The Archbishop didn’t say anything else, and slowly left under the support of Minister Xin. Under the twilight, his crooked old stature looked a little lonely; giving a different feel from the three youths of Orthodox Academy when they ran off into the sunset; the sun was really setting for the life of this elder and no one could predict if it would rise again after setting.
It was only after a long time before the gathered people dared to rise, gazing at the fading back of the Archbishop into the twilight; they had complicated expressions, but no one dared to show any disrespect.
After spring, the Archbishop had an increase to his wrinkles and age spots, ageing considerably; middle-age for humans was a drawn out process, especially for those who had achieved considerable success in cultivating The Way, a process of at least hundreds of years; he had seemingly caught up on his ageing within just a few short months, with hundreds of years being piled on at once.
Why had the Archbishop aged so much within such a short time? It was naturally due to there being too many things he had to supervise; in the eyes of others, this was also a reminder for the Orthodoxy and the entire continent, that this was an elder who was from the same generation as the Pope; the only clergyman in the world that was comparable to and could counter His Holiness, The Pope.
From the past impressions of the people, His Eminence, Archbishop Mei Li Sha, was an absolute confidant to the Pope. The Education Board, under his guidance, had an exceptionally high position, but it was still just one, out of the Orthodoxy’s Six Sacred Churches and otherwise did not stand out; a lot of people were not even aware of its existence, but now, everything had changed.
Orthodox Academy had once again appeared in the Capital, and some elders and factions from within the Orthodoxy had started to express dissenting voices against the Pope; in the Autumn Rain incident that happened before the Education Board, people were dispersed through the use of horses; blood was spilled and countless casualties resulted, behind all of that was the old crooked figure of the Archbishop.
It wasn’t until this moment, that the people finally took notice, he had the support of countless people from within the Orthodoxy; the resources and power he currently had at his command was fast approaching the level of becoming a threat to the Pope.
For him to appear today at Li Palace, this made Priest Huo and the other clergy of the palace too stunned for words. That’s correct, the Archbishop was the architect behind Orthodox Academy’s revival, and was the biggest patron of Chen Chang Sheng’s group; he had expectations of the academy, and expectations on Chen Chang Sheng being able to rank first upon the First Banner at the Grand Examination and was helping him to declare this to the world; he must have had his reasons for this, but the glory achieved at the Ivy League gathering, coupled with his betrothal to Xu You Rong, wasn’t this already eye-catching enough? To state that he will take the first position on the First Banner; for the Archbishop to place such an enormous amount of pressure on Chen Chang Sheng, what purpose did he have?
“Pressure is a form of motivation.”
In the Li Palace under twilight, a horse-drawn carriage was parked, within the carriage, the Archbishop was seated opposite to Minister Xin, he casually said, “The proclamation was only the first dish, the main is the Grand Examination, a gathering from all corners and the gazes of thousands, only under this, can help to mature him at the fastest possible rate.”
Minister Xin was in quiet contemplation for a moment, before answering: “I only fear that the pressure is too great and Chen Chang Sheng won’t be able to cope.”