"...One of the Jiang clan's cultivators has invented demonic cultivation." He catches himself and says, "Your Imperial Majesty."

It is not common for His Imperial Majesty to be visibly startled. But this sounds very very bad, and he is not at all prepared. "You said that the sect leader was a boy of 17. Was the person who invented this 'demonic cultivation' even younger?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, he is-- also seventeen. Reports say that he is the son of a servant but was adopted by sect leader Jiang Fengmian before his tragic passing."

"Previous reports had noted that cultivators tended to be extremely old, as part of their quest for immortality through their cultivation. 17 is extremely young for a scholar to invent anything. What is demonic cultivation, and is it necessarily opposed to the Mandate of Heaven?"

"Ordinarily, Your Imperial Majesty, a cultivator draws all his spiritual energy from within himself-- from his golden core. The cultivator Wei Wuxian has discovered a method of harnessing the resentful energy of spirits and fierce corpses, freeing himself from the limitations faced by normal cultivators." 

"That, as described, seems positive. Harnessing the energy of fierce corpses and hostile spirits can only be good for our people. And this means that the conflict shall be over swiftly, yes?"

"I do not need to draw Your Imperial Majesty's attention to the opinions of His most experienced advisors in the field of cultivation, who state that harnessing resentful energy may lead the cultivator to cultivate resentment within himself, resulting in dangerous and unstable behavior. As You in Your wisdom have remarked, the young are already quick to anger."

"He discovered this method, though. While Our advisors are talented, it seems clear that this young man has done something new. In our observation of history, even the most learned scholars can make errors about things they have never faced. The Jiang clan has a good reputation: has the young man recommended the method to others?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, he has not."

"That concerns us moderately, but it may be a wise choice to see what impact it has on him before recommending it to others, or he decides that the choice was a poor one. With this increase in personal power, do you expect him to become Chief Cultivator?"

"The honor of the cultivators is unlikely to permit the the son of a servant to become Chief Cultivator, Your Imperial Majesty, no matter how many fierce corpses he can control. We currently expect that if the Wens lose the war Jin Guangshan of the Lanlingjin Sect will become Chief Cultivator." 

"Understanding how the cultivators balance personal power and descent is something that we are thankful to be able to rely on our ministers for. What is the expected future of this Wei Wuxian then? Teaching his Demonic Cultivation method? Serving his sect and clan? Something else?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, no one has any idea, including-- I am given to understand-- Wei Wuxian."

"Because the fate of the cultivators is hinging on the plans of a seventeen year old boy who, according to the best predictions of our most experienced advisors, is likely to be dangerous and unstable." His Imperial Highness lets out a slight modicum of displeasure.

"In addition, Your Imperial Majesty, demonic cultivation permits him to summon hundreds of fierce corpses at will and control their actions-- not merely to banish or suppress them as ordinary cultivators do. Our messengers attempted to find out more information about how he combines standard and demonic cultivation and were met with the response"-- he shuffles papers-- "'jeez, I am pretty sure my sword is around here somewhere-- shit, I left it back at the tent. Sorry.' Then he attempted to steal the forehead ribbon of a cultivator from the Lan clan."

He takes a moment to consider this. In normal circumstances, such an offense to Imperial messengers would be worthy of censure at the very least. But cultivators were cultivators. He suppressed a sigh. "Well, that seems impulsive but not necessarily hostile. There is a reason we do not prefer having the very young in positions of power." The slight reference to the man he had pushed aside to become emperor does not need to be elaborated to anyone in the garden. "Yet the cultivators have the right to select their own leaders, by ancient privilege. Do you bring recommendations?"

"With Your Imperial Majesty's permission, I have prepared several strongly worded letters to be sent in the event that the cultivators kill a non-cultivator. We have filled the granaries to relieve places where fierce corpse infestations without a cultivator to lay them to rest have reduced the harvest."

"As well-prepared as ever." One of the first lessons his mother had trained into him was that, no matter how unhappy information made you, you should never take it out on the messenger, or find yourself surrounded by fools. "Your report is appreciated and will be considered by the Court. We are aware that using ordinary soldiers against fierce corpse infestations has proven prohibitive in the past: it would be beneficial to have contingency plans in case this conflict grows."

"Your Imperial Majesty, we have sent messengers to the neutral sects and to various cultivators who have retreated to mountains or caves or similar. Your military advisors are studying the best tactics for ordinary soldiers to use against fierce corpses, should this become necessary."

"The empire is well-advised and harmoniously guided, and your work is appreciated."

Three years later--

"Your Imperial Majesty will recall the recent conclusion of the Sunshot Campaign against the Wen Clan of Qishan."

"It is always pleasing to see such regrettable conflict come to an end." He always preferred to be able to forget about the cultivators and focus on the important matters: he was sure one of his courtiers was having an affair with someone's wife, but was not yet sure who it was: since the courtier was not quite fastidious enough to escape the gaze from the throne, he anticipated conflict soon.

The Underminister looks like he is about to say "well, about that--" except that it is too impolite to say to the Emperor.

"Your Imperial Majesty, the Jin clan has enslaved the remnants of the Wen clan and set them to hard labor."

"A noble and wealthy clan, set to hard labor, in its entirety. Another attempt to crush their enemies entirely. Strength is one matter: cruelty another. It is saddening to see citizens treat each other this way." After all, if you were going to kill someone, it was truly kindest to arrange a simple dagger for them. Hard labor offered an opportunity of escape and kept them as useful hostages, but it still seemed unnecessary compared to simply imprisoning them. The Wen Clan was the previous Chief Cultivator's family! That surely meant something.

"The Wen clan includes Wen Ning, a friend of Wei Wuxian's. He objected both to the enslavement of his friend and to the enslavement of children and the elderly. He invaded the camp, killed all of the guards with fierce corpses, and took all the Wen remnants to the Burial Mounds in Yiling, the single location in China with the highest concentration of resentful energy. They are calling him the Yiling Patriarch."