Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1092 – The Prerequisite of All Things

A breeze blew through the ruins, ruffling sleeves and gradually stirring up a killing intent.

Other people might not be able to sense it, but Prince Chen Liu could clearly perceive it.

He stared into Daoist Siyuan’s eyes and clearly enunciated each of his words. “Chen Changsheng will not kill me.”

Huai Shu stared blankly at him before understanding what he meant. She subconsciously wanted to stop this, but she realized that her senior sister had not said anything.

Huai Ren was looking toward the southern part of the capital, lost in thought and paying no attention to what was about to occur.

At this moment, a dagger happened to appear outside the reception hall, breaking that breeze and that possibility.

By the time Daoist Siyuan looked over, the dagger had returned to its owner’s sleeve.

Hu Thirty-Two had finished searching the estate.

Daoist Siyuan expressionlessly said, “At times, mercy is idiocy.”

Hu Thirty-Two meekly said, “Since this is His Holiness’s will, mistakes are also correct and idiocy might only be because of us.”

It sounded rather awkward, but the meaning was extremely simple.

Even if the Pope was wrong, he was still right.

If the Pope really was wrong? Then please consult the sentence above.

Daoist Siyuan looked away from Prince Chen Liu, and his sleeve also stopped fluttering in the breeze.

Hu Thirty-Two gave a simple explanation of the current situation.

From the moment Mount Mo collapsed to when the Li Palace priests seized the Road of Peace, many events had taken place around the capital, but only a short time had passed.

The sides at the Mausoleum of Books were still in a stalemate. Even when confronting a true legend, Xu Yourong still had no intention of backing down.

Huai Ren and Huai Shu had entered the tunnel in the early morning, so they had no idea what had happened over at the Mausoleum of Books.

When they learned that Wang Zhice had appeared, they were naturally quite shocked.

“Why would Lord Wang…”

Huai Shu was nervous and anxious, finding it impossible to continue.

Huai Ren thought, no wonder something seemed strange over at the south. After muttering to herself for a time, she declared, “We are going to the Mausoleum of Books to take a look.”

Huai Shu’s voice shook as she said, “But this is Lord Wang.”

Huai Ren calmly said, “Even Lord Wang cannot recklessly order around Holy Maiden Peak.”

After saying this, she brought Huai Shu out of the Prince of Xiang’s estate and toward the Mausoleum of Books.

Her ability to make such a determined choice at this moment made the Li Palace priests feel even more respect toward Huai Ren and Holy Maiden Peak.

Daoist Siyuan ignored these things. He turned once more to Prince Chen Liu and said, “If there’s a chance, I will still kill you today.”

Hu Thirty-Two felt helpless as he listened, but he couldn’t do anything, because Daoist Siyuan had only said he would do it if he had a chance.

Prince Chen Liu asked, “You really want to kill me?”

Daoist Siyuan said, “I’ve wanted to kill you starting from many years ago, because I already knew back then that you would be trouble.”

At that time, he had still been a young man praised by both the Tianhai Divine Empress and the Pope, and had just become an archbishop.

Prince Chen Liu, on the other hand, had been the only representative of the Chen Imperial clan left in the capital, holding a special place in the hearts of the commoners and officials.

Prince Chen Liu said, “It really is as Mo Yu said. You really do have an extremely violent personality.”

Daoist Siyuan noted, “Why bring up my relationship with her? Let alone you, I even once wanted to kill His Holiness.”

Prince Chen Liu knew what he was referring to.

Back when the Orthodox Academy was besieged and in the events that followed, Daoist Siyuan was a frequent sight.

Perhaps he would be drinking tea in that tea house in Hundred Flowers Lane, or perhaps he would be standing in the darkness, staring at those walls covered in ivy.

At the time, Prince Chen Liu had been standing across from him, and what he had wanted to do was to protect Chen Changsheng.

Now, however, the situation had been reversed.

Hu Thirty-Two brought Prince Chen Liu out of the estate.

Prince Chen Liu was silent as he gazed at the ruined courtyard and the fallen corpses.

He did not know where the Li Palace planned to imprison him or whether Daoist Siyuan would attempt to find a chance to assassinate him. Neither did he know if he should pray for Chen Changsheng’s victory or Shang Xingzhou’s.

If it was out of concern for his life, he naturally preferred the former.

But that was not how he wanted the story to end.

He only knew that whether Shang Xingzhou won or Chen Changsheng won, he and his father had already lost.

Under the prerequisite that they had not truly made their move.

Perhaps it was precisely because he and his father had not truly prepared to move that they had lost so cleanly.

It now seemed that he, his father, the other princes of the Chen clan, and even Shang Xingzhou had underestimated Chen Changsheng’s daring.

But supreme power had always been the most corrosive of poisons. Who could resist that allure?

……

……

No snow was falling over the Li Palace, but it still seemed very cold. Perhaps it was because it was too empty.

Only two people were present on the vast plaza.

Daoist Wu sat on the cold stones, his hair a mess and his belt drenched in blood. He looked absolutely miserable.

He was extremely angry at the moment and wanted nothing more than to curse eighteen generations of Chen Changsheng’s ancestors, caring not that there might be emperors among them.

But he did not dare do this, because a woman dressed in white was standing behind him.

An Hua’s delicate face was fraught with tension.

She gripped a dagger and stared only at the back of Daoist Wu’s neck.

When the Pope left, he had ordered very clearly that if anything changed, she needed to kill this old man the first moment she could.

The two archbishops had also instructed her very well: in order to kill someone, it was best to cut off their head.

……

……

Chen Changsheng walked out of the Li Palace.

The teachers and examinees participating in the Grand Examination were all in the Green Leaf World.

The crowd that had come to see the spectacle had dispersed, leaving the stone pillars alone in silence.

He thought that he was going alone to confront the world, so he couldn’t help but feel a little lonely.

But just when he was prepared to sigh, he saw Tang Thirty-Six.

This made him feel rather surprised and somewhat awkward.

Tang Thirty-Six said, “Since you could write a letter to Guan Bai beforehand, you could also have told me.”

His voice was very calm when he said this, but anyone could hear the anger inside.

Chen Changsheng replied, “I know the Tang clan’s style of doing things. Once they strike, they will leave no path of retreat, so I didn’t want to involve you.”

Tang Thirty-Six said, “Since you want to move, you have to move with a thunderous momentum. Do you not agree with the Holy Maiden’s method?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Yourong’s method is already the best method in this sort of situation.”

To use the future of humanity to threaten someone like Shang Xingzhou seemed like a naive, childish, absurd, and laughable idea, but it was actually not.

Because Shang Xingzhou understood that naivete often symbolized absolute cruelty and callousness.

If Wang Zhice had not suddenly appeared today, Xu Yourong really might have succeeded.

Tang Thirty-Six asked, “What are you prepared to do?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “In terms of both cultivation and wisdom, I’m far inferior to Yourong, but at times, I’m still more naive.”

Even at a tense moment like this, Tang Thirty-Six still couldn’t help but want to tease Chen Changsheng.

But he did not do this, because he vaguely guessed at what Chen Changsheng wanted to express.

The more naive one was, the crueler they were; was this what he meant?

Chen Changsheng knew what he was worried about. After patting him on the shoulder, he began to walk south.

Tang Thirty-Six stood dumbstruck. Only after a while did he come to his senses and run after him.