Chapter 341 (1/2)

Chapter 341: A Reunion with New and Old Friends

The snow had not melted completely and the wind was still chilly. Although spring had not yet arrived, its fragrant smell had begun to spread throughout the streets of Chang'an. More than 10 girls, who were as beautiful as flowers, giggling and pointing at the street scene, had attracted numerous pa.s.sersby.

Those girls all wore light-colored cardigan skirts, with broad, long, and gorgeous belts tied above their waists. Because of its unique style, the well-informed Chang'an residents quickly figured out they were from the Great River Kingdom.

The Tang Empire and the Great River Kingdom had a good relations.h.i.+p for generations, so the people from those two countries naturally felt intimate toward each other. However, because of the long distance between the two countries, chances for Chang'an people to see anyone from the Great River Kingdom became increasingly rare. Today, when they unexpectedly saw so many delicate-looking girls from the Great River Kingdom and the style of their skirts, some elders could not help sighing.

They recalled the queen of the Great River Kingdom, who concealed her ident.i.ty when studying in Chang'an during the years of the Kaihua era. They began to tell the youngsters about that bitter love between the queen and the emperor of the Tang.

But those youngsters of the Tang were even more excited. They stood under the eaves along the street, waving at those girls from the Great River Kingdom earnestly, shouting, ”Welcome to Chang'an.” Those who were braver even caught up with the group, running beside the girls and asking for their names and addresses.

Although the Great River Kingdom admired the Tang, girls from the country were well-known for their gentleness and virtuousness. Previously, when they entered the city, they were giggling about Osmanthus Cake and the Wildgoose Temple. But later, they calmed down, thus feeling ashamed, blus.h.i.+ng because of their loss of composure. Now, when being chased by those youngsters of the Tang who constantly asked for their names, they felt even shyer and all lowered their heads.

Cat Girl looked at a young master, who was running beside her horse while gasping, and the undisguised joy and excitement in his eyes. She felt rather shy and buried her little face into the furry collar, thinking to herself, ”I'm so young, what are you rus.h.i.+ng for?”

Seeing that they were so warmly welcomed by the people of Chang'an, Mo Shanshan, who had formerly felt uneasy, now smiled. She put the curtain down and began to refresh her spirit by closing her eyes. Her spa.r.s.e and long eyelashes slightly fluttered, as if her uneasiness had vanished. But why she was so anxious?

Ning Que moved to her side, lifted up the curtain, and looked out.

Most of the students of the Academy that had been practicing at the frontier fortress had come back to Chang'an with him. The rapid march over the previous days was really

too harsh for them, especially Zhong Da Jun, who was at the end of the pack with a pale face and was much thinner than before. He was in such a trance and looked as if he would probably fall off the horse at any time.

Ning Que was quite clear about why he was in such a state. Back then, before he pretended to be Zhong Da Jun and went with the team of Mo Shanshan to the depths of the Wilderness, he had enjoined others to imprison Zhong Da Jun. Later, when his real ident.i.ty was unveiled in the palace, that matter had totally escaped from his memory. So Zhong Da Jun was not released until he had left Tuyang City. It could be predicted that he had suffered a lot during the past six months.

Definitely, Ning Que was far from being upright, but he had the least sense of guilt toward Zhong Da Jun, who was absolutely vicious. So he did not want to bother with him and whistled toward the front.

Hearing that whistle, Situ Yilan rode up to the side of the horse carriage. During the past six months, she had led her cla.s.smates, fought wisely, bravely, and severely with gra.s.sland barbarians and the allied forces at Blue Water Battalion, and won a stellar reputation among the army. But her flower-like face had withered because of the hards.h.i.+p that she had experienced, and she was covered with dirt all over because of the thousands of miles that they had traveled. So, she could not help looking a little disheveled.

Ning Que looked at her and said, ”Come to my house later, I'll treat you to noodles.”

”When did you become generous?” Situ Yilan replied angrily, and then she pointed at her dirty face, saying, ”When I was on the battlefield, I didn't care about these things. But now that I'm back in Chang'an, don't you think you should give me some time to freshen myself up first? Don't forget, I'm a girl!”

Ning Que pretended to be surprised, ”I thought that a female general couldn't be called a girl.”

Situ Yilan a.s.sumed a posture to punch him, so he hurriedly put down the curtain and hid behind Mo Shanshan.

Mo Shanshan opened her eyes and smiled at him, saying nothing.

Those who had returned after finis.h.i.+ng the practice of the Academy were, of course, solemnly welcomed by the Imperial Court. Moreover, there were girls from Black Ink Garden of the Great River Kingdom that arrived together with them, so some officials of the Ministry of Rites were also present. Naturally, Ning Que had no patience to sit through this whole procedure, so he asked for the agreement of the Eldest Brother and Mo Shanshan, and then departed from them on Vermilion Bird Avenue. His carriage went directly to Eastern City.

After a short while, Lin 47th Street was before his eyes. Ning Que jumped down from the horse carriage, looking at the familiar sight of the street and the gray wall, as well as the tree propping out of the courtyard of the previous warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. He took a deep breath, feeling extremely satisfied. During the past six months, he had missed

missed his armchair, the fragrance of ink, the well water, the chicken soup, the noodle soup, the noodles with fried eggs, and the banknotes under the bed very much. Today, he could finally embrace all that again. How wonderful it was!

Suddenly, he saw a black horse carriage parked beside the shop. He kept silent for a while when he saw the complicated lines on the carriage. He nodded at the horse carriage, and then walked on the stone steps and pushed open the door of the Old Brush Pen Shop.

Inside the shop, Chen Pipi and Sangsang had finished playing three rounds of chess and were having noodles.

Sangsang did not like playing chess nor gambling. But now that someone forcibly sent her silver, she could only bite the bullet to play chess with him under his insistence. When those newly printed notes with the fragrance of ink fell into her hands, she gradually forgot about the sorrow and loneliness that the death of those two old men had brought her and the disappointment the Grand Secretary couple had given her. She felt much better now, so she broke the rules and made two bowls of vegetable noodles for Chen Pipi and herself.

Just at this moment, the door was pushed open with a creak. Sangsang was holding the bowl with her head lowered, sucking the noodles into her mouth. She silently thought, ”Perhaps there is something wrong with the bottom of the pivot, I'll have to find some time to repair it.”

But suddenly, she felt that something was strange because the steps were so familiar, so she could not help raising her head.