Chapter 91: The Order of Master Mo

The first autumn Shen Qianmo spent in the Great Prosperity Dynasty.

When one leaf falls, one knows autumn has come. In the early autumn of the capital, Shengjing, the weather had already begun to cool. Blue sky above, yellow leaves below, autumn color stretching to the water’s edge, with cold mist and green along the waves. Outside the city, the ten-li pavilion stood amid swirling leaves and steady gusts of wind, lending the place an inexplicable desolation.

The chill of autumn was like water, and after several straight days of drizzling rain, Shen Qianmo, seated on the stone bench inside the pavilion, clearly felt a few threads of cold seeping in. A plain satin cloak was gently laid over her back, driving away the chill.

She turned and met Meng Yuanheng’s tender gaze.

"Mo’er, be careful not to catch cold," he said softly, taking her hands in his.

Shen Qianmo smiled gently and linked her fingers with his, her thumb lightly stroking his palm as she murmured, "It seems Master Situ’s antidote is truly effective. Your hands are not as cold as before."

If matters continued thus, then in a little more than two months, Meng Yuanheng’s cold poison would be fully cured.

As the two whispered to each other, Changdong reported from outside the pavilion, "My lord, Princess Consort, Elder Mo and the others have arrived."

Meng Yuanheng’s expression tightened. Shen Qianmo patted the back of his hand, stood, and pushed his wheelchair slowly out of the pavilion.

Ahead on the main road, a long and grand procession was approaching the ten-li pavilion. At the front were officials from the Ministry of Justice led by Lu Ziqing, a party of a little over ten men.

Lu Ziqing, clad in official robes and mounted on a tall horse, rode at the very front with a stern and dignified bearing. When the procession reached the pavilion and saw that Shen Qianmo and Meng Yuanheng were already waiting outside, he raised a hand, and the group behind him came to a halt.

Leaping down from his horse with effortless grace, Lu Ziqing stepped forward and bowed to Meng Yuanheng.

"This lowly official greets Prince Xuan."

Meng Yuanheng’s face was cold. He merely gave a contemptuous snort through his nose and did not respond. Since learning that Lu Ziqing also harbored improper thoughts toward Shen Qianmo, he had never once given him a pleasant expression.

Shen Qianmo glanced at him helplessly. This man’s foul temper was truly exasperating.

Seeing that this could not go on, she could only step in to ease the awkwardness. "Lord Lu, thank you for arranging today’s farewell with such care."

"A trifling matter, hardly worth mentioning. There is no need for such courtesy, Qianmo."

The case from Gujia Village had yet to bring the true culprit to justice, and yet it had implicated Mo Qingshan and brought disaster upon the entire Mo family. Lu Ziqing felt no better than anyone else.

Although Shen Qianmo had saved Mo Qingshan’s life with the immunity token, after the Emperor’s rage had been stirred, how could he possibly let the Mo family off lightly? After Shen Qianmo rescued Mo Qingshan from the Feathered Guard prison, the Emperor issued an imperial decree.

The Mo family had sheltered remnants of the former dynasty and secretly kept a royal relic from that dynasty; by law they should have been executed. Though the immunity token spared their lives, death might be avoided while punishment could not. The entire clan was therefore sentenced to exile in the desolate frontier city of the northwest. The Ministry of Justice was charged with escorting them. Once the rest of the family had been brought to the capital, they would set out at once.

The Mo family numbered eighty-three in all. Today was the day Mo Qingshan and the members of the Mo family were to leave the capital for the barren city of exile. Shen Qianmo had long ago agreed with Lu Ziqing that she and Meng Yuanheng would see them off at the ten-li pavilion outside the city.

Lu Ziqing had specially prepared carriages for several of the older Mo family members. Though the conditions were extremely crude, they were still better than being sent in prison carts. The rest of the Mo family had no carriages to ride in, but Lu Ziqing had only ordered handcuffs and ankle chains for them, not the heavy wooden cangues. In this way, at least the long road of exile would be somewhat easier to bear.

At that moment, Mo Qingshan and three other Mo family members who had been riding in the carriages had already drawn back the curtains and leaped down. Chains still bound their hands and feet.

Shen Qianmo pushed Meng Yuanheng forward until they came before Mo Qingshan.

"Father," they said together.

Mo Qingshan gave a slight nod. His gaunt face seemed even more haggard because of this sudden upheaval, though his expression remained exceedingly calm.

As the one who oversaw the Mo family, he had weathered countless storms and long ago mastered the ability to remain unshaken before even the collapse of heaven and earth.

When he adopted Yin Zhan all those years ago, he had not failed to consider the worst outcome of today. Yet he did not regret it. To stand by and do nothing in the face of death had never been his principle. If he were given the chance to do it again, he would still make the same choice.

Only now, because of a single moment of compassion, he had implicated the entire Mo family and brought them to this remote, desolate land of exile, where generations would be forced to leave home and remain far from their native soil. Looking back at the Mo family members who had followed him here, he felt deeply ashamed.

After a quiet sigh, Mo Qingshan introduced the other three elders of the Mo family to Shen Qianmo and Meng Yuanheng one by one.

One of them, with a long face and a black beard, a frame even taller and more imposing than Mo Qingshan’s, was Mo Qingshan’s cousin. The other two, the eldest of the group, both had white beards and white hair, yet were vigorous and alert, like wise men of immortal bearing. They were Mo Qingshan’s uncles, and Shen Qianmo should address them respectfully as grand-uncles.

As for Mo Qingshan’s own branch of the family, ever since Mo Yan died seven years ago, only he remained.

The Mo Sect was known as the foremost sect under heaven. Though its disciples were numerous and its followers spread throughout the world, the Mo clan itself was in fact not especially large, and in recent years there had even been signs of decline. Of the eighty-three people exiled today, half were maids, servants, and disciples who refused to leave the Mo family and followed them to the end. The true members of the Mo family were not many.

At a departure feast, sending one on the road was only natural. With Lu Ziqing’s permission, the Ministry of Justice officers removed the handcuffs and ankle chains from Mo Qingshan and the three other Mo elders. The four entered the pavilion with Shen Qianmo and Meng Yuanheng and sat around the stone benches.

Shen Qianmo filled the cups before Mo Qingshan and the three Mo elders in turn, then poured for Meng Yuanheng and herself as well. Raising her cup, she said, "Father, Uncle Mo, Grand-uncles, this journey is long and arduous. I only pray that you may travel safely and arrive without mishap."

Because of his treatment for the cold poison, Meng Yuanheng could not easily drink wine. But at such a moment, how could there be no wine?

Since the wine had been poured by Mo’er herself, it must surely have been her intention as well. He might as well drink it with ease.

He lifted his cup, his voice likewise low. "Father, everyone, take care on the road."

Meng Yuanheng had never been one for many words, and even his farewell was terse and to the point.

They all drained the wine in their cups.

After Mo Qingshan emptied his cup, he exchanged a meaningful glance with the other Mo elders before turning solemnly to Shen Qianmo.

"Mo’er, come here."

Seeing his grave expression, as though entrusting her with something of great importance, Shen Qianmo did not dare be careless. She immediately stood and stepped forward to stop before him.

"What does Father command?" she asked with her head bowed.

Mo Qingshan took from within his robes a black token and said gravely, "Kneel."

Shen Qianmo looked up at him in confusion. Though she did not know exactly what this object was, the solemn expressions of Mo Qingshan and the other elders suddenly pressed upon her with an unnamed weight.

Since Mo Qingshan was her father, kneeling before him was only proper.

Obediently, Shen Qianmo knelt before him and lowered her head in silence.

Mo Qingshan held the black token in his hand and said in a serious tone, "Mo’er, this Mozi Token was made by the first patriarch of my Mo family. It has been kept through the generations by the highest steward of the Mo family and is used to command all Mo disciples under heaven. Today, your father entrusts this token to you, hoping that you will make good use of it and lead the people of the Mo Sect well."

The Mozi Token? She had heard Meng Yuanheng mention it before. It was the symbol of the sect master of the Mo Sect; to see the token was as though seeing the master himself. With it, one could command the Mo disciples spread across the world. Ever since the first sect master of the Mo Sect passed away, the position had remained vacant, and the token had been kept by successive elders.

Yet now Mo Qingshan was actually passing the Mozi Token to her? Shen Qianmo lifted her head in shock and exchanged a look with Meng Yuanheng, as if she could scarcely believe it.

Meng Yuanheng’s usually cool and handsome face was touched as well. He had once been a member of the Mo Sect and naturally understood the weight of this token. For Mo Qingshan to pass it to Shen Qianmo was essentially to entrust the entire Mo Sect to her.

"Father, what virtues or abilities do I possess that I should dare accept such a token?" Shen Qianmo was truly somewhat flustered and did not dare accept it lightly.

"Qingshan would not be mistaken in his judgment. Since he has decided to pass this token to you, he surely believes you can bear this responsibility. I hope the future Princess Consort of Prince Xuan will not refuse," Mo Qingshan’s cousin said from the side.

The two grand-uncles also nodded, clearly having no objection to Mo Qingshan’s decision.

But Shen Qianmo still hesitated. She was not afraid of trouble; she only worried that she was unworthy of such responsibility. Though she was not someone who belittled herself, the Mo Sect was after all the foremost sect under heaven. How could she, a mere woman, command the heroes of the world?

"Mo’er, the Mo family may fall, but the Mo Sect cannot be scattered. Your father will be far away in the city of exile; this token is of no use to me. Besides, your father’s life was exchanged for by you with the immunity token. Now that I am entrusting the Mozi Token to you, I believe no one in the Mo Sect will refuse to obey. Since you call me father, you may naturally be counted as half a member of the Mo family. Can you bear to watch the Mo Sect fall apart and leave your father unable to face the ancestors of the Mo family after death?"

Since Mo Qingshan had spoken thus far, Shen Qianmo felt that refusing further would be hard to justify. She had never been one to be delicate and fussy, so after making up her mind, she chose to accept it openly.

She extended both hands and solemnly received the heavy black token.

The Mozi Token was only the size of Shen Qianmo’s outspread palm. It was forged of black gold, with a deep and weighty texture and a smooth touch. Aside from the ancient character for "Mo" engraved on the front, there were no other patterns or textures, giving it an understated yet solemn air.

"Mo’er will obey Father’s command. In the future I will do my utmost to use this token well and not fail in Father’s trust."

Outside the pavilion, by the old road, the fragrant grasses stretched to the horizon. In life there are only too many partings, and one pot of rough wine exhausts the remaining joy.

The Mo family was a martial clan, and all of them were bold, straightforward, and unrestrained. There was little grief at the farewell.

With a command from Lu Ziqing, the escort party set out again. On the ancient road outside the city, hooves rang out, and dust rose into the sky.

In the fierce autumn wind, Shen Qianmo stood quietly outside the pavilion, watching the Mo family procession gradually disappear from sight. For a moment, the Mozi Token in her hand seemed as heavy as a thousand catties.

From this day onward, across years, over countless mountains and rivers, who knew when they would meet again?

"Mo’er."

Meng Yuanheng’s familiar soft call came to her ear.

She crouched down so that they were level. He lifted a hand and gently touched her wind-flushed cheeks, wiping away the crystal tear at the corner of her eye.

"Mo’er, don’t be sad."

"Mm." Shen Qianmo sniffled and nodded, obediently resting against his knees. "It was only the wind in my eyes. I’m all right."

The evening breeze passed over them, the sun sank in the west, and on the silent ancient road and secluded pavilion there remained only the figures of Shen Qianmo and Meng Yuanheng leaning upon one another.