Chapter 218: Heaven Dao Sage Tablet
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
…
The storm in the Yan Capital didn"t seem to have any intention of stopping. Instantly, it grew stronger and stronger.
This caused the air in the Imperial ACademy to seem somewhat stressful. Especially after "All hail the emperor!" sounded out from outside the door, everybody felt as if there was a huge stone in their hearts.
From the time the World of the Sage had went out of control till now, a very long time had pa.s.sed.
However, it still didn"t seem to have any intent of recovering.
One must know that the people within the World of the Sage were all the future creme of the Great Xia Dynasty. It was like the foundation of a dynasty.
They represented the future of the Great Xia Dynasty.
If there was no future, how could a dynasty survive for long?
Especially when the Xing Qingsui of the Stabilisation Constabulary was also trapped within. That was the son of the first wife of the Stabilisation Constabulary"s Xing Hou, the a.s.signed successor of the Stabilisation Constabulary.
Most importantly was Ping Yang.
The Princess Ping Yang who was favored the most by the Emperor, a person whom no accidents must occur to.
King Duan Lin Xinjue didn"t personally report this to Emperor Lin Mubai. He knew very well Emperor Lin Mubai"s reaction after hearing this piece of news.
Furthermore, there still wasn"t a confirmed answer to the incident occurring inside the World of the Sage.
Under such circ.u.mstances…
Why would he be willing to take responsibility for this unknown storm? However, this was an imminent storm. Even if he wanted to avoid it, there was no way to do so.
Hence, he could only accept it.
King Duan Lin Xinjue stood up from his chair. Han Changfeng naturally stood up as well. However, once the two of them stood up, they knelt down on the floor together.
Other than King Duan Lin Xinjue and Han Changfeng, all the Imperial Messengers in the Imperial Academy also knelt down on the ground.
n.o.body dared to raise their heads.
The footsteps outside the door grew nearer and nearer, then it stopped.
Lin Mubai wore a golden dragon robe and stood with his hands behind his back. His eyes carried an expression that was completely out of harmony with his appearance. He didn"t look at the people kneeling down onto the ground. Instead, he only gazed at the somewhat empty room.
Behind him, stood Ninth Prince Lin Yun dressed in a brocade robe, Crown Prince Lin Tianrong dressed in a white dragon robe, Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping drssed in a white official robe, and the Six Council Officials of the dynasty.
By right, Crown Prince Lin Tianrong could avoid this matter altogether. However, he still came. Because, he was the crown prince, the crown prince that controlled the imperial government.
He simply had no way of s.h.i.+rking this responsibility.
Hence, Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping naturally came as well.
If the Emperor, the crown prince, and the left prime minister were all present, how would the Six Council Officials dare not to come?
"Your imperial examination was indeed held very well. I remember when we were choosing the chief examiner of the imperial examination, each of you fought so hard for this, promising to do it very well. But now?" Emperor Lin Mubai spoke.
The emptiness of the room reflected that the World of the Sage was still out of control. Then, things wouldn"t be solved very easily.
King Duan Lin Xinjue lowered his head. The other imperial messengers also kowtowed on the floor.
n.o.body dared to reply. Because, everybody could hear the anger that Emperor Lin Mubai attempted to conceal in his tone. Once the Son of Heaven raged, no matter how high you stood, you could still fall a thousand yards.
"Speak!" Emperor Lin Mubai spoke again. A powerful aura expanded outwards.
This caused King Duan Lin Xinjue"s back to instantly become soaked with sweat. He wanted to speak, but his throat felt unnaturally dry. He couldn"t produce a single sound.
Han Changfeng"s forehead was also beaded with sweat. However, he couldn"t follow King Duan Lin Xinjue and remain silent. Because, he was the chief examiner of the imperial examination.
Hence, no matter what happened, he couldn"t remain silent.
"I feel that the World of the Sage being out of control, might be… a good thing!" Han Changfeng lowered his head. Even a man as calm as him felt an immense pressure when faced with the air of a dragon that Emperor Lin Mubai gave off.
"A good thing? Mister Han please continue." Emperor Lin Mubai didn"t sit down. Instead, he stood on the spot without a change in his expression.
"Replying Your Majesty, ever since I became the imperial messenger of the Imperial Academy, and held the role as chief examiner for the imperial examinations for so many years, I had always been cautious and conscientious, and displayed utter loyalty and responsibility. I had never made any mistakes. I don"t believe that this imperial examination is affected by external powers. The reason might be because related to the fact that Fang Zhengzhi had broken the Broken Bridge, the Twin Stone Tablets and the stone house." Han Changfeng gritted his teeth.
"Continue."
"I believe that the World of the Sage being out of control seems very dangerous, but, it might be a test. A test given by the World of the Sage to the examinees. The World of the Sage is a world created by Sagely Battle G.o.d Meng Tian. Hence, no matter how dangerous the test would be, there wouldn"t be any threats to their lives. The longer it dragged meant that the examinees went through more tests. Could… this be a form of opportunity?" When Han Changfeng finished his sentence, his heart tightened.
This was the best way of putting things. It was equivalent to pus.h.i.+ng himself towards the place where the wind and the waves were the fiercest. If his guess was correct, he could naturally avoid a disaster being pinned onto his head.
However, if a real problem occurred...
The charge of hosting the examination inappropriately would be worsened.
However, Han Changfeng didn"t have any other choices. Because, if there was really something bad occuring in the World of the Sage, there was simply no way he could avoid the charges. Since he would be in trouble either way, what harm would there be in adding another charge to this?
"Oh?" When Emperor Lin Mubai heard this, his brows clearly relaxed.
He naturally understood the World of the Sage very well. There was only one reason why the World of the Sage went out of control. That was a piece of consciousness Sagely Battle G.o.d Meng Tian had left in the World of the Sage.
That consciousness temporarily controlled the World of the Sage.
Just as Han Changfeng said, that consciousness originated from Sagely Battle G.o.d Meng Tian. Hence, there was a huge possibility that no true harm would come to the examinees involved in the imperial examinations.
But what if it wasn"t a test?
Emperor Lin Mubai now had two choices. One was to forcefully open the World of the Sage. However, that could possibility disturb the consciousness within the World of the Sage, and might even destroy the World of the Sage.
Even though there was a chance to save the people, there was also a chance to kill them…
The other possibility was to wait.
Just as Han Changfeng guessed, wait for the test of the World of the Sage to end.
These were two very difficult choices. If there was something bad occurring within the World of the Sage, further waiting would definitely aggravate it. However, if the World of the Sage was completely fine, what would they do if a problem suddenly occurred?
Emperor Lin Mubai gazed at the empty room, weighing the benefits and losses.
n.o.body spoke at this moment, and n.o.body helped Han Changfeng to beg for forgiveness at this moment.
Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping frowned slightly. His thin face seemed somewhat dark. Han Changfeng was a good ally of the Crown Prince, hence he evidently didn"t wish to lose Han Changfeng due to such an incident.
However, acting before there was a clear resolution to the incident…
Was undoubtedly causing them to fall into the trap of becoming the pa.s.sive party.
Hence, he waited.
Similarly, none of the Six Council Officials spoke. There might be some logic behind what Han Changfeng was saying. However, before things were truly resolved and understood, who would dare to stand out blindly?
As for Crown Prince Lin Tianrong, he naturally wouldn"t speak. Han Changfeng was the Crown Prince"s teacher. This was something that every knew. As the Crown Prince of the dynasty, he had his own stance.
This stance was fairness and justice.
The atmosphere in the Imperial Academy returned to its initial state of silence.
Until…
A scene suddenly appeared in mid-air inside the room.
In that scene stood a youth wearing a blue robe. He held a sword in his hand. A sword that had a purple scar at the tip of the blade.
And around the youth.
Countless swords were whirling around him with blazing speed.
This was a shocking scene. What was even more shocking was that in front of the youth, there was a weakly middle-aged man. That man was tolerating countless swords stabbing through his body.
The middle-aged man didn"t produce a single sound. Instead, he bit down hard onto his lips.
Blood, stained the earth.
...
Outside the Yan Capital, within the Ten Mile Lake, a boat sailed slowly into the distance. The torrential rain battered the boat, causing the flag on it to dance in mid-air.
Yun Qingwu, wearing a white robe, stood quietly at the head of the boat. She held a green umbrella in her hand and gazed in the direction of the Yan Capital.
"It should have ended about now."
"Young lord, we need a minimum of one month to get from the Yan Capital to the Huai An County… please remember to rest." The lady in the green dress looked at the back of Yun Qingwu. She didn"t inquire further about the results of the imperial examination. Because, Yun Qingwu had never been wrong about what she said.
Then, Ying Shan"s task should have failed.
Or, it could be said that ever since the very start, this was a task doomed for failure. However, she didn"t express any suspicion. Just as Yun Qingwu said, if a failed task could lead to victory of the overall situation, was it still a failure?
"Yes, the Huai An County…" Yun Qingwu nodded. Her eyes were slightly hazy. A picture suddenly flashed across her mind. That was the Hundred Flower Gathering held a few months ago at the Huai An County. It was that very moment which she had been unveiled.
Huai An County, Cang Ling Mountain.
Didn"t Fang Zhengzhi grow up from the Northern Mountain Village below the Cang Ling Mountain?
As she thought, Yun Qingwu instantly shook her head. Very quickly, her gaze turned brighter.
"A demon appeared in the imperial examination. The combat examination would be forced to stop. Han Changfeng"s position as the Chief Imperial Messenger would definitely be hard t o hold onto. The human race would have lost a great talent leading the Imperial Academy. The Crown Prince controlled the government, hence he wouldn"t be able to escape censure. King Duan has failed in his responsibilities of supervising the imperial examination. Hence, the Cang Ling Mountain situation wouldn"t concern the two of them anymore."
"Stabilisation Constabulary, the head of the thirteen constabularies. I am really excited to see how you would foil the plans I had set in the Cang Ling Mountain? The "Heaven Dao Sage Tablet" is mine, "The Vast World" is also mine. This is a deadlock!"
…
Inside the Imperial Academy, everybody stared silently at the scene that appeared in mid-air.
That was naturally the scene depicting the World of the Sage.
The scene depicting the World of the Sage had appeared in the Imperial Academy. This seemed to be a happy occasion, representing the fact that the World of the Sage had returned to the control of the Imperial Academy.
However, when this scene appeared in the middle of the Imperial Academy, n.o.body could feel happy. Because, everybody"s gaze was fixed upon the youth inside the scene.
Even Emperor Lin Mubai"s eyes flashed with light. Because, this was a scene that n.o.body would be able to imagine, and a scene that simply n.o.body would be have to predict...