When Yin Exhaustion, Yang Emergence occurred, one attained the Yang Spirit. At that moment, a spark of Yang Fire would arise, burn through the entire Yin Spirit, and refine it into Pure Yang.
This threshold was perilous in the extreme. The slightest lapse of control, and the Yang Fire would devour him, burning away both body and spirit until nothing remained...
His thoughts did not wander far. He soon came back to himself, looked at the Scepter, and said with a self-mocking half-smile, "Those big shots in Luodu really know how to get free labor..."
The joke was not funny. At least, aside from Tang Changsheng, who was laughing easily, no one else could laugh.
In fact, those who knew something of the inside story wavered between puzzlement and sudden understanding.
What puzzled them was this: by the Imperial Family's tradition of staying out of politics—openly, at least—Tang Changsheng was already half a member of the Imperial Family. Why would they send him to handle the Hemp Mountain incident as a Plenipotentiary Envoy?
But then they thought about it. Like Lower River, Hemp Mountain was nominally not part of Great Chu's formal territory. It governed itself.
Whether Great Chu intervened militarily or politically, a place like that could easily give others grounds for criticism. Great Chu did not fear such criticism, but it still had appearances to keep up. Given the prestige of Great Chu's Son of Heaven and Imperial Family, sending Tang Changsheng could hardly have been more fitting...
More importantly, Hemp Mountain was not far from Lower River. The two faced each other across the sea, only three or four hundred li apart. They had close dealings, so Tang Changsheng also had some influence in Hemp Mountain.
All things considered, Tang Changsheng really was a rather good choice!