Chapter 58

In the rear of the Cold Light Hall of the Great Zhou Imperial Palace, a green bamboo carriage slowly approached. The curtains in front of the hall gently swayed, and Moyu appeared on the stone steps, starlight falling on her beautiful face, illuminating her delicate eyebrows, bright eyes, and the charming plum makeup between her brows.

She looked at the two snow-white reindeer pulling the carriage, raised her eyebrows slightly, and asked, "Where is Black Jade?"

The black sheep had disappeared into the dark night, nowhere to be found.

Old Lady Ning supported Moyu down the stone steps and said softly, "That little ancestor knows where he's gone."

Moyu knew the black sheep had a rather solitary nature and never listened to anyone in the palace. She shook her head and said, "He's just a child."

Old Lady Ning glanced into the night behind the Cold Light Hall, thinking to herself that the person now standing by the pond with nowhere to go was also just a child.

Moyu knew what she was thinking and said mockingly, "Children can say all sorts of harsh words when they're angry, but to others, it's just a show of bravado, making them look ridiculous."

Old Lady Ning said, "I think those who are laughable are often lovable."

A few months ago, when Chen Changsheng entered the National Teaching Academy, it was all arranged by Old Lady Ning. Moyu knew she had a favorable view of Chen Changsheng. Now, seeing her insist on speaking well of him, Moyu was not offended, as the matter was already over.

Chen Changsheng couldn't leave the abandoned garden and couldn't appear before the crowd in the Weiyang Palace, so he couldn't disrupt the marriage agreement between Xu Yourong and Qiu Shan. At that time, no matter how many harsh words he said, they would only become a joke, and all his anger would only make him suffer more.

The green bamboo carriage headed towards the Weiyang Palace.

The teaching supervisor of the Heavenly Dao Academy had been forced to commit suicide by Zhou Tong's notorious reputation. Someone needed to preside over the Qingteng Banquet, and there were many important figures in the Southern delegation to be received tonight. The Archbishop of the Teaching Hub and Xu Shiji were responsible for the ceremony, and Prince Chenliu represented the Empress. Moyu also had to appear personally to show the importance of the event.

Old Lady Ning held the window frame of the green bamboo carriage, her left hand on the window, and occasionally looked towards the abandoned garden, her face showing a look of pity.

"Old Lady, just rest assured, that little guy won't be in trouble."

Moyu's voice came from inside the green bamboo carriage: "The restrictions of the Black Dragon Pond can't be broken by anyone. Unless someone opens the garden gate from the outside, no one has ever been able to leave. He's just staying in the garden, enduring some cold wind. Compared to the trouble he caused, it's nothing."

Old Lady Ning, thinking of the rumors, said worriedly, "What if he touches something taboo?"

Moyu said, "If it's a taboo, it's not so easy to encounter."

Her words were casual and seemed cold, but Old Lady Ning heard the weariness in them. She remembered how, on the stone steps in front of the hall, the plum makeup on Moyu's face under the starlight couldn't hide her fatigue. She didn't understand why Moyu had used so much of her true essence to cast a secret spell to confine Chen Changsheng.

"You promised Yourong you wouldn't harm that young man."

"Did I do anything tonight? I just talked."

Moyu thought of the letter from the South a few months ago and said angrily, "That dead girl doesn't want to marry him, but she won't let anyone touch him. She set so many rules, making things so complicated. I had to spend so much effort."

With her terrifying cultivation and formidable power in the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were countless ways to deal with a young man like Chen Changsheng, making him suffer and lose all hope. But because of that letter, she had to go through all this trouble.

The more she thought about it, the more unhappy she became. "She arranged a bad marriage for herself and made me do all the work. She hides in the South and plays the good person, while I have to be the bad guy. You didn't hear how that young man cursed me. If it weren't for her, I would have killed him long ago!"

Old Lady Ning smiled and said, "You and Yourong are like sisters. It's only right to spend more effort."

Moyu said coldly, "They all say Black Jade is a little ancestor, but that phoenix is the real little ancestor. Everyone in the continent thinks she's pure and intelligent, but they don't know she's a petty person who can't offend anyone. If she's really unhappy, she'll do anything. I'm not helping her out of sisterly affection, but because I'm worried that if she's not happy, she won't marry Qiu Shan. What would we do then?"

Old Lady Ning comforted her, "Fortunately, once tonight is over, we won't have to worry about anything."

The curtain of the carriage lifted slightly, and Moyu looked at the abandoned garden behind the Cold Light Hall and the cold pond hidden by the old walls and autumn trees. Thinking of Chen Changsheng's words, she wondered if tonight would really go smoothly. Why did the sage insist on confining him here? What was the sage thinking?

...

...

After those sarcastic words, Moyu's voice didn't sound again. Chen Changsheng stood alone in the abandoned garden, the cold pond in front of him, and the plum trees beside him. His figure no longer seemed as lonely as before, as if his body was recharged with strength.

After confirming that Moyu had left, he started walking, passing the solitary plum trees and reaching the pond, where the cold air hit him.

The abandoned garden was clearly much colder than other parts of the palace, and the reason was the cold pond in front of him. He carefully observed the surface of the cold pond, allowing the cold to layer on his face until a layer of frost began to form on his eyebrows and eyes.

It wasn't self-torture, but a way to help himself stay calm. He didn't want to waste time on anger and other negative emotions. The words he said to Moyu earlier were indeed childish and useless, seemingly the opposite of calm, but he still said them.

There are three thousand great paths, and he cultivated the path of following his heart. Following his heart, living according to his heart, if the world doesn't let him follow his heart, he must find a way to make his heart follow. Only by following his heart can he achieve true peace, and peace is the highest form of calm.

Of course, he didn't want his words to become a joke. He had to leave the abandoned garden and reach the Weiyang Palace. Before leaving the National Teaching Academy, he had made the necessary arrangements, but since those important people could deceive Luoluo away from the Weiyang Palace, he couldn't rely entirely on her.

How could he leave this abandoned garden? In fact, he had no clue at all, but he still said those words to Moyu, just as he told Tang Sanshiu and Luoluo that he would participate in the imperial examination and win the top place.

It seemed impossible, but he could say it calmly and naturally, as if it were a given. That unwarranted confidence was awe-inspiring to those close to him and seemed delusional to outsiders, but he knew it came from necessity. He must participate in the imperial examination and win the top place next year, or he would die. Tonight, he must leave the abandoned garden and appear at the Weiyang Palace, and he would certainly do it.

He must do it, so he can do it. Before that, he must believe he can do it, and only then can his heart be at peace.

Again, the same words: there are three thousand great paths, and he only cultivates the path of following his heart.

Everything he did after leaving Xining and coming to the capital was closely related to these three words.

Because only by following his heart can he defy fate.

...

...

Looking around the abandoned garden, the old walls, the autumn trees, the withered lotus on the pond, and the piles of old plum petals under the plum trees, which the wind had not blown away.

The scenery was unfamiliar, yet it seemed familiar.

He hadn't traveled far, so where had he seen so many landscapes?

But he had read many books, traveled through many landscapes in books, and seen many landscapes.

Deeply engraving the scenery around the abandoned garden in his mind, he sat cross-legged by the pond, closed his eyes, and calmed his mind, recalling the books he had read.

There were Daoist scriptures, travelogues, essays by literary masters of previous generations, and ghost stories.

These were the books he read in the old temple in Xining and in the library of the National Teaching Academy.

Sitting by the pond, his eyes tightly closed, countless books flipped through in front of him.

The cold wind seemed to know how to read, flipping through the books and stopping at the pages he wanted to see.

Those pages had pictures and explanatory texts.

"The Dream of Nanke"

"The Discussion of the Various Halls"

"The Array of the Nest"

...

...

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes, stood up, and looked around the abandoned garden again.

The garden was still the same, the cold pond was still the same, but in his eyes, everything was different.

The dozen or so plum trees scattered by the pond seemed unrelated and had no deeper meaning, but the scenery remained the same throughout the seasons, and the only thing that changed was the wood.

The edges of the cold pond were rugged, with no breaks in the middle, but the old walls of the abandoned garden were broken on the south side of the pond, seemingly offering a way out into the night, but he knew it wasn't a way out, just an unfinished stroke.

The dozen or so plum trees stood in a line here.

This was the character "tong."

"The Dream of Nanke" told a story, "The Array of the Nest" had a picture, and "The Discussion of the Various Halls" mentioned a palace of a previous dynasty that was burned down.

That palace was called the Tong Palace.

A palace where a generation of emperors was imprisoned to death.

It was also an array created by a generation of patriarchs with their lifetime cultivation.

Chen Changsheng recognized this abandoned garden and this cold pond, but what could he do?

Unless he reached the legendary Sage Realm, it would be impossible to break through the Tong Palace.

Of course, every palace has a door, and every array must leave a way out.

But no one in history has dared to leave the Tong Palace through the life gate.

Because many years ago, outside the burned Tong Palace, death awaited, and staying inside offered a chance to survive, while leaving meant certain death.

Because good and bad are interdependent, what is often called a way out is often a dead end.

Chen Changsheng knew where the life gate of the Tong Palace was.

Wind rises, water flows.

Where the night wind rises but does not cease, and the water gathers but does not rise.

He looked at the cold pond in front of him, silent.

The solemn and dignified music of the ritual came from the Weiyang Palace, far outside the abandoned garden.

The Southern delegation had already taken their seats, and both sides of the guests had gathered.

He no longer thought about it and walked directly into the cold pond.