When he was facing Eunuch Lin in the Orthodox Academy, when he was facing his master Shang Xingzhou, when he was in the snowy mountains, when he was facing the Tang Second Master in the Daoist Church last night, whenever he encountered those depressing figures and elders, Chen Changsheng would always think of that friend.
That was the first friend he met after coming to the capital from Xining Village, and it could also be said to be the first friend of his life.
His acquaintance with that friend was actually rather inexplicable. It was when the Heavenly Dao Academy was recruiting students. Many examinees who had completed their Purification and even reached the Meditation realm were lining up to be tested. He, who had no idea what cultivation was, saw a youth dressed in blue, and then that youth, who was clearly a cultivation genius, said that he was also a genius. That youth went to the Plum Garden Inn, found Chen Changsheng, ate a meal, and then the two became friends. It was as simple as that.
That friend was called Tang Tang.
At the time, he was ranked thirty-sixth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, so he changed his name to Tang Thirty-Six.
From that time until now, the Proclamation of Azure Sky and the Proclamation of Star Distinction had changed countless times. His ranking was also constantly changing, but he never changed his name. Perhaps it was because he had always lived under the name Tang Thirty-Six in his most cherished youth.
The reason Chen Changsheng would often think of Tang Thirty-Six and miss him, besides because he was his friend, was also because Tang Thirty-Six had always played an extremely important role for him and the Orthodox Academy. The things that he, Su Mo Yu, Zhexiu, and Xuanyuan Po were not good at, Tang Thirty-Six was very good at. The things that they could not say, Tang Thirty-Six could easily say. The things that they were too embarrassed to do, Tang Thirty-Six had never known the meaning of losing face.
To put it another way, it was precisely because of Tang Thirty-Six's existence that he and the Orthodox Academy had been able to pass their years in the capital so easily and smoothly.
Tang Thirty-Six was the type of person who could make his own people happy and his opponents miserable.
Because he was the sole grandson of the Tang clan, he was especially rich and fearless. Especially after entering the Orthodox Academy, he no longer played the part of a graceful young master. He was extremely arrogant, incomparably free and unparalleled. He had scolded little girls on the Divine Avenue and kicked a cripple in Hundred Flowers Lane. There was nothing that he did not dare to do.
He possessed the things that Chen Changsheng lacked the most.
That was the true hot-bloodedness, youthfulness, and ego hidden beneath the arrogance and haughtiness.
During the coup of the Mausoleum of Books, Tang Thirty-Six had been forcibly taken away from the capital and returned to Wenshui. It had already been three years since then.
Apart from the two and a half years in the old mansion, he had already been imprisoned in the ancestral hall for half a year.
His arrogance seemed to have disappeared.
Those hot-blooded youthful selves were nowhere to be found.
His hair was unkempt and his face was dirty. He was slovenly and his clothes were dirty. His eyes were dull as if he was a dead man. He kept his mouth shut as if he was mute.
There was only numbness and lifelessness on his body, which meant that he had given up and was in despair.
Anyone who saw him now would probably think that he was a beggar or an ascetic.
No one could associate him with that noble young master who stood among the flowers and received the adoring gazes of countless young girls in the capital.
But Chen Changsheng would not, because he understood his friend better than anyone else, trusted him more than anyone else.
He believed that even if he discovered that the sun had sunk into the abyss and could no longer rise, that the world was on the verge of destruction, Tang Thirty-Six would not hide in his bed and cry. Instead, he would summon all the courtesans of the capital and hold an open meeting. Then, he would bring those youths that he felt were qualified to fight alongside him, bring an unimaginable amount of gold and silver and several carriages full of blue lobsters, and ride the fastest horses towards the place where the sun had set. And then, he would incessantly curse at the sky and sing the stupidest songs.
If Chen Changsheng could see the scene in the ancestral hall, he would know that his thoughts were correct, and that his worries were unnecessary. Last night in the Daoist church, he had said to the Tang Second Master that he was very worried that Tang Thirty-Six might not have a good prayer mat in the ancestral hall, that he might have hurt his knees from kneeling for too long.
Tang Thirty-Six did not kneel at all.
No matter how lonely his figure was, no matter how disheveled and dirty, no matter how lifeless, he still did not kneel.
He did not kneel on the prayer mat, but sat on it.
And he sat with his legs crossed.
It was the most inelegant of sitting postures.
His legs were spread open, his crotch facing … the countless memorial tablets in front of him.
Those memorial tablets were the ancestors of the Tang clan, his ancestors.
So what?
You want to imprison me, so don't expect me to respect you.
… …
… …
Tang Thirty-Six was naturally still the Tang Thirty-Six of the past.
Yes, after being imprisoned in the ancestral hall, he was completely cut off from the outside world. Let alone writing to Chen Changsheng, he didn't even have anyone to talk to.
According to the Tang Old Master's orders, no one was allowed to speak to him. Other than a mute servant responsible for sweeping the courtyard, there was no one else in the ancestral hall.
It was also from that day onwards that Tang Thirty-Six stopped speaking.
No one could carry out the so-called silent resistance more thoroughly than he did.
Unable to hear news from the outside world, unable to know how his father's illness was or how his mother was, it was naturally a matter that made him very anxious.
But it also gave Tang Thirty-Six enough time to think and cultivate.
Perhaps it was because the ancestral hall was too quiet with no one to disturb him, or perhaps it was because his father's illness was worsening and seemed on the verge of death, but he only needed half a day to understand something that he had not understood two years ago: the reason for the Tang Old Master's actions.
In the several hundred years that the Tang Old Master had been in charge of the clan, what was the most famous thing about him?
It was his insight.
Whether it was Su Li or Wang Po, they both proved that the Tang Old Master had a pair of discerning eyes that could see through people.
Later on, when the Tang Old Master gave the Yellow Paper Umbrella to Chen Changsheng, who was about to enter the Garden of Zhou, it was naturally not because of the friendship between Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six, but because the Tang Old Master valued Chen Changsheng the same way he valued Su Li and Wang Po. Moreover, this investment would strengthen the relationship between the Tang clan and the Orthodoxy, greatly benefiting from it.
Why had he suddenly changed his mind?
Firstly, the Tang Old Master and Shang Xingzhou were truly kindred spirits, a secret friendship that had been maintained for several hundred years.
At the beginning, he had tacitly allowed Tang Thirty-Six to befriend Chen Changsheng and secretly help the Orthodox Academy largely because Chen Changsheng was Shang Xingzhou's student.
Now that Chen Changsheng and Shang Xingzhou, master and disciple, were strangers, the Tang Old Master naturally had to consider which side he should support.
From the perspective of the Tang clan's internal affairs, the Tang Old Master needed to resolve the problem of succession.
Shang Xingzhou and the Imperial Court supported the second branch.
Chen Changsheng and the Orthodoxy unquestionably supported the chief branch.
In the coup of the Mausoleum of Books, the Tang Second Master's performance had been extremely outstanding, and Tang Thirty-Six was keenly aware that his second uncle's callous and unyielding nature was far more appreciated by the Tang Old Master than his father's gentle path. Crucially, his father was already gravely ill and incurable. If he chose the chief branch, he would be choosing Tang Thirty-Six.
A son in the prime of his life and his methods formidable, a grandson with considerable potential but still not fully fledged — how should he choose?
If one looked into the history of the past, casually glanced at the old books, one would know what to choose.
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