Let’s not talk about the Southern sect yet, but only the northern one. The Tradition was located in the capital. There are six Holy Churches and the Talented Church is the one responsible for educating the youth. It included the regulation of Heavenly Academy, Classical Teaching, Priest Academy, and dozens of other schools. The Talented Church was actually in the same department as the Zhou Educational system. The Holy Educational Department was the common title that citizens called the department. Since the department represented power, religion, and knowledge, no one bothered to offend it and it worked in peace.
Chen Chang Sheng stood in the empty hallway and was covered in the shade of the giant stone column. He turned his head back towards the room and remembered the yelling of the officer. He thought to himself, the quality of the building of the Holy Church was for sure exquisite. Its soundproof system was so perfect that no one outside of the room heard the yelling of the officer.
There were more than ten thousand of students in the capital and they were all under the regulation of officers and officials in this building. It’s easy to say that they were extremely busy most of the time. Above the shiny malphite floor, countless feet wore all kinds of boots and moved around the building. Although the crowd was like waves in the sea, there were no noise besides the footsteps.
No one took noticed of the youngster under the shade of the stone column and no one voluntarily went to talk to him. A long time had passed and the sun had moved from the east to the west. The shade finally moved from his body to an eastern position. It wasn’t until afternoon that someone noticed his presence.
Maybe because the Holy Church was almost closing, people’s mind got a little bit loose. Different kind of voices started to appear in the building and wasn’t as quiet as it was in the morning. A whisper was heard behind Chen Chang Sheng. The whisper was so low that it sounded like rats were biting on something and made his ear itchy. Instinctively Chen Chang Sheng lowered his head even more.
“What is that youngster doing standing there? I think he stood there for almost the entire day.”
“Oh, you talking about that kid? I asked around during lunch and heard he got yelled at by Officer Xin….. They say he was here to request of this year’s educational funding and wanted to pick up some stuff?”
“Funding? Wasn’t it already released by February? Which of the academies didn’t get their share? It’s impossible! Judging from the aggressive style of those academy principals, if we actually owed them money, they definitely can’t endure it until today. Besides, even if we did owe them, why would they send a student to pick up the funding?”
“I agree. That’s why Officer Xin didn’t care what he said and told him to leave at once. But I don’t know why this youngster is still unwilling to leave.”
“Which academy is this kid from?”
“I heard it’s the Classical Teaching.”
“What?”
“The Classical Teaching.”
There was a wowing in the crowd and then came laughter.
“This joke sure is meaningless. No wonder Officer Xin was so mad.”
“Who doesn’t know that Classical Teaching has been empty for so long? There in’t even any teachers left, speak less of students. I guess it’s just some pranks for the freshmen in some academies and that kid was unlucky enough to be picked by the seniors. They commanded him to pick up some stuff from us or he wouldn’t be able to pass the prank.”
“Well, these welcoming parties sure are becoming less and less logical and respectful.”
“For sure. They even dare to come to the Holy Educational Department to pull off some pranks.”
“Ugh, so which academy do you guys think this kid is really from? Aside all this, this prank seems to be interesting nonetheless.”
“Should be the Starseeker Academy. That youngster has been standing there for the entire day and his posture didn’t change once. What kind of academy besides Starseeker could have this kind of student?”
“I think not. The military rules in the Starseeker are extremely strict. The welcoming pranks in the past few years at most were stealing some darts from the supply camp. Why would they come to the Holy Educational Department? I think the best bet would be the Heavenly Academy. The students in that academy are familiar with this place and are not afraid of it. Even if they do get in trouble, the kids just need to call their family to help them out. The department wouldn’t go into a big mess with such small things.”
———————————————
In the eyes of these officers, that youngster with his head down standing in the hallway should be some sad newcomer who got bullied by his seniors. When they are discussing, they forgot to avoid Chen Chang Sheng. Even though their voices were low, they were still heard clearly by the youngster.
Chen Chang Sheng had his head down looking at the ground. His shadow constantly moved on the ground. When it was about to touch the stairs, he realized that he wasted half a day waiting and felt a little gloomy. After hearing these discussions, he realized why previously people were so mad and did not allow him to go in.
How could he make the other believe him that he was actually the first freshman of the Tradition Academy after so many years? Even if they believed in it, how could he, in the shortest time, get the keys to the library, the roster of the school staffs, the school seal and the money from them? He did not want to waste time like he did today waiting to be received.
There was a bell coming far away from the direction of the Royal Palace. Moments later music came from the direction of the Mausoleum of the Books. Chen Chang Sheng thought of something, looked up, walked to the room that he kicked him out before unhesitatingly. Such sudden actions drew many people’s attention immediately.
He pushed the door and went in. He walked to the table and spoke to the person behind the table: “Hi, I want to get the Tradition Academy’s roster, key, and money.”
That person was the officer Xin that people previously mentioned in the discussion. Watching Chen Chang Sheng leave and return, he became angry. He slammed down on the table and yelled: “I told you to stop bothering me! How dare you to say this again! Do you really want me to get people to hit you twenty sticks and then expelled you from school?”
Chen Chang Sheng said seriously: “Then you have to let me become an official student first.”
Officer Xin took a deep inhale. He suppressed his own anger and said coldly, “Which school are you from?”
Chen Chang Sheng said: “The Tradition Academy.”
When he said this, his emotion was very calm. No matter what, he was going to insist on. No matter what you ask, he could always calmly repeat that answer: I am a new student from The Tradition Academy — It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, I am standing here and I will.
“No matter The Tradition Academy, or the Heavenly Academy.”
Officer Xin felt that he was going to get crazy. “Even if you are Prince Chen Liu’s younger brother, today I will still let you know the consequence of ignoring teachers.”
“Here is my recommendation letter.”
Chen Chang Sheng took out that thin sheet from his clothes and left it on the table.
Officer Xin originally wanted to grab the sheet and rub it into a cluster and then push it into this annoying youngster’s mouth. But before he did, he glimpsed a familiar name on the sheet. He was dumbfounded and subconsciously took the paper to confirm that he did not hallucinate the name. This name and handwriting indeed looked somewhat familiar.
Where did I see this name and this handwriting?
Officer Xin frowned as he pondered hard, but he couldn’t find the answer. Deep down in his heart he faintly felt insecure.
Then he suddenly realized whose name that was and whose handwriting it was.
Although he never saw the handwriting on the paper and never saw that name first person, he knew the name and the handwriting. The reason why it’s familiar was because the name of the department of traditional education had the same handwriting as the words on the paper. While that name was known to every disciple of The Tradition, but it could not be discussed and written because that name….was already divine.
The following moment, Officer Xin saw clearly the red stamp on the paper.
He felt that his legs suddenly lost their power and they faintly twitched. He had acrophobia and such symptoms only occurred when he went to visit Moon Temple in the Palace of Intellectuals.
Officer Xin wanted to take a drink of tea but his hands were shaking so badly that he dropped the cup on the floor.
He looked towards Chen Chang Sheng and his lips slightly quivered. He could not control himself at all nor his voice.
At this point he eventually believed that Chen Chang Sheng was a freshman of The Tradition Academy because no one dared to forge the name on the paper to lie about that miracle.
“Actually…you(in respect form in Chinese) haven’t taken this letter out…..you are a really humorous kid.”
He looked at Chen Chang Sheng and put a lot of effort to smile. He wanted to tap the youngster’s shoulder, but he did not dare to.
The word “You”(in respect form) was not related to being a child at all and it was even more awkward to describe a child as humorous.
Chen Chang Sheng understood why officer Xin would act so ludicrously now. He felt somewhat helpless and explained: “I was going to take it out before, but you never gave me a chance.”
“Sit please, tea will be up later. I am going to get the things ready for you.
Officer Xin took the paper and greeted him enthusiastically. He then unhesitatingly turned and walked out and began to run speedily in the empty but stern hall.
The people that followed Chen Chang Sheng did not expect to see such a scene and felt very surprised.
—————————————————-
In the depth of the Holy Educational Department, or known as the Talented Church, there located the largest room in the entire territory. Inside were diverse kinds of plants and flowers. Some were blooming while some were dying. But most of them are waiting patiently in their buds. It seemed like all of the flowers in the world were concentrated here.
In the depth of the flower forest was a huge scripture. Carved upon it was the scene of the appearance of The Books. In front of the scripture was a large writing table.
Officer Xin stood in front of the writing table. His expression showed that he was clearly nervous and sweats were running down his forehead. But it was clear that he wasn’t as embarrassed as before when he was in front of Chen Chang Sheng. He said “In the name of Divine Queen….I swear to Heaven, I really didn’t know….that he brought such a recommendation letter, or I would’ve…….”
“Or you would’ve done what? Or you wouldn’t have let that kid stand in the hallway for an entire day?”
Another officer stood up behind the writing table. It was hard to tell his age, but his eyes were full of wisdom and kindness. From the style of his dress, he should be the pope of the Talented Church. This means that he was the most powerful figure in the entire Talented Church, but it was hard to tell from his soft expression and kind speeches.
“The stamp and the signature on this letter is all real. The color of the writing and the folding of the letter are all authentic, but most importantly is this paper……The handwriting of the Pope is truly beautiful. Even after viewing it many times, I’m still impressed by it. I remember ten years ago when the Pope was invited by the Divine Queen to teach the prince and Lady Mo Yan…..”
(TL Bing: So i am guessing that Mo Yan that you saw before is a Princess based on this comment.)
The Pope of the Talented Church was named Mei Li Sha. He looked at his personal officer and suddenly the smile on his face vanished. He said coldly, “Fine, these old things shouldn’t be brought up again. It doesn’t matter what’s the background of this young student Chen Chang Sheng, nor does it matter if he’s the first student of the Classical Teaching for ten years. The important thing is, what does this event represent?”
“Is the Pope planning to reopen the Classical Teaching?”
“If it’s true, how should we, the subordinates, react and help him?”
“All of these you need to realize and learn.”
“Learn about its meaning and spirit.”