Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Zhice left the capital, and no one knew when he would next emerge from Sangharama Temple.

Shang Xingzhou had also returned to Luoyang, and it would be many years before he left the Monastery of Eternal Spring again.

Before leaving, he went to the Imperial Palace and had a conversation with Yuren.

The first words Yuren gestured to him were: "When the Holy Maiden entered the palace that night, I promised her nothing."

On that night, Prince Chen Liu made an overnight journey to Luoyang.

Shang Xingzhou's silence had persisted from then until today.

From a certain perspective, he had fallen into Xu Yourong's trap.

Xu Yourong had used her momentum to strike at his heart.

Yuren's meaning was loud and clear: 'If Master truly did doubt me, you could have come and asked me beforehand.'

Shang Xingzhou had not asked. He had given a reason for this to Xu Yourong in the Mausoleum of Books:

No letter from the Imperial Palace had come to Luoyang.

The many days that had passed were enough to write a very sincere letter, but Yuren had not sent even half a word.

Yuren gestured, "If Emperor Taizong were still alive, what would he do? Would he take the initiative to write a letter?"

From Xining Village's old temple, perhaps from even earlier, Shang Xingzhou had begun teaching Yuren how to be an outstanding sovereign.

In Shang Xingzhou's view, and also the entire continent's, the most outstanding sovereign in all of history was naturally Emperor Taizong.

He hoped that Yuren could become the second Emperor Taizong, so he naturally had to study and imitate him in every matter, every day.

When confronting the most complicated and difficult of choices, Yuren would frequently think about what Emperor Taizong would do.

The answer was obvious.

Emperor Taizong would have never taken the initiative to write a letter to Luoyang.

"You did well."

Shang Xingzhou looked at Yuren with an expression of great gratification.

"But you still did not do enough. Emperor Taizong would have been blaming himself even more right now. He might have issued a decree criticizing himself by now."

The snowstorm had stopped long ago and spring returned to the earth. The plazas of the Imperial Palace were drenched by the thawing snow, and from the distance, one could see green buds growing from the chinks in the stone.

Yuren watched as that figure retreated into the twilight. As he thought about their conversation, he said to himself, I am still far inferior to Grandfather.

There were probably many areas in which he was inferior to his grandfather, like in hypocrisy.

For instance, he had not been able to resolve the problem between Shang Xingzhou and Chen Changsheng.

Moreover, his master was still old.

Yuren thought about the greying hairs on Shang Xingzhou's temples and became rather dejected.

Eunuch Lin took a sideways glance at the emperor's face and suddenly felt rather sad.

It had been many years since he had first entered the palace in Emperor Xian's era, and he was already very old and had seen many things, but he was finding it harder and harder to understand the thinking of the younger generation.

Whether it was the young Emperor or the young Pope.

They all respected elders like Wang Zhice and Shang Xingzhou.

But they also needed to surpass them, to completely defeat them.

But why?

Today, Mount Mo had collapsed.

This made Mount Ji the highest peak in the capital's vicinity.

The Prince of Zhongshan squinted at the distant sunset, his gaze sharp.

The moment he learned of the result in the Orthodox Academy, he had left Hundred Flowers Lane.

He did not want to kneel to Chen Changsheng, and he did not want to remain in the capital.

Shang Xingzhou had admitted to his defeat, so one could presume that the princes of the Chen clan would find their lives harder and harder.

He had decided to return to the county conferred to him, and he was just waiting for an imperial decree now.

If he left without a decree, the Imperial Court could charge him as a traitor at any time, and he did not wish to offer up a reason on a silver platter.

The Prince of Xiang walked to the summit. Gazing at the mountains bathed in twilight, he sighed.

He was also waiting for an imperial decree, but the contents of this decree would be different from the Prince of Zhongshan's.

The Prince of Zhongshan asked, "Were you surprised to see the venerable Daoist lose?"

"I followed the venerable Daoist for ten-some years, so I truly didn't think it was possible."

The Prince of Xiang's hands held up his belt as he caught his breath. He then continued, "But whether it was a win or loss, it was still a matter between a master and his two disciples."

These words seemed to contain a deeper meaning.

The Prince of Zhongshan sneered, "A temple of Xining rules the world. The White Emperor was right."

The Prince of Xiang sorrowfully said, "The world, huh I'm also not sure just which family this world belongs to."

The Prince of Zhongshan glanced at him and said, "Are you still not willing to admit that he's our younger brother?"

The Prince of Xiang said nothing, but his fingers plunged into his portly flesh.

The Prince of Zhongshan slightly frowned and asked, "Just because it was that woman that gave birth to him?"

The Prince of Xiang rebuked, "That's Imperial Mother."

The Prince of Zhongshan angrily said, "A hypocrite through and through! How boring. In this aspect, you really did learn a great deal from Grandfather!"

The Prince of Xiang bitterly smiled. "It's a pity that Imperial Father did not think this way."

The Prince of Zhongshan jeered, "That's because Imperial Father didn't like Grandfather."

At this moment, the imperial decree finally arrived.

The Prince of Zhongshan had received the decree he wanted.

It was clear that the emperor also did not want him to remain in the capital where he would curse his mother every day.

The Prince of Xiang did not receive the decree that he wanted.

The emperor had ordered that Prince Chen Liu remain in the capital, of course under some nominal reason.

The Prince of Zhongshan patted the Prince of Xiang on the shoulder and left.

The Prince of Xiang stood in the sunset. After quietly thinking for a while, he began to walk down the mountain.

By the time he returned to the relay station, everyone else had already heard the news.

The princess had almost lost consciousness from crying while his other sons and daughters had faces covered in tears, though the occasional glint of happiness could be spotted in their eyes.

"I didn't give him a good name back then. The word 'Liu' wasn't auspicious."1

The Prince of Xiang seated himself in a palace armchair and looked at his children in the room. "He's spent the majority of his life in the capital as a hostage, contributing a great deal to our clan. I'm not saying that you should be grateful, but can I trouble you to be a little sincerer when you act out your sorrow?"

Upon hearing these words, they all looked at each other in dismay. Perhaps because they were embarrassed or nervous, someone really did begin to cry, which quickly became a string of unbroken laments.

The Prince of Xiang seemed rather annoyed at this noise. Holding his belt, he walked into the rear courtyard of the relay station. With the support of the maids, he got onto his princely carriage.

A thick blanket had been laid out in the carriage, holding delicious fruits and beautiful women.

A very fat man was surrounded by fine foods and fine women.

A perceptive observer would realize that this man was very similar to the Prince of Xiang, or even exactly the same.

The Prince of Xiang walked up to the man and sighed. "I'm saying that you should also act a bit more authentically. After all, I am an expert of the Divine Domain, so you should have a little bearing, right?"

The man said with a bitter expression, "Your Highness, if I could reach your level, would I still need to be a substitute?"

The Prince of Xiang helplessly said, "What about bearing then?"

The man sternly said, "Your Highness is just this sort of kind and amiable person!"

North of the Cong Province Army headquarters and west of the Starfall Mountains was a grassland.

This grassland was the ancestral home of the Elf race, but the wars between the demons, demi-humans, and humans meant that it had long been abandoned. However, it had now become a paradise for monsters.

Monsters that were rarely spotted elsewhere in the continent could all be found here. Of course, this also meant danger and chaos.

Several years ago, however, a freak and an Earth Monkey arrived at this place.

This freak quickly became the sovereign of this grassland.

And then, another person came.

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1. The 'Liu' of Prince Chen Liu, , means 'stay/remain'.