Chapter 725 – Coronation (1/2)
Chapter 725 – Coronation
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
(TN: Way of Choices will be on break from December 25th, 2017 – January 7, 2018)
Everyone knew that Shang Xingzhou did not like his student Chen Changsheng.
As for the reason, Yu Ren and Chen Changsheng had some inkling and were currently understanding more and more.
But to the people beyond Xining Village's old temple, this had always been a most incomprehensible question.
From a familial perspective, Shang Xingzhou had raised Chen Changsheng since he was a baby. Even if it had all been part of his plan from the start, Chen Changsheng still should have been someone that was worthier of his trust than other people. Even from a logical perspective, perhaps Shang Xingzhou wanted to achieve the unprecedented feat of a complete unification of humanity so as to defeat the demons, but in truth, supporting Mu Jiushi to ascend to the throne of the Pope and making an alliance with the Great Western Continent were not necessarily any better than having Chen Changsheng become Pope and granting the Imperial Court the full support of the Li Palace.
No person could understand Shang Xingzhou's mind, and even the Pope's speculations had been groundless. After Chen Changsheng and Shang Xingzhou had brushed past each other on that morning in the Mausoleum of Books, all this had very naturally occurred, but in those stories, Shang Xingzhou had never once made his position clear, never once declared that he wanted Chen Changsheng dead. Even if this was a secret known to the entire world, it had never once been written down on paper, had never been attached to an action. Only tonight, in his confession to Yu Ren, did Shang Xingzhou reveal for the first time his intentions to the world.
The starry sky instantly dimmed as an invisible killing intent enveloped the capital.
Whether Chen Changsheng lived or died hinged upon his own efforts and upon Shang Xingzhou's stance, and now it was closely tied to the life or death of another mighty figure.
The Li Palace had long since made its position clear. The Pope would not permit Shang Xingzhou to harm Chen Changsheng in any way.
The problem was, how many more days could the Pope live?
On that night in the Li Palace, ultimately not a single incident occurred. The shreds of starlight torn apart by the falling snow and scattered clouds fell upon Madam Mu's clothes, making her sublime beauty seem almost unreal.
As dawn was just about to break, Shang Xingzhou finally left the Imperial Palace, arriving amongst the gray eaves of those five exquisite, beautiful, and divine old temples of the Li Palace.
By the time he made his formal appearance, Madam Mu had already left, bringing away with her the snow-filled sky and starlight.
Excluding the Pope, the Li Palace would only ever permit one Saint at a time inside. Any more would mean a war against the Orthodoxy.
On that night, Shang Xingzhou and the Pope engaged in a very long conversation, most likely the last conversation they would have in their lives. Nobody knew what they discussed or whether the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy reached any sort of agreement, but starting from the next day, a warm spring breeze descended early over the capital, an atmosphere of reconciliation gradually spreading over the capital. Zhexiu and Mo Yu were brought to the Grand Court of Revision. The former was dispatched directly to the north by the military while the latter returned to the Orange Garden under house arrest.
It was still winter and this spring breeze was naturally fabricated. Everyone knew that this situation might persist for a very long time or suddenly fall apart at a moment's notice.
Nobody knew how many more days the Pope could last, or whether Shang Xingzhou would abide by that promise he made that night after the Pope returned to the sea of stars.
The mood in the capital gradually grew tense once more. Many people were already able to see the violent gales and torrential rains—no, it was winter, so it should have been called a blizzard.
In the midst of this unease and expectation, as the new year approached, a great snow fell over the capital, completely engulfing the streets and buildings of the capital in a dazzling display of white.
The Li Palace cloaked in white was astonishingly beautiful.
Chen Changsheng supported the Pope as they walked out of that quiet and serene palace and came to the largest of the plazas in the Li Palace.
In these past few years, he had been a frequent visitor to the Li Palace, but the place he most often visited was that quiet and serene palace hall. This was his first time coming with the Pope to this place.