Inside the carriage, Monk Shenxiu sat opposite Zhao Taisui.
Still unwilling to let it go, Zhao Taisui recounted everything that had happened in the pavilion tonight to Shenxiu. As he reached the more agitated parts of his story, his eyes turned bloodshot. "He almost killed me!"
Shenxiu looked at Zhao Taisui calmly. "He is nothing but a mortal; you are the reincarnation of a Buddha-son. He cannot kill you."
A sullen look crossed Zhao Taisui’s eyes as he fell silent. Only the two of them occupied the gilded, ornate carriage. After a moment, Zhao Taisui asked, "You all keep saying I am the reincarnation of a Buddha-son and urge me to study Buddhism. But after several years, I haven't even been able to attain the First Dhyana. Why do you still believe I am a Buddha-son?"
Shenxiu paused briefly, then suddenly smiled, plucking a flower as he said, "Because you resemble the Empress so much. Seeing you is like seeing the Empress herself."
Zhao Taisui scoffed in self-mockery. "If I were like my aunt, none of the Zhou family would have walked out of there tonight!"
Shenxiu watched Zhao Taisui—a man steeped in the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance—yet he remained convinced that Zhao Taisui was indeed the Buddha-son. It is said that if one does not perceive the mundane world, one cannot perceive the Tathagata. The Buddha, after all, was achieved by a mortal.
Shenxiu’s nostrils flared slightly. "What incense were you wearing tonight?"
Zhao Taisui did not know why Shenxiu asked, but he answered honestly, "Just the dragon-saliva and musk incense from Linshui Pavilion."
Shenxiu nodded. Dragon-saliva and musk were both potent tonics capable of invigorating Qi and Blood; it was standard for Linshui Pavilion to use them. However, if the concentration was just a bit too high, it would make an ordinary person irritable and prone to rage—especially a Buddha-son like Zhao Taisui, who had yet to achieve enlightenment and remained trapped in the three poisons.
"Is there something wrong with the incense?"
Shenxiu smiled. "Nothing of great consequence."
The Zhou family was the pillar of the military nobility, and the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Feather Guard was at the heart of the current turbulent undercurrents. Even without this incense, the Zhao family would have clashed with the Zhou family; it was merely a matter of fate and circumstance. A few demons making mischief could never stop the Buddha-dharma from shining like the sun in the sky.
***
"Second Uncle, you actually deployed the Spider Tower?!"
On the main road, Zhou Tieyi looked up at the behemoth before him, finally understanding why Gongshu Sheng had been as combative as a young man back at Linshui Pavilion. The Military School favored the art of deception; they stayed still as a mountain, but when they moved, they struck like thunder.
Although Gongshu Sheng was nominally the steward of the Zhou family, he had fought side-by-side with Zhou Tieyi’s father on the battlefield and was as close as a brother. Both Zhou brothers usually addressed him as "Second Uncle." Only when outsiders were present did Gongshu Sheng insist they call him "Steward Gongshu."
Gongshu Sheng let out a soft grunt.
The massive mechanical creation moved its eight spider-like legs until it stood before them, then the joints lowered with graceful precision, setting the three-story-high body of the Spider Tower onto the ground. The entire structure was forged from wood and steel and densely covered in Yin-Yang School talismans. Each held its own supernatural power, making the Spider Tower the deadliest weapon below Rank Three. To engrave those talismans, they had melted down one hundred thousand taels of silver and ten thousand taels of gold, and it required a fortune every year just to maintain it—not to mention the various treasures kept inside. Even with the massive resources of the Tiger-Awe General’s estate, they could only afford to maintain four such towers: one in Tianjing and three at Sunset Pass.
The belly of the tower opened to reveal a spacious interior, large enough for several people to drink tea in comfort.
*It really is "black technology,"* Zhou Tieyi thought. After sitting cross-legged, he couldn't feel the slightest vibration, save for the scenery flashing by outside the window.
The Spider Tower was the pinnacle of the Gongshu family’s mechanical arts, traversing mountains and ridges as if they were flat ground. It was a pity, he thought, that because the Mohist School possessed the Feipeng, they always held the upper hand. Among the Nine Schools, it was the Mohists who were renowned for their mechanical arts, not the Gongshu.
*With the family going so far as to move the Spider Tower, how am I going to explain this to Second Uncle?* Zhou Tieyi pondered in silence. Misusing a family heirloom was not something he could easily talk his way out of, no matter how favored he usually was. He figured he would likely be in for a sound beating.
"Don't blame yourself for this; someone was just pulling strings in the dark."
"Huh?"
Zhou Tieyi looked up at Gongshu Sheng in disbelief. *You can't just spoil a kid like this.* He had deployed a family heavy weapon on a whim to back him up, and now that things had gone wrong, he wasn't holding him accountable, but actually finding excuses for him. *I’m being treated like a third-rate villain; no wonder the original owner grew up to be a fop.* Unfortunately, Gongshu Sheng wore an iron mask, making it impossible to read his true thoughts.
Gongshu Sheng sighed, as if lamenting that his protege would not live up to expectations. "Do you still not understand?"
"His Majesty has been ailing for a long time and hasn't held court in over two months. The word from the palace is that to resolve his chronic illness, His Majesty has invited the Master of Daming Dao Palace to the capital to lecture on Daoist methods, preparing to devote himself to the practice of longevity arts."
In this world, the art of longevity was real, and the Taoism was undisputed in its supremacy.
"And what of the court?" Linking this to the arrogance of the Zhao family, Zhou Tieyi asked instinctively, "They aren't going to hand it over to the Empress to manage, are they?"
Gongshu Sheng nodded. He looked at Zhou Tieyi; although Tieyi had been spoiled into being a bit of a rascal over the years, his talent was exceptionally high. When his bones were examined years ago, a high-level Taoist practitioner had prophesied he was a "dragon hidden in the abyss." If it weren't for the fact that the family needed a Confucian scholar, Zhou Tieyi would likely have made a name for himself in the Martial Dao long ago.
"His Majesty has only leaked a whisper of this, but the court and the public are already in a state of turmoil. Tell me, facing such great power and a turbulent court, what is the Empress to do?"
"Military power!" Zhou Tieyi stated firmly. Powerful military control, especially within Tianjing. *Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun!*
"No, that's not it!" Zhou Tieyi immediately contradicted himself. If the Empress in this world wasn't a political idiot—similar to the historical Wang Mang before he usurped the throne—she should be more cautious, perhaps even humble, at a time like this. She shouldn't be coveting military power; that was a path to self-destruction. *So, the "demoness" tried to provoke me and Zhao Taisui to shatter any notion that the Empress was secretly seizing military power? To expose it to the public and force the Empress into a dilemma? Was that demoness actually a warm-hearted patriot?*
"Then why didn't Monk Shenxiu stop Zhao Taisui today? Why keep testing our Zhou family? Isn't he afraid of affecting the Empress and incurring His Majesty's suspicion?"
Gongshu Sheng shook his head. "You see the surface, but not the depth."
"What was Zhao Taisui’s original name?"
"Zhao Fo'er."
Zhou Tieyi vaguely grasped a key piece of information.
Gongshu Sheng continued, "The Zhao family has worshipped Buddha for generations, and naturally, the Empress is extremely close to the Buddhist sect. Though His Majesty sits in Tianjing like the sun and moon in the sky, if he wishes to practice Daoism, he needs the concurrence of the Buddhist sect. That is why the Empress is allowed to manage the government."
Zhou Tieyi’s mouth hung open; he was speechless for a moment. An Emperor wanting to practice Daoism, and an Empress close to the Buddhists managing the state—in his previous life, this would be a sure sign of a doomed nation. Yet, in this world, it seemed somewhat logical. After all, both the Buddhist and Daoist sects had produced Sages; they had to be treated with balance.
Gongshu Sheng tapped Zhou Tieyi’s forehead with his cold, mechanical finger. "His Majesty is like the sun and moon; he has no need for military power while in Tianjing. But for the Empress to govern, she requires a certain amount of military power."
"As for how much that 'certain amount' is? That is the game of chess being played between His Majesty and the Empress, between the Daoists and the Buddhists. Our Zhou family is merely the first to bear the brunt of it."