Seeing this young man with a handsome face and easygoing bearing, Chen Changsheng calmly bowed, but his mood was by no means as calm.
Prince Chen Liu possessed the blood of the Imperial clan and so naturally possessed outstanding talent. It was just that he had grown up in deep within the palace—his status was far too noble. He also would not participate in the Grand Examination, so there was no opportunity for him to display his strength. But the Principal of the Heavenly Dao Academy and the Guardians of the palace all said that with his strength, it would have been very easy for him to enter the Proclamation of Azure Sky back then. At the moment, he was already twenty, but as long as he desired, there was also a place for him on the Proclamation of Golden Distinction.
However, for him to be able to obtain the respect of a valued Divine General like Xu Shiji had nothing to do with his Imperial blood or his strength, only that the Divine Empress treated him differently from the rest, having him remain in the capital. This fact had attracted innumerable speculations—could it be that the Divine Empress had chosen him to inherit the imperial throne of the Great Zhou Dynasty?
There were many people who thought this way, but in these past few years, the Tianhai clan had been acting in an incredibly unbridled fashion, and in the end, Prince Chen Liu was still surnamed Chen. The Divine Empress had never put forth a clear stance, so still nobody knew what sort of role he would play in the future of the Great Zhou Dynasty. As a result, the people of the capital treated him with a very complex mood, reverential and yet forced to keep their distance.
Xu Shiji was a Divine General of the Great Zhou Dynasty and was deeply trusted by the Divine Empress. Because he had once suppressed a rebellion of the Imperial clan, he had many enemies amongst the court. Consequently, his attitude towards Prince Chen Liu was even more cautious, but he also was forced to try and do some things for him, or at least not offend him.
He knew that Prince Chen Liu was representing the Divine Empress tonight in presiding over the Ivy Festival, responsible for receiving the southern diplomatic mission that had traveled from afar. Yet he did not expect that he would meet Prince Chen Liu outside the hall, and that the prince would even use his words to, intentionally or unintentionally, remind him about a few things and protect Chen Changsheng.
Xu Shiji confirmed that Chen Changsheng's engagement with his family was not known by anyone else, so the sudden appearance and protection of Prince Chen Liu could only be due to the Orthodox Academy. This made him recall the rumors that had been recently spreading through the capital, making him feel uneasy.
Prince Chen Liu glanced at Xu Shiji and then smiled at Chen Changsheng, asking, "Is there any matter that requires this Prince's help?"
His voice was not too fast or too slow, his appearance gentle and amiable. The feeling he gave to others was truly very much like a spring breeze, making others warm and content.
At the beginning, Chen Changsheng had not understood why this prince's words were protecting him, but this question was easily resolved upon hearing those words. He was even more grateful upon hearing these earnest and gentle words, saying, "Many thanks to Your Highness for your concern."
"There's no need to thank me. In truth, for a child like you to be a fish in the moat suffering disaster while we useless fellows just watch from the city gates, I should be apologizing instead."
Prince Chen Liu smiled as he spoke. His words were very casual, but his tone was very sincere.
Only when the city gate was on fire would the fish in the moat be affected.
If not for the new and conservative factions of the Great Zhou Dynasty using the matter of the Orthodox Academy once more taking in new students to stir a storm, Chen Changsheng would just be an ordinary youth that nobody knew. How would it be possible for everyone in the capital to pay attention to him, how could there possibly be so much trouble?
Prince Chen Liu did not know of those stories between Chen Changsheng and the Divine General of the East's estate, only thinking that Xu Shiji was making trouble for him. It was precisely for all those aforementioned troubles that it was only right that Prince Chen Liu, as a member of the Imperial clan, should apologize to Chen Changsheng.
Of course, a county prince apologizing to an ordinary person like Chen Changsheng was proof that he really was a very easygoing person. Moreover, in Xu Shiji's presence, in the middle of the Imperial Palace, he did not avoid speaking about the conflict between the Divine Empress and the old Imperial clan, making him seem all the more impressive and confident.
"My thanks to Your Highness."
Chen Changsheng truly did like this county prince, saying, "If a matter comes up that I must trouble Your Highness over, I will inform you."
"Very good, I like just this sort of personality, and I'm not afraid of trouble either."
Prince Chen Liu smiled and patted him on the shoulder, then walked into the hall, his bodyguards emerging from the darkness to follow. Before leaving, he glanced at Xu Shiji, his eyes calm and gentle. There was clearly no warning in these eyes, yet they brimmed with warning nonetheless.
The gentle and watery light of the Night Pearls passed through the bright paper of the windows and became somewhat unstable.
Xu Shiji's face was illuminated in this light, somewhat temperamental.
Prince Chen Liu proceeded within, but his words remained outside the hall, the night wind unable to scatter them.
Xu Shiji could no longer say anything to Chen Changsheng. His face a sheet of frost, he noted, "Your luck is very good."
Chen Changsheng thought this over and then said, "Perhaps it has to do with my character being rather good."
Saying this, he smiled.
To many people, Chen Changsheng possessed a maturity and composure beyond his age because he had always kept very calm, seldom showing great happiness or sorrow. When meeting with people he wasn't very close with, he would always adhere strictly to etiquette, not even smiling much.
But he was now smiling very happily, because he was standing in front of Xu Shiji.
Xu Shiji was also smiling as if he found the response of a small child very interesting, very naive, but his smile was very ugly.
Truthfully, Weiyang Palace was not a main hall, nor was it the inner palace in which the Divine Empress dwelled. There were even some abandoned gardens nearby. In the current deep darkness, a pitch-black goat slowly ambled through the weeds of an abandoned garden. Its eyes reflected the starlight, and were extremely dark and serene.
Xu Shiji gazed into the darkness at that place, his brows slightly furrowing. He said no more, returning to the great hall with a flick of his sleeves.
Chen Changsheng had also seen the Black Goat.
The Black Goat quietly looked at him and then began walking away from the hall. After walking a little while, it stopped and turned its head to glance at him as if it was guiding him.
Chen Changsheng understood the Black Goat's meaning: it wanted him to leave the palace.
Although it was impossible for the two of them to communicate, and although he was extremely sure that this Black Goat had nothing but goodwill for him, he faintly sensed that this might signify that tonight's matter had not yet concluded. There was even a chance that the true trial, or danger, had only just begun.
However, he did not follow, because he wanted to attend today's Ivy Festival.
Even now, he still had not decided what he should do when the southern diplomatic mission proposed, but he wanted to personally see it.
Perhaps when he saw it, he would know what he should do.
...
...
The Black Goat disappeared into the darkness.
Chen Changsheng stood in the light outside the hall, thinking about the terrifying Qi that Xu Shiji had exuded, and knew that he had been in great danger at the time.
Xu Shiji had said that his luck was good. This was because of Prince Chen Liu's sudden appearance.
His answer was "Perhaps it has to do with my character being rather good."
Character was that one's morality and principles remained uncompromised, unharmed.
And one on the side of justice would inevitably receive the most assistance.
This was a principle that he had learned from the three thousand scriptures of the Daoist Canon.
Leaving Xining Village and coming to the capital, he had suffered many suppressions, humiliations, and probings, but similarly, there had also been many people that had helped, like the Archbishop of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, Priest Xin, Prince Chen Liu, and also that Black Goat that had disappeared into the darkness.
Why had these people helped him? He was well aware that it had nothing to do with justice or principles. After coming to the capital, he had received some humiliations and pressures that he should not have, and this help was something he originally shouldn't have had. Many matters had only been because of misunderstandings.
Only the Divine General of the East's estate and that important personage in the palace knew of the engagement between him and Xu Yourong, nobody else. His entering the Orthodox Academy and the humiliations and blows sent at him by the Divine General of the East's estate over these past few months were believed by many people to have some deeper meaning.
The Orthodox Academy was a lake that no one had ever visited before, and within this lake grew many wild lotuses.
He was just a passing traveler that had mistakenly come upon this abandoned lake. He just wanted to take a small boat to the other side, but when he took up the oar, he startled a flock of herons.
Right as he was thinking this, a shrill cry of a bird came from the distant darkness, and then there was a faint splash of water.
He didn't know whether this was some nocturnal bird hunting for food or being hunted.
Chen Changsheng turned to that pitch-black darkness, wariness in his heart.
Just then, there was a voice.
This voice came from deep in the darkness, yet it did not scatter within the darkness.
This voice came from deep within the palaces, yet it did not scatter amongst the collection of palaces.
This voice rang out directly in his ear and then fell directly upon his heart.
This was a very crisp, very moving voice, just like the scent of tanghulu in the winter, but it was also just as cold as the winter.
"You are Chen Changsheng?"
It was quiet all around. The music from within Weiyang Palace was very soft after passing through the window paper. The rustling of the leaves in the autumn wind from the trees in the distance was very soft after crossing the vast plaza. That voice that directly rang out in his heart was similarly soft, yet it was also like a clap of thunder.
If the average person were to suddenly hear a voice ring out in their mind, they would certainly grow panicked and uneasy, but Chen Changsheng had no reaction. He stared into the many palace halls in the darkness, attempting to find the position of the speaker.
He was well-versed in the Daoist Canon, so he knew that some Star Condensation experts could very easily send their voices into the ears of ordinary people.
"You are much more cool-headed than I imagined, or perhaps it is dullness?"
That voice rang out once more.
"I only hope that you are somewhat smarter than I imagine you to be."
There was a woman in the Imperial Palace who had cultivated to the Star Condensation Realm at a very young age. To utterly disregard the words Prince Chen Liu had left behind, one could imagine how terrifying her power and status were. Her identity had long been on the point of being disclosed: it was precisely the important personage of the palace that Chen Changsheng was thinking about just a few moments ago.
He gazed at the many palace halls in the darkness and calmly bowed. "I have seen Grand Lady Mo."
The voice vanished for a time as if surprised that Chen Changsheng was able to immediately guess at her identity, or perhaps because she was not used to this sort of address.
The owner of this voice was legendary Lady Mo Yu.
The woman, or even person, with the second-most authority in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"You can call me Lady Mo Yu."
"Yes, Grand Lady Mo."
For some reason, Chen Changsheng was feeling rather willful tonight.
Possibly because he knew the reason for Mo Yu's sudden appearance.
"You truly are a very smart youth."
"Thank you."
"In these past few days, a storm has been stirring in the capital, yet you stayed in the Orthodox Academy, never leaving. This is why I said you are smart."
"Thank you."
"But this sort of smartness…it unavoidably feels somewhat shameless."
"Please instruct me."
"You guessed at Luoluo's identity, so you hid behind her. Could this not be shameless?"
"You were the one who arranged for me to enter the Orthodox Academy. You know that I only want to read and cultivate—I didn't think about matters to this extent."
"But you still are using her."
"This is her intention."
"Any man with spirit would not deceive such a naive and pure-hearted girl."
"How have I deceived her?"
"If you did not deceive her, how could someone with her identity acknowledge you as a teacher?"
Hearing this question, Chen Changsheng fell silent for a few moments, and then he said to the darkness, "Perhaps it's because my character is rather good."