Shang Xingzhou said nothing. He stood up and walked out of the room.
Prince Chen Liu froze for a moment and then hurriedly followed.
Shang Xingzhou walked up the stone steps to the roof. It seemed to be a stargazing platform.
The chilly wind ruffled his sleeves.
Prince Chen Liu finally noticed that this Daoist monastery had no array to protect against heat or cold.
Shang Xingzhou raised his head to the starry sky. He did not hold his hands behind him, his blue sleeves swaying in the wind. He looked like a clown on a stage. It seemed like in the next moment, he would slightly crouch down and then charge forward, or perhaps jump into the starry sky, and then laughably fall back down.
Prince Chen Liu gazed at his back and subconsciously compared him to the Divine Empress on the Dew Platform.
"In order to destroy a person, one must first make them crazy."
Shang Xingzhou's voice was very light, like the wind. It had no flavor, no emphasis, and it was impossible to sense his true emotions.
Prince Chen Liu did not know where these words were pointing. Was the crazy Xu Yourong or the emperor? And who was the one about to be destroyed?
Shang Xingzhou's eyes gradually deepened in the sea of stars and he said no more.
Prince Chen Liu bid farewell. After leaving the Monastery of Eternal Spring, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at that roof.
He was still not sure if tonight's trip to Luoyang was correct.
This morning, Xu Yourong had arranged to meet him in the Orthodox Academy and said those words. They seemed extremely deliberate.
She had made him feel deliberate, and this had originally been a deliberate action.
But if he had never had these thoughts, how could he have been moved by this deliberate action?
In these last few years, he had hidden his ambitions extremely well. No one knew of them, not even his father or acquaintances like Mo Yu. Even the Tianhai Divine Empress had only suspected, not confirmed. Of course, this might also have been because she simply did not care.
But he could not hide it from Xu Yourong.
Back in the Imperial Palace, he had felt that the girl's gaze on him was rather strange, always carrying a faint smile.
She had not exposed him back then, so why was she saying this now? Why had she so deliberately given him this chance?
Prince Chen Liu could not miss this chance. He also knew that if his reaction was the slightest bit inappropriate, Shang Xingzhou would regard it as a provocation, so he appeared extremely calm and frank. It now seemed that this sort of response was feasible. At the very least, Shang Xingzhou had not reacted.
So what should he do next?
Prince Chen Liu rushed through the night back to Jingdou. By the time he arrived at the gate of his manor on the Road of Peace, the morning light had already dispersed. The winter sun had arrived in the sky, and warmth had gradually arrived.
It seemed that the winter was really about to pass, and it was time for everything to be renewed.
Prince Chen Liu walked into the mansion with some emotion.
"You should know very well that the Holy Maiden wants to use us to force His Majesty to stand on the Pope's side."
The Prince of Xiang stared into his eyes and asked, "This being the case, why did you still go to Luoyang?"
"Yourong has always done things fairly. Even when it comes to strategy, she is always very open and aboveboard."
Prince Chen Liu had already become even calmer. Even when facing his father's incomparably cold gaze, his expression did not change.
"Wildfire is scary, but without this fire, we wouldn't even have the chance to take the grain out of the fire."
The Prince of Xiang's eyes suddenly turned berserk, flames glimmering within them, and his voice grew even colder. "But have you ever thought that only in chaos can victory be won? Does she have the ability to throw the venerable Daoist's mind into chaos?"
Prince Chen Liu said, "I understand Yourong. Even if the venerable Daoist wins in the end, it will be a Pyrrhic victory."
The Prince of Xiang was quiet for a while, then asked, "Then when do you think it will begin?"
Prince Chen Liu replied, "From the moment she arranged to meet me at the Orthodox Academy, this chess game began. Her entry into the palace last night was a killing move. "
The Prince of Xiang arched his brows. "A killing move?"
Prince Chen Liu replied, "Yes, this move is a chess game for the struggle for the world. It must be answered by the world."
The Prince of Xiang sighed, "So the storm has already arrived."
"Only after the storm can one see the rainbow."
Prince Chen Liu said, "When I was little, the Empress taught me that the rainbow comes from the sun, and we are the descendants of the sun."
The Prince of Xiang understood what he meant. Staring into his eyes, he said, "His Majesty's blood is similarly pure."
Prince Chen Liu said, "But in the end, he is still a cripple."
The wildfire in the Prince of Xiang's eyes was gradually extinguished, but the ambition that had been hidden for many years, just like his son, was gradually emerging.
He asked, "When the time comes, will His Holiness the Pope agree?"
Prince Chen Liu replied, "If Yourong loses, His Holiness the Pope will naturally not be alive."
"One last question."
The Prince of Xiang asked, "You've never said what will happen if the Holy Maiden wins."
Prince Chen Liu smiled. "Other than the death of one's entire family, what price can there be to be worthy of this chess game for the world?"
The Prince of Xiang was quiet for a very long time, and then he also began to laugh. As he laughed self-deprecatingly, the ambition in his eyes gradually dissipated and his expression became even gentler. His round face was like that of an old farmer or a wealthy man, lovable and amiable.
He placed his hands on his fat belly and sighed, "It seems like you and Ping will have to hurry up with your marriage."
… …
… …
In the early morning, the Li Palace was extremely quiet.
The sound of the withered tip of the bamboo broom scraping against the hard stone floor could be heard from the distance.
Chen Changsheng opened his eyes, gazing at the complex and incomprehensible carvings on the ceiling of the palace, his thoughts inscrutable.
He had woken up before five o'clock. This was an extremely rare occurrence, and it was even rarer that he did not immediately get out of bed.
To many ordinary youths, lazing around in bed was one of the most beautiful pleasures in the world, but to him, this was unquestionably an extremely irresponsible waste of time and would make him feel extremely guilty.
He had not gotten out of bed because this was his first day in the Li Palace.
He was still rather unfamiliar with his surroundings, somewhat unaccustomed to them, and even a little fearful. He did not know where to wash his face and rinse his mouth, what sort of service he would receive, and he did not even know where the clothes he had taken off last night had been arranged.
He also did not know what Xu Yourong had said to his senior brother when she entered the palace last night.
Only when the eaves of the palace took up most of the sky and the quiet outer hall was illuminated by the winter sun did he finally get out of bed.
The first person he saw was An Hua.
Those tens of thousands of believers who had used candles to petition last night had finally been persuaded to leave late in the night, but An Hua had not left.
She had already waited in the hall for an entire night. Her eyes were somewhat red, perhaps from exhaustion or from crying.
"It seems like this is the only way to deal with the matter of your aunt."
Chen Changsheng took the Daoist robe from her hands and looked into her reddened eyes. He apologetically said, "I hope that you do not blame me."
An Hua immediately replied, "How could I dare blame Your Majesty?"
Chen Changsheng could tell that she was not lying. Confused, he asked, "Then why are you sad?"
An Hua lowered her head and asked, "Your Majesty, are you really intending to leave?"
In the many dynasties before the Great Zhou, the Daoist faith had also been the Orthodoxy, and there had been many Popes in history.
The Pope did not have a term of office. Until the moment they returned to the sea of stars, they would be the divine authority of the entire Orthodoxy.
But of those Popes in history, there were truly a few who, either because they were unwilling to be entangled by mundane matters in pursuit of the Great Dao or because they were disheartened by something, ultimately ended their term of office early, choosing to hide in the mountains or go to the other side of the sea of stars.
An Hua had studied at a young age in the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and later became an instructor, dedicating all her youth to the Orthodoxy. She could even recite some of the scriptures in the Daoist scriptures backwards, so she was naturally aware of these matters. The more she thought about Chen Changsheng's words in the Great Hall of Light, the more she felt that Chen Changsheng might choose that path. She was so nervous and uneasy that she did not even believe Tang Thirty-Six's comforting words. She wept several times that night.
Chen Changsheng gazed at the sky parted by the eaves of the palace.
He once more recalled the dark night that he had sensed on the other side of the sea of stars.
He would bear the responsibility that he had to bear.
But after doing these things, if there was a place even further away, he would naturally have to take a look. (To be continued.)
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