Chapter 238 (1/2)
Aunt Quni Madi had to be carried out of the tent by disciples because of her physical discomfort. Whether it was the occasional cold or an urgent heart attack, one could only guess by watching the Yuelun Kingdom and White Tower Temple monks who seemed to emit fire from their eyes.
Ning Que looked at the old woman's frail silhouette, showing no sympathy. He thought in his heart,
”I haven't even seen the Headmaster of Academy. You actually want to blame him. What kind of stick do you think you are?”
He turned his eyes and suddenly had the absurd idea of putting the big black umbrella that sat behind him over his head. He secretly thought that he would be more like Second Brother if he did so.
He was showing his arrogance for the teachings of Second Brother. Although his idea was absurd, it was natural for him to have this a.s.sociation.
Everyone in the Academy tended to be proud and arrogant, including the legendary Youngest Uncle, Second Brother, Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters and Ning Que. The people in the tent had been somewhat shocked and angry. But when they thought of the long-circulating stories, they had to keep silent. The Academy had an arrogant quality. If it was weak, it would be bullied even if it wasn't arrogant. If it was strong enough, no matter how arrogant it was, others dared not to offend it, just like Quni Madi.
Because of the things that had happened, the follow-up meeting agenda had become much simpler. Ning Que did pay much attention and let his thoughts drift. When he came to himself, the Divine Hall meeting was over and many of the people in the tent had dispersed.
The Revelation Department Priest smiled slightly and left to rest. General Shu Cheng looked at Ning Que. With a smile, he said, ”I know it's comfortable to stay with refres.h.i.+ng girls. But we have a camp here and you have already shown your ident.i.ty. Are you still going to the barrack of Black Ink Garden? It might not be good for the imperial court's reputation.”
”I see. Of course. I'll go with you.”
Ning Que felt quite embarra.s.sed by the general's mockery. He knew that in many people's eyes, it was improper for him, a disciple of the Academy's Second floor, to follow Great River Kingdom girls all the way north into the Wilderness under a disguise.
The young girls and students of Black Ink Garden were still surprised. They wanted to come forward and talk to Ning Que but dared not considering his true ident.i.ty.
Ning Que smiled at the girls, preparing to say something. But unexpectedly Mo Shanshan stood up silently and went outside the tent without a word. He could not help feeling startled.
Zhuo Zhihua sighed in her heart and apologized to Ning Que with a smile. She stopped Cat Girl who was about to move forward and asked her sisters to bow to the Tang army. Then she followed Mo Shanshan outside the tent.
Ning Que could not help touching his head. He wondered what was wrong with Calligraphy Addict.
It was quiet in the Tang camp. All the patrol soldiers looked serious. Under the escort of a few guards, Ning Que and General Shu Cheng walked slowly among them. No one dared to disturb them.
A banner blew above the camp in the cold winter wind. Ning Que looked up and could not help thinking of life in the frontier fortress of the City of Wei. He missed it so much. He was about to mention it when General Shu Cheng looked back at him with a faint smile. And then Shu Cheng said expressively, ”Calligraphy Addict is a good girl.”
Ning Que knew that he must misunderstand them. He could not help but bitterly smile.
General Shu Cheng shook his head, touched his beard and said, ”Mr. Thirteen, no need to say more. She is Calligraphy Addict, a proper match for a disciple of the Academy's Back Mountain. The Tang Empire and Great River Kingdom have had a good relations.h.i.+p for generations. I believe both the Academy and His Majesty will be very satisfied with this marriage.”
Ning Que suddenly understood why the General and the previous Revelation Department priest had had such gentle eyes when giving their farewell, just like matchmakers.
Because of his current ident.i.ty, his marriage was no longer a purely private affair. He needed to ask for permission from the imperial court and the Academy. Besides, among female disciples in various sects of the world, few could match with a core disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy. Of course, Calligraphy Addict was the best candidate.
Ning Que did not really know how to explain. He really appreciated Calligraphy Addict. She wore a white s.h.i.+rt with a blue ribbon and stood on the branches. But no matter what, it was his own affair after all. How could it become a thing for others to decide? In order to resolve his embarra.s.sment, he changed the conversation topic by saying, ”I thought that the Priest would tend to maintain the dignity of Divine Hall by any means. I didn't expect his punishment to be rather fair.”
”The Revelation Department is in charge of the Revelation Inst.i.tute. And Prince Long Qing had a pleasant experience in Revelation Inst.i.tute during those years.” General Shu Cheng said, ”So the relations.h.i.+p between the Revelation Department Priest and Prince Long Qing has been somewhat subtle. Especially in recent years, the Judicial Department has become more and more powerful and Prince Long Qing has become well-known in the world. So the Revelation Department is under tremendous pressure.”
Ning Que said with a lament, ”I see. But I didn't expect there would be so many secular disputes in Divine Hall.”
”Divine Hall s.h.i.+nes all over the world. But after all, the resources available to it are not unlimited. So three Great Divine Priests lead their own forces separately and certainly compete with each other. However, the three Great Divine Priests are above G.o.d. So naturally, they can't fight like individual rogues or gangsters. As a result, the real contests appear among the three Priests. ”
General Shu Cheng continued to explain. ”There are two bigwigs in the Judicial Department. Tao Addict is addicted to Taoism and doesn't care about specific matters too much. Prince Long Qing takes a specific management of Judicial Department deacons, Apologetic Divine Forces and secret spies. If the Revelation Department wants to crack down on the arrogance of the Judicial Department, of course, their efforts should first be aimed at Prince Long Qing.”
He looked at Ning Que and said, ”In spring, you won against Prince Long Qing. It was an intolerable humiliation for a lot of people in the Divine Hall. But the whole Revelation Department probably felt very grateful for you.”