1015 Let’s Gamble, On Human Lives I (2/2)

Cheng Lixue asked, ”Why? What does that have to do with the Drunkard?”

There were two levels to that question. Ning Que did not explain the underlying part about why he would turn over the gambling table. He just smiled and commented on the Drunkard. ”If Haotian doesn't want it, then he could not do it… Because he is just a watchdog.”

Then he smiled to Cheng Lixue and said, ”I'm a human. Why should I care about what the watchdog thinks?”

...

...

The autumn rain chilled the imperial palace. Li Yu sat by the window in the Imperial Study and pondered for a long while. Then she said, ”If he said that it has nothing to do with the imperial court, then that's it.”

The Grand Secretary Zeng Jing looked at her slim figure and said after a pause, ”To kill the captives and implicate their families is disgraceful. He is probably the only one who can bare the notoriety.

”The Tang excels because we have the Academy, while the Academy excels because he can play dirty.”

Li Yu turned to Zeng Jing and said, ”We are lucky to have him. If anyone dares to object in the imperial court, you senior officials know exactly what to do.”

Zeng Jing sighed and said, ”We surely do.”

...

...

The autumn rain and wind continued with pauses but never stopped. Red and yellow leaves were soaking and softened until they were almost embedded into the cracks of flat stones.

The waiting continued. Ning Que was still standing on the city wall and staring at the north. He was looking to the south previously but now to the north. No one knew why.

He said that the Drunkard was Haotian's dog therefore he did not care about what he thought. But could he really not worry? Even if that was a dog, it was the fiercest and fastest one.

For days the prefectures of Tang carried out continuous massacres. He took all of the blame and responsibilities silently, and only asked the imperial court to keep it a secret. It was because he did not want the proud Tang people to lose their pride for what he did. Meanwhile, he made sure that everyone outside the Tang Empire knew exactly what was going on. He wanted to spread the fear.

Death was the best way of spreading fear but it took time and relied on a medium. He had to choose trustworthy ones to do it.

A few days ago, he had picked the ones. They were Chu Youxian and Chen Qi, which meant that these two had to travel a long journey to negotiate with the Divine Halls of West-Hill and spread the fear along their way.

No one in the Tang Empire could disobey the Academy. But they reacted differently. Chen Qi spent the whole night playing chess with his favorite concubine before he set off, while Chu Youxian got drunk in the House of Red Sleeves.