Chapter 405: Having Talent Doesn't Mean Being Useful
Mo Yu lifted the cloth curtain in front of her, stepped out, and looked at the girl who was both pure and lovely yet exuded an air of nobility. She smiled and said, "Your Highness, I'm not quite sure I understand your meaning."
Luo Luo wasn't smiling. Her eyes were still very bright as she said, "You know what I mean. I want Zhe Xiu to return to the National Academy."
Mo Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, feigning confusion, and asked, "Wofu Zhe Xiu... what does he have to do with the National Academy?"
Luo Luo said very seriously, "Zhe Xiu is a student of the National Academy."
Mo Yu's expression was calm as she replied, "There's no record in the Education Bureau's registry. No one will acknowledge it."
This was a very direct refusal. If the National Academy couldn't prove that Zhe Xiu was a student, no matter how noble Luo Luo's status was, she had no grounds to pressure the Great Zhou court.
Luo Luo stared into her eyes and said, "You know very well that I and my teacher will definitely protect him."
Mo Yu said, "The court prioritizes the law above all. Whether Zhe Xiu is guilty or not, it must be judged first before anything can be decided."
Luo Luo asked, "Then have you considered what you'll say to my teacher when he returns?"
Hearing this, Mo Yu recalled Zhou Tong's earlier words. For some reason, anger stirred within her, and she said, "Why should I explain anything to Chen Changsheng? As if I'm afraid of him!"
Luo Luo said, "Then why don't you hurry up and bring my teacher back?"
Mo Yu sneered, "The reason Chen Changsheng hasn't returned is because he chose to follow Su Li. Now the whole world wants to kill Su Li, yet this fool insists on protecting him. What does that have to do with me? What does it have to do with Her Majesty? If Your Highness has the ability, why don't you first make him see how stupid he is!"
These words came out quickly, like pearls falling onto a jade platter, a clear stream of sound without pause, because she was truly furious.
Angry at his stubbornness, angry at his foolishness, angry at his disregard for his own life.
The "his" here naturally referred to Chen Changsheng.
Luo Luo's eyes grew brighter and brighter as she looked at her and said, "If Teacher doesn't return, he naturally has his reasons. If you're really worried about him, then have the ability to bring him back."
Mo Yu grew even angrier, thinking to herself, why would she care whether Chen Changsheng lived or died? She said, "Your Highness should know very well who stands behind the attempt to kill Su Li in Xunyang City. If you have the ability, then get His Holiness the Pope to revoke the decree!"
Luo Luo ignored her, turned around, and walked out of the palace, her clear, youthful voice still echoing behind her: "In any case, think of some way. Otherwise, you'd better have the ability not to crawl into my teacher's bed."
Hearing this, a faint blush crept onto Mo Yu's cheeks. Staring at her retreating figure, she suppressed her embarrassment and said, "Your Highness is still so young, yet you're quite concerned about such matters. I'm afraid I don't have that kind of ability."
Though she claimed to lack ability, when Mo Yu stepped onto the Sweet Dew Terrace and saw the Holy Empress standing at the edge of the high platform, bathed in the glow of the night pearls, she couldn't help but want to say something. In the end, when she finally spoke, it was about her earlier encounter. After the Holy Empress heard her out, she was silent for a moment before saying, "What's so good about that little brat Chen Changsheng... that he could make Luo Luo so anxious?"
Mo Yu replied softly, "I suppose Chen Changsheng is still somewhat useful."
The Holy Empress smiled and said, "A few days ago, a rumor was circulating in the capital that Chen Changsheng hadn't made it out of the Zhou Garden and might have died there. I heard she was very sad?"
Mo Yu thought to herself, "Sad" was far too simple a word. Just as she was about to take the opportunity to say something more, the Holy Empress suddenly turned around and glanced at her. It was just a simple glance, light and casual, without any hidden meaning, nothing like Zhou Tong or Luo Luo asking about her relationship with Chen Changsheng. But... her body suddenly turned several degrees colder.
—When she heard the news that Chen Changsheng had died in the Zhou Garden, her emotions had also been somewhat off.
Of course, she hadn't cried. She had just felt a sense of loss, a vague melancholy, as if something was missing from her life. She knew this emotional reaction was problematic. She was very afraid that someone would notice this problem. Yet tonight, first Zhou Tong had asked, then Luo Luo had brought it up, and now Her Majesty had glanced at her. How could she not be nervous?
Fortunately, the Holy Empress did nothing. She simply reached out and gently stroked Mo Yu's smooth, delicate cheek, like petting a cat, or like admiring a beautiful object. Everyone knew that Mo Yu was an extremely beautiful woman, beautiful like a work of art.
The Holy Empress rarely showed such intimacy to anyone, not even her own biological daughter, let alone her deceased sons or the descendants she had exiled to various provinces. Over the years, only Mo Yu had been an exception. Sometimes, certain gossips even speculated about the relationship between these two women, the highest in the Great Zhou court, weaving tales tinged with scandal. But such rumors never spread too far. Because the Holy Empress's status was too exalted, and also because the Holy Empress herself was a beauty—she was even more beautiful than Mo Yu. Since the reign of Emperor Taizong, she had been recognized as the number one beauty in the world.
"Chen Changsheng won't die."
The Holy Empress looked at the countless stars in the night sky, her expression very casual.
Hearing these words, Mo Yu felt as if she were listening to celestial music. She immediately relaxed a great deal. She walked over to the Holy Empress's side and, as she did in the best of times, gently took the Holy Empress's arm.
"And Su Li? Will he die?"
At noon today, news that Su Li and Chen Changsheng had appeared in Xunyang City had only just reached the capital. The confirmation that Zhu Luo had made his move came in the evening. Su Li was an enemy the demon race feared, but he had also always been an opponent of the Great Zhou. Mo Yu wouldn't spare him a shred of the concern she had for Chen Changsheng. She was only somewhat worried, because Su Li was no ordinary man. His life or death could very well change the situation across the entire continent. And what exactly did the Holy Empress think about all this?
"What I think... doesn't really matter, because no one has ever asked me what I think."
The Holy Empress stood at the edge of the Sweet Dew Terrace, her hands clasped behind her back. Her figure was graceful, yet it gave one a sense of embracing the world. But the words she spoke now carried a hint of mockery and coldness.
Mo Yu understood Her Majesty's meaning. General Xue He had made his move without first receiving Her Majesty's decree. Yet the entire continent would attribute his actions to the Holy Empress's will—too many people in the Great Zhou court, whether from the old or new factions, whether in the government or the state religion, wanted Su Li dead. Because hundreds of millions of Zhou people shared a common dream: to unite the north and south and unify the world.
"But... let him die then." The Holy Empress looked at the star in the night sky that had shone brightly for centuries but was now unusually dim. After a moment of silence, she said, "After all, I don't like Su Li as a person anyway. He is too... detached from the human world. What use is there in keeping him?"
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(The next chapter will be updated before midnight.)