Nightfall

A green leaf dropped down to the luxurious wool carpet quietly.

Lu Chenjia glared at the beautiful print and the solitary leaf in the center of it in silence, and remained pensive for a long while. Then she said softly, “What we feel for each other is something that blossoms naturally like the orchids in the valley. Why should I mention it intentionally? Do I need to prove something with it?”

Mo Shanshan replied simply, “He said it is called showing off affection, and it is a sign of lack of confidence. I don’t understand what he means by showing off, nor do I comprehend what made him say that. Likewise, I don’t know what you are trying to prove either, but I do know that it is natural for orchids to blossom in the depths of the valley, though it is no longer natural when you bring the orchid to my sight and trim it carefully in front of me.”

She left it at that, and left directly without saying goodbye.

Lu Jiachen stood up and a slight sense of sadness escaped from her watery eyes. She looked at her and pleaded, “The hot tea you wanted hasn’t been served yet, why so rush? I brought the alluring herb from the Peach Mountain especially for you. I remember it was your favorite in those days.”

Mo Shanshan stopped briefly but didn’t turn back, and she said calmly, “Instead of a cup of tea, I would have hoped to see you at that camp at the meadow, where you could have offered me one glass of water.”

Lu Jiachen’s tightened her knuckles as she held the scissors and said softly, “At first I didn’t know you were at the camp, and I never thought the horse gang would pose as a treat to you. Do you really think I could sit back comfortably in the carriage without batting an eyelid if you were really in danger?”

Mo Shanshan held on to one side of the floor screen and said, “I said before that this is not just about the joys and sorrows of you and me, but that of the whole world. You may be able to completely disregard any emotion that is beyond your own, but I cannot do the same, nor am I interested in becoming someone like that.”

…

…

The screen slid open, and the emotionless girl in white walked out slowly, being welcomed by all the Black Ink Garden disciples who had been waiting outside with nothing to do but too much tea to drink. At the same time, students from the Revelation Institute at the other side also stood up.

Mo Shanshan nodded as she looked at Zhuo Zhihua, letting her fellow disciples know that their Hill Master had indeed been pretty harsh with that Flower Addict. This obviously pleased them greatly.

At this point, the Black Ink Garden disciples turned down the hospitality of the Revelation Institute students and proudly walked out of the extravagant tent, unwilling to even engage in polite conversation.

The girl in white looked at the crisp blue sky outside the tent, and remembered how Lu Chenjia eventually failed to maintain her pride and was truly defeated. This notion gave her utter satisfaction and she finally understood what it was really like to intimidate someone, and that revenge and retaliation were not limited to pen and paper or violence.

As this thought crossed her mind, she turned and glanced at Ning Que who stood among the girls and secretly wondered how a disciple of the Academy of Tang who should be bold and magnificent in mindset came to be so meticulous and observant.

Once the girls from Great River Kingdom returned to their territory, they could no longer contain their curiosity and started asking about what their Hill Master said to the Flower Addict. The tent was filled with their questions, and even Ning Que looked at her with wondering eyes.

Mo Shanshan was quiet for a little while, and then she told them about the conversation she had had earlier.

“She finds the joys and sorrows of this world irrelevant to her? So the fact that our senior brother died at the Meadows is also irrelevant to her? I supposed that we meant nothing to the princess, as she would probably consider a mere flower more significant than us.”

The Cat Girl yelled loudly as she held on to the box, which was supposed to be a gift to the Revelation Institute from the Black Ink Garden, and for some reason, she brought it back.

“The flower addict princess might look quiet and gentle, but her mind is set beyond this world. This whole thing is actually quite irrelevant to her. If someone is really to blame, it would really be the cavalry of the Divine Hall, as well as the old lady who stood and watched coldly at the meadow.”

Zhuo Zhihua shook her head and glanced at the box that the Cat Girl was holding. She frowned and asked curiously, “What is that?”

“This is the secret weapon. Brother Zhong and I bought it from someone else yesterday for 100 Liang of silver.”

The Cat Girl sneered as she held the box tightly, “It is a pity that sister Shanshan won’t use it.”

Mo Shanshan caressed the papers on the desk gently with her hand and said, “Chenjia didn’t say, but I have already taught her a lesson, so there is no need for further humiliation.”

Ning Que couldn’t help but shake his head as he heard this. While on their way here, one of the things she taught this girl was the ultimate lesson of finishing off one’s job properly in a fight. Getting one’s revenge was not different with a fight. If the war was already on, it would certainly be best to humiliate the rival to death.

Seeing how the Caligraphy Addict was about to start practicing again, he suddenly realized that he had been too engrossed in cultivation ever since he entered the Back Mountain of the Academy, and he had neglected calligraphy for a long time already. All of a sudden, he noticed something else: Since the day of the catastrophic battle when he did her hair in the horse carriage, she kept the same hair style, tying her hair back in a simple way, showing her fair and pretty face, giving her a purer and gentler look.

Zhuo Zhihua informed everyone: “The Divine Hall is summoning us or a meeting this afternoon to discuss aiding the palace, and the matter of sending troops to fight the Desolate Men next year. All disciples from all factions must attend. We must eat early and waste no time.”

People of the grassland lived on lamb, and rice was not part of their diet. The Palace obviously regarded their guests from the Central Plains highly, but the precious and expensive rice was exclusively served to the Divine Hall and the Tang army. As a result, the disciples of the Black Ink Garden had to conform to eat the greasy lamb meat and lamb soup once again for lunch today.

Despite the efforts devoted to cooking it in a number of ways, lamb was still lamb. Ever since they left the Blue Lagoon, the young ladies had hardly been eating anything else, and after enjoying so many novel dishes at the Ge Mumu gathering yesterday, they found the plentiful dishes of lamb rather unappetizing.

Ning Que was the only one who continued to genuinely enjoy his food. Having grown up poor and experienced the deadly times of famine, he hadn’t ever wasted a single morsel of food.

While he was chewing slowly, his brain worked quickly thinking about something else. The fact that the Horse Gang came for the kill collectively meant that his identity must have been made. He just couldn’t figure out the extent of exposure, and how many people from the palace actually know about his existence. The Tang military camp in the east consisted entirely in elite cavalry from the north-east border army, what was the relationship between General Shu of Chang’an and Xiahou? According to His Majesty’s secret decree prior to his departure, as soon as he revealed his identity, General Shu would probably be sitting his ass right next to him?

Up until this moment, he still didn’t realize that the Big Black Horse was also a liability in exposing his identity. One must say that His Majesty the Great and the handsome Old Chao of the Sping Breeze Pavillion made a big mistake in the deployment of Ning Que, despite their extensive experience and lifetime knowledge of people. Ning Que would have made an excellent general in battle, but he was a total failure as an undercover spy.

…

…

After finishing his lunch, Ning Que wiped off the grease and held the rather heavy square box he got from the Cat Girl, with which he walked towards the bustling area near the palace as he enjoyed the pleasant warmth of the winter sun.

The Ge Mumu gathering managed to attract a huge amount of people, and people meant business. The bustling grassy area is where the merchants gathered. It was not only the merchants from nearby tribes, but also a few groups of courageous merchants from the central plains, who have been crafty and somehow sneaked their way in here following the Divine Hall negotiation team.

Inside the box he had with him was something a Yan merchant sourced to wow the Chanyu’s queen. He paid the high price of 100 Liang of silver the night before, and even used Lu Chenjia as an excuse to be able to obtain it.

Since Mo Shanshan refused to use it and he could not possibly take it back to Chang’an, he certainly wasn’t willing to let it freeze to death in the freezing cold Wilderness. Thus he decided to find the Yan merchant and return it, even if he could only get 80 Liang back. Despite the fact that he was probably a hidden millionaire in Chang’an, 100 Liang still meant a considerate amount of money, and he’d be a sore one to lose it, not to speak of having report it to Sangsang once he got back.

Unfortunately, he was stopped by someone before he reached his destination.

Hearing the steps of people gradually approaching from all directions, and seeing the arrogant and cold faced Revelation Institute student standing in front of him, Ning Que raised his eyebrows, hoping that these Haotian believers won’t show their weapons and start a fight like the gangsters in Chang’an south town, so he stood there without making a move.

A dozen students surrounded Ning Que, standing in seemingly scattered positions that actually blocked any potential route of escape. Though just as Ning Que had anticipated, they didn’t actually barge in to smack him; instead, the proud student standing in front of him actually greeted him very politely.

The Revelation Institute student said, “My brother from the Black Ink Garden, would you be kind enough to come and see someone?”

Ning Que firmly believed that, if he his reply was negative, what would happen next would be very inappropriate for children to witness. He wasn’t actually afraid, but he could guess it was the young girl who had enough authority to send so many Revelation Institute students to fetch him. So he simply smiled and followed them obediently.

On the green spotted meadows outside the camping tent, Lu Chenjia the Princess of Yuelun Kingdom sat on a beautiful white horse, and she raised her hand to send everyone else off, so that only the two of them and a horse remained on the meadows.

She looked down at Ning Que from high up, with a rather unusual expression, and only after a long silence, she said softly, “I have known Shanshan for many years, and despite not seeing each other for a while, we still wrote to each other. I was very surprised to find that, the Calligraphy Addict talking to me today in the tent seemed to have become a completely different person.”

Ning Que didn’t expect the young girl on horseback to be so straightforward, and he found her interrogation so abruptly that he didn’t even get a chance to check out what this legendary beauty actually looked like.

Lu Chenjia didn’t wait for his reply, and with a firmer gaze she said, “According to her, she learned many things from someone, and I am very curious about who that someone is, hence forgive me for being so bold to request your presence.”

Ning Que looked slightly startled, and then answered sincerely, “Your Highness, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Lu Chenjia raised her gaze to the faraway fields without even looking at him and continued to say, “I don’t know either, since when did the Black Ink Garden of Great River Kingdom recruit a male disciple like you? Who are you, really?”

Ning Que clenched his fists and swore to himself bitterly that, if His Majesty asked him to go undercover again once he returned to Chang’an, he’d definitely refuse even if he was charged with mutiny, since the latter was probably mean a slower death anyway.