Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 238: The Assembly Begins

Just now, holding the mooncake and seeing the bright moon in the basin was probably one of the rare highlights of Emperor Yuan De’s life since he had begun seeking immortality in his later years. He had never had such a real opportunity to hold an immortal’s gift in his hands.

Even seeing the auspicious open on New Year’s Eve was just a glimpse of flowers blooming in the garden, which while quite impressive, were only visible, and unobtainable. Mooncakes, on the other hand, were tangible: they could be seen, touched, and eaten.

The moment the moon cake melted into the water without a trace, Emperor Yuan De even felt a momentary blankness in his heart.

“This… I… this… what should I do? What should I do…”

The old emperor showed a rare expression of confusion in front of his ministers at this moment. he looked at the basin of water and found that there was no turbidity in the water whatsoever, and not even a trace of the mooncake residue.

He had a feeling that as soon as the mooncake entered the water, it truly vanished.

Emperor Yuan De looked at the old eunuch standing not too far away.

“I didn’t catch it?”

Seeing the emperor looking at him, the old eunuch to the side was horrified and whispered repeatedly, “I don’t know, I don’t know…”

Emperor Yuan De looked at his right hand, which was still trembling slightly. Then he came back to his senses, and suddenly looked at the Head of the Astronomical Department in the hall.

Yan Chang, who was also in a daze at first, suddenly felt as if ice water had been poured over him, and his whole body turned cold out of fear that the emperor would turn his anger on him.

“Good Minister Yan, did you only have one mooncake?”

How could Yan Chang dare to tell the truth in this moment? Even if he did, he couldn’t produce another mooncake. He could only kneel on the ground and kowtow in a panic, still holding his jade tablet.

“Your Majesty! This was a gift from an immortal. It is rare to obtain one such gift in this world. How could I possibly dare to keep any of it?”

He could see that the Head of the Astronomical Department’s words were sincere enough, and in addition, there was the fact that he had indeed just now presented the mooncake that had been given to him by an immortal. In all fairness, had they exchanged positions, not many people would have been able to present him with this mooncake.

He looked at the officials in the court. All of them were silent, even those who usually admonished and advised against the Assembly. Emperor Yuan De glanced around before finally returning his gaze to Yan Chang.

Seeing the other party kneeling on the ground as if he had committed a serious mistake, Emperor Yuan De’s found that he had nowhere to vent his sullen anger. It took a long time for him to suppress his irritation.

“Good Minister Yan, please stand. You have presented a mooncake given to you by an immortal. I will reward you with one hundred taels of gold, and copies of imperial calligraphy and painting scrolls. My good Minister Yan and the other good ministers of the Ministry of Rites will have to work harder for this Land and Water Assembly…”

“As you command!”

“As you command!”

Yan Chang stood up and accepted the order alongside several ministers of the Ministry of Rites. He also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. It didn’t matter whether or not he received a reward; the greatest fortune was not being convicted.

“Let us adjourn from the court.”

After speaking, Emperor Yuan De stood up, and the old eunuch to the side loudly announced.

“Adjourn–! The court–!”

Just as the old eunuch was about to catch up to the emperor, he noticed the man squinting at him and the dragon throne. He immediately understood what he meant, and waved to the two young eunuchs beside him, pointing at the copper basin.

“Pick it up and carry it with you, don’t spill a drop!”

“Yes!”

The two eunuchs stepped forward, lifted the copper basin, and carefully took it away, leaving with the emperor.

Some of the courtiers in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment, others with curiosity. Some came over to greet Yan Chang, while others looked at Yan Chang coldly and then left.

. . .

On the 20th day of the eighth lunar month, a new round of top scholars in the Laurel List was announced in the various prefectures of Dazhen. However, in the capital, the most glorious event was naturally the 70th birthday of Emperor Yuan De, which also marked the beginning of the grand Water and Land Assembly.

Yuhuai Mountain had already arrived in the Capital Prefecture in the preceding days, riding on the wind and the clouds. Now, on the outskirts of the capital, there were at least twenty to thirty real Immortal Cultivators present, making quite the rare sight.

Everyone knew the proceedings of the ceremony in advance, so no one would show up in the first few days.

On this day in the the early morning, many idle people and citizens who had gathered in the capital from all over Dazhen just to watch the fun all rushed towards the eastern side of the city.

The huge Assembly platform stood out distinctly. It was taller than many of the buildings in the Capital Prefecture’s capital city. In particular, with the empty space of the Assembly venue on the eastern side of the city, there were not very many buildings that could compare with the main platform.

Ji Yuan, like the many other people who were looking for a good show, followed the crowed to the eastern side of the city. When he arrived, the crowds of people were already jostling for positions.

“Hey, hey, stop pushing!”

“Where is the emperor? Did he go to the stage?”

“I don’t know. The Imperial Guard is separated over there. Maybe they haven’t gone up yet?”

“Oh, this platform is too high, I can’t see what’s going on up above!”

“Yeah, we can only watch those magicians¹ take the stage for a while.”

“What’s the point of all this?”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s the Ninth Heaven, and those sub-stages aren’t too high.”

“Hey, stop arguing, look over there, are those magicians coming over here?”

“There are so many weirdos, that’s definitely it!”

……

Ji Yuan wandered to the left and then to the right, but there was a lot of noise everywhere, and there were no good viewing points. It would definitely not be suitable fly into the air on a day like today, and there were no tall towers in sight. He felt inexplicably envious of those “competitors.”

At this moment, the three-zhang high platform was blocked by a large number of imperial guards armed with spears and halberds, making it impossible for the common people to get within twenty zhang of the Assembly platform. At the same time, the experts who had gathered from all over Dazhen streamed in from all directions.

Emperor Yuan De’s imperial edict stated that anyone of any identity, be they monks, Taoists, Confucianists, or laymen, could come here, so long as they were experts. There were truly very many people, all kinds of characters.

Some were monks, some were Taoists, and there were countless others wearing strange clothes or boasting odd hair colors. There were also quite a few who who were as small as dwarves, or as large as giants.

At this moment, as the people caught sight of this group of “expert magicians,” they immediately became excited. However, there was not that much of a sense of awe.

“Look, look at that guy over there. His face is painted like an opera performer. Is he also a magician?”

“That’s nothing. Look at that guy on the west side, he has so many iron rings on his face. And that one, his his hair looks like a bunch of knives…”

“Over there! That magician has a crazy body!”

“Oh, I guess that’s true, he really must be an expert then. And there’s such a big snake wrapped around him!”

……

As the people chattered, the officials from the Imperial Astronomical Department and the Ministry of Rites on the high platform were also watching the various experts down below.

Yan Chang looked at these strange people and couldn’t help but rub his forehead. He felt a lot better, until he saw the two beggars, the old and the young, forming part of one of the teams.

After all the mages stopped moving, Yan Chang and some of his colleagues nodded to each other, and then gave the next instructions to the guards.

The officials slowly retreated to their corresponding positions on the high platform. Many guards skilled in martial arts stood on the edges of the platform. Almost simultaneously, they gathered all their energy, puffed out their chests, and shouted loudly.

“May all experts please come to the stage–!”

A group of guards roared with all their might, like the sound of waves crashing in all directions. Some of the many experts down below even heard ringing in their ears. Some remained arrogant, while others looked a little nervous. They all walked towards the stage.

Emperor Yuan De, who was sitting in the center above the Assembly platform, couldn’t help but stand up and look at the various experts coming up from the other three directions. The rest of the ministers also stood up with him.

“Good Minister Yan, do you think the immortal who sword-danced under the moon is here?”

“Uh, this… This official really doesn’t know!”

Facing the emperor’s questioning, Yan Chang didn’t dare to say anything more. The emperor didn’t really think he could get the answer from him, he merely wished to ease some of his own tension brought about by anticipation.

When all these “magicians” had come up to the stage, Emperor Yuan De’s expression suddenly changed from previously being full of anticipation, and he sat back in his seat.

For a long period of time afterwards, Yan Chang and officials of the Ministry of Rites read out some matters concerning the Land and Water Assembly. It was inevitably a bit lengthy, and many of the “experts” grew drowsy.

“If anyone fails to respect etiquette, or is disrespectful to an official, he will be executed immediately!”

The two big inner-palace eunuch guards with profound internal strength stood up and shouted, repeating themselves.

“If anyone fails to respect etiquette, or is disrespectful to an official, he will be executed immediately–!”

Suddenly, many “experts” woke up.

Yan Chang held the yellow imperial edict aloft and read it aloud.

“Congratulations to the great Country of Dazhen and its perpetual stability; may His Majesty be congratulated throughout the ages!”²

The surrounding imperial guards and eunuchs roared in unison, and all the court officials and royal relatives also shouted together.

“Congratulations to the great Country of Dazhen and its perpetual stability; may His Majesty be congratulated throughout the ages!”

Those experts on the platform felt the weight of the eyes of many of the guards like lightning. Recalling the rules of etiquette they had been informed of before, they also shouted together.

“Congratulations to the great Country of Dazhen and its perpetual stability; may His Majesty be congratulated throughout the ages!”

……

Shouts came from the platform, and imperial guards below the platform also roared together, shrouding the area around the platform in a thick and solemn atmosphere. Even many ordinary people couldn’t help but shout along.

Ji Yuan’s body had moved to the outside of the crowd, his hands behind his back and his head raised to look up at the sky above the Assembly platform. What he was seeing was naturally the auras of humanity.

‘This Dazhen still has a strong foundation, Even if Emperor Yuan De starts to make stupid moves and it falls, this land’s fortune is far from exhausted.’

In the midst of all this noise, four shirtless warriors holding hammers stood in front of the large bronze gongs, swinging them with all their strength.

“Dong–!”

The deafening sound of the gong shook the sky, announcing the start of the Land and Water Assembly.

What followed was an even more lengthy phase of “casting and performing,” as experts from all walks of life sat cross-legged or danced on stage, praying to the heavens for Dazhen and the emperor in their own ways. They were not allowed to leave until the end of the day.³

The emperor himself and his ministers left the venue afterwards one after another. Some returned to the palace, while others returned to their residences. In any case, the ones who truly needed to be paid attention to were the experts who would be stand out among the common magicians in the remaining eight days.

The emperor also knew that there must be a lot of people who were just there to fill in the numbers. What he wanted to meet was naturally an expert who truly had supernatural powers.

. . .

Among the crowd of mages, the old beggar held the young beggar’s hand, glancing coldly at some special beings among the four or five thousand “experts,” and then lowered his head to look down at the platform.

At the moment when the energy of humanity was at its peak, lines of strong strokes and silver hooks gradually appeared on the surface of the platform, silently using the energy of humanity to bind the Qi of all the “experts,” pulling them down under the aura of humanity and significantly obscuring their spiritual perception.

“Boom…”

The sky was suddenly covered by dark clouds, and thunder flashed amidst the clouds. However, no rain fell. The oppressive might of heaven made both mortals and monsters on the feel uneasy.

High above the clouds, eight dragons flew in circles. These dark clouds and lightning strikes were not only due to the dragons’ spiritual power, but also most of them were attracted by the aura of the highest platform.

The dragons and flood dragons in the sky used their eyesight to pierce through the cloud and look down. On the Assembly platform below that seemed as small as a round pastry, a mysterious piece of calligraphy shone brightly.

“Crack…boom…”

A flash of lightning fell from the clouds in the sky and directly struck the gong at the corner of the platform, making the surrounding warriors and guards jump away in a panic. The “experts” nearby were even more unsettled.

When some of the onlookers saw the lightning and thunder, they quickened their pace and returned to their homes. They wouldn’t be able to see anything today anyway.

For some unknown reason, the departure of these common people brought a greater anxiety to many of these evil demons and heretics on the Assembly platform.

1. Usually this would be translated as “cultivator,” but in this context it’s used as a catch-all term for people with strange or mystical powers — similar to “expert” or “master,” so I went with a more derogatory/ignorant use of the word “magician”
2. Another couplet, this time each line is 7 characters
3. T/n: This Does Not Sound Like a Fun Birthday Party