Chapter 617 – Facing Death to Live (II) (1/2)
Chapter 617 – Facing Death to Live (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
In these countless years, she had seen many heroes and towering figures, full of spirit and mettle, or cultured and refined, or cherishing the world, or bemoaning the state of the world and pitying the fate of mankind. She had seen countless geniuses and experts, respecting only themselves, or standing aloof from the world, or enjoying a simple life with wife and children. Among these people, only that man had ever made her feel fear. Even though she had now caught up to his level, even if she would often show an expression of ridicule or disdain when mentioning that man, she was forced to concede that even today, that man's name still brought about the faintest shiver of fear in her.
Perhaps it was because when she first met that man, she was just a naive, vivacious, and cute girl who knew nothing of worldly matters while he was a supreme expert sitting high above, the Son of Heaven that, though still alive, was destined to be recorded down in the annals of history as the supreme emperor throughout the ages?
”Emperor Taizong, you've been dead for so many years. Are you still not willing to rest in peace?”
She raised her head to gaze at the place where, many years ago, that brightest star in the sky existed. After an interminable silence, she creased her brow.
……
……
This early autumn night was truly endless, making it very easy for people to recall old acquaintances.
When the Tianhai Divine Empress was thinking about Emperor Taizong, Zhou Tong was thinking about that once-Principal of the Orthodox Academy, Shang Xingzhou.
Zhou Tong was a purely evil person, delighting in the suffering of enemies, and even his friends, though besides Xue Xingchuan, he didn't have anyone that he could truly call a friend. This did not at all mean that he was a maniac, that there was a problem with his mind. On the contrary, he was more clear-headed and rational that the vast majority of the world's people, and this was the true evil.
In order to continue this beautiful life of his, he needed to maintain his status, needed to ensure that nothing could shake the Divine Empress's seat upon the imperial throne.
It now seemed that the person most likely to shake the Empress's seat was naturally Chen Changsheng.
Perhaps he would die in a few days, but Zhou Tong would not risk it by silently waiting for it to occur.
This was the problem produced by Shang Xingzhou, the Imperial clan, and countless other great powers. He felt that he had already found a solution to this problem, but first, he had to find the problem.
As he pondered how to crack this problem, he developed more and more admiration for Shang Xingzhou, ultimately even feeling reverence.
This world was the world of the strong. One person could take control of a storm of one direction, one Saint could shake the world in all eight directions.
Shang Xingzhou was fully deserving of the title of expert, a grand master belonging to the legitimate line of the Orthodoxy. Although his reputation was not prominent and he had never ranked within the Storms of the Eight Directions, everyone was clearly aware that he had assuredly already stepped into the Divine Domain, and his cultivation was unfathomably deep. But the true reason for Zhou Tong's reverence was Shang Xingzhou's deep planning and farsighted thinking.
In Xining Village's old temple, he raised Chen Changsheng for fifteen years. Without teaching him anything, he sent him off to the capital and then wrote the Pope a letter.
He was still alive. This had originally been a mercy the Pope had shown to him, but now, it became his weapon. As for the fellowship between the two members of the legitimate line of the Orthodoxy, it was naturally also a weapon. And Mei Lisha, as representative of the Orthodoxy's conservative faction, an old man who wholeheartedly desired for the Imperial clan to regain the imperial throne, had perhaps long known of Chen Changsheng's identity, thus causing him to be in such a rush. He had even gone so far as to somewhat pull up the roots so as to help Chen Changsheng mature faster, ensuring that in the short span of two years, he became successor of the Orthodoxy. In this way, when the Divine Empress would act to kill Chen Changsheng, the Orthodoxy would have to protect him. The alliance that had never been very firm would naturally fall apart, the Divine Empress would lose her greatest supporter, and the Chen Imperial clan would regain the throne!
A trivial matter like sending Chen Changsheng to the capital would shatter the peace of the Great Zhou Dynasty that had persisted for almost twenty years!
Everyone said that the Saints regarded the world as a chessboard, playing out moves with no regret, but Shang Xingzhou dared to use Saints as chess pieces, to use the succession of the Orthodoxy as a means. As for emotions, experiences, and hearts, these things were casually picked and randomly tossed away. Truly an extraordinary schemer!
Of course, this was all deduced by Zhou Tong, because he was also a schemer.
The more he admired Shang Xingzhou, the more he was filled with regret, regret that he had not killed Chen Changsheng sooner.
”What I want is not the process, but the result.”
He stood on the stone steps and looked at his subordinates kneeling in the courtyard, smiling as he spoke. ”I don't care what sort of analyses or judgments you make, I just want to see him dead.”
He was not a pervert, so when he was executing or torturing ministers, he would not intentionally act gentle and refined or put a slightly bashful smile on his lips. When he did smile, it was mostly because matters had developed in a way that rendered him speechless, so speechless that he could only bitterly smile, just like now.
”He is a living person, and a famous person, and above all, he is still a sick person…and it turns out that none of you can find him?”
Zhou Tong gazed at his subordinates below, not speaking of everything that he was thinking about.
Only he knew that Chen Changsheng was a person that was about to die.
Whether he was a famous person, sick person, or a person about to die, when it came down to it, he was a person that should be very easy to find.
The Department for Purging Officials had several thousand spies and even more informants, but they had used half the night and still failed to find this person.
Zhou Tong truly could not help but be somewhat inclined to smile at this outcome.
Seeing the smile on their lord's face, not a single one of the officials of the Department for Purging Officials in the courtyard relaxed, and not one dared to not attempt to smile along with him. The faces of these officials were all very pale, and their black hats were unable to keep out the starlight descending from the sky, making their complexions seem particularly dismal.
Zhou Tong turned to the official kneeling at the very front, his smile fading as he calmly noted, ”The Imperial Court pays you the highest salary, and I naturally had the highest expectation of you.”
This official was the high official of the Department for Purging Officials assigned to intelligence. Normally, he traveled without restriction between the various ministries, government offices, and halls of the Orthodoxy. He received no small measure of respect, but now, when his direct superior so indifferently picked him out, he could not help his body from fiercely shuddering.
When expectations were high, the disappointment was naturally also great. He knew that he had to do something, or else Lord Zhou Tong would inevitably have some other method to make him never forget tonight's failure.
There was only a crisp snap, the sound of a finger breaking!
He had resolutely broken the pinkie finger on his left hand. He was clearly in pain—his face paled even further and his voice trembled.
”This lowly official is incompetent. I ask Your Excellency for another hour. I will definitely find that person!”
Zhou Tong gazed at this official, his expression unchanging. On the other hand, Cheng Jun, standing on the side, knit his brow. In his view, snapping a pinkie finger was not proof of resolution at all. If these were the redcoated cavalry directly under his command, he would absolutely have required this official to chop off an arm.
In Cheng Jun's view, Lord Zhou Tong was being far too compassionate by requiring only a single finger be broken, but in the view of these officials in the courtyard, it was already an extremely clear and terrifying warning. The officials spilled out of the small courtyard. Leading their respective subordinates, they once more dispersed into the capital's darkness to begin their search, their actions and mood even more hurried and nervous than before.
”Using half a night and still not finding a single clue, showing that he really does have the ability to hide his tracks…he is the future Pope, after all.”
Cheng Jun followed Zhou Tong into the room, very respectfully pouring a cup of tea for him. Suppressing his voice, he asked, ”In your view, rather than randomly searching without any destination in mind, wouldn't it be better to find where he wanted to go after leaving the Orthodox Academy, then go there in advance and set a trap for him?”
This small courtyard within the alley of the Northern Military Department contained countless precious tea leaves, but Zhou Tong only ever drank one brand, the Great Crimson Gown that was produced in the south.
(TN: Great Crimson Gown, 大红袍, is also a type of very expensive oolong tea.)
Right now, the tea being steeped in the pot was the Great Crimson Gown. Because it had not been brewed for long enough, the tea poured into the cup was somewhat lighter in color.
Zhou Tong gazed at the light-shaded tea in his cup and said, ”If it were possible to guess where he wanted to go, the Li Palace would not also be so hurried right now.”
Cheng Jun revealed a sinister smile as he said, ”Then we can just force him to appear.”