Chapter 326: Everyone Has A Chain On His Neck (2/2)
The chilling deathly aura in the study grew with his words.
As a powerhouse at the Peak state of Martial Arts, Xia Hou's senses were scarily sharp. He could sense the true intent of Eldest Brother. And of course, no matter how Ning Que hid it, he could sense the intention to kill in his gaze. Furthermore, at the feast in the Winter Courtyard, Ning Que had not hidden his true intentions.
Gu Xi looked out of the window and said in a low voice, ”I have once reported to you, that Lin Ling seemed to have uncovered something on his last trip to Chang'an before his death. It had something to do with the death of censor Zhang Yiqi. The evidence pointed at Mr. Thirteen. Lin Ling's attempt at killing him on the gra.s.sland probably had something to do with it.”
Gu Xi lowered his eyes and continued, ”14 years ago, the betrayal of Xuanwei General was not completely settled since His Majesty had returned to the capital before he was expected and the West-Hill Divine Palace had dusted their hands off it. I can guarantee that there were survivors. I wonder if this Mr. Thirteen.. has something to do with that.”
Xia Hou was well aware of the results of the investigation made by the Psyche Master, Lin Ling, in Chang'an. He was also very clear that other than the betrayal of Xuanwei General, the only event that could link the censor Zhang Qiqi and the people who died bizarrely was the ma.s.sacre case in the Yan territory.
After a moment of silence, he said, ”I have killed many in the world over these years. There are even more people who would wish to kill me to seek revenge. Mr. Thirteen's hatred towards me is not very important. His Majesty and the Divine Hall are willing to allow my retirement. And the Academy had made their stand. No one would dare to kill me and no one would allow such a variable to exist.”
Gu Xi thought of the gaze that he felt when he had entered the courtyard. He considered it silently before saying, ”Mr. Thirteen is odd. We should at least check him out.”
Xia Hou gave him a look of irony and asked, ”What can you do even if you find out that he is that person?”
Gu Xi answered, ”Even if the imperial court would not interfere in this matter, they would have a way to settle it.”
Xia Hou said indifferently, ”Lin Ling had tried to kill him on the gra.s.sland. Even though I did not know about that, I will be held accountable for it. I tried to kill him by the Hulan Sea for the Tomes of Arcane. That's the second time. Do you really think that the Academy would give me a third chance to try to kill a core disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy?”
Gu Xi replied after a moment of silence. ”Perhaps there would still be many chances. The imperial court and the Academy cannot keep holding you accountable. That is very unreasonable.”
Xia Hou looked at him silently and did not speak.
Ning Que stood by the windows and looked at the snow covered trees in the courtyard. He wondered how much money from the military allowance that the imperial court gave to the Northeast Border Military Xia Hou had kept in his own coffers to build such a beautiful garden in the far frontier fortress. He wondered if the Minister of Offerings that the West-Hill Divine Palace gave him had been turned into the fake mountains in the garden.
While his expression remained calm as he thought about it, his heart lingered on the conversation in the Winter Courtyard. And the shock that he received would not dissipate in a short amount of time.
Xia Hou, a disciple of the Devil's Doctrine, was a general who held important military power in the Tang empire. He had even become a visiting professor at the West-Hill Divine Palace. He was willing to become a dog of the Divine Hall and kill many innocents in Chang'an and the Yan territory. All of what he had done was to cover his sister's ident.i.ty. He did not want anyone to know that the empress of Tang was also a disciple of the Devil's Doctrine!
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