Nightfall

"When Second floor is opened and all goes to silence. Suddenly you get up with a smile and say I can... "

Situ Yilan watched him and shook her head with a smile and said with a sigh, "The picture looks good and the story is also wonderful. But unfortunately, you and I are the poor people who can"t go for cultivation."

"I can..." Ning Que thought that even if he said so, probably the girl beside the bar would not believe it. So he gently smiled and turned his head to look at the lively place over the veil. He leisurely said, "If this time Second floor only recruits one person, then I don"t understand why they are still so happy?"

Situ Yilan smiled to say, "Because Master Xie"s popularity is so much better than yours. Even if some people envy him, they won"t show it on the faces but cheer for him like Zhong Dajun."

After a moment of silence, Ning Que suddenly laughed and said, "All of you have forgotten a person?"

Situ Yilan stunned for a moment, and then immediately understood what he meant. She could not help but feel shocked.

Including her, all students in the Academy had forgotten that Prince Long Qing from Yan Kingdom. Probably in the minds of all students, Prince Long Qing was the bigwig of the Judicial Department of West-Hill Divine Palace and an uncommon cultivation genius in the world. So they subconsciously put this man in a higher position, and never thought to compare him with themselves. Moreover, that Prince, who attracted thousands of young girls when entering Chang"an City, has been living a simple life in Peach Alley and has found an excuse not to partic.i.p.ate in any palace banquets. He really kept an extremely low profile.

"It"s known that the purpose of this Prince Long Qing coming to Chang"an City is to take over the crown prince of Yan as a hostage. But his prince ident.i.ty and the inviolable dignity of West-Hill Divine Palace need another reason to justify his presence here. So the rumor that he wants to enter the Second floor of the Academy... might be true."

Ning Que looked at her and continued. "If this time Second floor of the Academy really only recruits one student and Prince Long Qing also wants to enter it, then you think who will be his opponent, Xie Chengyun or Linchuan w.a.n.gying?"

"Master Xie is outstanding indeed but can"t compete with Prince Long Qing. And w.a.n.gying is still young now..." Situ Yilan gradually digested the shock in her heart and suddenly thought of a possibility. She asked, "Maybe Prince Long Qing doesn"t occupy the enrollment list?"

Ning Que shook his head and said, "If he does, what should these happy guys do?"

He smiled and seemed to comfort her, "... But I think Xie Chengyun won"t be discouraged if he knows Prince Long Qing will compete for the only quota with him. On the contrary, he might be motivated to have a stronger fighting will."

Situ Yilan shook her head and said, "Prince Long Qing is about to enter Knowing Destiny State, but Master Xie has just entered No Doubts State. The difference of their states is too great, so the fighting will won"t play a big role."

Looking at those cla.s.smates who were drinking happily on the terrace, She thought that Prince Long Qing carelessly walked near to make the Academy students ashamed the day after tomorrow when Second floor was opened. She said gloomily, "Although Master Xie was from South Jin Kingdom not Tang Empire, he has been studying in the Academye for a year after all. If he can enter the Second floor, our Tangs can accept it. But if it is ... ... Prince Long Qing who wins over all the students to become the only one entering the Second floor, the seniorities in the imperial court will certainly become angry and disappointed with our Academy students."

Prince Long Qing was from Yan Kingdom, with an ident.i.ty as a hostage. However, he was also the bigwig of Judicial Department of West-Hill Divine Palace, a rival for the Tang Empire. If such a person directly won over the young Tang generation with his great strength in Chang"an, he was about to severely slap the face of the Tang Empire.

"I don"t understand why the Academy follows this rule this time." Situ Yilan frowned and looked at the anxiously swimming fish in the lake. She said, "Does it deliberately help feed that Prince Long Qing"s flame?"

Ning Que laughed and comforted her, "It has not yet started. We don"t know how to enter the Second floor of the Academy, either. How can you predict in advance that the only one who can enter Second floor is Prince Long Qing?"

"West-Hill Divine Palace is the old enemy of the Tang Empire. Even on the position of the enemy, I must admit that that Prince Long Qing is absolutely the best figure of the young generation in this world and can hardly find an opponent."

Situ Yilan said with a low mood, "It"s not shameful to recognize the enemy"s power. What really makes me feel distressed is that there is no person of this generation who can actually contend with him even if there are a lot of talents in the Tang Empire."

"There is." Ning laughed and said.

Situ Yilan looked at him with a smile and said, "It"s not convincing if you want to talk about yourself."

"Well," Ning Que sighed to spread his arms and said, "You don"t have to worry about these things. It"s all about the reputation. Even if Prince Long Qing moves his body to make the men shameful and women dizzy, Yan Kingdom still has to pay tribute to the Tangs and West-Hill Divine Palace still doesn"t dare to provoke us. So there will be no essential changes."

"It"s about honor and dignity, not reputation. Since you"re from the border armies, why don"t you look like a soldier at all?"

"What should the Tang soldiers looke like? Just like Hua Shanyue who looked steadily forward with a hilt in hands and walked as a brutal wind? I don"t think so. The soldiers guard the homeland and open up new territory. They don"t rely on working style but on something else."

"What else?"

"Discipline, courage and trust."

"Well, you should know Hua Shanyue, shouldn"t you?" Situ Yilan curiously looked at him.

Ning Que thought of the previous eye contact with that Senior Captain of Gushan Commandery. After a moment of silence, he replied with a smile. "He"s the leader of the young generation of Tang military, but I "m just an ordinary person. We don"t know each other, but just met once one year ago. And I remember he disliked me at that time."

Situ Yilan didn"t know those things that had happened on the gra.s.sland journey. She said with a smile, "I find there seemed to be few people who like you in Chang"an city."

Ning Que shook his head and refuted. "You obviously don"t know me well. You can go to ask the neighbors in Lin 47th Street. Everyone likes me except the wife of Wu Er at next door. Last time I also take you to House of Red Sleeves, don"t you see those girls like me?"

"Forget it." Situ Yilan looked at the quiet yard in the deep Victory House and said, "Are you going to follow us or go in alone?"

"For What?" Ning Que followed her gaze and shook the head to say, "I don"t want to eat with Her Highnesss, and she might not invite us in."

"You really guessed the princess was there." Situ Yilan smiled and said, "Her Highness usually may not call us in on weekdays. But since all Academy students gather here and the guest His Highness invited is definitely not an ordinary character, then she"ll invite us in for sure."

Ning Que thought for a moment and then understood the hidden meaning of her words like Hua Shanyue. He could not help satirically laughing and silently thought in the heart. "Lee Yu, you eventually could not help but develop your power in the young generation of Tang Empire, enhance the influence, and show your strength to the guests at the same time... "

"It"s impossible for more than one hundred people to go in." He laughed and said, "They must pick up some guys with good grades and morality to go in to greet Her Highness. But I"m not one of them."

Situ Yilan remembered encountering his little handmaiden Sangsang one day in the Princess" mansion. She was annoyed and said, "You"re an old friend of Her Highness. And you two are familiar with each other. If I take you in, who dare object it?"

The Victory House boss must have a

have a good background so that he could buy a former censor"s mansion to open the restaurant in Southern City. But managing this restaurant for living, the boss must be a powerful figure who could deal with all kinds of people. He didn"t earn much money when the Academy students booked the lakeside terrace. But for weekdays, he would definitely think of ways to get close to them for the convenience in the future. Today, however, he did not contact with those students at all. Instead, he respectfully stood outside like a manservant.

With food dishes on hands, dozens of maidservants walked among the quiet houses. After having been trained, they did not make a slightest sound. There was only the whistling of wind"s blowing the treetops that could be heard in the house. The Victory House boss stared at everyone"s movements with his sharp eyes. When he confirmed that there was no problem, he became a little relaxed and raised the arm to wipe the sweat on his forehead .

The host and the guest, who could book the most quiet and the most expensive backyard in Victory House and made the boss serve like a manservant, must be the distinguished ones in today"s backyard feast. Today the banquet host was Lee Yu, The Fourth princess of Tang Dynasty. Her guest was really an honored character. And if it went as expected, the guest would have no chance to return in the rest life after leaving the Chang"an City.

At the end of s.h.i.+ning ebony floor were two short tables sitting beside each other. A seemingly young man sat beside the table on the left hand. He wore a plain gown, with a jade hairpin in the hair bun. He had straight brows and bright eyes, showing extremely calm and gentle. Only a few faintly visible silver hairs inadvertently revealed his depression in these years.

As a hostage in Chang"an for nearly a decade, the crown prince of Yan calmly looked at the Tang Princess Lee Yu and held the winegla.s.s at hand. He slowly and firmly drank it over and then said with lament, "In the fourth year of Tianqi era, I traveled to Chang"an and re-entered it as a hostage for six years. So I"ve actually known Her Highness for ten years. Although you went to the gra.s.sland for two years during the period, we also grew up with each other"s accompany. This time I don"t know when we"ll meet again, so I feel kind of sad for it."

"Brother Chongming, we both know that if you still want to see me in Chang"an City, it must be for two reasons. Since that, we"d better not meet each other. Or if I have a chance, I"ll go to Capital Cheng to visit you."

Lee Yu slightly smiled and held a small gla.s.s that she has played with for a long time between the fingers. Then she gently sipped it. In fact, during the banquet, both of them knew that after the crown prince returned this time, he would certainly succeed to the throne after the death of Yan Emperor. If the Emperor wanted to enter Tang"s capital Chang"an, there were only two possibilities: one was that Yan Kingdom was exterminated by the Tang Empire and he as the Emperor was taken to Chang"an as a sacrifice to Heaven. The second was that he led the Yan armies to attack Chang"an City.

For the two possibilities, the former was too bleak and the latter was kind of impossible. So Lee Yu said they"d better not meet each other.

"It"s better not to meet." The crown prince smiled and said, "As you said, if you have a chance in the future, just go to Capital Cheng to see me. By then, I"ll be the host to treat you something special."

"I"m not a kid any longer. Delicious food can"t allure me." Lee Yu smiled and said, "But Brother Chongming, you"ll be the Emperor in the future. If I ask you for something, it"s also very convenient."

One was an orthodox heir to the throne of Yan Kingdom. The other was the Tang Princess with the highest status. It seemed that they only talked about the childhood friends.h.i.+p before the separation. In fact, the future dispute might be hidden in any sentence.

After a short moment of silence, the crown prince showed a bitter smile on the slim cheek. He toasted and whispered in a low voice. "The Emperor of a country... is hard to be. I have lived in Chang"an city for nearly a decade and have long been accustomed to the climate and custom here. In fact, I really don"t want to go back."

"Brother, you are wrong. Your father is very old now and in poor health... " Lee Yu gently shook her head.

"What"s wrong? My father didn"t like me then, so he let me come to Chang"an as a hostage. He didn"t feel painful or sorry at all. For the whole eight years, I lived a low-dispatch and painful life in Chang"an city. Have I received a comfort letter from Capital Cheng? In fact, the entire Yan Kingdom... has long forgotten me?"

The crown prince of Yan raised his winegla.s.s to drink, with a touch of painfulness flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes.

"I spent two years on the gra.s.sland. I was also very worried that Chang"an City would forget me, but it turns out that as long as you"re still alive and you are back, the memories a long time ago will be picked up again."

Lee Yu looked firmly at the crown prince and said, "In those years, Brother Chongming, you suggested me to go to the gra.s.sland so that I could keep out of the affair. I"ve benefited from it a lot. And now you"re about to return. Of course, I have to send you several gifts. I know you probably don"t want them. But you have to remember one thing. No matter how bad the situation is in Capital Cheng, you"re directly the crown prince after all. So no one can take away your throne!"

Prince Yan quietly looked at her and could not help feeling a sense of sympathy after thinking what she has done for his younger brother over the years. He laughed himself and said, "Now the problem is not that someone wants to grab my throne, but this throne has not yet belonged to me. In the eyes of all Yans, my wise and enterprising brother is better suited to have that throne than the cowardly crown prince who has lived in Chang"an for many years."

He paused for a moment and then continued to softly say, "Although I have left Capital Cheng for many years, I still remember some things when I was a kid. It seemed that Longqing was born a genius. From riding, shooting to poetry, book or even cultivation, there seemed to be nothing he couldn"t do. Compared with him, the crown prince like me doesn"t have the slightest peculiarities. So it becomes a very natural thing that the Emperor likes and dotes him, and the ministers trust and rely on him."

"Moreover, he is now the bigwig of Judicial Department in West-Hill Divine Palace."

The crown prince looked at Lee Yu and said, "Since he entered Revelation Inst.i.tute in West-Hill, Longqing"s mother has begun to expand the power in Capital Cheng. By now, that momentum is so strong as not to be suppressed by manpower, for he has strong support outside. Besides, the strong support... is from West-Hill."