Chapter 16 – A Single Academy (1/2)
The reason why the elder woman was shocked was because she knew how prideful and indifferent the black goat was. It was raised by Lady Mo Yan herself. It liked cleanliness so much that it became a strange habit that only the unique Unicorns could rival. Not to mention that the wild grass was grown around the lake. The goat wouldn’t even look at the food that royal relatives carefully prepare for it much less this type of grass. But at this moment, it just accepted the wild grass from the newly met youngster and ate it!
What the old woman saw next was even more shocking to her. After the black goat finished the wild grass, it didn’t leave but instead it rubbed its head against the palm of the youngster. It seemed to like the touch of the young boy.
Why is this? The elder woman wrinkled her eyebrows slightly and walked to the lake with the aid of her wooden cane. Looking at the youngster sitting in front of the black goat, she noticed the naturally friendly aura around him. Her mood settled a little, but immediately became insecure. A person who could calm her down like this could be of danger. She had to be alert around him.
Chen Chang Sheng stood up and looked at the elder woman “Madam, is this your goat?”
The elder lady squinted her eyes slightly, “Do you know who I am?”
Chen Chang Sheng was a little surprised, “No, I do not.”
The elder lady asked indifferently, “Then why did you call me Madam?”
Chen Chang Sheng was confused. he thought ‘How else can I address a lady of her age? The woman in the carriage of General’s Mansion was a madam. The dish washer in the tavern was a madam. Even the chief on the boat was madam. There are countless madams in the world, what is the difference?’
The elder woman saw his confused expression and realized that she thought too much. She realized that her alertness toward the youngster was unnecessary. She couldn’t resist but wrinkle her eyebrows again and felt that something was wrong. She knew that the alertness and indifference present in the few exchanges of lines were originated from her liking of the youngster.
This young boy was so ordinary but it was easy for people to be attracted to him. The black goat and herself were both attracted to him easily. Why was this?
The elder woman looked at the ruined buildings and thought back to the glorious days of this place. She also thought of the bloody and horrific stories behind it. When she thought of the specialty of this youngster, the insecurity in her heart grew stronger. She decided not to waste anymore time and said directly, “You can call me Madam Ning.”
Chen Chang Sheng bowed and greeted, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madam Ning.”
Madam Ning said, “If you knew that the reason Starseeker Academy didn’t accept you was me, do you still think it is still a pleasure?”
The cold air of early spring spread when the wind blew across the dense grass. All was silent.
Chen Chang Sheng straightened his back and looked at the elder lady. He was surprised. Yesterday, Tang Thirty Six said in the tavern that the General Mansion had no power to influence the Starseeker Academy and his result was the command of someone in the royal palace. And this Madam Ning…..Was she the one?
“You dare to hold that marriage vow and walk around the capital. I don’t know if you are truly brave or just an idiot.” Madam Ning said expressionlessly.
Chen Chang Sheng remained silent for a while, “No one cares about me besides the General’s Mansion.”
Madam Ning said “If people knew that you are the fiance of the Phoenix girl, millions of people will come to murder you.”
Chen Chang Sheng said, “I’m still alive, which proves that the General’s Mansion doesn’t want others to know about the existence of this marriage vow.”
Madam Ning looked at this at asked, “What if the General’s Mansion wants to kill you?”
Chen Chang Sheng was silent once again but replied shortly afterward, “Since the Divine Queen is in power, they must care about the entire plot.”
Madam Ning raised her eyebrows slightly. She didn’t expect that this fourteen years old youngster could see through the true reason for the careful actions of the General’s mansion. “As time goes on, the pressure on them will increase. There will be a day that the General’s Mansion wouldn’t want to be caution anymore.”
“Then I will resist.” Chen Chang Sheng held the sword handle around his waist tightly.
Madam Ning looked at the ordinary short sword around his waist and mocked, “You don’t know how to xiuxing and want to use a single short sword to defend against the xiuxingist in the General’s Mansion? What do you think this short sword is? A legendary weapon? Can it compare to the Frozen of the First emperor or the Thorn in the hand of the family of Qiu Shan?”
Chen Chang Sheng didn’t speak.
“Even if you don’t hand back the marriage vow, you can still live.”
Madam Ning said, “But you can’t tell anymore about the marriage vow. Even if the Demon Emperor came here himself, your life will perish.”
This sentence wasn’t exactly threatening him because it wasn’t a threat. It was just stating a true fact – if the Demon Emperor couldn’t save his life, then no one in the world will be able to protect him. Madam Ning represented the command of the Zhou Royal Palace.
Chen Chang Sheng must admit it but he felt wronged in that he had no other options. But what Madam Ning said was also good news to him. He just didn’t understand. Why did she harshly crush his future in the Starseeker Academy the day before but now changed her idea?
“Someone wants you to live and want you to be undisturbed. My lady doesn’t like to see a changing variable. Because of this she didn’t like you to have a future of possibilities. This used to be a messy situation….”
Madam Ning looked at the buildings of the Classical Teaching, which were in ruins. She suddenly smiled and said. “Who could’ve thought that you would jumped into this exhausted well yourself. Now I can solve this problem…..”
Chen Chang Sheng’s attention was attracted by the latter information of her sentence, therefore he missed the previous words.
Future? possibilities? exhausted well? problem?
He suddenly grew insecure. From the words of Madam Ning, he felt that walking into Classical Teaching might be a big mistake.
He said without hesitation, “I haven’t decide to enter the Classical Teaching.”