Chapter 26: The Youth and the Passage of Time
In the radiant cathedral of the Holy Church, the Archbishop was contemplating a dark slaughter—to resolve the conflict sparked by the young students of the National Academy, to give this matter an ending acceptable to all parties, if the Pope would no longer protect Chen Changsheng, then of course Zhou Tong could die.
Yet Zhou Tong was no ordinary man. Just when everyone believed the small courtyard carpeted with fallen crabapple blossoms had reached a stalemate, he refused to accept the ending others had arranged for him. He gave this world an unexpected conclusion.
The Pope withdrew his gaze from the sky, looked toward the King of Linghai, and smiled faintly.
The King of Linghai's voice suddenly shattered, like countless dark ocean waves instantly breaking into white foam.
"What exactly does he want to do?"
"Many years ago, my sister was... raped and murdered by the son of a prince. Mm, not the heir, nor any favored younger son—just an ordinary son born to a concubine. I'd even wager that prince didn't even know he had this son, because like a breeding boar, he'd fathered over forty sons and a pile of daughters. But anyway... his surname was Chen."
Zhou Tong looked at Chen Changsheng, his eyes cold, but buried deep within lurked a trace of savage memory: "How could the imperial court bother with such a trivial matter? How would the Capital Prefecture or the Military Command dare to enter a prince's mansion to make an arrest? So this matter gradually faded from memory, until only I alone remembered how heavy the rain fell that day, how many wounds from wild beasts covered my sister's body... Yes, hard to forget. If you were me, what would you do?"
In the small courtyard, crabapple blossoms fell, covering the ground like snow, but mingled with traces of blood-red.
Chen Changsheng and the other two didn't know why he was bringing up these old matters, nor how to respond.
"Of course, I had to kill," Zhou Tong said calmly. "To kill that prince's son—mm, I was even thinking of killing that prince too. I prepared for a long time, ready to trade my life for a moment of satisfaction. But just as I was about to charge into the prince's mansion, someone stopped me. That person was Her Majesty."
He looked toward the direction of the imperial palace, an exceptionally complex emotion in his eyes. After a long silence, he continued murmuring: "Her Majesty said to me: The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for a cause."
Zhou Tong withdrew his gaze, looked at Chen Changsheng, and said calmly and seriously: "Do you understand?"
Chen Changsheng thought it over very carefully, then shook his head and said: "I understand, but I can't do it."
Zhou Tong laughed and said: "Who can? I didn't agree with Her Majesty's words, so I still drew my blade and charged into the prince's mansion. But luckily, Her Majesty only moved one finger and knocked me unconscious."
Tang Thirty-Six asked: "What happened after?"
Zhou Tong said: "Afterward, I naturally understood. So I began to endure, enduring for a very long time."
Tang Thirty-Six recalled a certain bloody case in the capital that had shaken the continent years ago. He had some suspicions but dared not confirm, and asked: "In the end?"
"In the end, of course I killed that man, and that prince as well... by slow slicing, naturally. And of course, I killed everyone in that prince's mansion—over forty sons and daughters... No matter how much they bred like boars, could it ever match the speed of killing? What Her Majesty said was indeed correct. I lived humbly, even abjectly, for those extra years, and only then could I finally achieve my goal."
Zhou Tong laughed like a child—joyful, innocent, and therefore feeling cruel.
Xuan Yuan Po opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, feeling the small courtyard suddenly turn cold.
Tang Thirty-Six confirmed it was indeed the Qishan Prince's Mansion massacre case from years ago, and fell silent.
Chen Changsheng suddenly said: "I think that young man from back then, clutching a dagger and ready to charge into the prince's mansion, was better than the you of later years."
As he said this, he looked very seriously into Zhou Tong's eyes.
Zhou Tong said: "Even if that was immature, even foolish?"
Chen Changsheng said: "Some things, sometimes... perhaps being immature is better."
Zhou Tong was quiet for a long time, then suddenly laughed.
He turned and walked toward the back of the courtyard. The wide sleeves of his crimson official robe brushed lightly, stirring up a flurry of red and white petals.
The side gate of the small courtyard creaked open. Several officials from the Ministry of Justice carried out a stretcher.
Zhe Xiu lay on the stretcher, pale-faced, eyes tightly shut.
Keeping Zhe Xiu locked in Zhou Prison for so many days—regardless of the pressure from the Li Palace or the Star-Gathering Academy—Zhou Tong had ignored it all, because it was the will of Her Majesty the Empress, and because it was applying pressure to Li Mountain.
—Just as he had said to Chen Changsheng, Zhe Xiu being in Zhou Prison meant the case of Zhou Garden was not over. The Li Mountain Sword Sect, having just emerged from internal strife, would inevitably have to pay something for this matter. For the Great Zhou, this was naturally a good thing.
Of course, his refusal to release Zhe Xiu also had some deeper reasons, but those couldn't be told to anyone. Just as, up to this moment, no one knew that he had actually planned to release Zhe Xiu long ago, only...
"Your Excellency, why did you agree to release him?" In the coldest room of the Ministry of Justice, Deacon Xin asked in confusion.
No one would have guessed that Deacon Xin—whom Archbishop Merisa had trusted most in his final months—would appear here at this moment, and clearly had an extraordinary relationship with Zhou Tong. No one knew exactly who he was.
"Why not release him? The pressure on Li Mountain should be sufficient. I originally wanted to see how the Li Palace would react. As it turns out, a sage like His Holiness the Pope is indeed beyond my scheming. But at least I saw with my own eyes what kind of person he is."
Zhou Tong closed his eyes, recalling the clean young man he had seen earlier beneath the crabapple tree.
Deacon Xin thought that what the Excellency had just said about the definition of maturity and immaturity was extremely reasonable and very difficult to counter. He had assumed it was Chen Changsheng's reply that had touched the Excellency's long-seasoned soul, prompting him to agree to release the prisoner...
"Moved?" Zhou Tong seemed to possess the ability to read minds. He opened his eyes and said expressionlessly: "I never had a sister. Who could be moved? Whose reply could move me?"
Deacon Xin shook his head and said: "Before the Archbishop passed away, he was always reading this book."
As he spoke, he took a scripture from his bosom and handed it over.
Zhou Tong reached out and took it, finding it was a famous volume of the Church's "Scroll of Time."
Looking at this scripture, he recalled the young man beneath the crabapple tree earlier, and was silent for a long time.
What he had told Deacon Xin was the truth.
He had always refused to release Zhe Xiu because he wanted to be here, amidst the two crabapple trees and the killing aura of Zhou Prison, to examine Chen Changsheng carefully, thoroughly, from head to toe, inside and out.
To him, this was the most important thing—more important than Zhe Xiu, more important than the cold intent of those two Archbishops to erase him.
Because he wanted to see a passage of time in Chen Changsheng's person.
(Daqing gale, plane can't land. I left home at seven in the morning and am still stranded at Changchun Airport. Turning what into what, yet I still managed to write this update. I love myself.)