Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

It was unknown whether Zhou Tong had managed to spy a span of time on Chen Changsheng's body, but he was currently gazing at the Scroll of Time in his hands.

The Scroll of Time was also called the 'Canon of Flowing West' and was one of the most important scriptures of the Orthodoxy. Simultaneously, it was also the most profound and abstruse classic of the Daoist Canon. 'The trend of the river moving west cannot be slowed' was the meaning of its name and it gave an account of subtle observations of the Dao concerning time. Before he died, Mei Lisha had not forgotten to read this Daoist scripture—What did this mean?

As Zhou Tong gazed at the cryptic and incomprehensible words of the Canon of Flowing West, he silently pondered this question.

Priest Xin continued to describe what had happened in that room filled with plum blossoms. "He said that Principal Shang truly is an extraordinary man."

Zhou Tong narrowed his eyes and his gaze abruptly turned cold and sharp. A person on the verge of death would speak the truth. An extraordinary priest like Mei Lisha had long since become indifferent to the thought of death. On the eve of his death, why did he read this Daoist scripture, why did he suddenly mention this man who had disappeared into hiding for many years?

Priest Xin paused for a moment, and then remembered the archbishop's final emotional sigh. "He was very curious to see just how the Daoist Canon would record the life of the next Pope."

Zhou Tong's two eyebrows leapt up. There was no wind in the quiet room, but his red official's gown began to undulate as if the sea of blood had come to the world.

The outer appearance originated from one's mental state. This phenomenon indicated just how heavy the mental assault brought on by Priest Xin's account was—because from these words and this book, he had faintly been able to seize upon a clue.

The next Pope? The entire continent knew that if nothing too out of the ordinary occurred, the Orthodoxy's next Pope would inevitably be Chen Changsheng. Mei Lisha had been the staunchest promoter of this matter and so he would naturally not be thinking of anyone else. So then why was he curious about how Chen Changsheng's life would be recorded? Why did he think this matter was so interesting? Or was it because he believed that there would definitely be a different view expressed in the annals of history? And just what matter would it differ on? What was the most important thing in life? To contribute to a great cause or to cultivate and live a moral life?

Zhou Tong's official's robe blew around ever more fiercely and the room reeked with the stench of blood. The sea of blood surged with monstrous waves, just like his current emotional state.

Priest Xin's face was deathly pale. He was almost unable to bear this terrifying pressure, but he also didn't dare to retreat.

Suddenly, all the pressure vanished without a trace, and Zhou Tong's eyebrows slowly went flat. His gaze was no longer sharp and official's robe returned to quietly covering his body. On his face appeared an unfathomable smile.

"Do you know what the most important thing in a person's life is?"

"The most important?" Priest Xin did not understand why the lord would suddenly ask this sort of question.

The smile on Zhou Tong's face grew increasingly sincere, like a blooming flower. However, when paired with his sinister aura, it only made the whole picture increasingly bizarre.

"The most important thing in a person's life is not the level to which one has cultivated, nor is it power and the symbols of authority, but rather…the dates of birth and death." He walked to the door and looked out at those two crabapple trees, listening to the sounds of carriage wheels rumbling along in the distance. "Whether discussing the scriptures of the Orthodoxy or the annals of history, in order to record a person's life, the first thing that must be confirmed, and also the first words that must be written, are what year and month you were born, as well as the place of birth. Only by confirming these pieces of information can we confirm just which person is which."

Priest Xin walked behind, not knowing how to respond. He could vaguely sense that although Zhou Tong seemed very calm on the surface, he was actually extremely nervous within.

What sort of words or matters could have occurred to cause such a terrifying figure as Zhou Tong to get nervous?

"The crabapple blossoms had already begun to wilt and the prison possessed a divine might. He stood between them, and yet he was unmoving as a lake."

Zhou Tong's eyes narrowed once more, except this time his gaze was not sharp like a sword. Rather, it was brimming with perplexity and a sort of unease that not even he was able to realize.

Priest Xin also wished to know: the lord had orchestrated such a large stage, but besides clearing up the motives of some powerful figures, was he able to succeed in his most important objective? Zhou Tong wanted to see what sort of person Chen Changsheng was, but it could also be said that he wanted to see what person Chen Changsheng was. But normally, the phrase was ‘unmoving like a mountain’, so why did he rate Chen Changsheng to be unmoving like a lake?

"He's very similar to a person." Zhou Tong's face suddenly revealed a smear of fear. "He's very similar to the man described in the secret records within the palace, Chen Xuanba."

Priest Xin was confused. In the annals and legends of the common folk, Chen Xuanba was the strongest expert of the Chen Imperial clan in the past one thousand years, on par with Emperor Taizong. He had always possessed a fierce and crude reputation, so in what aspect was he the slightest bit like Chen Changsheng? And why did he have to say it was the Chen Xuanba of the secret records in the palace? His Excellency naturally had the opportunity to access the top-secret records in the palace. Perhaps the Chen Xuanba recorded there was different from the Chen Xuanba spoken of in the legends?

"Our grand Emperor Taizong modified all the histories and Daoist scriptures that he could modify, so Chen Xuanba naturally became a crude warrior that had no idea of the general situation and couldn't grasp the bigger picture. No could have thought that the true Chen Xuanba was actually a very quiet person," Zhou Tong said with a derisive air.

Priest Xin thought those two lines of commentary were rather familiar, then he remembered that it was the same evaluation the archbishop had given of Chen Changsheng not too long ago.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Tong said, "Chen Changsheng is also a very quiet person."

The ‘quiet’ here had many meanings. For instance, when talking was not required, one did not speak. Or when one's words were clumsy, the actions were sharp and the heart was calm. Or when encountering some great task, one would have a calm air.

The small courtyard was quiet for a very long time.

Finally, Zhou Tong said, "In addition, he is also surnamed Chen."

Priest Xin left, departing from the alley of the Northern Military Department with an extreme pressure and anxiety on his mind. This pressure on his mind had nothing to do with his two identities, but rather with that piece of information that had faintly revealed itself in Zhou Tong's words. Could Chen Changsheng really be a descendant of the Imperial clan?

He did not dare dwell on this, much less pry deeper, because it was very obvious that even Lord Zhou Tong was nervous about this matter.

Zhou Tong truly was very nervous, because he knew much more than Priest Xin, and due to his status and identity, he was required to think about and clear up these concerns.

He stood on the stone steps of the small courtyard, gazing at those crabapple trees now utterly devoid of blossoms. For what seemed like forever, he remained silent in contemplation, not caring for the disturbances coming from outside the courtyard.

Before Mei Lisha died, he said that the traitor Shang was a truly extraordinary man.

Before Mei Lisha died, he was reading the Canon of Flowing West, reading about how time was like water.

Yes, the traitor Shang could help the Empress go against the heavens and change fate. To halt an infant's growth for four years, just what did that amount to?

Perhaps Chen Changsheng was just a mature youth? But to be so dull and gloomy, to be that mature, could he really just be a sixteen-year-old youth?

Actually, the age of the disciple that the traitor Shang had brought with him away from Xining Village was a match. Moreover, it was said that he was a cripple and a mute, much more in agreement with what was said in the rumors.

But that was too conspicuous, too precise, and thus too untrustworthy.

Maybe, that disciple was used as a method to hide from the Heavenly Dao?

Perhaps the true one had long since had his life essence adjusted by the traitor Shang through the Canon of Flowing West?

Zhou Tong felt like his body was getting ever colder.

He knew that the chief eunuch most loved by the Empress had, in the past few months, been checking up on that old case in the palace.

That the Empress had not let him do this did not mean that the Empress did not trust him, but rather signified that the Empress did not want anyone else to know of this matter.

Crown Prince Zhaoming really could still be alive.

If the Empress really did go against the heavens and change fate, and it really was as described in the rumors, then the price paid for this defiance was much more miserable than the common people could imagine.

She was doomed to have no sons and grandsons, for her bloodline to be completely wiped out. Only this way could she become a person that was truly cut off from all others.

If Crown Prince Zhaoming still lived, it indicated that the Empress's change of fate was not yet truly complete!

It at least indicated that the Empress's changing of fate still had a weakness.

If all of this was true.

Then shouldn't it be that Crown Prince Zhaoming's existence should be eradicated to have everything return to tranquility?

Zhou Tong felt that the temperature of the courtyard was dropping by the second. It was obviously the beginning of summer, but it somehow felt like the courtyard was in the throes of a bitter winter.

Even he who was regarded as the most cold-blooded of all, when thinking about those stories of the past and the story that could possibly take place, couldn't help but feel that it was too cruel.

And yet, why did those people send Chen Changsheng to the capital? Did they think they could hide it forever from the Empress? Hide it from me?

Zhou Tong's complexion grew extremely unsightly. He realized that this puzzle had many things about it that were currently impossible to clarify.

The Divine Empress stood upon the Dew Platform, gazing up at the sky.

In the early morning, the sky was an azure blue. Later on, a fight took place in front of the Orthodox Academy and a carriage went off to the Department for Purging Officials. A cloud emerged from some place and the sky became gray and gloomy. It seemed like the gray sky wanted to cover up all truths, but how could it possibly have the power to obscure her eyes?

The vast majority of people believed that it was impossible to see the stars during the day, but she could. It was just that she did not like to see the stars in the day, because it would cause her to remember Emperor Xian, to remember Emperor Taizong, and to remember many other people with the surname 'Chen'. Now when she gazed up at the sky, it was precisely because she was thinking of someone with the surname 'Chen'…a youth.

She knew that Zhou Tong had guessed at something, checked on something, and begun to suspect, consequently bringing about today's excitement in the capital.

She did not care about it, much less become angry, because there were still many things that she herself was not sure of.

The stars in the day were hidden behind the radiance of the sun, but their positions were not at all different than what they were at night.

She calmly gazed at the star that was her own Fated Star, that star which was the brightest in the sky. She calmly remembered how several centuries ago, she had used an unimaginable power to change the position of this star, simultaneously changing its brightness. Automatically, the countless stars around her own also began to change.

The changing of a single person's fate would eventually affect countless others, even the fate of the entire world.

Even a butterfly flapping its wings twice could cause a storm in the Great Western Continent, to say nothing of what placing herself proudly in the clouds above could cause.

But, with all these fates gathered together, just what sort of power decided it? Was it the Heavenly Dao?

If Zhaoming really was still alive, what sort of retribution would the Heavenly Dao send against her?

If Zhaoming really did die back then, what sort of retribution would the Heavenly Dao send then?

Several centuries ago, when she offered a sacrifice to the stars, she had once sent a wrathful and unyielding excoriation towards the Heavenly Dao. Back then, her wrath had been out of despair and grief, and she held no love or hate towards the world. Therefore, she was so powerful that not even the Heavenly Dao dared to stare directly into her eyes.

But she had not imagined that Zhaoming would actually be born.

From that moment on, she knew that she would have to directly confront the Heavenly Dao, but before she had time to do anything, the Heavenly Dao noiselessly vanished, retreating into the darkness.

Until last year, when the radiance of a star fell upon the Orthodox Academy and a person lit up their Fated Star.

The Heavenly Dao had seemingly come to find her.

The Fated Star really could turn out to be the baneful star upon her fate.