Chapter 672: An Imperial Edict
The clear autumn light spilled over the Scripture Depository, bringing a profound stillness.
Suddenly, a voice sounded. It was very old, very calm, very elegant, unhurried and convincing.
Elder Lin said, "I know what you're thinking. You think His Majesty has been coerced by us treacherous ministers, which is why he issued that edict three days ago, ordering the National Academy to be surrounded and no one allowed to leave. But you're wrong. That edict was indeed personally drafted by His Majesty himself, because... he wants to protect you."
As he spoke these words, he kept his eyes fixed on the young man by the window—or rather, he stared at him, as if trying to see through him. Yet, the young man showed no reaction. No matter what he heard, he still kept his head lowered, silent. How could there be no reaction? Whether gratitude, disbelief, mockery, anger, or anything else, after hearing such words, there should have been some emotional change, shouldn't there?
The Depository remained quiet. Perhaps for this reason, Elder Lin did not continue speaking, nor did he read the edict. He simply let the silence persist.
No one knew how much time passed before the young man finally raised his head and looked out the window at the cold autumn scenery.
Three days had passed since the great battle at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. His complexion was still pale, and he had clearly grown much thinner, yet his expression remained calm.
On his face, one could see neither grief nor anger, neither confusion nor helplessness—only calmness.
His clear, youthful features, deepened by contemplation, had become more steady. This was not the youthful maturity that the world had once praised him for, but genuine maturity.
In the span of a single night, having experienced so much, having traversed life and death, having witnessed so many scenes—some ugly, some magnificent—who wouldn't become mature?
Thinking of these things, Elder Lin's gaze toward the young man inadvertently carried a trace of pity.
The bright yellow imperial edict had been taken from his sleeve. It was not unrolled but held tightly in his hand like a spear.
"You know what I came to the National Academy to do today." Elder Lin was silent for a long time, then said, "I have come to take Her Majesty's remains away."
The Depository remained quiet. The autumn wind poured in through the window, roaming freely between the bookshelves and the floor.
"And then?" Chen Changsheng said.
For three days and three nights, he had not eaten, not drunk, not spoken—until now.
His speech was very slow, his voice very hoarse, like a desert that had been scorched by the sun for three autumns.
"You've finally spoken."
Elder Lin looked at him and said, his voice filled with much emotion.
Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, "I spoke earlier. If I hadn't spoken, how could you have entered this place?"
As he said this, he still looked out the window. Outside was the yellowing grass, the slightly cold autumn lake, and the large banyan tree by its shore. His voice was calm, seemingly devoid of any emotion. His expression was serious, with no hint of mockery, because this was merely a calm and objective statement.
Yet Elder Lin found it somewhat hard to bear, feeling as if something was blocking his chest.
This was a fact—though somewhat meaningless, it was still a fact—that he had asked Su Moyu to open the gates of the National Academy.
It had nothing to do with Elder Lin, nor much to do with the imperial edict. It was simply that he had wanted to speak.
Just as a certain youth had said three years ago at the Plum Garden Inn, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong both left people with nothing to say.
The building fell silent again, until Elder Lin spoke once more.
"Yes, but you still spoke in the end." He looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "Just as not everyone is willing to live and die with the National Academy."
"The National Academy is not the Star-Gathering Academy. It has no strict rules, nor any moral code. It is merely a place of learning. What right does it have to demand such things?"
Chen Changsheng held no hatred for the teachers and students who had left the National Academy, nor did he feel the need to explain himself to this old eunuch.
"And then?" he asked, looking at the autumn scenery outside the window.
This was a repetition, an emphasis, but more importantly, it was the answer he wanted to know.
"After retrieving Her Majesty the Empress Dowager's remains, there will naturally be a grand burial—no, of course, a state funeral." Elder Lin said expressionlessly. "Though in my view, that demoness deserves to have her bones ground to dust and thrown into a gutter, she is still the late Emperor's lawful wife and His Majesty's birth mother. Her status is what it is. You need not worry about these matters."
Chen Changsheng still gazed quietly at the autumn scenery outside the window and said, "I have already buried her."
The Depository fell silent again, for a long time, without a sound.
Since she was already buried, there was naturally a grave. If there was a grave, it could not be exhumed, not even by imperial edict.
Because this involved ethics, propriety, and the principle that the dead are paramount.
"Since the graves in the Garden of Zhou could be opened, there is no grave that cannot be opened."
Elder Lin narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at him, saying, "You might as well tell me directly where her grave is."
She was buried deep in the Hundred Herbs Garden.
Chen Changsheng thought silently, but did not answer.
Over the past few years, he had met the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress several times, all in the Hundred Herbs Garden.
He had never asked Her Majesty why she liked drinking tea in the Hundred Herbs Garden—what that small stone table, that iron teapot, and the black tea and white tea meant to her.
But in the Hundred Herbs Garden, she had touched his face, looked into his eyes, and he had seen reminiscence in her gaze. He knew she loved this place most, because it held the most beautiful time of her life.
So he buried her in the Hundred Herbs Garden.
"Dean Chen, are you defying the imperial edict?"
Elder Lin's eyes narrowed even more sharply, his intent razor-sharp, his tone exceptionally tough.
This was the first time he had addressed Chen Changsheng as Dean, very solemnly, with an unusually serious expression.
Chen Changsheng looked at the autumn scenery outside the window and said nothing.
It was only then that he realized autumn without rain was actually quite uninteresting.
Without rain falling on the red or yellow leaves, the dust rising beyond the courtyard walls scattered the sunlight, making it no longer clear and beautiful, but sticky and unpleasant.
He did not like this kind of autumn.
"Whether it was Zhu Luo or the Stargazer, after death they turned to dust and flowing light, returning to the sea of stars, leaving no trace in the mortal world. Her Majesty's cultivation far surpassed those two. If she had wished, at the moment of death she could have turned into a cloud of stardust. Yet she did not. Do you understand why?"
Elder Lin had come inside the building, standing on that dark yet gleaming floor.
That high threshold was behind him.
He looked at Chen Changsheng and continued, "Because Her Majesty knew you were sentimental. She knew you would definitely take her remains away, and that would leave all these troubles behind."
As he said this, his tone became somewhat grave, or rather heavy, his expression very serious.
Chen Changsheng understood his meaning and knew that most people in the world thought the same way, but he did not believe it.
A person like the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress, before returning to the sea of stars, would hardly have the mood to bother with such trivial matters after her death.
Unfortunately, no one would believe that.
"The demoness died at the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. You rendered meritorious service, not to mention that you are His Majesty's junior disciple."
Elder Lin's voice grew increasingly stern: "But everyone saw that she saved you at the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, and they also saw you carrying her away."
Chen Changsheng still looked at the autumn scenery outside the window and said nothing.
Elder Lin said, "In the eyes of others, you are nothing now. Ignoring you or killing you would be very simple matters. Even Dean Shang believes that keeping you is useless, that keeping you brings no benefit. But... I do not think so. That is why I came to the National Academy today to deliver the edict, because I want to give you a chance."
Chen Changsheng blinked, as if trying to crush all the autumn meaning outside the window.