Priest Xin suddenly felt that the plum blossoms in the room were emitting a chill, even though most plum blossoms liked the cold. In order to drive away this coldness, he squeezed out a smile with some difficulty and continued to narrate the excitement of Orthodox Academy, especially focusing on the reaction speed of the Four Great Markets after Chen Chang Sheng had represented Orthodox Academy in accepting the challenge, the pergola at the entrance of the Hundred Blossom Lane, and the amount of money that had been endlessly congregated into the Four Great Markets.
"It seems like there aren't as many bets as there were during the Grand Examination." Mei Li Sha said with a smile.
Priest Xin did not understand. The match between Zhou Ziheng and Chen Chang Sheng the next day would certainly attract a lot of attention, but how could it compare to the Grand Examination? In the next moment, he finally remembered something. During the Grand Examination, when no one was optimistic about Chen Chang Sheng's chances, he had bet his entire fortune on Chen Chang Sheng – because His Eminence, the Archbishop, was optimistic about Chen Chang Sheng.
"I understand," he said to the bishop with a smile, "I will ask someone to help me place the bet in a while."
The entire Li Palace now knew, ever since Orthodox Academy had embarked on the road of revival, Minister Xin had become a trusted aide of Archbishop Mei Li Sha, his stance was the Archbishop's stance. For this year's Grand Examination, Minister Xin had bet his entire fortune on Chen Chang Sheng, as a result, even if the clergy of the Education Board didn't think highly of Chen Chang Sheng, they still bet a lot of money on Chen Chang Sheng.
This was a huge sum of money.
Besides the Wenshui Tangs' calm and unyielding attack, the Heavenly Fragrance Market had lost so miserably in the end because they had to pay off all the money the Li Palace priests had won.
Hearing Priest Xin's words, Mei Lisha laughed and then started coughing. The room echoed with painful coughs. After a long time, he finally stopped. He breathed a few times tiredly and looked at the sky outside the window. He said regretfully, "I originally wanted to see what level Chen Chang Sheng had reached. Unfortunately, I can't see it."
For Chen Chang Sheng, tomorrow was the first time since the Grand Examination that he would be able to officially display his strength and level in front of the world. He had viewed the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Books, held up the sky in the Garden of Zhou, carried Su Li on his back and fled the snowy plains of the land of demons, returned south … in these past few days, all the things he had learned and experienced would be revealed tomorrow.
He would present and report the results to those who cared about him.
Tomorrow would be a brand new day for him.
However, to Mei Lisha, there was no tomorrow.
Priest Xin suddenly felt his legs turn to jelly. With great difficulty, he walked to the front of the couch and looked at the calm bishop. He was so nervous that he could not speak. The entire Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education was quickly immersed in a tense atmosphere. A piece of news spread to all corners of the capital.
The square in front of the Bureau of Traditional Education no longer had the bloodstains from last autumn, but the row of maple trees was as red as blood, as if the harsh autumn had arrived ahead of time. It turned out that dusk had arrived.
No matter which interpretation it was, it was inauspicious and sad.
Since autumn had arrived, would the silent winter be far behind?
With the arrival of dusk, wasn't the night just around the corner?
When the night fell and the lanterns were lit, Chen Chang Sheng rushed to the Department of Traditional Education. He didn't have time to pay attention to the greetings of the priests and directly went to the deepest room.
The room was still filled with plum blossoms, but many of them were no longer flourishing and were showing signs of withering.
"I'm going to die." Mei Lisha looked at him and said. His voice was very gentle, as if he was afraid of scaring a child.
Chen Chang Sheng had pondered over life and death countless times. There were many times when he thought he could see through life and death, such as in front of the Black Dragon or in the Garden of Zhou. He had even thought that he had understood some of the true meaning of life. For example, those who were most afraid of death were often the least afraid of death, and in life, only by not being afraid of death could one not die. Only by staking one's life could one continue to live.
But now, looking at the aged Bishop, he suddenly realized that his views were still incomplete. This was because he had never thought, if there was no enemy, or if your enemy was time, then how could you fight against it? When death approached, how could you remain calm? He didn't know, therefore, he didn't know what to say at this moment.
Mei Lisha looked at him and smiled. He didn't continue this topic and asked: "How confident are you tomorrow?"
Perhaps it was because death was imminent and there was too little time, the Bishop's words today were especially direct.
Chen Chang Sheng was also very direct, without any hesitation, he said: "100%."
Mei Lisha thought that Chen Chang Sheng was trying to reassure him, he smiled and said: "I believe that you have actually thought many times, why I am so good to you."
Chen Chang Sheng was silent, he had obviously thought many times, but he couldn't come to a conclusion. He knew that it was definitely related to a very important matter, but he didn't want to think in that way.
"There are some things that I am hiding from you, or even purposely deceiving you, but you must believe me, believe His Holiness, believe your teacher."
Mei Lisha said: "Perhaps the truth of many things is different from what it seems on the surface, but that is only taking a different path, the final destination has never changed. Just like the arrangements we have made for you, in the future, perhaps you will feel dissatisfied or even angry, but you will have to see what the final result is. I believe that no matter what, it won't be bad for you."
Chen Chang Sheng didn't really understand the meaning of these words, but he understood the Bishop's meaning – these two meanings were different – as long as the result was good, then the process and methods used in the middle weren't important. This was what Mei Lisha wanted to say. But was it in terms of heart or actions? Chen Chang Sheng looked at Mei Lisha's aged face, he didn't want to think about this question anymore, he thought that for an old man who was about to leave this world, continuing to ask questions was a very cruel thing, and he could feel that this old man was truly thinking for his own good.
In the eyes of the world, no matter if it was the Ivy League gathering or the Grand Examination, for Chen Chang Sheng to obtain the final victory and his name to shake the Capital, the person that he and Orthodox Academy needed to thank the most was Archbishop Mei Lisha. Before His Holiness personally placed the Crown of Thorns on Chen Chang Sheng's head, Mei Lisha was the only person in the world that supported him, he was Orthodox Academy's greatest backer, he was obviously very close to Chen Chang Sheng. Only Chen Chang Sheng himself was clear, he and Archbishop Mei Lisha hadn't even met face to face a few times. From Xi Ning to the Capital, everything had happened too quickly, time had passed too quickly, in a moment of surprise, he and Orthodox Academy had come to this day, and Mei Lisha was about to die.
They hadn't known each other for long, they were separated by several hundred years, so they naturally couldn't be said to know each other, but he could feel that Archbishop Mei Lisha was truly good to him, and was also … very protective, as if he knew the greatest secret of his life, so when he looked at him, his eyes always carried an apologetic expression, all feelings were mutual. Currently, looking at him who was about to die, Chen Chang Sheng didn't know what he could do to help, he felt a little helpless, very apologetic, to the point that his eyes became moist.
… …
… …
Mei Lisha let Chen Chang Sheng leave, letting Minister Xin enter the room and take down a book from the bookshelf to read.
In the last moments of his life, he was still reading, it was a Scripture of the Way with a rather old cover.
He read for a very long time, then closed the book, looked out the window at the darkness, and murmured, "Principal Shang is truly an extraordinary person."
Minister Xin didn't understand why, at this moment, His Eminence would think of that former principal of the Orthodox Academy, even though the Chen Chang Sheng he had just met was that person's student.
"Interesting." Mei Lisha's withered finger tapped the Scripture of the Way twice, then said, "I'm very curious, how will the life of the next Pope be recorded in the Scripture of the Way."
Minister Xin didn't understand, but he also didn't want His Eminence to be worrying about the important matters of the Orthodoxy after his death, so he asked, "Sir, just who do you think will win tomorrow's battle?"
This was to change the topic, and also because he was truly curious, it had nothing to do with his entire wealth, but he really didn't understand.
In the Grand Examination, Chen Chang Sheng's victory could be considered a miracle.
He broke into Ethereal Opening on the spot, then used the final move of the Mount Li Sword Style to force Gou Han Shi to forfeit, only then did he obtain first upon the First Banner.
Tomorrow, his opponent was the Star Condensation cultivator Zhou Ziheng, he couldn't possibly break into Star Condensation on the spot like in the Grand Examination. A miracle signified an extremely rare occurrence. If, in the short span of half a year, a miracle could occur twice, then it wouldn't be called a miracle, it would be called impossible. No matter how Minister Xin looked at it, he couldn't see that Chen Chang Sheng understood the possibility of defeating Zhou Ziheng. He wanted to know, did His Eminence truly believe that Chen Chang Sheng would win, or did he just want to increase that youth's confidence in the final moment of his life, to protect and escort him for a period of time.
The petals gradually withered, but the plum branch remained firm and upright, even if it was twisted, even if the temperature in the room suddenly dropped, becoming bitterly cold, it still didn't show the slightest sign of breaking.
Mei Lisha looked at the plum blossom pot on the table, smiled and said, "I still favor Chen Chang Sheng."
… …
… …
Chen Chang Sheng sat in the hall, Luoluo sat by his side, she didn't say anything, only holding onto his hand. The priests stood at a distance, not bothering them, people like Zhou Ziheng might sometimes forget that this youth was already the principal of the Orthodox Academy, but the people here couldn't possibly forget, and the current atmosphere was rather oppressive.
After some time had passed, Chen Chang Sheng raised his head and realized that the hall was abnormally quiet, those priests had gone off to some unknown place.
An old man dressed in a hemp robe quietly stood in front of the mural in the hall, it was the Pope.
This mural was very large, but it only depicted a plum tree.
The fragrance of plum blossoms came from the bitter cold, whether it was the Orthodoxy, South Stream Temple, or the Mount Li Sword Sect, when it came to educating the next generation, they all adopted this view.
Chen Chang Sheng stood up and walked over, respectfully bowing, then he asked a question that had troubled him for a very long time.
Perhaps it was because tonight was a special night, or perhaps it was because Mei Lisha had been very direct with his words, but his question was very direct.
"Why did His Holiness suddenly change his view?"
The view here naturally referred to the Pope's view of the Divine Empress, of the Imperial clan, and of the world.
Chen Chang Sheng looked into the depths of the hall and said, "It naturally can't be because of me, and I think that it shouldn't be because of him."
… …
… …
(I still favor Bayern Munich.)
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