Chapter 820 (1/2)

Published at 19th of March 2019 08:35:53 PM

Chapter 820

The Night Hall was very silent and the candlestick within it swayed lightly . Ning Que looked into the Empress' eyes and said, ”Shame will bring courage and anger . If this anger can be released, then what has been left will be courage . You said it and I quote, Your Majesty . What we need to consider now is who would bear the Tang's anger . ”

The Empress did not answer .

Ning Que continued, ”Ceding the Xiangwan Plain, and the the war-horses issue will be settled by the Academy . ”

The Empress shook her head and said, ”No matter how strong the Academy is, it cannot create something from nothing . ”

Ning Que replied, ”Everything I lost, I will take back . ”

The Empress did not understand why he was so confident, but in the end, she was convinced by his determination . After a moment of consideration, she said with a grave expression, ”Since this is so, I will sign it . ”

Ning Que said, ”You can't sign it because I cannot allow you and His Majesty to bear the anger of the people . ”

The Empress replied, ”But you have once said that the Academy cannot sign it because we will renege on this agreement . ”

Ning Que said, ”The West-Hill Divine Palace has made sufficient preparations, and will definitely request that I or even Senior Brother do the signing . As for the imperial court, Ye Hongyu was right, we still have one more way out . ”

The Empress was very intelligent and immediately understood what he meant . She said in agreement, ”The one on the throne is my son, so I have to bear the relevant responsibilities and do the tasks . There won't be any difference whether it's me or anyone from the Li family to sign the agreement . ”

”At least it will form a certain buffer,” said Ning Que . ”As a member of the Li Royal Family, you can only die to pay for signing this agreement that will shame our nation . This is the only way to appease the anger of the people . And in such a current situation, you cannot die . ”

”The Academy is more and more closely bound with the human society, and Mr . First has agreed to mentor my son . The Royal Court is no longer fighting . Now that we think about it, I am no longer important to the Tang Empire . ”

The Empress smiled and said, ”Furthermore, to me, death is no longer frightening . ”

Of course, Ning Que would not push the Empress to do it . He rushed to the prince's residence in the night .

The candles in the study were dim but Li Peiyan was just as handsome . He smiled warmly, but there were many more wrinkles by the corner of his eye . His eyebrows which were once sharp as swords had become extremely gentle .

”I do not have much ambition in my life . I just want to make up for what my royal brother is lacking . I want to represent the royal family in bettering the relations.h.i.+p with Haotian Taoism, and at the most, wanted to be known in history as a good prince . ”

Li Peiyan looked at Ning Que who was sitting across him . He smiled self-mockingly, ”Now that I think about it, if I had not been born in the royal family and been sent to a county to be a prefecture governor, I might've been more useful than I am now . ”

”This is where your Highness' problems lay . ”

Ning Que said, ”You think of things that are too trivial in the grand scheme . And over the years, you have given the Divine Hall too many concessions . His Majesty does not like it and neither does the Academy or the people . ”

Li Peiyan said, ”It seems that I am indeed useless . ”

Ning Que said, ”This aligns with the role your highness will play, so I think you can still make some contributions to the Tang royal family before leaving the world . ”

Li Peiyan looked at the candlestick on the table and looked at the wax streaming down the candle . He sighed and said, ”You have ignored me ever since you killed Xiahou . I always thought it was the Academy that put pressure on you on behalf of my royal brother, or that you had killed enough people and your resentment subsided . Or you just wanted me to be trapped in the fear of not knowing when I'd die, but I didn't expect you to be here waiting for me . ”

”No one can work out what will happen years or even decades later like Haotian . I can't think so far out in the future either . But just like what my Third Sister once said, some people are more useful alive than dead . ”

”They are useful . . . in dying at the right time?”

”Indeed . ”

”Ning Que, you are indeed the most cold-blooded person in the world . ” Li Peiyan lamented, ”The Tang Empire is in danger now, and it needs someone who's cold-blooded and practical like you to protect it . ”

Ning Que said, ”Everyone but you has the right to say that I'm cold-blooded, your Highness . ”

He had not slept for a night, not because he was tossing and turning in bed, but because he was wandering within Chang'an City .

Ning Que left the prince's residence and went back to the house at Yanming Lake to meet Ye Hongyu . He said, ”Neither the Academy nor the royal family can go to the West-Hill Divine Palace to pay homage to Haotian . ”

Ye Hongyu said, ”Yes, they can . You can send a diplomatic envoy . ”

Ning Que said, ”No . ”

Ye Hongyu thought about it for a moment and said, ”Just like what you have done for the South Jin Kingdom, letting the House of Red Sleeves dance at the Divine Hall . ”

Ning Que answered, ”That might work, but they have to do it without any official representation . I also have to ask if they are willing . ”

Ye Hongyu said, ”Go on . ”

Ning Que continued, ”We can agree to all other conditions, but the Divine Hall has to guarantee the absolute safety of the Great River Kingdom . No matter whether it is Yuelun or the South Jin Kingdom, if they take a step across the great river, we would deem it as them reneging on the contract . ”

Ye Hongyu answered, ”That is not a problem . And to reciprocate, the Tang Empire has to guarantee the safety of Qinghe County . ”

Ning Que said, ”The Divine Hall's had already made that requirement . ”

Ye Hongyu shook her head and said, ”It is the safety of everyone in Qinghe County . That includes the people of Qinghe who stayed in Chang'an during the war . The Tang Empire has to release them . ”