Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 958 – Xuanyuan, Expose1

Xuanyuan Po was participating in the Heavenly Selection ceremony? He had won nine matches in a row? He was going to enter the Celestial Tree tomorrow to receive the baptism of the Wildfire and the trial of the ancestral spirit?

Luoluo was so shocked at this news that she spent quite some time in a daze.

She took a silk towel from Guardian Li and wiped off the tea, but she failed to unfurrow her brows.

She knew that the moment the news of the Heavenly Selection ceremony was spread, Xuanyuan Po would assuredly do something. Thus, she had dispatched people to keep a watch on him, but seeing as he had not done anything in the last two days, she thought that there was nothing she needed to worry about. How could she have expected Xuanyuan Po to register for the Heavenly Selection himself!

She could not understand why Xuanyuan Po had participated in the Heavenly Selection ceremony.

It was more in line with his personality to take up a kitchen knife and charge into the Imperial Palace to try and save her.

“Just what is this fool trying to do?”

Guardian Li gazed at Luoluo’s furrowed brows and internally sighed in deep concern.

She thought of a possibility, but it was truly a difficult one to accept.

Xuanyuan Po loved the princess?

But the princess loved the Pope.

How could all the people of the Orthodox Academy be like this?

……

……

Upon learning of Xuanyuan Po’s identity and background, countless people stared at him.

The sumptuously dressed denizens of the upper city and the aloof young ladies looked with mouths agape, so astonished that they didn’t know what to say. As for the lower city crowd that had followed Xuanyuan Po, they had already known some things, but after having it all confirmed, they found it impossible to suppress their excitement.

On the other hand, the high official supervising the Heavenly Selection had an extremely unsightly expression. He looked at Xuanyuan Po’s face which, though bewhiskered, still had a childish air. His voice was slightly cold as he said, “Why have you participated in the Heavenly Selection ceremony?”

Logically speaking, there was no meaning to this question and it was not necessary to ask. Everyone knew of the benefits one could gain through the Heavenly Selection, or else there would have been no reason for the young experts of the demi-human tribes to so quickly rush to White Emperor City.

But since it was Xuanyuan Po, this question had a deep significance, with an answer that everyone wanted to know.

Because if the rumor was true, Xuanyuan Po was not only a student of the Orthodox Academy, but also Princess Luoluo’s student.

“Do you also intend to marry Her Highness?”

The high official stared into Xuanyuan Po’s eyes and thundered, his voice filled with rage and disgust. “Do not forget that though there are no official records, everyone knows that you acknowledged Her Highness as teacher in the Orthodox Academy!”

For a teacher and student to ultimately become companions was not unheard of on the continent, but it was nothing worth celebrating.

And for the student to think this way was especially improper.

Xuanyuan Po replied, “To become Her Highness’s student is my greatest honor. Whether or not Her Highness is willing to admit it, I will always be her student.”

The high official was even more incensed, coldly rebuking, “Then why are you still participating in the Heavenly Selection! Do you want to humiliate Her Highness?”

Xuanyuan Po answered, “I’ve never thought about marrying Her Highness, so how is this a humiliation?”

The high official asked, “This being the case, why did you come here?”

Xuanyuan Po pondered this question and answered, “I came to make trouble.”

His expression was sincere, his tone firm.

He was like a muddy monkey that had just clambered out of a rice paddy, a mischievous brat that had jumped down from a tree into a lake, but he spoke like an old scholar.

The high official didn’t dare believe his ears. “What do you want to do?”

Xuanyuan Po explained, “By making trouble, what I want to do is make it impossible for the Heavenly Selection ceremony to smoothly proceed.”

The official vaguely understood what he was getting at. “You do not want Her Highness to be married off?”

“Correct.” Xuanyuan Po turned to look at the distant Xiaode, Second Prince, and the other candidates, and then he looked even higher to the Imperial City. He resolutely declared, “No one should think about marrying Her Highness, because I will not let you win.”

It was very quiet in front of the Imperial City and his voice was bright and clear, allowing it to spread very far.

The high official sneered, “The Heavenly Selection is the ancestral spirits choosing a groom for Her Highness. What right do you have to stop it?”

Xuanyuan Po replied, “No one can decide Her Highness’s marriage, not even the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees or the ancestral spirits.”

His surroundings fell into an uproar at these words.

The official’s body trembled all over as he harshly shouted, “You dare to blaspheme the Celestial Trees and disrespect the ancestral spirits!”

“If it truly were the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees and the ancestral spirits choosing, the Heavenly Selection would not operate under the current procedure and we would not proceed to the baptism of the Wildfire in the second phase. The so-called Heavenly Selection is still a self-choice. Her Highness’s marriage can only be decided by Her Highness.”

Xuanyuan Po gazed up at the Imperial City and said, “I know that Her Highness would not be willing to marry an outsider.”

No matter how furious the high official or how high and intimidating the palace hall was, he remained composed, calm, perhaps even somewhat dull-witted. His voice was the same, yet it carried a very peculiar persuasive power.

Countless cheers rose from around the Imperial City.

These voices came from the ordinary demi-human subjects, not distinguishing between upper city, middle city, or lower city.

Xuanyuan Po had given voice to the words in their minds.

It was rumored that the Empress persisted with marrying Princess Luoluo to the nephew of her parents’ clan, and it was only the fierce opposition of the Council of Elders that forced her to hold the Heavenly Selection ceremony. Even then, the Empress had not changed her mind.

As one could see, the Great Western Continent’s Second Prince was standing nearby, in front of the Imperial City.

How could Princess Luoluo be married to an outsider? What right did he have to become the next White Emperor?

This was the opinion held by the vast majority of demi-humans, but the majesty of the Empress’s several centuries of reign made it so that they dared not speak.

Xuanyuan Po’s words had been a great delight.

“Those who have participated in the Heavenly Selection and passed through layer after layer of selections to ultimately stand here are all true experts, just like you.”

A clear voice of august majesty resounded from the highest point of the Imperial City, cleaving through the clouds to reach the ground.

With the White Emperor in secluded cultivation, there was only one such voice in all of the Demi-human race.

The Imperial City was instantly silenced.

Many demi-humans prostrated on the floor.

“How can you know whether Luoluo is willing to marry one of these people?”

This question caused many of the demi-humans to be a little confused. Whether it was the Heavenly Selection or the trial of the ancestral spirits, the Second Prince of the Great Western Continent, as an outsider, was not able to gain a single advantage. Could the rumor be false? Had the populace mistakenly blamed the Empress?

Yes, the entire continent knew that Princess Luoluo was the Empress’s only daughter and had always been dearly beloved. How could the Empress treat her ill? She presumably only wanted to seek the best marriage for the princess.

Thinking of this, the crowd viewed Xuanyuan Po somewhat differently.

‘This being the case, you shouldn’t be making trouble anymore.’

Xuanyuan Po looked up at the Imperial City and said, “Her Highness does not like any of these people.”

Madam Mu’s voice coldly asked, “And how do you know?”

This was a very difficult question to answer.

Madam Mu was Luoluo’s mother. If even she didn’t know, how could Xuanyuan Po? Was there really something between him and the princess?

Countless gazes once more descended on Xuanyuan Po.

While many people wanted him to give the answer, many more people and the important personages hoped that he would not say a word.

Xuanyuan Po had no idea what any of them was thinking, and he himself did not even think before giving the answer.

“Of course I know. Everyone in the Orthodox Academy knows.”

He earnestly said, “Her Highness loves Principal, so how can she be willing to be married off to anyone else?”

1.This chapter title and the next three chapters involve the names of several characters, even if the events of the chapter do not involve the characters in question. I will be translating those titles based on what they refer to in the chapter, but the names of the characters being referenced will be listed here. 958: Xuanyuan Po; 959: Bie Yanghong; 960: Bai Cai; 961: Qiushan Yuanxin, who is Qiushan Jun’s father and also the Qiushan clan head.