Chapter 1608: I Have a Dream, Yuchenzi's Chapter
Yuchenzi hurriedly looked over and saw a rather handsome middle-aged man striding quickly into the imperial study. This man's most distinctive feature was his beard.
His upper lip beard was trimmed very neatly, with the whiskers hanging down from both sides of the upper lip, not a single stray hair. On his lower lip and chin, only a single wisp of beard remained, forming a fork shape.
"Meng Yungui!"
Yuchenzi recognized him. Among the Four Great Heavenly Masters of the Heavenly Court, the most difficult to deal with was Meng Yungui.
Yuchenzi was in charge of Yankang's diplomacy and had studied the Four Heavenly Masters, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the Four Color Emperors of the Heavenly Court. He also had some understanding of powerful ministers such as the Seven Lords, Three Masters, Supreme Chancellor, and Junior Assistant of the Heavenly Court.
In Yankang, he had a dedicated team of people who studied the personalities, hobbies, weaknesses, psychology, families, and backgrounds of the powerful ministers who held authority in the Heavenly Court, building case files for each powerful minister and important official.
Regarding Meng Yungui, he knew a great deal of information. This man was of human origin from Yuhua Heaven. He became a god from Yuhua Heaven, served as an official in the Heavenly Court, then entered the Daoist Sect to study, taking the Daoist Sect's Dao Master as his teacher to learn numerology and divination.
His attainments in numerology were extremely high, and he could be said to be the most outstanding numerologist in the Heavenly Court.
From this perspective, Meng Yungui was Yuchenzi's senior uncle. After all, Yuchenzi came from a branch of the Daoist Sect, the Qingyun Heaven Daoist Sect, and the Heavenly Court Dao Master was the founding ancestor of the Qingyun Heaven Daoist Sect.
"Chaos numerology is about data chaos, but one must find a high probability from within the chaos, so fuzzy calculation is needed. I want to calculate Meng Yungui, Senior Uncle Meng, but it's truly too difficult. His numerological attainments are extremely high."
Yuchenzi quickly stepped forward, kowtowed to Meng Yungui, and said: "Yuchenzi of Qingyun Heaven pays respects to Senior Uncle Meng!"
Meng Yungui looked at him and said coldly: "You are a disciple of the Qingyun Heaven Daoist Sect? How bold! You dare to display your numerology before me, acting as a lobbyist for Shepherd Lord, intending to fool His Majesty! Your Majesty, kill this beast first to offer his head as a banner!"
Hao Heavenly Lord laughed: "Heavenly Master Meng, Yuchenzi is your junior nephew. Why do you want to kill him the moment you meet?"
Meng Yungui hastily knelt and bowed, saying: "Your servant studied numerology under the Dao Master. Daoist numerology excels at calculation. I also studied painting for a hundred years under Lord Wenchang Star, and once had over a hundred gods and demons proficient in painting secretly observe Shepherd Lord, sketching down every detail of his behavior and expression. Your servant's understanding of Shepherd Lord even surpasses Shepherd Lord's understanding of himself! Shepherd Lord is the type who won't shed tears until he sees the coffin. As long as there is even a thread of hope, he will fight to the bloody end! And that man stops at nothing—every expression, every look on his face can be faked!"
He coldly swept his gaze over the gods and demons in the imperial study who were proficient in painting: "These painters are all useless gluttons. Reading the mentality of Shepherd Lord when he wrote the surrender letter from between the lines of the letter? A fool's dream! Shepherd Lord can already disguise his emotions, injecting false feelings into his calligraphy and paintings. Not a single word he writes can be believed!"
His gaze then fell on Yuchenzi, and he sneered: "Shepherd Lord sent him here precisely to put on an act! The plan now is to first kill Yuchenzi, put his head in a jade box, and send it to Shepherd Lord!"
He raised his palm high and made a chopping motion in the air, saying: "Your Majesty should then have Void Heavenly Lord wipe out half of Yankang's population, warning him that this is the price of fooling Your Majesty!"
Hao Heavenly Lord frowned.
Yuchenzi smiled slightly and said nothing.
Meng Yungui said loudly: "Your Majesty, only by combining favor with authority can the world be at peace! To deal with Shepherd Lord, one must kill the chicken to warn the monkey!"
"I'm afraid he'll fight to the death."
Hao Heavenly Lord shook his head: "Heavenly Master Meng, a Shepherd Lord with no restraints at all is the most terrifying Shepherd Lord. You ask me to wipe out half of Yankang's population, but you haven't considered that he is still the Ten-Thousand-Kalpa Indestructible Great Mage. If you push him too far, he will resurrect those people, reignite his Dao heart, and fight me to the bitter end. What then?"
Meng Yungui raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when Hao Heavenly Lord raised his hand and said calmly: "What I want is a walking-dead Shepherd Lord, a Shepherd Lord whose Dao heart has crumbled. Pushing too hard will instead make him reignite his fighting spirit. If he abandons Yankang and leads Ling, Yue, You, Lang, and the others in a desperate final battle—heh, who in the Heavenly Court dares to claim they can keep themselves safe?"
He stood up and paced back and forth: "You have never understood one principle. I not only kill the person and destroy the heart, but I also want to obtain the greatest benefit! What I want is not just Shepherd Lord's Dao heart collapsing and him kneeling at my feet—I also want a complete Yankang!"
Meng Yungui frowned.
Hao Heavenly Lord tossed the surrender letter over and laughed: "Take a look at Shepherd Lord's surrender letter. A shattered Yankang is worth nothing, but a surrendered Yankang can secure my empire's peace for ten thousand generations!"
Meng Yungui unfolded the surrender letter and read it carefully. When he read "Your servant has already slept," he couldn't help but frown as well.
"Heavenly Master Meng, you have tabulated the flow of heavenly coins and have deeply worried about the Heavenly Court's economy, feeling that the heavenly coin is likely to collapse and won't last a hundred years."
Hao Heavenly Lord clasped his hands behind his back and said leisurely: "If the heavenly coin collapses, the myriad worlds will surely rebel. Not only would you have a headache, I would too. But as long as Yankang falls into my hands, this pit of heavenly coins can be filled! Not only can it be filled, but I can also completely grasp the economy and resources of the myriad worlds! Grasp the economy, grasp the resources—who can still resist me?"
Meng Yungui closed the surrender letter and said with a changed expression: "Your Majesty's meaning is to take the opportunity to annex Yankang and completely control the myriad worlds? Your Majesty's grand strategy far exceeds your servant's."
Hao Heavenly Lord laughed: "Your vision is too short. You don't sit in my seat, so you can't see these things."
Meng Yungui pondered: "If Your Majesty controls the economy and resources of the myriad worlds, how could the other Heavenly Lords be willing? The resources of the South Heaven are held by Fire Heavenly Lord, the resources of the East Heaven are held by the Grand Emperor, the resources of the North Heaven are held by the Grand Empress Dowager, Xuandu is held by Ancestral God King, and the West Heaven is held by Your Majesty. How could they hand over their great authority?"
Hao Heavenly Lord sneered: "As long as I control Yankang, they won't have a choice! The Grand Emperor back then rebelled against the Creator, borrowing the power of other ancient gods to wipe out the Creator and sit on the throne of the Heavenly Emperor. He enfeoffed the feudal lords, dividing the universe and the primordial chaos among those ancient gods who had rendered meritorious service, causing these ancient gods to each carve out their own territories, leading to endless wars. But I won't follow his example!"
He took a long breath: "I want to be the eternal Heavenly Emperor. I cannot follow his example of enfeoffing feudal lords and causing future turmoil! Control Yankang, stabilize the heavenly coin, let Yankang manufacture everything for the Heavenly Court for free, while the myriad worlds supply Yankang with resources. With the heavenly coin circulating freely, there will be no obstacles. The other Heavenly Lords will only have empty territories and empty power, but the one who truly rules the myriad worlds will be me alone!"
Meng Yungui's body trembled slightly: "Controlling Yankang is a crucial step, but Your Majesty, the other Heavenly Lords will certainly want a piece of the pie..."
"Share with them?"
Hao Heavenly Lord let out a derisive laugh and said leisurely: "Who dares to touch the meat in my bowl? Whoever touches it dies! I am different from the Grand Emperor, different from Ancestral God King, Void Heavenly Lord, and Fire Heavenly Lord. The Grand Emperor treated humans as food for the demigods and ancient gods, and also suppressed the human race. Ancestral God King, Void Heavenly Lord, Langxuan, and the others enslaved the human race and also treated humans as food. This caused the human race to continuously resist, which is why there is Carefree Village, why there is Yankang. But I am different."
"I treat Yankang as labor. As long as Yankang works for me and stops resisting, I'll give them food and a way to survive. Though they won't turn things around and become masters, they can still live."
Hao Heavenly Lord laughed: "Heavenly Master Meng, now do you understand what I'm after?"
Meng Yungui bowed and said: "Your Majesty's strategy far exceeds your servant's."
Hao Heavenly Lord laughed heartily, waved his hand, and said: "You may all withdraw. The envoy may also retire and rest. At the coronation ceremony, you will present the surrender letter before the rulers of the myriad worlds. I want everyone under heaven to know that Shepherd Lord has submitted!"
Yuchenzi hastily kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty is wise!"
As everyone walked out of the imperial study, Meng Yungui walked in front. Yuchenzi quickly trotted forward to catch up and said in a low voice: "Thank you, Senior Uncle, for showing mercy."
Meng Yungui was noncommittal: "It's not me showing mercy, but His Majesty showing mercy. If His Majesty weren't willing to lift his hand, no one could lift it."
Yuchenzi smiled slightly: "Regardless, if Senior Uncle hadn't appeared, Hao Heavenly Lord wouldn't have been able to make up his mind."
Meng Yungui glanced at him: "I know all your thoughts, and I also know Shepherd Lord's thoughts. It's nothing more than buying time. Just now you heard His Majesty dissect his own heart. What do you think?"
Yuchenzi said solemnly: "Hao Heavenly Lord as the Heavenly Emperor is more enlightened than the Grand Emperor, more enlightened than Tai Chu! Blocking is worse than channeling—he deeply understands that principle!"
"Then you still want to rebel?"
Meng Yungui lowered his voice, wanting to speak forcefully but not daring to: "Since he is an enlightened ruler, why not simply surrender? His Majesty has already left a way for the human race to survive!"
Yuchenzi looked at him with a smile: "Senior Uncle, in the primeval era, the Grand Emperor was also an enlightened ruler, and in the ancient era, Tai Chu was also an enlightened ruler. Hao Heavenly Lord, placed in the primeval era or the ancient era, would do better than both of them. But after seeing Yankang, you will understand—they are outdated."
Meng Yungui frowned deeply.
"We have seen something better. Emperor Yanfeng, Emperor Yanxiu—any emperor has done better than Hao Heavenly Lord."
Yuchenzi said unhurriedly: "Emperor Yanfeng shattered the gods in people's hearts, Emperor Yanxiu developed people's livelihoods and welfare, and Shepherd Lord wants gods to serve the people. This word 'people' actually means the masses. Gods serve the masses, and the masses are all living beings. Hao Heavenly Lord is merely making small modifications to the ruling policies of the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu, but what Yankang is doing is true revolution!"
"We have already stood up, and we don't want to kneel again, don't want to be slaves again! We want to control our own destiny!"
"Senior Uncle, I have a dream. When I met Shepherd Lord, this dream was triggered, making me so excited I couldn't sleep all night, making my eyes brim with tears, making a hot, surging power in my chest encourage me. No matter how difficult, no matter how dangerous, I must fulfill this dream. Even if it costs me my head, even if it costs me my life!"
A smile appeared on Yuchenzi's face, his eyes bright: "Even if I bear infamy in the future, I will still do it!"
Meng Yungui stopped in his tracks, looking at him with complicated eyes, as if looking at his younger self.
Once upon a time, he too had a dream. But after arriving at the Heavenly Court, that dream gradually shattered, and he had no choice but to disguise himself.
This young man of the Daoist Sect made him see the original aspiration he had already lost.
"You won't win."
He left these words behind, quickened his pace, and left Yuchenzi behind.
Yuchenzi smiled, watching his back, his voice somewhat hoarse, murmuring: "Generation after generation, people have been fighting for this dream—from Imperial Heavenly Lord, from Cloud Heavenly Lord, from Red Emperor and Bright Emperor, from the Grand Emperor, from Kai Huang, to now, to Shepherd Lord, to Yankang. We have never given up, Senior Uncle. The human race has never given up, Senior Uncle..."
Meng Yungui walked even faster, fleeing into the distance as if escaping, not daring and not wanting to listen to his words.
His words were heresy, and they would shake his heart.