Chapter 91: The Academy Gate and the Hearts of Men
Jin Yulu dressed like a wealthy man, his hands tucked into his sleeves like an old farmer, showing nothing out of the ordinary—until he spoke these words.
Those who heard his words felt differently, but Chen Changsheng was the most affected, especially by the last line: "I am not wrong, so why shouldn't I be tough? Why shouldn't I be bold?"
When he first entered the capital, at the Eastern Divine General's Mansion, outside the Ancestral Sacrifice Hall, he had said something similar.
Because of the reactions from the outside world, he had actually been worried all along—was he too different? Or would the principles he clung to seem too stubborn, too bitter, too strange in others' eyes? It wasn't until he heard Jin Yulu's words that he realized there were many people like him in this world.
This made him somewhat happy.
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"Can you, senior, really guard the National Academy forever?"
Tianhai Shengxue stepped out from behind Fei Dian, his gaze at Jin Yulu icy cold.
Jin Yulu said calmly, "Why not?"
Tianhai Shengxue replied, "As the Red River Chief Historian, senior, don't you need to attend to His Highness's daily needs? Don't you need to worry about His Highness's safety?"
Jin Yulu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "You Zhou people said the Li Palace is the safest place, so you had His Highness move out of the Hundred Herb Garden and into it... Since that's the case, His Highness's safety is naturally your Zhou people's responsibility. What do I need to worry about?"
The Tianhai family's plan to strike at the National Academy first used this excuse to invite Luoluo away from the academy.
Now Jin Yulu used the same reasoning to stay at the National Academy for an extended period, without needing to be at the Li Palace.
Tianhai Shengxue could find no other argument.
Just then, several carriages appeared in the rain-soaked Hundred Flower Lane.
Tianhai Shengxue had brought his subordinates to the National Academy, choosing the early morning hour because he knew that some in the capital would protect the academy. He wanted to take advantage of this morning rain to crush the National Academy with lightning speed before those people could react.
He hadn't expected the three youths inside the academy to resist so fiercely, nor had he expected Jin Yulu to appear. As time passed, those secretly watching from Hundred Flower Lane reported back to their respective masters, and those people naturally rushed over.
Several carriages arrived through the rain, clearly in great haste.
Chenliu Wang descended from the foremost carriage, even having buttoned his shirt wrong in his hurry—a clear sign of how rushed he was.
A lean, middle-aged man held an umbrella, shielding him as he walked to the entrance of the National Academy.
Chenliu Wang surveyed the scene and immediately understood what had happened. Frowning at Tianhai Shengxue, he said, "Leave."
By seniority, Chenliu Wang and Tianhai Shengxue belonged to the same generation, though Tianhai Shengxue was older. But Chenliu Wang was a member of the Chen imperial clan, and more importantly, the Holy Maiden Empress treated him more warmly than these grandnephews of the Tianhai family. So his tone toward Tianhai Shengxue was not polite.
Tianhai Shengxue gave him a cold, mocking glance but did not voice any objection.
Toward this member of the Chen imperial clan who could reside long-term in the imperial palace, the younger generation of the Tianhai family felt both envy and resentment. In previous years, some had tried to move against him, but after the Holy Maiden Empress's thunderous rage, no one dared show him the slightest disrespect—at least on the surface.
From the second carriage descended Priest Xin.
Yesterday, the entire capital knew that His Holiness the Pope had summoned Luoluo to the Li Palace's attached academy for study. The National Academy was already in a precarious state, and he too had been shaken, unable to find peace, anxiously wondering: Had he been wrong to favor Chen Changsheng and the National Academy based on that recommendation letter? So this morning, upon learning of the events at the National Academy, he hadn't rushed to the scene immediately. Instead, he went to the residence of the Archbishop, because he feared he had once again misinterpreted His Holiness the Pope's intentions.
The Archbishop smiled without speaking, which filled him with terror. Could it be that the Archbishop's views differed from His Holiness the Pope's? Was the Archbishop truly preparing to overturn that old case? Was he really ready to stand in opposition to His Holiness the Pope? Would the National Religion truly split?
Priest Xin was terrified, but he realized he could no longer retreat. Because the entire capital, the entire Li Palace, knew that the National Academy's revival and its invitation to the Green Vine Banquet were all orchestrated by him. Who would believe he was merely an executor?
Now he could only stand on the side of the National Academy, so he had to stand on its side.
This forced alignment often made the aligner extremely brave, because they had already staked everything. So Priest Xin behaved even more forcefully than Chenliu Wang, not caring at all about Tianhai Shengxue's face, scolding him harshly!
Tianhai Shengxue's face grew paler and paler, angrier and angrier.
But with Chenliu Wang and the Papal Secretariat both present, he had lost his chance to raze the National Academy.
Jin Yulu stood at the academy gate.
Most crucially, the performance of those three National Academy students had been unexpected.
He looked at Chen Changsheng and the others, raised an eyebrow slightly, then took the reins handed to him by a guard and shouted, "Let's go!"
"Go?"
The same word, different tones, represented two completely different meanings.
Tang Thirty-Six, sword in hand, looked at him and asked, "You think you can just leave like that?"
In this morning's battle, the National Academy students had seriously wounded four of Tianhai Shengxue's personal guards. Jin Yulu had swept through like a force of nature, injuring Fei Dian, and even Tianhai Shengxue himself had suffered no small fright. The National Academy side had suffered no losses at all. By all appearances, they had come out ahead.
Yet Tang Thirty-Six still refused to let it go. Chenliu Wang frowned slightly, looking at this young master of the Wenshui Tang family. Remembering how the boy had behaved so rudely and recklessly at the Weiyang Palace two nights ago, he found this youth's impulsive, big-picture-ignoring actions displeasing.
"We need an explanation."
The autumn rain gradually ceased. Chen Changsheng stepped forward two paces, pointing at the ruined gate behind him, and said.
Why had Tianhai Shengxue come to smash the National Academy's gate, even thinking of wiping out the academy entirely? Because he wanted revenge for his cousin Tianhai Yar. Though he wasn't particularly close to Tianhai Yar in ordinary times, the latter was still a member of the Tianhai family, and the National Academy had turned him into a cripple.
But that was a match at the Green Vine Banquet—a fair duel. If you lost, you lost. How could there be grounds for revenge? Moreover, even if revenge was the aim, he should have gone after Luoluo. Taking it out on the National Academy was a reason that simply couldn't be brought to the table.
There was also a deeper, hidden intention: to resolve some troublesome matters for the Holy Maiden Empress. This reason was even less fit to be publicly stated.
As for the final reason, that too could not be mentioned.
Chen Changsheng knew the other party couldn't give a reason, so he demanded an explanation.
Tianhai Shengxue's expression turned ugly.
Fei Dian sighed, looked at the fading rain, pointed at the puddles in the lane, and said, "The rain made the road slippery; the carriage overturned and people died. How's that for an explanation?"
The carriage that had smashed through the National Academy's gate had the finest cabin and the best warhorses. Even on the snow-covered, ice-bound passes of Yongxue Pass, let alone a rain-soaked autumn street in the capital, such a severe accident couldn't be caused by slipping.
This explanation was naturally shameless, but precisely because it was shameless, it was a concession.
Neither Chen Changsheng nor Tang Thirty-Six could say anything more.
"I'll be back."
Tianhai Shengxue mounted his horse and looked at Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "If you want to apply to the National Academy, I won't accept you."
Tianhai Shengxue laughed in fury, said nothing more, and left on his own.
Fei Dian looked at Jin Yulu, shaking his head, and said, "You're not Zhou Dufu. You can't change anything."
Jin Yulu kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, ignoring him, not responding.
The morning rain finally stopped. The people around Hundred Flower Lane gradually dispersed.
From early morning until now, the events at the National Academy's gate had been witnessed by many.
On the surface, this was a conflict between Tianhai Shengxue and the National Academy. In truth, everyone knew it was a struggle between the Great Zhou's new forces and the old imperial clan, between His Holiness the Pope and the old guard faction. But the forces backing the National Academy were clearly far too weak.
The opponent had only sent Tianhai Shengxue, newly returned from Yongxue Pass, while this side had to bring out Chenliu Wang and the Papal Secretariat just to protect the academy. You could say this showed how much Chenliu Wang and the Papal Secretariat valued the National Academy, but the reality was that the National Academy's side had no one else to field.
Chenliu Wang exchanged greetings with the three National Academy students.
Chen Changsheng returned the greeting but didn't thank him. He said, "In the palace, Your Highness said this was a matter among big shots like you. People like me, small fry, are dragged into it by you. So I won't thank you."
"Thank me? Indeed, there's no need." Chenliu Wang looked at him with a smile and said, "But... after the Green Vine Banquet, the entire continent knows you are Xu Yourong's fiancé. You're no longer an ordinary youth. You're no longer being dragged down by us. So I won't feel any guilt toward you either."
Chen Changsheng fell silent, realizing the impact the revelation of his engagement had on him.
Many people didn't want him and Xu Yourong to marry. The Tianhai family certainly didn't either.
This morning's events might also have been partly due to that.
"If anything happens, notify me."
After saying this, Chenliu Wang didn't deliberately linger to show goodwill but left calmly.
The lean man glanced at Chen Changsheng, then followed with the umbrella.
Priest Xin came over, exchanged a few words, joined Tang Thirty-Six in cursing the Tianhai family's arrogance, and then departed.
Only then did Xuan Yuan Po finally put down the door panel he had been holding.
He had been carrying that heavy academy gate panel for so long that even with his demon race's special physique, he found it exhausting.
"I'll go bury this horse later. When do we fix the gate?" he asked.
Chen Changsheng looked at the ruined gate and shook his head. "We won't fix it."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "If we wanted the Tianhai family to fix the gate, we should have forced them to bow their heads earlier."
"And what if they actually bowed their heads and fixed it?"
Chen Changsheng said, "It's fine for the gate to stay broken like this."
Xuan Yuan Po scratched his head, looking at the rubble and wood chips everywhere, wondering how this could be fine.
"Progress."
Jin Yulu said with a smile, "You're learning how to seek the greatest benefit."
The National Academy's gate remained broken. With each passing day, the people of the capital would increasingly see the Tianhai family as arrogant and despicable.
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said, "Senior, I don't like this kind of progress."
"I don't like it either."
Jin Yulu patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "But what can you do? There are too many bastards in this world. Unless you want to be like me and hide in the mountains to farm, some changes just have to be accepted."
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