After eating mutton giblets soup and supper, Ning Que did not drink much wine. When he walked out of the Chao Mansion, he was no longer drunk in the cold wind. However, he still felt restless, or rather, bored.
The carriage went to the guest house. He asked the coachman to leave and walked into the garden with the help of his crutch. Through the snow window, he saw Mo Shanshan writing.
The candlelight was the same as before, and the girl's eyebrows were still beautiful. He stood quietly outside the window for a long time before he knocked on the door and entered. However, he did not know what to say.
Ning Que wanted to drink with Mo Shanshan, but it was already late at night when he entered the room. He did not know what to say, so he said, "How is Cat Girl now?"
"We talked about marriage …" Mo Shanshan was about to pour tea for him. She looked at his expression and could not help smiling. She said, "I want to drink now. Will you keep me company?"
They drank a few dishes, two bowls of vegetable porridge, and a pot of old wine from the Great River Kingdom.
Mo Shanshan asked, "You have a knot between your eyebrows."
Ning Que put down the cup and rubbed his eyebrows. He said, "Is it so obvious?"
Mo Shanshan smiled and said, "If not, why would you come to me at night?"
Ning Que was silent for a moment and told her what happened tonight. He did not mention the dirty things he told Chen Qi. He said with emotion, "Five years ago, when I sent Lee Yu back to Chang 'an, I saw Hua Shanyue for the first time at the entrance of Northern Mountain Road. I did not like him then, and I still don't like him now. However, I did not expect that he would risk his life to save Lee Yu. Love is really hard to understand."
"Love is …"
Mo Shanshan turned the cup and looked at Ning Que quietly. She said, "It is hard to understand."
Ning Que was confused by her gaze. He reached out his chopsticks to pick up the fried fish, but the fish slipped from the chopsticks.
He put his chopsticks on the table and changed the topic. "The reason why I'm a little depressed is because of the affairs of the world. That day on the snowy street, countless people died, but they died in a refreshing way. Tonight, most of the people survived, but it made me very uncomfortable. Erba Chao told me that if I want to ask for the Heaven's Way, then ignore the affairs of the world. If the affairs of the world disturb us, then we should cut them down like how we cut the Abbey Dean. It's easy to say, but difficult to do."
Mo Shanshan tucked her fine hair behind her ear and said, "On the path of cultivation, everyone will be troubled by these choices. I once had the same problem, but later on, I realized that I am a very greedy person. I want to question the Heavenly Dao, I want to reason with the affairs of the world, and I want to ponder over love."
She looked up at Ning Que and said, "That year on the Wa Mountain, I wanted to ask Master Qishan a question, but I didn't. At that time, I thought I had figured it out. However, after returning to the Great River, I sat by the Ink Lake and looked at the reflection on the water and the flowing clouds in the blue sky. I found that the so-called understanding was just an escape. I was always a little unwilling. This is greed. Because you once said that you like me, and I still like you."
Ning Que was silent for a long time and then said, "I like you too."
Then he looked at the bamboo outside the window and thought of that long night when he cursed the Heavens and the Earth by the Snow Lake. He said, "That day she ran away, but she didn't run far, so I could catch her. This time she ran to the sky, too far to come back, so I can't do anything about it."
There seemed to be no relationship between these words, but Mo Shanshan understood. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and there was no sadness on her white face, only calmness.
"I like you, and you like me. That's good."
She looked at Ning Que and said, "As for other greed, it might have been possible in the past, but probably not now. I won't feel sad because this is probably God's will."
She poured a cup of wine and slowly pushed it in front of Ning Que.
Then she looked at the night sky outside the window and said with a smile, "Because she is God."
Ning Que looked at her breathtakingly beautiful face and drank the wine in his cup as a sign of respect.
…
…
Chang 'an City was getting colder and colder, and the winter was getting colder and colder. Time passed slowly and unstoppably. Quietly, the 18th year of Tianqi came to an end.
The little emperor had not officially ascended the throne, and the Tang Empire was in the hands of the Empress. It would probably take some time before the new year was changed. The war had not completely stopped, and the Tang Empire was still under great pressure. No one knew how many people had died, but the New Year had to be celebrated, and it would be more lively.
Ning Que spent the New Year in the Academy. His Senior Brothers and Sisters at the back of the mountain were injured, disabled, or recovering. The New Year's Eve dinner fell on Mo Shanshan and Tang Xiaotang, with the help of the little attendant. Although the dinner was not ready until the moon climbed up to the top of the mountain, they finally had a hot meal.
Everyone drank a lot of wine that night, and toasted to the bright moon several times. If the Headmaster had the time to drink the wine toasted by his disciples, he would probably be drunk.
It was peaceful and warm, as if everything had happened yesterday. But in fact, everyone felt that the back of the mountain of the Academy was missing something important. Perhaps it was the teacher who liked to be a food connoisseur, or perhaps it was Sangsang who had been in charge of cooking for the past few years.
At the turn of the new year, the situation in the world had changed a lot. Because of the cold weather, the cavalry of the Golden Tribe Royal Court stopped their crazy attack and entered a temporary truce with the Tang Army. The Golden Tribe Royal Court set up camp in Kaiping of the Seven Stockaded Villages, while the Tang Army stuck to the Xiangwan Plain and did not retreat.
The king of the Yuelun Kingdom, the commander of the army, and other important figures were all killed by Eldest Brother. The main force of the army was annihilated by the Tang Western Army in front of the Pamir Mountains. The Western Army took the opportunity to break through the Pamir Mountains and directly attacked Chaoyang City, intending to destroy the country. They broke through 17 cities along the way, and only received an urgent letter from Chang 'an when they reached the north of Chaoyang City.
After reading the letter signed by the imperial court and the Academy, General Shu Cheng thought for a while, and then forcibly ordered the army to retreat, despite the shock and opposition of his generals.
When the Tang Western Army retreated from Chaoyang City, smoke and dust rose into the sky. The people of the Yuelun Kingdom could not believe their eyes. When they were sure that the Tang Army would not attack the city again, the entire Chaoyang City became a sea of welcome. Countless people of the Yuelun Kingdom wept bitterly, and then began to splash water to celebrate.
On the way back, the Tang Western Army was even sent off by the people of the Yuelun Kingdom. From time to time, the gentry, people, and monks of the Yuelun Kingdom would bring the army provisions, water, and eggs dyed red. The generals of the Western Army, who had firmly opposed the retreat at first, finally realized that the perennial warmth of the country could not be judged by ordinary logic. It was indeed meaningless to conquer them.
The most shocking change happened at the Verdant Canyon. For some reason, the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army, which claimed to have hundreds of thousands of people, began to retreat to the south. They did not try to break through the Verdant Canyon, nor did they intend to take a detour to the north. Instead, they retreated to Qinghe Prefecture and waited silently for something.
The Southern Army of the Tang Empire rushed thousands of miles to the Verdant Canyon, abandoning countless supplies along the way. Most of the soldiers even threw their armor deep into the mountains. They were exhausted and held on by sheer willpower. Because of the retreat of the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army, they finally had a precious chance to breathe. However, the arrival of happiness was so sudden that neither the generals of the Southern Army nor Chang 'an understood what had happened.
The most powerful Coalition Army of the Divine Halls had done nothing in this world-wide war against the Tang Empire. To be more precise, they had not played any role and had retreated just like that. Why on earth was that?
The Tangs could not understand, and the people of the South Jin Kingdom could not understand, especially the Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom, who had been immersed in extreme grief because of the death of his son. It was impossible for him to understand, so he was very angry.
Then he died of anger.
After the New Year, the news of the death of the Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom spread throughout the world.
According to the official statement of the South Jin Kingdom, the great Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom had died of a sudden illness because he had been working too hard on state affairs. He had been reading memorials continuously for three days and two nights without sleep.
The Imperial Center Administration of the Tang Empire had found some other statements in the south. Although they could only confirm some fragments, it was enough for the people in Chang 'an to deduce what had happened.
On the day before his death, the Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom was furious because of the retreat of the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army. He summoned the generals of the South Jin Kingdom into the palace and scolded them. He even scolded the dead Commander-in-Chief Bai Haixin. However, the Emperor still could not be happy. He ordered the Sword Garret to send someone to the palace to explain why the battle of the Verdant Canyon had turned out this way.
The Sage of Sword, Liu Bai, was recuperating. With his status, he naturally would not go to the palace to explain. The Sword Garret randomly sent a disciple to the palace. That disciple was called Liu Yiqing.
Then … there was no then.
…
…
The death of the Emperor of the South Jin Kingdom was probably just a simple record in the history books. It was not much different from the gloomy bloodstains in the countless palaces in history. However, in the eyes of those who were observant, the death of the Emperor was a very important matter, because it represented a fundamental change in the power structure of the human world.
Cultivators did not have enough power to influence the imperial power in the secular world. Many details in the war against the Tang Empire had already proved this. Whether it was the cultivators of the Yan Kingdom, the Array Tactical Masters and Sword Masters of the Tang Army, or the priests of the Golden Tribe Royal Court, they were not much different from ordinary people in front of the charge of thousands of cavalry and the rain of arrows.
It was also this war that proved another possibility. The real powerhouses at the peak of the Knowing Destiny State could change the color of rivers and mountains once they showed their power. For example, the three people who fought in the Verdant Canyon battle.
The solemn South Jin Kingdom palace seemed so weak and vulnerable in front of the sword of a blind man. This had something to do with the power of the Sword Garret, but in fact, it proved a fact.
The Headmaster left the human world and went to Heaven. From that day on, the human world was no longer the human world of the past. This was the so-called Heavenly Earth.
…
…
(The next chapter is almost finished. It will be updated soon.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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