Nightfall

Mistress Jian said, “I’m giving the Empress face.”

Ning Que replied, “The Academy is involved in this matter. The Queen has to call me Youngest Uncle, so I do not need to give her face.”

Mistress Jian looked at him silently and asked, “Do you really intend to kill Li Yu?”

Ning Que replied without even thinking, “Her death is the best choice.”

“Why?” Mistress Jian asked.

Ning Que explained, “Who can the ministers in court be loyal to if both Li Huiyuan and Li Yu are dead? No matter how in pain or unwilling they are, they still have to follow Her Majesty’s orders. To many, this war has made it inconvenient for the imperial court and the Academy to kill these people. But if you think about it from another perspective, the pressure of the war and their honor would exert pressure on the ministers.”

When she heard that, Mistress Jian sighed and said, “I used to think that you were really similar to your Youngest Uncle. After you attained his Great Spirit, I thought you two were even more similar. I only realized now that you were two different people.”

Ning Que said, “I will never be able to catch up to what Youngest Uncle accomplished in this life. But there are some things that I am confident that I can do better than him. For example, this situation that the Tang Empire is facing now.”

Mistress Jian grimaced and said, “That’s why he is dead.”

Ning Que said calmly, “I’m not afraid of death, but I want to survive together with the Tang Empire and the Academy.”

Mistress Jian looked at him with pity. She clutched her hand at her chest and said after a moment, “But you have never once thought that while the Prince has a close relationship with Xia Tian, her surname is also Li.”

When he heard the name, Ning Que thought of many things, like the thick blood in the General’s Mansion. He said, “He is already dead to me. I just need the right time.”

Mistress Jian replied, “Your calmness is terrifying to others.”

Ning Que did not discuss the matter anymore. He said, “I still would like to know why the Empress objected to me killing Li Yu. She is not someone who is affected by petty affections.”

“I really don’t know what Xia Tian is thinking about.”

Mistress Jian looked out of the windows. The sky had already darkened, and the moon hung above the city wall. She said, with an expression of loss on her face, “Has the Headmaster really left?”

Ning Que stood up and walked up to the window to look at the moon. He said, “Who knows?”

After a momentary pause, he continued, “Other than him and Haotian, is there anyone who knows?”

After New Year’s Day, Ning Que stayed in Chang’an. It was not because it was inconvenient for him to travel to and fro to the Academy, but there was an even more important reason and he also had to prepare for the arrival of the West-Hill Divine Palace’s diplomatic corps.

As spring gradually arrived, the Divine Hall diplomatic corps finally arrived at Chang’an. The corps drove through the Vermilion Bird Avenue and entered their guesthouse under the complicated glances of the Tangs.

The composition of the delegation that came to the talks was somewhat complicated. The leader was the head of the West-Hill Divine Palace’s Revelation Institute. His two deputies were a prince of the South Jin Kingdom and the prime minister of the Yan Kingdom. It seemed funny, butit really was not, since the thrones of the South Jin Kingdom and Yan Kingdom were both still empty.

The war was temporarily over, and the two armies were still in the north and south of the Tang Empire. The tension would be difficult to dispell, which was why the talks between the two parties started swiftly with the arrival of the diplomatic corps. The learned members of the Tang imperial court and the West-Hill Divine Palace’s diplomatic corps sat on both sides of a long table, sparring with their lips and tongues as expected.

They would definitely need to have negotiations, but these often did not depend on who was right, but rather who had more strength. The negotiations in the side hall of the Imperial Palace were only one aspect. The most important, or perhaps, most critical place of negotiation was a different place in Chang’an. There was a lake that was the color of jade and had uneasy waves there.

Before the battle with the Abbey Dean, Ning Que had walked through the streets with a knife and cut off all the traces left behind by Sangsang. The house at Yanming Lake was naturally involved. It was fortunate that the damage was not serious and was fixed shortly. He had stayed here in the days after the New Year.

The thick snow on Yanming Lake had already melted, with the ice layer becoming a very thin mirror, to later disintegrate. The wind had blown it to the shore of the lake and piled it up into a crisp roll of snow, revealing the clear water of the lake.

Ning Que stood by the lake, stretched out his hand and spread the winter willow branches that had not yet sprouted green shoots. He looked at the faint green stems in the water and thought of that summer when he and Sangsang rowed a boat to plant lotus flowers in the lake.

The clouds above the lake gradually darkened. Rain fell silently without any thunder. This was the first spring rain in Chang’an this year, and it brought with it some chill.

Ning Que returned to the house and retrieved a handkerchief to wipe off the rain on his body. Then, he heard someone knocking on the door.

He walked to the door and listened to the knocking. After a moment of silence, he opened the door.

Rain fell incessantly, soaking through his clothes and also the girl outside the door.

Ning Que looked at her and felt as if he was transported back to that summer.

She was not wearing green Taoist robes, but instead, the blood red Divine Robe of Judgement. Her black hair did not seem as pathetic as it had back then because of its dampness, since she was now wearing an elegant divine crown.

But she was just as beautiful.

Ning Que’s expression remained calm, even when he saw the two people behind her.

They were Liu Yiqing of the Sword Garret and Xie Chengyun, an official of the South Jin Kingdom’s Ministry of Rites.

They both saluted him calmly.

Liu Yiqing was blinded by Ning Que and Ning Que had met Xie Chengyun at the Academy. However, it was unnecessary to remember many things as time passed.

The doors closed slowly, leaving the two outside.

Ye Hongyu followed Ning Que into the house.

Ning Que and Ye Hongyu sat under the shelter in the garden. They fell into a daze as they watched the rain falling down. The sounds of rain falling upon Yanming Lake could be vaguely heard on the south side of the walls.

“Now that I think about it, the days that I’ve spent here were really peaceful.”

Ye Hongyu reached out to catch the rain falling from the shelter. She said, “But there are many changes in the world. The peace cannot remain for long.”

Ning Que looked at the rainwater splattering on her jade-white palms. He said, “Your words don’t sound like what a human being would say after becoming the Great Divine Priest of Judgment.”

Ye Hongyu retracted her hand and looked at him. “Are you provoking this seat?”

“Bullshit.” Ning Que handed her a handkerchief and said, “You’d better speak human speech before me.”

They had met on the Wilderness a long time ago. They had once tried to kill each other and had never once fallen in love. They had once lived together but had never been in agreement. He knew that they would kill each other one day right from the start, having attempted to do so many times already.

What was interesting was that because they were both well aware of it, they were both especially calm when they met. It was as if there was a refreshing light breeze between them.

Ning Que asked, “Both the Abbey Dean and the Hierarch are still alive. So do your words mean anything?”

Ye Hongyu said, “Since I have come to Chang’an, I will honor my words. The problem is that the Academy has never meddled in court affairs. How much influence do you have on the people in Chang’an?”

Ning Que said, “I hold the master’s nameplate of the Devil’s Doctrine. You already know of the Empress’ past, so you need not doubt me.”

Ye Hongyu said, “The price that the Tang Empire will pay will be large. The Devil’s Doctrine Saintess cannot possibly suppress all opinions in court. So what is the point of this agreement?”

Ning Que replied, “Firstly, I don’t think that we will get the short end of the stick on this agreement. As for the effectiveness and enforcement of this agreement, this is something the Academy needs to consider. The Divine Hall need not concern itself with it.”

Ye Hongyu said, “Our discussion is pointless if it is ineffective.”

Ning Que answered, “The point is the discussion.”

Ye Hongyu said, “Your statement is boring. You have become lifeless and worn out because of a woman. It’s truly ridiculous.”

Ning Que’s expression did not change. He said calmly, “Haotian rules the world, and there are many powerhouses around. Is it not ludicrous that a girl like you would come to Chang’an to take the risk?”

Ye Hongyu said, “What danger does Chang’an pose to me?”

Ning Que answered, “I can kill you anytime.”

Ye Hongyu said. “You’d have been killed by me in that swamp if not for that pack of wild horses.”

Ning Que replied, “We are not in the swamp in the Wilderness. We are in Chang’an.”

Ye Hongyu’s eyes turned cold and she asked, “So?”

Ning Que answered calmly, “I have no enemies while I am in Chang’an. Even the Abbey Dean would be tossed into the air by a swing of my blade. I don’t think that you will have an opportunity to beat me.”

Ye Hongyu said, “But don’t forget, there is not a single person who can beat Haotian.”

Ning Que wanted very much to say that he had bullied Haotian badly, while in the house by the Hot Sea in the Cold Region of the Far North. However, he did not say so because this was a matter between him a Sangsang and had nothing to do with anyone else.

“It is a great joy to fight against Haotian.”

He thought of this statement that his teacher had made. He suddenly gained a new perspective and could not help smiling.

Ye Hongyu said, “If the Headmaster could really beat Haotian, then he would not have become that moon and would become the new Haotian.”

Ning Que said, “This speculation might seem correct but is in fact completely wrong. This is because you all don’t know what my teacher is like. He is not interested in becoming the sky that stretches over our heads. He wanted more to become pure light that scatters throughout the mortal realm and experience the emotions of joy and sorrow here.”

This conversation in the spring rain was not a test but determined the tone of the negotiations. It was not a guess at the bottom line of the other party, but a probe of what the other party wanted and to see in which direction the spring rain will flow eventually.

Since the spring rain fell into Yanming Lake and some seeped into the soil under the plum bush, it seemed that there was no way for the rain to gather together in a short period of time. Then, more specific things needed to be discussed.

At this moment, Ning Que raised his hands and reached out to her temples to caress her cheek.

Ye Hongyu did not react at all. It was as if she did not see his hands.

Ning Que asked, “Do you still feel burdened?”

Ye Hongyu answered, “Of course I do, but there is no one to help me carry it.”

Ning Que took the crown from her head and said, “Then look for someone quickly.”

Ye Hongyu’s damp black hair fell on her divine robe, making her look even more beautiful.

She looked at Ning Que and said, “Where can I find someone as shameless as you?”