Nightfall

A Penny Is Enough

On the next morning, after washing up, the young master and the handmaiden quickly prepared themselves. This was because, on this day, they were required to go to every hall for registration to retrieve his certificates for the upcoming Academy entrance exam, and they felt a need to dress themselves for such an event. Ning Que sat by the window and faced the direction of the early morning sun. He held a book in his hand and looked abstractly at it. He then shut his eyes, preparing to enjoy the moment when Sangsang helped him comb his hair. Unexpectedly, his hair was pulled with a jerk, which caused him a sudden pain. He then turned around, looked at his handmaiden helplessly and said, “Is combing hair that difficult?”

“Why don’t you, Young Master, try to comb your hair yourself? In the past, in the City of Wei, you just required me to comb it and tie a bun for you casually, but yet today, you wish to have the same hairstyle as those scholars. I’m not that skillful.” Sangsang withdrew the comb in her hand and held it behind her back, as she replied with a sulky face.

“Look at your attitude, yet you still remember to call me Young Master!” Ning Que was annoyed as he added, “Now who’s the Young Master and who’s the handmaiden? I’ve only nagged at you for a little while and you ordered me to comb my hair myself! You’ve got to understand that your Young Master is someone who’s going to enter the Academy and is considered a serious scholar. If you don’t know how to comb, then pick up the skill. I expect you to comb that style for me every day in the future!”

After seeing the drawing at Vermilion Bird Avenue yesterday, both master and handmaiden were having emotional issues. However, they were unclear about their own feelings at that point in time and were certainly unsure whether their feelings were real. Moreover, due to some obscure reasons, they had yet to discuss this incident with each other.

Ning Que took a glance at Sangsang’s grumpy face, smiled and said, “All right, all right. After we’re done with these matters, I’ll bring you to Chenjinji Cosmetics Store.”

Upon hearing this, Sangsang lifted her face and grinned. She then turned around, took out a knife from the bag and handed it over to him. Ning Que took the knife, headed for the courtyard behind the inn, and started his morning martial arts practice. His movements were swift and strong. However, his messy hairdo also shook with his every movement, causing him to look funny.

The Tang Empire was the core of the world, and Chang’an was an excellent place. Hence, the Academy was somewhat said to be the core of the Tang Empire and a place that was respected and worshipped by many commoners. Sometimes, it was even slightly stronger than the influence of the royals.

Since youth when Ning Que knew about this Academy, he had already been brainwashed by many about the power of its presence. He had never understood why the Tang Empire allowed its presence, or should he say, why the Royals would allow such a place to exist. As the old saying goes, “Above all humans is a sky, and in the sky there’s only one sun”. If that was the case, how could an empire allow the existence of two voices?

Whether he could understand the logic behind it shortly, at least, after spending a day doing bureaucracy, he had finally managed to sense the high position that the Academy was at in the Tang Empire. He had also experienced the respect, or even the fear, that the Imperial Court had towards the Academy. The simple task of retrieving his certificates for the upcoming Academy entrance exam would already require him to obtain three confirmation stamps from the various departments out of the total six, and the stamping could only be executed by officials who were Lang Zhong (an ancient official title) and above.

This day, Ning Que saw many Fifth Rank, and higher, officials of the Military Ministry, the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, and the Ministry of Rites, many more than the ones he saw for the past sixteen years. If it were not the fact that his military status had yet to convert into citizen status, he might even need to go down to the Yamen (a government office in feudal China) of Ministry of Revenue. Though the weather in the spring was warm and cozy, traveling around the northern city of Chang’an had somewhat exhausted him as his forehead was covered with perspiration. He could not help but think silently in his heart, “Even if the Imperial Court was to send out troops against the South Jin Kingdom, I doubt it would be that troublesome.”