1016 Lets Gamble, On Human Lives Ii (1/2)
The carriage trembled slightly in the autumn wind, and the whistling sound of wind came from the cracks in the window. The rain drifted in and wetted the cyan curtain in a short time. The oil lamp inside the carriage was flickering, as if it would die out at any moment. Under the light of the lamp, Chu Youxian looked pale not because of fear but because of his father who sat opposite of him looked paler than him and was crying.
The Old Mr. Chu wept bitterly and grabbed his son tightly. Maybe the carriage trembled too heavily, so the old man's voice trembled. ”In these years, I have spent tens of thousands of silvers on you, and the only thing I want is for you to have a bright future. I never thought that you would walk into the blind alley. If I had known it, I would not send you to the Academy in the beginning.”
Hearing this, Chu Youxian went silent for quite a while. Then he suddenly picked up the curtain and said while pointing to the dark sky in the wind and rain, ”Father, life is just like the sky, you can never predict what the weather will be tomorrow. If trouble is inevitable, then I want to do something great. The matter between the imperial court and the Divine Halls is the most profound thing in one thousand years.” He took back his hand to point at his nose and said, ”I am going to handle this matter as an envoy, which is an honor you can't buy with even ten million liang of silvers.”
”But what's the point of sending you there?” The Old Mr. Chu said while crying, ”Even if the imperial court and the Academy want to negotiate with the Divine Halls, it has to be those big shots making the final decisions. Then why sending you there to take the risk?”
Chu Youxian did not explain too clearly and just answered, ”Just don't overthink this. I heard that you plan to rewrite our genealogy next spring. You should focus on that. If I never come back, you have to choose a good place for my memorial tablet.”
The Old Mr. Chu was angry and shouted, ”Do not say those unlucky words! You are my only son. I can't lose you.”
Chu Youxian did not take it seriously and replied, ”I am just saying.”
The Old Mr. Chu smacked his son's head, knowing that he couldn't change his mind. Then he taunted his son, ”Even if you are dead, you can't expect a good position in the ancestral hall. You are not expecting to get a position better than your grandfather's, are you?”
Chu Youxian replied angrily, ”If I were to die, then I'll be dying for our country. Why can't I expect a good position in our ancestral hall?”
The cyan curtain was lifted and the wind and rain sank in. Chenqi walked in without any expressions. Knowing that it was time for them to depart, the Old Mr. Chu sighed and walked out of the carriage.
Looking at his father's bent back, Chu Youxian went silent. Although his father taunted him in the end, he knew clearly how his father felt at this moment. Old Mr. Chu and everyone in Chang'an knew that they were seeking their own dooms.
Chenqi ignored the mood swing Chu Youxian went through, looked at the file in his hand, and said, ”If you don't want to die, just stop thinking about it.”
Chu Youxian looked at Chenqi, the brain of the Fish-Dragon Gang, and sighed. ”Everyone said that you are resourceful. But I doubt that you can find any chance of survival in this dead end.”
Chenqi still kept his head down, looked through the information on the file under the dim light and replied, ”That is not important.”
Chu Youxian went silent for a moment and then said with a smile, ”You are right. Whether we can come back to Chang'an alive or not is not important.”
Everyone knew that their trip to the Divine Halls was representing the will of the Great Tang and the Academy. But they didn't have official capacities. They were only the private representatives of Ning Que, for they carried thousands of b.l.o.o.d.y human heads with them which might tarnish the reputation of the Great Tang and the Academy.
If the negotiations were to fail, then they would have to leave those b.l.o.o.d.y heads on Peach Mountain and would never be able to return to Chang'an.
Just like the puzzled Old Mr. Chu, many people didn't understand why the imperial court and the Academy sent them to the Divine Halls. The negotiations could only be made with force, so sending envoys seemed unnecessary.
The wheels ran over the blue flagstone and made a squeaking sound. The carriage slowly headed to outside the city. Chenqi and Chu Youxian stopped talking and went silent.
Whether they could come back to Chang'an alive or not was not important, for that was not their mission. Except for promoting how cold Ning Que was and telling people about those thousands of human heads along the way, their real mission was to deliver a message to someone on Peach Mountain for Ning Que.
The message was very important, which couldn't be written on paper. The person who was supposed to get the message lived in the depths of Peach Mountain and even Mr. First of the Academy couldn't see her. Therefore, even though there was a strong possibility that they might tragically die, Chu Youxian and Chenqi still started their journey without any hesitation.
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When the carriage pulled out of the city gate in the autumn rain, the person who ordered them to pa.s.s the message stood in the Imperial Study, looking at the rain, which was like a curtain, and the delicate chrysanthemums in the Imperial Garden.
In the Imperial Garden, the young emperor walked to the back hall with a group of eunuchs and odalisques by his side. Seeing the figure by the window from afar, the emperor stopped stiffly and saluted to the figure in a way which did not conform to the protocol.
Ning Que nodded and then reached out to close the window after the figure of the emperor disappeared in the palace, blocking the cold wind and rain outside. Then he looked back at the lady sitting behind the desk who was thinner and thinner and suggested, ”You should take a walk outside the palace sometimes. You know clearly how beautiful Chang'an is in autumn when it is not raining.”
Li Yu was a little pale, but she was not sick, just that she had not seen the sun for many years. After the rebellion, she never left the palace.
Hearing what Ning Que said, she smiled but remained silent. She did not even explain why she never left the palace, for she believed that he knew everything.
”No one in the imperial court dares to doubt you now, so you don't have to lock yourself in the palace to avoid arousing suspicion.” Looking at her calm face, Ning Que knew he couldn't convince her and frowned. Then he suggested again, ”Even if you don't want to leave the palace, you can walk around the imperial garden and sail on the lake. I am not saying that these kinds of pleasures are important, but you have to stay healthy before His Majesty is old enough to wield power.”
Li Yu put away the book and said calmly, ”I will still be alive for several decades. But how come you left the city wall? Don't you need to keep an eye on those terrifying big names? What if something bad happens when you are away?”
Ning Que had lived on the city wall for quite a long time. He frightened the powerful enemies in the surrounding country with his iron bow and arrows, just like how the Drunkard frightened the monarch, ministers, generals, and soldiers of the Great Tang with his speed and killing.
”I have to take a rest.” He answered, ”And I can not be at ease until I make some matters clear.”
The conflict among the human world remained unsettled, and the war between the Great Tang and the Divine Halls was about to begin. The Academy was part of the world, so of course it should care about these matters. Ning Que had no doubts about Li Yu's ability in ruling the country, so he had to figure out what she was thinking. ”I have deduced countless times in the past. If the Academy can't handle the Drunkard, then the war would not be able to start, let alone our victory.”
Li Yu looked at him quietly and then asked, ”So have you come up with a solution?”
Ning Que went silent for a while and then said, ”I need more time.”
Li Yu said, ”That's the problem.”
The Drunkard wandered in the world and was willing to kill people, which was the biggest threat that the Great Tang was facing. If the Academy couldn't kill him, then waging a war was meaningless.