Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 488 – Viewing the Sword

Upon seeing that it really was Lady Mo Yu that had come, the students of the Orthodox Academy became extremely nervous and excited. Those in the back kept standing on tiptoe to get a better view of this legendary individual. As for those youths at the very front of the crowd, they were so stunned by her absolute beauty that they didn’t even dare to lift their heads, and could only work up the nerve to gaze at her feet!

In truth, the students clearly understood that the relationship between the Pope and the Divine Empress was no longer so incredibly close as it had been in the past and that the Orthodox Academy was precisely the frontline where these two powerful forces clashed. But they still found it hard to suppress their excitement. After all, Mo Yu was the most famed beauty of the Great Zhou and also its most famed accomplished woman. Moreover, she was also a powerful personage of extraordinary authority and influence. Her status was such that even the Princess of Ping had a lesser status than her in the hearts of the masses. Only Xu Yourong, who had gone off many years ago to Holy Maiden Peak to cultivate the Dao, could be discussed on equal terms with her.

As for the old man that followed Mo Yu into the Orthodox Academy, his clothes bore the emblem of the Pavilion of Divination. Presumably, he was a steward or guardian of the Pavilion of Divination.

But why would a person of the Pavilion of Divination come to the Orthodox Academy? Why would Lady Mo Yu accompany him?

The questions in the minds of these students would fail to find an answer, because Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six swiftly arrived on the scene.

Last night, Tang Thirty-Six had gone to sleep a little late, thinking that, after great difficulty, the matches had finally reached a break and he could use the cool and refreshing early morning to get a good sleep. Who would have thought he’d have to wake up for this? His mood was already rather sour, but when he saw those students staring at Mo Yu with such captivated looks, he found the scene particularly shameful. He angrily shouted, “What are you all looking at? Have you never seen a pretty girl before?”

Although beauty could amuse the eyes, it could not replace the rules of the academy, and the rules of the Orthodox Academy were currently whatever Tang Thirty-Six said. The students shook their heads and begrudgingly scattered. It was just that the speed at which they left was so slow that it made one’s blood boil in anger.

Chen Changsheng knew Mo Yu’s nature was truthfully not at all as indifferent and quiet as she presented to him. The Grand Lady Mo who could manage the imperial government in place of the Divine Empress had always been widely regarded as cold and unyielding. Tang Thirty-Six’s words were very casual and Chen Changsheng was very concerned that Mo Yu might be displeased and use this opportunity to raise some difficult questions. Turning over to her, he found unexpectedly that Mo Yu didn’t feel this act to be disobedient at all and was faintly smiling.

“I thought you would be angry,” he whispered to Mo Yu as he glanced over that old man from the Pavilion of Divination.

Mo Yu rolled her eyes at him and said, “Is there something to be angry about, being called a pretty girl? On normal days, you never call me that.”

Her voice was very soft, and it could be believed that Tang Thirty-Six and even that old man from the Pavilion of Divination were unable to hear their chat.

Since they were nominally here representing the Imperial Court to inspect the Orthodox Academy, they had to inspect. Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six accompanied them as she casually strolled through the grounds and casually spoke.

“Does your second elder sister still love foil jigsaw puzzles?” Mo Yu asked Tang Thirty-Six.

Tang Thirty-Six replied, “Last year when I took my leave, she already wasn’t playing it much. Now she likes to build wooden houses…about this big.”

His hands gestured. “That house doesn’t look very big, but it you want it to be steady, it needs a table specially made for it. In the end, to fit that table in, the clan had to build a house especially for her.”

Mo Yu smiled, “Then that’s also a part of your home.”

Tang Thirty-Six replied, “If my home could be half the size of the Imperial Palace, none of this trouble would be necessary.”

Mo Yu chuckled, “It’s not like I haven’t been to Wenshui before. If we take your grandfather’s residence and those manors by the river and add them all together, half the Imperial Palace…no, even the entire Imperial Palace isn’t that big.”

There were no sharp words contained in this chat, or at least Chen Changsheng couldn’t hear any. He was currently in a state of shock. At the Ivy Festival, he didn’t see Mo Yu and Tang Thirty-Six communicate with each other. It was only today that he realized that they were actually old friends. This was what was meant by the saying, ‘Power and wealth are truly difficulty to separate’.

“When we were small, I became friends with him and his second elder sister.”

Mo Yu guessed at what he was thinking and smiled, “But the last time I went to Wenshui with the Empress, he was only three, just like a mud-covered monkey. Who could have expected that he would grow so much?”

Even Chen Changsheng, who was rather slow in this aspect, was able to understand the meaning behind these words.

Tang Thirty-Six was naturally able to understand, but this meant he had to act even more like he didn’t understand.

Mo Yu was no spoiled princeling like Bie Tianxin. She was Grand Lady Mo, and the Divine Empress behind her was far more terrifying than Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi added together!

An heir of an aristocratic family like Tang Thirty-Six naturally knew when the time was appropriate to be wanton and when it was time to be low-key.

Chen Changsheng was not very used to Tang Thirty-Six’s expression. This was because, up to now, he still had no idea what Mo Yu’s position in the Zhou Dynasty was.

Of course, he couldn’t be blamed for this. It could only be said that the Mo Yu that had been presented before him was too unlike Mo Yu.

They arrived at the lakeside of the Separate Garden. It was very beautiful and quiet here, the wall cutting them off from the burning gazes of the distant young students.

Only now did Mo Yu finally formally introduce, “This man is one of the head managers of the Pavilion of Divination.”

Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six gave the bow of the junior generation towards this manager.

One was the successor of the Orthodox Academy and one was the successor of the Wenshui Tang clan, but they were both young. Crucially, this man was a manager of the Pavilion of Divination, not some ordinary place’s manager. They didn’t dare disregard the Pavilion of Divination. Besides, Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six had an exceptionally good impression of the Pavilion of Divination and the Divination Elder. The commentary and expectations the Divination Elder had announced at the changing of ranks for the Proclamation of Azure Sky for the students of the Orthodox Academy had not been forgotten by them.

That head manager also did not dare to slight them, solemnly returning their greetings. He turned to Tang Thirty-Six and smiled, “Recently, we’ve cooperated very happily with Young Master Tang. I hope that we can continue to work together.”

This was naturally speaking of the two sides working together to win money from the Ivy Academies challenging the Orthodox Academy.

Tang Thirty-Six modestly replied, “You flatter me, it’s primarily because of Chen Changsheng’s excellent coordination.”

The manager roared with laughter, then turned to Chen Changsheng, “Principal Chen’s four swords have engaged the guardians in enthusiastic discussion for several days. All of them say that Principal’s cultivation of the path of the sword is truly unfathomable.”

In the end, Chen Changsheng was not a businessman. His face was not as thick as Tang Thirty-Six and that manager’s, so he was rather embarrassed by these words.

Mo Yu glanced at him. She didn’t say anything, but he could see that her gaze was rich with mockery.

The reason for this manager’s visit had been clearly explained in the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education’s message that had been sent on behalf of the palace. As a result, Xuanyuan Po had the students leave the library in advance, leaving the place empty.

Chen Changsheng removed his dagger from his waist and offered it up with both hands to the head manager.

The head manager took the sword, but he was in no rush to extract it from its sheath.

His gaze rested on the surface of the sheath, remaining fixated on it for a very long time.

Chen Changsheng’s mood instantly grew nervous.

Although his master and the Pope had both said that no one could forcefully open this sheath, when he thought of all the things within the sheath—the several thousand famous swords, those treasures which he had kept stored all this time and had not even told Tang Thirty-Six of, and most importantly of all, the illusory black monolith—he couldn’t help but be nervous.