Chapter 697 – Small Principles (1/2)
Chapter 697 – Small Principles
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Every person is born a small person.”
The Pope smiled and gestured with his two hands to show length. ”But every person will grow bigger. There are some matters that you can learn as long as you are willing to learn them.”
Chen Changsheng was well-versed in the Daoist Canon and whether it was the path of the sword or any other skill, he had always been able to learn it. His talent and comprehension were both extremely excellent, so just what couldn't he learn?
Upon hearing the Pope's words, he very naturally recalled that conversation he had with the Pope in the library on the third day after the coup of the Mausoleum of Books…but the quantity of books in the world was as vast the sea, knowledge as uncountable as the stars. Carpentry, farming, herb growing, tailoring, building courtyards—there were many topics that needed to be learned, so what need was there to learn how to be a great personage?
”What if I don't want to learn it?” he seriously asked the Pope. ”Does this not mean that I am not a good candidate for Pope?”
The Pope smiled and replied, ”This sort of inference naturally has its basis, but even if you don't want to learn right now, you just need to remain quiet for a period of time.”
Without pondering this statement, Chen Changsheng directly displayed his refusal. ”I can't do it, because there won't be this period of time. Master wants me to truly obey.”
The Pope calmly looked into his eyes and asked, ”You are not willing, even if only on the surface?”
In the view of the common people, master and disciple shared the same relationship as father and son. A student obeying his master or teacher was a matter in accordance with the principles of the heavens and earth. Whatever one's teacher asked the student to do, whether it was to be silent for a few days, tie one's hands up and wait to be captured, or even suicide on the spot, the student should accept it without hesitation, and only this way would they fulfill their duty as a student.
Chen Changsheng did not think this way.
”Yes, I'm not willing.”
The Pope inquired, ”Why?”
Chen Changsheng had never considered this question. It was just that on that night in the Mausoleum of Books, from the moment he saw his master and knew the truth of the matter, he began to have his own way of thinking.
”Perhaps…it's because Master has done things that I don't like.”
”In this case, you like the Empress's way of doing things?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head.
The Pope asked, ”Then why did you make that choice?”
The choice he spoke of referred to the dawn of that day when he carried the Tianhai Divine Empress's body down from the Mausoleum of Books.
It also referred to the sealing of the Orthodox Academy's gate for several days, its defiance and disrespect of the decree, and even today, the Imperial Court's inability to control him.
The Pope's question was also the question asked by countless people in the capital. Eunuch Lin had asked it, as had Su Moyu. Many people had asked him this question.
After coming from Xining Village to the capital, he had always been the successor of the Orthodoxy, at the same time someone who stood opposite to the Tianhai Divine Empress.
There was no affection between him and the Tianhai Divine Empress.
He was not Crown Prince Zhaoming, so he was naturally not her son.
So why?
Chen Changsheng answered, ”The Empress was misled by Master into mistaking my identity, causing her to treat me as her son, resulting in all those events on the Mausoleum of Books during that night.”
If she had not changed his fate, perhaps the Divine Empress really might have obtained victory in that coup, or at least kept her life.
The Pope replied, ”Since it was a misunderstanding, what she paid was towards your senior brother, and not to you. You do not need to bear this kindness.”
”I understand Martial Uncle's meaning. But on the Mausoleum of Books, at least for a time, she truly regarded and loved me as a son.”
After a very long period of silence, Chen Changsheng said, ”I don't know who my parents were, but since she once truly regarded me as her son, I will regard her as my mother.”
The Pope sighed and said no more.
Since he treated Tianhai as his mother, he naturally had to send her off.
No one could overcome this principle.
Chen Changsheng continued, ”As for Master…since he never regarded me as a disciple from the start, I won't recognize him as my master.”
The Pope smiled at him. ”That's reasonable.”
After voicing these two statements that he most wanted to say, Chen Changsheng felt thoroughly refreshed and prepared to say goodbye.