A bit busy in the weekend so I"m putting up the chapter earlier this week.
Just read by the same author, and I may translate it too as it somewhat talks about Ye Jin"s story. It has a drastically different tone (comedy) from di w.a.n.g gong lue though.
Also as a general rule, whenever Chu Yuan says "we", "us", he is referring to himself as a royal.
[Chapter 7 - Ran Yue Lou] So did you get any information
In Jiang Nan, rain is frequent and long. Today is a rare day of clear weather; Ye Jin had just finished his herbs taking his herbs out to dry, and haven’t had the chance to rest and take a drink before he saw the caretaker of the charity hall run towards him; it seems like something happened.
“What happened?” Ye Jin stood up and asked.
“Physician Ye, it’s best if you go and see.” The caretaker, troubled, doesn"t know whether to laugh or cry, “They are fighting non-stop in the charity hall; we cannot pull them apart.”
The elderly still know how to fight? Ye Jin was baffled at first, but upon asking further, it turns out Bai Lai Cai, who recently came, is in a bad mood for some reason, and went around causing trouble for others, and even urinated in the dining hall. The other elderly couldn’t stand it anymore, and ganged up to beat him up.
…………
Ye Jin feels a headache coming on.
After half an hour, Bai Lai Cai has a head full of bruises, and is sitting on a chair, crying.
Ye Jin helped him to clean his wounds, and seeing the complicated expression on the caretaker’s face, and sighed: “Fine, you can stay with me then.”
Bai Lai Cai’s face immediately lit up.
The caretaker is relieved; he quickly sent a few youths to help Ye Jin clean up up his guestroom.
As the wind had picked up and it rained for a while again, most of the herbs drying in the courtyard are now wet, and are blown all over the place. Ye Jin grumpily swept the courtyard, and went to sleep without eating dinner. Bai Lai Cai, on the other hand, has a large appet.i.te; not only did he cook some noodles himself, he even pan-fried a huge bowl of cured meats to eat.
On the morning of the second day, when Ye Jin woke up, the table is full of freshly picked herbs; even the red flower from the cliff is there.
Bai Lai Cai is holding a few buns, swinging them as he walked over.
“Where did this come from?” Ye Jin asked.
Bai Lai Cai had on a surprised face: “Ah?”
……..
Ye Jin stared at him for a bit, and took the dustpan and threw the herbs into it.
Bai Lai Cai: “.......”
Ye Jin turned and went back to his bedroom.
Bai Lai Cai rubbed his chin; he may look gentle, but his temper is certainly quite great.
Now he knows that this old man is perhaps not that simple, but Ye Jin has never offended anyone in Jiang Hu, and neither are there people looking for him for revenge; so he couldn’t care less; he"s only concerned with collecting and drying herbs each day. Bai Lai Cai squatted by his side with an interested expression, said: “Today when I went to the streets for a walk, I heard people say the emperor is coming here.”
Ye Jin’s hands faltered: “If he is coming, then he’s coming; unless you want to go and kneel to welcome him too?”
Bai Lai Cai took out a bunch of melon seeds and begin cracking them with his teeth.
Ye Jin continued sieving through the herbs; it doesn’t seem like he is bothered about this matter.
Chu Yuan ascended onto the throne at eighteen; even if he has the support of the Shen family, from the point of view of Liu Manor, Chu Yuan is but a fledgling; all he did was to gain the support of a big name in Jiang Hu; they do not think much of him. Liu Gong has sent quite a number of spies into the palace; even information like what kind of dishes are being served by the imperial kitchen are sent back to Liu Manor at first notice. Regarding the sudden trip to the south, however, they did not hear a hint of it.
“How do you, father, look at this?” Liu Fu De asked carefully.
“What am I looking at?” Liu Gong kept his eyes closed; in his hands are a pair of walnuts. (1)
Liu Fu De hinted: “The palace, it’s empty inside right now.”
“One cannot be rash and impulsive.” Liu Gong stated, “The Lius wield great power, you must think carefully in whatever you do.”
“Of course I know this, but this great power, I’m afraid it will only last for a few years.” Liu Fu De replied, “Even you yourself, father, is also saying the character of the one currently in Jin Luan Dian (2) is not the same as the former emperor. Father, if you still do not act now, I’m afraid the outcome of what happened to older brother will also be the outcome of Liu manor.”
“Then what do you wish to do?” Liu Gong asked him instead.
Liu Fu De balked; he did not dare to say.
Liu Gong shook his head, and closed his eyes again: “Go out.”
Internally, Liu Fu De sighed greatly, and rose to leave. Unsatisfied, he went out of the manor to find some entertainment. The sedan men know that he has taken to listening to songs recently; thus without even asking, they carried him straight to Ran Yue Lou.
Duan Yao: “……..”
He really did come.
“Who would dare to pick you when you look like this.” Duan Bai Yue is sitting on an elaborate chair (3), drinking tea.
Duan Yao gritted his teeth, “Why don’t you do this yourself then.” With such a large stature, everyone must be waiting to s.n.a.t.c.h him up.
Duan Bai Yue reminded him: “The Bodhi Heart Sutra.”
“Humph!” Duan Yao bluntly snorted, then picked up his dress hem and walked out of the guest room.
Liu Fu De is currently walking up the stairs.
Duan Yao, smiling dazzlingly, waved a handkerchief at him.
“Go away.” Liu Fu De’s servant threw him some change with a face of disdain, “You dare to come out when you are all shriveled up like this; don’t bring down my master’s interest.”
Duan Bai Yue, inside the room, held onto the wall and laughed.
Duan Yao stared at them with wide eyes.
“Xiao Hong.....” (4) Liu Fu De couldn’t wait any longer, and pushed open a door to find his usual companion.
Duan Yao kicked open the door, sat on a chair and complained: “Can I have him slaughtered?”
Duan Bai Yue barely held his laughter in: “After everything is done, you can have him slaughter anyhow you want.”
“What to do now?” Duan Yao asked, you also saw it, it’s not that I didn’t help; it’s that I have no ability to help.
Duan Bai Yue called Gu Yun Chuan over.
In another room, Liu Fu De hasn"t finished listening to one song, when someone knocked on the door again. Initially angry, he opened the door to find the caretaker of Ran Yue Lou, Gu Yun Chuan, and so quickly changed to a smile: “Why is Boss Gu so free, to specially come here today.”
Gu Yun Chuan brought Duan Yao forward.
Liu Fu De: “..............”
Duan Yao: “............”
“Ever since Xiao Yue(5) came to my Ran Yue Lou, she said that she adores Master Liu greatly, and simply can’t forget about it; we are all moved by her after hearing her out.” Gu Yun Chuan didn"t change his expression, “Since Master Liu has come today, please allow Xiao Yue to accompany for a while; her wish can be fulfilled, and she doesn’t have to be heartbroken.”
Looking at the big headed, big eared and freckled face man in front of him, Duan Yao held in his urge to hit his face with his shoe, and said: “Yes.”
Liu Fu De eyed him up; although her figure is thin and small, but her face can be considered to be good looking; especially her small mouth. Moreover she is brought over by Gu Yun Chuan personally; he must give face to him. And so not only did he agree to it, he even paid twice the amount.
Gu Yun Chuan helped him to close the door, and turned to go back to Duan Bai Yue’s room: “You"re lucky Yao-er has a good temperament; if it was someone else, they would have chased you, this kind of brother, out.”
“He has a good temperament?” Duan Bai Yue can’t help but laugh, “You seem to have forgotten the five poison ponds of Xi Nan Manor.”
“Why must Liu Fu De be observed?” Gu Yun Chuan asked.
Duan Bai Yue answered: “Because I don’t like how his face looks.”
Gu Yun Chuan: “.............”
Duan Yao doesn’t know how to play the qin, and doesn’t know how to sing, but luckily he is good at talking. For the Bodhi Heart Sutra, some things must be endured with gritted teeth --- but there are still some other things. When Liu Fu De took an inch and tried to take a foot, and wanted to get a kiss from him, Duan Yao took out his poisonous bugs and threw them at him.
Luckily the qin player Xiao Hong is sharp, and sensed that something is wrong; she quickly intercepted in the middle with a smile, and offered Liu Fu De a cup of wine to tide things over.
Duan Bai Yue, in the adjoining room, drank his tea without any rush.
Around 2 hours pa.s.sed before Duan Yao came back; he looks like he wants to eat someone.
“How is it?” Duan Bai Yue asked.
“He wants to take me as his mistress.” Duan Yao mercilessly poked a hole in the table.
Duan Bai Yue, happily: “If our late parents know about this, they will definitely be so elated to the point of crying.”
He barely finished his sentence before a giant spider flew towards his face.
“Don’t know if his vigilance is high, or that he truly doesn’t know anything.” Duan Yao said, “No matter how I hear it, Liu Manor is celebrating a birthday; a bunch of performers are invited; as for guests, other than court officials, it’s famous people; there isn’t any hint of usurpation.”
“What about Sha Da?” Duan Bai Yue asked.
Duan Yao replied: “I mentioned about going to the western regions to see the world; he simply said that it’s a great expanse of sand, there’s nothing much to see. I mentioned again about hearing a lot of Sha Da’s legends at my hometown, and instead he asked where my hometown is; no matter how I couldn’t bring the topic back on track.”
Duan Bai Yue shook his head.
“Hey!” Duan Yao said unhappily.
“Look like I am taken advantage of.” Duan Bai Yue said, “Gave out the Bodhi Heart Sutra for nothing.”
“Don’t think about going back on your word.” Duan Yao put his hands on his hips.
“Of course I won’t go back on my word, but now’s also not the time to teach it.” Duan Bai Yue stood up, “You stay here tonight, I need to go to the palace.”
After seeing him go, Duan Yao took off his disguise, and sat at the table, eating pastries.
Gu Yun Chuang pushed the door opened: “Where did brother Duan go?”
“He went to the palace already.” Duan Yao added on, “Meeting his lover.”
Gu Yun Chuan can’t help but laugh: “Why does Yao-er seem unhappy?”
“I didn’t get any information at all.” Duan Yao felt like poking the table again, “I said it was a bad idea!”. And he almost got taken advantage of.
“How can this be?” Gu Yun Chuan was surprised, “previously brother Duan was still saying, this trip to Ran Yue Lou was of great use; he wants to treat me to wine some day.”
“Huh?” Duan Yao is baffled, great use? But he himself didn’t ask anything substantial.
Gu Yun Chuan patted his head meaningfully; he is truly still young and innocent.
On River Yun, Chu Yuan is currently sitting in the ship"s cabin and having his dinner; however Eunuch Si Xi only came back when nearing late night — today the ship coincidentally stopped nearby Jin Guang Temple; he heard that their divination is very accurate, and so he went to get a fortune told.
"What did you get?" Chu Yuan asked.
Eunuch Si Xi shook his head continually: "This temple seem to be of empty boasts; it"s truly false, truly false."
"They divined that Duan Bai Yue is the emperor?" Chu Yuan asked casually. He originally gave Duan Bai Yue eight characters (6) to divine, and to see whether his journey this time is good or bad.
Eunuch Si Xi quickly waved his hand and said: "It"s not that absurd, but I only sent out King Duan"s eight characters out today, and the monk paled in surprise, and kept asking who the lady on the paper is, and even said it"s a once in a millennium chance of the fate of an empress; she will eventually go to the palace to be the empress." This caused everyone nearby to come and take a look; they discussed and spoke their admiration for almost a day.
Chu Yuan: "..........."
Chu Yuan: "..........."
Chu Yuan: "..........."
"So I say this can"t be trusted, can"t be trusted." Eunuch Si Xi still doesn"t know whether to laugh or cry.
Chu Yuan, through gritted teeth: "Men!"
"Your Majesty." The imperial guards sounded off as they come in.
"Send an order back, dig up that plum tree on behalf of us." Chu Yuan is visibly angry, and flicked his sleeve and went into the cabin.
The imperial guards and Eunuch Si Xi look at each other; it was just planted for a few days, and here it goes again.....
(1) walnuts: 文玩核桃 - lit. cultured playable walnuts. A pair of walnuts that are specially selected to be similar in size and weight, then preserved and is a form of collectible. Seems to have some value.
(2) Jin Luan Dian: 金銮殿 - lit. golden imperial hall. One of the three great halls in the Forbidden City. It’s the location for the coronation of the crown prince and other high profile events.
(3) elaborate chair: 八仙椅 – lit. eight celestial chair. Seems to mean a chair that has been carved and painted elaborately. A image search will show some examples.
(4)Xiao Hong: 小红 - lit. little red, it"s a nickname for the courtesan.
(5)Xiao Yue: 小月 - lit. little moon. Gu Yun Chuan used the last character of Duan Bai Yue"s name for Duan Yao lmao.
(6) eight characters: 八字 - lit. eight words. It"s the year, month, day and hour of a person"s birthday in the lunar calendar. Used for fortune telling.
Let me know if you spot any mistakes, thanks!