Mistress Jian said, "This is for the sake of Her Majesty."
Ning Que said, "It involves the Academy. Even the Empress has to call me Youngest Uncle. I don't have to give her face."
Mistress Jian looked at him quietly and asked, "Do you really want to kill Li Yu?"
Ning Que said without thinking, "Letting her die is the best choice."
"Why?" Mistress Jian asked.
Ning Que explained, "After killing Li Huiyuan and Li Yu, who can the ministers be loyal to even if they are still disloyal? No matter how painful and unwilling they are, they have to obey Her Majesty. In many people's eyes, this war makes it inconvenient for the imperial court and the Academy to kill these people. But if you look at it from another perspective, after killing Li Yu, the pressure of the war and the name of righteousness will become pressure on these ministers. "
After hearing his words, Mistress Jian sighed and said, "I used to think that you and your Youngest Uncle were very similar. Later, you learned his Great Spirit, so I thought that you two were more similar. Now I realize that you are two different people after all."
Ning Que said, "I can never catch up with Youngest Uncle in this life, but I believe that I can do better than him in some things, such as the situation the Tang Empire is facing now."
Mistress Jian smiled bitterly and said, "So he is dead."
Ning Que said calmly, "I am not afraid of death, but I want the Tang Empire and the Academy to live."
Mistress Jian looked at him with pity in her eyes. She put her hand on her chest and said after a while, "But have you ever thought that although the Prince has a good relationship with Summer, her surname is also Li?"
Hearing this name, Ning Que thought of many things, such as the thick blood in the General's Mansion. He said, "In my eyes, he is already dead. I just need the right time."
Mistress Jian said, "Your calmness will make people feel afraid."
Ning Que stopped talking about this and asked, "I still want to know why Her Majesty opposes me killing Li Yu. She should not be the kind of person who can be influenced by petty feelings."
"I really don't know what Summer is thinking."
Mistress Jian looked out of the window. It was already dark and a bright moon was hanging above the city wall. She looked confused and asked, "Is the Headmaster really gone?"
Ning Que stood up and walked to the window to look at the bright moon. He said, "Who knows?"
After a pause, he continued, "Except for him and Haotian, who else knows?"
…
…
After the New Year, Ning Que stayed in Chang 'an. It was not because it was inconvenient to go back and forth to the Academy, but for more important reasons. He was waiting for the arrival of the West-Hill Divine Palace's diplomatic corps.
As spring approached, the Divine Hall's diplomatic corps finally arrived in Chang 'an. Under the complicated gazes of the Tangs, the convoy of the diplomatic corps drove through Vermilion Bird Avenue and entered the hotel.
The composition of the diplomatic mission was a little complicated. The leader was the head of the Revelation Institute of the West-Hill Divine Palace. His two deputies were a Prince of the South Jin Kingdom and the Prime Minister of the Yan Kingdom. It was a little funny, but what was really not funny was that the throne of the South Jin Kingdom and the Yan Kingdom was still empty.
The war had temporarily come to an end, but the two armies were still in the north and south of the Tang Empire. The situation was tense, so the negotiation between the two sides quickly began with the arrival of the diplomatic corps. The learned officials of the imperial court of the Tang Empire and the members of the West-Hill Divine Palace's diplomatic corps sat on both sides of the long table and began to argue as expected.
Of course, there was a need to negotiate. Arguments often depended not on who was more reasonable, but who had more strength. The negotiation between the two sides in the side hall of the imperial palace was only one aspect. The most important, or perhaps the most crucial, place for negotiation was in another place in Chang 'an, where there was a rippling lake.
Before the battle with the Abbey Dean, Ning Que walked in the streets with his knife and cut off the traces left by Sangsang. Naturally, he could not avoid the house by Yanming Lake. Fortunately, the damage was not too serious and it did not take long to repair it. He had been living here since the New Year.
The thick snow on Yanming Lake had long melted, and the ice became a very thin mirror. Then it shattered and was blown to the shore by the wind, piling up into a snow roll, revealing the clear lake water.
Ning Que stood by the lake and reached out to push away the willow branches that had not yet sprouted green buds. Looking at the faint green stems in the water, he naturally remembered the scene of him and Sangsang rowing a boat to plant lotus on the lake that summer.
The clouds above the lake gradually gathered. There was no sound of spring thunder, but rain quietly fell. This was the first spring rain in Chang 'an this year, so it naturally brought with it a bit of chill.
Ning Que walked back to the house and took a towel to wipe the rain off his body. At this moment, he heard someone knocking on the door.
He walked to the front of the courtyard and listened to the knocking sound. After a moment of silence, he opened the door.
The rain continued to fall, soaking his clothes and the woman outside the door.
Ning Que looked at her and felt as if he had returned to that summer.
She did not wear a green Taoist robe, but a blood-red Robe of Judgment. Her black hair did not look messy because of the wet, as she wore a luxurious crown.
But she was still as beautiful as ever.
Ning Que's eyes were very calm, even when he saw the two people behind her.
They were Liu Yiqing from the Sword Garret and Xie Chengyun, who was now an official of the Ministry of Rites of South Jin Kingdom.
Liu Yiqing and Xie Chengyun bowed to him calmly.
Liu Yiqing's eyes were blinded by Ning Que. He and Xie Chengyun knew each other in the Academy. But as time passed, there was no need to remember many things at this time.
The courtyard door slowly closed, and the people accompanying them were all shut outside.
Ye Hongyu followed Ning Que into the house.
…
…
Ning Que and Ye Hongyu sat under the rain porch of the plum garden, staring blankly at the spring rain falling from the sky. The sound of rain falling into the Yanming Lake could be faintly heard from the south wall of the courtyard.
"Now that I think about it, the days when I lived here were indeed peaceful."
Ye Hongyu reached out to catch the falling rain and said, "But the world is ever-changing, and the peace will not last long."
Ning Que looked at the rain splashing on her white jade-like palm and said, "Since you became the Great Divine Priest of Judgment, your words have become more and more inhuman."
Ye Hongyu withdrew her hand, looked at him and said, "Are you provoking me?"
"Bullshit." Ning Que handed her the towel and said, "You'd better speak human words in front of me."
He and Ye Hongyu had known each other in the Wilderness for a long time. They had once killed each other, but they had never fallen in love. They had once lived together, but they had never been of the same mind. From the very beginning, they knew that one day, they would kill each other, and they had tried many times.
Interestingly, perhaps because they knew this very well, they seemed especially calm when they were together, as if there was a breeze lingering between them, making them feel refreshed.
Ning Que asked, "The Abbey Dean and the Hierarch are still alive. Do you mean what you say?"
Ye Hongyu said, "Since I have come to Chang 'an, of course I mean what I say. The problem is that the Academy has never been involved in politics. How much influence do you have on the people in Chang' an?"
Ning Que said, "The token of the Devil's Doctrine is with me. You know the Empress' background, so you don't have to doubt it."
Ye Hongyu said, "The Tang Empire will pay a great price, and the Devil's Doctrine demoness will not be able to suppress all the opposing opinions in the court. So what is the point of this agreement?"
Ning Que said, "First of all, I don't think we will suffer too much from this agreement. Secondly, as for the effectiveness and execution of the agreement, this is something for the Academy to consider, not the Divine Hall."
Ye Hongyu said, "If it is ineffective, then there is no point in negotiating."
Ning Que said, "Negotiation itself is the point."
Ye Hongyu said, "That's boring. You have become so lifeless and stale because of a woman. It's ridiculous."
Ning Que's expression did not change. He said calmly, "Haotian Taoism rules the world and claims to have countless powerhouses. Isn't it even more ridiculous that a woman like you has to risk her life in Chang 'an?"
Ye Hongyu said, "What danger is there in Chang 'an for me?"
Ning Que said, "I can kill you at any time."
Ye Hongyu said, "In the swamp, if not for those wild horses, you would have been killed by me."
Ning Que said, "This is not the mud field in the Wilderness. This is Chang 'an."
Ye Hongyu's eyes turned cold. She said, "So what?"
Ning Que said calmly, "I am invincible in Chang 'an. Even the Abbey Dean will be sent flying by me. I don't think you have any chance of defeating me."
Ye Hongyu said, "But don't forget, no one can defeat Haotian."
Ning Que wanted to say that he had bullied Haotian badly in the igloo by the hot sea in the Far North, but he did not say it in the end. This was a matter between him and Sangsang, and had nothing to do with anyone else.
"Fighting with Heaven is endless joy."
He thought of his teacher's words and suddenly had a new understanding. He could not help but laugh.
Ye Hongyu said, "If the Headmaster could really defeat Haotian, he would not become the moon, but the new Haotian."
Ning Que said, "This speculation seems to be correct, but it is completely wrong. Because you do not understand what kind of person the Headmaster is. He has no interest in becoming the sky and covering everyone's head. He would rather turn into light and shine on the world, feeling the joys and sorrows of this world."
The conversation in the spring rain was not a test. It was to determine the tone of the negotiation. It was not to guess the other party's bottom line, but to know what the other party wanted and where the rain would flow.
Since some of the spring rain fell into Yanming Lake, and some seeped into the soil under the plum bushes, it seemed that they could not gather in one place in a short period of time. Then they needed to talk about something more specific.
At this moment, Ning Que raised his hands and reached to her temples, as if he wanted to touch her cheeks.
Ye Hongyu did not react, as if she did not see his hands.
Ning Que asked, "Don't you feel heavy now?"
Ye Hongyu said, "Of course, but there is no one to help me carry it."
Ning Que took the divine crown off her head and said, "Hurry up and find someone else."
Ye Hongyu's wet black hair scattered on the divine robe, making her look even more beautiful.
She looked at Ning Que and said, "Where can I find someone as shameless as you?"
…
…
(I have to go out for the whole day today, so I did not have time to write. I worked hard to write these two chapters last night. I really admire my hard work, and these two chapters are definitely in my favorite style. The next chapter 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 greatest motivation.)
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