Nightfall

Listening to Li Yu’s words, Li Huiyuan was shocked. As a prince, he was not a man who was ignorant and incompetent. He naturally understood how much benefit Xia Hou’s death would bring to himself, but he still could not understand why his sister would be so adamant at this time that the throne would be his.

Li Yu looked at her brother’s confused look and thought that since their mother’s death, they had been depending on each other for survival, and the efforts and sacrifices she had made for her younger brother’s throne during past years. There were many kinds of feelings mixing in her heart. She said, “Ning Que is a student of the Second floor of the Academy, and Xia Hou died in his hands. How can that woman still be close to the Academy? No matter how good she is at being hypocritical and tolerating, the Academy could never support her. Now an invisible gutter appears between the Academy and her. How can her son be the emperor?”

Li Huiyuan finally understood. It was true that without the support from the Academy, no matter how the emperor loved that little bastard, he would not dare to hand over the empire to the empress so easily.

Thinking about this, the young prince’s breathing became a little heavier and he held his fist tightly. His eyes were filled with excitement and even a slightly dreadful look was added.

Li Huiyuan also recalled another message from He Mingchi. He said with a bit of distress, “Qinghe County’s Third Minister of Offerings died in Chang’an. I don’t know what kind of reaction the people there will have.”

Li Yu frowned and also felt that this was a bit troublesome. Over the years, the Qinghe County’s great family gave her a substantial monetary support. She was able to buy off the officials of the imperial court relatively easily. It was also due to the help from Qinghe County. Now their oldest senior died tragically in Chang’an City. No one knew what kind of impact this would have.

The house on the bank of the Yanming Lake suffered severe damage during the previous night’s battles. The beams were broken and the walls were destroyed. There were ruins all over the floor, and the place was a mess. Only the secluded yards of that house were relatively intact.

Ning Que and Sangsang returned to side courtyard. They took a bath and bound up their wounds with the help of Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang. After eating some food, they began to rest and then fell asleep.

The martial law on the street beside the lake was lifted. There was no more control except that the local government runner of Chang’an Local Government kept order and stopped the local citizens from going there.

The Fish-dragon Gang arrived at the bank of Yanming Lake as soon as they could. They followed Mr. Qi ‘s order and began to clean up and renovate the house. However, the destruction of the house was too serious. It was obviously not something that could be done in two or three days.

The maids and stewards, who were dismissed by Ning Que before the battle, returned to the house one after the other. They looked at the mess on the floor and felt afraid. Some of them even wanted to leave. But they signed the contract for ten years with the Grand Secretary’s Mansion, so when Grand Secretary, Zeng Jing showed up, they became calm.

Since there were servants taking care of them, Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang returned to the Academy. Today, Chang’an City was not very peaceful. Especially, when the World Wayfarers of Haotian Taoism and Buddhism Sect were both in Chang’an, they needed to be more cautious.

In the evening, the other courtyard was quiet. The sound of cleaning rubble and ruins was heard from the outside of the courtyard. Ye Hongyu also returned to the house beside the lake. She stood outside the threshold and looked for a long time at Ning Que and Sangsang who were sleeping. Then she returned to her bedroom, just as she did in the past few months.

In the battle on the winter lake, neither Ning Que nor Sangsang suffered bad injuries. Until the end, when Xia Hou used the iron spear, they began to bleed, but this seemingly overwhelming victory still did a great damage to their minds and bodies.

Ning Que had cast a storm talisman in the house, and triggered the explosion in the lotuses on the lake, then shot his Thirteen Talisman Arrows. After that, he ran out of the Psyche Power’s sense of perception, and even all the Great Spirit in his body was exhausted.

Sangsang finally shone greatly over the cliffs, which was almost a means to burn her life’s essence. The light in the small building was exhausted and only the darkness was left. Her body was cold like ice.

Ning Que was very worried about the recurring cold in her body. He held her tightly in his arms before going to bed. He used his own body temperature to warm her just as he used to do. Only his right arm was seriously injured due to the counterattack of the Talisman Arrow, and he was not used to using his left arm. So he just held her gently, but it was still warm.

The next morning, Sangsang woke up. Maybe due to the cold or other reasons. She suffered from a severe headache and acratia, so she was unable to get up. Ning Que was also extremely weak. He dragged her back to bed, and asked the maids to deliver the food and water. He did not allow Sangsang to get up to do housework.

They rested in bed for three days and nights. Ning Que felt a little better. He got up from bed, and entered the sunlit garden. He found his podao and began to practice with it. There were only the sound and light of blade.

Suddenly, he stopped for a reason that only he knew. He stood in the middle of the Winter Courtyard. His body looked a little bit stiff, and he looked at the podao in his hands for a long time.

In the past few years, as long as there were no unexpected incidents, he would get up early every morning and start to cultivate after washing and eating with Sangsang’s care. No matter if it was fencing, archery or meditation, he never was lazy because he had always faced the threat of death and even the pressure of revenge.

This morning seemed to be nothing more than a usual morning like in days past.

But in fact, this morning was much different from the past. He was now a student of the Second floor of the Academy. There were not many people in the world who could threaten his life, and… Xia Hou was already dead.

Xia Hou was dead, why should he still practice with his knife?

Ning Que held the heavy podao, and stood silently for a long time. Then he continued to wave the blade. Each strike was swift and powerful. Every movement was meticulous.

Now that he could not understand why he still needed to practice the knife, then he stopped thinking about it. As he once said to his Eldest Brother, these things were all the world he once had, all the scenery. So, he couldn’t be free from this strong power in such a short time, and he did not want to get rid of it.

In the following winter days, the house on the bank of Yanming Lake was gradually repaired by the craftsmen recruited by the Fish-dragon Gang. Naturally, a large sum of money was spent. In order to pay this bill, Ning Que had to spend the bonus of his western city casino in advance, which was left by Chao Xiaoshu, drawing the bonuses designated for the next two years.

Ning Que and Sangsang did not go anywhere, staying in the house all the time. Maybe they were not comfortable with the quiet and untargeted life or they had not recovered from the injuries left by the battle at the winter lake. The two people’s mental states were not very good; they looked a little bit upset.

This was not the lament of a scholar by the lake in autumn, but was an extreme fatigue that came after extreme relaxation. Of course, Ning Que remained vigilant. Even though the battle by the winter lake was fair, Xia Hou was still a general of the Tang Empire. He had many friends in the military and in court. Now that Ning Que had killed him, who knows what would happen in the bowels of Chang’an?

At the palace gate, he admitted that he was not the son of the Xuanwei General, Lin Guangyuan. Then, it meant that the special pardon of his Majesty would amount to nothing. Would the court continue to investigate those murders? Nearly ten Tang empire’s officials and generals tragically died in his hands. Would an empire that valued the law more than anything remain silent?

The development of this situation was totally unexpected for Ning Que.

Xia Hou’s funeral was held solemnly and silently. The Mansion of the Zhenjun Grand General was sealed. Everyone in the General’s Mansion, including Xia Hou’s two sons, also left Chang’an and went back to their home.

No one brought up those murders, including the military who was the toughest in the past. Now they became very calm. Except for the Grand Secretary, Zeng Jing who came twice, no one from imperial court actually entered their house on the shores of Yanming Lake. It looked like that there was no confrontation in front of the palace few days ago and there was no fierce fighting on the winter lake. Just as if nothing had happened in Chang’an.

In a snowy morning, Ye Hongyu also left Yanming Lake. Ning Que and Sangsang held the big black umbrella and saw her off at the gate of the courtyard. He looked at the renovated courtyard gate and recalled the picture in the rainy day. He said with strong emotions, “I really didn’t think that I would actually stay with you for half a year in the same house.”

Ye Hongyu said, “You’d better not say this kind of shallow and boring play on words anymore.”

“I’ll try to be able to say some elegant nonsense in the future.”

Ning Que said, “You offended the Great Divine Priest of Judgment and was forced to flee from the Divine Hall. After leaving the city of Chang’an, where could you find another pure land in the world? According to your saying that day, Ye Su would not care about the affairs of the Divine Hall, nor about your life. Aren’t you worried about being killed by the Divine Hall?”

Ye Hongyu said, “Life and death are the most personal things and they are completely beyond the control of the person himself. I cannot count on others about this, even my brother, but I want to control it by myself.”

“You are the Taoist, I will not join this enigmatic debate with you.”

Ning Que smiled and replied, and he reached out and flipped a drop of snow falling on his shoulders. With this movement, the very shallow little dimples on his face suddenly became clear.

Ye Hongyu looked at the shallow dimples on his face and looked at his smile. She silently wondered about what kind of life would make such a shameless cold-blooded guy have such a beautiful smile.

“I’ve been thinking about something that I don’t understand,” she said suddenly.

Ning Que was slightly stiffed and asked, “What is it?”

Ye Hongyu said, “I am far better than you in the talent of cultivation. However, your understanding of the paper sword is far better than mine. I watched it from Chang’an to West-Hill and paid great efforts, and finally was able to understand most of it, but it only took you a night to simulate it very well.”

After thinking for a while, Ning Que said, “I don’t really know why either. What answer do you have?”

Ye Hongyu said, “On the snowy lake, that day, you concentrated the Dahe Sword style on the knife and stabbed Xia Hou’s body. I looked at that picture at that time and the sword style was like a turbid wave, and I connected it to your miserable life. I vaguely figured out a kind of possibility.”

Ning Que said, “What kind of possibility?”

Ye Hongyu said, “The true meaning of the paper sword is not that it is so thin that it can go anywhere and kill anyone, nor its majestic power like the great sea. The true meaning is the simplest principle of water flow… All the water in the world would inevitably flow downwards, it cannot go backwards. It has absolutely no return, which means that whatever you think is right, you will do it. About this aspect, you are undoubtedly good at it.”

Ning Que said with a smile, “It turns out to be such a truth. I thought you would say that I was a relatively wicked person, so I could understand this kind of wicked swordsmanship.”