Chapter 606 – The Downcast (1/2)

Chapter 606 – The Downcast

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Someone turned to the spluttering pawnshop owner and angrily shouted, ”With what pair of eyes did you see it?”

The pawnshop owner gave the man a disdainful gaze, saying, ”My sister's son is a student at the Orthodox Academy. The disciples of South Stream Temple are in there, so how could he not see them? Not only him, many people clearly saw that the Holy Maiden and Chen Changsheng were standing at the window upstairs and chatting.”

The street turned silent.

Under the twinkling stars, a young man and woman standing by a window, their figures outlined in the starry light—this was a very beautiful scene.

However, no person was willing to cheer at this sort of scene.

After quite some time had passed, the crowd finally awoke from their stupor, their leftover shock giving way to confusion. From last year, it had been constantly rumored that Chen Changsheng had forcefully annulled his engagement with Xu Yourong. Although it was said that Chen Changsheng had seemingly changed his mind after the battle on the Bridge of Helplessness…had the Holy Maiden so easily forgiven him? She had just gone and stayed in the Orthodox Academy—could it be that she was really preparing to marry him? Then where was the Xu Estate's face? Would not Divine General of the East Xu Shiji, known for his cold, aloof and stern manner, just become a joke?

In the early morning, Tang Thirty-Six, Xuanyuan Po, and Su Moyu were escorted by South Stream Temple disciples into their house to remove their luggage, preparing to move to the eastern part of the Orthodox Academy. Zhexiu was not one to do this sort of thing. His rather shabby luggage was carried by Xuanyuan Po.

Carrying their luggage, they stood in front of the tightly shut room door, looking somewhat downcast, somewhat pitiful.

”You still have to leave a little bit of face. After all, this is the Orthodox Academy and he's the principal,” Tang Thirty-Six called out to the tightly shut door. ”Even if it's for the sake of his own safety, you've acted far too wantonly. What need is there to surround this place with the South Stream Temple's sword array and even drive us out? This is the capital, not Mount Han. Even the Demon Lord wouldn't dare to come here.”

This was Chen Changsheng's room, but he was talking to Xu Yourong.

A night had passed, and the disciples of South Stream Temple and the teachers and students of the Orthodox Academy knew that she had never left that room.

The door to the room remained tightly shut. It was not pushed upon nor did a voice emerge from it.

Xu Yourong sat at the table by the window, watching Chen Changsheng soundly asleep on the bed. Occasionally, she would extend her finger to lightly rub away the creases of pain on his brow.

The Tong Bow was held in her left hand and emitted a faint Qi that formed a barrier, ensuring that the external noises would not disturb Chen Changsheng's rest.

But she had heard Tang Thirty-Six's words.

She knew that her suddenly bringing the disciples of South Stream Temple with her back to the capital would inevitably attract all sorts of discussion and shock, but she did not care.

She had South Stream Temple's sword array surrounding this house and had even ejected Tang Thirty-Six and the others. Her actions seemed rather inhumane, but they were because with Chen Changsheng's current circumstances, in order to obtain true safety, it was best to not meet anyone. Her keeping out Tang Thirty-Six and the others was good for both sides.

Seeing the door still tightly shut, Tang Thirty-Six rather angrily turned and walked away.

Walking out of the house, stepping across the grass lawn and crossing that concealed and inactive sword intent, they suddenly saw a middle-aged man standing under a tree by the lake.

This middle-aged man had inky brows and a look of indifference, and was solemn and stern to the extreme. As his clothes were ruffled by the morning breeze, one could faintly smell the scent of blood.

Ye Xiaolian and ten-some South Stream Temple disciples blocked the middle-aged man's way. They all looked rather nervous, but none of them had any means of dealing with this man.

Because this was the temple master's father, Divine General of the East Xu Shiji.

……

……

”Returned to the capital, why didn't you return to the estate but instead stayed here? Truly throwing away all the face of my Xu Family!”

Xu Shiji looked at the haggard appearance of his daughter that her beautiful looks could not conceal. He did not feel any sort of pity, but actually felt rather uncomfortable. When he left the estate, he had already planned to speak as gently as possible, yet he could not suppress the indifference in his voice, his words so brimming with cold that they were like stern rebukes.

The grass lawn by the lake was very quiet, with a cloth curtain cutting off the distant prying gazes, but the South Stream Temple disciples could hear his words and grew displeased.

Even if you're the Holy Maiden's father, how can you use such a tone of voice to speak to her?

Some young female disciples such as Ye Xiaolian treated Xu Yourong as a god, holy and inviolable. Their emotions aroused, sword intent and hostile intent rose up together.

Xu Shiji sensed that hostility and sword intent. He turned once more to his daughter silently standing by the lake and he found his rage even harder to suppress. He yelled, ”Could it be that you dare to commit patricide!”

Xu Yourong turned to her father and asked, ”Father, where did these words come from?”

Her voice was very calm, very soft, very light, and so this explanation did not sound like an explanation. Of course, there was no admission of wrongdoing either.

Xu Shiji's complexion turned even more unsightly as he thought of many matters from the past.

When she was very small, Xu Yourong was raised by the Grand Minister and he and the Madam could not touch her. When she was five, the true Phoenix blood in her body awakened and she was brought by the Divine Empress into the palace. Then she also just so happened to encounter the Holy Maiden, who had come to view the mausoleum to relieve her boredom. Thus, Xu Yourong became the student of these two Saints, and so his turn to educate her was pushed further back.

The common people's evaluation of Xu Shiji was not at all high, but that was primarily due to problems with his personal morality, like his stance towards the Tianhai clan and towards Chen Changsheng at the beginning. However, nobody would deny that his ability was a perfect match for his status as Divine General of the Great Zhou. In the snowy plains to the north, he had achieved much military merit. He managed his armies with extreme strictness, and managed his estate like he did his armies. Whether it was his deputy general with a special family background stationed at Snow Pass or the old people of his estate, they would all remain silent out of fear in front of him, not daring to voice any sort of objections, yet…he had no means of controlling his own daughter.

Because he did not have the right.

To any father, this fact would not bring the slightest joy, but since the Xu Estate wished to enjoy the glory and benefits brought by Xu Yourong, they had to accept this fact.

But in the end, he was still her father, she his daughter. He believed that she still had to give him some respect, just as she had in the last few years.