Nightfall

The Only Choice

In the blizzard, the big black umbrella gradually came to the entrance of the palace and stopped in front of the hundreds of Tang officers, as it closed and revealed Ning Que’s and Sangsang’s statures under the umbrella.

It was dead silent in front of the palace. Only the howling sound of the blizzard, the pattering noise of the snow against the frozen moat, and their own breathing sound could be heard.

These bigwigs stared at Ning Que and coincidentally frowned. They seemed puzzled about what Mr. Thirteen from the Academy wanted to do on this day when General Xiahou was leaving the city.

The complex and confused looks were actually cover-ups.

They heard of that rumor and knew that the military had investigated on Ning Que and his connection with those murder cases. Hence, they knew his intention for coming. It was only that Chang’an had remained quiet for a very long time from summer to autumn and then to winter again. Just when the whole world thought that Ning Que had already given up, he appeared.

In the silence, everyone was alert as they hid their insecurities and looked at Ning Que. Standing in the crowd was the Imperial Library Grand Secretary, Zeng Jing, who looked even more worried as she watched Sangsang who stood beside Ning Que.

Prince Li Peiyan slowly took a step forward as he looked at Ning Que, concealed his anger and said, “What are you trying to do?”

General Xu Shi stared at Ning Que blankly and said, “If you plan to assassinate our Tang General in front of all the officers, I will be very impressed by courage and stupidity.”

The heavy snow continued to fall in the Imperial City.

Ning Que swept off the few pieces of thick snow that fell onto his shoulders as he said, “Even if I had that kind of courage, I will not be stupid to that extent. Just that, since I am already here, there’s something I should do.”

Xu Shi ridiculed him indifferently and said, “With the law of Tang before you, what else can you do?”

Such a change in front of the imperial city gates alerted the Yulin Royal Guards and the imperial palace bodyguards. The eunuch lead who had sent Xia Hou to the exit previously had already rushed into the palace as fast as he could, in hope to inform the Emperor of this news.

Many servants from the imperial court began to walk behind their ministers from around the square and opened the umbrellas to shelter them from the wind and snow. In front of the red wall, many flowers of different colors began to bloom.

Ning Que’s big black umbrella was already well-kept and held in Sangsang’s hands. Both the master and the handmaiden stood quietly in the blizzard as they watched an increasingly number of umbrellas opening in front of them.

The shadows cast by the umbrellas enveloped the faces of the ministers. They could no longer see the expressions on their faces, nor could they see their thoughts from their eyes.

Ning Que looked at Xu Shi and said calmly, “Putting the law of Tang Empire as priority has always been the iron law of the Academy. As a disciple of the Academy and a student of the Headmaster, I will certainly abide by it. Hence, when the military had conducted an investigation on me to see if I am the suspect for those murders, it is extremely absurd to me.”

Xu Shi frowned slightly and said, “There are so many old ministers having conversations with you while standing in the midst of the blizzard, yet all you want them to hear is how you redress your own grievances?”

Ning Que did not care about this military leader of the Tang. He turned towards Xia Hou and said, “Many have guessed what I would do and I believe you are one of them. In fact, from the day I have decided to kill you, I myself was also wondering what I would do.”