Chapter 110 – Teaching (2/2)

Up to this point, Chen Chang Sheng had thought that she was only eleven or twelve years old, but logically speaking, an eleven or twelve year old should have already finished growing in all of her permanent teeth. Hearing those words, he couldn’t help but be a bit nervous, and after using fresh water and medicinal powder to wash his hands, he had Luo Luo open her small mouth: “Ah…”

Luo Luo obediently let out an “ah” sound, which she proceeded to drag out for a long time.

Chen Chang Sheng inserted his finger into her mouth and carefully examined her teeth. He discovered that she truly was growing in her permanent teeth, and that there wasn’t any big problem.

“Teacher, my permanent teeth will keep on growing in until I’m sixteen years old. It’s really annoying.”

Because her mouth was open, Luo Luo’s words were unclear, and the word Sir (Xian Sheng – Sensei) sounded like “Sheng Sheng”, like she was calling out Chen Chang Sheng’s nickname.

It was only at this moment that Chen Chang Sheng remembered: Luo Luo was the yao race’s Princess, and in many areas, was different from humans.

He washed his hands, and then gave her another prescription, which had nothing to do with treating illness, but was a way to increase her appetite. He also told her how to make a chew stick.

“Only iron tree sticks will work.”

Luo Luo picked up that pen. On the tail end of it was many distinct bite marks: “This pen is made from iron tree, or else it would break from one bite.”

Chen Chang Sheng was reminded of the White Emperor’s bloodline; creating a chew stick that could hold up was not easy. He looked toward the flower pots outside of the door and asked: “Those are iron tree saplings, but they are different from the ones shown in books.”

Luo Luo replied: “Those are banyan tree sprouts, but I don’t know whether they will grow to maturity.”

At Orthodox Academy, there was a lake, and next to the lake there was a big banyan tree. She and Chen Chang Sheng often stood atop the banyan tree while watching the setting sun.

Chen Chang Sheng laughed: “They will definitely grow to maturity.”

The autumn light passed through many windows, and when it arrived at the very deepest part of the real Li Palace, it became even more light and refreshing, and yet it was only after it reflected off of the top of the Crystal Throne that it once again began to glitter brilliantly. The clear and clean crystal was carved into the form of a lotus flower, and in the centre of the lotus flower there was a crown. The crown was divided into two colours, one black and one white, with no distinct dividing line between them, and yet, the two shades were not mixed into a grey. Rather, it was quite mystical, fused together in an incomprehensible way. It was extremely perfect; emitting a divine aura.

On the side of the lotus flower seat, there was a chair carved out of the trunk of a black flower tree, and on the chair sat an elderly man. The elderly man was wearing a loose hemp robe, and his grey hair tumbled over his shoulders, like a waterfall in winter that hadn’t quite managed to completely solidify into ice.

That elderly man was currently reading a book.

Opposite to the elderly man was another elderly man.

The Education Board’s Archbishop, Mei Li Sha, who was one of the few people from the same generation as the Pope, was naturally already very old. Every time the palace and Education Board’s clergy saw the age spots on his face, they would always become unboundedly concerned, always worried that this venerable elder would one day silently re-join the stars in the sky.

Mei Li Sha himself was unable to see the wrinkles and old age spots on his face, because ever since he grew his first white hair, over two hundred years ago, he refused to look in the mirror ever again, no matter if it was his own chamber’s luxurious copper mirror, or a mirror created from the coalescence of True Essence. Watching oneself grow old was a torturous process, especially for this type of person, for whom growing old could stretch through a process as long as hundreds or close to a thousand years, making it even more difficult to bear.

Not seeing, is not equal to not knowing; even if you were to blind yourself, the starry sky will still exist, Mei Li Sha himself very clearly knew that he had grown old, because he was growing more and more fond of sleeping——different from those normal elderly people who got up very early every morning at the third hour, the older he got, the more he liked to sleep. He always felt that his body was adapting in advance to his eternal rest.

Within the current Orthodoxy, he was the one with the longest history; due to recent events involving Orthodox Academy, he was considered by many to be the leader of the tradition faction of the Orthodoxy, or at least the figurehead; using these events to challenge the authority of the Pope. The Archbishop had long resided at the Orthodoxy’s Education Board and hadn’t stepped foot into Li Palace for quite some time. He even neglected to participate in the regular Seminars of Radiance, adding to the credibility of the rumours surrounding him; who would have thought that he would appear in Li Palace today, let alone to be sleeping here.

“Pa”

A sound rang out lightly, but the inside of the palace hall was exceedingly quiet, so the sound was very clear.

Mei Li Sha opened his eyes, and for a period of time his eyes were a bit muddy, before they gradually restored their clarity. He looked towards the book-reading hempen-robed elder opposite him, and while wobbling, stood up and walked over, humbly bending over his body and looking towards the plant in the flower pot next to the elderly man.

The flower pot was of a light grey colour, very ordinary; in the streets of the Capital, one could buy three of them for about a hundred coins. The plant planted in the flower pot was very strange; it had a healthy young stalk and several branches, but only had one leaf. That leaf was very green, and its vein network was very clear.

Previously, that clear “pa” sound had come from that green leaf, the very front end of the leaf seemed to be trembling——it wasn’t the green leaf that was trembling, but its vein network that was. The degree of the trembling was so slight that in the entire palace, perhaps only he and that hempen-robed elder were able to see it.

“That young Highness has become angry to this degree; you actually have the frame of mind to be reading that book?”

Mei Li Sha looked towards that hempen-robed elder, in a respectful, yet cosy manner.

That hempen-robed elder put away his book, lifted his head, and looked towards that flower pot. He had a very ordinary appearance; the most distinctive part was his extremely deep eye sockets. If one looked from the side, it looked very much like the entrance to an abyss of terror, but if one looked from the front, one would be able to see ocean-like tranquil azure eyes.