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Canon-typical violence and injuries, fatphobiaIt was a pity that their warning was late by a step; the female ghost spirit’s razor-sharp claws had already landed on the white-robed young master and Wu Xi.
A few timid female disciples hurried to cover their eyes with their hands. Just when everyone thought that they would see the sight of those two being shredded into pieces, suddenly, the white-robed young master’s body emitted blinding1万丈 (wan zhang): more literally ‘ten thousand fathoms’, used to signify/express that something is very immense, deep, fathomless. gold light, hitting the female ghost spirit’s form.
“Ah!” the female ghost spirit let out a blood-curdling shriek. Her form was thrown back by ten over metres, then, she disappeared in front of everyone’s eyes. Following closely, everyone heard a ‘pu’ sound; Wu Xia violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed onto the ground.
“Wu Xia!” Wu Sheng saw that his younger brother couldn’t stop spitting blood, and hurried over to feed him a medicine pill.
“What’s going on?”
The elder, who was the class instructor, and had told the disciples to spar, heard the commotion and hurried over to the main courtyard. Immediately, a female disciple pointed at Wu Xia accusingly: “Instructor Elder2班长老 (ban zhang lao): the ‘ban’ prefix added to the term ‘zhang lao/elder’ just refers to this particular elder as a class instructor., during the spar, Wu Xia actually summoned his century-old ghost spirit to attack Xiao-Xi. If it weren’t for the white-robed young master’s equipment protecting them, I’m afraid the white-robed young master and Xiao-Xi would’ve already lost their lives at his hand. The reason why Wu Xia is injured is that he was hit by the rebound3反噬 (fan shi): according to Baidu, this means to ‘turn around and bite the hand that feeds you’. It’s normally used when someone makes a counter-charge against someone else’s accusation in court., and ended up like this. He really deserves it4罪有应得 (zui you ying de): translates as ‘the punishment was deserved’, the female disciples are saying Wu Xia deserved to get hit by the rebound.!”
Actually, she was purposely dramatizing the incident; this way, Wu Xia would be properly punished.
Wu Sheng said angrily: “You’re spouting nonsense!”
He knew that Wu Xia had taken the sledding incident to heart against Wu Ruo. However, Wu Ruo constantly remained in the Hei Manor. Bitter that he had no opportunity to take action, that’s why Wu Xia came looking for trouble with Wu Xi. However, Wu Xia had only wanted to injure Wu Xi to lure Wu Ruo out. He had never thought of killing Wu Xi.
The female disciple glanced at him indifferently: “Whether or not I’m spouting nonsense, you only have to ask everyone present to know. Everyone saw everything with their own eyes.”
The others hurried to reply: “That’s right, we all saw it. That century-old ghost spirit’s attacking stance was vicious and violent. It wasn’t a sparring pose at all, but a pose meant to take someone’s life.”
If this had been any other day in the past, everyone definitely would’ve feigned deafness and acted mute5装聋作哑 (zhuang long zuo ya): meaning to pretend like you don’t see something happening, and to not comment on anything. Usually used in situations where injustice has occurred, and people don’t stand up to it.. However, today, Wu Xi had the protection of the white-robed young master. Everyone couldn’t help but be biased towards the good-looking person, in hopes that they would leave a good impression.
Since everyone unanimously agreed that it was Wu Xia’s wrongdoing, the instructor elder ordered for Wu Xia to be punished with 50 strokes of the paddle6大板 (da ban): mentioned in a previous chapter, but just a refresher. The ‘paddle’ mentioned here isn’t a small one that can be held in one hand, it’s a long rod with a huge rectangular surface attached to one end used for corporal punishment. It is very heavy and is usually held with two hands. and to self-reflect for one month. After that, he would have to submit a self-criticism essay before he could come back to the academy and continue his lessons.
Wu Sheng hurried to beg the elder for leniency: “Elder, my younger brother has already suffered a severe injury. If he still has to bear 50 strokes of the paddle, it would definitely take his life7小命 (xiao ming): literally ‘little/small life’, it’s a colloquial term. Personally, in this context, Wu Sheng sounds like he’s trying to make Wu Xia seem very pathetic and miserable like he’s already suffered a lot and should be pitied.. I beg of Elder to please retract the punishment of 50 strokes of the paddle.”
The instructor elder stepped forth to take Wu Xia’s pulse and the injury really wasn’t light. If the rebound had been just slightly more intense, it was very likely that his spiritual field would’ve been destroyed: “He has indeed been injured severely. Bring him back quickly to get treated. After he has recovered, then he should self-reflect.”
“Yes, sir.” Wu Sheng took Wu Xia into his arms, glaring furiously at Wu Xi and the white-robed young master before carrying him away.
The instructor elder looked towards the white-robed young master and was stunned by his beauty. What an exquisite-looking young master: “Who might you be, and why have you come to the Wu family’s academy? The academy forbids the entry of outsiders. If there’s nothing else, I will have to ask this young master to leave promptly.”
At this, Wu Xi realized that she was being embraced in the white-robed young master’s arms. Her face reddened and she hurriedly pulled away from him8Spoilers ahead: Jin Yuanbao actually uses Wu Ruo’s name directly here, but I made the editorial decision to leave it vague until the next sentence because I felt it would be more impactful..
The white-robed young master spoke to the instructor elder respectfully: “Instructor Elder, this junior is the son of the Southern main estate’s third master, Wu Ruo.”
“Ah?” Wu Xi was momentarily dumbfounded.
The young master in front of her who was so beautiful that they looked as though they had jumped out of a painting was her second older brother, Wu Ruo?
“What! He’s Wu Ruo?” the disciples from the Southern main estate stared at Wu Ruo with wide eyes, disbelieving. How could this beauty be that stupid fatty? He had to be lying, he absolutely had to be lying.
“Wu Ruo? Wu Ruo? Who is Wu Ruo? Ah! I remember now, it’s that big fatty Wu Ruo. Damn, it can’t be, is this for real?” After all the other main estates recalled who Wu Ruo was, their jaws dropped with shock and didn’t close back for a long time.
The instructor elder was uninterested in the matter of his sudden weight loss and frowned: “So you’re Wu Ruo. Then what have you come here for?”
“In the past, I did not come to the academy for lessons due to my mobility issues. Now that I’ve lost weight, I thought that since I’m also a member of the Wu family, yet I have no understanding of the Wu family’s magical arts, if word got out, I would truly make a laughing stock of myself. So I begged the Clan Leader to let me come to the academy to learn some foundational knowledge.”
The instructor elder nodded his head: “Since the Clan Leader has agreed to your coming, then let Wu Xi guide you along first. Everyone else, continue sparring.”
After giving his instructions, the instructor elder left.
Wu Ruo looked towards Wu Xi and saw that she was still looking at him dumbly. He pinched her nose good-naturedly: “Silly girl, bugs have already flown into your mouth. Aren’t you going to hurry and close your mouth?”
This voice was indeed her erge‘s voice. Wu Xi came back to her senses, but she still continued staring at him with a face full of disbelief: “You… you’re really my erge?”
Wu Ruo teased her: “Oh, so now that I’ve lost weight, you don’t even recognize me?”
“Indeed, I really can’t tell. You’re really erge?” Wu Xi had never thought that her erge would be so good-looking after losing weight. After that, she realized that Wu Ruo’s appearances were very similar to her mother’s. She beamed joyfully: “You really are erge, you really are! Dad said before that erge looked a lot like Mum when he was younger.”
She threw herself happily into Wu Ruo’s arms: “Erge, it’s really great that you’re able to lose all that weight! It’s truly wonderful.”
“Silly girl.” Wu Ruo said, smiling: “I haven’t seen Dad and Mum for more than a month. Let’s go back and visit them first, how about that?”
“Alright!” Wu Xi hugged both of Wu Ruo’s arms, dragging him towards the main entrance when she realized that everyone was still staring in shock at Wu Ruo. She couldn’t help but steal a smug smile: “Erge, look, they’ve all gone stupid staring at you, hehe.”
In the past when erge was still fat, other people would bring this matter up to laugh at her and her dage. Now, they were all dazed staring at him, it didn’t have to be said how satisfied she was in her heart.
Wu Ruo’s eyes flashed with ridicule; what a whole bunch of thin-skinned people.
Wu Xi asked: “Erge, will you really come to the academy for classes in the future?”
“Hn.” Wu Ruo had originally not intended to enter the Wu family’s academy in this lifetime. However, recently, Shi Yi had received news that, after Wu Zhu had left, Wu Xi was often bullied and excluded by others at the academy. This was why Wu Ruo made the decision to attend lessons at the academy. For this matter, he had even sent Wu Bofang quite a few top-grade materials and ingredients.
“That’s wonderful! I can finally attend the academy with erge,” Wu Xi was especially happy. In particular, on the road back to Shuqing Garden, when she saw everyone’s amazement at the sight of her erge‘s beauty, she felt inexplicable happiness in her heart. In the future, no one would say that her erge was a fatty.
They returned to the Southern main estate. In an instant, the atmosphere was different. It was very quiet in every corner, even the servants didn’t dare to speak. They stubbornly kept their heads lowered as they did their work.
“Erge, let me tell you. In the month that you haven’t been back to the Wu estate, a ton of stuff has happened! Dabo got news from who-knows-where that Northern main estate’s Anrun tangge was at Pingxuan Town and hurried over with a bunch of people to kill Anrun tangge.
“At that time, Northern main estate’s dabo had also just gone to visit Anrun tangge. No one could’ve known that he would be just in time to see our dabo killing his son.” Wu Xi felt that it was too scary. In just a short period of a month, two of her tangge had died. On top of that, it was all brutal murders by their own family members.
When Wu Ruo heard this, his gaze flickered briefly, but he didn’t speak.
“After that, Northern main estate’s dabo brought people over to the Southern main estate to settle the score with dabo. The people from both main estates started fighting; there were a lot of casualties and deaths. It’s a good thing that erge didn’t come to the Wu estate, otherwise, you definitely would’ve gotten hurt by them.”
Wu Ruo asked: “Are Dad and Mum alright?”
“Dad and Mum have no spiritual energy, so naturally they wouldn’t go forth to help dabo and the others. Because I’m young, Dad wouldn’t allow me to take action. When the Northern main estate’s people fought their way into Shuqing Garden, it was thanks to erge‘s equipment protecting us that they didn’t manage to get their way.”
Wu Xi pointed ahead with a finger: “Erge, look at these broken and tattered walls and ground surfaces. These were all from the fight that day. Now, the Southern main estate doesn’t have money to fix the estate, and even if they did have money, I think dabo and the other uncles wouldn’t bear to fork it out.”
Wu Ruo looked in the direction that she had pointed towards. A huge portion of the estate’s walls had all collapsed. The ground surfaces had also been hollowed out, empty pits all scattered about. It was like an old house that hadn’t been maintained for ten over years. With just one glance, there wasn’t a single spot that had been left unscathed.
Wu Xi said, upset: “I never thought that there would come a day that the Southern main estate would become like this.”
Wu Ruo ruffled her bangs: “Don’t worry, things will get better.”
“Now that dabo and the rest are all going to other places to look for work, I want to go as well. I want to go and earn money for the family too.”
Wu Ruo furrowed his brows: “These matters should be for Dad and me to worry about, and right now, most importantly, you should be focusing on honing your magical skills well. Do you understand? And anyway, Shuqing Garden hasn’t deteriorated to the point where it needs a little girl like you to be earning money for the family.”
“But…”
“No buts.” Wu Ruo lowered his voice and said: “Don’t forget. Dad used to be the most capable out of all the brothers, so naturally, the silver was also earned quickly. And Dad isn’t like our uncles, spending their silver frivolously. He definitely has a huge sum of silver saved up. And Hei Xuanyi sent over so many precious and rare items. If Dad takes any random item and sells it, it would tide Shuqing Garden over for many years. So you, stop worrying blindly.”
The servants in Shuqing Garden were the same as everyone else. At the moment that they saw Wu Ruo, they were all struck dumb. Only Wu Xu felt that this young master strongly resembled their madam.
When Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong walked out of the house and saw Wu Ruo, they were also stunned.
Guan Tong hesitated: “Xiao-Xi, this young master is…”
She felt that she had seen this person somewhere before.
Wu Xi laughed with a ‘buchi’, and didn’t say who Wu Ruo was.
Wu Qianqing saw that Wu Ruo looked very much like his wife had when she was younger and said uncertainly: “Xiao-Ruo?”
Wu Xi pouted: “Dad, how could you guess it so quickly? You’re no fun at all.”
Wu Qianqing laughed: “Amongst the three of you siblings9兄妹 (xiong mei): the word for ‘sibling’ here that the author uses specifically refers to ‘older brothers and younger sisters’. The word for siblings in Chinese is literally ‘older brother, younger brother, older sister, younger sister’, which you can use in any dual combination to refer to a bunch of siblings., Xiao-Ruo resembles your mum the most.”
“But it’s still hard to get it right in one guess.”
“I think, in this world, other than Xiao-Ruo, it’ll be very hard to find another person who resembles Tong-er10儿 (-er) suffix: attaching this to someone’s name makes the form of address more affectionate. For Mum, Guan is her family name and Tong is her given name. Dad is just being super mushy right now..”
“Ah? He’s Xiao-Ruo?” Guan Tong said, shocked: “We only haven’t seen him for a month, how did Xiao-Ruo lose so much weight so fast?”
Wu Ruo laughed: “Dad, Mum, how have you been recently?”
Wu Qianqing thought of recent events and sighed, saying: “Let’s talk inside the house.”
After Wu Ruo entered the house and chatted with Wu Qianqing about the recent situation, because Dandan was at the restaurant waiting for Wu Ruo to take him home, so he didn’t stay for lunch at the Wu estate. When it was approaching wushi, he left the Wu estate to fetch his son who was at Zuiyue Restaurant listening to the storyteller’s stories.
Arriving at Zuiyue Restaurant, Wu Ruo alighted from the horse carriage. Before he had even entered the restaurant, he heard someone crying pitifully: “Ah! Dage, dage, how come you’ve shrunk! Have you eaten the wrong medicine and ended up so small? Dage, do you still remember who I am?”
Wu Ruo looked at the source of that voice and only saw an extremely handsome man holding onto his son and sobbing.
Notes: I can’t stop cackling at the ending of this chapter. He’s finally here! I’m so excited for everyone to meet this new character. Also, happy holidays to everybody! Hope that everyone has a great end of the year and a wonderful 2022 ahead.
![The Rebirth of the Last Days and Return to [Fang] Hao](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image_2021-09-11_143139.png "The Rebirth of the Last Days and Return to [Fang] Hao")
