Chapter 64: Princes’ Side Stories
Before I followed Master, my na was Hong Jin. Later on I beca Sixth.
My father was once a brave and skillful general, grand and impressive beyond asure. But when I was young, he hid his identity and led from place to place, living a vagabond life. My body had always been weak and I was unsuited for combat. Yet night after night of sneak attacks by endless assassins trained to develop excellent lightness techniques. What would you call this…sothing like practice makes perfect?
Speaking of these assassins, they really were strange. So were sent by the palace by the dozens to live in our tiny thatched cottage. Others were forced to stand guard outside. As to this…I was always embarrassed, and wished we could make our cottage a little bigger.
Oh, but I’m getting off-topic…
Everything they said was official jargon before they took out their giant swords. They always waited for the leader to shout ‘Go’ before rushing us all at once. In eight to nine cases out of them, they’d aim for first, so I had no choice but to break out of the house and escape, leaving my father leisurely inside. Usually, after I’d gone out long enough to buy so candied hawthorn, roast duck, and a jug of wine back, I’d find father waiting for outside our dilapidated cottage. Mysteriously enough, all the assassins would be missing, so I’d happily pour wine for father instead.
The people from the imperial palace were always very polite. They give us warning when they appeared and leave very quickly. But there were other assassins, masked ones, that were harder to predict. They used strange movents and techniques. So preferred long, thin swords while others preferred giant ones. Last year there was even one that used two iron balls fixed on a chain. Their identities ranged from male and female, young and old, with dialects ranging from the north to the south. There were all types of them. Once we t an assassin who spoke the Hmong language. I thought he was a woman, but he was just a delicately pretty man. When he chased , he used poisonous powders as well–really ruthless!
Although we had assassins of all types, so of whom we couldn’t even understand, eventually we grew familiar with their speech. The most common terms were “rare books” or “treasure map”, etc. If the imperial palace sent out large teams of people, then these rogue assassins could be said to form loose alliances of their own. If only one person showed up, they use a paralysis agent to toss my father and about before revealing themselves. If two or three showed up, one would block the door, one would attack my father, and the last would end up chasing …in these situations, I’d use extra ti to buy candied hawthorn since it was so hard to shake my stalker off my tail. Although our life was hard, it had its share of joys as well.
Until one day, I used five tis as much ti to get roast duck and wine before returning ho. Father wasn’t in his usual place, so I looked all over before finding him in the forest on the verge of death. He told to live a good life on my own from then on.
He told that soone had entrusted into his arms on the battlefield. At that ti, he’d promised that person to raise up well. Originally, he thought all he had to do was to claim as his flesh and blood and settle with the people who knew the truth to throw off attention. But who knew that the court would issue his arrest warrant the very next day, claiming that he had illicit relationships with the enemy to hide their own blood heir? In the jianghu, rumors spread that this heir’s body hide various treasure maps and secret martial arts manuals until everyone heard the news. Thus, he had no choice but to live a life on the run with . I only listened in silence with a dreary heart.
Before he died, my father gripped my hand and told to protect the secrets etched on my body without telling anyone else. He must have started to go senile, or else how would he have forgotten that I was a mute?
How could a mute talk?
After burying father, I burned down the cottage and set out on my own. I didn’t know where to go by myself, nor when the assassins would attack again. Neither did I have much silver. Nobody would want to hire a mute, anyways. At an inn, I watched streams of people go by while slling the scent of wine and at in the air. I was very hungry, but all I could do was sit blankly on the stone steps. Suddenly, soone sat next to . When I looked over, all I saw was a veil hiding his face[1] and a set of white robes. I was curious. Why would such a spotless and elegant-looking figure sit on the cold stone steps? He didn’t speak, but adjusted the qin in his arms before beginning to play a poignant and beautiful lody. Those fingers were long and nimble like a woman’s, but he wore the clothes of a man.
Many people surrounded us to look, a few throwing copper coins at him. I swallowed back my saliva… Looking at the coins, I thought of mantou, but hearing his music reminded of my dead father. For a mont, I couldn’t help but feel like crying. His hand suddenly moved past the qin to grip mine. I heard him say, “Do you want to co ho with ?”
I only sat there stupidly, unable to withdraw my hand in ti. Beneath the frivolous veil was a slight smile. He seed to be staring intently at , his voice soft like a woman’s. He didn’t seem to be an assassin, because any assassin who managed to grab would try to take off my robes first, not hold my hand like this…
Thus, I was brought back to his house along with another man with eyebrows as sharp as swords. He seed to be soone exceptionally skilled in martial arts. He always tagged after the veiled man, who always ignored him with a smile. When the three of us arrived at his ho, there were already people there. They were all pretty and charming prince types, and one of them ca forward to take off his veil to reveal a figure of matchless beauty.
As it turned out, this he was a she.
She told her na was Shao’er, but the people outside called her the Carefree Idler. She said I could treat this place as my ho and relax. I could also call her whatever I wished. But I never called her anything because I couldn’t speak. There were a total of six princes in that house and I was nad Sixth, while the man that ca with beca First. Actually, I should have protested back then…but there was no way for to make a sound, so I only glared at him before dropping the matter.
In the jianghu, rumors said that the Carefree Idler was extrely bright, graceful, and lofty. He was a master of the six scholarly arts of rites, music, archery, charioteering, reading and writing, and arithtic and possessed extraordinary martial arts skills. He was also exceptionally handso.
Actually, this was all wrong.
First, she was female. Secondly, she wasn’t very bright, even though her brow held a heroic and lofty air. Her face was attractive and held one’s attention. When she furrowed her brows, it gave people the impression that she was thinking of sothing, thus making her look intelligent. Actually, she was…never mind. One shouldn’t talk about embarrassing things outside one’s family to strangers.
“Sixth, rub my shoulders for .”
“Sixth, you sll nice. If I hug you while I sleep, I’ll definitely be nice and warm.”
“Aiya, why do you keep pulling along?”
That’s not true. I’m not pulling, but pushing. Pushing, don’t you know…
“So you’re that eager to go to bed? Good! Co, co, warm up my bed for .”
I cry…
Who said she was graceful and lofty, a figure of unsurpassed elegance above all others? I. In the outside world she could wear her veil and pose silently to be considered an immortal, but she was a clingy Master at ho. This Master of mine also loved to drink; more than that, she always imbibed the Scattering of Forgotten Sorrows with her wine. Every ti she drank, she’d fall silent with an expression of grief on her face. Once, she actually spoke a sentence to .
“Sixth,” she said, “From the first ti I laid eyes on you, I knew that you were like –soone without a ho. You can take this place as your own and live boldly without worries. No one in the jianghu dares to try anything against you.”
Later on I learned that a group of high ranked martial arts circles had tried to charge their way in, but she caught them all, destroyed their cultivation bases, and tossed them out the door after sealing their acupoints.
In truth, Master was actually a very pitiful figure…
—
She took so many Scattering of Forgotten Sorrows pills that she began to forget things left and right. Despite this, she still wouldn’t quit. In this world, there was no one who treated better than Master besides my father. So I secretly closed the door to my room one day, brought out a mirror, and copied down the cultivation diagrams of the《Carefree Recollection》from the reflection of my back with brush and ink. Yet these incantations gave so trouble…
…not only was the handwriting tiny, it was impossible to read them from the mirror. As a result, I draped my robes over my body and went to knock on my Master’s door.
“What is it?” Master looked like she just woke up when she opened the doors. I shut the doors and began to take off my clothes. Astonished, she held out her hands to stop . “That…I was just teasing you before, there’s really no need for you to co warm my bed.”
I ignored her and continued.
A giant quilt descended to wrap around , nearly suffocating in the heat. I blocked the door as my hands thrashed around, wondering where she found such a thing when it was so hot. After I worked myself free, I raised my head to see her preparing to slip out the window. Livid, I dragged her back down. She looked at with a miserable expression until I had no choice but to write out my thoughts on paper: I have secret martial arts manuals on my back, so learn them for .
She was shocked for a bit, before grabbing the brush and writing her reply: Only if you beg to.
No one had ever refused . It was as if soone had splashed cold water over my heart, shaming into anger. I wrote out a few strokes: I’m begging you to learn them…
Not gonna.
Mad with anger, I kicked the table with my foot until it hurt. After hopping around for a bit, my mind cleared up considerably and I grabbed the brush again: If you cultivate, you won’t have to eat those lousy pills. Are you learning or not? And why are you stealing my brush from ?
She gave a benevolent look before saying faintly, “Since you’re writing, shouldn’t I keep you company by writing as well?”
I endured.
The next second she had in her embrace, patting my head like one would a dog. “Sixth, I’ll protect you like my own family. You don’t have to feel indebted to or use these thods to pledge your loyalty.”
When she was finished, she pushed outside and closed the door. I stood stunned outdoors for a long while before recovering my senses. This person hadn’t taken my words seriously at all! I really did have coveted secret martial arts manuals etched on my back. I opened my mouth, but no sounds ca out…
Who made into a mute?
I really took offense at not being able to speak. But not long afterwards, Master spoke a few words to . I dimly rembered that she was drunk that night. The candlelight shone on her face and made it especially beautiful in its desolation. With drunken eyes, her soft voice dropped to a volu that I could barely hear.
She said, “Sixth, even though you can’t speak, you’re the happiest person in the world. Because you can keep secrets forever, while I have to rely on the Scattering of Forgotten Sorrows to forget the secrets in my heart…I’m always afraid that one day I won’t be able to bear it anymore, and tell everything. And then I’ll tell him that I love him.”
Him? Who was ‘him’…?
Master must really like this ‘him’ to the point that she had to use the Scattering of Forgotten Sorrows. I was sure I’d never eat sothing like that my entire life. It was so bitter, not even as 1/10,000th as tasty as candied fruits. That’s right, speaking of candied fruit, Master had promised to buy so with today.
Second was helping her with her veil inside the house. I gave her a glance before running to open the doors, letting in a refreshing breeze. Suddenly, I noticed soone standing beneath the willow tree outside, dressed in white robes that looked even more refined than Master’s. He was looking at us from a distance, as if trying to decide whether to approach us.
“Sixth, you greedy fellow. As soon as you hear there’s food you’re faster than anyone else.” A pair of hands pinched my face as she raised the veil to smile at . My eyes grew wide as my mouth opened, unable to speak. I really wanted to tell her that the man beneath the willow tree was really handso. The teardrop-shaped mole by the corner of his eye was even more elegant that Fourth’s.
“What are you trying to say?” she shook her head. “You want a veil? You want the sesa seed cake baked by pockmark Wang Er next door?”
Even more excited, I gestured with my hands as I pulled her towards the willow tree. She was confused, and yet I accidentally tripped and fell forward…not on the ground, because Master caught . She then proceeded to ss up my hair with a grin.
“Look at you…always so careless,” she said with a muffled laugh.
I did my best to turn around and look for that other person, but he’d already vanished like a ghost, his white robes disappearing beneath the willow. His figure more or less resembled First.
“That’s right, I’ll buy you two big bags of candied fruit to make up for your fall,” she said as she stroked .
I smiled.
“What were you gesticulating about just then?”
I looked towards the place where the man had vanished, shaking my head in disappointnt. When I saw that man again, many years had passed. It turned out that he was the man Master could never forget, and had reached the end of his days. That person had a very pleasant-sounding na called Fang Hua…
My na is Mo’er. After Master rescued , it was changed to Second. I was a disciple of the Pill King. All the people spread rumors that he’d soaked in dicinal baths since I was young so that my body was immune to hundreds of poisons and my blood was as precious as gold for dical ingredients.
Actually, that was all hearsay.
Pah…
Master forbid from speaking obscenities, so I won’t. The Pill King had many young disciples, so much that even he probably couldn’t keep track of them all. I was the only surviving one. Rumors had it that hundreds of years ago, one of my forefathers had a lover’s fate with a Fang Hua Beast, but nothing like that remained in our bodies by the ti my grandfather’s generation rolled around.
Ever since I was young, my health was excellent. The Pill King discovered that my blood could even treat poisons, so the old geezer would toss in a tub every three to five days to soak in dicine before taking my blood to drink himself. The Pill King didn’t die suddenly. I was the one who killed him. I thought to myself that being chased around the jianghu by people who wanted my life was better than being locked away and ill-treated by that geezer. The day I t Master, I’d been surrounded by my pursuers in a sea of fla. She was the one who saved …
She wasn’t like other people who wanted to drink my blood. Instead, she gave new clothes, a new house, and a new na. She never asked about my past, but taught how to make dicine and pills…even though the Pill King had taught these things in the past, I still pretended I knew nothing and studied diligently, because I liked to hear her talk. Every ti she drew closer to talk about the uses of this or that ingredient, her voice was exceptionally soft and there would be a smile in her eyes. This made feel at peace and very comfortable. Master said, I moved with a similar grace to a certain person. She’d sigh with emotion when she spoke, and her face would turn lonely. I think that person was probably very important to her.
Later on, I t the person Master could never forget. He was Lord Hua, also known as the true Fang Hua Beast. The happy days didn’t last for long before Master told to look after Lord Hua and left for the palace to look for his “ungrateful love” instead.
What was left in the house was one human, one bird, and one Beast.
Lord Hua was severely ill and wouldn’t last much longer. His temper was very strange. Whenever Master asked after his health, he’d never reply, but talk about Han Zichuan over and over again. When Master left, he changed completely. All day long he’d sit at the window in a trance. I used to think he was waiting for Han Zichuan, but…I discovered that wasn’t the case. He’d have the sudden impulse to stroke Master’s robes and hold them for a long ti. When he was feeling a little better, he’d let talk about Master–such as what ti she usually got out of bed, what did she like to do, etc. He never got tired of hearing about her no matter how many tis I talked. Every ti, he’d listen until he fell asleep with a tired, but warm, smile on his face.
From that mont, I began to suspect that his “ungrateful love” wasn’t the reigning emperor, but my Master.
The day Fang Hua died in a sea of fire, there was a large rainstorm. Still, he was smiling as he walked step by step to the yellow grave mound. He said he saw Shao’er coming back, so he was going to et her. By the ti I hurried over…there was only a piece of wood stuck in the dirt all by itself, and a pile of burning clothes beside it. He’d told a monstrous lie.
Using his own life as the sacrifice, he’d concealed everything from Master, including his love.
I might’ve told the truth. I was probably the only person who could tell people the whole story, but I decided to keep quiet. Through my veins also flowed a fraction of a Fang Hua Beast’s blood, so no one else could understand him better than I. This Beast had been heavily injured by sentint until his whole body was black. Don’t ntion his soul. Even if he wanted to revive again in human form, it’d probably take all the blood and vitality from the person he loved. He couldn’t bear to hurt his Shao’er and neither could I harm my Master.
If I were to stay…I probably wouldn’t be able to keep this secret.
I’d already taught the parrot everything I wanted him to say. He would tell Master that Fang Hua was at the yellow earth hill. I thought she should see him one last ti because this was what he wanted. It was also all I could do. If Master ever found out the truth one day, she might hate for it. It’s fine if she hated as long as she kept living…that was both Lord Hua’s wish and mine.
Once a person fell in love, they’d turn into a fool. Lord Hua was like this, and so was Master. News of Master kept coming down from the mountain at a steady pace. Han Zichuan’s blood was useless so he went back to the palace. Master was now using her own blood to save the dead Lord Hua.
Day after day.
I don’t know how many days passed before I t the Lord Nongyu who was preparing to climb the mountain. I gave him many pills and asked him to leave them with Master. He smiled as he agreed, and I finally felt at peace.
Master, please take these pills.
These were made with Second’s own life and blood. I too, carried a bit of the Fang Hua Beast’s blood within , so it should be useful to so extent. You wanted to save him and I wanted to save you. If you insist on recovering Lord Hua, then I’d use my life to save yours. It’s only that I’m not skilled enough to keep you healthy, but I can definitely allow Master to survive until Fang Hua revives again.
Master, please live well.
My surna is Xiao and my given na is He. So called Young Hero Xiao, Noble Hero Xiao, or Leader Xiao, but there was one person who called First. Ever since then, more and more people started calling Manager Xiao instead…and my identity underwent a great change from thereon. The one who changed was, of all people, a woman.
I t her during a very cold year. At that ti, I wasn’t leader of all the martial arts circles yet, but a youth who had been sent off his mountain by his master. I wandered wildly through the jianghu until soone set up and left ten daggers in my body, poisoning heavily. The doctor said only an immortal could save now, and yet that’s exactly who I t while I was in my wounded stupor.
She cared for for half a month, rarely speaking as she helped take my dicine. Afterwards, she sit on the bed while hugging her legs and staring at . It made rather uncomfortable. This woman seed to be seventeen or eighteen years old and looked very ordinary. But her dical skills were exceptional and she had a pair of exquisite-looking eyes. Besides making dicine, she didn’t seem to do anything else. A whole day would be spent staring at the fire or the clothes hanging up to dry, before she turned to stare at . Every ti she ca back from outside, it was either to bring fragrant mantou with big slices of beef, or quietly handing over a single red lotus.
For awhile, I thought she liked …otherwise, why would she save a stranger unless she had the heart of a Bodhisattva? And why else would she sleep in the sa bed as ? It was true, there was only one bed in this house so perhaps she had no choice, but why would she spend entire nights just staring at ? I was a man who valued morals, and she was my lifesaver. So I decided that I’d promise to marry…no, that I’d take her as my wife.
When I got better, I began to help her with various tasks: collecting firewood, starting the fire, and cooking. She ended up at a loss for what to do, staring at foolishly while I worked. The warm sunshine shone inside the house. I suddenly realized that while the jianghu was a good place, it wasn’t bad to spend my days with another person, either. One day I went out to buy a jug of wine and so stewed at before cooking a few dishes. I was preparing to officially ask for her hand in marriage, but felt too shy to broach the subject. When I finally t her eye, she’d already finished off the alcohol by herself and sprawled drunkenly across the table. Her mouth was mumbling sothing.
I leaned over to listen, catching a strange detail by her temples. I’d been in the jianghu for quite awhile so of course I knew about face-changing techniques. Reaching out a hand, I felt about her face before easily pulling off her mask. It was hard to describe my feelings upon seeing her true face. I’d lived for so long without seeing a woman more beautiful than my mother, but she easily eclipsed my mother’s looks by about 10,000 tis.
That night, my body shook with fear as I decided to sleep beneath the bed. When I woke up the second day, she was nowhere to be seen. From then on, many years passed before I saw her again. By then I’d beco leader of all the martial arts circles while she was the jianghu’s famous Carefree Idler. When we t again, she was taking liberties with a pretty and charming young man who was mute. I don’t know when her personality changed so quickly. As a result, I turned up without being invited at her estate and settled in with her five other princes. She always asked why I gave up my life of renown and fa as the leader of the martial arts circles. Actually, I didn’t understand it either. It was just that every ti I saw those people laughing or cursing rrily in the room, she’d smile quietly too, and it was a beautiful sight. Such a free and unfettered household was like a refuge or sanctuary. The princes within it all had their own unspeakable pasts. She never asked them anything, but did her best to protect them from harm. As for , I made sure no angry people in the jianghu ever hurt her. Outsiders only said that the Carefree Idler liked to collect pretty n, but I thought differently. She was just collecting all sorts of different wounds and pains.
The expenses of the Carefree Household were all paid through profits from her dicine. This distressed , so I gave up martial arts to go into business. I opened one inn, then two, then three…expanding my properties until I couldn’t keep track of them all. She beca more idle and fell into the habit of looking for oddities. Once she hired soone to get a piece of fine jade and break it into two pieces for her and both. Using who knows what, she managed to carve a single word in the corner that could be stamped onto paper with cinnabar ink. Mine was Xiao (?) for my surna, while hers was Xiao (?) for ‘carefree.’ She said we could use these things to withdraw as much money as we wanted from the money exchange centers, before looking at earnestly as if afraid I’d disagree.
Of course she could take as much as she wanted. Whatever was mine belonged to her as well, while whatever was hers was still hers.
Xiao (?) and Xiao (?) were pronounced the sa way. It made think we were brother and sister. I knew she already had soone in her thoughts, soone very similar to myself…no, similar to all the other princes.
Later on, I finally t that person.
He was a sick and exhausted man, but still more beautiful than any mortal. The two of them looked like a heaven-made match when they stood side-by-side. That immortal-like being looked at with a pure and clear gaze, yet it was one filled with unspeakable sorrow. It made almost too ashad to show my face. His illness was unclear, but it aged him day by day until his hair began to turn silver. She cared for him attentively, enough for to realize there was no room for anyone else between them. Even if I was unwilling to admit it, I couldn’t help but accept it. In the past, I could pretend I didn’t notice, but now I could only leave them in low spirits.
I left behind Second, who understood dical arts, and brought the rest of the people down the mountain. Occasionally I’d send soone up to deliver so basic necessities. Not too long later, I received a letter stamped with Xiao (?) from one of the money exchange centers. This was the only thing she ever wrote in all these years. She only told to prepare a good carriage on the day of the emperor’s wedding, along with so rations and a dependable person to wait for her in the capital. I don’t know what she was planning, but I had a premonition…that this would be my only chance to see her. It might even be my last chance.
I had Second help change my appearance and prepared everything behind the scenes.
When I saw her again, she didn’t recognize . Of course…maybe because I was disguised as an old man. Seeing her carrying out the unconscious emperor, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This woman really dared to do anything. As the dawn slowly broke, I saw her figure grow farther and farther away until it disappeared. I only wore a quiet smile, filled with ten thousand regrets as I told her, “Safe travels.”
—
You probably all want to know if I ever saw her again. When the emperor left the bamboo house where she lived with that man, I began to busy myself. Busy myself with what? I feared that the emperor would break his promise and send ard forces to retrieve her or the Fang Hua wood, so I was very preoccupied. Actually, I just wanted to see her one more ti, but Second suddenly contracted a serious illness that nearly left him dead. In addition, the paths up the mountain had all been sealed off for so ti, so none of my scouts couldn’t find her location until many years passed…
Nobody knew where she was, or whether she was living well with that immortal-like man. So people said she disappeared. Others said that a new couple had erged in the jianghu that were heads and shoulders above anyone else in the dical arts. They really were a celestial pair, beautiful beyond compare. The man had a teardrop-shaped mole at the corner of one eye, with a bearing as noble as jade. He was in the pri of his youth. The female had a frail body and always seed tired, but was an exceptional beauty. She looked almost exactly like the Carefree Idler of bygone years.
This couple was deeply in love with each other. The husband was often seen flying through the snowy mountains, collecting fresh snow from the plum blossoms to brew tea. He truly adored his wife.
All of this, however, were passing rumors…
-o-
[1] veiling hiding his face (面纱) – mian sha, or “face veil”. Considering this is the jianghu, it’s very likely that Shao’er’s wearing a hat with a veil that goes all around her head, like the one in this link.
As a final gift for readers before the epilogue, I’d like to present a bonus translation of a song that I thought fit our couple rather well. ^-^ Please click the arrow to show the lyrics below:
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