Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 832 – The Pope Comes to Visit the People of the Chief Branch

Luo Bu quietly listened for a while. This sort of story in which the dauntless servant deceived his mater was a commonplace sight in all clans.

If a dog was continuing to bark louder and louder against its master, it might have gone crazy, but the more likely possibility was that it wanted to rely on a new master.

In order to prove their loyalty to their new master, these dogs would not mind madly barking at their original master, even biting him a few times.

He paid no attention to those butlers stinking with alcohol at the corner gate. He floated into the luxurious courtyard and came to the window of the main house.

Even in the late night, the room was still brightly lit. Perhaps it was because the master of the house had slept for too long and seemed about to sleep forever, so no one wanted to sleep.

The shellfish oil produced in Zhuo Province produced no smoke, nor would its fragrance assail the eyes. The light produced was also very beautiful, painting the face of the middle-aged man with a sheet of gold.

The middle-aged man was very beautiful, his eyes deeply sunken. Coupled with the layer of golden light over his face, he looked not like a living person, but like some sacrificial offering.

Luo Bu stood outside the window, calmly examining the middle-aged man. The fingers gripping his sword silently tapped, going faster and faster until they became a blur.

If the disciples of South Stream Temple were to see this, they might associate it with the movements of the Holy Maiden as she calculated on her Fated Star Plate.

Yes, he was calculating, but using his sword instead of a Fated Star Plate.

Ultimately, he could not find anything strange about this courtyard, could not calculate a single problem. It seemed that it truly was not poison.

If this truly was an illness, and Junior Sister could not cure it, then he definitely could not.

With some regret and apology, Luo Bu departed the estate and returned to the shore of the Wenshui.

Looking at the estate on the opposite shore, he silently thought, since this side is the chief branch, then the other side is the second branch?

……

……

On the first day of the Pope’s visit to Wenshui, he refined a bottle of Cinnabar Pills.

On the second day, Orthodoxy Prefect Daoist Baishi, who had come to Wenshui to attend upon the Pope, vanished. The Pope was visited by the Tang Second Master, and at night, an assassination attempt was made on his life.

On the third day, he brought many people with him out of the Daoist church. Seated on a holy carriage, he traveled along the Wenshui and under countless worried gazes to an estate.

This estate was entirely owned by the Tang clan’s chief branch. It had already been half a year since the deathly ill Tang First Master had been moved from the old estate to here.

It had also been half a year since Tang Thirty-Six had been imprisoned in the ancestral hall, but no one knew if these two matters were connected.

If this were a few days ago, the main gate of the estate would assuredly have been tightly shut, those servants scattered about and gossiping about their master. Today was different, as when the Pope’s holy carriage was still several li away, the estate had received the news. After the initial panic, all had become calm.

The middle gate had long been open, the stewards and servants kneeling on both sides. All was extremely deferential and silent, and one could see everywhere the standards of a noble clan.

But Chen Changsheng still felt that something was not quite right.

It was not because of the people concealed in the willows on the opposite shore keeping watch, but something in the air that smelled off.

Nanke was at his side, sniffing the air like a little dog. “There’s ash.”

The steward of the Tang clan’s old estate had just arrived, having hurried over, but before he had time to say anything, he heard these words, and his expression couldn’t help but flicker.

Chen Changsheng looked at the straight path of white marble at his feet. By the streaks of moisture on the surface, he could see that it had just been cleaned.

The reason it had just been cleaned was naturally to welcome him, but he could infer that it was normally not cleaned with much diligence.

Chen Changsheng said nothing as he walked into the estate.

Upon entering a luxurious courtyard, he saw a madam dressed in simple clothes, but still exuding a noble aura. Through her appearance, he could see that she was probably Tang Thirty-Six’s mother.

Seeing the crowd enter the courtyard, especially the young man at the very center, the madam said in a trembling voice, “Faithful wife Lin Suyan pays respects to His Holiness the Pope.”

After saying this, she prostrated towards Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng certainly would not accept such courtesy, saying, “Madam Tang can forego these formalities.”

Madam Tang naturally would not rise just because of his words. She continued to kneel down.

Fortunately, Chen Changsheng had expected that this might happen and had already planned for it.

With a sudden breeze, before anyone knew what was happening, the little girl at the Pope’s side had appeared at Madam Tang’s side.

Nanke held Madam Tang’s hand, making it very difficult for Madam Tang to continue bowing.

Seeing this, the steward from the Tang clan’s old estate appeared unmoved, but a tinge of unease emerged in his mind.

Many people knew that when the Tang Second Master went to the Daoist church to call upon the Pope, the Pope had received his obeisance.

Everyone could understand the Pope’s difference in treatment towards the chief branch and second branch, but what was the reason to express it so blatantly?

Chen Changsheng had not accepted Madam Tang’s bow, and even greeted her as a member of the junior generation.

Only now did Madam Tang realize that the rumors were all true, that the letters that had been sent from the Orthodox Academy back then were also true.

The Pope and her son were truly very close, as intimate as brothers.

“I want to go and see Uncle,” Chen Changsheng said.

Madam Tang had no reason to refuse, and prepared to guide him.

A sudden bout of coughing interrupted them.

The steward from the old estate coughed twice, then glanced at Madam Tang. He then turned to Chen Changsheng and said with a meek expression, “The First Master’s illness is very serious. Given the importance of Your Holiness’s divine body, if something were to happen, it would truly be my Tang clan’s sin, and to request Your Holiness…”

Without hearing to the end, one could clearly understand the meaning: the Tang clan did not wish for Chen Changsheng to see the master of the chief branch.

Chen Changsheng had once seen this steward. Years ago, it was this steward that had delivered the Yellow Paper Umbrella to him.

They were reunited today, and the steward’s manner was even more respectful than it was in the past, but there was also a vague guarded feeling from him.

Chen Changsheng said nothing, only calmly looked at him.

The steward suddenly felt like the pressure on him had increased, but he still forced himself to say, “The professors of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green have come before, and even… that person from Holy Maiden Peak personally paid a visit. None of them could do anything, so why must Your Holiness stir grief in your believers?”

Madam Tang glanced at the steward, not refuting him, but her sleeves slightly trembled.

Chen Changsheng suddenly asked, “Has the venerable Daoist master visited?”

The old estate’s steward thought that he had heard incorrectly, and was mystified as to how to respond. With the venerable Daoist’s status, how could he leave the capital and come to Wenshui just to treat the First Master?

Chen Changsheng then asked, “Then has His Majesty the Emperor visited?”

The steward was even more confused, thinking, His Majesty has to attend to numerous affairs every day, so how could he come?

“In this world, only they are superior to me in the medical arts. Since neither of them came, just who has more authority than me to say whether or not this illness is curable?”

After saying this, he followed Madam Tang into the courtyard, paying no more attention to the steward.

Linghai Zhiwang and his several dozen priests remained, barring the people of the Tang clan outside.

The old estate’s steward wanted to use his status to follow inside, but he did not succeed.

Linghai Zhiwang impassively stared at him and said, “You like to cough? Then continue.”

The steward had a most esteemed status in Wenshui City, but what could he do to a Prefect of the Orthodoxy?

As he watched Chen Changsheng disappear into the corridors of the courtyard, he was both anxious and angry, so he really did begin to cough.