Chapter 68 (2/2)
“That’s because you Sir Commander, your tiger-like power is too magnificent.” Ning Que very seriously explained.
A golden mountain, a silver mountain, copper walls and metal bastions can all be pierced, only flattery cannot be. Even if it was a young and clumsy flattery, it would have its uses. Even more so, this fellow that gave the flattery was a young and clumsy youth. Xu ChongShan’s face became a bit better, and then after clearly coughing twice he asked, “By now you should know who Old Chao is a.s.sociated with right?”
Ning Que slightly frowned, and feigning stupidity he asked, “Big Brother Chao is Sir Commander’s subordinate?”
“I don’t have the guts to go and order Spring Wind Pavilion’s Old Chao, besides…..from now on don’t call him big brother Chao. There were already fewer of those old people from back then. We’re used to calling him Chao Second Brother.” Xu ChongShan sternly said.
Immediately he thought of the ma.s.sacre in the spring rain last night, and thinking of Old Chao’s a.s.sessment of this youth, and seeing that Ning Que was a bit pleasing to the eye, the topic suddenly changed and with a smile he asked, “Last night, why did you want to go help Old Chao?”
“I was paid 520 silvers.” Ning Que very honestly replied.
No one would walk from life to death for someone they had just become acquainted with for 520 silvers. Not to mention that person was still a sixteen year-old, and a youth that had just been admitted to the Academy. Xu ChongShan didn’t believe his explanation, so he didn’t think that he was greedy for money, and even more felt he was truly a sentimental person, instantly finding him more pleasing to the eye.
“His Majesty likes sentimental people. I also like them.” Xu ChongShan smiled towards him and asked, “Then next I need to ask you a question, and that is…..are you willing to sacrifice your life and even your honor for the nation?”
Ning Que slightly hesitated, and frowned for a long time. On one side he was trying to guess what this high official’s reason for asking was, and on the other he didn’t quite understand why he used “even” in front of “honor”. Could it be that honor would be even more important than life?
This question was very big and very broad, very serious and very sacred, but also made him very uncertain about the point. He thought for a long while, thinking of several of the generals around Wei City, and thought of those comrades who would share life and death together, and thought of the warm common people in ChangAn City, and slowly and seriously replied, “If it had to come to that, life can be given……”
Having said this, he suddenly thought of one of the scenes from the night before. After Chao XiaoShu reluctantly put down half a bowl of noodle soup, and looked at the distant gray wall across from the shop, he said quietly to himself, and thus hesitated to say add these words, “But some things won’t do.”
Xu ChongShan seriously looked at him, and discovered that the youth’s reply didn’t have the initial tone of lacking any hesitation of throwing the die, and was rather serious even to the point of troubled as he pondered for half the day. In regards to this point, not only was the Vice Commander not angry, but instead was extremely appreciative, because he was very clear that after going through a thought-out, cautious answer was much more trustworthy than a vehement, hot-blooded response.
“From today onwards, you are a member of my Great Tang’s Imperial Guards.”
With no more questions, and no exams, just a few lines of very simple conversation, Xu ChongShan decided to accept this youngster into the ranks of the Great Tang Palace’s Imperial Guards. Included was the factor of Chao XiaoShu’s a.s.surance, but the even bigger reason was he really quite liked that this youth when responding, showed his temperament.
Consequently it was Ning Que’s turn to be shocked silent. He looked at the dull sheen of the ebony tablet in his hands, and looked at the symbol of status on top. After a very long silence, he said in a daze, “After fighting once, I’ve become a big inner Imperial Guard?”
“The Fish Dragon Gang was forced into the open by those moronic high ministers of the Palace. No need to look at me like that, the word ‘moron’ was His Majesty’s personal evaluation last night – so we have to once again set up new helping hands hidden in the Night Scene.”
Xu ChongShan coldly explained, “This is an honor of the people of the Tang Dynasty. Don’t think about refusing.”
“It’s not a problem of refusing or not.” Ning Que helplessly said, “The problem is, what does the Court need me to do? And what can I do? Most importantly, I’m about to partake in the entrance exam of the Academy.”
Hearing the word “academy”, Xu ChongShan’s face slightly changed, and it wasn’t for any other reason, but that as an elder of the Imperial Guards, he was very clear the things that Chao XiaoShu suffered back then – and exactly because of those memories, these days this generation of hidden Imperial Guards don’t have the treatment of those years. He had a gentle smile as he looked at Ning Que, and said, “Don’t worry, if you can enter the Academy then go. After you leave the Academy, in the end isn’t it still for the effectiveness of the Court? The two don’t conflict.”
“You still haven’t said what I need to do.” Ning Que persisted to ask.
“The Fish Dragon Gang has been placed in the open, but the JiangHu of ChangAn City is already without other problems.” Xu ChongShan slightly frowned and said, “Your mission is very simple, that is to gather intelligence. The specific mission will be discussed later.”
If the JiangHu was no longer a problem, then the biggest problem beyond Imperial power was naturally the xiuxing cultivator world. Thinking that he was about to enter the Academy, and thinking again of the Vice Commander’s vague description, Ning Que very naturally thought of some possibility – did the Imperial Court want to do something to the Academy?
The Imperial Guard plaque in his hands was a bit moistened in sweat, but he knew these things wouldn’t allow him to refuse, and he could only hope that someday the direction of this matter and his own imagining wouldn’t be the same.
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