548 Rumors in the Capital

"Don't tell me we have to wait another few hundred years?" "Perhaps we really should research the strength of time. Those legends of thepast could be even stronger, but not even they could possibly defeat time." "In the three thousand scriptures of the Daoist Canon, only one book concernstime." "Then we should first look at this Scroll of Time." "Understood, then when the time comes, help me look over it." With their plans decided and seeing that it was already late, Chen Changshengstood up and bid farewell, then walked out of the hall. Shuang'er stood outside the hall in the snow, from time to time taking note ofany movement outside. Seeing him walk out, she revealed a very complexexpression. Chen Changsheng was prepared to say a few words to her when he suddenly heardXu Yourong's voice come from behind him. "Are you and Lady Zhusha very close?" Chen Changsheng stood in a daze for some time before finally understandingthat the Lady Zhusha she spoke was exactly the young Black Dragon. Confused, heasked, "Close?" "Mo Yu saw the two of you embracing once." It was very obvious that Xu Yourong was deliberately keeping her voiceextremely calm, because it was so calm that it was almost wooden. Chen Changsheng was quite speechless, thinking, the Black Dragon is like amountain—how could I embrace her? "Could it be that you don't know…if she doesn't maintain her dragon body,she's actually a pretty young girl?" …… …… In the darkness, Chen Changsheng gazed silently at the calm surface of thepool and the remnants of shattered ice on its surface. A young girl and a Black Dragon—perhaps it was only the external appearancechanging, but they gave completely different impressions. Having a name and not having a name was also an incredibly big difference. Back then, Wang Zhice had given her a name, calling her Zhusha. He had also given her two names—one was Zhizhi, the other Hongzhuang. There seemed to be some faint connection between the two. The Black Frost Dragon that had fallen in battle in the Garden of Zhou hadpossessed a noble soul that had a limitless longing for freedom. She was this Black Frost Dragon's daughter and presumably also possessed aheart that had a limitless desire for freedom, but she was imprisoned for somany years. Truly too pitiful. Without speaking to this pool, he left. On the night of the same day, he used the stone pearl left behind by WangZhice to enter the Garden of Zhou. He paid no attention to that ocean-like monster tide that bowed to him, onlynoticing that the current Garden of Zhou was much better than it had beenpreviously. The lakes surrounding the plain had been dredged clean and the collapsedcliffs tidied up. He went to the lakeshore on the other side of the waterfall and found theScroll of Time amongst those books that had been dried in the sun. He returned to Sunset Valley and used the light coming from the horizon tobegin reading this book. After a long time passed, he put away the book, then said to the grand andlofty mountain range before him, "Please relax, I will definitely rescue Sir'sdaughter." …… …… In that courtyard in the principal alley of the Northern Military Department,Zhou Tong was also reading the Scroll of Time. The common people currently only knew of him as a cruel and terrifyinglypowerful official. Long forgotten was the fact that he had once been widelyknown for his scholarly erudition, and also the fact that he was a cultivatorthat had reached the peak of Star Condensation. After Archbishop Mei Lisha returned to the sea of stars, he had beenconstantly studying the Scroll of Time. Recently, he had finally been able tocomprehend some of the true meaning of this Daoist scripture. "Can one really change the speed at which time flows?" As he gazed at the snow and the lonely crabapple tree in the courtyard, thesea of blood within his eyes boiled incessantly, seeming abnormally brutal andfrightening. This represented the fact that his mind was currently in a stateof shock, his sea of consciousness uneasy as a consequence. He even found ithard to maintain his unfeeling Dao heart. As time passed, the sea of blood within his eyes gradually calmed, his paleface revealing a little exhaustion and sadness. He knew that from the moment hehad decided to follow the Divine Empress and open the golden age, from themoment he had sunken into this sea of blood that was forever in turmoil, itwould forever be impossible for him to reach the end of the long road ofcultivation. Time and space were both domains that he could never touch, butthis did not mean that there was no one in the world who could do this. He believed that if one could advance into the legendary realm of ConcealedDivinity or perhaps was assisted by some extremely powerful array, perhaps onecould use the Scroll of Time to adjust the speed at which time flowed. Thenthis also meant that a certain person's age could have been adjusted by someoneelse; perhaps that youth and that Crown Prince Zhaoming were exactly the sameage? …… …… Two rumors were spreading through the capital. The first rumor was basically nonsense. It said that Little Principal Chen ofthe Orthodox Academy was a descendant of the Chen Imperial clan and was evenhighly likely to be that Crown Prince Zhaoming who had vanished without a traceduring the coup in the palace back then. No one believed this theory becauseChen Changsheng's age was clearly much younger than Crown Prince Zhaoming's.Moreover, compared to this seemingly quite shocking rumor, the denizens of thecapital far preferred to believe that even colder and more sinister rumor: thepitiful Crown Prince Zhaoming had long since been choked to death in hisinfancy by the Divine Empress. The second rumor attracted far more interest and had also received far moreapproval. Perhaps it was because Tang Thirty-Six had drunk too much wine onenight and said it to that dancer in the restaurant, or perhaps it was becauseShuang'er, when returning to the Divine General of the East's estate to takethe handwarming stove her young lady often used, had subtly hinted at it underher madam's indirect questioning. Even more likely was that some truly loftyperson would stand up on a high platform of the capital and occasionally directtheir gaze down into the streets to discover the scene of the young man andwoman walking side by side, the Yellow Paper Umbrella unable to hide ChenChangsheng's face…many people of the capital had heard that after the battle onthe Bridge of Helplessness, the Holy Maiden and Little Principal Chen wouldoften meet. It was said that Little Principal Chen would even occasionallyenter the palace to find her. Today, Prince Chen Liu was entertaining guests and Chen Changsheng was theguest of honor. Today, the primary theme of the gathering was appreciatingsnow, and when appreciating snow, there naturally had to be poetry recitations.Those several students of the Orthodox Academy that had followed ChenChangsheng to the Prince's estate to broaden their experiences competed inpoetry with the students of the other Five Ivies. In a few rounds, they had alllost, but the statuses of Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy werecompletely different from the past, so none of the teachers and students,whether they were from the Heavenly Dao Academy or from the Temple Seminary,would dare use this matter to sneer or ridicule them. However, the students ofthe Orthodox Academy still felt rather ashamed and would occasionally sneakglances in Chen Changsheng's direction. Chen Changsheng naturally felt their gazes and very naturally began to missTang Thirty-Six. That guy was the ideal candidate for dealing with these sortsof situations. Whether it was being jeered at, being humiliated, or beingignored, perhaps their side's morale would be depressed and even fall intodespair, but he would always have a way of reversing the mood. Just as in the past, Tang Thirty-Six who had an inexplicable hatred for PrinceChen Liu was too lazy to even give an excuse, simply refusing to attend today'spoetry gathering. But he wasn't too far away. Bringing along a dancing girl hewas close with, he waited in the carriage outside the Prince's estate, pointingout the window at the falling snow and reciting poetry, playing the role of aromantic young master well enough. The main gate of the Prince's estate opened and Prince Chen Liu personallysent off Chen Changsheng and the students of the Orthodox Academy.