Chapter 154: Suddenly Two Sets (Part 1)
Hello readers! Another update! Please always read the NOTES for each update. They will definitely help with your understanding, as they are specific for each update.
*****IMPORTANT: Original novel is set in some made-up dynasties in ancient China. However, I think China probably has some sort of rule where production teams can't historical dramas being set in non-existent dynasties (because it does not accurately represent Chinese history or something like that), so the production team changed it and adapted everything into the Wei/Liang dynastic era. The surname of Yuan was the actual last name of Wei rulers, and Yuwen was also the surname of a minister family during that time.
Please use the following as a key (some of these places have not yet shown up in my translations, but will soon show up):
Wei = Xia (for those who know Chinese history, this Xia is does not seem to be the same Xia as the one in Chinese dynastic order)
Yanbei = Yanbei
Liang = Bian Tang
Yuan = Zhao (so instead of Yuan Chun/Yuan Song/Yuan Che it is now Zhao Chun/Zhao Song/Zhao Che)
Yuwen = Zhuge (so instead of Yuwen Yue it's Zhuge Yue)
Xiao Ce = Li Ce (Li Ce is the ruler of Bian Tang)
Qing Hai = new place in the book created by Zhuge Yue and later ruled together by Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao
Huai Song = place in book, not in drama
*****NOTES (to help with your understanding of this chapter!):
Hui Hui Mountain = mountain in Yanbei Ping An & Qing Qing = I’m sure yall remember Ping An from the drama. In the book he also has a younger sister named Qing Qing.The stuff happening in this chapter occurs after a two-year time jump.
Light mist drifted over the distant autumn grass, forming misty clouds under the morning sunlight. Flying birds lowly passed by the pond, the tips of their feet lightly touched the green grass, causing small ripples. Horses were hidden in the vast green grass, the sounds of the pasture floated from afar, melodious like the willow branches of spring.
Autumn had settled in now, making both day and night colder than before. The autumn season on Hui Hui Mountain was always very short. It seemed as though summer's end had only just passed and winter would impatiently follow. Farmers and shepherds wore their autumn clothes of vests and long boots throughout the day and night. Girls would wear flaming red horse-skirts. When they turned, the skirts were just like a flaming flower, dazzling beautiful.
Ping An and Duo Ji raced their horses on Autumn Orchid Plains while Qing Qing followed behind them on her little horse loudly calling out: "Duo Ji! Go, go!"
Ping An was now fifteen years old and had already grown to be strong young man with well-built muscles like that of a robust little leopard. After one long lap, Ping An had clearly been left far behind Duo Ji. He angrily cracked his whip and ran towards Qing Qing, angrily yelling: "You annoying girl! Who is your real brother? Why do you cheer for someone else?"
Qing Qing's large pair of eyes turned into crescents as she smiled. She made a face at Ping An, cracked her whip against her horse, and raced behind Duo Ji.
Duo Ji was the son of a herdsman at the bottom of Hui Hui Mountain, and yet he looked more like a scholar with his pale face, straight nose, and warm eyes. Duo Ji was now already sixteen years old. Seeing Qing Qing run towards himself, he could only stop his horse and lightly smile at her, saying: "Qing Qing, run quickly. I will block him."
"Duo Ji——" A long tone sounded from far away.
Having heard the long call, Duo Ji stepped on his stirrup and sat up straight, waving his hands saying: "My mother called me. Let’s go back to my house."
"Duo Ji's mother definitely made crispy butter cakes! Hurry, Jie Jie[1] said a few days ago that the crispy butter cakes that Duo Ji's mother made tasted really good." Qing Qing happily said.
Duo Ji smiled: "Really? Then we should remember to bring some to Master[2] before you two leave later."
"You don't even need to say so. I already told your mom to pack some."
Ping An laughed, cracked his whip and raced his horse forwards.
"Du Ping An! You shameless person!"
Qing Qing shouted loudly, and waved her whip. Her little horse looked small but it ran very quickly. After only using very little effort, she had already caught up to him.
Duo Ji laughed and slowly rode his horse behind them while herding the horses. Far away from the blue skies and white clouds, a deep aroma of wheat filled the air. It was almost harvest time; the best time of the year for Hui Hui Mountain had arrived.
When the three of them had returned at night to Duo Ji's village, the villagers hung multiple bags of food onto Ping An's and Qing Qing's horses. There were new meat from hunting game, as well as homemade wine and lots of Duo Ji's mother's crispy butter cakes. Qing Qing's little red horse was weighed down so heavily that it started to shake its head. Seeing this, Duo Ji hitched up his horse with a horse carriage and said that he would accompany them home. Hearing this, Qing Qing happily clapped her hands and jumped up and down.
"Ping An, has Master been sleeping well these past few days? Is Uncle Da Lie's medicine working well?"
Du Ping An shook his head and said: "Still the same. When I woke up in the middle of last night, I saw Mei Xiang making tea. I'm guessing Master still hadn't slept."
"These days, Jie Jie's body is much better. She hasn't been coughing as much these days."
Qing Qing smiled widely saying: "Duo Ji, your medicine is really good. I also ate some and slept from night to day without waking up once."
"Even if you don't take any medicine, you still sleep without waking up once." Ping An snickered. He continued to expose his younger sister saying: "You think everything Duo Ji brings is good, even the medicine as well. You're only thirteen years old and you're already anxiously waiting to get married. Seriously, you’re so shameless!"
Qing Qing stuck out her tongue, replying: "What do you mean shameless or not. Jie Jie told me before, that if you like someone then you should tell them very early on as to prevent yourself from regretting later on. When I grow up I want to get married to Duo Ji. What are you scared of?"
These sentences were said in a very crisp and clever manner, which made Duo Ji's face turn red. The young boy awkwardly coughed once and said: "I will come by tomorrow and bring a couple more medicine pills. You two have to watch Master eat them."
Duo Ji then turned around towards Qing Qing and said: "Qing Qing, medicine is not to be eaten randomly. Master had health issues in her early years, and then suffered when she in frozen water. That's why she must eat medicine. Your health is perfectly fine. You will actually be harmed if you consume medicine on purpose. Don't randomly eat medicine anymore."
Qing Qing smiled widely and nodded. It seemed as though she believed that everything Duo Ji said was extremely right, no matter what Duo Ji said. She smiled and replied: "Okay, I know."
Ping An snickered, as though he looked down on his sister's weak backbone.
After walking for almost an hour, they finally arrived half way up the mountain. On the peak of Hui Hui Mountain was the Na Da Palace that Prince Yan Shi Cheng had constructed for Princess Bai Sheng, but now it was completely empty. Chu Qiao lived in a house on the mountainside. When you looked at it from afar, the house's green tiles were hidden amongst the trees, making it seem very quaint and peaceful. But please do not think that this was just an ordinary house, because if one was not careful, they could easily lose their life here.
"Who's there?" A voice from ahead suddenly asked.
Ping An jumped of the horse carriage and ran up ahead calling out: "Is it Brother He[3]? I am Ping An."
"Ping An-ah, why did come back only just now?" The thirty-something middle-aged man walked out of the trees, with a group of ordinarily dressed men following behind him. They all held pitchforks, and one of them even carried a wild rabbit.
"Master has already asked for you multiple times. It seems that it will rain tonight. I was about to go down the mountain to find you guys if you all didn't show up sooner."
Brother He laughed and walked over. Seeing Duo Ji, he smiled and asked: "Duo Ji came too. Is your father's injury better now?"
"Thanks to Brother He for setting his bone properly. My father can move his shoulder now."
"I said before that he shouldn't have touched that bear. That bear had her cubs with her." Brother He replied.
Everyone chatted as they walked inside. The whole way there they had met groups of people in the open and hidden from sight. These people all used to be Xiu Li Army soldiers. Now many of them had already taken of their armor and weapon and had gone down the mountain to build their own families. Except throughout the days and nights, they would still take shifts to come up the mountain to stand guard. This past year, the mountain was much more peaceful. Zhuge family assassins showed up less often and were no longer as crazy as before.
"Master just finished eating dinner and is now resting in the backyard. You kids hurry and go say hello, so she doesn't have to worry about you kids."
"We know. Brother He, you sound more and more like Duo Ji's mother now." Qing Qing pouted. Brother He smiled and patted her head and led the rest of his men out the door.
When they arrived at the front of the courtyard, they once again saw He Xiao. It was not unexpected that he would be there. Ever since Chu Qiao had been injured one year ago, He Xiao moved in from far away and lived right at the front of the courtyard. He would stand guard day and night. Qing Qing once told Duo Ji that she had never seen He Xiao sleep. One time she had come to find Chu Qiao, and saw He Xiao was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, so she quietly moved her way inwards. But who knew that before she had even made one step forward, she had been quickly pulled back by He Xiao as he told her that Chu Qiao had already gone to sleep. He Xiao told her to come back the next morning if she needed anything.
Duo Ji did not believe this before, but the more often he came he started to notice that he really had never seen He Xiao take a nap. Even if He Xiao was sleeping, He Xiao would still immediately wake up if you moved even just a tiny bit closer.
"General He!" Ping An politely called out. Seeing He Xiao, Ping An became much more well-mannered.
He Xiao slightly nodded. Seeing Duo Ji, he smiled slightly and asked: "Duo Ji came today as well. Is your father's injury better now?"
"He can move now. Thank you General He for thinking about him."
He Xiao warmly replied: "It's good that he can move now. Master asked about your father today, and told me to tell your father not to be so adventurous again. Master is recuperating much better now. The medicine you sent last time was very useful."
"Hm, then when I will relay the message to my father when I go back."
He Xiao nodded and said: "You kids go in now. Especially you two younger kids. You two go out and don't know to come back sooner. Master has already asked about you two multiple times."
Qing Qing made a face, pushed open the courtyard door and ran inside. Ping An and Duo Ji followed behind her. Night had already fallen, and the full moon hung from the sky. It was colder the more higher up it was on the mountain. A tree of white plum blossoms was growing in the middle of the courtyard. It had not snowed yet, but the white plum blossoms were already in bloom, spreading its fresh fragrance throughout the yard. Underneath the gleaming moonlight, the white blossoms were as pale as snow.
“Jie Jie!”[1] Qing Qing loudly yelled before she had even entered the room. The door opened and Mei Xiang stuck out her head to take a look. Seeing that it was them, Mei Xiang purposely put on an annoyed face. She tapped Qing Qing's forehead with her long finger, scolding her: "Stupid girl, don't even know to come home when it's so late. When you grow to become a wild lady, let's see who will even want to marry you."
"Hehe, I promise I will get married earlier than Sister Mei!"
"Hehe, I promise I will get married earlier than Sister Mei!" Qing Qing grinned as she covered her forehead. Mei Xiang laughed: "You eloquent and mischievous girl!"
Mei Xiang was a slave that Chu Qiao had bought a year ago from Yue Gong City. Mei Xiang did not want to become a concubine for an old aristocrat so she ran away. At that time, she had already been beaten terribly. But after being saved by Chu Qiao, she followed Chu Qiao all the way back to Hui Hui Mountain. Mei Xiang was a very hot-tempered person but was incredibly loyal. Although she had not followed Chu Qiao for that much time, she soon became Chu Qiao's closest friend (aside from He Xiao) due to her being a girl and her great personality.
"Come in. Master has waited for you kids for awhile now."
Mei Xiang closed the door and led them inside. The room was constructed from red brick, making the house both warm and wind-resistant. The insides of the room were very clean, and contained no lavish decorations but rather a couple pots of various flowers and grasses. Duo Ji's uncle had previously been a soldier for Mr. Wu. Later, his uncle was injured and returned home. But because he was a very knowledgeable man, Duo Ji would often learn and read up on various poetry and literary texts from Bian Tang. Thus, Duo Ji could recognize many types of plants. But even after spending a while analyzing the plants in the room, Duo Ji could barely identify the plants, and stared at them blankly.
Seeing Duo Ji staring blankly at the flowers, Mei Xiang laughed and said: "You definitely haven't seen these. Master sent some people to collect these plants from Xia state. They are usually kept in the greenhouse, but we moved them inside now that the weather is colder. Master said, these flowers are made from through the grafting process. They aren't commonly planted anywhere.
Pushing open the study room door, the three young teenagers were met with a pair of clear eyes lightly gazing towards them. Chu Qiao wore a soft, white top with a long, flax-colored skirt. A silk-embroidered white hibiscus flower was pinned on her hair. With one look, you could tell that it was crafted by Mei Xiang. After seeing Chu Qiao always wearing very plain clothing all the time, Mei Xiang would always try to find a way to create new hair clips and deocrations to liven up Chu Qiao's fashion. Chu Qiao was a kind person, and seeing that Mei Xiang was simply trying to be kind, Chu Qiao would just let Mei Xiang do whatever she wanted with her hair.
Seeing them come in, Chu Qiao put down the scroll she was reading. She smiled and reached out her hands towards them. Qing Qing ran over to her quickly and grabbed Chu Qiao's hand and gave her a big embrace. In a spoiled tone, Qing Qing whined: "Jie Jie, Qing Qing missed you so much!"
"Oh, really? I thought once you saw Duo Ji, you would be reluctant to come back." Chu Qiao lightly joked.
In front of others, Qing Qing was always a giggling, smiling girl, no matter what people said. But only in front of Chu Qiao, could such a simple teasing sentence make the young girl's face instantly turn red.
Ping An laughed and said: "Only Master can control her."
The year Chu Qiao decided to leave the military, Ping An brough his younger sister with him and followed Chu Qiao up to the mountain where she currently lived. Except Ping An never changed the way he addressed her, and continued to address her as "Master", just like how He Xiao and everyone else did.
Duo Ji stood by one side, slightly stunned. Duo Ji could usually be considered as a very smart young man, both knowledgeable and eloquent. But only in front of Chu Qiao would Duo Ji always unconsciously lower his head, as though even looking at her once would feel blasphemous. But he still could not help but come up the mountain to visit Chu Qiao whenever he had the chance, even if it was just to take a look at her house from far away.
Chu Qiao chatted with Qing Qing for a moment before raising her head and asking Duo Ji: "Is your father much better now?"
Duo Ji politely replied: "He is already much better. Thank you Master for remembering."
"It is almost harvest time. These past few days your mother has been doing everything at home due to your father's injury. I already told He Xiao to send a couple of helpers to help out when harvest time arrives. When you go home, remember to tell your mother to let us know when wheat harvest starts."
"Yes, thank you very much Master for your concern."
"It looks like there will be rain tonight. Duo Ji, you don't need go back down the mountain tonight. You can share Ping An's room for the night. Mei Xiang has already warmed the food for you all, so quickly go out and eat dinner."
The three of them quickly nodded and walked out the door one after another.
Less than half an hour later, rain started to fall, causing the temperature to decrease significantly. Mei Xiang gave all of them an extra blanket each and added a brazier in their rooms. Ping An was sleepy and fell asleep in an instant. However, Duo Ji lied in bed turning to and fro all the way until midnight. Unable to fall asleep, he finally decided to get up, put on his clothes, opened the door and quietly walked outside.
Ping An's room was right next to Qing Qing's room. He could hear her lightly sleep-talking as he passed her room, but he couldn't hear clearly what she was saying. A little bit forward was a water court. Hui Hui Mountain was filled with multiple springs. Duo Ji felt warm air surround him as he arrived in front of one of these springs with a pavilion built above it, blocking the moonlight and making the surrounding area slightly blurry. Across from the water court was Chu Qiao's bedroom. Several towering old plum blossom trees were covered underneath the corridor, freeing themselves from having to be hit with water and rain while allowing the fragrance of its blossoms to spread through the air.
Duo Ji really liked this place. He always liked coming up to Chu Qiao's house during the evening. That way Master would allow him to stay overnight, and then he could wait for Ping An to fall asleep before sneaking his way out to visit the water court.
Master had settled on Qiu Lan Plateau for almost two years now. Ever since Master arrived at this place, mandatory military service as well as the spring and autumn taxes were no longer required from the area. The emperor also sent troops to clear out all bandits from the surrounding areas. Barracks were set up in the north and southern sides of the plateau, but Qiu Lan Plateau became even more wealthy and peaceful. Even a chicken-thief could not be found. Originally this area was not built for residential living and only herder families lived here. But slowly, more and more civilians started to arrive on the plateau. At least a tenth of the residents of Shang Shen moved to the plateau. Not far from Qiu Lan Plateau was Qiu Lan City, which in only two years, had already become one of Yanbei's most famous cities.
Everyone genuinely loved Chu Qiao. All those years, she had led her army to protect the towns of Chi Di and Bei Shuo. She had led the people of Shang Shen to develop streets, open up trade and establish a market as well as working to conserve water, teaching improved farming techniques and establishing new schools. She had accomplished so many good things for the people. Even though later on she stopped being a government official, she was still able to protect a portion of the civilians, allowing the people of Shang Shen to enjoy a life of peace and wealth. Shang Shen used to be the least orderly city in Yanbei, but now it was already Yanbei's most flourished place.
Whenever Chu Qiao was discussed, there wouldn't be a single person in Shang Shen who wouldn't give a thumbs-up for this woman. Everyone would say that she was a goddess from a previous life who had come to protect the people of Yanbei.
Only Duo Ji's mother had said otherwise. Upon hearing of Chu Qiao's illness, Duo Ji's mother lightly sighed and shook her head saying: "In the end, she is still just a young girl! Not even twenty years old yet!"[7]
True!
If not for his mother bringing this up, Duo Ji would have almost forgotten that this year, Master would be barely twenty years old, only four years older than himself. Duo Ji had heard from others that when Master was eight years old, she had entered Xia state's imperial palace with the Yanbei emperor, and that at age sixteen, she was already leading her own troops in battle. But what about himself? He was already sixteen now, but what was he doing? Riding horses? Herding sheep? Milking sheep?
Duo Ji felt slightly discouraged, and sighed heavily. Suddenly, he heard someone in front of him ask: "Is it Duo Ji?"
Duo Ji raised his head, and saw Master wrapped in a white cloack standing beneath the plum blossom trees. Her eyes were as dark as ink, so bright that it made it hard for people to look straight at them.
"Mas…..master."
Duo Ji was slightly embarrassed, his face turning red, making him look as though he had been caught red-handed.
What would Master think? Would she not allow him to ever come here again? He had been standing in front of her room for a long time. Would she be angry?
Duo Ji's thoughts and strange feelings started jumping all over the place when he heard Chu Qiao lightly ask him: "You couldn't fall asleep?"
"Ah?" Duo Ji blankly replied, and then nodded: "Hm, couldn't fa-fall asleep."
“Hungry?”
“Ah?”
“Come here.”
Duo Ji blankly followed behind Chu Qiao as they crossed into the water court. Chu Qiao was wearing soft slippers, her body posture thin, her eyebrows calm. She stuck out her pale hands to close three of the windows, leaving only the fourth one open. In the middle of the pavilion was a small table, with several delicately boxes. Upon opening the food boxes, fresh aroma drifted through the air from the pastries and side dishes.
"Did Sister Mei Xiang make these?" Duo Ji nervously tried to make some small talk.
Chu Qiao slowly shook her head and replied with a smile: "I made them myself. Didn't expect it, right?"
Duo Ji was stunned for a moment. He had never seen Master smile like this. Even though she was usually a warm person, he still felt that she was always unhappy. Even if her face was smiling, her eyes always seemed to be wrapped in never-dissipating mist. You could not see any genuine happiness through her eyes. His mother had told him that this was because her heart had too much heartbreaking memories and that she was like an eagle whose wing had been taken from him. Even though the eagle was still alive, he would not be happy, because that eagle was no longer truly an eagle.
But now, Master was sitting close to him. He could see her genuinely smile. Her smile was sly, like that of a fox with its eyes curved. The look in her eyes contained a tinge of mischief, and perhaps even a boast of pride. Duo Ji blankly nodded his head, but had already forgotten what she had asked him. He could only follow her tone and praise her: "Really? Wow! Very impressive!"
Chu Qiao was in a good mood as she poked at him and laughed: "Silly boy."
[1] 姐姐 (pronounced “Jie Jie”) means Older Sister. Qing Qing adresses Chu Qiao as “Jie Jie” just as other characters refer to her as Miss or General, etc.
[2] This use of “master” isn’t like slave and master meaning. It’s a respectful address towards Chu Qiao that He Xiao and the Xiu Li Army use to address her as well. I got this translation of 大人 from the english subs that the YouTube channel used (since I don’t use engsubs to watch).
[3] Brother He 何大哥 —- just trying to make it clear that this Brother He isn’t refering to He Xiao. They are two different “He” characters and are pronounced differently.
Hi readers!! I’m so sorry this update took so long!! I moved into my university dorm and for the longest time couldn’t figure out how to get my laptop to connect to the Wi-Fi here and then I had a lot of orientation events to go to so I was barely in my dorm most of the time. And when I did have some free time, I spent most of it trying to figure out my enrollment/registration issues as well as watching The First Half of My Life (really good, highly recommend) because I was simply just too tired and I was finding it quite difficult to adjust to university. But here it is!! Thanks so much for patiently waiting!! I genuinely appreciate it!!
I know these characters may not seem that important to those of you who haven’t read the novel, but I really love all of the people that are introduced in this chapter. They are honestly just like Chu Qiao’s own little family and Chu Qiao really loves them. Ping An, Qing Qing and Mei Xiang end up living with Chu Qiao and Zhuge Yue when they go back to Qing Hai.
Patience is key. The next update will showcase more of how Chu Qiao feels after Yuwen Yue’s death.
If you found any part of this translation confusing, leave your question in a comment and I will reply to it as soon as possible. I will also look at this again and edit it to make the reading hopefully more smooth. Leave any other comments/suggestions in the comments below; they are greatly appreciated!! Share with other fans/friends as well. Have fun!!😊
—springbreeze