Nightfall

Cultivators like Liu Bai, Jun Mo and Ye Su have always existed, and over a thousand years, the world had become one that belonged to cultivation powerhouses. Be it the royal family or ordinary people, they all struggled in the gaps left behind by these cultivators.

It was only a thousand years ago that sages emerged. With the construction of the Tang Empire by the Headmaster, the West-Hill Divine Palace followed suit with corresponding changes, thus changing the situation fundamentally.

With the two mountains that were the Academy and the West-Hill Divine Palace, even the strongest cultivator had to obey the rules of the secular world unless they could surpass the Five States. However, once they have done so, they would realize that they had always been shielded under a blue sky and would never be able to exceed that.

Now, the Headmaster had ascended to the sky and the Heavens seemed unbothered with the mortal world. The West-Hill Divine Palace had also suffered a great blow in the war. As such, the power of the two great mountains and the blue sky weakened.

Under such circumstances, a powerful cultivator could naturally breathe in more fresh air, not to mention people like the Sword Sage, Liu Bai, who could cross the threshold of the Five States whenever they wished. So, the Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom died quietly and the incident became something natural because he did not understand the changes in the world at all.

The stronger one was, the more freedom at hand. And once being able to bring this freedom upon the mortal world, the mortal realm would naturally descend into chaos, just like the wild years before the appearance of the Tang Empire.

Now it depended on whether the Advisers of the Divine Hall like Liu Bai were respectful towards Haotian Taoism. It also depended on whether those in the Academy could shield the common folk like the Headmaster used to.

If only from the present point of view, the West-Hill Divine Palace had been weakened the most in this war, but it had dominated the world for countless years with profound and unimaginable detail. No one knew if there was anyone in the Knowing Destiny State hiding in a humble Taoist Temple.

Other than the heavy injuries that Master Qi Mei sustained, the Buddhism Sect had not been greatly affected. Both Qi Nian, the Wayfarer of Buddhism Sect and the monastery soldiers of the Xuankong Temple had not joined the war because they were restricted by the ideas of Buddhism. They would not be too active in the matter.

In addition to the Taoist and Buddhist sects, the most powerful force in the world was the Golden Palace. Other than their vicious cavalry, the Nation Master and dozens of High Priests could beat several cultivators.

The Sword Garret of the South Jin Kingdom had already begun to show its prowess. The offerings of many Dominant Families in various parts of the world had become evident in the storm. The secular world that had been controlled by the three Unknown Places for countless years would surely become chaotic, and everyone could see how it would end.

If one wanted to see the future of the mortal world clearly, all cultivation sects had to keep a close watch on the Academy which was south of Chang’an. No matter how silent it was right now, it was still the Academy.

“The world from now on belongs to the cultivation powerhouses. The chaos will still continue for some time unless the Headmaster returns to the mortal world or if the West-Hill Divine Palace regains their powers in a short time.”

Ning Que looked at the carriage through the curtains and said, “You should know this well by now. Those ministers should know too, and then, they will learn to accept reality.”

The situation in Chang’an City in the New Year was also somewhat complicated. After the strong external pressure exerted on the Tang Empire by the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army and with the Golden Palace cavalry temporarily out of the picture, some hidden problems had gradually surfaced within the Tang Empire’s seemingly monolithic government.

This was especially so after the news of Hua Shanyue’s death came from the frontlines. The entire Chang’an was shocked.

Hua Shanyue came from a prominent family and had become the head of the army in the Gushan Commandery.He enjoyed a high status and power in the military, and was expected to become the head general of the Tang Empire.

In the Tang Empire army, the death of a general on the battlefield was a common occurrence. It was not known how many times in the Tang Empire’s thousand-year history a general of higher position than Hua Shanyue had died of enemy attacks. As a matter of principle, the news of Hua Shanyue’s death would certainly cause grief and regret in court, but it wouldn’t have led to such a great shock.

This was not the case because Hua Shanyue was the head of the army in Sanzhou Town and did not need to take the lead, at least he did not need to charge with his subordinates onto the dangerous battlefield while the war was in its temporary calm. The crux of the matter was that everyone knew why the Academy had sent Hua Shanyue to the Northern Army.

The news of Hua Shanyue’s death ignited the anger of the officials in the Princess’ faction in a short time. After the end of a court meeting the following day, the silver-haired Minister of Rites wept in front of the palace walls. He yelled, “Even though you have sinned, how could you die without a trial? Your Majesty, how can you face His Majesty like this?”

The Minister of Rites was a bigwig in the Princess’ faction. There were many people like him in the imperial court. Furthermore, the Hua family was prominent in the Tang Empire, with many sympathetic to their cause.

If the Queen and the Academy choose to cleanse the powers in the court right now, they would hurt many, and would cause chaos.

Not many could accept that the Empress was the Saintess of Diabolism. What was most dangerous was that the Tang Empire would face great difficulties if the chaos amongst the people was linked to the criticism of Haotian Taoism against the royal family of Tang. There was not any public opinion against the West-Hill Divine Palace for now, but everyone knew that the calm was only temporary.

There were many horse carriages parked in front of the House of Red Sleeves. However, the building was very quiet. There was not a single sound of an instrument being played, a song being sung, a dance tune being played, or the sound of applause.

There were people seated behind the dozens of tables set up in the hall. They were all important members of the Princess’ faction. They all looked angry, pensive, or were silent.

No matter how they felt, they all looked coldly at the table in front of them.

The table was set up right at the front and was a distance away from the other tables. Ning Que sat behind the desk and looked at the ministers in front of him who all had varying expressions.

He was Mr. Thirteen of the Academy and there was no one in the Tang Empire who would dare to disrespect him. However, everyone ignored him right now, and as such, he seemed rather lonely.

Ning Que was used to this loneliness. He was used to living like this no matter whether when he was living on Min Mountain or in the Wilderness.

He raised the flagon and filled the glass in front of him. He looked at the ministers in front of him and said, “I know what you are thinking. You are unwilling or unconvinced, or have doubts about the Empress, or think I have done something very inappropriate.”

The ministers’ eyebrows raised slightly as they wondered to themselves if Ning Que was really going to admit to what he had done.

Ning Que raised his wine cup and said, “But I will not explain to you all because I do not have to. The laws of the Tang Empire have to be upheld and rules have to be obeyed. We will talk about this again when the Tang Army can leave the Verdant Canyon and regain control of the Qinghe River, or when they enter the Wilderness and burn the Golden Palace.”

A minister said, “Then why have you asked us to come today?”

Ning Que said, “I need you all to shut up.”

The minister could not hide his anger, and he said, “Who are you to ask us to shut up?”

Ning Que said, “If there’s no evidence, but there are rumors spreading everywhere, then that constitutes as slander. Furthermore, doing such a thing at a time like this would be the same as betraying one’s country. You should know how important this is. What do you all want to do if you don’t shut up?”

“We want to meet Her Highness.”

“No.” Ning Que said. “Her Highness is a criminal and nobody can meet her. If you all insist on doing so, then we will put her on trial for changing the Emperor’s last edict tomorrow.”

“Then let’s hold the trial.”

The silent Minister of Rites finally spoke. His voice was somewhat exhausted and solemn. He said, “I can’t watch Her Highness die silently like General Hua.”

Ning Que looked at the wine cup in his hands silently. Then, he said, “Meet her then.”

With that, the bead curtain behind him moved, causing a pleasant chime. Li Yu, who was wearing her court clothes, walked into the hall accompanied by two handmaidens.

The crashing of dishes knocking into each other suddenly sounded. The ministers all stood up, looking at Li Yu in surprise. They only emerged from their stupor after a long time, and then, they saluted her.

This was the first time Li Yu had left her mansion since the incident, and it was also the first time these people in the court had seen her since. While she looked slightly more haggard, her spirits were still up, so the ministers finally felt much more relieved.

Li Yu looked at the ministers and was touched that they were still loyal to her despite their situation. She thanked them sincerely.

The ministers said as one, “We wouldn’t dare.”

Ning Que raised his cup and looked at it as if he was not involved in the matter.

Then, he looked up at the ministers and said, “If you all cannot calm down even with this, then I can guarantee that Her Highness will not die silently like Hua Shanyue. I will kill her before all of you and let everyone in the world witness her death.”

The ministers were still reveling in the joy of meeting the Princess. When they heard Ning Que’s words, it was as if they had been stabbed by an icy cold knife, and they felt the cold piercing through their organs.

A young general sitting in the corner bellowed, “Who would dare to touch Her Highness!”

Ning Que drank the wine in his cup and walked out of the hall, heading upstairs.

He did not answer the young general and neither did any of the ministers in the hall. It was silent in the building; only the sounds of the frantic breathing could be heard.

Because they were angry, anxious and afraid.

They finally recalled that Ning Que had even dared to kill the emperor.

In a room on the top floor of the House of Red Sleeves, there was a table covered with a cloth embroidered with flowers, and a celadon bowl was filled with snow fungus soup. The bottom of the bowl was pressed against the gorgeous peony flower.

Ning Que drank the snow fungus soup and wiped his mouth, saying, “I only drank a cup of wine, I don’t need any sobering up.”

Mistress Jian replied, “But you didn’t even eat the snacks on the table.”

Ning Que only knew then that she had been watching what happened downstairs. He said, “I am not really in the mood to eat these days.”

Mistress Jian replied, “I asked Dewdrop to cook dumplings. I remember that you like eating that.”

“Thank you, Aunty Jian.”

Ning Que paused and then continued, “The Academy has given you face regarding this matter tonight.”