Ze Tian Ji Chapter 83

Chapter 83 – Carriages in the Night

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

In terms of scholarly knowledge, no person could surpass Gou Hanshi, and very few people had ever earned his admiration. Tonight, Chen Changsheng had accomplished this.

He looked at Gou Hanshi and said, “I am not worthy of such a compliment.”

“You are worthy.” Gou Hanshi seemed somewhat sorrowful as he looked at this youth who earlier had not been worthy of the slightest attention from him.

He thought of his astonishingly talented eldest brother, thought of the marriage. He came to the sudden realization that, without a noise, his confidence in his senior brother had been somewhat shaken.

“The last technique her Highness used just now…” He wanted to ask Chen Changsheng something, but didn’t know if it was appropriate, so he stopped in hesitation.

“Just what do you want to ask? Just quickly leave! Or do you still want to stay and disgrace yourself?”

The ashen-faced Elder Xiao Songgong yelled. After shooting a resentful glare at Jin Yulu, he angrily flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

With a slightly bitter expression, Gou Hanshi clasped his hands to Chen Changsheng and said, “Farewell.”

Chen Changsheng returned the gesture, replying, “See you again.”

“We truly will see each other again.”

Gou Hanshi calmed down and said to him, “I greatly anticipate how you and the Orthodox Academy will perform in the Grand Examination. I hope that you will continue to bring pleasant surprises.”

Chen Changsheng understood his meaning and did not reply.

Gou Hanshi turned, bringing his junior brothers of the Mount Li Sword Sect to disappear into the darkness of the Imperial Palace.

All in front of the Weiyang Palace was silent.

Too many things had happened in tonight’s Ivy Festival, bringing far too much astonishment.

The marriage between Qiushan Jun and Xu Yourong, which had been anticipated by the entire continent, had been brought to a halt by the marriage contract in the hands of the youth called Chen Changsheng.

He was a student of the Orthodox Academy.

Princess Luoluo had made her identity known.

She was also a student of the Orthodox Academy.

The young master of the Wenshui Tang clan had withdrawn from the Heavenly Dao Academy.

He had become a new student of the Orthodox Academy.

All these things were associated with the name of the Orthodox Academy.

Thus, the formidable Mount Li Sword Sect had acted according to the rules of the Ivy Festival to challenge the Orthodox Academy that had withered away for so many years.

Ultimately, the Orthodox Academy won.

And it was an unquestionable victory.

The ups and downs and the surprising conclusion had, for the moment, left many people in a state of utter disbelief.

The crowd looked in the direction of the Orthodox Academy, intending to view those three people, the young men and woman, with a renewed focus, finding it even more difficult to accept the events of tonight.

The vast majority of gazes were fixed on Chen Changsheng, even though he was far inferior to Luoluo in terms of status. However, he was Xu Yourong’s fiancé, Luoluo’s teacher, and the current spokesperson of the Orthodox Academy. There were far too many reasons for him to draw the gazes of the crowd.

The crowd clearly understood that after tonight, the Orthodox Academy that had lain dilapidated for so many years might finally walk along the path of rebirth, and that this new student of the Orthodox Academy would no longer be that obscure and ordinary youth. He was about to become the center of discussion for the entire capital, even the entire continent.

The crowd looked at Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng only looked at Xu Shiji.

Xu Shiji clearly understood why this youth was looking at him, so his face was ashen.

At his side, the archbishop smiled and commented, “Even though this son-in-law can’t compare to Qiushan Jun, he’s still not bad.”

Xu Shiji’s complexion turned incredibly unsightly.

The archbishop gave a hearty laugh and then left, saying no more.

The crowd in front of the palace gradually dispersed.

Principal Mao Qiuyu descended the stone steps and took Tang Thirty-Six aside to say a few words to him.

Mo Yu walked up to Chen Changsheng, her eyebrows slightly arched. She wanted to ask about just how he had managed to escape the Tong Palace, but upon seeing Luoluo stare at her like a miniature tiger, she could only bitterly smile and say, “I say, Your Highness, don’t bear a grudge against me for tonight’s matter. I also had no other choice.”

The cry of a crane suddenly resounded through the sky.

The crowd looked up and saw the White Crane fluttering away.

It had come to the Great Zhou Imperial Palace tonight to deliver a letter and meet a person.

All these things done, it naturally left.

Watching the White Crane gradually disappear into the night sky, Chen Changsheng felt like he had forgotten something.

He looked in the direction of that abandoned garden in the depths of the Imperial Palace and nodded his head to give his regards.

……

……

A convoy of carriages was making its way towards the Li Palace.

This was the convoy of the southern diplomatic mission.

Compared to their jubilant arrival in the city, the convoy now was quiet, the mood extremely oppressive and downcast.

A cough would occasionally rise from the convoy.

Gou Hanshi, his brow creased and face slightly pale, held up a handkerchief to his mouth.

He didn’t want his coughing to disturb too many people, especially Elder Xiao Songgong in the carriage ahead.

In tonight’s match, although he had not personally stepped forward, the conversation he had carried out with Chen Changsheng across the plaza had consumed an enormous amount of mental strength. Even though he had taken the medicine gifted by the archbishop after boarding the carriage, he was still in some pain.

“I did not expect that the youth called Chen Changsheng would be so extraordinary.”

Gou Hanshi raised the curtain of the window and looked back at the palace through the darkness, sighing, “Fortunately, he can’t cultivate, or else we would truly be in trouble.”

Guan Feibai and his other two junior brothers were also in the carriage compartment. Hearing his words, they all had rather peculiar expressions.

They knew what their second brother meant by ‘trouble’. There was certainly concern for their eldest brother in his words.

Because the youth called Chen Changsheng was Junior Sister Xu Yourong’s fiancé.

“Will Junior Sister really marry him?”

With a slightly gloomy expression, Guan Feibai said, “The entire south has seen how Eldest Brother has treated Junior Sister Xu over these past few years. Just what is Junior Sister thinking? She even had the White Crane come specially to deliver a letter? Did she not think about what position this would put Eldest Brother in?”

“How can you blame this matter on Junior Sister Xu?”

Gou Hanshi sighed as he spoke, but he also didn’t say just who should be blamed for this matter. After all, this matter had been decided by their teachers and elders. As disciples, it was not their place to criticize it.

The carriage was very spacious. Gou Hanshi, Guan Feibai, and the Fifth Law sat on one side while Qi Jian sat across from them. The thin and delicate youth had his head lowered, seeming very pitiful.

Guan Feibai looked at him and slightly frowned, but his tone became somewhat gentler. “I lost to Princess Luoluo, a true loss. Your loss to that fellow Tang Thirty-Six was an accident; don’t be too sad about it.”

Qi Jian raised his head, his small face covered in shame and grief.

Gou Hanshi smiled, saying, “The Grand Examination isn’t far, just a few months away. At that time, just return tonight’s loss in full.”

His junior brothers calmly agreed, because this was a matter that was only proper and expected.

In tonight’s Ivy Festival, although the Mount Li Sword Sect had lost to the Orthodox Academy, few people truly believed that the Orthodox Academy was stronger than the Mount Li Sword Sect.

There was no need to speak of those rules and not much thought needed to be placed on Princess Luoluo’s unexpected strength.

On the day of the Grand Examination, the Orthodox Academy would not have the smallest chance.

Because the rules were different, because they were the Divine Kingdom’s Seven Laws, and because at that time, Gou Hanshi would personally take part.

Gou Hanshi looked out the window at the streets of the capital. He began to cough once more, his brow creasing.

……

……

Tonight’s Ivy Festival was destined to be remembered by many people and very difficult to wipe away. If some hatred existed—like amongst a few people of the southern diplomatic mission, like the Qiushan clan head who had come in excitement and left in disappointment, like Xu Shiji who had been dealt a hefty slap from Chen Changsheng’s marriage contract—this hatred would become a grudge.

Chen Changsheng would not hold a grudge over tonight’s events, although he truly did hate being imprisoned in the abandoned garden. Truly, when he was at the bottom of the Black Dragon Pool and believed that he was about to die, he was truly filled with resentment, but so many things happened afterwards that now, when he sat in the carriage heading towards the Orthodox Academy, he found it hard to feel any hate, so he naturally would not hold a grudge.

This was the Hundred Herb Garden’s carriage. Jin Yulu was not willing to sit inside, so the compartment only contained the two young men and the one young woman. They sat on the soft embroidered cushions, looking at the scattered lanterns outside the window like stars in the night sky. For a very long time, nobody spoke, and the only sound was the rolling of the carriage wheels across the gray flagstones, a sign that they had arrived at the road that ran along the Luo River.

Chen Changsheng looked out the window, suddenly chuckling to himself.

Tang Thirty-Six was currently eating grapes. Upon seeing Chen Changsheng’s appearance, he almost spit them out, teasing, “Truly foolish.”

Luoluo felt that this was somewhat rude to her teacher and was quite displeased.

Chen Changsheng ignored him. He continued to look out the window, a smile on his face.

For some reason, he was not coughing like Gou Hanshi.

Tonight was the Double Seventh Festival, a time when lovers showed their deep affection for each other. However, it was very late at night and the two banks of the Luo River were no longer as lively as they were earlier. The willow branches by the river finally obtained a period of rest while the lantern boats floating on the river seemed even brighter, like innumerable stars. Their light entered through the carriage window, shining upon the youth’s face.

Luoluo propped her arm under her chin and gazed at Chen Changsheng’s profile illuminated in the bright luster of the lantern boats, thinking to herself, tonight, Teacher truly looks handsome.

Tang Thirty-Six finished eating his grapes and used a towel to wipe his hands. He moved to Chen Changsheng’s side and looked out the window, but he didn’t find it very interesting. This sight was far inferior to the enchanting vistas of Wenshui on the Double Seventh Festival.

Seeing Chen Changsheng’s intoxicated appearance, he asked, “What do you feel?”

Chen Changsheng looked at the river, pondering in silence for a very long time.

The old temple outside Xining Village, the rooms filled to the top with old books, the old bamboo dragonfly, the old marriage contract, the humiliation in the Divine General’s estate in the capital, the suppression received in the Heavenly Dao Academy and the other Ivy Academies, his banishment to the desolate and overgrown ruin, the forgotten Orthodox Academy…many scenes flashed past his eyes before vanishing once more.

Just like the light emitted from the lantern boats floating on the Luo River.

At the end, only one scene remained.

It was the simple and unadorned academy gate of the Orthodox Academy, clear of ivy, the glossy black floorboards of the library, the lake and the girl under the banyan tree by the lake, and also friends.

“Very happy.”

Chen Changsheng drew back his gaze, turning to Tang Thirty-Six and Luoluo. “I’m very happy.”

He wasn’t exactly clumsy with his words, but he truly did not like to speak, nor did he know how to make his words sound nice.

He said he was happy, so he was truly happy.

I am very happy to have become a student of the Orthodox Academy, very happy that the Orthodox Academy won over the Mount Li Sword Sect, very happy that Xu Yourong won’t be able to marry Qiushan Jun.

Yes, the engagement is not important, but respect is.

Finally, I’m very happy to be able to know all of you.

……

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