Besides the matter of the haunting, and added that the trail of clues concerning the Seven Stars Longyuan had just been broken, and it was not good to stay at the Sword-Forging Manor any more, on the early morning of the next day Shan Chao and Xie Yun bade their farewells to the Old Madam and Fu Wenjie to leave.
At this moment below the hall besides Chen Haiping, there were also ten-odd more disciples from large and famous sects such as the Kongtong, Qingcheng, and Mount Hua Sects, and on the upper half of the hall Fu Wenjie and the Old Madam sat left to right. Xie Yun admired them for a moment behind his veil, seeing that both of them had rather wan and sallow complexions, having definitely not been in the mood for rest after the event yesterday.
Shan Chao simply stated his purpose for coming, and did not mention the haunting, only saying that he needed to help Miss Long search for her family, and it was not good to stay too long here. Fu Wenjie was highly regretful after hearing this: "Master has a kindly disposition, and this Fu truly admires it. Surely Master and Miss Long would not mind staying for a while longer — Sword-Forging Manor does not count as much, but we do have some influence in the Jianghu; after the Grand Martial a.s.sembly next month is over and we can spare the manpower, we can slowly help Miss Long investigate, would this not be more convenient?"
Shan Chao glanced towards Xie Yun, slightly hesitant.
Xie Yun only gave a wordless smile. Today he wore a black robe, the white satin lining exposed at the neckline and sleeve-cuffs, and it was hard to differentiate whether the snowy satin and his neck and wrists were whiter. Despite not showing his face, in the great hall not a few young and vigorous martial arts disciples had already cast many glances over.
"Besides there is another reason, that Master may be unaware of." Fu Wenjie gave a sigh, saying: "At this Grand Martial a.s.sembly we are not only electing the next Alliance Master, there is another important matter, which is to rally the great sects in unison, and jointly discuss how to expel the Mysterious Demon School"s great plans. The Mysterious Demon School had invaded the Central Plains from Mobei several years ago, and have already greatly infiltrated areas like the Eastern Capital1 and Jiangnan, not only using various methods to annex smaller sects to bolster their numbers, but also bribed the authorities to manufacture cases such as a.s.sa.s.sination, attempted a.s.sa.s.sination, arson and looting…
Below the hall the crowd of people from famous sects were stirred up, and a disciple from Kongtong exclaimed in anger: "Precisely! Our sect"s prestigious treasure the Kongtong Seal was plundered by the Mysterious Demon School"s arson, and my martial uncle was fruitless in demanding it back, and was even seriously injured by them, narrowly losing his life!"
"A low-down sect!"
"Committing any imaginable misdeed!"
"Colluding with the authorities, framing the Central Plains martial arts community!"
Fu Wenjie rubbed his temple, helplessly saying: "We do not know the origins of the Mysterious Demon School, having grown powerful and difficult to restrain in a few years, yet due to this reason, we want to unite whatever powers we can. Master has outstanding martial arts, and on that day by sh.o.r.es of the West Lake you taught my younger cousin Haiping with very little effort, why not stay and partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Martial a.s.sembly…"
Xie Yun pensively glanced at Fu Wenjie.
Even Shan Chao sensed that something was strange, his brow slightly furrowed.
Everyone in the hall may not know what influence Shan Chao had, yet they were in wholehearted agreement as to Chen Haiping being a person of outstanding talent amongst the younger generation. Hearing that Shan Chao could easily control the only successor of the Jiangnan Chen family, they all remained sceptically silent, looking at this straight-backed young monk in monk robes and Buddhist prayer beads up and down.
Shan Chao was rather helpless, standing silent for a while before everyone"s gaze, before he finally opened his mouth: "Many thanks for Young Master"s magnificent hospitality, but this poor monk has some other important matters, it is better to let it pa.s.s."
"Master please wait a moment," Fu Wenjie persistently urged him to stay: "It is difficult to meet a distinguished meeting amongst the martial arts community, Master has no need to be immediately anxious…"
"Of Young Master"s favour, this poor monk is ashamed to receive." Shan Chao still persisted: "Yet currently I truly am occupied with an important matter, and it would not be too late to meet someday in the future."
Shan Chao put his palms together, nodding his head, before turning around and starting to walk out of the main hall.
Xie Yun gave a smile towards a disappointed and frustrated Fu Wenjie, and turned around—yet right at this moment, from outside the main doors there ran in two grey-clothed disciples of Sword-Forging Manor, hasty and with changed expressions: "Young Master, there is an important matter to report outside the main gates!"
Fu Wenjie spoke in curiosity: "What is it?"
"The Mysterious Demon School dispatched a messenger with large quant.i.ties of treasure, saying… saying that it"s a betrothal gift!"
Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao appears2, the famous sects were discussing how to crusade against the Mysterious Demon School, and yonder the Mysterious Demon School had personally dropped in.
Ten piculs3 of trunks and cages were heavily piled below the hall, and the disciples came forth to uncover the red cloth, seeing inside were cloth bales of black and scarlet, glittering pearls and jewels, and wild geese, deer-skin, great ritual jades, jade discs and so on, unexpectedly completely packed with betrothal gifts.
Everyone in the hall were discussing spiritedly, and that grey-clothed disciple bowed his head and said: "The people from the Mysterious Demon School are still waiting outside, having ordered us to carry the betrothal gifts in first, and have also written a letter for the Young Master: claiming that they have heard for a long time that Young Mistress is currently the foremost beauty of the Jianghu, and ought to be matched with the foremost hero of the martial arts community; the first disciple of the Mysterious Demon School is now of age, and yet to take a wife, just happening to be a good match…."
Old Madam Fu trembled as she took that letter, having yet to finish reading it before she tore it up in rage: "Intolerable bullying! This is simply visiting to force a marriage!"
Fu Wenjie also had unhappiness all across his face: "Go out and tell those people, if they want to propose then do it according to custom, everything is in disorder!"
"The Mysterious Demon School said… said, if Young Master were to ask, then I should say that these are their customs." That disciple lowered his head with all his might and hardly dared to raise his eyes, his face swelling red: "And said that as they wished to visit and propose, this is already especially giving face… especially, preferential treatment, hoping for Young Master and Old Madam to empathise…"
Fu Wenjie exchanged looks with the Old Madam, and coldly said: "If so then may they return, we do not agree to this proposal, and the things can be carried back too."
"That"s right, even proposing should be more gentle, how can a forced marriage be agreed to?" The younger people could not speak up on such things, but a few disciples in the Qingcheng Sect were of an older generation somewhat, and thus spoke in support: "Take these away, and the people don"t need to pay formal respects either!"
"Intolerable bullying!"
"The Mysterious Demon School is indeed trash!"
"Villagers beyond the Great Wall don"t understand etiquette, is this a place where they can be presumptuous?"
Yet that grey-clothed disciple hurriedly shook his head, "They, they said, since they have already proposed marriage, then our Sword-Forging Manor can no longer take responsibility. The Mysterious Demon School has already made up their mind, unless, unless…"
The sentence had yet to end, and all the young people in the hall were unable to hold back, speaking up all at once: "What gall!" "A school on the verge of death, still dares to be so impudent?" "Chase them out!"
Fu Wenjie slapped the table: "They still dare to menace us, unless what? Send them off!"
The grey-clothed disciple audibly knelt with a bang, shivering until his voice had risen a key: "They said, unless… unless Young Master and Old Madam wishes… that henceforth the Jianghu will no longer have a Sword-Forging Manor!…"
In a split second there was silence all around, as everyone"s expressions changed, and then, like cold water splashing in a deep fryer, the entire hall exploded!
"Mother! Brother!" A figure lifted the hanging screen and staggered in, screaming: "I"m not marrying! I don"t want to marry into some rotten Mysterious Demon School, quickly chase them away!"
Old Madam Fu was no longer able to care about so many outsiders at the scene, grasping her daughter: "My unfortunate child…"
Shan Chao was rather surprised in the hall, not having expected that even when he took his leave in the early morning, he would still b.u.mp into this scene.
Yet with things so far it was not good for him to leave, seeing as his surroundings were filled with spirited discussion and stirred up, with Young Mistress Fu weeping in the hall, the Old Madam Fu stamping her foot, and the Young Master with a worried frown and sighing in despair, practically turned into a complete mess.
Someone beside him whispered: "The Sword-Forging Manor does not dare to reject."
Shan Chao turned his head, only to see Xie Yun standing beside him, the profile under the gauze actually having a rather interested smile:
"The Mysterious Demon School were neither early nor late, coming just in time when the Sword-Forging Manor was about to at the juncture of undertaking the Grand Martial a.s.sembly, and still being so grandiose and unbridled… perhaps someone is blackmailing the Sword-Forging Manor."
As he spoke he glanced to Shan Chao, smiling as he asked: "What does Master think?"
For some reason at that moment, the curvature of his pale pink lips, actually moved Shan Chao"s heart skip slightly.
Xie Yun"s smile vanished: "Master?"
Shan Chao abruptly collected his thoughts.
Although that appearance was ineffably familiar, yet the figure was different, and if he examined closely the line of the jaw was slightly soft, and… maybe it was his mistake.
"…this poor monk has been lacking in manners." Shan Chao nodded, and hoa.r.s.ely said: "Miss is right, this poor monk… does believe so."
The Sword-Forging Manor did not dare to reject this, not only Xie Yun had seen this, not far away Fu Xiangrong had also keenly felt her mother and brother"s hesitation, and instantly cried even harder: "I"m not going to that oppressive place, I"m not going!" She pushed the Old Madam, turning around with tears, and rushed to Chen Haiping yelling: "Cousin!"
Chan Haiping stared.
Fu Xiangrong cried: "I"m childhood sweethearts with Cousin, and for so many years though the adults didn"t say it aloud, but Cousin should know my heart, would Cousin just look on unfeelingly as I marry to that Mysterious Demon School?"
—this was the first time that Fu Xiangrong had confessed so clearly, and before everyone at that, shouting herself hoa.r.s.e, with tears running down her face.
Chen Haiping paused, and the hand grasping his sword hilt gradually tightened, and closed his eyes for a long while.
"Xiangrong."
That voice pa.s.sed through the hall, giving a completely different feeling from what he usually gave people, carrying a calmed huskiness and melancholy.
"You and I are childhood sweethearts, innocent playmates, and today a powerful enemy looms ahead, yet as a grown man with a sharp sword of three feet, were I to stare on blankly as my younger cousin leaps into a living h.e.l.l and was helpless to save her, then I would not count as a man."
"But—I cannot accept your feelings."
"I have always treated you as a younger sister, and if I accepted your feelings, I would let you down."
The whole audience was silent for a period, with only Shan Chao shaking his head in surprise, murmuring: "This Eldest Young Master Chen, is truly a man, contrary to expectation…"
And then out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed Xie Yun, and suddenly started.
Xie Yun looked towards Chen Haiping, yet seemed as though he looked through, seeing something even more cryptic and far away, already submerged and dissipated in past events within a sandstorm as far as the eye can see.
For a long time there was a taciturn look in his eyes, before he gave a long and profound sigh.
"……" Fu Xiangrong"s complexion turned red and white, the tears rolling in the rims of her eyes, abruptly screeching as she crumbled: "Liar! You"re all liars! Cousin is clearly fond of me!"
"I don"t want to marry, unless I die—!"
There was a clanking of rings and belt ornaments outside the hall, as Fu Xiangrong made a sudden big stride and dashed towards a stone stele at the corner of the hall, actually attempting suicide in her fury!
"Xiangrong!"
Fu Wenjie could not walk easily, the Old Madam was feeble with age, and many people in the hall had yet to react, so Shan Chao was the fastest, just about to dash forward to stop her, when suddenly he heard a sound from outside
—whoosh!
Shan Chao abruptly stopped, leaning his head.
A shadow pa.s.sed through everyone, brushing past his cheek in its flight, and at this moment of life and death there was a brittle "pa" sound!
"Ah!" Fu Xiangrong was struck in the ankle, and fell to the ground with a scream.
Right then that thing slowly drifted down, and everyone"s sight descended, all stunned in an instant.
"Tree…" someone murmured: "Tree leaves?"
Using fallen leaves and flowers, and still being able to injure, this was practically martial art skill from legend which was unheard of!
—who is it?
"Young Mistress has such a fierce temper," an ice-cold clear and youthful voice came from the door, lazily saying: "If you truly wish for death, it"s not too late to slowly die after marrying."
Everyone abruptly turned around, to see outside the main hall, a dozen or more black-clothed people in silver masks escorting a youth in their midst, just stepping over the high threshold, overtly walking in.
That youth was extremely handsome, with his eyes like stars and bright red thin lips, even so much that he seemed to be excessively beautiful; yet his figure was also extremely tough, his whole body strong and armoured with few weak points, looking past the clothes one could make out the st.u.r.dy muscles on his forearms, back, and waist.
What left people terrified were two things:
The first was that this person actually had a full head of short red hair, the colour as vivid as fresh blood, contrasting with his skin which was as snow-white as the barbarians4, and could be described as demonic;
The second was that lying criss-crossed to the two sides on his back, were a pair of weapons—two huge iron hooks5, the tips extremely sharp, glittering like frost and snow, just carried unsheathed like this on his back, seeming as though he could take out one hook at any time, and to one"s face cut one open till the stomach was pierced and the intestines flowed out.
"The…." Several breaths pa.s.sed, before a trembling voice came from the crowd: "Mysterious Demon School…"
The youth stood in the middle of the hall, standing with hands behind his back, his expression idle: "I am the first disciple of the Mysterious Demon School Jing Ling, the Jing (景) in "Emperor Jing pa.s.ses on to Wu"6, and Ling (灵) from "the agile eel fears the dragon"7."
"I have been enlightened by everyone"s teachings."
—Shan Chao gazed at the dozen or more masked subordinates beside the youth, his pupils contracting immediately.
The silver mask which the Imperial City Guard Commander Xie Yun always wore on his face all year round, as well as the words he heard in the secret pa.s.sage that day flashed through his mind at the same time:
"Commander Xie is indeed a former a.s.sa.s.sin of the Secret School…"
"…The Crown Prince remains in danger right now in the Eastern Palace, and yet you have almost completely recovered…"
There was constant whispering within the hall, and upon the main seat Fu Wenjie"s chest violently rose and fell, staring at Jing Ling for a long time before he hoa.r.s.ely said: "For Young Master Jing to honour our humble abode with his presence, what is your intention?!"
The hostility in this statement was quite obvious. However, Jing Ling seemed completely unaware, raising his eyebrows as he casually said: "Proposing."
"Although the Sword-Forging Manor has little family estate, but in any case we have decades of history, and would not allow others to misbehave here! If the Mysterious Demon School wishes to be rude, don"t blame my Sword-Forging Manor for not giving you all any face today!"
Jing Ling asked with a smile: "Proposing is also considered rude? So does your family"s miss not plan to marry in this lifetime?"
Everyone immediately split their sides laughing over this.
"Proposing should not be conducted like this, and Xiangrong cannot marry to such a precious place like your Mysterious Demon School!" the Old Madam slapped the table in her remonstration, as Fu Wenjie sternly interrupted her with a yell: "Young Master Jing please leave now!"
Jing Ling"s smiling expression changed abruptly, and within those evil eyes, there seemed to float up a terrifying ferocity.
"Then what if," he slowly said, "I simply must take a wife?"
The atmosphere stretched taut, and everyone in the hall held their breath, so quiet that even a needle dropping to the ground would be audible.
"In your dreams! Who do you think you are, this young lady would not marry even if I die!"
Right at this moment of life and death, Fu Xiangrong unexpectedly gave this earth-shattering screech, and then looked around with teary eyes, suddenly glimpsing Shan Chao in his monk robes and Buddhist prayer beads, and bellowed on the spot: "—I"d rather marry a monk, than marry you!"
Shan Chao: "…..?"
The entire hall was absolutely silent.
If the silence a moment ago was intense, then the current silence was plainly weird.
Jing Ling turned his head in the direction of Fu Xiangrong"s finger. He had originally planned to say a few mocking words, but his eyes met Shan Chao"s, and then it was like a male wolf sniffing out the smell of fellow kin in a crowd, and he could not help but jolt.
Shan Chao carried two swords on his person, standing with arms crossed, his thick dashing brows sharp, and his eyes were clear and bright. That stance was like a giant stone ground by flying sand in the desert for millennia yet still high and motionless, emitting a formless yet strong oppression, letting ice-cold hostility to rise from the bottom of people"s hearts.
"…" Jing Ling withdrew his gaze, and coldly said: "Young Mistress must be joking. In any case you are purportedly the foremost beauty of the martial arts community, how could you marry a monk."
As he spoke these words his hands had already moved from behind his back to rest at his sides, the index and middle fingers slightly crooked, and the muscles on his arms silently taut.
—yet Fu Xiangrong did not see this.
Fu Xiangrong seemed to think of something, and her eyes brightened: "You just want to marry the foremost beauty of the Jianghu, fine!"
She endured the pain in her leg and got up, staggering forward. Everyone had yet to respond to what she was going to do, but her actions right now were extremely nimble, rushing straight before Xie Yun in the crowd, and tore off Xie Yun"s veil!
"—this is the foremost beauty of the Jianghu!"
Fu Xiangrong pointed to Xie Yun, shouting herself hoa.r.s.e: "The one surnamed Jing, you let me off, and go marry her!"
Shan Chao abruptly got angry, reaching out to s.n.a.t.c.h back the gauze veil in Fu Xiangrong"s hand: "You—"
Everyone turned around at the same time, only to see that Xie Yun seemed surprised, yet also expressionless, raising an eyebrow to glance at the nearby Jing Ling.
Jing Ling started.
His brows slowly furrowed, his gaze fixed on Xie Yun"s face, as if a deeply impactful scene was flashing through his mind:
"This—"
And then he narrowed his eyes which were as sharp as an eagle"s, staring at Xie Yun"s shoulders, chest and cheekbones, and the "miss" in his words did not come out.
—his voice had stopped.
Author"s notes: "Emperor Jing pa.s.sed to Wu" and "the agile eel fears the dragon" are Song dynasty poems, just noting here.
Translator"s Note Chapter 8: The Poor Daughter-in-Law
Chinese has a lot of specific terms to indicate family relations, so I shall use the smaller example of the Fu family above to explain:
The Old Master and Old Madam (老夫人) had one son and daughter. Fu Wenjie became the Young Master (少庄主) of Sword-Forging Manor, whereas his sister Fu Xiangrong is addressed as the Young Mistress (大小姐).
Fu Wenjie"s wife is thus the Young Madam (少夫人) to indicate two things: her status as the first wife of Fu Wenjie, and her position in the hierarchy of family. At this stage and recently married in, their marriage is still pretty rocky, since the in-laws don"t like her — in the worst case, the Old Madam could have tried to pressure Fu Wenjie to divorce his wife under the reasoning that the wife lacks filial piety to the parents-in-law. Furthermore, as a childless first wife, despite Fu Wenjie having no other concubines mentioned she also failed to bear a son, which is another reason for unilateral divorce. There are a total of seven reasons which can be used to declare unilateral divorce (see here).
Now, comparing the case of Fu Xiangrong, Fu Xiangrong can"t expect any good treatment from Jing Ling even if she agreed - remember that the Mysterious Demon School is unilaterally forcing, so they"re already on unequal grounds.
This entire note boils down to: marriage rights in ancient China suck if you"re the woman in the pair and have n.o.body to back you.
- LLS
1 ZH: 东京 - despite the characters for Tokyo, in this context the Eastern Capital refers to Luoyang.
2 ZH: 说曹操曹操到 - Chinese version of "Speak of the devil and he appears". Quote from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which makes is anachronistic.
3 ZH: 担 - old unit for weight, describing how much a man can carry on one shoulder. Approximately 100 catties, or 50 kg.
4 ZH: 胡人 - the Chinese view of barbarians basically included everyone outside the Central Plains at the time, so this was an ancient exonym for non-Chinese.
5 Unsure if referring to actual hooks, most probably talking about the hook sword.
6 ZH: 景帝传于武 - a line from "History Poem · Western Han" by Yang Jian, which describes in a poem the line of emperors of the Western Han dynasty.
7 ZH: 灵鳗恐是龙 - a line from Scroll 7 part 10 of "Plum Creek Collection" by w.a.n.g Shipeng.
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