Chapter 237 – The Young Principal (2/2)
The Pope smiled. “This is the Orthodox Academy’s school nameplate.”
Chen Changsheng still did not understand.
The Pope said, “Only the principal of the Orthodox Academy is allowed to hold this nameplate.”
Chen Changsheng still did not understand, or more accurately, he vaguely understood, but he was unable to believe it.
The Pope smiled at him. “In our first proper meeting, as your martial uncle, I have to give you a gift to commemorate our first meeting. Only opening the well by the New North Bridge seems a little too petty. How about this nameplate?”
Chen Changsheng did not know much about this nameplate. He did not know what type of wood it was made from nor how many years of history it possessed. He only knew that it had suddenly gotten much heavier.
“Coming from Xining to the capital, then accidently entering the Orthodox Academy. Now that I think about it, how could that not be some sort of sign? Under the hands of your master, the Orthodox Academy was destroyed. It is only right that it should be under your hands that it is reborn.”
The Pope said sorrowfully to him.
Only then did Chen Changsheng realize that as soon as he had taken the nameplate, he had become the newly appointed principal of the Orthodox Academy. Only… what did it mean to be the principal of the Orthodox Academy? In the past two decades, the Orthodox Academy had fallen into ruin, resembling a cemetery. Despite this, it was still one of the Six Ivies. In the past, it once stood shoulder to shoulder with the Heavenly Dao Academy. It was the oldest of the academies. In addition, earlier today in the afternoon, Luoluo had told him that last month, the archbishop of the Hall of Subjugation had fallen ill and died. Mao Qiuyu, the principal of the Heavenly Dao Academy, had been promoted to the rank of the Orthodoxy’s Six Prefects.
He was only fifteen years old, and yet suddenly he was now the principal of the Orthodox Academy? He suddenly felt that not only was the nameplate getting heavier, it was also starting to burn his hands.
He had not gotten far from the hall when he heard the sound of coughing from the side of the path. As he turned, he saw the head of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, Archbishop Mei Lisha. He hurriedly walked forward to pay his respects.
Mei Lisha looked at him and smiled, then indicated that he should walk with him. In his slow voice, he asked, “Do you understand everything now?”
After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng replied, “For the most part, I understand.”
Mei Lisha looked up towards the stars in the night sky. Some time passed before he finally said, “You know that I am very old?”
Mei Lisha continued, leaving no time for Chen Changsheng to respond. “Currently in the Orthodoxy, His Holiness and I are the oldest. To be old is a good thing. One is able to see all sorts of things. Yet to be old is also a bad thing, because one remembers too many things. To live this way is somewhat exhausting.”
“What happened to the Orthodoxy back then, even now I still remember it clearly. Yet strangely enough, I have actually somewhat forgotten what had happened in the Orthodox Academy nearly two decades ago.”
Mei Lisha coughed twice, then continued, “I knew your teacher very well, so I was the first to realize your identity. Back then, I still was not clear about the His Holiness’s intentions, so I waited for some time before telling him. Of course, you can also understand your teacher’s prudence.”
Chen Changsheng still had not fully grasped the situation, so he remained silent. At night, the Li Palace was very quiet. They walked along the stone path between the halls. The resplendent lights on the distant Divine Avenue could faintly be seen.
There was a question that he had been afraid to ask the Pope. Now he had finally suppressed the worries in his heart and uneasily said, “I am somewhat worried for my master.”
“Mo Yu sent someone to Xining Village long ago, but you have no need to worry. On that day, all the experts of the Zhou Dynasty besieged the Orthodox Academy. The Empress and His Holiness personally took action. Since your teacher could even live through that, right now this is nothing.”
Chen Changsheng looked into the elderly man’s squinting eyes and sincerely said, “I am thankful for the care Your Eminence has given me in this past year.”
Mei Lisha squinted his eyes, then smiled like an old fox. “Living in the capital is actually very easy, because wanting to die is a very difficult affair. The people who live here are all on good terms with each other, and they are all willing to do things for each other for old time’s sake.”
Chen Changsheng earnestly took in the meaning of those words.
Mei Lisha turned towards him and said, “But outside the capital, it is not so. Especially outside the borders of the Zhou Dynasty, it is full of dangerous hardships. Out there, only you can look after yourself.”
Chen Changsheng remembered the Pope’s words and said worriedly, “Black Robe… could he actually still be alive? Could the demons have some sort of plot for the opening of the Garden of Zhou?”
Mei Lisha replied, “Since the key to the Garden of Zhou is in the hands of humanity, no matter how determined the demons are, they still have no means of seizing the initiative, so there is no need to worry too much. On the contrary, you must not forget that in my Great Zhou, there are some people whose intelligence is a far cry from Black Robe, but in terms of mercilessness, shamelessness, and contemptibility, they far exceed him. You must be wary of those sorts of people.”
Chen Changsheng knew that he was speaking of Zhou Tong.
Arriving at the Divine Avenue in front of the main hall, Mei Lisha stopped. “I will send you up to here.”
Chen Changsheng clasped his hands in respect and bowed. “After this junior returns from the Garden of Zhou, this junior will come to see Your Eminence again.”
Mei Lisha shook his head. “Too low.”
Chen Changsheng was a little stunned. He did not understand the meaning of those two words.
“You bow too low.”
Mei Lisha looked at him and smiled. “You are now the principal of the Orthodox Academy. The only people deserving of your full bow are His Holiness and the Divine Empress. Other than those two, there is no need to pay your respects to other people like that.”
Only now did Chen Changsheng realize that his status had already changed.
He was now of equal status with the archbishop of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education.
From the depths of the quiet Li Palace suddenly came the distant bright ringing of a bell. This bell was not a signal to return home, but rather signified an official edict from the Orthodoxy. The contents of this edict spread faster than the night wind, reaching all the palace halls and every county and country in the continent.
“From this day forth, there is no need for you to lower your head.”
Mei Lisha smiled, then turned and left.
Chen Changsheng stood by the Divine Avenue, somewhat dazzled, not believing that any of this was true.
Two bishops stood atop the Divine Avenue, waiting to send him out. Previously, when they had brought him into the Li Palace, their manner could be described as calm and polite. Now they could be considered to be even more respectful.
The hierarchy of the Orthodoxy was extremely distinct. In the Li Palace, the dividing lines between classes had always been strict. He was no longer a new student from the Orthodox Academy. He was the principal of the Orthodox Academy. Naturally, he would be looked upon with a different sort of reverence.
The tall lamps illuminated the ramrod straight Divine Avenue.
Under the care of the two bishops, Chen Changsheng followed the Divine Avenue out of the palace.
The priests that they had encountered moved to the sides of the path.
Previously, when he had entered the Li Palace, he had encountered a similar scene.
Only that previously when the priests had stepped aside, they only needed to meet his gaze. However now, they could not do so, because what was polite then was rude now. They had to bow to Chen Changsheng now.
As the teenager walked through, several hundred priests paid their respects, their expressions humble, their voices coming one after the other.
“I pay my respects to Principal Chen.”
“My respects to Principal Chen.”
“Greetings Principal Chen.”