Click for content warnings
Canon-typical violenceWu Zhu’s handsome face turned red: “Xiao-Ruo, I haven’t even completed my experience training yet. Isn’t it too early to be divining about my future partner?”
On average, the men of the Wu family would only consider the matter of their marriage after they successfully came back from their experience training and were awarded their generation’s generational character in their name.
Wu Ruo beamed and said: “Then how about we take a look at how your experience training will be like?”
Wu Qianqing asked: “Would this be too troublesome for Steward Hei?”
Typically, in the Wu family, when their children were about to go for their experience training, they would bring some gifts and consult those in the family who knew divination. They would check if the internship would be successful.
Actually, whether or not their child could pass the internship was only secondary. The most important thing was whether they would have good or bad luck. As a senior, who wouldn’t hope that their own child could return home safe and sound?
So, Wu Qianqing had originally intended to look for the elders to help tell Wu Zhu’s fortune. However, the elders were a bunch of old fogeys who devoured men without spitting out their bones1吃人不吐骨头 (chi ren bu tu gu tou) refers to people who are vicious and greedy. I liked the imagery of the original idiom, so I’m leaving this footnote..
Especially, if the elders found out that he had received a pile of precious betrothal gifts and presents, they would definitely viciously extort a huge sum from him. However, it was hard to blame them for requiring such a costly fee. After all, they would need to expend spiritual energy to divine a fortune.
“Qinjia Master, you’re too kind2您多虑了 (nin duo lv le): over here, Hei Xin uses the formal ‘you’ to refer to Wu Qianqing to indicate his respect. What he says is actually more literally ‘you have over-worried’, but translating it directly into English doesn’t quite have the same respectful, servant to master nuance it has in Chinese.. If this old servant can divine a fortune for Young Master Zhu3竹公子 (zhu gong zi): as mentioned previously before, gong zi is a title used to refer to young men from noble or prominent families. The ‘Zhu’ character here is Wu Zhu’s name. This is similar to the gambling den arc when they referred to Wu Shi and Wu Bo by absolute birth order, except Hei Xin addresses Wu Zhu by his name.
In English-speaking cultures, referring to someone by their first name is usually more intimate than using their last name, but this is just the most reasonable and respectful way for Hei Xin to refer to Wu Zhu without any confusion.
Hei Xin doesn’t use 少爷 (shao ye) because he doesn’t serve the Wus., it is this old servant’s honour.” Hei Xin smiled slightly: “What would Young Master Zhu like to know?”
Wu Zhu glanced at his own parents: “I’d just like to know whether my training will be smooth and successful or not.”
Hei Xin took out a black tortoise shell from his waist pouch and presented it to Wu Zhu: “Please shake the tortoise shell, Young Master Zhu.”
Wu Zhu obediently shook the tortoise shell, then placed it on the tabletop.
Hei Xin again picked up the tortoise shell and shook it. He tipped out copper coins from the tortoise shell; out of three copper coins, two were face-up and one was face-down. Then, he placed the copper coins back into the tortoise shell and continued shaking it. He tipped the copper coins out once more. This time, of the three copper coins, one was face-up and two were face-down. Following that, he continued putting the copper coins back into the tortoise shell. Just like that, he repeatedly shook it 10 times before stopping.
In the meantime, Wu Qianqing, Guan Tong, and the rest of them were all extremely nervous. When they saw Hei Xin stop, they immediately asked: “Steward Hei, were you able to divine whether Xiao-Zhu’s training will be successful4顺利 (shun li) refers to a ‘smooth success’ or something going well without any problems. So, they don’t just want Wu Zhu to succeed/pass his experience training, they want him to do so without encountering any major problems or injuries.
This word is actually used throughout the whole conversation, but it only just occurred to me to make a specific nuance footnote here.?”
Hei Xin spoke as he fiddled with the copper coins on the table: “Please forgive this old servant for speaking straightforwardly. Young Master Zhu’s fortunes do not look positive.”
Guan Tong hurriedly asked: “In what way is it not positive?”
Hei Xin looked at her steadily for a moment, then the four words left his mouth: “Everything points to disaster.”
Wu Zhu: “…”
“Ah!” Guan Tong froze briefly, then agitatedly said: “Steward Hei, could it be that you made a mistake?”
Wu Ruo frowned: “Mom, don’t panic, let’s listen to what Steward Hei has to say first.”
Wu Qianqing’s expression didn’t look well: “Steward Hei, what did you manage to divine for Xiao-Zhu?”
Wu Xi comforted Guan Tong as she looked at Hei Xin anxiously.
Hei Xin said: “On Young Master Zhu’s journey this time, there will be antagonists5小人 (xiao ren) literally means ‘small person/people’. In the vague handwave-y setting of the novel, xiao ren can be used by someone of lower status to refer to themself, when speaking to someone of higher status. In this scenario, it would function as a humble form of ‘I’.
However, in the context that Hei Xin is using it, it refers specifically to people with harmful intentions. The dictionary I referred to while trying to find the proper English translation has it as ‘base person; vile character; villain’. The concept of a xiao ren, from what I understand of my own upbringing, is an antagonistic person who is simply ‘out to get you’.
I’ve never actually had to use this word in English, so it was quite interesting to find the right English word to convey its meaning. Antagonist is the most suitable one so far, but if I come up with a better translation, I’ll update it. creating troubles. If he doesn’t distance himself from them, I’m afraid it will endanger his life.”
Wu Ruo: “…”
In his previous lifetime, Elder Rong who had helped divine his brother’s fortune had also said the same thing. Later on, his dad also asked a few seniors within the family whose divination skills were quite good to help divine a fortune, but the results were the same. On top of that, they all said that there was no method of aversion.
However, his dage couldn’t hide at home for his whole lifetime. Later on, he still went for his training. Yet, in the end, he was carried back in a coffin6抬着 (tai zhe): actually there is no direct mention of ‘coffins’ in this phrase. Tai zhe simply means ‘to be carried/lifted up’. However, coffins used to be carried on poles for funeral rites. With the context of the situation, the usage of tai zhe here implies being carried back in a coffin. by others.
Now that Wu Ruo thought about it, he felt that it wasn’t that there was no method of aversion, but that they had already been bribed by others much earlier on. That was why the elders had been unwilling to tell them the method of evading the disaster.
Wu Zhu asked: “Was Steward Hei able to divine who this antagonist is?’
Hei Xin pinched his fingers together again, counting7掐指 (qia zhi): you ever see that one dude in guzhuang cdramas who holds their hand up, touching their thumb to each of their fingertips and looking like he’s counting something? Yeah, that’s what Hei Xin is doing here.
Also, there are a few terms being used for ‘fortune telling’ and ‘divining a fortune’ here in the Chinese. Essentially, there is a phrase being used where Hei Xin is ‘counting’ Wu Zhu’s fortune, which is why he’s ‘counting’ here. The language for divination in Chinese kind of makes it sound like spiritual math for the possible outcomes of your future.: “This old servant cannot tell who this person is, however, Young Master Zhu is personally able to find this person.”
Wu Zhu was dumbfounded: “I don’t even know who the other person is, how would I find them?”
Hei Xin fiddled with the copper coins on the tabletop and said: “Today, at the 3rd ke of youshi8酉时三刻 (you shi san ke): the 3rd ke of youshi roughly refers to 5:45pm. Youshi is the shichen that runs from 5pm to 6:59pm. One ke is about 15 minutes.
Also, Hei Xin says 不小收获 (bu xiao shou huo) which does translate to significant gains, but more literally, it is ‘a not small (amount of) rewards’. The nuance for ‘rewards/gains’ here is that shou refers to keeping or receiving something. And huo refers to receiving something because of an effort you put in.
Therefore, if you have shou huo, it means a reward or gain that you directly receive as a result of your effort in doing something, as opposed to being rewarded for something you’ve done by your superior. It’s usually used to refer to harvests from crops, where your effort in farming directly results in gaining crops.
Which is different from say, when a servant runs an errand for their master (e.g: Manager Yu sets up the huge Yao task) and their master rewards them with something (e.g: Wu Ruo doesn’t kill Manager Yu). In this case, doing the task itself doesn’t give a reward, an external force provides the reward. The ‘rewards/gains’ in shou huo come simply from doing a task., Young Master Zhu may go to the busiest street in Gaoling City for a walk, there will definitely be significant gains.”
Even after everyone heard what he had said, anxiety still lingered in their hearts. They didn’t even have any appetite to eat. Youshi finally came after an agonizing wait, but they only became even more nervous.
Wu Zhu stood up and said: “Dad, Mum, Xiao-Xi, wait for me in Hei Manor. I’ll come right back after finding the person.”
Wu Qianqing nodded his head: “Alright. Come back immediately after finding that person, don’t stir up any trouble.”
Initially, he had wanted to accompany Wu Zhu. However, Hei Xin said that Wu Zhu had to go by himself; only then did Wu Qianqing give up on the idea of going along.
“Hn.”
Once Wu Zhu left, Guan Tong gathered both palms together9Guan Tong is doing this gesture that Buddhist monks do when praying or greeting someone. and prayed: “Buddha Above, I hope that Xiao-Zhu can successfully find this person.”
Wu Ruo closed his eyes, not saying a word.
At the 3rd ke of youshi, Wu Zhu promptly arrived at the major street that used to be the busiest street in Gaoling City. However, the sky was already dark, and the weather was extremely cold. There actually weren’t that many people walking around on the streets. Other than some peddlers who were still running their stalls to support their families, there were only those who had come out searching for entertainment with their friends, coming together to mess around and while away their time.
Wu Zhu simply had no idea who was the antagonist that Hei Xin had spoken of, so he could only browse around on the streets, until he heard someone yelling loudly: “Young Master Jiang, Young Master Yu, Young Master Pan, it’s been a long time! Would you like to sit in the main lobby, or would you prefer a private room?”
“Isn’t that a stupid question? When have we ever sat anywhere but in a private room?”
Hearing the familiar voices, Wu Zhu immediately turned around to take a look, but only saw the three young masters following the shop waiter into Zuiyue Restaurant10Previously translated as ‘Drunken Moon Restaurant’, but has been left as Zuiyue Restaurant now for consistency..
He muttered to himself: “Isn’t that Jiang Xiaoling, Yu Tianbao, and Pan Feng?”
These three people often bullied Wu Ruo, so he remembered them. There was once that they had been viciously beaten up by him.
Wu Zhu thought about it, could they be the antagonists that Steward Hei spoke of?
He hesitated uncertainly. He wanted to go in after them to take a look, but he was also afraid of missing out on the antagonist that Hei Xin spoke of. But if he didn’t go in after them to take a look, he also worried that these three were precisely the people that Hei Xin spoke of. He was extremely conflicted.
“I saw that Young Master Jiang, Young Master Yu, and Young Master Pan are here to drink again.” A peddler next to Wu Zhu suddenly said: “They’re really so fortunate, unlike us, for the sake of supporting our families, we still have to suffer the cold winds late in the night. Ai, I’m about to get frozen to death.”
“They definitely must’ve received money from the Wu family Southern main estate’s Fifth Young Master again, that’s why they have a huge sum of money to wine and dine at Zuiyue Restaurant.”
Hearing this, Wu Zhu frowned.
Wasn’t Wu Yu the Wu family Southern main estate’s Fifth Young Master? Why would Xiao-Yu give them money?
Wu Zhu thought of how, this time around, his travel partner was Wu Yu, and he immediately had an uneasy feeling in his heart.
He hesitated for a brief moment, then headed towards Zuiyue Moon Restaurant.
Another different shop waiter from Zuiyue Moon Restaurant welcomed him with a face full of smiles.
Wu Zhu tilted his head upward, looking at the upper wing of the restaurant: “Are there any more private rooms upstairs?”
“Of course, sir11客官 (ke guan) is a respectful term to refer to a patron of an establishment, it is used by the employees of the establishment. Since there isn’t an English equivalent for this that I can think of, I translated it as ‘sir’, and here’s this footnote instead., please follow me.” The shop waiter asked as he guided Wu Zhu upstairs: “Would you prefer the second floor or the third floor, sir?”
At this moment, the shop waiter that had ushered Yu Tianbao and the others upstairs walked out from the central wing of the third floor.
Wu Zhu pointed to the wing next to it and asked: “Are there any more private rooms there?”
The shop waiter raised his head to take a look and smiled: “Of course, this humble one will take you there now.”
Wu Zhu entered the room and randomly ordered a few popular signature dishes, then he used his spiritual energy to eavesdrop on the ongoings of the next room. Right away, he could hear the sounds of Yu Tianbao and the others chatting and laughing.
In the beginning, the three of them were merely just cracking some insignificant jokes. After waiting for more than half a shichen, the three of them slowly began to get a little drunk and brought up the matter of Wu Yu.
“Young Master Yu12玉少 (yu shao): the Yu here is the Yu from Wu Yu’s name, and shao actually just means ‘young’. This is a shortened form of 少爷 (shao ye; young master), but it wouldn’t make sense if I tried to shorten it in English. This footnote is just to let you know that the bully trio are using a different way to address Wu Yu.
Edit: Added this. This is different from the previous couple of paragraphs where the road peddlers were referring to Yu Tianbao as 于公子, which also translates Young Master Yu. is about to leave Gaoling City for his experience training. In the future, we won’t have as much money to spend anymore.” This was said by Jiang Xiaoliang.
Yu Tianbao sneered: “So what if he doesn’t leave for experience training, we wouldn’t have any money to spend all the same.”
“That’s true. Ever since the news spread that the Wu family Southern main estate’s four masters stole that damned fatty Wu Ruo’s betrothal gifts, the people from the Wu family don’t dare to borrow equipment from Wu Qianqing anymore. Naturally, Young Master Yu also doesn’t bother spending money to get us to bully that damned fatty so that he can take the opportunity to feign being a good person, to get that damned fatty to help speak for him, and borrow equipment and materials from Wu Qianqing.”
When Wu Zhu heard this, he abruptly stood up, finding it hard to believe the words that he had heard himself.
Pan Feng snickered: “That damned fatty is also pretty stupid. We always use this same method, but he never realized anything strange about it. He still stupidly believes Young Master Yu is a good person. Hehe, if Young Master Yu is really a good person, then there aren’t any bad people in the whole world.”
Yu Tianbao drunkenly said: “If you ask me, that damned fatty’s whole family is stupid. They fall for the schemes of others and get tricked any old how. Oh, right, I heard that Young Master Yu is going to form a group with that damned fatty’s older brother this time, to go for their experience training together.”
Jiang Xiaoliang laughed: “That damned fatty’s older brother is dead for sure. I bet even after he’s messed around by Young Master Yu, he would still praise Young Master Yu as a great saint.”
“Haha!” The three of them laughed in a chorus.
The more Wu Zhu listened, the tighter he clenched his fists, the bones in his fingers were already creaking from the pressure. In the end, he couldn’t bear to listen any further. He walked out of his own room with brisk steps and went to the trio’s room. He grabbed Yu Tianbao’s collar fiercely, and angrily asked: “What the three of you just said, is it true?”
The young maiden who was sitting to one side, playing the pipa and accompanying it with her singing, was badly frightened by Wu Zhu who had suddenly burst into the room.
“Who are you?” At this moment, the three of them were already heavily intoxicated. The silhouette of the person before them swayed back and forth, they couldn’t even clearly tell who the other person was.
“Just now, you said that it was Wu Yu who spent money to get the three of you to bully Wu Ruo. Is that true?”
“Oh, that matter.” Yu Tianbao was so drunk that he couldn’t even enunciate his words properly: “Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask… you can ask Wu Ruo’s personal servants. They also receive money from Young Master Yu, so that when we’re bullying that damned fatty, they purposely don’t report it, then Young Master Yu can come and play the hero.”
“Personal servants?” Wu Zhu thought of Shi Yuan and the others first, but then he felt that it wasn’t possible. Only later did he think of Wu Da and Wu Xiao, who he already hadn’t seen for two months.
When he came back to his senses, he looked at the three people who were dead drunk. His eyes hardened and he gave them a vicious beating. He turned and left Zuiyue Restaurant, arriving at Wu Da and Wu Xiao’s small house.
Wu Zhu forcibly tamped down on his immense and hot fury. He broke the door and entered directly, lifting up Wu Da, who was lying on his bed, and throwing him to the ground: “Did you two brothers know that Wu Yu spent money to get Yu Tianbao and the others to bully Xiao-Ruo?”
“F-first Young Master13大少爷 (da shao ye): the title shao ye, which is usually translated to ‘young master’ with the prefix da meaning oldest, refers to the oldest young master of the house. I think these two usually refer to Wu Ruo as simply shao ye, without any specific prefixes, since they serve under Wu Ruo directly.
But it would be impolite to refer to Wu Zhu as Young Master Zhu (aka using his name), since they are still servants within Shuqing Garden, so they refer to him as ‘oldest young master’ and I’ve switched it to ‘first’ instead of ‘oldest’ just because I think it sounds better in English that way., what are you talking about?” It was Wu Da’s first time seeing the first young master, who was usually mild and open-minded, so angry. His entire handsome face had become incomparably ferocious, which made one feel that it was especially frightening.
Wu Zhu’s anger swelled: “Wu Da, if you don’t want to die, then you had better answer me honestly.”
When Wu Da’s wife, Liu Xiaoru, heard the word ‘die’, she hurriedly replied: “First Young Master, my husband indeed knew that Fifth Young Master14五公子 (wu gong zi): Liu Xiaoru uses da shao ye to refer to Wu Zhu, which refers to him as ‘first young master (of the family I serve)’, whereas she refers to Wu Yu as wu gong zi, which can be taken as ‘fifth young master (not of the family I serve, but still a young master of a noble family’.
In this case, since Liu Xiaoru has married Wu Da, she is considered also a servant of Shuqing Garden by marriage. She might not be expected to actually work in Shuqing Garden, but there is that understanding, so she refers to the people of Shuqing Garden as Wu Da does. In addition, since Wu Da is specifically the servant of Shuqing Garden and not a servant of just the overall Wu estate, Wu Yu is not considered ‘young master (of the family I serve)’.
If the titles are confusing for you, don’t worry, it’s confusing for me too ?
TL;DR: she’s referring to Wu Yu. spent money to get Yu Tianbao to bully the young master. I beg you, please don’t kill him.”
Wu Da had told her these things after they had gotten married.
Wu Da’s expression changed, and he said, flustered and exasperated: “Liu Xiaoru, what are you saying?”
Liu Xiaoru retorted loudly: “Do you want to die?”
Wu Da: “…”
Wu Zhu couldn’t hold back his fury: “Then this means it’s also true that Wu Da and Wu Xiao took Wu Yu’s money.”
Liu Xiaoru hurried to admit to it: “It’s true. I beg First Young Master to leave one side of the net open15网开一面 (wang kai yi mian): I liked the literal translation for it, and felt that it wouldn’t be too confusing to leave in, so I left it as such in text. To clarify further: Liu Xiaoru is asking Wu Zhu to be lenient, to give Wu Da an out., and have mercy on my husband just once.”
“You two-faced16吃里扒外 (chi li pa wai): the literal translation for this would be ‘to eat inside, and dig outside’. The idiom means ‘to live off of one person, while secretly helping another’. I couldn’t figure out a better way to phrase it, so I leave this footnote instead beasts!” Wu Zhu punched Wu Da in the stomach, angrily and viciously.
Wu Da made a low moaning sound and fainted immediately from the pain.
Wu Zhu snorted coldly, then turned around and left.
