Chapter 426 – Paying Respects to the Pope (1/2)

Chapter 426 - Paying Respects to the Pope

(TN: This is the same chapter title as the one for Chapter 235)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

”The word 'traitor’ was truthfully not the most fitting, or perhaps it would be better to say that it was not accurate enough. In this story, it was much more appropriate to use 'spy' or some other word, such as this second set of words which broke the silence hanging over the crowd: ”Chen Changsheng you scoundrel! You would actually collude with the demons to harm the outstanding talents of Mount Li, and now you have even hounded Lord Huanyu to death!”

”Hounded to death? I think some powerful figure used some shady method! This was a shameless assassination! It's too disgraceful!”

”Just what nonsense are you all blabbering?”

After viewing the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Books, Chen Changsheng was no longer the object of the capital's hatred and animosity. There were already many people treating him as the glory of the Great Zhou. There were some people who loudly denounced Chen Changsheng, and there were naturally even more people that loudly came to his defense. In a few moments, this great street of the capital had erupted into a massive argument, noisy and raucous beyond compare.

Chen Changsheng looked at the window curtain, listening to those noises from the outside in deep astonishment. On the road, he had finally learned through Hua Jiefu the particulars of what had happened outside the Garden of Zhou. The first thing he had originally planned to do upon reaching the capital was confronting Zhuang Huanyu, but who would have imagined that last night, Zhuang Huanyu…actually died?

The noise outside the carriage window was getting louder and louder, the disputes of the crowd growing increasingly intense, their words getting sharper. It was such a clamor that it made one feel troubled. Chen Changsheng wanted to say something, but he ultimately decided to say nothing. He lowered his head in silence, his eyelashes faintly trembling. The childish air about his appearance had finally almost completely dissipated.

Whether it was to ten thousand cheers or ten thousand pointed fingers, Chen Changsheng, under the gaze of countless commoners, returned to the capital. Only when the fleet of carriages pulled into Hundred Flowers Lane did the world outside of the window become relatively peaceful.

With the priests of the Li Palace guarding the perimeter around Hundred Flowers Lane, no one could approach. As Chen Changsheng gazed at the still-very-new gate of the Orthodox Academy and those still-very-old ivy vines, he felt the dignity and silence from his surroundings and found it rather uncomfortable.

It had taken one day to view all the monoliths of the front mausoleum, and one night to bathe the capital in starlight, after which the Pope had established him as the successor to the Orthodoxy. Not much time had passed since that day. In addition, after he left the Mausoleum of Books, he entered the Garden of Zhou, and in the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, time had seemed to drag on. After that, there were the ten thousand li of snowy plains, the rushed escape. There had simply been no time and no opportunity for him to absorb all these changes. Now, he couldn't help but feel that those were all things from another life.

Many things had changed. The Orthodox Academy that had once been surrounded by countless angry commoners of the capital had now become a place that no ordinary person could approach. Although it was still far from regaining the magnificence of its past, the atmosphere had been refreshed anew.

Thankfully, there were many things that had not changed. Jin Yulu still stood by the gate to the Orthodox Academy, and those silk clothes of his studded with copper coin designs, giving off a wealthy but unsophisticated feel, were still as glossy as water. Xuanyuan Po was still mighty and powerful, his arms as thick as trees. Being embraced by him still gave Chen Changsheng the illusion that he was being swallowed up.

Luoluo was still Luoluo, running into his bosom like a cool breeze. Her two arms wrapped around his neck while her forehead rubbed against his chin. Her petite face carried a contented smile.

Standing under the great banyan tree by the lake, Chen Changsheng and Luoluo spoke together for a very long time. Without missing out on anything, he told the little girl of everything that had occurred in the Garden of Zhou as well as everything he had encountered on the journey south.

”That elf girl…was she very beautiful?”

There were so many things—magnificent and grandiose scenes, schemes and assassinations, one sword being delivered ten thousand li, ten thousand swords unsheathing themselves, a metal blade breaking through a storm—but Luoluo only cared about this. With her eyes wide, she asked Chen Changsheng inquisitively.

Chen Changsheng would naturally not forget that girl called Chen Chujian, but somehow, he could not quite remember her appearance. For some reason, his body went cold, as if he was at this very moment losing something.