Whoosh, whoosh~
Bang!
Fireworks blazed above the riverbank. The winter night grew steadily colder, but it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the young people from the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Men and women gathered everywhere in twos and threes, chatting.
Ye Jingtang left the passageway and came to the banks of Lotus Pool, raising his eyes to admire the fireworks overhead.
Fan Qinghe had followed behind him all along, unable to find a suitable moment to speak. Only now, with no one around, did she approach him, her face bright with surging excitement, and praise him:
"You spoke so well! I wanted to curse that high official Li just now. Northern Liang squeezes such heavy taxes out of us every year, yet he sat there saying we were rebels to our bones. If this hadn't been the wrong occasion, I'd have dosed him with several pounds of poison and made him crawl on his knees to Dongming Mountain for treatment..."
The earlier exchange had not stirred the slightest ripple in Ye Jingtang's expression. If anything, he looked rather bored.
"Trading verbal blows in official circles really is dull. It wears out something other than your brain, and there's no tangible result either. Nowhere near as satisfying as putting a blade to someone's neck and asking questions."
Fan Qinghe thought nothing of the sort. Standing before him, she smoothed a few wrinkles from his robe, clear admiration in her eyes.
"There are thousands upon thousands of warriors in this world. Who can't swing a blade and act fierce? Making someone yield across a table without fighting-that's real ability. Besides, in diplomatic exchanges, everything said has to be copied down word for word and taken back for the emperor to read. The more famous exchanges go into the history books.