5 The Future Discussion of an Unrepresented Tang (2/2)
Ning Que scratched his head and sighed. ”No one told me about that.”
”There's no need to tell you because there is a solution.”
Ma Shixiang looked at him and said forcefully, ”If you can make a contribution during this trip and impress the Princess, even if she can only remember your name or she can request that some steward intercedes for you in Chang'an, no one would dare to blackmail you after that.”
”That means, I have to gamble with my life to receive a qualification for an Academy entry exam. That seems unfair.” Ning Que said.
Ma Shixiang stared at him fiercely and said, ”Imbicile! Many people are willing to sell their mother or kill their father just to get into the Academy and yet, you are going to just quit because of a little risk?”
After a while, the general had calmed down and he said, ”According to my analysis, the Princess also knows that she can't cover her tracks. So, if you can figure out who she is, all of the people in the City of Wei can as well. How come her enemies haven't figured her out? Since she insisted on continuing the trip, there must be some reinforcements not far away. Your mission is to guide her through the mountains and help her get touch with those reinforcements as soon as possible. How can you call that gambling?”
Ning Que lowered his head and tried to figure out the pros and cons of this.
Ma Shixiang looked at him and thought about his odd temper which annoyed most people. He knew it would be hard to convince Ning Que without there being any profit. He sighed and whispered. ”An old man is going with the princess, whose first name is Lv. And, it is said that he practiced in the South School of Haotian Taoism.”
Hearing this, Ning Que suddenly looked up and immediately his eyes lit up.
Ma Shixiang said, ”You arrived here when you were a little kid and played with everyone in the city, charming them with your sweet mouth and your abilities. You were always the most popular kid in the city even with the soldiers who came and went or the bosses of that meat pie restaurant that had changed twice.”
He touched Ning Que's head as if he were a spoiled boy and said, ”The former general got you a military status before he died. You saved us when we went to the grassland to kill the Horse Gang and almost got killed by the barbarians that autumn. Thanks to you, we came back alive. Everyone here has decided to reward to you and we already collected money to buy you a night with the most popular prostitute in the capital, if you want.”
The gray-haired general changed the subject and said, ”But, no one had expected that you wanted to learn magic stuff. Unfortunately, we couldn't find you a teacher to help you and we just let you read the Article on the Response of the Tao over and over.”
”Now is your chance.”
Ma Shixiang suddenly became serious. ”The Academy, as well as the old man named Lv, you have to catch them both.”
Ning Que kept silence for a long time and then sighed. ”I just don't want to leave here.”
The moonlight was very soft and peaceful outside the window. Ma Shixiang looked at the young man and said, ”The City of Wei is still too small and you should go to the capital Chang'an and see the real world. Maybe there will be some monsters but, none of them should scare you away.”
”At least, out there, there won't be only one Article on the Response of the Tao .”