Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Linghai Zhiwang and Daoist Siyuan hurried over. Upon seeing Xu Yourong at Chen Changsheng’s side, they paused, and then they revealed joyful expressions.

They were representatives of the Orthodoxy’s new faction, and their relationship with the Tianhai Divine Empress naturally meant that they were very close to Xu Yourong. However, after they finished bowing, the joy on their faces quickly receded as they said to Chen Changsheng, "Principal Mao has left seclusion."

In the era of the previous Pope, at least three of the Storms complied with the Li Palace’s orders, but now, not even one did. So when Mao Qiuyu showed hope of breaking through, it was an extremely important matter to the Li Palace, perhaps the most important matter.

That he left seclusion today meant that he had succeeded in breaking through and becoming an expert of the Divine Domain.

For the Orthodoxy, this was naturally one of the most wonderful matters in the world.

But Linghai Zhiwang and Daoist Siyuan had rather serious expressions.

In the last few years, Mao Qiuyu had taken great care of Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy. After Chen Changsheng ascended to the throne of the Pope and left the capital, Mao Qiuyu became the executor of Chen Changsheng’s will in the capital.

The problem was that Mao Qiuyu was still a member of the Orthodoxy’s conservative faction, and now that he had crossed the threshold, he could no longer be regarded as he usually was.

During his seclusion, the new and conservative factions had engaged in conflict after conflict. It was just two days ago that Chen Changsheng had returned, and he had already conducted a purge of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education.

What would Mao Qiuyu do once he learned of these things?

......

......

The winter was about to pass, but the weather did not warm. On the contrary, it became colder.

The cutting winds of winter blew the heavy snow down from the sky and painted the ten-some palaces completely white.

Xu Yourong asked, "Can I meet him first?"

Linghai Zhiwang turned to Chen Changsheng.

He naturally knew of the relationship between the Pope and the Holy Maiden, but this matter was far too important.

Now that Mao Qiuyu had succeeded in breaking into the next realm, his status in the Orthodoxy would become completely different.

If he could not be persuaded by the Pope, his first day after breaking through into the Divine Domain would also have to be his last day.

Seeing Mao Qiuyu standing over there on the other side of the snowstorm, his gray hair scattered over his shoulders and his two sleeves swaying in the breeze, Chen Changsheng thought of their first meeting in that year’s Ivy Festival.

At the time, Mao Qiuyu was the Principal of the Heavenly Dao Academy and also Luoluo’s first teacher.

Chen Changsheng thought of many more things: Mao Qiuyu hugging Xun Mei’s body outside the Mausoleum of Books as tears streamed down his face, Mao Qiuyu quietly sitting in the tea house during the All-School Martial Exhibition, and Mao Qiuyu appearing in a carriage outside that courtyard filled with crabapple trees when he went to kill Zhou Tong.

In these last few years, Mao Qiuyu had not said very much, had done far too much, but he had always been quietly standing behind Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy.

Perhaps it was because of his relationship with his martial uncle the Pope, or perhaps it was because Archbishop Mei Lisha had requested this of him.

Regardless of the reason, Mao Qiuyu had treated him extremely well.

Chen Changsheng stretched out his hand and scattered away the snowflakes in front of him, also scattering those extraneous thoughts.

He turned to Xu Yourong and said, "You go then."

Daoist Siyuan appeared rather surprised, but he did not dare defy this order. The Orthodoxy experts and the array hidden in the storm all retreated.

......

......

The Daoist church within the snowstorm remained quiet for a very long time.

Finally, Xu Yourong walked out and smiled at Chen Changsheng.

Linghai Zhiwang and Daoist Siyuan simultaneously exhaled.

Xu Yourong left in the snow, probably with many other tasks that she needed to do.

Chen Changsheng walked into the church and stood together with Mao Qiuyu by the window, gazing at the Li Palace in the falling snow.

The Li Palace was also very quiet. There were barely any footprints in the snow and the figures of Linghai Zhiwang and Daoist Siyuan appeared very distinct.

"There’s fewer and fewer people."

Mao Qiuyu had a very melancholy expression.

Chen Changsheng understood his meaning.

Of the original Six Prefects of the Orthodoxy, the first to leave was Mei Lisha, and then Mu Jiushi had had her Orthodoxy cultivation crippled by the previous Pope and been driven out of the Li Palace. Afterward, Daoist Baishi was executed in Wenshui, and last night, Archbishop An Lin was silently removed from her post.

Now, even if Mao Qiuyu and Hu Thirty-Two were added, they could not make up the number required to use the Li Palace’s grand array.

And now, Mao Qiuyu was about to leave.

Chen Changsheng said, "Martial Uncle had me come here to do this task, and so there are some things that have to be done."

The task he referred to was wielding the Orthodoxy’s Divine Staff as Pope.

By ’some things’, he referred to those bygone events, like those departures.

"I heard about Your Holiness’s words from last night."

Mao Qiuyu asked, "Your Holiness will bear all the crimes that Your Holiness should bear?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "Yes."

Mao Qiuyu turned to examine his profile and asked, "But who has the right to judge whether Your Holiness has committed a crime?"

Chen Changsheng pondered this for a long time, and then he gave an answer that surprised Mao Qiuyu.

"Why did none of you ever ask my master or Martial Uncle this question?"

He did not speak of the will of the people, nor of history, and certainly not the history of humanity. Instead, he had given another question.

Mao Qiuyu noticed the sincere look in his eyes and his determined expression, and then, he discovered that he could not answer this question.

Chen Changsheng had also never thought about getting an answer. He continued, "Perhaps it’s because I’m younger? Tang Thirty-Six once said that to be young is to be correct. This statement isn’t correct, because correctness has nothing to do with age, so being old also does not mean one is correct."

Mao Qiuyu replied, "By seeing and experiencing more, perhaps one can take fewer detours."

Chen Changsheng said, "Between two points, a straight line is the shortest. There will naturally be no detours."

He was speaking of his sword that had learned from Wang Po’s blade.

"Drive is admittedly important, but ruling the world is like cooking a delicate fish. One cannot act lightly."

Mao Qiuyu solemnly said to him, "This was the previous Pope’s Dao."

This was the greatest difference that set the previous Pope apart from the Tianhai Divine Empress and Shang Xingzhou.

He did not care about the conflict between the Orthodoxy’s new and conservative factions, nor did he care about the conflict between the Chen Imperial clan and the Tianhai Divine Empress.

He only supported the methods that would lead to a peaceful world.

Twenty-some years ago, Shang Xingzhou had conspired to rebel and the world seemed about to fall into chaos, so he objected.

Twenty years later, the Tianhai Divine Empress remained unwilling to return the government to the Chen Imperial clan and the world seemed about to fall into chaos, so he objected.

Mao Qiuyu gazed at that figure walking away through the snow and said, "The Holy Maiden’s actions will certainly throw the world into chaos. The previous Pope would assuredly have fully opposed her, but you have chosen to act as if you do not see it. I truly do not know which is right."

Just now, when Xu Yourong was persuading him, she had engaged in an extremely complicated calculation and then said one sentence.

"Since your two sleeves sway with the breeze, there is no harm in putting your hands in your sleeves and looking from the sidelines."

’Two Sleeves in the Breeze’ was Mao Qiuyu’s Daoist name.

"In truth, I’ve always believed that Martial Uncle’s methods were not necessarily correct."

Chen Changsheng thought back to that night in the Mausoleum of Books. His martial uncle the Pope stood in the flooded, impoverished southern part of the city, fighting the Tianhai Divine Empress while still protecting the innocent commoners. He was touched by this and admired his martial uncle for this, but he also felt a more complex emotion.

His martial uncle the Pope was a good person.

But did a good person have to endure such suffering?

Mao Qiuyu knew what he was thinking and earnestly advised, "Your Holiness, we should still be good people."

"I have no need to be a good person, because I have always been a good person."

Chen Changsheng sincerely said, " But I hope that a good person can be rewarded with good."