510 An Appointment in Seven Days

"Of course not." Tang Thirty-Six looked him in the eyes. "You can lose to thatperson, the Orthodox Academy cannot. In the future, how will His Holiness beable to speak in front of the Empress? Don't forget, this isn't just yourmatter alone, but the entire Orthodoxy's matter." These matters were known by the entire continent, so there was no need to keepit away from those singers and dancers. However, the atmosphere still couldn'thelp but become more stifling. Tang Thirty-Six wished for Chen Changsheng's mood to improve. Putting on asmile, he said, "And it's not like you want to shake up the role of thehusband? You didn't see how shocked these girls were when you said that youplanned to lose." On the side, Su Moyu shook his head. "These words are inappropriate. Whetheror not His Holiness has annulled the engagement between the two of them, sinceChen Changsheng is already determined to not continue with the marriage,there's no need to use the phrase 'shake up the role of the husband'. Itinvolves the reputation of the Holy Maiden, so it is inappropriate." Tang Thirty-Six dully replied, "It's just a joke. In the Orthodox Academy,there's just you two bookworms, that cold-blooded killer Zhexiu, and also thatgluttonous fool Xuanyuan Po. I don't even have a person to chat with, trulypitiful." Saying this, he snatched Chen Changsheng's cup from the table and poured outall the tea in exchange for a strong wine from the Western Pass. Chen Changsheng waved his hand, "I already said that I don't drink wine." Su Moyu commented, "The weather is cold and it's snowing. We should get back alittle earlier." Tang Thirty-Six felt very helpless. "I'm helping him lessen the pressure,okay?" Today, the White Crane had descended by the lake, Xu Yourong had returned tothe capital, and Chen Changsheng had been very taciturn, like there was someweight over his heart. He had especially held this feast in the night in thehopes that Chen Changsheng could vent a little of his pressure, but he hadfailed to imagine that after entering the restaurant, Chen Changsheng and SuMoyu would not even drink wine. They sat prim and proper, and while theirclapping for the dances of the dancing girls was quite earnest, in no way didit seem like they had come out to have fun… Watching the dancing girl whirling around on the stage, he suddenly grinned.This grin contained an indescribable confidence and charm, causing the singinggirl in his bosom to adore him even more. As he grinned, one of his fingersbent and a pine nut in a saucer on the table went flying away. Noiselessly, the pine nut struck the dancer on the knee. The impact was notall that heavy but the position it struck was far too sensitive and one of thedancer's feet was not steady. As a result, she fell down into Chen Changsheng'sbosom. Chen Changsheng quickly held her up and asked in concern, "Are you okay?" The dancer was also a person accustomed to matters of romance, experienced andknowledgeable. There was no way she didn't know what had happened. She firstshot a resentful glare at Tang Thirty-Six before sending a gentle gaze towardsChen Changsheng. Her breath smelled like orchids as she whispered, "Yourservant is somewhat unable to handle her alcohol." As she spoke, her two arms very naturally draped themselves around ChenChangsheng's neck and she brought up her whole body against Chen Changsheng'schest. With such soft jade-like skin by his chest, Chen Changsheng did not feel anysort of ecstasy, only strangeness and embarrassment. Just as he was prepared to courteously help the dancing girl sit at his side,he suddenly felt like there was someone watching him through the snowy nightfrom far away. That gaze, that…gaze that might not even exist was not cold, but it producedan intense sense of unease in the depths of his heart. In the next moment,through purely subconscious, almost instinctual, action, he quickly raised hishands up. He only wanted to indicate that he had no intention of overstepping his boundswith this dancing girl, and his two hands did not touch her body, but he didnot expect just how comical his actions would appear in the eyes of others. The restaurant was silent and then exploded with laughter, especially TangThirty-Six. He was laughing so hard that he was almost about to cry. …… …… Xu Yourong stood at the window, watching the scene in the restaurant. Even ifher Dao heart was guarded even more closely or even more tranquil, she stillcouldn't help but raise her brows. But in the next moment, when she saw Chen Changsheng raise his hands up highand heard the laughter coming from beyond the wall, she revealed a smile, andit was only through sheer effort that she did not laugh. Mo Yu took in all the changes in her expression and said, "If you want tolaugh, laugh, no need to choke it down." Xu Yourong was still looking in the direction of the restaurant. Seeing ChenChangsheng's embarrassed appearance and hearing Mo Yu's words, she finallycouldn't hold it back. Laughter came out, "Hahahaha!" Mo Yu was scared out of her wits by this laughter. Holding her chest, sheasked, "Are you okay? Why is your laughter like an old aunt's…" Xu Yourong's laughter was rather broad, or perhaps imposing? In brief, herlaughter was not at all like a sixteen-year-old girl's. It was more like thatof the auntie who sold youtiao and soy milk at the entrance to Hundred FlowersLane. To be even more accurate, it was incredibly similar to the laugh of theauntie that she played mahjong with down in the village. Xu Yourong was rather embarrassed and put up a calm front. "You see, he looksjust like a fool." Mo Yu had no attention to spare for looking at Chen Changsheng, it was quiteenough to just gawk at her. She clearly recalled that when she first met Xu Yourong, Xu Yourong was justfive. At the time, she had still been a little girl, but she had always lovedto just quietly sit, read and then cultivate. She was holy and tranquil, like aminiature Holy Maiden. When had she ever seen her with such an appearance? "You haven't…really fallen in love with that guy, right?" Mo Yu was stunned and also concerned. …… …… The banquet in the restaurant was brought to a close after the bout oflaughter. Chen Changsheng and the other two jumped over the academy wall andreturned to the Orthodox Academy. They had just walked into the house when the door to the room on the sideopened. They looked over and realized in shock that Zhexiu was standing there. "You're finally in the mood to walk a few steps today?" Tang Thirty-Six teased. Zhexiu disregarded him, saying to Chen Changsheng, "She came." "Who?" Chen Changsheng was rather puzzled. "Xu Yourong." Upon saying this name, Zhexiu closed the door. From his appearance, it seemedlike he was preparing to go back to sleep. The other three were all extremely shocked at this name. As they stared at thetightly-shut door, they all knew that they would find it very difficult tosleep tonight. Tang Thirty-Six walked back out to the front of the house and, with wrinkledbrow, looked all around. He then turned to Chen Changsheng and saidapologetically, "She might have seen the scene of us drinking wine. Myapologies." Chen Changsheng covered his face. "I said I didn't want to go, but youinsisted on dragging me along." Tang Thirty-Six felt rather depressed at his appearance and said, "You aren'tplanning to marry, and she might not want to marry you. What are you afraid ofher for?" Chen Changsheng came to his senses and thought, that's right! He felt thatcovering his face was a rather shameful action. Forcefully acting calm, hereplied, "Right, even if I saw her, so what?" Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "What are you acting so manly for? If you've got thecapability, then put your hands on the girl's body." "I'm obsessed with cleanliness." Chen Changsheng looked at him and Su Moyu andexplained, "It's not that I suspect those girls are dirty, I'm just notmentally prepared to cross that mountain." In a poor mood, Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Of course we know that. You don'tsuspect that those girls are dirty, you suspect that everyone is dirty." Su Moyu had been very quiet this entire time. He suddenly asked, "Why did theHoly Maiden come to the Orthodox Academy?" "Yeah." Tang Thirty-Six no longer kept up his teasing and asked ChenChangsheng seriously, "Could she be angry and so sneaked over to stab you todeath?" After a momentary pause, he sighed, "That would really be murdering your ownhusband." He didn't seem to be teasing, but in reality, the ridicule was laid on eventhicker. Su Moyu seemed to be endowed with extraordinary intelligence, but in reality,he was rather slow. "As I just said, since the engagement is not valid, ChenChangsheng cannot regard the Holy Maiden as his fiancée. Even if she really didwant to stab Chen Changsheng to death, it can't be considered murdering herhusband. You could only say she attempted to kill someone." In reality, Chen Changsheng had already requested for the Pope to forcefullyannul that engagement, but for certain reasons, he had not made this factpublicly known. Su Moyu looked at Tang Thirty-Six and advised with heartfelt sincerity,"Moreover, she's still the Holy Maiden. You should be more respectful towardsher." Tang Thirty-Six raised his brows. "Besides being stronger than me at fighting,I see no reason to respect her." At this moment, Zhexiu's voice came through the door. "I've always revered Xu Yourong, so all of you should also revere her." …… …… Matters developed far faster than imagined. On the morning of the next day,disciples from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and South Stream Templecame to visit the Orthodox Academy. Thinking about how Xu Yourong had come and could even have entered his ownroom, Chen Changsheng felt rather peculiar, so much so that he could barely getany sleep. When he appeared before the three disciples from the ThirteenDivisions of Radiant Green and South Stream Temple, there were bags under hiseyes and he seemed a little weak. When the senior sister from South StreamTemple recalled that row of restaurants she saw in front of the academy gate,she made certain conjectures. She could not help but look upon him with a hintof scorn. Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu had once met this senior sister of the ThirteenDivisions of Radiant Green in the Garden of Zhou and they could be said to beacquainted. She rather awkwardly chuckled and, not engaging in any chitchat,straightforwardly handed the letter over. Ever since the Orthodoxy had begun the All-School Martial Exhibition thissummer, the Orthodox Academy had already received many such letters, but whenChen Changsheng took the letter, he still felt it rather heavy. The letter was a commonly seen letter of challenge, but the person was veryspecial. It was Xu Yourong. The battle that the entire continent had anticipated for many months hadsimply and straightforwardly come. Chen Changsheng opened the letter and looked it over. From the brush strokes,he concluded that Xu Yourong had not written it. There was nothing specialabout the contents. The most salient points were the date and location. The date was seven days from now. The location was the Bridge of Helplessness. ……