I presented you chapter 07 now. I know I've told you in the last post that I would divide this chapter into parts. But, I think it will decrease the fun because this is a really sweet chapter for some characters. I'm actually quite enthusiastic when I translated this chapter. I even scared my neighborhood by my scream.
And once again, please bear with my translation. As you can see before, there's some character, sentences I'm confused about so I kept the Chinese character there.
Anyway, happy reading, readers!! :D
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Man Man Qing Luo
Chapter 07
[1] Used by female of imperial family to call herself as
[2] son of nobility
[3] Prince residence
After the music finished. Most audience in that banquet was surprised, they didn’t expect a young miss able to play a song with such broad mind, and they were amazed and had to admire her skill.
By this time, someone had said aloud: "The famous Young Miss Li’s zither plays is indeed conforming the expectation. When we are young, we can see the beauty of the plum blossoms, it seems noble. I wonder if eldest young miss Li can enjoy the flowers together with just two of us?"
After listening to this statement, Great Madam’s face showed a surprise looks, her voice trembled: “A Lei, great! This is the invitation of His Royal Highness!”
It was like as if Qing Lei was still in the middle of dreaming, she smiled absentmindedly. Ah Luo and Qing Fei hurriedly reminded her: "Eldest Sister, hurry answer him! He is the His Highness Crown Prince who personally invited you."
Qing Lei then returned to the earth, looked at the Ah Luo, her eyes filled with tears: "Ah Luo, I.., this song is not..."
Ah Luo decisively interrupted her: "Eldest sister, this zither is what you play, the song is what you sing, quickly answer him!" she finished her sentence along with Qing Fei’s support.
Princess Hu Guo gave a hearty laugh: "Well, the prince takes the lead to invite. Everyone here is a gentleman so take an example from the prince. Find your favorite woman to accompany you. And for all Madam here, can you accompany Bengong [1] in this palace for a walk?"
Ladies and gentlemen answered : "It is an honor."
The princess said: "We are old, so we will leave first. Go, don’t restrain yourself."
Instantly, laughter erupted everywhere and the atmosphere begun to relax.
Across the veil, a young youth stood outside. As soon as the wind blows, the gauze floated and she saw him wearing a red-yellow robe. His body was slender, his eyebrows were star-shaped and his temperament seemed calm. Ah Luo sighed, such an ancient handsome guy! It was more glamorous for a man with a good figure to wear such a robe.
Qing Lei looked deeply at Qing Luo and took a deep breath. Her jade-like white hand touch the veil lightly, she began to open the veil and went out.
On the opposite side of this gazebo, a lot of head full of curiosity had long poked out. They were vying to see this Young Miss Gu who had stole the limelight by getting Crown Prince’s favors. As soon as she came out, Qing Lei’s appearance drew a wave of applause. Earlier, everyone had seen an extraordinary temperament in Gu Tian Lin. But now, they didn't expect that Li Qing Lei was also incomparable elegant and cool. The prince was also somewhat in ecstasy, he then whispered: "Miss Li has eyes as beautiful as autumn waters, extraordinarily talented, and had adored for a long time."
Li Qing Lei’s cheeks reddened faintly. She glanced for a second on Crown Prince’s face, and when she saw his soft and clear eyes, she hurriedly bowed her head. 口中
Qing Lei replied: "This negligible skills dare to obtain Your Highness affection."
Ah Luo and Qing Fei listened her from inside gazebo, they clutched their mouths, didn’t dare to laugh out loud with their mouths open. Afterwards they saw two people went far side by side to the peach blossom forest. This moment was the most harmonious time for Qing Luo and Qing Fei as these two sisters had worked together.
Qing Fei looked at the outside of their gazebo, she saw there was a circle of people on the opposite side and a lot of young lady stand in group on the sidelines. Right away, she pulled Ah Luo forcefully to go out and watch the fun. Ah Luo looked around and felt relief that she did not see that man (hero).
With courage, she took Qing Fei's hand and went out. At least, the folkways here were quite open-minded, the crowd was no less than the people on her previous world in the common park where a lot of people gathered to hold a blind date.
That crowd was turned out to be a match to get a companion for life. Ah Luo suddenly recalled an folk song about drinking the wine when playing north-south* (阿萝一下子想起了唱山歌对歌和喝酒时打南北派). However, the man here looked very gentleman, some women also couldn’t answer right away to avoid incorrect reply. They would gave a genteel sentence like: "This Young Miss can respond with a voice, it is a good fortune."
In the crowd, one could see that there’s two people that seems to cram in those groups of people. Ah Luo was short, so she couldn’t see the event clearly. Aware of Ah Luo’s struggle, Qing Fei lowered her voice down and told her: "There is some noble sons (gong zi) who have went out to join and they seems contentious. Looks like no one’s going to make it out." (t.n : the women were unable to seduce them, I think)
Aro curiously asked: "what’s going on?"
Qingfei whispered: "a noble son is like a new moon, next one is like waning moon, the other one is like crescent moon, and lastly he looks like a waxing moon."
Ah Luo examined Qing Fei’s appearance. She laughed and said: “The second sister will definitely able to get the right choice, right?”
Qing Fei laughed contentedly: “what’s so difficult about it!"
Ah Luo asked again: "Is those person really noble son?"
Qing Fei shook her head: "They are really noble son. Who doesn’t know them?"
Ah Luo smiled and said: "Are they handsome?"
Qing Fei’s face was red, and nodded her head. She was afraid that other people could hear them, so she glared at Ah Luo.
Ah Luo suddenly said loudly: "What's so hard with those people, my young miss is righteous!"
Her voice was crisp, it made people in front of them turned around. Ah Luo had already shrunk behind Qing Fei. Originally, Qing Fei was already tall, as a result, she was quite stand out within the crowd. Many of youth’s eyes were brightened when they saw naive and lovable young miss with a pink face dressed in dark red clothes. A gentleman who was one of those four noble sons, saluted with his hand: “This humble self is Ministry of Rites official, Chen Si Yue, dare to ask if young miss agree to pair with me?"
Realizing that Qing Fei was in the not in the position to stop halfway, she replied with a slight smile: "The morning glow is like a brocade, the sunset glow is like a brocade, Dongchuan brocade, Xichuan brocade. I don't know what does gong zi [2] think?"
Cheng Si Yue ability in literature was outstanding. At the age of 18-year-old, he had already a top scorer at imperial examination. After listening to the Qing Fei’s answer, he saw a talented and outstanding young miss, he couldn’t help but overjoyed: "Young Miss is righteous! This humble self was painting a picture, is it possible to ask young miss to regard this subject?"
Ah Luo chuckled, Ah.. this Qing Lei, you really can make one faint without any effort.
Later Qing Fei generously answered and went to a platform. On top of table, she saw a picture of the mountain in the rain scenery. Pondered for a minute and lightly laugh after. Then, she wrote down a short comment.
Cheng Si Yue saw that Qingfei’s used Chinese strokes that was known for influential people, he carefully read the words on the painting. The strokes were soft and long, has a hint of apricot blossoms and spring rain in Jiangnan. The poem that she wrote was fitting in with painting flawlessly. This time, he was genuinely content and convinced, so he looked at Qing Fei and bowed deeply. After that he stood straight and asked: "This humble self is also fond of calligraphy and chess, don't know if I can invite young miss to have a match?"
Everyone around them snickered. This was the first time for Qing Fei to participate in such a banquet. Felt ridiculed, she was quite upset, so she turned around to go to peach blossom forest. Ah Luo followed Qing Fei, she walked a few steps away and looked back. When she saw Cheng Si Yue was still looking at them, she waved at him and signaled him to follow.
Cheng Si Yue was one of the five most eligible bachelors in Feng City. He could likely not understand a delicate feeling, so he went to the direction of Qing Fei. By the time he approached, Ah Luo winked at him and shuffled off.
Qing Fei had approached near peach blossom forest, far away from the crowd. She said: "Ah Luo, it’s all your fault, I demand you to get me out from that predicament, how shameful!!"
All of sudden, from behind her came Cheng Si Yue’s a deep voice: "Young Miss is this rich with emotions, how can you say it was a shame, this humble self is a humiliated, ah."
Qing Fei almost cried in surprise before she covered her mouth to stop. She looked back and saw Cheng Si Yue watching her with a sly look, and her heart immediately jumped.
Ah Luo saw that those two people were happily conversing under the peach blossom tree. From time to time, she could hear Qing Fei’s silver-bell like voice. She thought to herself, if she was in modern world, seeing such a good partner for blind date, she didn’t know how many women’s would fought over. They would most likely blushed upon seeing those handsome men! She also wondered that from those five most eligible bachelors of this Feng City, she only saw two of them, and she don’t know what the other three looked like.
When she was lost in thought, she moved away to the secluded area to dwell alone. She had been in this era for more than six years. This was the first time she came into contact with nature. It was truly a beautiful place, but she predicted she would never see it again next time. Voices from crowd of people were gradually disappeared. When Ah Luo was memorizing the direction, she saw a few peach blossoms sticking out from behind large stone. She went around to the back and saw that in front of her there was a natural barrier. She then lied down under the peach blossom tree. Not far from her place, there was a river stream flowing through, the grass below her was numerous and thick. Looking up from the ground, the peach blossoms were intertwined with the blue sky, and Ah Luo sighed: "It's so beautiful!"
"It's indeed beautiful!" A deep voice came in.
Ah Luo was shocked, but did not move. She closed her eyes and said: "If it weren’t for a cockroaches who just said so, it will be more beautiful!"
The voice laughed and said: "If someone was not readily to drench like a drowned rat, it is not only would spoil the fun, it can also become a scary scenery for people!"
Ah Luo knew that the hero was coming and she definitely couldn't defeat him. This was the garden of the Princess Hu Guo. It could be assumed that he was a talented young man who wanted to be there. Moreover, she didn’t think that he would do anything to her. So she gathered her courage, closed her eyes and ignored him.
That hero saw that she didn’t talk anymore and said: "I can really throw you into the river stream, aren’t afraid?"
Ah Luo put her hand behind her head, her legs were tilted up. She said with her eyes closed: "Don’t you see there is a young miss here to rest for a bit. And a well-mannered person should't say that, according to standard they should turn around and go!"
The hero snorted: "Looking at you are like that, anyone can tell you are not a noble lady! I don’t know which family this girl is, that put 'this' on my house. On early morning, I will give you a dozen of planks punishment as a regular rule."
Ah Luo thought, she only had been out once from the Li residence within these six years. She wanted to be able to see the scenery but she had been interrupted. She really had a back luck, ah! Listening to that person really made her blood boiled. It seems that he was from some major family, so she could not offend him, but escape.
Ah Luo stood up and patted away the soil on her dress. She looked at herself up and down, the dress wasn't stained by the grass leaves. After checking herself, she walked away from that man. As she walked, she said, "This area is yours, stingy!"
Under the peach blossom trees, the man suddenly stood in front of her. Ah Luo drew back a step and thought, this man's qing gong ability to appear all of sudden was quite scary, ah. She looked up and down on him again, his physique was pretty good. She recalled back, the Crown Prince was almost as tall as his. His face was also not bad, heis eyebrows was like horns, and his countenance revealed an angry heroic spirit. Today, she had only noticed a few men, but why was there many first rate breed in this city?
The man clasped his hand on his chest: "Say, girl.. from which house (family) are you?"
Ah Luo assumed that he was mostly around twenty-two or three years old.
You really think I was only a little kid to your eyes, oh? So she asked him back with her hand on top her head as if she didn't understand his question: "Say what, stinky boy!" 说，那家的臭小子
That man’s eyes glared and the corner of his mouth emerged a sneer: “There are some people who come to the peach blossom banquet today. You have said it yourself that you are guest here, I will find out who you are. Next time you are coming to my palace, see.. how I can discipline you! An uneducated girl! Granted if you don’t scheme against me by reporting, I dare you to plot with your tiny grandpa (master) against me. By the way, I hate people behind the plot!"
Ah Luo imitated his sneer: "Who told you to have a perverted eyes. I recalled there’s a law in Ning Country’s Law that is saying if there’s a sexual harassment to the women of respectable family, they are to be punished by gouging their eyes out. I have not told you that you are lucky, in this beautiful place, I don't want to see such cruel things happen, pervert!"
As soon as the words were finished, the man’s hand was trying to catch Ah Luo with his hand stretched out. Ah Luo dodged and and kicked his left foot. The man swerved first before his eyebrows raised to provoke : "You still have good claws, wild cat. Come again!" A fist was raised – with strength, straight to her face.
Ah Luo’s heart secretly whined bitterly. She would become a legendary people who was hit in the head with qing gong, ah. He was a man whom could master martial arts, how can she fought? She quickly opened her mouth and said: "A gentleman does not fight with a woman, what kind of hero who will bully a child!" After practicing karate for so many years, she had reacted quickly to dodge a few strokes.
The man listened to her words and stopped his hand: "Not bad, you are still at young age but have a few tricks to fight back under my hand. Let's say, which family are you come from? I will let you go if I say so."
Ah Luo bowed her head and said softly. The man did not hear clearly, and walked closer. Ah Luo suddenly looked up and looked ahead: "Ah! Madam!"
The man distracted. Ah Luo suddenly hit his shin with her foot that hit the nail. And then both her hand strike down at him, the man fell to the ground, but he still hadn't fainted. Squeeze two words in your mouth: "You.., you..!"
One of Ah Luo’s hand formed a kung fu chop to strike his neck and it made him completely faint. She clapped her hands and smiled: "My master said that this hand knife can strike an ordinary man, fool. Humph I guess I’m still small, really not enough power, ah! Pervert, who told you to thwart my rest?"
Looking at the sky, it was not too early anymore, she would soon need to go back to the Li Family’s Residence. This time, she didn’t know when she would see this beautiful scenery again. Full of regret, she was really upset. She then took off the man’s robe and tore it into a strip. She tied him to the peach tree, her anger in her heart subsided when she looked at his state.
She looked at the things that came out from the man's arms, a few big silver banknote, some broken silver, a few golden beans, and a jade card. Ah Luo opened her eyes wide at the sight of his things. She started to think that she should be someone who 'rob the rich to help the poor'. First she took in the bucket of gold, and she put the silver banknote into her bosom. Scanning the jade card, she carefully looked at the words of the An Qing Wangfu [3]. Scared witless, she held her scream. This person was Liu Jue? The son of Prince An Qing, the relative of Crown Prince Ning? No wonder he was so arrogant, so vindictive! Oh my god, what did I do to him?
Ah Luo looked at the jade card, and then looked at Liu Jue who was tied on the tree. She secretly curse herself and untied him back. Halfway through, Liu Jue groaned, she was frightened to death. You really are a warrior ah, wake up so fast? She did not dare beat him again.
However, Liu Jue was soon going to woke up. She knew she couldn’t control and stop his ability to fight. Ah Luo’s heart was pounding loudly. Anyway, she mostly had solved her problem, she only need to put the jade card in Liu Jue’s arms and run away.
She hadn't run out far away from Liu Jue's sight line. When Liu Jue woke up, his eyes glazed at the distant of cyan back figure that soon disappeared. He looked at himself. The cloth that the clothes that he he wore was torn. Liu Jue stood up and touched the back of his neck: "Smelly girl! Still so young, her moves is agile, how can she use martial arts? Liu Ying!"
Not far from the peach blossom tree, there was a strong man replied respectfully: "It seems to be Shaolin, it’s not in complete form!"
Liu Jue touched his bosom and realized, she was only leaving his Wangfu jade card. It seems that the girl knows his identity: "When did you come?"
Liu Ying was still reverent, said: "When little girl started to loosening her bound on The Lord."
Liu Jue sneered coldly: "She gave me a loose knots and also used Shaolin punches?"
Liu Ying slammed his sigh: "The Lord punishes."
Liu Jue laughed out loud: "See your little prince being knocked unconscious by a little girl, inconceivable, thinking that I don't have any deep meaning, you don't dare to rush, and then worry that I will punish you for not to save me, right?"
Liu Ying’s face was red: “The Lord is wise.”
Liu Jue’s face was solemn: “Find out who she is, such a young age, how can she be martial arts at a young age, and who is her teacher!”
Liu Ying quickly took pieces of broken robe away. After a while, Liu Ying sent a new robes to Liu Jue to put on. After he dressed up, Liu Jue slowly walked toward the banquet. He remembered when picked up Ah Luo from the river stream, the wind blew her hair away from her face and revealed quick witted, sparkling and translucent pair of eyes. The corner of his mouth was bent again with a smile.
t.l :
* I really don't know what its meaning T.T
Ah Luo is so bold and careless. She should be more careful considering she is literally in an imperial mansion.
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