148 Hope Exists in Mans World (2/2)
”Today he performed wonderfully at the banquet, and didn't bring shame on the Tang Empire and the Academy, but... After all, these are only verbal skills. If he meets head-on with Prince Long Qing, the unique cultivation genius, in the battlefield or the examination, and then it's true that he's highly esteemed just as he said earlier.”
Hua Shanyue commented without taking it seriously. In his opinion, it would be inappropriate even ridiculous for him to compare Ning Que an ordinary student of the Academy to Prince Long Qing.
”Maybe you're right.”
After drawing down the blue curtain, Lee Yu leaned back in the cushion sewn with gold thread, and raised her elbow to support her jaw. In her sharp but clear eyes was a slight grin.
”If you're really talented, then you will eventually become my talent in the future,” She thought with a smile, and murmured, ”At least I already know what your weakness is.”
...
...
While the coachmen were chatting together in the middle of the street, a large group of people had walked out to the front door of the Victory House. Those who wore Taoist robes and looked solemn were from the West-Hill Divine Palace.
Prince Long Qing was walking with a calm expression at the center of the crowd. As he stepped out, his beautiful appearance drew screams from the women in the streets, but he just stood in awe and stillness and was not moved to happiness or to aversion by the shouts of joy and admiration.
Slowly setting foot on the golden carriage engraved with talisman characters, he kept silent for a brief moment with his eyes closed, but he suddenly opened his eyes, and calmly said, ”That student of the Academy wasn't actually a cultivator.”
Priest Moli, vice president of Yutian Academy in West-Hill, looked cautious sitting opposite him. Although the two had a teacher-student relationship, a chasm of subordination began to exist between them and no one dared to cross it, after Prince Long Qing became the second under Tao Addict of the Judicial Department in the Divine Hall.
Priest Moli furrowed and angrily said, ”I wonder if it has been deliberately arranged by the Tangs.”
Thinking of the little handmaiden who stole a drink of wine while hiding in the dark corner, Prince Long Qing blankly shook his head.
Outside the carriage, a melodious musical sound was heard, and no one knew where it came from.
Prince Long Qing suddenly gave a gentle smile, whose handsome appearance was as eye-catching as the flowering peach, and he emotionally murmured, ”It seems that I have entered Chang'an, and my Taoist heart has been covered with dust, for the sake of a little handmaiden.”
Being sure that Ning Que and Sangsang were not cultivators, he stopped caring about that, for his pride lay at a higher level. He came to Chang'an City to enter the Second floor of the Academy, However...
With his smile gradually fading, Prince Long Qing indifferently said, ”Go and check who the student is. I really hate him.”
...
...
Back to the Old Brush Pen Shop at Lin 47th Street, Sangsang unwrapped the big black umbrella wrapped in the coarse cloth, and prepared to do the cooking. They drank lots of spirits today, but those delicate fruits and exquisite dainty small dishes loved by the nobles were really hard to fill the young master and handmaiden who had been honed by the sandstorms in the frontier fortress.
Ning Que sat in the chair by the window, gazing at the sky with his hands holding the window lattice, He remembered the encounter in Victory House today, and suddenly frowned, ”I don't know why I really hate that guy.”
He did not say which guy he was referring to, yet Sangsang knew exactly who the guy was. She poured the well water into a large tank and wiped her hands over her apron and then said, looking back at the window, ”I wonder why I dislike that prince now as well. I was supposed to touch his face today and ask what kind of powder he used.”
The next day, Ning Que went to the Academy as usual, and found the way his classmates looked at him was a bit weird, probably because they all knew what had happened yesterday. He just did not know what kind of psychological activities they had. Their eyes were still possessed with a faint sense of contempt that was quickly taken back.
After the bell rang, Situ Yilan seized him in the Yanyu verandas and in a regretful voice said, ”You helped retain the Academy's reputation yesterday. Everyone was a little grateful, maybe even guilty, but why did you say those words to provoke the crowd before you finally left? Unfortunately, you lost the opportunity to make your peace with them.”
”I didn't screw this up, so why should I give them a chance to fix it?”Ning Que replied, laughing he then left for the old library.
It was late at night.
Ning Que watched Chen Pipi who breathlessly wriggled out of the bookshelf. Then Ning Que handed him the expensive crab porridge and put down a futon for him. After that, Ning Que carefully bowed with his both hands folded and saluted him.
Chen Pipi held the crab porridge, stunned and speechless.
Ning Que seemed extremely sincere, much more sincere than most of the salted duck eggs adulterated in the crab porridge of the Academy. He stared at Chen Pipi and said in sincerity, ”Only one person can enter the Second floor tomorrow, and I'm dying for it to be me. I really don't want Prince Long Qing to be selected. What do you say... how much hope do I have?”
”Don't look at me like that. I know Prince Long Qing's like the Son of heaven, while I'm just an ordinary clod of earth in the world. It seems impossible to defeat and win him at states of cultivation and abilities, but I think... ”
”What if you secretly tell me the examination question, and then maybe hope will still exist in the world?”