness the bitter pain of lovers parted by life and death, how could I possibly hold back my tears?"
Fan Wubing smiled awkwardly. "You’re still brooding over that, huh."
Pei Weiyi straightened her cloud-patterned robes, speaking with a smile that did not reach her eyes,
"I’ll never forget it, not for the rest of my life."
Fan Wubing felt aggrieved. Inwardly he reckoned that, because of this matter, he would probably be held in the palm of her hand for a lifetime.