Ze Tian Ji Chapter 91

Chapter 91 – The Academy Gate and the Hearts of the People

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Jin Yulu was dressed like a rich old man, and the way he kept his hands in his sleeves made him seem like an old peasant. There did not seem to be anything unusual about him, until he said those words.

People reacted differently to these words, with Chen Changsheng having the most intense response, especially to that final line: “Because I was not wrong, so for what reason should I not be tough? Why should my momentum not be strong?”

When he first entered the capital, he had once said similar words at the Divine General of the East’s estate, in front of the Temple Seminary.

Because of the response from the outside world, he had always been somewhat worried if he stood out too much from the masses. To put it a different way, might those things he persisted on not seem too stubborn, too sour and bitter, in the eyes of others, or be regarded as a very strange thing? Only when he heard Jin Yulu’s words did he finally realize that there were actually many people like him in this world.

This made him somewhat happy.

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“Could it possibly be that Senior will stand guard over the Orthodox Academy forever?”

Tianhai Shengxue walked out from behind Fei Dian with a cold gaze fixed on Jin Yulu.

Jin Yulu calmly replied, “And why can’t I?”

Tianhai Shengxue replied, “Senior is the Guardian of the Red River; do you not need to attend to Her Highness’s everyday life? Do you not need to care for Her Highness’s safety?”

Jin Yulu slightly squinted his eyes. “You people of Zhou say that the Li Palace is the safest place, which is why Her Highness moved out of the Hundred Herb Garden and went there… This being the case, Her Highness’s safety is naturally the responsibility of you people of Zhou, so what do I need to worry about?”

In order for the Tianhai clan to move against the Orthodox Academy, they had first used this excuse to have Luoluo leave the Orthodox Academy.

Now, however, Jin Yulu was using this reason to say that he didn’t need to be at the Li Palace and could remain for the long term at the Orthodox Academy.

Tianhai Shengxue could not find another reason.

Just then, several carriages drove through the rain into Hundred Flowers Lane.

Tianhai Shengxue had chosen the early hours of the morning to bring his subordinates to the Orthodox Academy because he was keenly aware that some people in the capital were protecting the Orthodox Academy. He wanted to take advantage of this bout of morning rain and crush the Orthodox Academy flat with the force of a thunderclap before those people had a chance to respond.

He had not expected these three youths of the Orthodox Academy to put up such a tough resistance, and he had not expected Jin Yulu to appear. With the passing of time, those spies hidden in Hundred Flowers Lane had reported back to their masters, and those people had naturally hurried over.

These carriages had come in spite of the rain, and it was obvious that they had come in great haste.

When Prince Chen Liu got out of the carriage at the very front, one of the buttons on his front lapel had even been tied incorrectly, so it could be imagined how hastily he had departed.

A middle-aged man of slender build held up an umbrella and sheltered him as he walked to the gate of the Orthodox Academy.

Prince Chen Liu looked over the scene and knew what had happened. Frowning at Tianhai Shengxue, he ordered, “Go back.”

In terms of seniority, Prince Chen Liu and Tianhai Shengxue were of the same generation, and Tianhai Shengxue was even a bit older than Prince Chen Liu. However, Prince Chen Liu was still a member of the Chen Imperial clan, and more importantly, the Divine Empress treated him much better than she did her nephew and grandnephews in the Tianhai clan, so the tone with which he spoke to Tianhai Shengxue was not very courteous.

Tianhai Shengxue coldly glanced at him with an unspeakable scorn, yet he did not issue a word of protest.

Toward this member of the Imperial clan who had been able to live in the Imperial Palace for a long period of time, the youths of the Tianhai clan felt both admiration and resentment. It was not as if some people had not attempted to deal with him over these past few years, but after the Divine Empress displayed her thunderous wrath, no one dared to treat him with the slightest disrespect, at least on the surface.

The person to descend from the second carriage was Priest Xin.

Yesterday, the entire capital came to know of the fact that the Pope had called Princess Luoluo to the Li Palace Academy to study. With the Orthodox Academy’s situation unstable, he felt his own heart begin to sway and become impossible to soothe. He anxiously thought, was I wrong back then when I saw that recommendation letter and treated Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy so well? For this reason, when he learned early in the morning of what was happening, he did not immediately head out, but went to the archbishop’s residence first. He was worried that he would once more misunderstand the Pope’s intentions.

The archbishop had laughed but said nothing, which made him extremely afraid. Could the archbishop’s view be different from the Pope’s? Could the archbishop really be preparing to overturn the verdict on that matter? Was he really prepared to stand opposite to the Pope? Was the Orthodoxy really about to split?

Priest Xin was very fearful, but he discovered that it was already too late to retreat, because all of the capital and all of the Li Palace knew that the Orthodox Academy had obtained a chance at rebirth and had been invited to attend the Ivy Festival through his arrangements. Who would believe that he was just the executor?

Right now, he could only stand on the Orthodox Academy’s side, so he had to stand on the Orthodox Academy’s side.

This sort of panic from being forced to choose a side would often make the chooser act with incredible courage as they had already put everything on the line. Consequently, Priest Xin displayed an attitude even more unyielding than Prince Chen Liu’s, harshly reprimanding Tianhai Shengxue without the slightest concern for his dignity.

Tianhai Shengxue’s face grew paler and paler, angrier and angrier.

But with both Prince Chen Liu and the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education arriving, he had lost the opportunity to flatten the Orthodox Academy.

Jin Yulu stood in front of the gate to the Orthodox Academy.

Crucially, those three students of the Orthodox Academy had put on a somewhat surprising performance.

He stared at them and slightly perked his eyebrows. Then, he took the reins of his horse from one of his soldiers and shouted, “Let’s go!”

“Go?”

It was the same word but in different tones, so they reflected two completely different meanings.

Tang Thirty-Six raised his sword and asked, “You think you can go just because you want to?”

In this morning’s battle, the students of the Orthodox Academy had heavily injured four of Tianhai Shengxue’s personal guards while Jin Yulu had completely crushed the rest, wounded Fei Dian, and given Tianhai Shengxue quite the fright. On the other hand, the Orthodox Academy had come away without a scratch, so no matter what, it looked like they were the ones with the advantage.

But Tang Thirty-Six was still not willing to let the matter drop. Prince Chen Liu slightly frowned at this young master of the Wenshui Tang clan. When he thought of how rudely and boorishly this youth had acted two nights ago at Weiyang Palace, he found himself rather displeased at this person’s rash behavior that paid no mind to the general situation.

“We require an explanation.”

The autumn rain was gradually lightening as Chen Changsheng took two steps forward and spoke, pointing behind him at the ruins of the gate.

Why did Tianhai Shengxue want to destroy the gate of the Orthodox Academy, and even annihilate the Orthodox Academy itself? Because he wanted to take vengeance for his cousin Tianhai Ya’er. Although he and Tianhai Ya’er were normally not very close, he was still a member of the Tianhai clan, yet he was crippled by the Orthodox Academy.

But that was a match of the Ivy Festival, a fair duel. Losing was losing, so what reason was there to take revenge? And if he wanted to take revenge, he should be seeking out Luoluo. Using the Orthodox Academy to vent his anger was not truly a reason that could be brought to the table.

There was still one more reason hidden at the very bottom, and it was helping the Divine Empress resolve a somewhat vexing concern, but there was no way this reason could be publicly announced.

As for the final reason, it also could not be mentioned.

Chen Changsheng knew that the other side could not give a reason, so he had asked for an explanation.

Tianhai Shengxue had a rather ugly expression.

Fei Dian sighed. Looking at the lessening rain and pointing at the puddles on the ground, he said, “The road was slippery from the rain, so the carriage crashed and resulted in injuries. How is this explanation?”

The carriage that had crashed into the Orthodox Academy had the finest carriage compartment and the finest warhorse. Let alone the streets of the capital drenched by an autumn rain, even the stormy snows and the frozen lands of Snowhold Pass would not cause it crash and lead to such a disastrous result.

This was naturally a quite shameless explanation, but its shamelessness served as an acknowledgment of defeat.

Neither Chen Changsheng nor Tang Thirty-Six could say much about it.

“I’ll be coming back.”

Tianhai Shengxue leaped onto his horse and then said to Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng thought, then replied, “If you come to apply for the Orthodox Academy, I won’t accept you.”

Tianhai Shengxue angrily smiled, then left without saying any more.

Fei Dian looked at Jin Yulu and shook his head. “You aren’t Zhou Dufu; you can’t change much.”

Jin Yulu, his hands in his sleeves, ignored him and did not reply.

The rain finally stopped and the people gathered around Hundred Flowers Lane gradually dispersed.

The events that had taken place in front of the Orthodox Academy in the early hours of the morning had caught the attention of many people.

On the surface, this was the first clash between Tianhai Shengxue and the Orthodox Academy. In reality, everyone knew that this was a struggle between the new powers of the Great Zhou and the old Imperial clan, between the Pope and the conservative faction of the Orthodoxy, but it was obvious that the power affiliated with the Orthodox Academy was too weak.

The opponent had only dispatched Tianhai Shengxue, recently returned from Snowhold Pass, but Prince Chen Liu and the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education had been forced to come so as to protect the Orthodox Academy. One could say that this showed how much Prince Chen Liu and the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education valued the Orthodox Academy, but the true situation was that there was simply no one else that the Orthodox Academy could send.

Prince Chen Liu greeted the three students of the Orthodox Academy.

Chen Changsheng returned the greetings, but he did not give thanks. “In the palace, Your Highness once said that minor figures like us were dragged into matters between important figures like you, so I won’t thank Your Highness.”

“Thanks are truly not needed.” Prince Chen Liu smiled at him, then continued, “But…after the Ivy Festival, the entire continent knows that you are Xu Yourong’s fiancé. You are no longer some ordinary youth, you are no longer someone dragged in by us, so I won’t express any apology to you either.”

Chen Changsheng fell silent. Only now did he realize the effect that exposing the engagement had on him.

Many people did not want him to marry Xu Yourong, including the Tianhai clan.

This morning’s incident perhaps also had this reason.

“If something comes up, just notify me.”

After saying this, Prince Chen Liu very indifferently left, deliberately not leaving any goodwill.

The slender man glanced at Chen Changsheng and then left, still holding up the umbrella.

Priest Xin came over and said a few words, together with Tang Thirty-Six cursing the arrogance of the Tianhai clan, and then left.

Only now did Xuanyuan Po put down that piece of the gate.

He had been carrying the heavy board for a very long time. Even with the special body of a demi-human, he found it very painful.

“In a little while, I’ll go and bury this horse. When do we fix the gate?” he asked.

Chen Changsheng gazed at the shattered gate and shook his head. “We’re not fixing it.”

Tang Thirty-Six said, “If you wanted the Tianhai clan to fix it, we should have forced them to lower their heads just now.”

“And what would we do if they really lowered their heads and fixed it?”

Chen Changsheng continued, “It’s quite fine for the gate to be broken like this.”

Xuanyuan Po scratched his head and looked at the ground covered in bits of wood and stone, thinking, what’s so good about this?

“You’ve made progress.”

Jin Yulu smiled and noted, “You know to strive for the greatest benefit.”

With the gate of the Orthodox Academy shattered like this, with each passing day, the people of the capital would think the Tianhai clan more wanton and shameless.

After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng said, “Senior, I don’t like this sort of progress.”

“I also don’t like it.”

Jin Yulu patted him on the shoulder and consoled, “But what can we do? There are too many shameless people in the world. Unless you become like me, hiding away in the mountains and farming, or something changes, you can only accept it.”

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