The White Emperor City at the end of the River of Oblivion, the eight hundred li of the Red River as one's fief…who else could it be?
The sole princess of the demi-humans had actually appeared here!
Everyone in the hall had expressions of absolute shock. With the rustling of clothes, they all stood up and bowed.
"My mother is the Chief Princess of the Great Western Continent."
Luoluo looked at the crowd and continued, "My father is Bai Xingye."
With the declaration of these two names, the atmosphere in the great hall grew even more oppressive, tense, and silent as a grave.
Those two names represented supreme power and authority. Those two names were ranked amongst the Five Saints.
The husband and wife of White Emperor City were both beings of the same level as the Divine Empress and the Pope.
The southern diplomatic mission was utterly speechless. When they saw Chen Changsheng behind Luoluo, their complexions became abnormally unsightly.
Earlier, the crowd had noticed that the relationship between Luoluo and Chen Changsheng was out of the ordinary.
Just as expected, Luoluo looked to the southern diplomatic mission and said, "My teacher is Chen Changsheng."
After saying this, she turned her head to glance at Chen Changsheng.
'My Father, my mother, my teacher.'
That she spoke this way was the same as placing these three people on the same level.
Contrary to what some people of the capital had thought, Luoluo had entered the Orthodox Academy not because she was seeking an interesting experience, but because she truly wanted to learn. She regarded Chen Changsheng as a member of her family and an elder to be revered.
Everyone in the hall was too stunned to speak, while Gou Hanshi's expression grew graver.
Just who was this youth called Chen Changsheng that he was able to be spoken of on the same level as the White Emperor couple!
"Might I ask, in what aspects can my teacher not match up to Qiushan Jun?"
Luoluo looked to the southern diplomatic mission and asked.
The southern diplomatic mission had nothing to say, because it was impossible to respond.
No matter how much of a genius Qiushan Jun was, in terms of status alone, how could he compare to the teacher of an emperor's daughter?
Luoluo then turned to that young and poverty-stricken student amongst the scattered tables who had made that great fallacy, and arched her brow as she asked, "In order to resist the demons, humans must unite, the north and south must converge, so Xu Yourong must marry Qiushan Jun? For the sake of so-called righteousness, a woman has to marry someone she doesn't want to marry?"
The young student's voice slightly trembled as he replied, "Should it not be this way?"
"Of course not!"
Luoluo jeered at the student, "That's my teacher's wife, and you actually want to marry her off to another man. I really do suspect that you might be a demon spy."
The young student blushed, his face thoroughly red. He was very angry, but he dared not reply.
Luoluo said to everyone in the hall, "Righteousness? This princess is righteousness, my teacher was born with righteousness in hand, and you want to use righteousness to threaten him, truly a joke!"
The young student wanted to explain himself, but upon careful consideration, he realized that he had nothing to say and instantly began to profusely sweat.
No one else in the hall dared to object to Luoluo's words.
In order to resist the demons, humanity needed to unite, so the confluence of north and south had to proceed more quickly. For this reason, that young student had said that Xu Yourong should marry Qiushan Jun.
But anyone knew that the alliance of the humans with the demi-humans was the foundation of the resistance against the demons!
If one said that resisting the demons was a righteous cause, then protecting the excellent relationship between the humans and demi-humans was the greatest righteous cause!
According to the logic of this young student and a few other shameless people, since Luoluo was certain to represent the demi-humans in supporting the engagement of Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong, any person that attempted to block this engagement was attempting to enrage the demi-humans, wanting to break the alliance between the two races. If they were not spies of the demons, what were they!
Could it be that to advance the confluence of humanity's north and south, they should offend humanity's firmest and most powerful ally? Preposterous!
No person would make that choice. Let alone the people within the hall, even the Pope, the Holy Maiden of the south, the Sect Master of Mount Li, and even the Divine Empress would be unwilling to bear this responsibility.
Righteous cause? In the end, it was naught but seeking profit or power. Once carefully considered, it was truly quite laughable.
This young student was drenched in sweat. Only now could he see those thoughts hidden behind his clothes and the name of righteousness, those thoughts that could not bear to see the light of day.
His face was still thoroughly red, but out of shame rather than anger.
The hall was completely silent. Many people were as ashamed as the young student, not knowing what to say.
Gou Hanshi looked at Luoluo, his expression very complex.
"If you still want to preserve some face, you should leave right now. What meaning is there in continuing to struggle here?"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at Gou Hanshi and teased, "Give up, your eldest brother Qiushan Jun won't be able to marry his wife…is it possible that you still dare to kill Chen Changsheng before everyone's eyes?"
The disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect were all standing up. Upon hearing these words, they blazed with fury and gripped their swords as they turned to Gou Hanshi.
Gou Hanshi quietly looked back at Tang Thirty-Six, his eyes gradually growing brighter, not growing sharper, but firmer.
After the Qiushan clan head's examination of Chen Changsheng's marriage contract, he had remained silent. At this moment, he could no longer restrain himself. Staring at Tang Thirty-Six, he coldly asked, "Is the master of Wenshui doing well?"
Tang Thirty-Six's expression flickered, then he replied, "You want to use my grandfather to pressure me? Do you even care about dignity?"
The Qiushan clan was a truly great clan of a thousand generations in the south, and what they cared the most about was their dignity and face. As a descendant of the Wenshui Tang clan, Tang Thirty-Six naturally understood this point, yet he did not act with the slightest courtesy.
In the many misfortunes over tonight's Ivy Festival, there had truthfully been several chances where the two sides could have backed off and sought ways to extricate themselves from this embarrassing situation. However, for several reasons or incorrect judgments of the situation, the southern diplomatic mission had made the wrong choice in the last few opportunities, resulting in this now very embarrassing situation.
The severity of this embarrassment, disregarding the root cause for the situation, could mostly be credited to Tang Thirty-Six and Luoluo's repeated jeers and ridicule.
Luoluo had taunted and scolded Elder Xiao Songgong and the others because they had earlier taunted and scolded Chen Changsheng. This was a sight she found most unbearable, and regardless, with her status in this place, she could do whatever she wanted.
On the other hand, Tang Thirty-Six shouted and cursed at figures like Xiao Songgong and the Qiushan clan head purely because of his personality.
Whether according to seniority or any other aspect, he should not have acted this way. This way of acting was too preposterous, too profligate, too wanton.
Wantonness did not necessarily mean that one was a wastrel. It was more likely that one was hedonistic or degenerate.
In the eyes of many, Tang Thirty-Six's behavior was too vulgar, too impudent, too displeasing, too scoundrel-like. He was not at all like a descendant of a noble clan, much less a young genius of the Heavenly Dao Academy.
But he insisted on acting this way, because he did not like these people.
He didn't like them, so he didn't like them, so he cursed at them.
This was his personality.
He was a sixteen-year-old youth, truly a youth. He would not feel delight at the spring breeze nor feel sorrow at the autumn winds. He would not sigh at the winter snow, nor would he feel vexed at the chirping of the summer cicadas. If saw what he liked, he would be happy, and if he saw what he found annoying, he would be annoyed. If he saw injustice, he would sigh, and he would only feel sorrow when he saw the back of a heroic figure in the setting sun.
He liked to spend time alone and liked to sleep, and what he disliked was precisely interacting with others. He had a slight bout of narcissism and was extremely proud and confident. He lived with absolute freedom, the human world's endless pursuit of profit having nothing to do with him. If he saw something that made him unhappy, he would curse, and if he saw something that made him happy, he would want to get close.
He was just this sort of youth. Given his personality, even if he wasn't a genius of the Proclamation of Azure Sky and was only some young beggar taking in the sun at the base of some wall, when he saw some beautiful young lady in her carriage, he would give a couple of whistles, and if he saw some overbearing young master of a wealthy family, he would give a couple of secretive kicks, not caring at all if he was beaten black and blue by the bodyguards.
Thus, in the capital, he had no friends other than Chen Changsheng. Thus, in the Heavenly Dao Academy, he had offended many of his classmates, including Zhuang Huanyu. Thus, he had long since made it known that if he met that little monster of the Temple Seminary that loved terrorizing the common people, he would definitely cripple him. Thus the story about how he was unable to participate in the last two nights of the Ivy Festival.
Tang Thirty-Six was just this sort of this person. If he liked something, he truly liked it, and if he didn't like something, he really disliked it. As a result, those that liked him would really like him, such as the Old Master of the Wenshui Tang clan or Vice Principal Zhuang of the Heavenly Dao Academy. The people who didn't like him truly disliked him, like these currently furious youths of the southern diplomatic mission.
He did not care.
But someone did care.
"Impudent! Quickly apologize to your seniors!"
A voice came from the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area.
At the moment, everyone in the hall was standing, so it wasn't clear who the speaker was. After a while, the crowd finally realized that the speaker was Zhuang Huanyu.
The crowd was somewhat astonished. They didn't understand why he was scolding Tang Thirty-Six, and they even less understood why he was the one speaking.
Even if Tang Thirty-Six's words were somewhat vulgar and base, his respect towards the seniors of the Mount Li Sword Sect and the Qiushan clan insufficient, there were others better suited to scold the students of the Heavenly Dao Academy. Principal Mao Qiuyu was present, as was Vice Principal Zhuang, so how had it come to be Zhuang Huanyu's turn? Although he was ranked tenth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, he was still just a student.
Let alone the fact that in the present situation, Principal Mao Qiuyu had maintained his silence, so what reason did Zhuang Huanyu have to reprimand Tang Thirty-Six?
Mao Qiuyu turned to glance at Zhuang Huanyu, his expression calm.
The gazes of many people rested on Zhuang Huanyu.
Zhuang Huanyu's expression also slightly changed. He also did not know why he had opened his mouth to say those words.
But the words had already left his mouth and he could not take them back. He tightly shut his mouth, his complexion ashen, yet he still stared at Tang Thirty-Six.
He thought that he appeared impartial and incorruptible, unaware that in the eyes of others, he already seemed to have lost control.
The reason for Zhuang Huanyu's loss of control was very complex. Countless important figures had come to tonight's Ivy Festival, and so he could only quietly sit, not daring to speak, but unthinkably, the Tang Thirty-Six who he normally paid no attention to was speaking so bluntly before the crowd, acting with a wanton ferocity. This made him subconsciously feel a great deal of loathing.
The more important reason was still that Luoluo had revealed her identity.
The legend of the Heavenly Dao Academy that had come back to reality turned out to still be a legend.
His future with this junior sister that he had imagined countless times was instantly rendered into dust.
All along, this junior sister…was the legendary Princess Luoluo!
Then no matter how he strived, even if he became a genius beyond Qiushan Jun, he still could not be together with her.
A deep disappointment and despair transformed into anger. However, this sentiment had always been hidden in the bottom of his heart and never spoken of to anyone else. Consequently, tonight's despair and anger naturally had nowhere to go.
Just then, he saw Tang Thirty-Six, his junior brother that, on normal days, he would casually scold.
Thus, he had spoken those words.
The hall became abnormally quiet.
Everyone stared at Tang Thirty-Six.
Earlier, the Mount Li Sword Sect's Guan Feibai had rebuked Tang Thirty-Six as impudent, and Tang Thirty-Six had replied with, 'Impudent your mother!'
Now, Zhuang Huanyu had also scolded his impudence, so how would he reply?
Some of the people in the southern diplomatic mission seemed to take joy in this misfortune, thinking to themselves, an internal problem has arisen amongst the Zhou people. How will they resolve it?
Gou Hanshi glanced at Zhuang Huanyu and slightly raised his brow, somewhat surprised.
Guan Feibai slightly frowned at Zhuang Huanyu, rather displeased.
Tang Thirty-Six had a rather ugly expression. He turned to the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area, but not one of his classmates returned his gaze. Mao Qiuyu sighed and prepared to speak. Vice Principal Zhuang's face was somewhat pale, and judging by how he was shaking his head and hesitating to speak, he seemed to be in great difficulty.
After a moment of silence, Tang Thirty-Six gave a bitter smile and said, "Truly boring."
"You truly are lacking in strength."
(TN: '没劲' can mean both 'boring' or 'tired/lacking in strength'.)
A voice came from his side.
Chen Changsheng looked at him and said, "You're completely unlike your usual self."
"My usual self? And what is that?"
Seeing that the speaker was Chen Changsheng, Tang Thirty-Six instantly came alive, rolling his eyes as he asked.
"Just like you did earlier, you would directly curse at their mothers."
Chen Changsheng thought some more, then continued, "After you got tired of cursing, you would lie down and go straight to sleep."
Tang Thirty-Six looked at the seating area where all the teachers and students of the Heavenly Dao Academy were. After a brief moment of silence, he said in a somewhat softer voice, "In the end, there are some people who treated me rather well."
During the entrance exam for the Heavenly Dao Academy, Chen Changsheng had glimpsed a few scenes from the distance and so knew that Vice Principal Zhuang had greatly cared for Tang Thirty-Six. Now, just as expected, he saw Tang Thirty-Six's gaze rest on Vice Principal Zhuang and thought to himself, there must be a story hidden behind his. It's probably precisely because of this person that Tang Thirty-Six would act so differently from usual.
"But as a person, one truly should work for oneself." Tang Thirty-Six gazed at the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area and recalled the snow and storms that had been concealed behind these past few months of school life, recalled how he had been targeted by his classmates, recalled his unfortunate encounters in the last two nights of the Ivy Festival. His lips perked up, revealing a mysterious smile.
Normally, Chen Changsheng would not bring up any suggestion as to what choice Tang Thirty-Six should make—even if he was his only friend—as a consequence of his personality. However, he saw the situation tonight, and he had also suffered a similar situation as Tang Thirty-Six had in the Heavenly Dao Academy. Caught in his opponent's shameless trap, he was only able to escape from the Black Dragon with incredible difficulty. As a result, many matters had already quietly changed.
He gazed at Tang Thirty-Six, saying nothing, but his calm and assured eyes signified his support.
"You actually want me to apologize to those southerners?"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at Zhuang Huanyu and said, "This matter is too boring, and your display is also too boring."
The hall resounded with comments of astonishment.
Zhuang Huanyu was tenth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, the leader of the Ivy Academies' young experts, of equal reputation to the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws of the south who were said to be able to call the wind and summon the rain. Although he had earlier displayed a loss of control, making others grow displeased or find him shameless, he was still the shining beacon of the Heavenly Dao Academy. For Tang Thirty-Six, as a student of the Heavenly Dao Academy, to so straightforwardly say that he was wrong was inevitably rather disrespectful.
"Because it's boring, it's not fun, and since it's not fun, what's the use in me continuing to play around here? None of you should think about using the friendship between us as fellow classmates of the Heavenly Dao Academy to bind me, to use your identity as teachers to control me, to use your dignity as senior brother to make me shut my mouth, because I…have decided to withdraw."
Tang Thirty-Six gazed at those once-peers and teachers of his, his expression calm. "I've decided to leave the Heavenly Dao Academy."
Even though the crowd within the hall had already experienced far too many shocks tonight, they still flew into an uproar at his words!
The Heavenly Dao Academy was the number one school of the continent, having raised countless great experts. The current Pope had come from there, and the Grand Examination's first rank of the first banner had also been achieved by its students no small number of times. Even though the young students of the Heavenly Dao Academy had had much of their brilliance snatched away by the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws of the south in the past few years, and the peerless genius that was Xu Yourong had appeared in the Great Zhou, the Heavenly Dao Academy was still the Heavenly Dao Academy. No person would dare to question this school's status. Everyone believed that being able to enter the Heavenly Dao Academy was an honor. Many people took great pains to just step onto the ground of the Heavenly Dao Academy, but tonight, someone voluntarily withdrew from the Heavenly Dao Academy!
The clamor in the hall continued. The faces of the teachers and students of the Heavenly Dao Academy were all extremely ugly, and Vice Principal Zhuang's complexion was even rather pale.
What astonished people the most was that the Principal of the Heavenly Dao Academy, Mao Qiuyu, had no reaction. There even seemed to be a sense of relief on his face as if all this had been according to his expectations.
"I know that many people will ask me why."
Tang Thirty-Six gazed expressionlessly at the crowd and said, "The Heavenly Dao Academy has the best teachers and the best students, and I have to admit that I also received a lot of care. Even if I've been somewhat wronged, compared to all this, it shouldn't be enough for me to decide to leave, but just like I said a moment ago, the current Heavenly Dao Academy is truly very boring."
"Boring means it's not fun, and if it's not fun, what need is there for me to continue playing around here?"
Many people noticed that he had said these words earlier.
"All I said was that I was going to cripple Tianhai Ya'er, and then the teachers and a few senior brothers of the academy forbade me from attending the Ivy Festival! Just because I wanted to challenge Zhuang Huanyu, someone sealed me in the library for the entire night! Don't talk to me about the importance of the big picture; when did the Heavenly Dao Academy of the past ever care about some other person's big picture? And the current Heavenly Dao Academy? It's unexpectedly afraid of even the Tianhai clan! Just what's going on here? This simply isn't the Heavenly Dao Academy I read about in the books. This Heavenly Dao Academy is boring through and through, not fun at all!"
Tang Thirty-Six gazed at the students and teachers of the Heavenly Dao Academy, his words very frivolous but his expression extremely solemn, because these were his sincere words spoken before his farewell.
Hearing this, the crowd in the hall grew even more restless, because the youth from Wenshui had mentioned the Tianhai clan.
There was much to digest in these words, but everyone had only heard 'Tianhai clan'.
It's unexpectedly afraid of even the Tianhai clan!
He had unexpectedly used the word 'unexpectedly'.
He unexpectedly believed that the Tianhai clan should not be feared!
Prince Chen Liu slightly lowered his head. At some point, two wine cups had appeared on the table in front of him, the wine within them reflecting the lights of the Night Pearls. They were very beautiful, and he looked at them like he was in a trance.
Mo Yu gazed indifferently at Tang Thirty-Six, her right hand gently holding a cup of tea. There was not a single ripple in tea within the cup.
Tianhai was the surname of the Divine Empress. The Tianhai clan was the Divine Empress's maternal clan. After that cruel struggle over the throne ten-odd years ago, the Tianhai clan replaced the Chen clan as one of the most respected surnames on this continent, together with the Bai clan of the west. In terms of power, however, they were the number one without question.
In the present Great Zhou, even the Pope living in the Li Palace treated the Tianhai clan with warmth. Even though countless people secretly burned with hate towards the Tianhai clan, not a single one of them dared to publicly speak such words. Who could be like Tang Thirty-Six, directly reprimanding them before a crowd?
The crowd gazed at Tang Thirty-Six with rather complex looks.
There was admiration and pity, and of course, there were also gazes that looked at him like he was an idiot—had this youth suddenly gotten addicted to slapping others in the face tonight? He actually didn't even let the Tianhai clan slip by?
Tang Thirty-Six acted like he didn't even feel these gazes, nor did he even consider what dangers these words of his concealed. He looked at Zhuang Huanyu and coldly said, "I know that you lived a hard life as a child, but that's no excuse for you to criticize anyone you want. Don't always think that everyone in this world has to feel sorry for you, acting all refreshing and pleasant before the world while inwardly full of remorse. You're clearly already in the top ten of the Proclamation of Azure Sky, yet you still feel that fate isn't fair, or else you would be as strong as Qiushan Jun. Just who is this secret grudge for? I absolutely can't stand and absolutely loathe this sort of person. The current Heavenly Dao Academy has precisely too many students like you, so it's becoming more and more like a theater, babbling all day and singing a few sentimental songs. Of course it's boring!"
The hall gradually turned quiet, the crowd staring at the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating, staring at Zhuang Huanyu.
Zhuang Huanyu was silent for a very long time, his expression gradually growing calm. Looking back at Tang Thirty-Six, he replied, "Earlier, I truly did somewhat lose control. No matter what you did wrong, no matter if you cared or not about the Heavenly Dao Academy's existence, it's not my place to criticize you. Moreover, although your words are difficult to hear, they are somewhat reasonable…but did you ever think about why, after you entered the Heavenly Dao Academy, the teachers and the rest of us didn't like you? Why you felt as if we were secretly pushing you out? Pride? No, it's only right that a student of the Heavenly Dao Academy be proud. You are the descendant of the Wenshui Tang clan, you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth, and when you entered the academy, you came under the care of an important figure. You didn't need to attend lessons, you didn't need to keep the academy's rule, yet you received everything that was allotted to you, but your classmates? They bitterly cultivated and bitterly studied before seeing any gain, so they naturally wouldn't be able to stand a person like you who only take shortcuts."
At the moment, the people currently seated in the scattered tables were mostly students of ordinary families. Of the several dozen young students amongst the southern diplomatic mission, the vast majority had grown up in poverty. The three youths of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws seemed slightly pacified at Zhuang Huanyu's words, and Gou Hanshi, who everyone knew had grown up in bitter poverty, seemed deep in thought.
Vice Principal Zhuang had a very ugly expression, because he knew that he was the important figure Zhuang Huanyu had mentioned taking care of Tang Thirty-Six.
"What you say also makes sense. The Heavenly Dao Academy has the Heavenly Dao Academy's rules, and has grown accustomed to inheriting a lineage of one thousand years. Perhaps the teachers and you lot all believe that only those who have lived a poor and simple life can truly have any promise, but…my clan just has lots of money, and I can't do anything about it. Could it be that you want me to play the part of a poor person, or do you want my clan's grandfather to completely break up the family property? That would probably make the Divine Empress very happy."
Tang Thirty-Six shook his head, continuing, "You have your own reasons, I have my own habits, the Heavenly Dao Academy has the Heavenly Dao Academy's rules. Tonight, we aren't speaking about right and wrong, only that since we aren't suited for each other, this matter will never become fun, so I've decided to withdraw from the Heavenly Dao Academy."
"Shut your mouth for me!" Vice Principal Zhuang yelled out with a nasty look on his face.
When he was young, he had received the favor of the Tang clan, and he had many stories of old friendship with the Tang clan. Since he had promised the head of the Tang clan that he would watch over Tang Thirty-Six's life in the capital, he couldn't just look on helplessly as he messed around. "You've made enough trouble! Your father placed you in my hands—you really think I won't dare discipline you!"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him in thought, then scratched his head and said, "Uncle Zhuang, you always say that it's my father that entrusted you with the duty to watch over me…in truth, on the journey to the capital, I long since opened that letter and looked it over. I know that the person who trusted you to watch over me was my mother, so stop using those words to suppress me."
Vice Principal Zhuang was so angry that his fingers began to tremble. "You little rascal, the letter…how could you open the letter!"
For some reason, when Zhuang Huanyu on the side heard these words, his face slightly paled.
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "In short, tonight, I'm leaving the Heavenly Dao Academy."
Vice Principal Zhuang bitterly replied, "You child, why can't you ever be obedient? The pre-examination has already concluded. If you quit school, what about next year's Grand Examination?"
Tang Thirty-Six seemed to freeze, realizing that this truly was a problem.
"This isn't a problem."
Chen Changsheng smiled, saying, "Come to my place."
Tang Thirty-Six arched his brows. "Come to your place?"
Chen Changsheng explained, "The students of the Orthodox Academy also have the right to directly participate in the Grand Examination."
There was no way he would remember this rule incorrectly. After entering the capital, it was precisely because he wanted to skip the pre-examination and directly participate in next year's Grand Examination that he used every method possible to enter one of the Six Ivies. It was just that he had not expected that fate would ultimately have him become the first new student of the Orthodox Academy in many years.
Tang Thirty-Six's inky brows rose even higher. It was like he had discovered something that seemed very interesting, very fun.
"How many people do you have right now?"
"Three."
Chen Changsheng pointed at himself and Luoluo, then said, "There's also another one that remained in the Orthodox Academy tonight. You met him before."
Tang Thirty-Six fell silent, then he smiled and said, "Count me in as well."
Chen Changsheng thought, then commented, "Then we're four people now."
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