Ye Hongyu said, "You can't keep people in the snow, so you want to keep people here?"
Ning Que said, "I don't understand what you mean."
Ye Hongyu asked, "Why did you dismiss all the stewards and maids last night?"
Ning Que said with a smile, "Doesn't this prove that I didn't keep anyone here?"
Ye Hongyu said, "You know what I mean."
Ning Que said, "Today is the Winter Solstice. The stewards and maids should spend more time with their families."
Ye Hongyu said, "Then why do you want me to leave? Don't tell me that you haven't given up on assassinating Xia Hou. You are going to do it now. "
Ning Que asked, "Are you worried about my life?"
Ye Hongyu shook her head.
Ning Que said with a smile, "Although it sounds sad, this is the real you. Since you are not worried about my life, why do you care what I do?"
"Xia Hou is a visiting professor of Haotian Taoism. My brother came to Chang 'an for this. He will not allow you to ruin it, and neither will I. So if you want to do it, I will keep you here."
Ye Hongyu looked at him and said calmly. Her right hand was about to hold a virtual sword in the winter wind.
Ning Que looked at her right hand and said after a long silence, "It seems that everyone in the world, including my sect, does not agree with me assassinating Xia Hou."
He raised his head and looked into Ye Hongyu's eyes quietly. He said, "You know what kind of person I am. I can't defeat Xia Hou, so I won't think about killing him. I want you to leave because I want to tell you that Ye Su's Taoist temple is reopening today. Since it's the Winter Solstice, you should go there."
Ye Hongyu said, "You haven't said whether you are going to assassinate Xia Hou."
Ning Que said, "I swear on the Headmaster's character that I have never thought about assassinating Xia Hou."
Ye Hongyu's expression did not change. She said, "Change your name."
Ning Que said, "If I assassinate Xia Hou, then Sangsang and I can never be together."
Ye Hongyu was startled. She did not expect him to make such a promise. She frowned and asked, "Then why do you two care so much about today?"
Ning Que said, "We are going to the House of Red Sleeves to eat haggis soup."
Ye Hongyu was silent. Her green robe fluttered slightly and she disappeared into the depths of the plum tree.
…
…
The Big Black Horse chewed on the fragrant plum blossoms and left Yanming Lake, running out of the city. The soldiers stationed at the South Gate of Chang 'an City had already been warned by the Fish-dragon Gang and knew the origin of the black horse. They did not stop it and just watched it disappear on the cold winter road outside the city.
It didn't take long for the Big Black Horse to run back to the Academy. It stepped on the slope from the side door and entered the clouds. It appeared by the Mirror Lake on the cliff plateau of the Back Mountain. It kept panting and lowered its head to kiss itself on the surface of the lake. It drank the water greedily to moisten its throat and lungs that were about to burn.
The Big Black Horse did not know what Ning Que was going to do, nor did he know why he felt so uneasy. He just vaguely felt that he should return to the Academy earlier so that the people in the Academy could guess what was going to happen at Yanming Lake. He thought that he was the messenger.
Chen Pipi stood on the other side of the lake and looked at the Big Black Horse on the other side. His round cheeks were filled with deep worry. Tang Xiaotang looked up at him and asked, "Will something happen?"
"According to Younger Brother's character, he would not make any decision if he knew that he would lose. So nothing should happen. But why did the Big Black Horse come back?"
Chen Pipi frowned slightly and said, "Now I realize that I don't seem to understand what he's thinking. I always thought that he was a cold, emotionless, and realistic guy, so it's hard for me to imagine that he would do something brave and arrogant."
Tang Xiaotang said, "Ning Que is a very shameless person. But my brother told me before I came to the Academy that some people can be extremely shameless. In fact, it actually takes a lot of courage."
Chen Pipi said after a moment of silence, "I want to go to Chang 'an City."
Tang Xiaotang said, "I will go with you."
Chen Pipi shook his head and said, "Third Sister will not agree."
"Teacher gave me a break in the morning when I was doing morning lessons."
Tang Xiaotang looked at Chen Pipi and said seriously, "Xia Hou is the biggest traitor of the Enlightenment Doctrine in the past thousand years. My brother has always wanted to kill him, and so do I. But it is a pity that I do not have the ability to do so. Since Youngest Uncle wants to kill him today, at least I have to watch from the side."
…
…
The atmosphere in the palace was very calm. There was the sound of ceremonial music and warm fragrance.
The palace maids and eunuchs walked in the hall with smiles on their faces. No one looked at the legendary cruel and cold-blooded General Xia Hou, and no one noticed the strange expression on His Majesty's face.
His Majesty looked at Xia Hou below and said indifferently, "Since the matter has been resolved, don't make any more changes. I don't care about the relationship between Ning Que and the Xuanwei General, and I don't want to know about the recent murder cases in Chang 'an City. After all, he is a student of the Headmaster of Academy. It will be difficult for you to meet him when you leave Chang' an City today. Since it is difficult to meet him, let's not make things difficult for each other."
Xia Hou left his seat and knelt down, calmly agreeing.
His Majesty put his hands behind his back and silently left the side hall, ending the emperor's banquet for returning officials in advance. All the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall also left with him, leaving the side hall to the Empress and General Xia Hou, who had been quietly waiting by the side.
According to the rules, it was very inappropriate for the Empress to be alone with a General of the Empire. However, this was His Majesty's order, and no one dared to object.
The Empress quietly looked at her brother below and sighed softly. She said, "Will he be alright?"
Xia Hou looked at her, and on his usual dark and indifferent face, there was a very rare warm and pampering smile. He said, "We are going back to our hometown. Nothing will happen. I feel relaxed like never before. Sister, you will be alone in Chang 'an City from now on. You must be careful. If anything goes wrong, inform me as soon as possible."
The Empress smiled and said, "Judging from the movements in the Academy, it should be peaceful."
"This was originally the agreement between Mr. First and me. I think the Headmaster of the Academy also has the same attitude … As for Ning Que, we all know what kind of person he is. Of course, it will be peaceful."
Xia Hou frowned slightly and forcibly suppressed the increasingly irritating cough in his chest. He did not want to let his sister worry about him after leaving Chang 'an.
The Empress silently looked at his face. Her gentle gaze seemed to be able to penetrate deep into his body. She looked at the injury in his lungs and faintly said, "In the Wilderness, Tang caused you such a serious injury. I think he must not have had a good time. Why didn't you take the opportunity to kill him at that time?"
Xia Hou coughed softly and said, "He can hurt me, and I can hurt him. It is all natural. However, if I want to kill him, I need to sacrifice more lives. Those cavalries in the Wilderness are all loyal subordinates who have followed me for many years. Why should I let them exchange their lives?"
Hearing this, the Empress's expression became more and more gentle. She comforted him and said, "Brother, you have changed a lot."
"Not as cold, violent, and murderous as before?"
Xia Hou laughed at himself. He thought that when he and his sister left the Wilderness and came to the Tang Empire, they did not have any background. His Majesty had not yet ascended the throne, and she was not the Empress. What else could they do if they wanted to gain a foothold in such a big empire but to make all their enemies feel terrified?
It was winter. Snow fell from the sky like powder, coating the red walls of the palace with a thin layer of powder. The square in front of the side hall was covered with snow, as if it would not stop.
Xia Hou silently looked at the cold snow outside the hall. He could not help but think of the snow-like ashes on his hands after he snatched the iron box from Ning Que in the north of the Hulan Sea. Then, he seemed to hear some whimpering sounds in the deepest part of the wind and snow. It was not the whistling of the north wind, but the chirping of cicadas.
He knew it was an auditory hallucination, but his face still became a little ugly.
Decades ago, he left Tianqi Mountain and went south to the Tang Empire. He was full of pride and arrogance. However, when he decided to betray the Enlightenment Doctrine and cook Murong Linshuang to death, his pride and anger had long disappeared. For so many years, he had only covered it with violence and cruelty.
Because from that day on, he was a traitor of the Devil's Doctrine.
From that day on, there had been two extremely cold dark clouds in the depths of his heart that could not be driven away.
One of the dark clouds was his teacher, Master Lotus.
The other was the current Suzerain of the Devil's Doctrine, Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation.
Xia Hou was very powerful and confident, but he was very clear that once the two dark clouds floated over, he would have no way out except death.
When Ke Haoran destroyed the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine with a single sword, he did not see Master Lotus die with his own eyes. He could not believe that a person like his teacher would die so quietly.
The current Suzerain of the Devil's Doctrine cultivated Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation and hid in the world. He was known as the most mysterious person in the cultivation world. Although it was said that he had died long ago, Xia Hou did not dare to believe it.
Therefore, he had been living in fear all these years.
In the north of the Hulan Sea, Xiahou snatched the iron box from Ning Que's hands. In the box was not the "Ming" Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane, but the ashes of his teacher, Lotus. He was a little disappointed, then sad, and then relieved. It was probably at that moment that he really had the idea to retire and stop caring about the world.
"I don't know what adventure Ning Que had after entering the Front Gate."
Xia Hou looked at the dancing snowflakes outside the hall and said with a complicated expression, "Since the ashes of my teacher appeared in his hands, he might have inherited something. And Suzerain … I don't know where he is hiding now. Although he certainly does not dare to stay in Chang 'an, there is nowhere in the world that he cannot go.
The Empress was very clear about what her brother's biggest fear was. She walked to his side and softly comforted him, "But Master Lotus is dead after all. The Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation that the Suzerain cultivated is the world's most perverted and dangerous cultivation method. All these years, neither the Haotian Taoism nor the Academy could find any trace of him. I'm afraid that he is already dead. If he is still alive, why did he not come to you for so many years?"
"I hope so."
Xia Hou said, "Ye Su of the Haotian Taoism came to Chang 'an, and the people of the Buddhism Sect will also come. Now that I think about it, among the three sects in the world, only the Devil's Doctrine has withered like this. I can't help but feel a little sad."
…
…
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