Chapter 64 (1/2)
Tonight, ChangAn City was definitely very lively. After experiencing a night of battle, Ning Que was very tired, but the blade flashes and blood in the night rain still made him a bit excited. Thinking of the scene of everything still happening in every street and market, guessing Chao XiaoShu’s cards, speculating about where he had to go tomorrow, tossing and turning, he had no way of falling asleep.
Separated by a thin blanket, he kicked Sang Sang awake. Until these things ended, there was no way to know. Sang Sang saw his haggard expression yet he couldn’t sleep, leaning his head to the side and thinking. Under his unlined s.h.i.+rt was a jar of strong wine, and the both of them drank together sitting up in the bed. Just as before, Sang Sang drank most of the wine into her belly, and Ning Que only drank a few sips of liquor for a hard victory, then finally drowsily went to sleep.
The next morning, the spring rain that had been lingering for many days suddenly stopped. The clear and elegant sun, bore through from behind the rain clouds without so much as a greeting. As the skies shone, little birds danced atop treetops. A carriage silently stopped in front of the Old Brush House’s entrance, and from the carriage came a youngster that looked like a servant. Without even giving a greeting, directly pus.h.i.+ng open the shop’s closed wooden doors, he gazed at both the master and servant with a slightly raised chin, and coldly said, “Let’s go.”
This was probably the person Chao XiaoShu said would come to pick them up. Ning Que looked at that servant, noting this person’s calm appearance but seeming to not reveal quite a bit of arrogance. From this person’s Adam’s apple to his stance, there was a bit of a difference that could be seen from an ordinary person’s – this fellow should be that little eunuch from the Palace.
Last night he learned that Chao XiaoShu’s support and backing came from the Imperial Palace, and today a little eunuch came to pick him up. Ning Que naturally didn’t feel too shocked, he was just wondering if he should stuff red envelopes, and if he did, how big of one.
The impression that he had been trained by from fiction novels was that the other meaning of the Emperor not being worried but the eunuchs being worried was that the Emperor was good to provoke but the eunuchs weren’t good to provoke. The protagonist of the story encounters a eunuch, no matter if the other party was a high governor or a lowly servant, they would always choose an occasion of “smokeless fire” to hand over several thin silver banknotes and even so far as a translucent jade plaything. What he viewed as the most unconvincing thing of those stories was, how did those main characters get so much jade?
Ning Que’s brow rose as he glanced at Sang Sang, using his eyes to ask whether they should prepare something. Sang Sang had always been an extremely cheap individual – with a slight pause she then shook her head, completely acting like she didn’t understand what he meant. That is to say, young master wasn’t some generous person, and contemplating some thought was simply playing a fool. Saving some silver was some silver.
That little eunuch was holding both hands behind his back, sizing up the shop. Like an old person nodding his head, he used a clear voice to say, “I have heard that this street has some good calligraphy, today I see that it is indeed quite good. A n.o.ble of the palace wants to see your calligraphy, quickly go wash up and follow me.”
Ning Que thought that this excuse was actually pretty good. Looking at what he was wearing, he clasped his hands towards that eunuch in a proper greeting, and smiling he said, “Ordinarily I dress like this, a poor scholar. How would I still be able to wash up and look much better?”
Originally he was a bit worried that since he hadn’t given a red envelope, that he might trouble him, and hadn’t thought that this little master didn’t mind. Instead he slightly smiled, seemingly a bit fond of the way he spoke. Nodding to him, he walked out of the shop door.
Inside the slightly cramped carriage, the little eunuch closed his eyes the whole way. Seeing his performance earlier at 47th Street, he shouldn’t have any opinions about Ning Que, and it wasn’t because he disdained to speak with him, rather it was a customary precaution outside of the Palace.
Ning Que instead awakened in this quiet. Lifting up a corner of the rocking curtain he looked out at the street scenery, and could see under the clear sunlight, the common people of ChangAn wearing smiles as they walked in between workshops and markets. Every breakfast shop had business thriving; from time to time several calls out to friends could be heard. Where could half a bit of a shadow of the JiangHu’s b.l.o.o.d.y battle last night be seen?
Without knowing how long had gone by, two rows of obscuring willows covered the sight, and a comfortable shade covered the entire carriage and the stony path the carriage crossed. The shadow wasn’t from the willows, but rather from behind the willows and beyond the moat – the Imperial City.
The Tang Dynasty was the greatest nation under Heaven, and ChangAn City was the greatest city under Heaven. The Tang Dynasty’s Imperial City used the most magnificent palace under Heaven – the Imperial Palace could be described with the word ‘magnificent’, perhaps not very fitting, but with the Tang Dynasty’s Imperial Palace standing for a millennium, the Tang people had a grand bearing. The vermilion walls were st.u.r.dy and thick; the yellow eaves with a seemingly sword-like aura, were vast and solemn; and it didn’t seem like there were three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines applying make-up early in the morning and becoming distinguished n.o.bles, but rather an imposing impregnable barrier that sat towering in the heart of the Tang Dynasty.
Ning Que raised his head towards that imposing, majestic Imperial City. With an ever calm expression his gaze followed to the very top of the vermilion city walls, looking towards that extremely tall portrait like a black dot of a Tang Dynasty Yu Lin Army soldier, but in his heart he silently admired.
Only it was a pity the carriage couldn’t use the main Vermilion Bird Gateway to enter, but instead followed the moat around in a semi-circle, then from an extremely inconspicuous side door, they proceeded inside. The carriage entered the Imperial Palace, moving slowly along on those not at all s.p.a.cious carriageways. Without knowing how many turns they turned, the line of sight was completely obscured by the soaring eaves of the walls next to the carriage. The only thing visible was the sky cut into pieces by the corners of the eaves of the walls. He completely didn’t have a chance to see the entirety of the Imperial Palace, and was only able to see how extremely tall the inside of the Palace was.
From afar, at a green lake, a place of various work rooms could be seen. That little eunuch took Ning Que down from the carriage and began walking, and the two of them following a dense sea of bamboo by the lakeside, walked for about the effort needed for several cups of tea. Pa.s.sing through a wide rain corridor supported by big red pillars, only when they reached a row of inconspicuous little halls did they stop. What caused Ning Que to feel distrust, even as far as alarm was that along this long journey, he actually hadn’t seen any guards, and didn’t even see a single maid or eunuch.
That small eunuch turned his head over, his visibly expressionless face said, “This is the Imperial Study. I can only take you here. You wait here. After the visit, naturally someone will come take you to leave the Palace.”