It's okay if she's your handmaiden, but didn't you pick her up from a pile of dead bodies? Didn't you say that you two depended on each other? Even if we take ten thousand steps back and say that she is your maidservant, don't you think that she is still too young to bear such heavy and arduous labor? Why is this young lad so lazy? Why can't he do it himself?
Perhaps it triggered some bad childhood memories, or perhaps it was because her imagination of some beautiful feelings had been completely destroyed by Ning Que. The maidservant pushed open the fence and walked in. Her eyes fell on the bamboo chair and the old book that the lad had been reading seriously. She said with slight sarcasm, "I thought you'd read some great works of sages that could make you forget everything that happened around you. I didn't expect that it's just the Article on the Response of the Tao that can be bought anywhere in the market. Do people like you also have extravagant hopes to step into the path of cultivation?"
Ning Que sat up and looked curiously at the well-dressed young lady who should never have appeared in the City of Wei. Then he looked at the awkward captain and explained after a short pause, "I could only buy this one, so I had to make do with it. I'm just curious. I don't have any extravagant hopes."
The maidservant obviously didn't expect that the lad would answer so naturally and casually, which made her stunned. Then she looked at the little handmaiden who was pouring ashes from the stove by the door and said unhappily, "How can there be a man like you in the Tang Empire?"
Ning Que frowned in confusion and followed the man's gaze to Sangsang, who was standing by the window with a rag in her hand. He understood where the sharpness of the man's words came from. A dimple appeared on his left cheek, and he said with a smile, "It seems that you are older than me. How about … you take me as a boy instead of a man."
The maidservant had probably never seen such a shameless person in her life. Her fists slowly clenched in her sleeves and her expression was cold. Just as she was about to explode, her gaze fell on the muddy ground next to the bamboo chair and the words drawn on the tree branches. She couldn't help but have a thought and a strange look appeared in her eyes, causing her to forget what she wanted to say.
…
…
In the best barracks in the City of Wei, the old man in a shabby robe was resting with his eyes closed. Border General Ma Shixiang was half bowing and talking to the noble in the tent. His humble attitude couldn't hide his surprise.
"You're not satisfied with the guide?" He asked confusedly, "Why?"
The voice of the noblewoman in the tent was extremely dissatisfied. She reprimanded, "What I want is a smart and capable guide, not a lazy young man whose head is filled with dreams of cultivation and who has no strength to even truss a chicken."
Ma Shixiang coughed slightly and explained in a low voice, "As I know, Ning Que is still young, but he has beheaded many barbarians in the grassland in the past two years. If … it is just to of a few chickens, I think it shouldn't be a problem."
The cold voice behind the tent paused for a moment and said unhappily, "Can killing people make a good guide?"
Ma Shixiang answered more humbly, "Ning Que is definitely not the one who killed the most enemies among the three hundred soldiers in the City of Wei. But I can guarantee with my head that no matter how fierce the battlefield is, this lad will definitely be one of the survivors."
Then he raised his head and said with a smile, "Because of his accumulated military achievements, he has received a letter of recommendation from the Military Ministry. This lad has really worked hard and passed the preliminary examination half a year ago. This time, he will report to the Academy after returning to the capital."
Hearing the word "Academy", the noble in the tent suddenly became silent and did not speak again.
After Ma Shixiang left, the old man in the shabby robe slowly opened his eyes. There was a rare trace of interest in his old and calm eyes. He looked at the curtain and said with a gentle smile, "It is really surprising that a soldier in this small border town can enter the Academy. In this case, the lad must be the best in both character and ability. It is not bad to let him be a guide."
"It has only been a year since I left the country. I did not expect that a sacred place like the Academy would start to recruit ruffians."
His tone was still cold and disdainful, but his actual attitude had changed. At least the noble no longer objected to Ning Que being the guide of his team. Only a name was needed to change the mind of a bigwig. That place called the Academy must be very complicated.
The old man spoke of another matter with a puzzled expression. "Previously, I went to see the words he wrote on the muddy ground. He copied the third section of the Article on the Response of the Tao. The lines of the words were concise but extremely vivid. Even though he only used a branch, when it fell on the wetland, it felt like the edge of a knife and the mud. This soldier named Ning Que's calligraphy has entered the right path … I really don't know how he practiced it and who his teacher is."
"That soldier is just an empty brush stroke. When I saw it by chance, I was shocked because of the novelty. Now that I think about it carefully, it is just a strange way of writing. It is not the right path. In the future, he will probably be a calligrapher outside the Fragrance Workshop in the capital."
The noble replied coldly.
The old man shook his head and said, "The word 'novelty' is the key. I don't know calligraphy, but when I looked at the place where the soldier's branch fell, I could vaguely see the meaning of gold and stone. It is rare to see this kind of character. It is really similar to the skills of the Talisman Taoism masters in the Taoist altar. "
"You mean the Divine Talisman?"
The noble behind the tent was startled and immediately sneered, "There are hundreds of millions of people in the world, but there are only a dozen Talisman Taoism masters. Those sublime people either hide in the palace or sit quietly in the temple. They meditate and cultivate their whole lives to condense the Qi of Heaven and Earth between the golden hook and the silver stroke. That lad has no aura at all. He is just an ordinary person. Even if he reads the Article on the Response of the Tao for another 50 years, I am afraid he can't even step into the initial state. How dare he discuss with those masters? "
The old man smiled and said nothing more. Although he was a cultivator and was respected by the noble along the way, the difference in status between them was too big. The so-called respect was actually because he cherished the old and cherished the talented. Since that was the case, it was better not to say things that should not be said.
Of course, he did not agree with the words of the noble behind the tent. Regarding the soldier named Ning Que, the old man had his own judgment. In the secular world, there were only a few mortals who could sense the Qi of Heaven and Earth and step into the initial state. The initial stage of sensing was the most difficult and definitely not an easy task. However, if Ning Que could really enter the Academy to study, he might be able to reach the legendary second floor one day and embark on the path of cultivation. His strange yet powerful calligraphy would definitely be of great help to him.
Even if he could never be enlightened, his calligraphy alone would be able to make the sublime people in the Academy and the Taoist altar look at him differently. At the very least, it would be able to shock those scholars and calligraphers.
…
…
Ning Que put down the book in his hand and shook his head as he walked out of the door. There was a faint sense of loss and unwillingness on his face.
This was the Article on the Response of the Tao that he bought with the grain transport team to the market in Kaiping when he was young. As the noble maidservant had said, it was a common book that could be found everywhere. He knew this very well, but he still did not forget to read and study it, as if this book was the legendary Seven Volumes of Tomes of Arcane enshrined in the Unknown Place of Haotian Taoism.
The pages of the book had long been flipped and the corners were curled up, looking extremely shabby. If it were not for Sangsang sewing the spine tightly with cotton thread, it would have turned into paper money and blown away by the wind to pay tribute to the poor sages. It was a pity that after so many years, the pages of the book had been flipped and the words on it had long been deeply engraved in his mind. However, he still could not understand it. Not to mention the Initial State of cultivation, he could not even achieve the simplest sense mentioned in the book.
He had once been disappointed and even desperate. Later, he became much calmer after knowing that most ordinary people in this world could not understand the Qi of Heaven and Earth. Yes, those legendary sublime people were not ordinary people, they were all abnormal people. Because only the extremely rare abnormal people could understand the Qi of Heaven and Earth. Otherwise, with so many copies of the Article on the Response of the Tao circulating in the world, why had he not heard of the night sky of Chang 'an, the capital city, being filled with flying swords and sublime people?
Ning Que, on the other hand, was very normal, or rather, very ordinary. However, if you suddenly found a wonderful mountain of treasures in front of you, but you could only go back empty-handed, and suddenly found that the world was filled with that wonderful thing called Primordial Qi that looked like invisible white clouds, but you could not even catch a piece of cloud, you would still feel a little unwilling, right?
…
…
"The City of Wei is so poor, and the barbarians on the grassland have long been beaten by His Majesty. They have not dared to come for many years, so I can't accumulate military merits too quickly. Of course, it's good to go back to the capital. Why would I feel unwilling?"
In the dimly lit military camp, Ning Que respectfully bowed to the general in front of him and explained earnestly, "It's just that there's still some time before the registration day of the Academy, so I don't think it's necessary to leave so early. Although I haven't improved by leaps and bounds under your command these years, I've been taught by you to be more like a person, or else I wouldn't have been so lucky to enter the Academy. I really want to stay with you in the City of Wei for a few more days, to listen to your teachings … Even if it's just for a while, it's good enough to gossip more. "
Ma Shixiang looked at the lad in front of him, his beard slightly moving, either because of the night wind or because he was very angry. He said angrily, "Ning Que, Ning Que, when did you become such a shameless guy?"
Ning Que answered seriously, "As long as you need me to, I can do it at any time."
"Tell me the truth." Ma Shixiang's expression became cold, and he asked seriously, "Why don't you want to be the guide?"
Ning Que was silent for a long time, and then he said in a low voice, "General, the nobleman doesn't like me."
"The nobleman doesn't like you?" Ma Shixiang scolded him sternly, "You seem to have forgotten your identity. You are not a student of the Academy yet, and as a soldier of the empire, you have to obey the orders of your superiors and me! Whether the nobleman likes you or not, it's not something you should worry about! As for whether you like the nobleman or not, no one will care about it! All you need to do is to accept the order and fulfill it! "
Ning Que didn't answer, but looked down at the stubborn grass growing out of the mud in the middle of the military boots, and remained silent to express his opposition.
Ma Shixiang couldn't do anything to this lad, and he sighed and said, "What on earth do you want? Why don't you go back to the capital with them? "
Ning Que raised his head and said seriously, "I saw their caravan outside. They were attacked on the grassland, and there is a spring drought there recently. Last year, Chanyu of the Left Golden Tent died, and the nobleman's maidservant has a dark skin, so … I don't dare to go with them."
The caravan was attacked, the grassland had a spring drought, Chanyu was dead, and the maidservant had a dark skin. These seemingly unrelated words were pieced together by him, and became the reason for his silence and stubbornness in refusing to leave the City of Wei.
Ma Shixiang looked at him and sighed, and asked, "You have already guessed it?"
"Who in the entire City of Wei hasn't guessed who they are?"
Ning Que helplessly spread out his hands, looked at the other side of the military camp in the night, and said, "Only the idiot princess, who grew up in the Chang 'an Imperial Palace, married to the grassland, and didn't even know that her husband was dead, would be stupid enough to think that this is a big secret."
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