Chapter 241 – The Big Rat in the Pile of Junk (1/2)

Chapter 241 - The Big Rat in the Pile of Junk

The black rhinoceros pulled the carriage away from the New North Bridge and pulled it to the Orange Garden.

One of Zhou Tong’s subordinates knocked on the front door of the Orange Garden. Mo Yu, who had just been preparing to go to bed, slightly frowned at the man standing in her main hall. “You may not have to attend the court, but I still have to wake up early.”

Zhou Tong looked around at the famous paintings on the walls and said, “I was just with Her Majesty at New North Bridge just now.”

These words were very abrupt, and sent without any reason.

Mo Yu’s expression suddenly became very serious. “What do you want to say?”

“I want to say, I am very afraid.”

Zhou Tong said these words calmly and his face held no trace of fear, and yet, for some reason, this Orange Garden, whose spring warmth was maintained by a spell, suddenly dropped a few degrees in temperature.

Mo Yu stared into his eyes and realized that the pale whites of his eyes were bloodshot, making them somewhat ghastly. She asked, “Just what are you afraid of?”

Zhou Tong gave a nervous laugh and asked, “Are you not afraid?”

Mo Yu indifferently replied, “I have no time to keep an adult like yourself company while you go senile.”

Zhou Tong forced down his smile and expressionlessly said, “The entire continent knows what the greatest problem currently facing humanity is: the position of the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. Although the Her Majesty has thought of returning the throne to the Chen Imperial clan, she is unresolved. She knows that if she doesn’t, then the entire Tianhai clan will be completely annihilated. Even though they say that the Tianhai clan is not synonymous with Her Majesty, Her Majesty still bears the surname Tianhai, so how can she steel herself to see a tragedy such as that play out?”

Mo Yu frowned and said, “As you said, the entire continent knows this.”

Zhou Tong continued, “So Her Majesty has always hesitated. The Tianhai family has taken her hesitation as a chance. In the eyes of Prince Chen Liu and all the other princes in the counties, this hesitation is the shadow of death. Her Majesty’s continued reticence also has another reason: The Li Palace has never made their position clear.”

After a moment of silence, Mo Yu replied, “So just what are you trying to tell me?”

Zhou Tong expressionlessly said, “I want to say, tonight, His Holiness finally made his position clear. He does not agree. The Orthodoxy does not agree. So now, will Her Majesty continue to hesitate?”

Mo Yu did not respond.

After the Grand Examination, many people realized who Chen Changsheng’s original master was. The Pope had personally admitted it——Chen Changsheng’s teacher was the previous principal of the Orthodox Academy, the firmest supporter of the Imperial clan. Almost two decades ago, he had joined hands with the Imperial clan in an attempt to overthrow the Divine Empress’s regime.

Tonight, the Pope allowed Chen Changsheng to become the principal of the Orthodox Academy.

The position this decision represented was extraordinarily clear.

If the Divine Empress insisted on keeping the Tianhai clan on the throne, the Pope and the Li Palace would no longer stand on the same side with her. They would assume the same role that the Orthodox Academy played in the past.

Mo Yu asked, “You believe…the Empress has already made up her mind?”

Zhou Tong was silent, then said, “Her Majesty can willingly abdicate in exchange for the continued existence of the Tianhai clan.”

“Preposterous!” Mo Yu angrily declared, “How can the Empress abdicate? And if the Imperial clan could be trusted, why would the Empress have hesitated for so many years?”

“What if His Holiness acted as a guarantor?” Zhou Tong stared into her eyes and said, “You think that even if Prince Chen Liu ascends to become Emperor, that he would dare to ignore the Orthodoxy?”

Mo Yu was somewhat stunned by these words. Only after a long period of time had passed did she finally speak. “If it really is this way…”

She suddenly smiled, “Then that’s also fine.”

“For the position of Emperor to be smoothly handed over, for the world of humans, of course this is good. For the Tianhai clan to continue existing, even if not as well-off as it was before, this is also fine.”

Zhou Tong looked at her with a smile that was not really a smile. “But for the two of us, where is the benefit?”

Mo Yu calmly said, “The Empress will naturally arrange things for us.”

Zhou Tong replied, “Such disrespectful words. One day, Her Majesty will inevitably board a raft and swim upon the sea of stars. When that day finally comes, where will the two of us go?”

Mo Yu had no answer.

Zhou Tong continued to look into her eyes as he continued speaking, “Under His Holiness’s orders, you have done many things. Why has the Empress never blamed you? Because the Empress can sense very clearly the unease in your heart, just like the fear in mine…Those people in the Li Palace have never liked either of us, so you planned to ease your way into good standing.”

Mo Yu met Zhou Tong’s gaze and calmly replied, “So what? When that day really comes, there’s really no way for you to survive. There are simply too many people who want you dead. As for me…I only want to live, I don’t care about much else.”

Zhou Tong once again gave that forced smile. “Is that so? When some member of the Chen Family becomes Emperor, and you’re given a choice between death and becoming his woman, would you be willing? Then I don’t care either.”

There was a subtle change in Mo Yu’s expression. Somewhat jittery, she shouted, “Just what are you proposing?”

Zhou Tong replied, “First, at the very least, we must ensure that Her Majesty does not decide rashly.”

Mo Yu pensively said, “You want to break the tacit understanding between the Empress and His Holiness?”

Zhou Tong replied, “I wouldn’t dare to. I only want His Holiness’s position to lose its effectiveness.”

Mo Yu shook her head. “You can’t kill him. The Empress would absolutely not allow it. He has done too much for the Zhou Dynasty. At the very least you can’t go and kill him now.”