Nightfall

The long red wooden rod kept moving on the map, like a torch that was going to light the map and set fire to the entire Tang Empire.

After they had a great victory on the highlands, the Western Army did not stop to recuperate or return. They went directly to Chaoyang City across the Pamir Mountains.

General Shu Cheng had led his army into the depths of Yuelun alone. If they could conquer Chaoyang City and capture the royal family of Yuelun, they would be a great help to the Tang Empire.

Long Qing and his 2,000 cavalrymen had been mauled heavily outside Chang’an, which was a great shock to the Wilderness Cavalrymen. They had no effective military command and were unable to threaten the rest of the Northeast Border Military or the Tang Army. The situation on the Eastern Border had become stable and it was time to counterattack.

The real threats existed in the south and the north. The Northern Army had been complemented with new military strength and the Gushan Commandery was free to support the Eastern Border, but the Golden Palace had been preparing for the invasion for decades. They drained to the south like fire and thunder and started brutal wars. The Tang Army could only passively defend and was unable to eliminate the palace’s main force or counterattack.

The situation in the Verdant Canyon in the south was abhorrent as well. The main force of the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army mostly came from the South Jin Kingdom and their true strength was even greater than that. Whether they assaulted the Verdant Canyon or they took the road in the Eastern Border in the north, they would give Chang’an a lot of pressure and probably change the whole war.

However, it was surprising that the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army was much weaker than the Tang had expected and it seemed that they were not planning to turn to the north.

The palace was quiet, and all of the ministers and generals were thinking hard.

“What the hell is the Divine Hall thinking?”

Zeng Jing said, “Maybe they want to conserve their forces until both we and the Golden Palace have suffered greatly?”

The Empress pointed at a letter on the desk and said, “They want to negotiate.”

The letter was bright yellow, which was the color that could only be used by the West-Hill Divine Palace and royals.

Everyone was stunned when they heard the Empress. None of them could figure out why the West-Hill Divine Palace wanted to negotiate at this moment.

The room fell silent again.

Even facing the entire world, they were fearless, but they were no longer young and they could also consider problems in a peaceful way—as long as they calmed down. And once they did so, they had to admit that there was a huge gap between the Tang Empire and the human world.

Even though the Tang Empire was the strongest country in the world, they still could not compare with the entire world in terms of population, resources, or territory.

Especially after the Northeast Border Military was eliminated in the Yan Kingdom and the navy of Qinghe County had defeated in Great Lake, the Tang military force had suffered heavy losses. Although the Academy and the imperial court had been trying to alleviate the crisis, no one could tell how long they would be able to hold on in the face of the Golden Palace as well as the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army.

From a rational point of view, a negotiation would be the best result they could expect. However, under these circumstances, they would surely suffer a great deal and the Coalition Army would surely request that they cede territory and pay indemnities.

For a thousand years, the Tang Empire won every battle and they never surrendered, let alone negotiated. Could not they keep their ancestors’ pride anymore? Who dared to negotiate and sign that document, taking the risk of losing his reputation?

That was why they all remained silent.

The Empress said, “You have to decide quickly. We must discuss this negotiation and it must happen soon. Because waiting one day will lead to many people’s deaths.”

In the imperial study, when the Empress saw the calligraphy on the desk, she was reminded of something. She said, “Did you hear that?”

Ning Que threw a brush into a bowl of water and wiped his hand. He said, “Since the Divine Hall wants to discuss it, then discuss it. But either way, we can’t suffer any losses.”

The Empress said, “They’ve gained the upper hand, so if we don’t lose something, they won’t agree to it. If we are going to have a discussion, we must prepare for it.”

Ning Que shook his head and said, “First of all, we should understand why the Divine Hall suddenly wants to negotiate. They haven’t actually had a fight so far.”

The Empress asked, “In your opinion, why do they want to talk?”

There was a pot of hot tea on the desk and a set of exquisite tea-things on the bookshelf. Ning Que took out two of the tea-things and filled them with the hot tea, leaving one for the Empress and drinking up the other one himself. Then, he took all the stuff out of the box and put it on the tea tray.

The tea tray was broad and wide.

Ning Que picked up the biggest teapot and said, “We can now confirm that the Abbey Dean is disabled.

“And so is the Hierarch.”

He took a small teaspoon from the tea tray and held a few cups with one hand. He continued, “The Great Divine Priest of Revelation, Master Qi Mei, and Ye Su all lost.”

Finally, he slightly knocked the tea container and said, “Liu Bai hacked off my Second Brother’s right arm and got stabbed in his chest, so he will be unable to do anything for a long time.”

Reviewing the war that had lasted for months, Ning Que found that even though the soldiers and normal people had all taken part in the war, the battles between the Academy and Haotian Taoism had played an important role.

The Eldest Brother held back the Abbey Dean for seven days, seriously injured Master Qi Mei in the Pamir Mountains and the Great Divine Priest of Revelation in the Verdant Canyon. The Second Brother beat Ye Su first, then he hurt Liu Bai, and stopped the West-Hill Divine Palace Army in front of the Verdant Canyon with his companions. And the Third Sister disabled the Hierarch of the West-Hill Divine Palace and fought against the Abbey Dean with the Eldest Brother from earth to heaven.

Besides the God-stunning Array left by the Headmaster and the character written by Ning Que, the Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Third Sister were the people who had changed the war.

“The Academy really has suffered a great loss, but Haotian Taoism has lost more than we have. I even expected for them to do this a little sooner.”

Ning Que looked at her and said, “We both need time to heal. So you don’t need to worry about the attitude of the Academy. Do what you need to do.”

The Empress said, “You are right. We have time.”

Ning Que looked at the moon and said, “Not exactly.”

The room was quiet. The Empress turned to the moon in the sky, looking at it with Ning Que. They both knew that the key to final victory was on that moon.

The Empress retracted her gaze and turned to him. She asked, “What’s the Academy’s opinion?”

“My brothers and sisters don’t know about political affairs, so they have no opinion to pass on to you. But I do have something I need to remind you about.”

“What is it?”

“If you can, withdraw General Shu Cheng from the Pamir Mountains as soon as possible.”

Upon hearing this, the Empress lifted her eyebrows and said, “They are going to break through Chaoyang City and subjugate the Yuelun in half a month. Why should I order them to give up?”

“They can’t enter Chaoyang City.”

Ning Que thought of the high peak in the Wilderness as well as the yellow temples amid the mountains, and said, “Both the Academy and Haotian Taoism have suffered a lot, thus, I don’t want anyone like the Chief Preaching Monk to come to Chang’an.”

The Empress was a member of the Devil’s Doctrine and knew very well about the legendary figures in the cultivation world. As soon as she heard Ning Que, she understood what he was talking about and could not agree more.

She said, “The Military Ministry had a plan: the Western Army would leave the Yuelun Kingdom aside and enter the Wilderness from the north of the Pamir Mountains. They would then try to locate the Chanyu’s position before the main force of the Golden went south.”

Ning Que thought of the swamp called “Quagmire” and said, “It’s too risky, so you’d better drop it. The best way is to withdraw the Western Army and turn to the Seven Stockaded Villages.”

The Empress said, “I agree. If we have to negotiate with the Divine Hall, they will request that the Academy participates. Who will be going, you or Mr. First?”

“The Academy can’t participate, or at least, I can’t.”

Looking at the scattered cups on the desk, he said, “If the Academy does, we will regret it in the future. And if I were to sign on the paper, how could I kill people after regretting it?”

Chao Xiaoshu had been waiting for Ning Que in the duty room to leave the palace together.

Suddenly, snow began falling from the sky, covering the ground in a short time. It was a little slippery. Chao Xiaoshu said, “Let’s have a drink and wait for the snow to stop.”

Ning Que nodded.

There was a soup shop on the corner, which was full of people. As the war subsided, people’s normal lives had recovered. However, they were not as noisy as they had been before.

When the shop owner saw these new customers coming, he set tables outside the building and asked them if they minded.

Chao Xiaoshu and Ning Que did not care about that, so they ate their hot mutton soup in the light snow.

Chao Xiaoshu picked up a cup and asked, “What are you going to do with Li Yu?”

Ning Que was putting coriander into Chao Xiaoshu’s bowl while he heard this. He was stunned. Then he said in his usual tone, “That’s up to the Empress or the imperial court.”

Chao Xiaoshu said, “But I am asking you.”

Ning Que put down his chopsticks and said while looking at him, “I don’t remember you two being close.”

“She is His Majesty’s favorite daughter.”

Then he picked up the dish of condiments and poured all of them into Ning Que’s bowl.