Nightfall

When it came to idiots, there were two people in Chang’an who liked to scoff others by calling them idiots. One was the emperor of the Tang, and the other one obviously turned out to be Ning Que.

However, His Majesty ridiculed people aboveboard and boldly, regardless of the varying situations, while Ning Que was used to make cutting remarks when chatting in private with Sangsang, totally demonstrating his quality of being petty. Consequently, he felt very excited to outrageously mock Chao Xiaoshu as an idiot together with His Majesty in the Imperial Palace, spluttering with exhilaration.

The word “idiot” could be heard repeatedly and constantly in the quiet hall. It amazed and amused Her Majesty, the palace maids, and eunuches, provoking them to smile surreptitiously behind their hands. Nevertheless, the scene was more or less embarrassing. Her Majesty winked to her maid to leave the hall quietly along with all the other maids and eunuches.

Sometime later, His Majesty and Ning Que finally vented their grievances of Chao Xiaoshu, gasping and stopping, and the sound of “idiot” began to fade.

The emperor, picking up a square towel from the couch, wiped the sweat from his face and looked at Ning Que with satisfaction. He was sometimes constrained by being a wise monarch, but today he comforted and pleased himself by finding someone who he could abuse another person with.

. “The Divine Priest of Revelation didn’t clearly explain the whole thing to me before leaving Chang’an. What’s your plan?”

The emperor tapped the table, beckoning Ning Que to drink some tea.

Picking up the tea bowl, Ning Que, rather than drinking the tea at once, answered, “We tentatively decided to discuss again it in three years. If Sangsang would like to go to West-Hill at that time, then we’ll go.”

The emperor asked, “Tell me about your little handmaiden. How did she suddenly become a daughter of Zeng Jing and then turn out to be a Great Divine Priest of Light?”

After sipping the tea and moistening his throat, Ning Que poured out the tale beginning from the year that he picked up Sangsang beside the corpses up to their experience in later years.

. Keeping silent for a while, the emperor sighed with emotion, and said, “Her experience is really legendary and rare, as is the mutual affection between the two of you. You’d better cherish her.”

Ning Que nodded.

Looking at him, the emperor asked, “Why didn’t she come with you to meet me today?” “Why didn’t she come with you to meet me today?”

. Ning Que said, “She went to the Princess’ Mansion. She has always had a good relationship with Her Highness. Besides, the little prince misses her a lot if he does not see her for a few days.”

Hearing his explanation, the emperor frowned anxiously.

Ning Que knew what His Majesty was anxious about. After a short while of silence, he said, “Although these things are affairs of state, they are ultimately family matters.”

Remaining silent for a short while, the emperor then asked, “Does Headmaster of the Academy have any idea?”

Ning Que shook his head.

The emperor sighed and said, “Not surprisingly, the master, being broad-minded, shouldn’t be bothered by these minor troubles.”

Silence struck the hall for a moment.

Sometime later, the emperor looked into Ning Que’s eyes and asked, “I’m wondering what on earth the animosity between you and General Xiahou is about.”

. Shaking his head, Ning Que blurted out without forethought, “There had been no animosity until I went to the Wilderness.”

“It means that something happened in the Wilderness.”

. The emperor looked at him and said, “So you have to kill a military advisor in Tuyang City.”

. Ning Que knew that he was talking about the death of Gu Xi. Upon second thought, he said, “I don’t know what are you referring to. It is a capital crime under the law of Tang Empire to kill military advisors without authentication.”

. The emperor stroked his beard and scoffed, “You even refuse to reveal any information to me. You are most likely the only cautious one in the Academy during these years.”

Allowing himself a wry smile, Ning Que said, “Certain questions should not be given a response.”

The emperor said, “Then give me a reason.”

. Ning Que said, “In the Wilderness, the subordinates sent by General Xiahou disguised themselves like those in the Horse Gang and tried to kill me. What’s more, General Xiahou himself was waiting to kill me in the north of the Hulan Sea.”

These two things were already known to the court by the secret guards and the Imperial Center Administration. However, apart from a reprimand, there was no additional punishment for Xia Hou.

. The emperor put the square towel on the table and said, “You should be clearly aware that Mr. First was under my instruction, and surely you should understand what I meant.”

“I’m not holding any grudge. I’m just confused why those bigwigs from the imperial military are so unwilling to let me off and where their hostility comes from.”

Ning Que said, “In the beginning, General Xiahou tried to kill me in the Wilderness. I could understand that he was blinded by the allure of the ‘Ming’ Handscroll, but what about General Xu Shi? As an important minister of the Tang Empire, the old general attempted to prey on my little handmaiden and now he seems dissatisfied with me. I used to be a soldier of the Tang Empire, thus, it is beyond my understanding why he keeps a wary eye on me.”

Those words were very plain.

Taking into account either Her Majesty’s emotion or the stabilization of the empire, apart from the precaution against the West-Hill Divine Palace, His Majesty would surely not impose severe punishment on General Xiahou as long as he was willing to retire from the court. Besides, the Academy had agreed.

Ning Que seemed to have accepted that decision, but he wanted the emperor to know that he could never accept the vague threat from the Tang military. He wanted an explanation.

. After a brief silence, the emperor said, “Although General Xu Shi has never suffered a single defeat, he can no longer raise his head in front of Youngest Uncle. It’s natural that he feels hostility toward the Academy. As to why he is vigilant against you, I really have no idea. Perhaps you need to ask him yourself.”

Ning Que thought that even though he was a student of the Second floor of the Academy, it was infuriating that he still had to question the head of the Tang military.

The emperor did not allow Ning Que to immerse himself in thought for too long. Rising from the couch, lifting his eyebrows, and looking at Ning Que, he cleared his voice. “Did you bring the thing here?”

Touching the hard object in his arms, Ning Que said, “Yes, I did.”

“Well, then I’ll take you someplace.”

Flicking his sleeves, the emperor walked out of the hall.

…

…

The late spring was the most charming time in Chang’an. Strolling in the royal palace, people could easily appreciate the flowers in full bloom, the exuberant green leaves, the static lakes without a wave, and one or two pavilions off in the corner.

The emperor took only Ning Que with him instead of any retinue or bodyguards, leaving the palace in the depths of the royal garden.

Along the road, the eunuches and palace maids all backed off to either side with reverence and in silence when meeting them, and then they looked up at them, amazed and puzzled.

The people in the palace all were quite astute, and they absolutely knew that the young man wearing black beside the emperor was the legendary Sir Ning, but they did not know where His Majesty would go with Ning Que and why there were no followers accompanying them.

In the depths of the royal garden was a two-story wooden house. Although it was lacquer-coated and looked very exquisite, it seemed a little shabby when compared with the palace in the distance.

The emperor took Ning Que to the front of the wooden house and said, “Here we are.”

Outside the house were dense trees and flourishing wildflowers that had not been pruned for a long time. Looking at the grass growing through the cracks in the paving, Ning Que thought that there would be very few people coming.

Then he raised his head, looking around. When he saw the wall of the royal palace, he was sure that the house was not only in the center of the royal garden, but also in the center of the royal palace.

Pushing the door open, the emperor walked in.

Ning Que followed behind him.

After entering the house, the emperor went downstairs rather than going upstairs.

A dark channel stretched deep underground.

Looking at it with raised eyebrows, Ning Que thought that it was indeed the most important place in the Tang Empire with nothing uncommon.

…

…

Shining items such as luminous pearls were embedded in the stone wall of the channel, making people feel reassured instead of afraid.

Following His Majesty, Ning Que went downstairs. Looking at those luminous pearls, he thought that he could probably buy the Building of Pines and Cranes with any one of them. Recalling the appearance of the wooden house upstairs, he increasingly believed that the designer of it was really frowsty coquettish.

Thinking about these things, he suddenly looked up into the stone wall vigilantly with his pupils shrinking. He saw several deep lines ahead of him from the shine of the pearls.

The aura contained in those lines was absolutely not only peaceful and fair, but also cold and strong. It seemed that it could crush the channel into powder as long as it was emitted.

Feeling it clearly, Ning Que gasped in surprise. As a talisman cultivator, he could surely understand that those lines were very strong Fu characters, but they were incomplete. Those existing lines on the stone wall were part of the original Fu characters.

Looking at these lines, he calculated how long that they had existed. He wondered with the shock what kind of state that the predecessor carving those lines a thousand years ago had reached as he was able to maintain the power of Fu to the present day. It was not even certain if a Divine Talisman Master like his teacher could do so or not.

. The emperor noticed his expression as he was looking up at the stone wall. After a moment of silence, he said with emotion, “When my father took me here for the first time, I was as shocked as you are. I can feel the strength of these Fu characters, but I’m usually unwilling to visit this place.”

“What’s the trigger for these Fu characters?”

Worthy of being the successor of Master Yan Se, Ning Que raised the most critical question. How did the predecessor carving these lines manage to keep the power of Divine Talisman after his death, even if he was a Divine Talisman Master? What should be known was that not all the Nation Masters of the Tang were Talisman Masters, as the present Li Qingshan was not.

The emperor said, “There is no trigger, anyone who comes here without permission will be attacked and killed by these Fu characters.”

. Ning Que asked puzzledly, “No exception?”

. The emperor nodded, saying repeatedly, “Yes.”

Ning Que could not help bursting into laughter and said, “We’re people, aren’t we?”

. The emperor also laughed, but after a short while, he stopped to say, “I’m the emperor of Tang Empire with the Great Seal in hand, protected by royal ancestors, thus, these Fu characters can’t hurt me.”

Ning Que said, “And what about me?”

The emperor said, “You are now the owner of these Fu characters.”

…