505 The Holy Maiden Returns to the Capital

The sound of wind, rain and studying, but today, one would only be able tohear the sound of studying at the Orthodox Academy. The just-fallen snowflakeshad descended far too gently. It took a while before the students in theclassrooms saw them, drawing a burst of elated gasps. The lecturers from theBureau of Ecclesiastic Education said a few words of rebuke, thus suppressingthe faint uproar. Yet in the next moment, the sound of howling wind camethrough the window, making it impossible to maintain silence and calm in theclassrooms as the young students all rushed towards the windows. (TN: “The sound of wind, rain, and studying” is actually a reference to afamous line about the Donglin Academy: “风声雨声读书声，声声入耳；家事国事天下事，事事关心”, whichtranslates to “The sound of wind, the sound of rain, the sound of studying,sound after sound enters one’s ear. The matters of home, the matters of state,the matters of the world, matter after matter is one’s concern.”) The wind rolled up the thin mantle of snow that had just settled on the grass.A white crane slowly descended from the sky, almost seeming to dance in thesky. It was beautiful beyond compare. "It's so beautiful!" the girls yelled excitedly as they gazed at this sight. As the humans and demons surged in power, the monsters that had once wreakeddevastation upon the continent had long been forced into the deep lakes andbarren mountains. Correspondingly, the divine beasts and immortal birds alsobecame harder to see. Normally, only those sects located deep within themountains would be able to see them. The new students of the Orthodox Academymostly originated from the counties and provinces. When compared to the muchworldlier people of the capital, they very rarely saw these legendary immortalbirds. But there were still some people who had lived in the capital for a verylong time. When the transfer student from the Heavenly Dao Academy, Chu Wenbin,saw that white crane, he recalled something and said in shock, "This…isn't thisthe White Crane of the Xu Estate?" Upon hearing this, everyone by him grew quiet. Soon after, all the classroomsgrew quiet. The students all stared at the White Crane, no longer daring tomake any loud noises. This White Crane was no ordinary white crane. Its appearance represented aname. To these students, that name was pure, holy and beautiful, forbidden toblaspheme. Simultaneously, the students also knew just what this White Crane's returnsignified to their principal. Just as expected, it didn't take long before a figure appeared before thestudents' eyes. Chen Changsheng walked to the lawn by the lake and stood in front of the WhiteCrane. The White Crane nodded its head at him and then inclined it towardsthose students at the nearby library and by the window. It seemed ratherbewildered, as if it couldn't understand how such a massive change had occurredin the span of just a year. He looked at the White Crane in silence, then finally asked, "She…came back?" …… …… Two streaks had entered the capital, one white and one gray. The white was theWhite Crane, but the gray was actually the Golden-winged Great Peng that XuYourong had brought out of the Garden of Zhou. The reason it was gray was that the Great Peng had not fully matured. Itsfeathers had not taken color, let alone begin flowing with that golden color.It looked dark and gray and was also rather small. Just like Chen Changsheng'sinitial reaction towards it, it looked like a pheasant. As they entered the capital, the White Crane only needed to cry out for thoseRed Falcons preparing to fly up to intercept to naturally let it pass. However,this young Peng not only did not follow the White Crane to the OrthodoxAcademy, but also seemed to grow rather interested in these birds of the "samekind" as it that guarded the Imperial City. It made a rapid turn in the air,its wings aflutter, and eventually landed on the walls of the palace. It was said that a Phoenix in dire straits was not the match of a pheasant.This young Peng really did seem like a pheasant, but, ultimately, a Phoenix wasa Phoenix, a Golden Peng was a Golden Peng, so there was no way it could reallyhave become a pheasant. It folded its wings, raised its head and puffed out its chest, then beganwalking towards that flock of Red Falcons. It glanced to its left and right,its eyes indifferent and seeming exceptionally proud and unyielding. The Red Falcons were the most powerful attack birds raised by the Great ZhouArmy. They possessed an unimaginable speed and a naturally proud and valiantdisposition. Even when confronting a foe far more powerful than they, theywould show no fear. It was said that in the war of extermination with thedemons a thousand years ago, the then-Demon Commander had raised a Sky Monster.In the end, at the cost of several dozen Red Falcons, it was pecked to death inthe sky. Yet now as they looked at this rather small bird that looked just likea pheasant, their head feathers all went erect as they became incrediblyvigilant. Even the Imperial Guards at their side could feel their fear. As forthose Red Geese perched in the pavilion to the side, their reaction was evenmore extreme. They were so frightened that they fell paralyzed to the groundand were unable to stand back up. What sort of bird was this? The Imperial Guards were quite confused. Theywarily watched, subconsciously tightening the grips on their spears. At this moment, the Red Cloud Qilin, sitting by the palace walls and gazingoff vacantly at the Black Goat, suddenly raised its head upwards. In his room, Xue Xingchuan, who had been intently polishing his spear, seemedto sense this action and also gazed upwards. On the palace wall, the young Peng suddenly stopped, because it had sensed amurderous intent. It looked towards the ground, its gaze falling upon the Red Cloud Qilin. Itfelt that this would be a little troublesome. Then he noticed the origin of that murderous intent and looked towards thatroom. It realized that this would be incredibly troublesome. If the Golden Peng was fully matured, it would naturally have completelydisregarded the Red Cloud Qilin's provocation, and it would also have not beenafraid of Xue Xingchuan. Now, though, it could not. When it saw that Black Goat on the lawn of the Imperial Palace, its grayfeathers instantly puffed up a little, and it was overcome by an intenseuneasiness. True enough, the world outside the Garden of Zhou was still just as brimmingwith dangers as the world it remembered, especially this capital of thehumans—it was exactly the same as before. It had just come down to amuseitself, yet how had it run into so many troubles? Just as the Imperial Guardswere coming with spears to force it away, it opened its wings and flew down thewalls of the palace. With only a moment's effort, it had rushed past the plazain front of the palace, flew over several princely estates and three streets,and descended into a distant street. People were currently shouting in that street and the street was incrediblylively. Standing on the palace walls, one could faintly make out an ornateimperial carriage slowly making its way through the street. The soldiers watched as the strange bird landed on the imperial carriage. Onlythen did they realize that it had actually come from Holy Maiden Peak.No wonderit’s so frightening, they thought. An official hurried over, reporting on some news he had just learned. "The previous Holy Maiden abdicated? She let Xu Yourong succeed to the post?" Hearing this news, Xue Xingchuan gazed in the direction of that street. Alittle shocked, he thought,did something happen at South Stream Temple? Why didsuch a massive change occur? To the disciples of South Stream Temple and the common folk of the South, XuYourong was the future Holy Maiden. To the common folk of the capital of theGreat Zhou, Xu Yourong was their pride. Because she had grown up between thesetwo locations, as the news that Xu Yourong had formally succeeded to theposition of Holy Maiden of the South gradually spread, the people of thecapital that lined both sides of the street in welcome became momentarilysilent out of shock and then exploded into cheers that shook the heavens andthe earth. Children ran alongside the imperial carriage, young women waved handkerchiefsand flowers. Pious worshippers kneeled down at places the imperial carriage hadpassed, incessantly murmuring prayers of blessing, while the gazes of young menwere scorching hot. Even though the wind was mixed with snowflakes, even thoughthe weather was so cold, it was impossible to dampen the passion blazing in thecapital today. And when the wind raised the curtain of the imperial carriage,revealing the indistinct figure of the maiden within, the mood became ardent tothe extreme. Many people ceased to care for the Li Palace priests' rebukes, theobstructions of the City Gate Department's cavalry, or the wary gazes of thesouthern cavalry. One by one, they squeezed towards the center of the street.Although they were still all ultimately blocked by the cavalry, the cavalrycould not block the items in their hands. In a moment, flowers that were exceptionally difficult to see in the depths ofwinter fell down like rain. In just a few moments, the imperial carriagecarrying Xu Yourong became a sea of flowers. Those fruits washed clean were continuously thrown, free of charge, to thosehundred-odd carriages. In one of the carriages in the back, Ye Xiaolian caughta cherry tomato and lightly took a bite. She found it both sweet and sour andvery tasty, and her eyes squinted in pleasure. Of course, just like her othersenior sister sitting with her in the carriage, her pleasure was even more aresult of the passion of the capital's populace. In light of how the HolyMaiden was so revered by the people of Zhou, after the confluence of the northand south, Holy Maiden Peak's status might not fall and might even improve. Theunease caused by the temple master floating away was suddenly greatlydispelled. With seventy percent pleasure and thirty percent pride, theycommented, "Not even the sight when Zhou Yuren entered the capital was probablyas great as this." …… …… "Back then when Zhou Yuren entered the capital, Zhou Yuren really was almostadored to death. I remember that I was still young back then. I rememberstanding together with my cousin on the upper floor of Clear Lake Restauranttrying to catch a peek. That excitement…" Perhaps because she saw Xu Yourong and began to recall her young self, theTianhai Divine Empress fell into a very rare moment of nostalgia, but it wasonly a moment. She quickly returned to her normal serene appearance, saying,"If you don't want to be adored to death, you must get a thicker skin and alsoa stronger posture." In the eyes of the people, Xu Yourong was always quiet and calm like a fairy.Only in front of her teacher the Holy Maiden and the Empress would she act themost natural. She replied, "A thick skin…that's not that great of a thing." The Divine Empress looked at her, her eyes warm and gentle. She said tenderly,"What's so good about having thin skin? Look at how your little face isblushing." This conversation naturally had some deeper meaning. Both the thicker skin andthe stronger posture were the Divine Empress's advice. In the Divine Empress's view, to sit stably on the seat of temple master ofSouth Stream Temple and to ultimately become the Holy Maiden recognized by theentire South, to be heartless and cruel was an absolute must. A thicker skin was to be heartless, and only by having a strong enough posturewould ruthless methods have force. "If we want to make our postures stronger, should we not begin eating?" Mo Yu stood at the side, serving the food. Seeing Xu Yourong's dazedappearance, she knew that she either did not want to respond or perhaps hademptied her mind again like when she was small. Chuckling, Mo Yu changed thesubject. The Divine Empress sighed, "Children nowadays don't like to hear the talk ofus old folks." Xu Yourong softly replied, "Empress is not old, Empress will never be old." On the side, Mo Yu shivered. "I haven't met you for a few years, but thatlittle mouth of yours is still so sweet." "When eating, don't talk." The Divine Empress took up her chopsticks and ferried some food into XuYourong's bowl, then also began to eat. In such a vast palace hall, devoid of eunuchs or maids, the space seemed veryempty with just the three of them. Especially after they began to eat. There was no more noise, causing a strangeatmosphere to settle over them. ……