Chapter 400: Chapter 223: The Top Dog Among Tigers: Gu Yuanzhang
The white-bearded old man returned the token to Lu Yuan with trembling hands. He felt incredibly fortunate to have seen two physical—Daoist Elder Orders—in his lifetime!
The Daoist Elder Order was rarely seen, but thankfully, depictions of it had been passed down in paintings and calligraphy.
That was why the third-generation disciples of Le Shen Temple could recognize the token in Lu Yuan’s hand, despite never having seen a real Daoist Elder Order before.
The white-bearded old man’s position in Le Shen Temple was second only to a few and superior to thousands, yet he still spoke respectfully. "Elder, are you from Qilu Province?"
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple and a Daoist Elder were not part of the same system. One represented a temple; the other, the entirety of Taoism!
As the Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple, the white-bearded old man still had to address Lu Yuan respectfully as "Elder."
Lu Yuan tucked away the token. "That’s right. My ancestral home is Taiping City in Qilu Province. I am currently the Prefect of Dongchang."
"Oh... Elder, you also hold a high-ranking position in the Court?" the white-bearded old man asked again, unable to believe it.
"I do!"
So, the young man before him was already a Fourth Grade official.
But that wasn’t what shocked the white-bearded old man the most. What he truly couldn’t fathom was why that old fellow—the Observatory Master of Guyang Temple—would give this token to a court official instead of a member of Taoism.
And even setting that aside, if he had to give it to a court official, shouldn’t it have at least been someone from a prestigious clan? Someone like the Huai West Nobles, or one of the founding Meritorious Officials, like King Yan Gu Di’s father-in-law.
Then again, many of the Huai West Nobles had already been executed by the Emperor.
But still... how did this Daoist Elder Order end up with the young man before him?
The white-bearded old man stroked his beard, thinking, ’Could that old fellow, the Observatory Master of Guyang Temple, have gone senile? Even if there’s no one at Guyang Temple worthy of the token, he can’t just give it away to a random person.’
The white-bearded old man’s reasoning was sound. After all, Le Shen Temple also possessed a Daoist Elder Order. It was held by the temple’s Ancestor—the eldest Daoist of them all.
The token held by Le Shen Temple’s Ancestor was from the Daoist Ancestor Laozi himself, and it was the other token the white-bearded old man had once seen.
No matter how incredible the white-bearded old man found it, he couldn’t possibly voice his doubts to Lu Yuan’s face.
The best course of action was to wait for Lu Yuan to leave, then send someone to Guyang Temple to verify everything.
As it stood, the matter seemed all but certain.
"Elder, what brings you to our temple today?" the white-bearded old man—the Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple—asked.
Lu Yuan replied, "Nothing major. I just had a bit of a conflict with some of your people."
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple paused. "This... Elder, does that mean you’re here today to...?"
"I’m not here to settle a score," Lu Yuan cut in. "I just want to understand what happened."
Lu Yuan also wanted to get to the bottom of it, so he recounted the entire sequence of events.
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple said, "Elder, we do indeed have rituals to perform today, but they don’t require any ’long-life fruits.’ What’s more, our temple is blessed by imperial grace and our precepts are strict. It’s impossible that any of our disciples would be law-breaking scoundrels."
Lu Yuan jutted his chin toward the head disciple of Le Shen Temple’s third generation. "Why don’t you ask him, then?"
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple turned to look at his favorite disciple.
Daoist Wang tried to lean in and whisper in his ear, but his master brushed him aside with his duster. "Whatever you have to say, say it openly. If it is as the Elder says, I will mete out severe punishment without fail!"
After being sharply rebuked by his master, Daoist Wang froze, not knowing where to begin.
Daoist Wang stammered, "Master, we..."
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple wondered, ’My favorite disciple is a grown man. When did he start mincing his words like this?’
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple turned to the middle-aged Daoists beside him. "Junior Brothers and Sisters, please leave us for now. I will be sure to handle my disciple’s matter with fairness."
The middle-aged Daoists clasped their hands. "Grand Elder, we will take our leave."
They clasped their hands toward Lu Yuan as well, then exited the reception hall.
Once his martial uncles and aunts had left, Daoist Wang also dismissed the junior disciples at his side.
Only Lu Yuan, Su Liyan’s mother, two of their trusted followers, and the master and disciple from Le Shen Temple remained in the reception hall.
Daoist Wang, the head disciple of Le Shen Temple’s third generation, spoke with an aggrieved tone. "Master, we only set this trap because we were following an order from Jinyiwei Commander Mao Xiang."
Hearing this, Su Liyan’s mother was finally convinced that her son-in-law had been telling the truth. So that mother and daughter selling the "long-life fruits" were just actors.
Su Liyan’s mother took a step back. ’Her son-in-law was targeted on just his second day in the Imperial City!’ The thought was terrifying, enough to frighten a simple country woman like her.
Su Liyan’s mother clenched her right fist, making a silent vow. ’I won’t let anyone harm my dear son-in-law.’
A mother-in-law had to look the part!
For though Su Liyan’s mother was a country woman, it didn’t mean she was powerless.
If she were truly pushed to the brink, Su Liyan’s mother could wreak havoc with the help of the Da Xingzi from the woods by the Changliu Village reservoir.
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple felt a fleeting chill. He scanned his surroundings, but there was no one else there. ’I must be getting paranoid,’ he thought.
"A setup? Why?" Lu Yuan asked in quick succession.
Daoist Wang replied, "Elder, Master, we don’t know the reason. Jinyiwei Commander Mao Xiang only said we were to test Elder Lu."
The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple stroked his beard and spoke in his disciple’s defense. "Elder, our temple is indebted to the Emperor’s grace. We cannot disobey an order from the Court."
Lu Yuan understood the implications. "Of course," he said.
...
「Inside the Imperial Capital.」
The Emperor was listening to a report from Jinyiwei Commander Mao Xiang, who recounted every detail of the events: how Lu Yuan had helped the mother and daughter selling the "long-life fruits," fought three Celestial Masters on his own, and subsequently gone to Le Shen Temple.
The Emperor said, "What? Lu Yuan went to Le Shen Temple?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Mao Xiang replied.
The Emperor pressed, "I had you send people to test Lu Yuan, so how did he end up at Le Shen Temple? Besides, I already know he can fight several Celestial Masters on his own."
What the Emperor wanted to test was the true extent of Lu Yuan’s strength. He wanted to know if Lu Yuan could truly defeat the youngest of the Celestial Dynasty Palace’s second-generation elders, just as the elder from the palace had claimed.
Mao Xiang explained, "Your Majesty, the Jinyi Guard’s methods are too conspicuous. So, I found Daoist Wang of Le Shen Temple, thinking it would be a more subtle approach."
The Emperor stood up, walked over to Mao Xiang, and leaned in close. "And did you find out what I wanted to know?"
Hearing the Emperor’s low, dangerous tone, Mao Xiang dropped to his knees. "I... I don’t understand why that Daoist Wang led Lord Lu to Le Shen Temple. We failed to test Lord Lu’s strength."
The Emperor kicked the kneeling Mao Xiang. "You imbecile!" he roared. "I told you to test Lu Yuan’s strength, and you completely botched it!"
The Emperor was so furious he began pacing back and forth. The Jinyi Guard’s performance had been abysmal lately.
All they had managed to produce were a few of Lu Yuan’s little inventions. The intelligence on all other fronts was vague and inconclusive.
"I can send men to try again!" Mao Xiang scrambled back into a kneeling position, pressing his forehead to the floor.
"Try again? Are you a pig-head?" the Emperor snapped, whirling around. "Forget waiting for those Jinyi Guards. Go. Personally deliver my royal summons: Lu Yuan is to come to the palace for an audience the day after tomorrow."
The Emperor intended to have a good, long chat with Lu Yuan face-to-face. He wanted to see for himself just what it was about this man that made so many people take such a liking to him.
Mao Xiang responded, "I obey!"
"What are you still kneeling there for? Get out!" With that, the Emperor turned away to practice his calligraphy.
Practicing calligraphy helped temper one’s disposition, quell the fires of anger, and restrain one’s killing intent.
Once outside the Imperial Study, Mao Xiang wiped the cold sweat from his brow with his sleeve. He let out a few shaky breaths, feeling utterly dejected.
’As the saying goes, attending to a ruler is like attending to a tiger,’ he thought. ’And this Gu Yuanzhang is the most fearsome tiger of all. He’s impossible to serve!’
Mao Xiang flicked his sleeves and descended the steps.
Mao Xiang figured he had weathered this particular storm. All he had to do now was bring Lu Yuan before the Emperor, and his part would be done.
’Whether Lu Yuan is rewarded or punished, killed or flayed alive—it will have nothing to do with me.’
’Of course, it would be best if the Emperor just killed Lu Yuan. That would save me from this whole miserable affair.’
At this thought, Mao Xiang couldn’t suppress a smirk. ’Kill him,’ he thought, ’and all my problems will be solved!’
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