Chapter 65 (1/2)
Above the slightly grainy feel of the Xuan Province sapling paper, was restrained dripping calligraphy, writing out the words, “Leaping Fish in the Current Sea.”
Seeing the entire winding of ink creating the figures, the piece above them should still have a phrase below. But unknowably why, these words were written on the paper and then tiring, the writer stopped writing. The last hook of the “Sea” (海) character was clearly hanging, faintly showing a trace of dissatisfaction.
These characters made up a hint of stern bearing. If an ordinary person wrote it it could be considered pretty good, but in Ning Que’s eyes, he didn’t feel it had anything appreciable, especially since he just enjoyed esteemed authentic works. Naturally he felt even more so that these characters “Leaping Fish in the Current Sea” were simply quite poor, and even if he guessed that these characters were written by His Majesty the Emperor himself, it wouldn’t change his perception.
Thinking that today he entered the palace borrowing the excuse of calligraphy, Ning Que felt a slight stir in his heart. Thinking to himself that if in the future his own calligraphy entered the discernment of the Lord Emperor’s, then it would be like riding a cloud going straight up in clear skies; being an unnoticeable person yet an extremely well-regarded servant was pretty good.
Just as he was thinking this, suddenly he heard an extremely angry voice from far far away in the back room of the Imperial Study. That voice was deep and powerful and seemed especially irritable, but because the distance was too great, he could only clearly hear the most angry words of that cursing.
“Moron! …….Morons! …….A group of morons!”
The word ‘moron’ was yelled like rocks. .h.i.tting the floor, powerfully resonating deeply like a war drum, and sharp and clear like striking a rock.
Ning Que stood inside of the Imperial Study in a daze, listening to the word “moron” as though it had come from out of the sky. Gradually he couldn’t help but to listen to it till he had gone silly, inside he felt a great feeling of familiarity; thinking to himself whichever big bureaucrat was being scolded as an moron was actually quite towards his own taste.
The Tang Dynasty’s Imperial Palace was a kind of stately and solemn place. Even if authority relied extremely heavily on eunuchs to manage, they wouldn’t dare to use such a loud voice to curse at someone, much less the voice scolding someone as a moron came from the Hall of Political Discussion.
Ning Que wasn’t clear on the placement of buildings in the Imperial Palace. Of course he wouldn’t know that all along the Imperial Study was extremely heavily guarded, and the Hall of Political Discussion was very close to the Imperial Study, so he could hear countless sentences of “moron”, but no one could see that he could hear it. …… ……
Within the Hall of Political Discussion, dragons coiled around jade pillars, and gold curtains were embroidered with celestial maidens and flowers. Left of the Imperial Throne sat a married, beautiful woman in Palace clothing, perhaps thirty years old. With a gorgeous face looking around, she didn’t lose any of her charm. With very prominent gentleness, her slightly thick lips tightly pursed together added to her slightly firm expression. Seeing her phoenix hair ornament, this was the Tang Dynasty’s Empress.
On the Imperial Throne’s right side sat a 16 or 17 year old girl. Her eyes were slightly dropping as she used her slender finger to separate tea. With a bright and elegant bearing coupled with a quiet expression, she appeared extremely graceful. Since fleeing from the Gra.s.slands and tanning by the sun, her cheeks showed a slight tan, but now dozens of days later she recovered her fairness – this was exactly the Tang Dynasty’s 4th Princess, Li Yu.
In between the Empress and the Princess below, on the Imperial Chair sat a middle- aged man, with black hair very casually tied behind his head. Wearing an extremely loose robe, his voice though gentle and powerful, was unquestionable. Occasionally when he said that word, the tone of his voice would be like fleeting clouds attacking a mountain, fiercely rising and thundering throughout the hall.
At the floor in front of the Imperial Seat, kneeled ten-some officials. They deeply bowed their heads with their bodies slightly trembling, appearing especially ashamed and fearful, while the qualified His Highness the Prince and two old minsters’ expressions were extremely ugly.