429 Granting Shining Ligh

The person who had come was Prince Chen Liu, the Chen clan's solerepresentative in the capital, and also the only member of its juniorgeneration that the Divine Empress would accept. In the capital, Prince Chen Liu possessed an extremely good reputation,believed to be as warm and gentle as jade and yet also possessing an abundanceof courage. Back then, this young prince, in spite of the discussion andrumors, had twice assisted Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy. ChenChangsheng had a very good impression of him, but for some reason, TangThirty-Six did not like him at all. Prince Chen Liu gave a junior's bow to the archbishop, looked at ChenChangsheng, and smiled. "Don't you think that we've met a little too early?" Mei Lisha ignored the hidden meaning in those words and went straight to thepoint. "The Orthodoxy wishes to invite the Empress to express her stance assoon as possible. The Tianhai clan will naturally disagree. Tianhai Shengxue isa smart man, but the people of his clan do not necessarily possess hisintelligence. Even if they did, they would also be broken apart by the title ofEmperor that seems so close at hand. After all, not all people can resist thatsort of enticement." Prince Chen Liu unflinchingly declared, "As the Chen Imperial clan, I and allmy brothers in the counties will conduct ourselves in a just andstraightforward manner." Both of these statements had been said to Chen Changsheng. "The Orthodoxy will always stand behind the Imperial clan. From the year inwhich Taizu founded the dynasty, this has always been so," Mei Lisha saidfirmly. "It is also the case now. It is just that because of Zhuang Huanyu'sdeath, there will be some problems on the Heavenly Dao Academy's side. Amongthe six archbishops, there are still two that have not turned around, becauseHis Holiness turned his views around too quickly." Chen Changsheng thought to himself, if it's this way, then what was going onwith that bloody incident of the Orthodox Academy? Why would His Holinesssupport the Divine Empress for so many years? He understood that this was allto give him a breakdown of the current situation, but he was stilluncomprehending. Just what could he do? Why had the archbishop arranged for himto meet with Prince Chen Liu? Mei Lisha's next sentence provided an answer to this riddle, but provided anew riddle in its place, for both Chen Changsheng and for Prince Chen Liu. "In the future, I ask that the Prince must remember the price that ChenChangsheng paid." Prince Chen Liu had a thoughtful look on his face at these words, but nothingcame of it. Chen Changsheng also could not make anything of this, and his thoughts layelsewhere. He asked, "What about Zhexiu?" The Pope had said that Zhexiu would quickly come out, but he was still veryanxious—Zhexiu was still in prison, and even worse, it was the Zhou Prison! It was impossible for him to imagine what sort of dreadful torments that wolfyouth had to bear in this period. Mei Lisha said, "If the Imperial Court still does not release him, I willpersonally make a visit." Prince Chen Liu said apologetically, "The second day after Zhexiu wasimprisoned, I sent over my card…but you should also know that for a prince likeme in front of Lord Zhou Tong, to say something is not very useful." Standing under that row of maple trees still brimming with the air of spring,Chen Changsheng gazed in the direction rumored to be where Zhou Prison lay,then he turned in the direction of the Mausoleum of Books, then, finally, heturned towards the Imperial Palace and the Li Palace and sighed. He was no ordinary youth, but in the end, he was still a youth. In this world,there were some matters that were too complex, too weighty, and somewhatdifficult to bear. It even made it rather difficult for him to breathe.Compared to the capital, he felt that the storm in Xunyang City was morerelaxed and straightforward. He would rather stand together with that metalblade and simply go off to do some things, even if those things to be doneweren't all that simple. Under the humble gazes of the priests, he left the Bureau of EcclesiasticEducation, but he didn't return to the Orthodox Academy. Instead, he went tothe market to buy some tasty foods and then went to New North Bridge. Borrowingthe glimmer of the sun setting in the west, he used his movement technique tobecome an illusion and jumped into the dried-up well. The underground space was still chilling to the bone, but the Black Dragon wasstill asleep. The mountain range that was its massive body quietly rose up anddown, and those iron chains were still rusted and inflexibly attached to thestone wall. Chen Changsheng took out the food he had bought and, using lotus leaves tocarry them, arranged them in front of the Black Dragon's body. Finally, heuntied the ruyi from his waist and placed it on the ground. The Black Dragon's spiritual soul was still sleeping in the ruyi and he didn'tknow when it would wake up. After doing all this, he thought for a few moments, then wrote a few words inthe frost on the ground. Then, he left. He appeared in the pool, thoroughly soaked. After changing to a dry set ofclothes he had prepared beforehand, he once more met the Black Goat in thecourtyard of the Imperial Palace. He broke into a smile and crouched down towarmly embrace it, completely disregarding the slightly raised head of theBlack Goat and its unwilling appearance. There was a gust of wind, still chilly, but quickly dispersed several dozenzhang away. The lotus leaves on the frost once again became tender green andthe fresh food once again began to emit warm heat. Her hands held behind her back, the Tianhai Divine Empress had her headlowered as she read the words Chen Changsheng had just left behind in thefrost. The corners of her lips revealed a mocking smile. Without even a glance, her spiritual sense moved and that jade ruyi once againappeared on her waist. At this moment, the strand of the Black Dragon's spiritual soul awakened andtransformed into a chilly intent. By means of the red birthmark between theeyebrows, it returned to the dragon body. The dragon's pupils slowly opened andthe ice streamed down. The mountain range of its body shrank at an unimaginablespeed, ultimately transforming into a small black-clothed girl. However, thecoldness of her appearance had already been greatly diminished by that cinnabarbirthmark. "Did you see, men are all fickle and lacking in affection,” the Tianhai DivineEmpress said teasingly to her. The black-clothed girl saw the words he had left behind, then after a periodof silence, said, "He didn't know when I would wake up and had things to do, soit's only natural that he leaves first. Moreover, he also doesn't know that I'ma girl…" "You are a female dragon." The Tianhai Divine Empress calmly said, "If youwere to let him know of this fact, what meaning would there be?" The black-clothed girl was very angry, the baleful air about her increasingeven more and the temperature of the underground space plummeting like a stone. The Tianhai Divine Empress did not care. The circle several dozen zhang inradius around her was still as warm as the spring, and the ground by her feeteven seemed to be showing little starry points of green. The world above the well was early summer at dusk, and there was a bit ofsummer heat in the air. The ice shop far in the distance was doing goodbusiness, but this place by the well was very cold. This was because manyimperial bodyguards were walking around, and also because of those terrifyingSnow Mastiffs resting on the grass under the tree. Mo Yu held the leash in herhands as she quietly waited. When the figure of the Divine Empress appeared once more, she quickly wentover and said, "Prince Chen Liu also just went to the Bureau of EcclesiasticEducation." The Divine Empress glanced at her and asked, "What do you want to say?" Mo Yu said, "I can't understand, even if Chen Changsheng is Daoist Ji'sstudent, is he really worth the Orthodoxy paying him so much attention?This…could it be some sort of camouflage technique?” This sort of incomprehension was a question that the ministers and wiseadvisors had required her to ask as soon as possible, but perhaps not even shecould perceive that this actually made the Empress lower her guard against ChenChangsheng a little more. The Divine Empress said, "The actions of the people in the Orthodoxy are bestwhen they are deliberately mystifying. There is no need to understand them." This said, she began walking towards the Imperial City. Those two SnowMastiffs noiselessly left the tree and followed behind her. Watching the Empress's back, Mo Yu gave a slightly sarcastic smile. Shethought to herself,if there really is no need to understand, why is it thatwhen Chen Changsheng came to see the Black Dragon, Empress followed him? Her inability to understand was because she did not know of the pact betweenthe Divine Empress and the Black Dragon, nor of the existence of the jade ruyi. Returning to the Imperial Palace, she gazed at the pool in front of her. Asshe thought about how Chen Changsheng had most likely emerged from this pooljust a while ago, she also began to think of a much earlier time, about thatfirst night in which Chen Changsheng first emerged from this pool—that youthdid not care that he was deep in the palace on dangerous ground. When he saw awoman about to be struck by a flower pot knocked over by a panicked squirrel,he had rushed over. The Divine Empress once more revealed a mocking smile, but it always seemed togive off the feeling of an elder teasing a junior. With the slightest stimulation of her spiritual sense, the jade ruyi left herbelt of its own accord and floated above the pool. The water of the pool fellinto turmoil, as if it was boiling, and the pool began to give out clouds ofmist. A light shot out of the jade ruyi and projected onto the mist, and a picturegradually began to grow distinct—these were the scenes that the Black Dragonsaw after leaving the capital with Chen Changsheng. Later on, there were manytimes when her soul had been asleep in the ruyi, but the ruyi, tied to ChenChangsheng's waist or on his wrist, had still recorded those scenes down. Seeing these scenes, the Divine Empress grew quieter and quieter. The smiledid not disappear, but it was no longer very mocking, leaving behind only asort of interest. The scenes quickly sped by, gradually transforming into streaks of light. Itwas many times faster than normal speed, and only a Saint like her would beable to make out the scenes clearly. When the golden wings illuminated the night and the image of the heavilyinjured white-clothed girl appeared, the Divine Empress's brows leapt up, forthe first time expressing a deep concern. Xu Yourong was her most dearly beloved junior. Although she was disguised, itwas impossible to conceal it from her eyes. In the next scenes, Xu Yourong met Chen Changsheng, but neither of them knewwho the other was. The Divine Empress silently smiled, most likely thinkingthis very amusing. Eventually, she saw that unsetting sun at the edge of the plains, saw thesurging tide of monsters, saw Xu Yourong not leaving, Chen Changsheng notabandoning, and saw that person's mausoleum. The smile on her face gradually faded. She calmly gazed at the Mausoleum ofZhou in silence. Eventually, the light dimmed and then everything vanished without a trace. With a light wave of her hand, the scene went back to the place where XuYourong and Chen Changsheng first met, and also the first place where theirmisunderstanding began. That place was an isle of reeds at the edge of a lake, the two people havingcome across each other but not knowing who the other was. The ruyi could not record the inner workings of Xu Yourong's mind, but theDivine Empress clearly knew what she was thinking about, why she had neverconnected that unconscious youth with Chen Changsheng who she had an engagementwith—no matter who it was, nobody thought Chen Changsheng looked like afifteen-year-old youth. He was too unflustered and calm, even when he wasunconscious. Back then, when Xu Yourong had looked over, she had thought thisperson was around twenty years old. Then, just how could this person be ChenChangsheng? The Divine Empress stood in front of the pool for a very long time, and whatshe thought about was unknown. Suddenly, she looked at Xu Yourong in the scene and said, "So, even you felthe wasn't fifteen years old.” The night wind breezed through the grass. At some point, a chief eunuch hadarrived outside the palace hall. She asked, "What?" The chief eunuch reported in a low voice, "There are still no new clues in thecase. Lord Zhou Tong also did not discover anything in Xining Village…only thatcrazy Lord Hu on the Imperial Board of Astronomy still continues to insist…thatCrown Prince Zhaoming is still alive.” He had been with the Divine Empress for several hundred years and hadexperienced countless great matters, but when he mentioned what that insaneLord Hu had said, his voice still could not help but tremble. The Divine Empress gazed up at the night sky at a certain place where a starshould have existed. For what seemed like ages, she said nothing.