Preamble:
Its been slightly over 3 months, and in that span of ti, Ive translated 27 chapters. Wow. At this point, there are 30 more chapters to the end. Im not sure if that will take another 3 months or a year, or even more, since Ill be starting work again soon..but well, we have gotten very far! And we wouldnt be here if not also for the work of earlier translators. Unfortunately, my Chinese hasnt really improved, but Ive seed to translate a lot faster after my break, because I think I have let go of trying to be very precise with every bit of the translation, drawing more from inference and overall visual / feeling / intention the author is trying to convey. Hopefully its also made for a better read since its (hopefully) much less literal!
Faced with Prince Jings query, i Changsu didnt imdiately answer but instead turned to face the Emperors tent on the east side. Didnt Your Highness go over to pay respects to His Majesty?
Father Emperor is having his afternoon nap. How long could I do that?
So why didnt Your Highness co in?
Mother clearly wanted out of there. Why would I go back in so fast and annoy her?
But Your Highness, you..would still like to know what we talked about?
Of course. Xiao Jingyan was getting impatient with his nonchalant manner. Mother has not lost her self control like this for many years. I must know the reason for this.
Then why didnt Your Highness eavesdrop at the tent door? Neither niang niang nor I are martial arts masters. If you were careful, we wouldnt have noticed.
Prince Jing stared at him, a slight scowl on his face. Ive never done that, much less do it to my mother.
Since Your Highness didnt eavesdrop, why bother asking now? i Changsu replied coolly, There isnt much difference between the two. If Your Highness really wants to know what we talked about, it would be better for you to ask Concubine Jing niang niang. Its not appropriate to ask .
Prince Jing was montarily at a loss for words, and he hesitated, his eyes flickering.
Actually.. i Changsu said slowly, In Su mous humble opinion, its enough for Your Highness to know that Concubine Jing is a good mother who would do her best for you, so why is there a need to pursue this? Everyone has sothing they do not wish anyone else to know. Not asking is also a form of filial piety. If you really cant help it, then you should ask her personally. In short, I will not say anything. I seek Your Highnesss understanding.
Prince Jing strode back and forth several tis, then stopped. Did Mother forbid you to say anything?
Niang niang gave no such command, but since she sent you out, she obviously didnt intend for you to know.
If she didnt intend for to know, then why is it okay for you to know?
i Changsus shoulders collapsed in defeat. It looks like Your Highness really cannot bear not knowing. Then you should go and ask niang niang. I shall return to my tent first. With these words, he clasped his hands, turned around and walked off.
Prince Jings anger flared montarily, but this matter concerned his mother and had nothing to do with i Changsu. He hesitated for a while, but he couldnt stop worrying so he proceeded to enter the tent.
At the ti, Concubine Jing was cleaning her face with a wet towel. Other than her swollen red eyes, there were no other traces of weeping on her face. Seeing her son enter, she put down the towel and gave him a slight smile. Youre back. Mister Su didnt wait for you and has left.
Your son knows. We..ran into each other outside.. Xiao Jingyan walked over and helped his mother over to the seat. He pulled a cushion over for himself and sat by her knees. Looking up at her, he slowly asked, Mother, do you really have nothing you want to tell your son?
Concubine Jing put a hand on her sons head, gently stroking it. She sighed deeply and said, Jingyan, can you not ask?
But I have not seen Mother so sad in such a long ti. Maybe if you tell , I can do sothing..
I understand your filial piety, Concubine Jing smiled at him sadly, her voice still gentle and calm, but Jingyan, Mother used to have a life of her own. Many things happened before you were born that have nothing to do with you, so why must you ask?
Before.before I was born? Prince Jing was dumbfounded. For every child who looked up to his mother, it was really hard to imagine her having a life of her own before he was born.
I was sad because it had been so long ago, so long ago that I had forgotten about it and didnt guard myself against it, so when I suddenly recalled it, it was hard to control myself, Concubine Jing murmured vaguely, Actually, it has nothing to do with Mister Su. Its just that, those mories..he just brought back those mories, thats all..he is a most attentive and considerate person. Even though I didnt ask him not to, he would naturally not ntion anything, so dont keep asking him. When I am ready to explain it to you, I will definitely do so.
Though Concubine Jing and i Changsu didnt discuss it, they both had a tacit understanding and adopted the sa thod of deflecting Prince Jing. The earlier scene had now beco Concubine Jings secret rather than i Changsus without Prince Jings realization. Out of concern and love for his mother, even though he was still filled with doubt, he had to suppress his questions and stop asking them.
Although he was not convinced, he had turned this over many tis in his head, considering all possibilities, but in the end, he still had no choice but to lower his head and whisper, Then please take care of yourself Mother. Your son will take his leave.
Concubine Jing nodded her head silently, not detaining him. After her son left the tent, she removed an ointnt from within her sleeve, looked at the mirror and applied it on her eyes, but even as she wiped, she couldnt help the tears from falling.
In this way, the eting was swiftly concluded, with no great waves or mishaps, but the outco was a little strange. At least that was how Lie Zhanying felt. Two people who went out together ca back separately, one after the other, one nonchalant, the other frowning, deep in thought. One could say that they had beco estranged. Though they still greeted each other everyday and spoke as usual, they suddenly seed to have drifted apart, not sharing a al or conversation for quite a while. Instead, Prince Huai, who loved reading, regularly visited i Changsu to borrow his books and had more frequent contact with him.
This went on for seven to eight days, and was finally interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
According to the guard, the man ca looking for Mister Su. He should have been turned away, but a captain of the guard who happened to pass by knew that I regularly pay my respects to Mister Su, so he ordered his n to watch him while he ca over to inform . ng Zhi was sitting in Prince Jings main tent, his body encased in soft armour, obviously there for a while. But that person refuses to say his na. Would Mister Su like to et him?
i Changsu muttered briefly to himself then said, If its not too troubleso, it might be a good idea to et him.
Then Ill ask soone to bring him over. ng Zhi walked to the entrance to issue the order, then returned to his seat. Looking at the two n seated opposite him, he asked, Whats wrong with Your Highness and Mister Su?
Eh? The two n looked up at the sa ti. What do you an whats wrong?
Did Mister Su do sothing.to make Your Highness angry?
No, Prince Jing quickly replied, So other matter that has nothing to do with Mister Su.
Oh.. ng Zhi actually wanted to find out what happened during the eting with Concubine Jing, but i Changsu refused to say anything and he dared not ask, but looking at Prince Jings deanour, he couldnt determine if the latter was still in the dark.
After approximately the ti it takes to brew a pot of tea, two imperial guards brought in a man wearing a ragged cloak. They pushed him to the centre of the tent, bowed and left. The cloaked man fell to the floor and shuffled two steps forward on his knees, paying his respects to i Changsu and called out in a hoarse voice choked with emotion, Chief.
i Changsu was startled. Just as he was about to stretch out his arm to part the mans hair, ng Zhi had already stepped forward to lift the mans chin up. The hair imdiately parted, revealing a bruised and dirty, barely recognizable face.
Tong Lu? The Jiangzuo Alliance Chiefs eyes leapt in shock. Why are you here?
Chief! Tong Lu fell prostrate, bursting into tears, his voice barely audible amidst his sobs, This.this subordinate.asksasks for your forgiveness..
i Changsu stared at him. After a long while, he took a glass of water and placed it before the man, saying calmly, Drink so water first, and calm down.
Tong Lu wiped his face, then grabbed the cup of water and drank it down before saying, Thank you Chief.
Tong Lu, Mister Shisan said that you have betrayed us. Do you admit to it? i Changsu asked quietly.
Tong Lu sobbed violently, lying prostrate on the floor, unable to speak.
Since you plead guilty to treason against the alliance, why did you co here? Isnt it better to serve Prince Yu?
Chief.this subordinate made a mistake, but had no intention of betraying the alliance, Tong Lu gritted his teeth, his face pale, I left Miaoyin House because.because.
I know. Mister Shisan had already investigated. Its because of a woman nad Junniang, right?
Yes.. Tong Lu lowered his head in sha, I can give up my life, but I couldnt give up Junniangs life, so..so
Theres no need to say more. I understand. i Changsu said lightly, You didnt reveal everything you knew, so we guessed that you were forced to betray us, and it wasnt voluntary. But betrayal is betrayal. Theres nothing more to say. Mister Shisan looked closely into your whereabouts but could not find you. Why did you co out and reveal yourself?
Tong Lu touched the ground with his forehead, his previously pale face turning red. In a low voice, he said, In the beginning, they used Junniang to threaten , but later, they imprisoned to threaten Junniang. One day.Junniang secretly ca to look for . Thats when I found out that they were the ones who sent Junniang.sent her.
Junniang was a sister disciple of Qin Banruo. We only discovered this later.
The way Junniang lied to , I shouldnt have trusted her anymore. But she said.she also wanted to cut herself away from the past, to return with to the countryside, to live a carefree life.Chief, she was also in a helpless predicant. Shes different from Qin Banruo..
I dont want to talk about Junniang. Get to the point. Why did you co and see ?
Three days ago, Junniang broke out, but as soon as we left the city, assassins overtook us and we barely escaped with our lives. However, Junniang sustained serious injuries, and that night.she.she choked. Tong Lus lips trembled violently, his eyes blood red, but there were no tears. We had originally planned to find a small village to quietly live out our days.Chief, Junniang is really different from Qin Banruo, really.
i Changsu couldnt hide the trace of pity in his eyes, but he imdiately suppressed it. Keeping his voice level, he said, An assassination is an assassination. But why did they try to assassinate you? Did you both discover so secret information? Is that why you ca to look for ?
Yes, Tong Lu bit his lip hard, as if the pain would help clear his head. Prince Yu is plotting a rebellion.
As soon as these words were spoken, not only ng Zhi but Xiao JIngyan too leapt up. Thats impossible. Prince Yu doesnt have that many n. Why is he plotting a rebellion?
I.I dont know very much. Tong Lu said as he thought hard, According to Junniang, as soon as the hunting party left the city, Prince Yu secretly went to visit Xia JIang in Sky Prison. Im not sure what plan they hatched, but what is certain is that Prince Yu had already figured out a way to take control of the imperial guards who had stayed behind in the capital.
What? ng Zhis expression changed drastically. The guards who stayed behind number approximately 7,000. It wont be so easy to take control of them. How is he going to do that?
Word has it that the two deputy commanders of the imperial guard who stayed behind have already sworn loyalty to Prince Yu.
Faced with Prince Jings questioning gaze, ng Zhi was a little embarrassed. These two deputy commanders were not the ones I trained and promoted. They were transferred over after the murder of the palace eunuchs. I really have very little hold over them. But.I believe my n will not obey orders to start a rebellion.
Tong Lu said that they had only taken control, not that the imperial guards have fallen completely under their control. i Changsu shook his head as he said, The imperial guards have always been well-trained and have always followed orders. Now that the capital has to respect the imperial order*, if they were separated into groups with their weapons recovered in batches, and then gathered and watched over in a central location, it would be possible to control them. After all, there is no fighting outside. Although the imperial guard may not understand their superiors orders, they wont use force to resist for no reason.
Even if the imperial guard is disard, Prince Yu only has 2,000 soldiers. What could he do with them? At most cross swords with the Capital Patrol, maybe not even succeeding.
Its more than that. Tong Lu spoke urgently, Junniang learnt from her contact that Prince Yu has strong support from Jingxi.whats his na.Xu.Xu
Xu Anmo! Prince Jings eyebrows leapt up, his hand that was on the table clenched tightly into a fist.
Footnote:
*Im not sure what this really is and it was difficult to find an explanation on google. I believe it refers to the system that was in place when the Emperor was not in the capital i.e. they had to listen to the officials / commanders left behind to manage things while the Emperor was away. If anyone finds any reference online, please do share!
Afterthought:
MCSs interaction with Tong Lu reminds how much heart Xiao Shuai (Junior Commander) really has for his people even as he has to be the Chief. He is such an empath!!!!
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