An email in my inbox last night had successfully convinced to continue translating from where others have left off and return back to where I last left off later on. For any new readers, please note that my translation is by no ans perfect not only because I have not had my wonderful (professional) friends edit, and also because I am an ABC using this as a ans of improving my own Chinese skills as well. I try to do my best and avoid comma splices, but because of the speed of this translation, Im sure I have missed a few here and there. I welco (kind) suggestions and corrections. My translations may be slightly different from others out there, and not quite as good, but I love both the NiF novel and drama and would like to do what little I can to contribute to the English speaking fan community.
In a fury, the Emperor left the Eastern Palaces Changxin Hall, refusing a carriage and support from anyone. As he did so in a hurry, he suddenly felt his vision go black and fell straight backwards just as he arrived at Yongfeng Hall. Fortunately, ng Zhi swiftly rushed over to support him, and no harm was done. Gao Zhan quickly pulled out a soothing incense box from his sleeve and blew so of the powdered dicine towards the Emperors nose. With a sneeze, he regained consciousness and could see clearly again through his slightly red eyes.
Your majesty ng Zhi carefully patted the Emperors back to allow him to regain his breath, and supported him to sit on a rock nearby, slowly urging, Your royal health is the most important of all, please take care of yourself.
The Emperor took the handkerchief that Gao Zhan passed him, and wiped his face and eyes. More than half of his body weight was supported on ng Zhis arm, and he was breathing heavily. It took a long ti before the fury within him gradually subsided, yet it was then replaced with a cold feeling of sorrow and disappointnt. An uncontrollable tear fell from his eye, and he bent over to cough, the wrinkles on his slightly yellow face seemingly becoming deeper.
General ng The Eastern Palace has such resent, have Ireally done sothing wrong?
Caught off guard by this question, ng Zhi stared blankly and was unsure of how to respond. Being the General Commander of the imperial guards for the Emperor, he had been by his side for quite so ti. However, during all these years, he had only seen the Emperor control and balance the powers of his sons and officials using many different ans and tactics. Never had he seen the Emperor doubt himself in such a way and seem so powerless, withered, and dejectedas if he were just an ordinary father. Seeing the Emperors graying hairs, trembling, wrinkled hands, and unfocused, cloudy eyes, he could not help but recall the days when the Emperor was once ruthless, decisive, and commanding. ng Zhi felt as if he were in a daze, as the person in front of him felt strangely unfamiliar.
Maybe, as people age, they really do begin to change
Your majesty, with the Eastern Palace, you would like to ng Zhi had only asked half of his question, when he realized that it was quite inappropriate, and hurried to swallow back the rest of it.
The Emperor raised his sleeve to dab his tears, clenched his jaw for a long ti, and as he was evidently rather hesitant, no one dared to question any further. An entire pot of teas ti had passed before he opened his mouth to command, What has happened today, is strictly prohibited from being revealed to others. Keep it a secret for now.
This command was unexpected from both ng Zhi and Gao Zhan, yet neither one showed it on their faces, silently accepting the order. Yet the Emperor was not one to easily forgive, and thus after a long period of silence, added, Beginning from right now, place a ban on the Eastern Palace, no one is allowed to enter or leave.
ng Zhi asked hesitantly, Including the Crown Prince?
Including the Crown Prince! The Emperors tone was bitter and very determined, The Crown Princes Three Ministers*, without a decree, is not to visit either. ng Zhi, you will be in charge of this matter.
Your majesty, please forgive , ng Zhi knelt down and continued, Confining the Crown Prince is a great matter, and it is hard for to fulfill this task with rely a verbal command. May your majesty please provide with a royal decree.
The Emperor looked at him, and was just about to speak when Gao Zhan suddenly said, Your majesty, the Crown Prince has followed over here and is kneeling by the Xianye Pond, would you like to see him?
Tell him to go back, right now I am I dont wish to see him The Emperor closed his eyes, sounding exhausted. Bring the carriage over here and return to the palace
Your majesty, ng Zhi seed quite anxious, I
Call the carriage! Gao Zhans sharp, almost ear-piercing voice sounded again, interrupting ng Zhis words.
At this ti, the Emperor rose, and trembled as he stepped onto the carriage, shaking and unsteady. Under Gao Zhans direction, a few eunuchs ca over to help, allowing the Emperor to sit down and settle in.
Your majesty ng Zhi waited for him to sit down and was about to speak again when Gao Zhan raised his voice, completely covering ng Zhis voice while saying, Raise the carriage! When ng Zhi furrowed his eyebrows and took a step closer, the Emperor was already leaning against the pillow in the carriage, waving his hand with his eyes closed.
The obvious distress on his face and hand gestures made it evident that he did not want to be disturbed by anyone. Although ng Zhi felt a little helpless, he knew not to continue asking, and thus knelt down to see the Emperors carriage off.
After the royal carriage left, the Eastern Palace was deathly solemn. ng Zhi suppressed the overwhelming feelings he had and imdiately worked to make the necessary arrangents. It was not hard to keep the happenings at the Changxin Hall a secret as there were not many people present in the first place, and he could easily ban the imperial guards from speaking about the happenings. Gao Zhan would ensure that the servants of the inner court do the sa, and of course the Eastern Palace guards would not dare to say anything, so completely sealing off the information was very simple.
However, it was more difficult to prohibit everyone from entering and leaving the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince himself knew exactly why the restriction was placed, and in despair, did not dare to make any more trouble. Since he stayed silent, everyone else in the Eastern Palace was even more afraid to cause any commotion, and thus the greatest difficulty ca from the people on the outside. The others were not too hard to deal with, but the Crown Princes Three Ministers always ca to see him everyday, and although they were not involved in the battle for the throne, they were very dedicated in fulfilling their duties. If the Crown Prince had any wrongdoings, they would be the first ones to be fiercely scolded, and when the Crown Palace was moved to the Guijia Palace, they were the ones who did the best they could to protect him. Such quaintly dutiful ministers no longer had any power in the court, and did not hold the sa importance as they did in the forr dynasty. The Crown Prince respected them, yet did not rely on them, and Prince Yu valued them, yet was not the slightest bit afraid of them. Most of the ti, they were only symbolicthey did not play much of a role in the true gas and sches of wit and deception in the battle for the throne. But regardless of whether or not they really held any power, they were still the teachers of the Crown Prince. With rely a verbal command and no further details as an explanation, it was difficult for ng Zhi to restrain them from entering. Anyways, with such breaking news that a ban was placed on the Eastern Palace and Crown Prince, for there to not even have been an imperial decree, it was inevitable that people would question it.
After being questioned by the Three Ministers for two whole hours, ng Zhi, with a dry tongue and parched throat, realized that his approach was too foolish. Why reason with them? This was not the ti for a debate, and even more, this was not a matter for him to debate in the first placehis approach had been wrong this whole ti.
After this epiphany, ng Zhi imdiately realized what he should do. Using an excuse to leave, he ordered a few rather impetuous soldiers to guard the gates of the palace, and inford them that regardless of what anyone says, simply respond with, it is the verbal command of the Emperor. If anyone tried to reason with these soldiers, it was clear that one side could not clearly communicate what had happened, and the other side could not understand. The Three Ministers were so exasperated that they asked the soldiers to bring ng Zhi to them, yet the soldiers only blankly responded that they were not qualified to call for the General Commander, and refused to move. The three elderly teachers were so furious that they began to feel lightheaded.
Successfully avoiding the Eastern Palace officials and elderly ministers, ng Zhi felt a little more at ease, and returned to the palace to arrange shifts. He replaced his most trusted guards who were on duty, and moved them to guard the Eastern Palace. Fortunately, after returning to the palace, the Emperor felt ill and was resting at the Zhiluo Palace. He had not moved since he first arrived there, making it much easier for ng Zhi. Around noon the next day, the news that the Crown Prince had a ban placed upon him had slowly started to spread, and several parties ca to inquire. The Eastern Palace was unable to be entered, the Head Internal Supervisor Gao Zhan kept everyone strictly quiet, and the imperial guards were unrelenting as well. Yet the more that there was no reliable source of information, the more peculiar the situation seed. Prince Yu did not even bother to keep his distance to avoid rumors, and personally went to visit ng Zhi, looking to receive so more information. However, he was unsuccessful as ng Zhi was not to be found at either the ng Prefecture or the General Prefecture. Thinking that General ng may have been on duty, Prince Yu looked for him in the inner court, yet he was not there eitherhe seed to have disappeared without a trace.
Not knowing the real reasons made it difficult to formulate necessary counterasures. The Emperor was ill and did not call for the court, only allowing Consort Jing to attend upon him, even rejecting to see Noble Consort Yue. Unable to determine the attitudes of the Emperor, those who were planning on protecting the Crown Prince nor those making matters worse for him dared to take any actions. There were all sorts of strange rumors being passed around, and the court was a complete ss.
Of course, no one knew the whereabouts of one of the most important figures in all of these happenings, ng Zhi, but it was sure that he could not possibly have just disappeared into thin air. The first-ranked martial arts expert in Da Liang that no one could find was standing in the middle of Prince Jings bedroom, and when faced with the startled owner of the room, he gestured at him appeasingly.
Rest assured, your highness, no one saw co here, ng Zhi whispered, The happenings of the Eastern Palace, I thought it would be best for to report it to you.
Prince Jing had always been a calm and composed person, and had experienced quite a lot lately, so he quickly regained his composure. After instructing a trusted subordinate not to let anyone in, he pulled ng Zhi to the inner room, opened the door to the secret passageway and said, Tell after we see Su-xiansheng, otherwise you will have to repeat it again anyway.
Agreeing, ng Zhi followed Prince Jing into the secret passageway, entering the secret chamber that he had already visited several tis before. Prince Jing lightly pulled the bell on the wall, notifying i Changsu of his arrival. Yet after waiting twice as long as usual, the advisor still did not appear, causing the two in the chamber to feel slightly uneasy, especially since they were unable to directly enter to see exactly why he had not responded.
Another incense stick had finished burning as they waited, and there were finally sounds of movent coming from the Su Manor. However, even Prince Jing, whose martial arts were not as skilled as ng Zhi, could evidently tell that the footsteps following the sound of the door did not belong to i Changsu.
Sure enough, within a second, Fei Lius young and handso face appeared from the entrance of the secret chamber, and he coldly and rigidly said, Wait!
ng Zhi looked at Prince Jing, and seeing that he did not seem angry, took a step forward and asked, Fei Liu, did your Su-gege ask you to co here?
Mmhmm!
Where is Su-gege?
Outside!
Outside in the bedroom?
More outside!
In the living room?
Mmhmm!
ng Zhi seed to have a general understanding now, continuing, Is soone here to talk to your Su-gege?
Mmhmm!
Who?
Poisonous snake!
Startled, ng Zhi asked, You said, who?
Poisonous snake! Fei Liu did not enjoy answering the sa question twice, and impatiently glared at him.
ng Zhi thought for a mont, and confird, Is it Prince Yu?
Mmhmm!
After hearing this much, Prince Jing and ng Zhi were now both clear of what had happened, and felt slightly more at ease. Fei Liu stood near the door, and carefully examined the two people in the room with no intention of leaving. Prince Jing suddenly had an idea, and waved his hand towards Fei Liu, asking, Fei Liu, why do you call Prince Yu, poisonous snake?
Su-gege!
Prince Jing had seen the thod of interaction between i Changsu and Fei Liu many tis before, and had generally figured out the thought process of this young man, guessing, Su-gege told you that he is a poisonous snake?
Mmhmm!
Do you know why Su-gege calls him poisonous snake?
I know!
You know? Prince Jing was rather surprised by this unexpected answer. Why?
Disgusting!
Whowho is disgusting? Prince Yu?
Su-gege!
Prince Jing and ng Zhi looked at one another, neither one understanding what he ant. After thinking for a long ti, Prince Jing thought of a reasonable explanation: Fei Liu, what you an, is not that Su-gege is disgusting, but that after seeing Prince Yu, he feels very disgusted, right?
Mmhmm!
Prince Jing looked around, and suddenly curious, he followed up with the question, If Prince Yu is poisonous snake, then what am I?
Fei Liu tilted his head in thought, not breaking eye contact as he slowly said, Water buffalo.
ng Zhi almost choked, saying, Water buffalo? Why would you think his highness Prince Jing is a water buffalo?
Dont know!
You dont know? ng Zhi was really confused now. Did you just randomly choose the words water buffalo for his highness?
At this point, there was not a hint of a smile on Prince Jings face, yet he seed calm.Im thinking, Fei Liu ans that he doesnt know why Su-gege calls water buffalo.
ng Zhis heart jumped, and he hurried to defend i Changsu, saying, That cant be, Su-xiansheng is a very prudent person, how could he co up with nicknas for your highness? That doesnt suit his personality.
Prince Jing faintly responded, Maybe Su-xiansheng has a side that we do not know? Anyways, he is not the first to call water buffalo. In the past, my eldest royal brotherAnd xiao-Shu, they all called this. They often said that I did not like drinking tea and only liked drinking water, and since I was also stubborn like a buffalo, I seed to be just like a water buffalo.
Now, ng Zhi was so scared that he was holding his breath, and the muscles on his face beca stiff, as if he did not know what kind of expression he should make. There was no harm in his temporary loss of composure though, as right at this mont, i Changsu walked in. Prince Jings attention was drawn to him, and he stared fixedly at his advisor.
I apologize for being late. Prince Yu had co to discuss so matters, and he left just now. i Changsu was in the middle of explaining when he saw the strange expression on both Prince Jing and ng Zhis faces, and imdiately felt that the atmosphere within the chamber was off, asking, Whats wrong? Were you all talking about sothing just now?
Not much, Prince Jing said, staring straight into i Changsus eyes, and with a very light tone of voice continued, We were talking aboutwater buffalos.
*Crown Princes Three Ministers: The Crown Prince has three ministers, all of the highest level rank, being the Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao. The three ministers were in charge of educating the Crown Prince, and were normally highly respected teachers.
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