Chapter 97 – The Bloody Case of the Bureau and the Academy in the Autumn Rain
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
It was at this moment that a figure moved. The young deputy general lunged up to the wall and extended a hand to stop Tang Thirty-Six while whispering, "That's enough! If you really do end up killing someone, it'll be very difficult to wind this matter down. That guy of yours was so big, do you really think no one will remember him?"
Tang Thirty-Six spread out his hand and dropped the piece of stone back into the plum blossoms growing along the wall. "Thanks."
Today, if not for this young deputy general and the Imperial Guard, he still would not have allowed the Orthodox Academy and Chen Changsheng to continue enduring such humiliation, but no matter what, he would have never been as happy as he was right now. Moreover, now he didn't need to worry about any problems from the aftermath.
The young deputy general expressionlessly said, "Your thanks aren't needed, I just hope that you remember what you said."
Tang Thirty-Six's expression subtly changed. "I said a lot of things today."
The deputy general patted him on the shoulder and said with heartfelt sincerity, "Those words of yours that mentioned my younger sister and disgraced my family—you have to give an explanation, right?"
Without hesitation, Tang Thirty-Six declared, "I've devoted my heart to cultivation and breaking through. I've decided that before the age of fifty, I won't think about matters of man and woman."
The young deputy general's complexion changed and he angrily said, "F**k your grandmother, what about my younger sister then?"
Tang Thirty-Six smiled apologetically. "Isn't my grandmother also your grandmother? Cousin, that's not appropriate."
Gone were the crowds in front of the Orthodox Academy. Not a single person remained, just a street littered with stone and no small number of bloodstains. There were also a few plum branches, most likely the result of Chen Changsheng handing over stones too quickly and accidentally mixing in a few branches as well.
Chen Changsheng looked at the Imperial Guards in the center of the lane preparing to move and said, "So that was the case."
Tang Thirty-Six helplessly sighed, "You have no idea of how frightening that female cousin of mine is."
At this point, Xue Xingchuan walked out of the restaurant and mounted the Red Cloud Qilin in preparation to leave. From his expression, he was probably somewhat satisfied with the result.
As the second-ranked Divine General of the continent, Xue Xingchuan had an extremely rigorous management style, and so there was no way he did not know the background of an important subordinate like the young deputy general. He naturally knew that the deputy general was a relative of Tang Thirty-Six, but he still let him manage this matter, so his position was very clear.
With the people gone and the lane empty, Xuanyuan Po had at some point sneaked his way back. The three youths thanked Jin Yulu and then returned back into the Orthodox Academy.
Chen Changsheng was somewhat confused. "Why did Divine General Xue want to help the Orthodox Academy?"
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "For so many people to gather to make trouble in such a short time, even if your ability to attract hatred is too strong, there must have been someone to incite them."
Chen Changsheng asked, "Who could it be?"
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Who else could it be?"
Even Xuanyuan Po knew that it must have been the Tianhai clan that had attempted unsuccessfully to crush the Orthodox Academy this morning.
Chen Changsheng grew even more confused. "Divine General Xue must be one of the people the Divine Empress trusts the most, or else he would not be able to control the Imperial Guard."
"I already told you, the Divine Empress and the Tianhai clan are not the same thing."
"But why?"
"To put it more simply, she is a daughter-in-law of the Chen clan. Although she carries the surname of Tianhai, her children carry the surname 'Chen', her grandchildren will carry the surname 'Chen', and all her descendants until the end of time will carry the surname 'Chen'. It was rumored that His Holiness the Pope once said to the Divine Empress that there has never been a nephew who swept and maintained his aunt's grave."
"But the rumors say that the Divine Empress doesn't have any…"
"Quiet." Tang Thirty-Six looked straight ahead and said, "There are some matters that can't be said and shouldn't be said."
Chen Changsheng thought this over, then stopped thinking about this question. "Thank you."
He was thanking him for the matter from before.
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "You're welcome."
Besides the few people in the Orthodox Academy and the demi-humans, who felt this way because of Luoluo, the entire continent was unwilling to see Xu Yourong marry Chen Changsheng. Many great ministers had expressed their concern and opposition to this matter, and their views were naturally unaffected by things like envy, jealousy, or hatred. Instead, they stemmed from the resistance against the demons and the confluence of the north and south. From the time of Emperor Taizu to the present reign of the Divine Empress, the confluence of the north and south, the true unification of humanity, had always been the Great Zhou's paramount policy priority.
In today's gathering of the Imperial Court, an extremely intense quarrel had broken out over Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong's engagement. Although those ministers who were still secretly loyal to the old Imperial clan were delighted at this matter, before these ministers of the new faction who spoke about the greater good of the country, they were forced to retreat, step by step. Ultimately, the Imperial Court reached the opinion that more time was needed to make a decision on this engagement.
Of course, the opinion of these ministers was not important because the engagement was a private matter between families. No matter how powerful these ministers of the court were, they could not interfere, only express their position. As long as the Pope's seal was still on that marriage contract and the Divine Empress remained silent behind her curtain, no one could reject this marriage.
Soon after, the news that a bloody incident had occurred in front of the Orthodox Academy very quickly spread throughout the capital. Some professors slapped their tables in anger, unable to endure it all, and some ministers gloomily and sourly criticized Xue Xingchuan for supervising the matter unfairly. Some of the common people even began to demonstrate, gathering in front of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education and demanding that the archbishop expel Chen Changsheng and drive him from the capital.
For a moment, everyone in the capital turned their gazes to the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education. They all wanted to know how this archbishop who seemed to always be asleep would resolve this intractable problem while also taking into account the unfathomable intentions of the Divine Empress and the Pope.
To the surprise of all, the archbishop simply did not care for the positions of the Divine Empress and the Pope, did not spend so much time in thought as people imagined. He went straight to the simplest and cruelest of methods: breaking up the crowd in front of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education.
The archbishop directly ordered the Orthodoxy guards to sally forth with horses. The area in front of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education was covered in dust and howls of misery. Bones were shattered and blood flowed as the crowd fled in all directions. It was very much like the scene that had taken place in front of the Orthodox Academy, but bloodier and more frightening.
Everyone watching the activity in front of the bureau was stunned. Only now did they realize how unyielding of a person the archbishop was. Some people understood even more from this matter—without making a request to the Pope, the archbishop was able to move so many guards of the Orthodoxy, meaning that the archbishop was far more powerful than had been imagined.
According to the statistics collected in the aftermath, in the two bloody incidents of the Orthodox Academy and the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, three had died and three-hundred-plus had been injured, with seventy-some people having heavy injuries. Compared to the number of casualties, the sight had been much crueler and bloodier, its effects much deeper and more despicable.
On that day, there had been a bout of autumn rain, so in the later records, this matter became known as the Bloody Case of the Bureau and the Academy in the Autumn Rain.
Behind this bloody case of bureau and academy, many people could faintly see the shadow of the Tianhai clan.
In the western part of the capital was a secluded manor, the home of the Tianhai clan.
A middle-aged man sat in a bamboo chair by the edge of a forest, gazing into the distance at the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education. "You see, those elders were finally unable to hold back."
Xu Shiji stood at his side and slightly frowned, his mind occupied with unknown thoughts.