Chapter 19: Fallen Gentleman – Part 8
Translated by: Kestrel
Edited by: Ritpoppy
Everyone knew that aside from Ming ChangYan, there was no other person on this earth who had ever been able to pull out this sword. So if this person had pulled it out, there were only two possible explanations.
One: This was Ming ChangYan himself.
Two: This was someone with even greater innate talent than Ming ChangYan.
In every case that the Common People’s Order recognized a master, the next person to take up that position would without exception need to be more valiant than the previous to be capable of drawing the sword. If someone was able to draw the Common People’s Order from its sheath, then it would abandon its previous master. Consequently, over the last hundred years, the more time passed, the more difficult it became to draw out the Common People’s Order. Before the Noble Gentleman, it had been without a master for a full forty years!
And now, before everybody's eyes, the Common People’s Order had actually been pulled out by a tiny imperial concubine; this had to be the greatest comedy in all the world. If this wasn't Ming ChangYan, then why would someone with such great talent sneak into the imperial palace disguised as an ordinary concubine?
Jun shouted out, "Duan Duan! Stop! Who told you to actually fight her!?"
Duan Duan just stood there silently, giving off something of an innocent impression. Jun didn't have the heart to scold him too heavily; she reached up on tiptoes to rub his head, placating him, "Alright, it's my fault, I was too hard on you."
The old wet nurse said, "Lord Duan isn't fully mentally sound, and so you can't blame him for not knowing how to hold back when he gets to doing something. Your Highness clearly told him to exchange blows with that little concubine. It was he who misunderstood, how could the princess be at fault?"
Jun turned to look at Huai Yu, who looked as cold as ever, she pursed her lips, lowering her head as she spoke, "Huai Yu ge-ge…"
Zhao XiaoLan came back to himself then, and shouted, "Yan jie-jie just pulled out the Common People’s Order! I saw her!"
Jun said, "Zhao XiaoLan! What are you yelling for!" She walked towards Ming ChangYan, saw that the other's front was covered in blood, and realized it must have been what was spat out earlier. Jun wrung the edge of her dress as she quickly and quietly said, "I'm sorry! I'll go call the doctor for you."
Just then, the Eldest Prince and his bodyguard arrived.
"It's quite lively here, what are all of you talking about?"
Jun called out, "Huang-xiong, we're flying kites!"
"There have been so many deaths by vengeful spirits within the palace these past few days, the number of imperial bodyguards has more than doubled, and yet you and XiaoLan can still find the mood to stand here flying kites."
The Third Prince came up by his side, opening a folding fan as he spoke, "Did I hear XiaoLan say The Common People’s Order just now? What Common People’s Order?"
The Eldest Prince's smile froze, his face paling in an instant.
Zhao XiaoLan went quiet, "I-I never said that…"
The fact that the Eldest Prince had taken imperial troops with him to purge Ming ChangYan years ago was commonly known throughout the court. After Ming ChangYan's ghost returned to haunt them, the third to die was the eldest prince's birth mother, Imperial Concubine Yuan. Now that the Eldest Prince had been brought back to the imperial palace, rumors were flying through the chambers of the imperial concubines as heavily as falling snow, all hinting that the prince would be the ghost's next target.
Zhao XiaoLan had heard a little bit of this as well, and knew that his oldest cousin could not bear to hear even the tiniest mention of Ming ChangYan-related things, believing every rumor he came across. As soon as he heard something, he would undoubtedly grab hold of the relevant people and ask them for every detail. He therefore knew perfectly well he'd blurted out something he shouldn't have, and shut his mouth, refusing to speak.
Jun didn't know any of these details, and straightforwardly said, "She pulled out the sword at Huai Yu ge-ge's waist, what about it? All this fuss over nothing, it's fine since she put it back, isn't it!"
The Eldest Prince's gaze turned cold as he looked in the direction of Huai Yu's waist, recognizing at a glance that this sword was The Common People’s Order.
"Who drew the sword!"
Jun was frightened by his reaction, quickly pointing to Ming ChangYan, "She did it."
Ming ChangYan felt a sharp pain in his chest, and feared he might spit out more blood if he opened his mouth again. Huai Yu said, "It's a fake sword. With how important The Common People’s Order is, I had people make a few counterfeits to mislead people; the one I am carrying on me now is one of them."
The Eldest Prince relaxed at that, then spoke again, "A counterfeit? You're right, there isn't anyone in this country who wouldn't want this thing. Your careful deliberations are good as always, Young Prime Minister."
He lifted his head, glancing at Ming ChangYan, and seeing that he was a girl, felt even more willing to believe Huai Yu's words.
Zhao XiaoLan tilted his head, muttering to himself, "A counterfeit? It looks so much like the real thing, though."
The Third Prince said, "There have been too many disturbances within the palace of late; Jun and XiaoLan should be particularly careful, and try not to run around without good reason."
Jun said, "I have Duan Duan to protect me, I'm not afraid. If I stayed locked up within the imperial palace, I'd die of boredom! Third Brother, where are you two going?"
The third prince said: "Your Eldest Brother and I are going to Daming Palace; there's been a plague in GuangLing, and a popular tradition among the locals there is to offer brides to He Bo* to appease the god's anger. Many innocent young girls have already died, a fact which has given our father quite a headache."
(TN: God of the Yellow River)
This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal our work, (ಠ⌣ಠ) boi
Jun said, "Go ahead and go, then. Third Brother, I still think you and Eldest Brother should have a talk with Father, he's really too superstitious, with how much he encourages those cultivators and their magic."
The Third Prince knocked on Jun's head with his fan, "Honestly now, you know our father's thoughts are not something you nor I can control."
He glanced over at Huai Yu, offering him a smile, "Young Prime Minister, we'll bid you farewell for now."
As Huai Yu nodded, the Third Prince's gaze fell back down onto Ming ChangYan, the smile not leaving his face as he continued, "Before I go – forgive me for being blunt, but as she is one of my father's concubines, might not the Young Prime Minister's current action be considered somewhat inappropriate?"
Ming ChangYan thought: Concubine? Who're you calling a concubine?
Immediately following that, he suddenly realized. Huai Yu coldly said, "Let go."
At his words, Ming ChangYan jumped off of him.
After the Eldest Prince left, a very young concubine said, "Jun, are you still going to fly kites?"
Jun waved a hand, "No, no more kites, in a moment I'm going to the academy to deliver a few things for Teacher Liu!"
Ming ChangYan's mind started to move as soon as he heard that.
Jun stepped forward, deeply concerned, "Hey, I'm really sorry for what happened just now. Are you feeling a little better?"
Ming ChangYan brushed off his dress, asking, "Are you talking to me?"
Jun, "Obviously! Who else would I be talking to?"
Ming ChangYan put his hands over his chest, "I'm perfectly fine, a mouthful of blood is nothing, spit enough of it and you get used to it. But if you're feeling sorry about it, then promise me one thing. Though I'm afraid if I say it you might not be able to manage it!"
Jun humphed at that, "Not just one, I could answer a hundred with no problem, there's nothing I can't manage!"
Ming ChangYan immediately gave Zhao XiaoLan a meaningful glance, only to get a huh? in response, and thought the word 'stupid!' to himself, before stepping up on his own, "You said you were going to Egret Academy, didn't you? Do you think you could take me along? I promise I won't cause any trouble!"
Before Jun could even answer, Huai Yu said, "Out of the question."
Ming ChangYan was stunned, "Why not!"
Huai Yu let out a humph, "No means no."
The two stared at each other for a moment, before Huai Yu suddenly lowered his voice, "Do you think dying once wasn't enough?"
Ming ChangYan's heart skipped a beat. He knew after pulling out The Common People’s Order that the little brat had most likely already figured out his identity, or else he wouldn't have dodged the eldest prince's questions with all that talk of counterfeits. Unfortunately, Ming ChangYan couldn't for the life of him figure out Huai Yu's reasons for helping him. Was it for old time's sake? His reputation had been incredibly bad after he died, almost fallen to the level where everyone wanted him gone, so even if the other had any old affection to speak of for him, there probably wasn't much of it.
Ming ChangYan said with a grin, "With those great medical skills of yours, you could just save me if it came down to it, couldn't you!"
At that, Huai Yu suddenly said, "You think it's that easy to save a dead man?"
Ming ChangYan tried to act clever, "I'm not dead yet, am I! Besides, you can't control whether I go to Egret Academy or not. I already said yesterday, if anything happens from now on I won't come bothering you about it, we'll each of us mind our own business."
Huai Yu listened to his words, and smiled, "And yet you insist on coming back."
Having been made to choke on his own words, Ming ChangYan let out a fake-sounding laugh: "I want snacks*? Begging isn't a good thing to do, especially for a young prime minister like you – you've got all the clothes and food you need, so don't go doing something so low as that."
(TN: 要犯 (to [want to] break rules/commit a crime) and 要饭 (to beg for food) are both pronounced the same.)
He promptly threw off Huai Yu's hand, grinning as he pulled closer to Jun, "Jun, take me with you to Egret Academy. One word from a real manly man is worth nine sacred tripods*. You're a girl and not a rough-and-tough grown man, so we'll cut it down and say you count as four-and-half tripods, but that's still worth enough you can't take it back, so take me with you!"
(TN: The Nine Tripod Cauldrons were symbols of the emperor's god-gifted power, basically.)
Jun said, "This princess never takes back her word, if I say I'll do it then I'll do it!"
Zhao XiaoLan raised a hand, "Take me, I want to go too!" He then cast a furtive glance towards Huai Yu. Ming ChangYan grabbed his head and forced him to look forward again, "What're you looking at your big brother for, forget him, we're not taking him with us!"
Jun said, "I wonder though, what do you want to go to Egret Academy for?"
Ming ChangYan said, "Me, I want to go see the market with you!"
Just then, the old wet nurse spoke up, "Princess, Egret Academy has not had classes the past few days, and I've seen a few of the young princes all playing at the pleasure house; Teacher Liu is bound not to be at the academy, either."
Jun became upset at hearing that, "If he's not at the academy then where is he? I already told him I'd bring him a peace charm when I came back from praying at Dahan Temple, he's always missing our meetings!"
Ming ChangYan was just about to speak when a fishy-sweet flavor bubbled up in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood; immediately his vision went black, his nape hurting like it had been stuck full of needles.
Zhao XiaoLan yelled out, "Yan jie-jie!"
Seeing this, Jun said in a panicked voice, "What's wrong with her? Why is she spitting blood again!"
Ming ChangYan pressed his hand to his nape, feeling the skin there suddenly move. Huai Yu stepped forward to support him, "You…"
Ming ChangYan's full weight pressed down on his body as he panted, "Do you have a blade? Besides the one at your waist."
Huai Yu was in no mood to listen to him, his left hand moved to check his pulse, only to discover that Ming ChangYan's pulse was unsteady. He normally had no problems, able to eat and drink and sleep just fine, so most likely it was his pulling out the Common People’s Order a moment ago that had caused this adverse reaction. The Common People’s Order had always had extremely strong demonic energy; pushing his inner energy to forcefully draw the sword could only serve to hasten the flow of poison within his body.
Huai Yu made as if to carry him, but Ming ChangYan hurriedly said, "Don't carry me like you would a woman."
Huai Yu pondered a moment, then threw him over his shoulder. The pressure on his stomach caused Ming ChangYan to spit out more blood, making threatening gestures as he screeched, "Brat! Dearest senior! I'm begging you! You might as well carry me if you're gonna do this!"
His head smacked against Huai Yu's back, leaving him confused and disoriented. Huai Yu clicked his tongue, left with no choice but to tug him forward, meaning Ming ChangYan's entire body was now sitting on his arm. Having become a 'woman' at present, he had a relatively short stature, and sitting felt a little better than getting carried; Ming ChangYan struggled a bit, delirious, then weakly said, "Fuck."
A pair of hands reached out but found nothing to hold onto, only grabbing hold of the amber necklace around Huai Yu's neck. The poison's effects were growing stronger, running through Ming ChangYan's entire body; he leaned near-unconscious against his shoulder, mumbling to himself, "This damn necklace sure is weird."
He felt his way towards the amber hanging from the bottom, not forgetting to show appreciation despite barely being practically about to pass out: There's no doubt the kid's got money, to have a transparent rock this big…showing off his good looks, he's got no shame!
With that, he finally laid down his head and fainted away.
This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal our work, (ಠ⌣ಠ) boi
Finished editing!
Wow, I wonder what’s going to happen 🤔
Do you like me posting summaries for the next chapter, or should I stop? I honestly really enjoy them, but I’ll stop doing them if you think they’re too spoilery.
Anyway, if you see any grammatical/translation errors, please comment and notify me! I love reading your comments, your thoughts about each character are priceless.
May the spirit of Ming ChangYan’s ghost guild you to a great week ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽⊃─☆*:・ﾟ