Ze Tian Ji

Chapter 436 – Koi, Sinking into the Pool, and the Brilliance of a Metal Blade

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Zhou Tong put down the file and turned to his subordinate, asking, ”Confirmed?”

The subordinate took a portrait from his chest and said, ”Absolutely true.”

Zhou Tong did not take the portrait, just examined it with his two eyes in silence.

The subordinate continued, ”According to our records, in Chen Changsheng’s entire year in the capital, he never mentioned this person.”

Zhou Tong gazed out the window at the daylight for a very long time. Suddenly, he said, ”Speak, do you think Crown Prince Zhaoming actually died, or was he secretly taken away by those traitorous fellows from the Imperial clan that refuse to die?”

The subordinate didn’t know how to answer. Extremely nervous, he said in a slightly hoarse voice, ”My lord’s meaning is?”

Zhou Tong shook his head, then said, ”I don’t mean anything. I just inadvertently thought about this matter.”

The subordinate didn’t dare respond.

”There are some matters which we temporarily cannot investigate clearly that we also do not need to care about.” Zhou Tong withdrew his gaze from the window and said, ”Why was Liang Xiaoxiao willing to strike a deal with that devil Black Robe, why did he prefer to commit suicide in an attempt to deal with Su Li and his daughter? Because he wanted revenge. That year, why did Su Li go to the Longevity Sect and kill so many people and then also run off to Xunyang City and go on a killing spree, causing the Liang Household’s strength to greatly decrease? Because the southerners wanted to take advantage of my Great Zhou’s internal chaos and invade the north, and so captured his wife to threaten him, making him go crazy. Why was the Great Zhou in such chaos? Because of that bloody incident of the Orthodox Academy. Thus they say that all things share a common origin. In the final analysis, all these matters were concerned with the problem of the position of Emperor of the Great Zhou. As long as we recognize this fact, there should be no mistakes on our side.”

The subordinate said, ”In the past five days, Prince Chen Liu visited the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education three times.”

”Don’t forget, although the Empress has no child of her own, Emperor Xian still has many sons and grandsons. Even if the Empress really did abdicate and turned the position of emperor over to the Chen Imperial clan, with Prince Chen Liu being so young, just what chance does he have? It’s only natural that he’s anxious.”

”My lord’s meaning is that Prince Chen Liu wants to win the Orthodoxy’s support?”

”Mei Lisha is about to return to the sea of stars. He will not appear for this matter. As for striving to obtain the good impressions of the priests of the Li Palace, just how do you think he has been able to survive in the capital up to now, and moreover to live better and better as time passes?”

”Although you don’t care about the position of emperor, everyone excluding you does. Consequently, I believe that the end of all these problems, or perhaps the source of all these problems, is precisely the position of emperor. Principal Shang’s thoughts will also rest upon that throne.”

After listening to Tang Thirty-Six’s words, but before he began to ponder them, Chen Changsheng first paid notice to that name.

”Principal Shang…who is he?”

”Your teacher, Shang Xingzhou.”

Chen Changsheng fell into a long silence.

This was the first time he had heard that name, and he had already lived together with this name’s owner for fifteen years.

In recent times, he had many opportunities to learn this name, but he had never asked, no matter if it was to Mei Lisha or the Pope. This was because he did not want to know this name, because he did not want to, after learning that name, confront those problems he did not want to think about. He also did not want other people to know that he did not know this name, because this fact made him somewhat sad.

Tang Thirty-Six could vaguely guess at his current mood. For some reason, he developed a bad impression of Chen Changsheng’s teacher. He asked, ”Did you ever think about why he accepted you as his disciple?”

Chen Changsheng was somewhat at a loss, asking, ”Master picked me up by a river; is there a need for any other reason?”

Tang Thirty-Six stared into his eyes and said, ”Your surname is Chen.”

”So?” Chen Changsheng had no reaction.

Tang Thirty-Six said,”Could it be that you never thought…that you might be of the Imperial clan?”