469 Another Insigh (2/2)

After waking up, Ning Que was refreshed. His body and mentality were at the best state of his life. He then left the House of Red Sleeves with Sangsang.

The snow began to fall heavily, whitening the whole city. The two took the big black umbrella and walked in this white snow world like a drop of ink.

The citizens were celebrating the festival with delicious mutton giblets soup. The snow on the roof looked like cooked mutton chops. And nobles also had their festival, but no noise was heard from their mansions.

Ning Que knew those lords must have gathered at the gate and prepared to see the man off. They might even send General Xia Hou to the suburbs.

The umbrella was in his right hand. He held Sangsang with the other hand and walked in the wind and snow. The market, the mansions, all were quiet.

Since the fifteenth summer of the Tianqi era, the city had been peaceful for a long time. The residents and people of the Academy all thought the peace would go on, for Ning Que had given up killing Xia Hou. After all, they did not know how he could do it.

But Ning Que would never give up. It was just as he had told Sangsang that summer, he could not wait for Xia Hou to get old and kill him. Revenge itself did not matter at all. The point was that he wanted a full stop to make his life complete.

He might die because Xia Hou was so powerful. Even his Eldest Brother could not guarantee to kill Xia Hou at the Wilderness. But he did not think he would die. The Headmaster, as well as himself, knew that he was powerful as well.

Life was full of conundrums. In the past 15 years, he had solved many of them for today's fight. He firmly believed he would win.

The flying snow covered the entire city.

Red palace walls stood out in the white world.

Outside the city, there were dozens of luxurious wagons waiting on the square. Walking thousands of feet ahead from the moat, there was the gate where many people had gathered.

Prince Li Peiyan had come. The Defender-general of the State had come and there were Grand Secretaries and ministers. All the bigwigs had come except the prime minister sick in bed. They had come to see General Xia Hou off.

Staring at the approaching tall figure from the gate, the looks on their faces were filled with complicated emotions. Some were reassuring smiles, some were filled with pity and sadness.

He was the first retired general of the Tang empire in the Tianqi era, as well as being the only one in a century who relinquished military power for no reason.

He looked at the colleagues with whom he worked for years while walking towards them. The look on his face was also troubled.

After leaving the palace and returning to his hometown, he would not be General Xia Hou but a normal farmer. Indeed he was reluctant to leave his power, soldiers and the time.

The laws of the Tang Empire and the enemy's army could not hurt him. Even the West-Hill Divine Palace had connived with him. But he was still forced to leave the grand stage.

However, he was graced with the Emperor's farewell banquet, sent off by the lords and ministers, and received other prizes; he was one of the few who had such honor. Rising from a betrayer of the Devil's Doctrine to a visiting professor of a Taoism sect and the general of the Tang Empire, he had killed many people and helped expand the nation. Now he could retire safely and enjoy peace. It was a perfect life.

He was rather satisfied.

As he walked towards the gate and those smiling bigwigs, he began to feel more relaxed than ever.

Walking through the gate, he stepped onto the snow ground. Suddenly he stopped. Without greeting the prince, he frowned and looked at the direction of the palace.

The prince followed him and looked at the same direction.

The rest of the people noticed their strangeness and turned to the palace.

The old general Xu Shi suddenly began to cough. His white eyebrows were mixed with the snow, containing some anger and helplessness.

In the wind and snow, a big black umbrella gradually appeared.

There were two people under it.

The umbrella was large, with a thick surface keeping the snow at bay. The snowflakes fell on the surface of the umbrella and swiftly slid to the sides.

Looking at the umbrella slowly coming towards him, Xia Hou somehow felt thoroughly relaxed. It was at this moment when he realized that he had been expecting Ning Que.