Nightfall

The Military Ministry started looking into the connection between the weird homicide cases and Ning Que . Even if they found nothing, the rumor about his family had spread in Chang"an for a long time .

People all believed that Ning Que was Lin Guangyuan" son and the only survivor in the murder case . He had been hiding in a far distant mountain for a long time and once he got into the Academy, he would start his revenge . Even the Empire and Xia Hou believed it, as well as his Senior Brothers and Sisters in the back of the mountain .

Therefore, when the people in front of the palace heard what Ning Que said, they were shocked and they hardly believed it . They all wondered why Ning Que did this if he was not Lin Guangyuan"s son .

Xia Hou looked at Ning Que under the black umbrella and frowned . n.o.body knew what he was thinking about .

Ning Que lowered his head to look at the blood drops on the snowfield and smiled a little . These blood drops reminded him the ones on the woodshed ground 15 years ago .

The snow became stronger and fiercer .

Ning Que raised his head and asked three questions to the people .

"Why do you all believe that I"m the son of the General?

"Why do I have to be him?"

"Why do you all wish for me to be him?"

People were still in shock and no one was able to answer him .

Ning Que said wryly, "I" m sorry . I"m not him at all .

"My father was not the Xuanwei General . Not a captain, not an officer or a clerk . He was only a gatekeeper of the General"s Mansion who was not even at the front door and did not get paid much . "

"My mother was not the General"s wife, either . She was a poor maidservant . Even though she had fed the master and freely went in and out the yard, she was still a maidservant . "

"I"m certainly gratified that His Majesty decided to retry the case, because the Generals were all good people and they died for nothing . I just so regret that I did not hear my parents" names . "

He looked at the people and said, "That"s reasonable since my parents were ordinary people and they had ordinary names . "

"My father was an orphan and he was given the name Lin Tao by the General . "

"My mother didn"t even have a name . She came from Hebei County and was sold in Chang"an . She was called Li Sanniang from birth to death because she faintly remembered she was the third child in her family . "

The blood flowed down along his hand to the ground and he said that calmly and peacefully, not wryly . He was really calm .

However, the unusual peace froze everyone who was looking at him, from the feet up .

This kind of peace was horrible .

Sangsang did not feel afraid of him . At this moment, she was feeling the same feeling, sadness, and disappointment as him . She just wanted to hold his hands and warm him subconsciously .

"I know, the story in the book tells us . . . "

"The prince will always come back for revenge after his throne is taken away, and a young master survived from his framed family, reversing the verdict after he pa.s.sed the exam and gets the emperor"s favor . "

"Why does the protagonist in every revenge story has to be a prince? Doesn"t a son of a gatekeeper and a maidservant qualify to seek revenge?"

People all kept silent facing this harsh but peaceful question . Zeng Jing failed to say something since he could not open his mouth, and Li Qingshan only sighed slightly .

"The book is written like this and you all believe it should be that way . I don"t blame anyone, and it"s foolish to be contrite and reform myself, but I still hate this .

"Just like many years ago . "

Ning Que looked at Xia Hou and said, "That day, I went out to play with my master like any day before, because he treated me like a friend . That was irrelevant . Anyway, the housekeeper needed to save the master, so he took me into the Official of Counsel"s mansion across the street with my master as well . "

Upon hearing this, Zeng Jing was stunned because he remembered that day when he had a newborn daughter while the family across the street was exterminated .

Ning Que continued . "When you came into the General"s Mansion, my master, the housekeeper and I were hiding in the woodshed of the Official of Counsel . "

Xia Hou said somberly, "When my men went tracking and reached the woodshed, they found two dead bodies . That"s why I was sure that Lin Guangyuan"s son was dead for sure . I had been wondering who you were all the way until now . Although I"m not confused, I"m still curious about how you did that . "

Ning Que looked at the snow around him and tried to remember something . He said with a smile, "There is no surprise story under Haotian and neither was what I did . "

"If the general"s son wanted to live, the gatekeeper"s son had to die . Since we were both four years old and if we changed our clothes and were badly mutilated, no one would be able to tell the difference between us .

"The old man thought he did not have to be vigilant against a four -year -old boy, thereby, he watched me with his sad, sorry, and sympathetic eyes and then I knew what he was going to do . "

"Wasn"t the story in the book like this?"

Then the smile on his face gradually disappeared . He looked at Xia Hou, Zeng Jing, Li Qingshan, and all the people in front of him and asked wryly, "But why?"

"Why I should follow the book?"

"Why the general"s son can live and I have to die?"

"Why I should be killed?"

There was complete silence in front of the palace .

No one was able to answer his question, therefore, only Ning Que" voice could be heard in the snow, becoming colder and higher .

"I"m only a gatekeeper" son . "

"But I want to live . "

"I have to live . "

Ning Que talked about his thought calmly and firmly, like talking about the truth of the sun rising every day and water moving down .

"So when the housekeeper was persuading me to take off my clothes while moving to take a chopper, I grabbed it first and stabbed him in his stomach . "

"I seemed to stab him more than once . "

"Maybe five times . "

"Since I was not strong enough and stabbed him not deeply enough, I had to stab him over and over again until he was dead . He just looked at me alarmedly as if I was a monster and did not make any noises . I kept wondering whether he was too shocked to say anything or he just did not want to be found . "

He paused for a while and said, "My master, the general"s son, had no idea of what had happened . He found the old man lying in the pool of blood and then he rushed toward me . He tried to hit me and bite me like a crazy man . "

He shook his head and said, "I was panicked and waving the chopper to stop him until I scratched him with the chopper . Then he covered his neck with his hands and fell on the woodpile .

"The blood came from his fingers so quickly even though I had tried to help him cover it . I failed and he died in front of me with his blood coagulating in my hands . "

Ning Que raised his head to look at the people in the snow . He shook his head after a long time and said, "It was not a manslaughter . "

"Maybe I meant to kill him at that time . "

He looked at Xia Hou and smiled, "Only if he was dead, I, a son of a gatekeeper would be able to avoid catching your attention . "

The whole world was enveloped by snow and wind as if it were dead .

The snowflakes fell on Ning Que"s face which made him look even grimmer .

The smile on his face was seemingly warm but extremely grim .

People saw his smile and were badly shocked . They felt an unprecedented cold .

They seemed to have seen what happened in the woodshed decades ago .

A four years old boy was standing beside two corpses, desperate and terrified, with a chopper in his trembling hands and on the verge of collapsing at any moment .

However, he did not .

Today, the boy was standing in front of the palace, telling people about the story from long ago .

The story in the book was always the same .

However, his was not in the book .

The Military Ministry started looking into the connection between the weird homicide cases and Ning Que . Even if they found nothing, the rumor about his family had spread in Chang 39 an for a long time . People all believed that Ning Que was Lin Guangyuan 39 son and the only survivor in the murder case . He had been hiding in a far distant mountain for a long time and once he got into the Academy, he would start his revenge . Even the Empire and Xia Hou believed it, as well as his Senior Brothers and Sisters in the back of the mountain . Therefore, when the people in front of the palace heard what Ning Que said, they were shocked and they hardly believed it . They all wondered why Ning Que did this if he was not Lin Guangyuan 39 s son . Xia Hou looked at Ning Que under the black umbrella and frowned . n.o.body knew what he was thinking about . Ning Que lowered his head to look at the blood drops on the snowfield and smiled a little . These blood drops reminded him the ones on the woodshed ground 15 years ago . The snow became stronger and fiercer . Ning Que raised his head and asked three questions to the people . Why do you all believe that I 39 m the son of the General Why do I have to be him Why do you all wish for me to be him People were still in shock and no one was able to answer him . Ning Que said wryly, I 39 m sorry . I 39 m not him at all . My father was not the Xuanwei General . Not a captain, not an officer or a clerk . He was only a gatekeeper of the General 39 s Mansion who was not even at the front door and did not get paid much . My mother was not the General 39 s wife, either . She was a poor maidservant . Even though she had fed the master and freely went in and out the yard, she was still a maidservant . I 39 m certainly gratified that His Majesty decided to retry the case, because the Generals were all good people and they died for nothing . I just so regret that I did not hear my parents 39 names . He looked at the people and said, That 39 s reasonable since my parents were ordinary people and they had ordinary names . My father was an orphan and he was given the name Lin Tao by the General . My mother didn 39 t even have a name . She came from Hebei County and was sold in Chang 39 an . She was called Li Sanniang from birth to death because she faintly remembered she was the third child in her family . The blood flowed down along his hand to the ground and he said that calmly and peacefully, not wryly . He was really calm . However, the unusual peace froze everyone who was looking at him, from the feet up . This kind of peace was horrible . Sangsang did not feel afraid of him . At this moment, she was feeling the same feeling, sadness, and disappointment as him . She just wanted to hold his hands and warm him subconsciously . I know, the story in the book tells us . . . The prince will always come back for revenge after his throne is taken away, and a young master survived from his framed family, reversing the verdict after he pa.s.sed the exam and gets the emperor 39 s favor . Why does the protagonist in every revenge story has to be a prince Doesn 39 t a son of a gatekeeper and a maidservant qualify to seek revenge People all kept silent facing this harsh but peaceful question . Zeng Jing failed to say something since he could not open his mouth, and Li Qingshan only sighed slightly . The book is written like this and you all believe it should be that way . I don 39 t blame anyone, and it 39 s foolish to be contrite and reform myself, but I still hate this . Just like many years ago . Ning Que looked at Xia Hou and said, That day, I went out to play with my master like any day before, because he treated me like a friend . That was irrelevant . Anyway, the housekeeper needed to save the master, so he took me into the Official of Counsel 39 s mansion across the street with my master as well . Upon hearing this, Zeng Jing was stunned because he remembered that day when he had a newborn daughter while the family across the street was exterminated . Ning Que continued . When you came into the General 39 s Mansion, my master, the housekeeper and I were hiding in the woodshed of the Official of Counsel . Xia Hou said somberly, When my men went tracking and reached the woodshed, they found two dead bodies . That 39 s why I was sure that Lin Guangyuan 39 s son was dead for sure . I had been wondering who you were all the way until now . Although I 39 m not confused, I 39 m still curious about how you did that . Ning Que looked at the snow around him and tried to remember something . He said with a smile, There is no surprise story under Haotian and neither was what I did . If the general 39 s son wanted to live, the gatekeeper 39 s son had to die . Since we were both four years old and if we changed our clothes and were badly mutilated, no one would be able to tell the difference between us . The old man thought he did not have to be vigilant against a four year old boy, thereby, he watched me with his sad, sorry, and sympathetic eyes and then I knew what he was going to do . Wasn 39 t the story in the book like this Then the smile on his face gradually disappeared . He looked at Xia Hou, Zeng Jing, Li Qingshan, and all the people in front of him and asked wryly, But why Why I should follow the book Why the general 39 s son can live and I have to die Why I should be killed There was complete silence in front of the palace . No one was able to answer his question, therefore, only Ning Que 39 voice could be heard in the snow, becoming colder and higher . I 39 m only a gatekeeper 39 son . But I want to live . I have to live . Ning Que talked about his thought calmly and firmly, like talking about the truth of the sun rising every day and water moving down . So when the housekeeper was persuading me to take off my clothes while moving to take a chopper, I grabbed it first and stabbed him in his stomach . I seemed to stab him more than once . Maybe five times . Since I was not strong enough and stabbed him not deeply enough, I had to stab him over and over again until he was dead . He just looked at me alarmedly as if I was a monster and did not make any noises . I kept wondering whether he was too shocked to say anything or he just did not want to be found . He paused for a while and said, My master, the general 39 s son, had no idea of what had happened . He found the old man lying in the pool of blood and then he rushed toward me . He tried to hit me and bite me like a crazy man . He shook his head and said, I was panicked and waving the chopper to stop him until I scratched him with the chopper . Then he covered his neck with his hands and fell on the woodpile . The blood came from his fingers so quickly even though I had tried to help him cover it . I failed and he died in front of me with his blood coagulating in my hands . Ning Que raised his head to look at the people in the snow . He shook his head after a long time and said, It was not a manslaughter . Maybe I meant to kill him at that time . He looked at Xia Hou and smiled, Only if he was dead, I, a son of a gatekeeper would be able to avoid catching your attention . The whole world was enveloped by snow and wind as if it were dead . The snowflakes fell on Ning Que 39 s face which made him look even grimmer . The smile on his face was seemingly warm but extremely grim . People saw his smile and were badly shocked . They felt an unprecedented cold . They seemed to have seen what happened in the woodshed decades ago . A four years old boy was standing beside two corpses, desperate and terrified, with a chopper in his trembling hands and on the verge of collapsing at any moment . However, he did not . Today, the boy was standing in front of the palace, telling people about the story from long ago . The story in the book was always the same . However, his was not in the book .