Chương 42: Zhuang Huanyu
A person recalled that the Six Ivies also had a school called the Orthodox Academy. It seemed that it was close to the Imperial Palace, that it was once very glorious, that it had been many years since any news was heard of it, and that there simply hadn't been a place for this academy in the last few Ivy Festivals. It seemed just like this academy had never existed.
An academy abandoned for so many years, on the verge of being forgotten by the world, actually had the qualifications to rank amongst the Six Ivies, and even received a place once more in this year's Ivy Festival? Why was this? Just because of that rumor, that this year, the Orthodox Academy finally managed to enroll a new student?
Yes, the reason was just this simple. This year, the Orthodox Academy had a student, so it had the qualification to participate in the Ivy Festival. The Great Zhou Dynasty had always respected tradition, and the Ivy Festival was exactly a tradition. Even if the Heavenly Dao Academy overseer materially responsible for the Ivy Festival really wanted nothing more than to light Orthodox Academy on fire until it was burned clean and thus push it out of the stage of history, he had no right to deny the Orthodox Academy's participation in the Ivy Festival, even if it only had two students.
The curtains swayed in the night wind as Chen Changsheng and Luoluo walked in. Following the instructions of that Heavenly Dao Academy student, they walked to the place all the way in the front.
The sounds of discussion could be heard in the building. None of the several hundred students seated amongst the tables recognized them, nor did any of the people in those areas fenced by the pear trees. Seeing the direction that they walked, some people guessed that this young man and woman were the students of the Orthodox Academy.
Everyone's gazes were fixed upon them, some shocked, and even more curious.
The rumor said that the new student of the Orthodox Academy was a young man, so most of the gazes were focused on Chen Changsheng. There were also people that noticed Luoluo obediently following behind him and who realized that this girl was extremely beautiful, like colored glass, and so their eyes instantly lit up.
At the Heavenly Dao Academy's table sat a young man, his appearance handsome and expression indifferent. Although he was sitting in the Ivy Festival, his mind was not there, and didn't even care about the matches that were about to take place. He did not deliberately reveal his pride, yet he was naturally proud.
Ten-plus outstanding students of the Heavenly Dao Academy that were prepared to take part in the next Grand Examination were seemingly randomly seated around this young man, but it was very obvious that he was the center, like the constellation of stars surrounding the North Star. For these proud students of the Heavenly Dao Academy to naturally take up this sort of stance only increased this young man's extraordinariness.
The young man was currently thinking about the repeated warnings from the principal. If the Longevity Sect really did send somebody out, as the representative of the Heavenly Dao Academy's students, how should he respond? The Heavenly Dao Academy was supervising the Ivy Festival this year and he could not allow those southerners to snatch away the Great Zhou's glory.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Chen Changsheng and Luoluo from the corner of his eyes.
His eyes glimmered and his expression subtly changed.
Those ten-plus students sitting around him all seemed silent, but had actually constantly been looking to him. Seeing his expression flicker, they couldn't help but be greatly alarmed—many young students had been stunned by Luoluo's beauty, but they still found it hard to accept that such a thing could affect their senior brother.
Yes, this young student of the Heavenly Dao Academy was the legendary Zhuang Huanyu, ranked tenth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky!
How could a person like this be moved by the beauty of some girl?
Just who was this girl? The group from the Heavenly Dao Academy all turned to Chen Changsheng and Luoluo. Several of these students had the same teacher as Zhuang Huanyu, and so when they saw Luoluo's face, they suddenly recalled something and whispered in shock, "Isn't this that junior sister? How did she come?"
...
...
The Heavenly Dao Academy had a long-established history and its schoolground contained countless ancient tales. Many outstanding young men and women had studied and lived together in this place, so many of these stories concerned the young and inexperienced. Of these stories, one had begun to be passed around two years ago.
In this story, a spirit dwelled in the forest behind the Heavenly Dao Academy, beautiful beyond description. Like a timid swan, it would occasionally appear before people. This spirit looked just like a cute girl and only the sincerest of people could see her.
The story was naturally not true, but it had a foundation in the truth. That beautiful spirit was precisely the Luoluo that would be escorted by her clansmen to the Heavenly Dao Academy so that she could inquire upon the Dao.
Zhuang Huanyu had a special status in the Heavenly Dao Academy, so he naturally would not believe this story. This was the case until one day, when his teacher was giving him and several other students private lessons, he saw a girl sitting by the window, the sun shining upon her face, her appearance as beautiful as colored glass.
He was infatuated with cultivating the Dao and had no mind for something like passionate love. In the academy, he had always been aloof and remote, disdaining to even return the adoring gazes of the female students with arrogant glances, but at that moment, he found it impossible to drag his eye away.
Later on, he saw her several more times at his teacher's place.
His teacher was the Principal of the Heavenly Dao Academy. He had heard the girl discuss matters of cultivation with his teacher and even be able to keep up with his teacher's thoughts, rendering him somewhat shocked. He then discovered that the girl's personal guards were all experts, proof that her background was not ordinary.
He was somewhat aroused, feeling that this girl was worthy of his love.
Yet after that day, he no longer saw her.
She no longer appeared and it seemed like she had never come at all.
He had never asked anyone about this matter, but because of her sudden disappearance, he had spent a long period of silent thought on it. Perhaps not being able to obtain it was for the best? Perhaps missing the opportunity would leave deeper memories? Or else why would he often think of her?
He hoped that she would reappear before his eyes once more.
For this, he was willing to abandon his pride and be the first to initiate a conversation with her.
At this moment, he felt that the heavens had heard the voice in his heart.
In the Ivy Festival, she really did appear!
Moreover, under the attentive gazes of countless others, she was walking in his direction!
...
...
Zhuang Huanyu tidied his uniform and stood up, calmly gazing at the approaching Luoluo.
The surrounding Heavenly Dao Academy students did not understand why their senior brother had stood up. Besides the scant few that had met Luoluo before and guessed at something, the rest all believed that he was representing the Heavenly Dao Academy in welcoming this young man and woman and couldn't help but be astonished, thinking, when did Senior Brother start caring about such ordinary affairs?
Chen Changsheng and Luoluo reached the seating area of the Heavenly Dao Academy and were just prepared to follow the directions given by that other Heavenly Dao Academy student and head towards that area in the corner, when, unexpectedly, ten-plus students stood up at once in the Heavenly Dao Academy's area. This made Chen Changsheng feel somewhat helpless and inadvertently stop.
Zhuang Huanyu's lips slowly rose, a smile on his face as he prepared to speak.
He was prepared to say "Long time no see" to Luoluo.
Yet in the next moment, his smile scattered before it could rise and his eyes became as indifferent as before, perhaps even more.
Because Luoluo did not see him.
Luoluo was looking at Chen Changsheng.
After that night in which she jumped over the wall to enter the Orthodox Academy, as long as Chen Changsheng was there, her eyes would not be on books, but on Chen Changsheng's body, without pause and at every moment. This time was no exception.
She gazed at Chen Changsheng with a look of admiration.
Admiration and adoration were only a few letters off, so it was very easy to mistake one for the other.
Zhuang Huanyu did not know if he was mistaken or not, but his mood became exceptionally disastrous.
Having eyes only for a person whose eyes are only for someone else had always been one of the world's most infuriating matters.
When he saw out of the corner of his eye that her hand was actually grasped onto Chen Changsheng's sleeves, his fury reached its peak.
Zhuang Huanyu did nothing.
He was the tenth-ranked genius of the Proclamation of Azure Sky, the Eldest Brother of the Heavenly Dao Academy. He represented much, was burdened with much.
So he was not easily angered, and was even less likely to forget his manners because of such things.
He looked at Chen Changsheng and calmly raised clasped hands in greeting.
The height of his arm, the distance between his sleeve and wrist, it was all perfect.
But his eyes were too calm, too indifferent.
Chen Changsheng froze, and then calmly returned the greeting.
The height of his arm, the distance between his sleeve and wrist, it was all perfect.
His eyes were somewhat bewildered, somewhat confused.
It was extremely quiet.
Zhuang Huanyu unclasped his hands.
Chen Changsheng followed suit.
From some place came a voice like an anger that had been choked down for a very long time and was finally vented.
They had both acted with the most meticulous courtesy, but in the eyes of the crowd, Zhuang Huanyu's perfect confidence and Chen Changsheng's reserved unsophistication made the judgment easy.
In truth, this was only because he was Zhuang Huanyu while Chen Changsheng was just a nobody.
Zhuang Huanyu turned to Luoluo and said, "Junior Sister, long time no see."
He spoke very casually, but in reality, he was very solemn, more solemn than when he met his birth father for the first time.
Luoluo opened her eyes wide and looked at him for a while. She suddenly seemed to recall something and said with a smile, "Ah, it's you, long time no see."
This girl's smile was very cute.
Yet Zhuang Huanyu found it very repulsive.
He would rather prefer that she not remember him, instead of now, where she needed to think for a while before remembering who he was.
Who am I? I am Zhuang Huanyu.
Any person that has met me would never forget.
How could you forget me?
Why are you pretending that you don't know me?
Are you joking, or are you playing around with me?
While great storms raged in Zhuang Huanyu's mind, his expression was as calm as usual.
Just when he was prepared to say something like "If it wasn't for this, I would also have forgotten Junior Sister's appearance"…Luoluo grasped Chen Changsheng's sleeve and departed the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area towards that corner, and was even happily chatting with Chen Changsheng about something.
Only her back was left behind for Zhuang Huanyu.
Zhuang Huanyu silently gazed at the backs of Chen Changsheng and Luoluo.
He paid no attention to the conversations around him as he thought, Junior Sister, since you're a student of the Heavenly Dao Academy, why do you have to leave?
But when he saw Chen Changsheng and Luoluo enter that area in the corner, he understood that they had actually come to represent the Orthodox Academy.
He asked, "That youth is Chen Changsheng?"
That Heavenly Dao Academy student that was responsible for giving directions had at some point hurried over, and now quietly whispered that this was the case.
"It truly is rather interesting."
Zhuang Huanyu said no more. Lightly raising up the front of his robe, he sat back down at the table.
His expression was still indifferent, but this was not the case for his true emotions.
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