Nightfall Chapter 37

Although the censor’s rank wasn’t exactly high, the power and ability he held wasn’t low. If the censor was ranked in the sixth tier, he would already be an important personnel in the empire’s government system. Censors are guarded heavily by the empire. No matter if they are in the court or in their houses, there will be many subordinates or guards protecting them. A poor calligraphy-selling youngster wanted to kill a censorer in the capital of the Tang Empire, Chang An. The scene sounded like a fiction tale, one of the Eastern kinds that focuses on a single hero.

But Ning Que never thought of how to kill the man. In his view, murder was the easiest thing in the world. His life started out from a planned massacre and later on in Moutain Min, the borderline, the Great Plains, and the opening of the North Mountain, countless beasts and humans fell before his knife and arrows.

Right now the only thing he worried about was how to kill the censorer Zhang Yi Qi without being discovered. Although Ning Que was confident in his ability to kill Zhang Yi Qi, he understood that he was up against the powerful government of the Tang Empire and the mysterious xiuxingist of Chang An. He knew that if he didn’t escape quickly after the murder, it would be the end of him.

There wasn’t much information on Zhang Yi Qi on the oily paper and it wasn’t suitable for Ning Que’s plan. However, there was one piece of information that Ning Que could use. It was that Zhang Yi Qi may seem serious and strict on the surface, but he is actually a pervert. He constantly goes to brothels in private in search for pleasure. Because he has a bold wife and carries the reputation of a censor, he has to be extremely careful whenever he goes to the brothel. Unfortunately, Zhuo Er was just a low ranked spy and he never learned which brothel Zhang Yi Qi goes to.

“There are so many brothels in Chang An, which one would you attend?”

Ning Que thought deeply and forfeited his previous plan which was to stalk Zhang Yi Qi until he goes to the brothel. The censorer must have his own way of hiding if even an official spy from the military wasn’t able to use this method to find Zhang Yi Qi’s place. In addition, the censor is just a low ranked official and the chatty Tang citizens probably weren’t interested in his life style. It would be difficult for Ning Que to obtain any desired information from the streets. The situation was a bit troublesome.

Aftering leaning on his chin and observing the sun after the rain for a long time, Ning Que suddenly stood up.

He found the answer. Ning Que finally realized that this was the same as hunting in Mountain Min and lumberjacking in the Great Plains. If he wanted to know where the old bear or where the bandits were and there were no friendly elder hunters to supply him with a map, then the only thing he could do was to use his own feet and walk into Moutain Min and the Great Plains. He has to use marks on trees, dried feces in the grass and the leftover ashes under the mud to find his way.

Ning Que was a good hunter and an excellent lumberjacker. He could use these details to determine the old bear’s hiding spot and if it was hurt, he could use these details to determine how many bandits were in the nest and if they had they left Shu Bi Lak yet. Ning Que was confident that he would be able to pick up the details himself and determine the Tang official’s daily habit and find a way to quickly and silently kill him. The thing that he needed to do most was walk into Chang An.

“I’m going to walk around the city.” Ning Que yawned and told Sang Sang as he walked out of the door.

Sang Sang followed him to the door and asked, “Where are you going? Should I follow you?”

Ning Que knew what she was worrying about. He smiled and replied, “Some places are forbidden for you to enter.”

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Walking onto the sunny street in Chang An, Ning Que started to feel better. He intentionally forgot about the blood in the spring rain and then he acted like a young scholar who was studying abroad. He first went to the bookshop to return the light readings that he had finished. Next, he began to wander between the censor station and Zhang’s mansion.

The next day, he walked in willows’ shades, stood by a candy stall, watched the square face censor as he walked in and out of the censor station. From far away across the crowd, he watched the censor’s robust follower, the police on the street and the Yu Lin rides that occasionally passed by. He knew that he couldn’t just assassinate the man on the street.

The entire day seemed to be of no use. At evening, Zhang’s mansion’s door was left wide open. It looked like the censor was about to head to someone’s invitational feast. The censor’s wife and several concubine looking women all walked out to send him off. People on the street were laughing and jeering at the censor. Some expressed their jealousy towards the censor. However, Ning Que, who was drinking tea in the tea shop noticed some details: besides the bony lady with a cold face, the other concubines all looked somewhat chubby.

The censor’s aesthetic view on woman was never shown for his wife, but rather he only showed it towards the concubines. The reason to marry someone could sometimes be money, future or family matchup…sometimes even false feelings of love. Yet the reason for Zhang to get concubines was very simple; purely to satisfy his sexual desire.

“So he likes chubby girls.” Ning Que laughed inside his mind and thought as he looked at the concubines who stood honestly like a quail behind the censor’s wife whose eyes frequently revealed crafty and complacent feelings.

Following the censor’s sedan for four streets and watching the sedan enter the pompous prince’s mansion, Ning Que quietly took two glances at the big door of the prince’s mansion and then turned and walked casually to a crowded place. He asked a random guy, “Friend, I want to know, in Chang An, are there any brothels known for pretty chubby girls?”

This question was very dumb but after handing over a silver coin, no matter how dumb the question was, he could still get a good answer. In that guy’s eyes, Ning Que suddenly became a wealthy and young foreign student. After the stranger laughed for a while, he responsively and detailedly described the brothels in Chang An.

Remembering all the names was even more work than the Academy’s entrance exam. Ning Que rubbed his eyebrows, tried to smile and said, “Too many, which are the most expensive ones? Also, the environment needs to be quiet.”

……………..

Holding several famous brothel’s names and addresses, Ning Que searched around in the glittering Chang An, wandering and hesitating at the romantic places. He didn’t go into some of the buildings using the outer appearance and surrounding environment to judge whether or not the censor would visit such a place. This was purely a hunter’s instinct.

However, the problem was that he really wasn’t good at hunting in such places. The procurers outside were diligently calling him and yet he did not enter. He felt somewhat embarrassed. After walking to the fourth brothel on the roster, he realized that his method was not only stupid, but extremely stupid.

There were so many brothels in Chang An. Among them, there were quite a few ones with a quiet environment. Which one of them wouldn’t have some popular chubby girls? If he searched randomly like a blind bear the chance that he would encounter the old bear was very small.

He wandered a while outside the brothel and then unwillingly turned back and planned to leave. Suddenly, he heard a ringlike sound. The clear and melodious laugh flew really far on the Chang An street and drew many people’s attention.

Hearing the sound, Ning Que turned back seeing the illuminated brothel. The girls who were working laughed while leaning on the fence. Inside the building, there were people dancing with red long sleeves. It was as if the girls were laughing at the youngster who didn’t dare to go in.

“What a contempt!”

He weighed the heavy coin bag in hand and looked at the pretty prostitutes who were giggling and giving out fluid glances. He made a hard decision, looked up with a straightened back, lifted aside the forward swing of his clothes and vigorously walked into his new era.