Chapter 182 – In a Single Night; Before Thousands of People (1/2)
“The day after tomorrow? Because that’s when the Banner is released? I don’t consider it to be all that important, who can possibly take away your first upon the First Banner at this point?” said Tang Thirty-Six mockingly as he looked at him.
He then became quiet due to five words that were in his previous speech, he looked at Chen Chang Sheng and said: “That’s right, you’ve already become first upon the First Banner… I have to admit, at the start, I really couldn’t look upon you favourably, even when you entered the tower with Gou Han Shi at the end, I still didn’t think you would actually be able to take first place, yet, who could have expected, in the end you really did obtain it.”
He extended his right hand, resting it upon Chen Chang Sheng’s shoulder, he lightly squeezed, then said: “Incredible.”
Within the library, it was silent, Xuan Yuan Po didn’t say anything, but his gaze that was fixated on Chen Chang Sheng, expressed the same sentiment.
“Thank you for all that you’ve done,” said Chen Chang Sheng sincerely as he looked at Tang Thirty-Six, he then turned his head to look at Xuan Yuan Po and said: “Everyone, thank you.”
This “everyone” included Xuan Yuan Po, encompassed Jin Yu Lu and naturally, also included Luo Luo. Without all of them, no matter how hard he was to strive, how would he have been able to create this miracle?
Leaving the library and returning to the small dorm building – Tang Thirty-Six and Xuan Yuan Po were undoubtedly, currently drinking rice wine; Chen Chang Sheng lay within the wooden tub, enjoying the hot water’s sweltering heat as he mused about their revelry.
Since Luo Luo and her people left the Hundred Herb Garden, the newly installed door hadn’t been opened for a long period of time, thus he had moved the tub back over.
Whether be it early Spring or under the falling snow of cold Winter, bathing under the open sky is a very pleasant experience, it was also a habit he had acquired from bathing in the hot springs outside of the old temple at Xi Ning Village.
His hands rested on the tub’s edge, his gaze traversed across the dorm’s roof and fell upon the night sky, seeing the endless sea of stars, he perceived the small red star that was far away, feeling very tranquil and happy.
The heavens above have countless stars, knowing that there is a star which completely, serenely and silently belonged to himself with full certainty; being the sole thing between him and itself; this made him feel very pleasant.
Within the abyss of despair, he had quietly advanced without any companions, without a crutch, without seeing any sunlight at all and without stopping. He had finally left the fog and could see hope; this made him feel even better.
Under the starlight, Chen Chang Sheng’s still tender looking face revealed a small, sincere smile.
Likewise, under the starlight, at a location in the direction of the academy’s wall, seen at the upper tip of the woodlands, while being situated deep within the Imperial Palace, there was a lonely, distant and expansive pavilion, as if it were removed from everything in the world: this was the Pavilion of Ascending Mist.
Gazing at the far away Pavilion of Ascending Mist, the smile on Chang Sheng’s face gradually withdrew, returning to a peaceful state, he silently said to himself, “I will see you soon, I hope it can be a pleasant meeting.”
By this time, those displays of Autumn in the Tower of Purging Dust and the meaning that was hidden behind them; the confrontation between the new and tradition factions of the Orthodoxy and its relation to the academy; the thoughts of that elderly Archbishop; all of these things, for him, had become unimportant, he no longer mused over these things and even completely stopped thinking about them.
Matters outside of life and death are all naught but normal, or perhaps, small affairs.
The next morning, Chen Chang Sheng once again woke at the fifth hour, in accordance to his set lifestyle, after getting out of bed, he ignored Tang Thirty-Six, who was still hungover, and his cries of having a headache, he also ignored Xuan Yuan Po’s thunderous snoring, forcing both of them out of bed and dragging them to the dining-table. From a pot, he dished out some millet congee and salted vegetables, placing it into bowls that were placed in front of them.
After their night of happy drinking, Tang Thirty-Six and Xuan Yuan Po were currently extremely tired, yet after smelling the fragrant salted vegetables and seeing the faintly golden millet congee, their appetites suddenly returned, they buried their heads in and slurped it down.
After a short while, Jin Yu Lu also came in.
Chen Chang Sheng and the others felt a little startled, it had to be known, that in the past few months, Secretary-General Jin had always eaten aromatically and drunken pungently in his own room and would very rarely partake in the academy’s three meals.
“Don’t be mistaken, I’m still not interested in food that doesn’t contain any meat,” said Jin Yu Lu as he laughed lightly. Upon hearing his words, Xuan Yuan Po vigorously nodded his head; as a fellow member of the yao race, he concurred with what Secretary-General Jin had just said, it was just, in front of Chen Chang Sheng, he dared to fume, but didn’t dare to speak.
Chen Chang Sheng got up and filled a bowl of millet congee, passing it to Jin Yu Lu’s hand, then asked: “What’s happened?”
Jin Yu Lu passed over a stack of items that were in his hand, he then raised the bowl of millet congee and drank it all in a single motion, he then said: “Since early this morning, it hasn’t abated at all, go and see for yourself as to how it should be handled.”
Finishing those words, he turned around and headed for the academy gate.
Chen Chang Sheng received the stack of items, casually going through them, upon seeing the words and the names that were on them, his expression became slightly tense, this was followed with a lot of doubt and confusion.
That thick stack was comprised entirely of name cards and gift records – there was a gift record from Prince Chen Liu; there were gifts from several red-clad clergy of the Education Board; Minister Xin had even privately sent a hefty gift.
There were name cards from several high ranking officials of the government, with one of them actually being from Xue Xing Chuan; once Chen Chang Sheng had reached the bottom, he even saw gift records from Holy Churches other than the Education Board.
What was this about? Chen Chang Sheng was really puzzled, upon going through the stack of name cards and gift records, Tang Thirty-Six also felt very perplexed.
The three of them travelled to the academy entrance, wanting to seek the advice of Jin Yu Lu, but all they saw was that the entrance area was very noisy. Countless craftsmen were endlessly working away, in just a single night, an academy gate constructed from white jade material had already begun to emerge in its initial form, this caused them to involuntarily feel speechless.