Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1058 – The Young Emperor

Tang Thirty-Six entered the hall, ran over to Chen Changsheng, and practically shouted, “What was the meaning of those words?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “The literal meaning.”

Tang Thirty-Six gave him a blank stare, then asked, “Why?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “I suddenly think that his view might have been correct.”

Tang Thirty-Six vigorously waved his hand. “In the past, didn’t we talk about this by the lake? To be young is to be correct!”

Chen Changsheng sincerely replied, “This statement in itself is not correct.”

Tang Thirty-Six angrily shot back, “Does that mean that your statement is correct?”

Chen Changsheng paused a bit before answering, “I was a little angry at the time.”

Tang Thirty-Six asked, “So you were just venting your anger?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “You can say that.”

Tang Thirty-Six reasoned, “Since you were just venting your anger, it naturally can be treated as invalid.”

Chen Changsheng earnestly requested instruction. “Why is that?”

Tang Thirty-Six explained, “You and I are humans, and when humans vent, they fart. Venting your anger is just farting nonsense, and how can you treat nonsense as true?”

Chen Changsheng argued, “Fart has a smell, but just venting air won’t necessarily have an odor.”

Tang Thirty-Six replied, “Whether or not it has a smell, it definitely won’t have that nasty elderly smell that you can find on their bodies.”

Chen Changsheng recalled that Su Li had once said something similar.

“We have to think of a way to get those believers outside the Li Palace to stand up.”

He stopped thinking about those other problems, asking Tang Thirty-Six, “Do you have any good ideas?”

Tang Thirty-Six sharply said, “You were the one to tie the bell, so why do I have to think about the solution?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “I’m not skilled at these things.”

Tang Thirty-Six took stock of the surroundings and asked, “Where’s Xu Yourong?”

Chen Changsheng explained, “She went to the Imperial Palace.”

Tang Thirty-Six’s expression subtly shifted.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Changsheng asked.

“She just got back to the capital yesterday, but today she went to see Prince Chen Liu, and then she went to see Mo Yu, and now she’s going to see His Majesty.”

Tang Thirty-Six wondered, “Why is she seeing so many people? Don’t you find it strange?”

……

……

The Emperor of the Great Zhou was very young and also very inconspicuous. His presence was so low-key that he was often forgotten by the common people.

Even now, his existence was a great mystery to the subjects of the Great Zhou. Few even knew that his name was Chen Yuren.

By this point, Shang Xingzhou was rarely offering his opinion on important matters of state. He was not even present in the capital most of time, spending most of it in Luoyang’s Monastery of Eternal Spring. Anyone could tell that he was preparing to hand over the reins of government. Of course, this was founded on his resolving the question of the Orthodoxy, but until that day came, he would remain the most powerful person in the Great Zhou.

As for the important matters of the court, they were being monopolized by powerful nobles like the Chen princes and the Tianhai clan.

The only task the young emperor had was to read the memorials sent into the palace from the various provincial and county governments.

He also rarely met with the great ministers in the palace. Even Mo Yu, who he had personally summoned back to the capital, had only entered the palace three times.

Many people believed that this was because the emperor’s cold and eccentric personality made him unwilling to meet others.

And why was this the case? Because he was physically disabled.

He could not speak, could only see out of one eye, was missing an ear, was lame in one leg, and only had one hand.

Such heavy disabilities meant that even the term ‘cripple’ was not too excessive.

But this cripple had become the Emperor of the Great Zhou.

Shang Xingzhou’s presence meant no one dared to say anything, much less express any objections, but their views could not be altered.

Ever since Yuren ascended to the throne, all sorts of rumor and gossip had circulated within and without the palace.

Some said that he had a cruel and ruthless personality that delighted in beating maids to death.

Other said that he was timid and introverted, bossed around every day by the palace maids.

But these people had all forgotten a very important thing.

The young emperor only read through memorials and resided deep in the palace.

But he had needed only three years after his ascension to stabilize the chaos that followed the fall of the Tianhai government.

The policies of the Imperial Court proceeded smoothly and the government grew more transparent by the day. The severe laws were done away with while justice remained untiring. The lives of the people were gradually improving.

The current Great Zhou could truly be described as a world in peace.

How could such an emperor be a cruel and incapable sovereign, and how could he be a timid and mediocre individual?

Many important individuals, the White Emperor included, were well aware that this emperor was extraordinarily wise and skilled in governance.

Yes, how could Emperor Xian and the Tianhai Divine Empress’s only son, the one entrusted with Shang Xingzhou’s lifelong ideals, possibly be an ordinary person?

……

……

Xu Yourong naturally did not believe that the young emperor was as the rumors described.

She was also curious to see what sort of person he was.

Even before the young emperor returned to the capital to take the throne, she had already heard his name many times.

In those conversations, the young emperor was called ‘Senior’ or ‘Senior Yuren’.

In the Garden of Zhou’s snowy temple and mausoleum, Chen Changsheng had mentioned his senior brother many times.

At the time, Chen Changsheng still did not know she was Xu Yourong, so he naturally hid nothing from her.

In those conversations she heard absolute intimacy and trust.

Even though it had been many years since he had left Xining Village and three years since he had left the capital, Chen Changsheng’s trust in his senior brother had remained unchanged.

Even though these martial brothers had not met once since that night in the Mausoleum of Books.

The question was, could people really not change?

Xu Yourong did not think so, especially since she was well aware of the power of that chair.

It was precisely the chair that Yuren was sitting on now.

For this chair, even a person like Emperor Taizong would become cruel and heartless, killing his brothers and tyrannizing his father.

The Divine Empress was the same.

The young emperor was a descendant of the Chen clan, the Divine Empress’s own son. How could he be a person who believed in emotions?

Xu Yourong was somewhat uneasy.

Many of the things she wanted to do were founded on Chen Changsheng’s trust toward Yuren.

So she wanted to personally see what sort of person the young emperor was.

Eunuchs and maids escorted her to the door of the hall, then bowed and retreated.

Xu Yourong noticed that these eunuchs and maids gazed at the light within the hall with respect and adoration.

Ever since she was little, she would often enter the Imperial Palace, and there was still a palace here that belonged to her. She was extremely familiar with this place, but extremely unfamiliar with such gazes.

Such gazes did not belong to a place as deep and dark as the Imperial Palace.

The light from deep within the hall came from a Night Pearl embedded into a cinnabar pillar.

The ancient floorboards had been wiped so clean that one could see their own reflection in them.

The young emperor sat behind a desk, reading a memorial.

He was dressed in bright yellow, with one of the sleeves hanging empty.

His hair was immaculately combed, not intentionally draped so as to conceal the blind eye.

Xu Yourong walked up to the desk.

The young emperor raised his head.

He had a very warm expression and calm eyes, but he gave off an aura of clear persistence.

Xu Yourong found him rather familiar, and then she felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy.

Because he was the Empress’s son? Or was it because his eyes and expression seemed to have been carved from the same mold as Chen Changsheng?

Xu Yourong had a deep understanding of the Tianhai Divine Empress, and a deep understanding of Chen Changsheng.

Without even speaking, she knew what the Divine Empress and Chen Changsheng would be thinking.

At this moment, she also knew what the young emperor was thinking.

Xu Yourong asked, “Why does Your Majesty not like me?”