Big thanks and a shout-out to biki for sending me a laptop so that I can translate LWSL more conveniently!
The moment that Wu Ruo crashed toward the ground, he instinctively reached out to grab something around him to steady himself. Unexpectedly, when he grabbed onto something, before he could steady himself, the thing that he had grabbed onto violently ripped apart, so he fell harshly to the ground.
In an instant, not a crow nor sparrow could be heard1鸦雀无声 (ya que wu sheng): meaning ‘everything went silent’..
Wu Ruo endured the pain and stood up, taking a glance at both his hands that had been scraped raw. After that, he saw that he had grabbed onto a jade pendant in his hands. This jade pendant was the Nine Palace Dragon jade that he had seen before on Ling Mohan’s person. It was an intricately carved and beautiful yellow jade dragon, and on the dragon scales of this jade dragon, eight other little dragons soaring through the skies and clouds were carved onto it as well. It was extremely detailed. However, the waist pendant’s yellow string had been broken by him.
He lifted up his head and met Ling Mohan’s icy cold gaze.
Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong anxiously went forth to try to beg for mercy for Wu Ruo, but they were firmly blocked by the people in front of them, not allowing them to move forward. It also wasn’t appropriate for them to yell loudly and make a lot of noise, in case it displeased the Emperor and all the other royals.
Hei Xuanyi narrowed his black gaze, patting Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong’s shoulders, gesturing for them to stay calm and in place, and quietly observe how the situation would develop.
“Your Highness2太子殿下 (tai zi dian xia): this title specifically addresses Ling Mohan as the Crown Prince, but I have opted to translate it to the generic ‘Your Highness’ for better flow., this commoner carelessly3不小心 (bu xiao xin): commonly translated as ‘accidentally’, it can also mean ‘to not be careful’. broke the string of your4Wu Ruo is using very respectful and deferential language here with Ling Mohan, by the way. jade pendant and hopes for your forgiveness. If you would allow this commoner a few days’ time, I will definitely restore the jade pendant string to its original state.” Wu Ruo spoke, neither arrogant nor humble, and at the same time, he briefly glanced at Wu Yuxue who was supporting the royal guifei.
A hint of contempt was hidden in Wu Yuxue’s gaze. She had previously plotted against Wu Ruo’s family twice, but both times had been uncovered by Wu Ruo and his family. This time, she wanted to watch and see how he would escape from this disaster.
In Huangdu City, everyone knew that the Crown Prince and his followers didn’t get along with the Wu family, that they couldn’t wait to get their hands on a weakness of the Wu family so that they could destroy the entire Wu family in one fell swoop. Even if they weren’t able to do so, every single member of the Wu family that they could kill still counted. Now, with this opportunity, the Crown Prince definitely wouldn’t miss out on it.
As long as Wu Ruo died, then Wu Yuxue would be able to get Hei Xuanyi to submit to her with greater certainty.
When Ling Mohan heard Wu Ruo’s voice, a hint of panic flashed across his gaze. This person’s voice was very similar to the voice of the person who had saved him, yet he felt that it was quite unlikely. The person who had saved him had been incredibly fat; it was impossible that he would be able to lose so much weight in just a few short months. Even if he could lose that much weight, it was likely improbable that he would possess an appearance capable of destroying countries5倾国之姿 (qing guo zhi zi): briefly to explain this idiom, since it might not make sense how someone can be so beautiful to the point of destroying a country, it refers to multiple occurrences in history where a woman is so beautiful that she renders a man of power incapable of making the right choices to protect a country. It could be that she’s so beautiful and enchanting, the Emperor prioritizes spending time with her over governance, which gives an enemy country the opportunity to invade once the government is weakened. I’ve also heard of beauties who enchant military generals, such that the general is willing to betray their home country to fulfil her wishes. The term refers to someone who is devastatingly beautiful..
Ling Mohan took the jade pendant back and said with cold fury: “Did you know that the Nine Palace Dragon jade was bestowed to me by my imperial grandfather6爷爷 (ye ye) refers specifically to your paternal grandfather.? Even if you had nine heads, it wouldn’t be able to make up one string on my jade pendant. Guards, take him away!”
Two bodyguards quickly came forth, restraining Wu Ruo by his arms.
Hei Xuanyi’s eyes flashed with iciness, he coldly stared at the bodyguards who were restraining his Wu Ruo.
Wu Bofang and Yao Shuwan, who were in the crowd, looked at Wu Ruo with faces of anxiety. However, they weren’t worried about Wu Ruo’s safety; they were concerned that the other members of the Gaoling City Wu family would be affected because of Wu Ruo.
The Emperor frowned, and he was also quite displeased, but when he thought about how it was Wu Chenzi’s birthday, it was indeed inappropriate to demand for blood7A.K.A order for Wu Ruo to be beheaded or executed.. He thought that he would make an allowance for Wu Chenzi, and let this person go this time around. After all, it wasn’t the jade pendant that had been damaged, it was only that the string had been broken, so it was still possible to repair it.
Wu Chenzi had followed by the Emperor’s side for many years, so he naturally caught onto the Emperor’s intentions. When he thought of his precious granddaughter’s request, he spoke up and said: “Your Highness, this junior isn’t sensible, but I hope you can look past it.”
According to his understanding of Ling Mohan, the more he helped to speak up for Wu Ruo, the more Ling Mohan wouldn’t let go of this person.
Ling Mohan narrowed his gaze at Wu Chenzi: “So that means this person is from your Wu family.”
“Yes.”
Ling Mohan asked again: “Then how come I’ve never seen this person before?”
This man was so beautiful. He had only met them once, but he definitely would never forget them, so he was certain that this man wasn’t from the Huangdu Wu family.
Wu Chenzi replied: “This subject has also never met this person before, he must be a descendant from a branch family.”
Ling Mohan narrowed his gaze: “Oh, a branch family?”
Wu Yuxue hurriedly shot a look at a steward who was in the crowd, and the steward quickly stepped forward to respond: “Reporting to Your Highness8Specifically the Crown Prince., this person is a descendant from the Gaoling City Wu family, his name is Wu Ruo, he came with his family today to celebrate Wu Chenzi’s birthday.”
“A descendant from the Gaoling City Wu family — Wu — Ruo9Just in case the formatting doesn’t sufficiently convey this, in the original text, Ling Mohan is emphasizing Wu Ruo’s name.?” A hint of disbelief rapidly flashed across Ling Mohan’s gaze.
Wu Ruo responded: “This commoner is here.”
Ling Mohan: “…”
He was all the more certain that this person was the person that had saved him that day.
At this moment, the royal guifei spoke up: “Weren’t all the citizens of Gaoling City exterminated by the Infinite Gui?”
The steward kneeled down and replied: “Reporting to Your Grace10Specifically referring to the guifei by title. I’ve opted for this title to differentiate from the ladies of the inner palace and other royals., Gaoling City was indeed exterminated by the Infinite Gui.”
The royal guifei asked: “Then how did they manage to escape that calamity?”
The steward replied: “Speaking of this matter, the actions of Wu Ruo and his family truly makes one feel contempt. On that day when the Infinite Gui massacred the city, their entire family just happened to be leaving Gaoling City. After they escaped the calamity, they actually didn’t even return to Gaoling City to check on the situation. They just fled straight to Huangdu City! They didn’t care in the slightest about whether the citizens lived or died, and all the more, they didn’t care about whether any of their own relatives had survived! This sort of behaviour is truly chilling.”
Wu Qianqing’s breath stopped11Meaning he briefly held his breath.. That day, his actions were indeed wrong. However, he had only told Wu Bofang and Yao Shuwan about the fact that they had left Gaoling City on the day that the Infinite Gui had attacked, so how did this steward know about it?
He couldn’t help looking towards Wu Bofang. Coincidentally, Wu Bofang had also looked over. When he met Wu Qianqing’s gaze, he avoided looking at Wu Qianqing with a hint of discomfort.
Wu Qianqing immediately understood. Wu Bofang had told the steward about this matter; his heart couldn’t help but grow heavy.
“That’s too much!” The people of the Wu family angrily exclaimed the injustice of it: “Their family are all snakes and scorpions12Meaning that they are ‘vicious people’., how could they abandon others in need? Pei13The onomatopoeia for spitting in disgust at something.! It’s a pity that this person is as beautiful as a celestial, who would’ve thought that they would be so cruel?”
Someone was even so agitated that they picked up a stone and threw it at Wu Ruo. In that moment, a streak of blood was struck across Wu Ruo’s forehead.
Wu Ruo’s face was solemn, and he didn’t care about the blood that dripped down.
Hei Xuanyi’s gaze coldly shot at that person.
If it weren’t for Hei Xuanyi holding him back in a vice grip, Wu Qianqing would’ve rushed forward ages ago.
Wu Xi and Guan Tong were so infuriated that their eyes had reddened.
Wu Chenzi was shocked: “There was such a matter?”
“Reporting to Lord State Tutor, we also only recently found out about this. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have let their family participate in your birthday banquet. We originally intended to report this matter to Lord State Tutor only after the banquet, but we didn’t expect that such a thing would happen even before the banquet.”
At this moment, Wu Yuxue stepped forth, with a look of innocence and compassion, and said: “Perhaps there must be some sort of misunderstanding?”
The royal guifei tugged Wu Yuxue back to her side: “Xue-er, you’re just too kind, you’ll easily be bullied by others!”
When Wu Ruo heard her words, he was almost angered to laughter.
“But…”
Wu Yuxue still wanted to continue, but the royal guifei interrupted her: “Alright, don’t you worry about these matters. Lord State Tutor will deal with them.”
After that, someone immediately said indistinctly: “Their whole family cannot be pardoned! There’s no one so vicious in our Wu family. Lord State Tutor, you must deal with them thoroughly!”
Wu Chenzi was a littled troubled, so he turned to the Emperor: “Emperor, how should this matter be dealt with?”
The Emperor also extremely disliked such disloyal and heartless individuals: “This was originally a matter of your Wu family, so it’s not appropriate for us to meddle. However, after listening to everything, it fills us with indignance and we are also extremely disappointed. If they are not severely dealt with, it will be difficult to calm the anger in our heart14朕 (zheng): the imperial pronoun used only by the Emperor. In official subs for guzhuang dramas, I have seen this being translated as ‘we/us’ pronouns, so I’ll be using that for this translation..”
Ling Mohan frowned deeply. The moment his imperial father convicted someone of a crime, it would be very difficult to make any changes to the situation.
Just as he was trying to think of a way to speak up for Wu Ruo without inciting suspicion from the Wu family, Wu Ruo spoke: “Emperor, this commoner has something to say.”
The Emperor coldly glared at him: “What else do you have to say?”
“This commoner just wants to say, if I should be convicted of a crime, shouldn’t there be evidence? I would like to ask, who was the one who saw our family leaving Gaoling City when the Infinite Gui were attacking? And again, who was the one who saw our family abandoning those in need? Or who was the one who saw that our family didn’t return to look for survivors?” Wu Ruo swept a neutral glance at everyone present: “Did anyone here see it? If you didn’t see it, please don’t malign us. You should know that your words can kill an innocent person. On top of that, someone like that doesn’t only disappoint others, but it should also make you feel afraid.”
The Emperor: “…”
Everyone present: “…”
Ling Mohan was a little stunned, but then his eyes flashed with a hint of amusement.
The steward refuted: “Then what evidence do you have that your family did go back?”
“You want evidence, is that right?” Wu Ruo’s lips curled up: “Alright, then I can tell all of you now. In about ten days, our people will send the Gaoling City Wu family members to Huangdu City. I believe that with Lord State Tutor’s benevolence, he will definitely take them in as part of the Wu family and won’t let them starve and freeze, and he’ll have them served well by servants, isn’t that right?”
The moment that he had received the invitation, he had told Hei Xuanyi to send those people into Huangdu City.
Wu Qianqing, Guan Tong, Wu Xi, Wu Bofang, Yao Shuwan and Wu Yu, who was hiding in the crowd, all looked at Wu Ruo with expressions of shock.
The Gaoling City Wu family members were still alive?
The corners of Wu Chenzi’s twitched: “Of course.”
Damn it, he had actually been led by nose by this junior.
Wu Ruo turned to the Emperor: “Your Majesty, forgive this commoner for their incompetence, I was unable to save the citizens of Gaoling City, I could only bring my injured relatives to Huangdu City. So, please consider that this commoner has already done his best to save others, and spare this commoner this time.”
The Emperor’s expression relaxed quite a fair bit: “If the matter is as you say, then it was the Wu family who has maligned your family, then what crime do you bear?”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your magnanimity.” Wu Ruo continued: “However, I hope that Your Majesty can give this commoner some justice.”
The Emperor looked at the injury on his forehead: “You want us to punish those who maligned your family?”
Someone from the Wu family hastily said: “Wu Ruo, don’t go overboard. Even though we maligned your family, but your family was not punished! Why should we be punished for it?”
Wu Ruo ignored that person: “Reporting to Your Majesty, this commoner only feels distressed that my uncles and their families have severe injuries, but I don’t have the power to seek medical help for them. Although it’s been agreed that they will be sent to the Huangdu Wu family to receive treatment, but right now, everyone present has prejudices against me. It’s likely that there’s a chance that they may delay treatment for my uncles and their families, so this commoner would like to boldly request for an imperial edict, to ensure that Lord State Tutor will treat my uncles and their families until they fully recover.”
In an instant, the Wu family members were angered till their faces turned red.
The Emperor hesitated for a moment, then said: “If it’s truly as you say, and you’ve rescued your own relatives, we can issue this imperial edict.”
Wu Ruo very quickly kneeled down: “Thanking Your Majesty for your gracious favour!”
He glanced at Wu Yuxue and Wu Chenzi, who were so angry that they were grinding their teeth, and inwardly laughed coldly. If it weren’t for you scheming to harm my whole family, I wouldn’t have performed this show either. Just you wait, once the Gaoling City Wu family members arrive, they will definitely cause such a ruckus that your Huangdu Wu family will be thrown into chaos15鸡飞狗跳 (ji fei gou tiao): more directly translates as ‘chickens fly and dogs jump’. The mental imagery is spot on..
Ling Mohan spoke: “Wu Ruo, that matter is that matter. Whether or not you saved those people has nothing to do with you spoiling my Nine Palace Dragon jade. So, you still have to accept your punishment from me.”
Hearing this, the corners of Wu Yuxue’s lips curled up.
Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong rushed forward: “May Your Highness please excuse my son for his carelessness and pardon him this time! His body is weak and cannot bear punishment, if you want to punish someone, please punish this commoner!”
Hei Xuanyi also walked forward: “This commoner is Xiao-Ruo’s husband. If anyone should be punished, then this commoner should be the one punished in his stead.”
When everyone heard this, they were stunned.
“A man married another man?”
The Emperor was also startled.
Wu Yuxue was itching with anger as she glared at them, but she couldn’t speak up to stop them.
Ling Mohan laughed coldly: “Whoever broke my Nine Palace Dragon jade will be the one to be punished. None of you can replace him. Guards, take Wu Ruo away.”
The bodyguards immediately dragged Wu Ruo away.
Ling Mohan said to Wu Chenzi: “Lord State Tutor, my sincerest apologies, I have no mood to participate in your banquet anymore. I bid you fortunes as vast as the East Sea, and longevity comparable to the Southern Mountains.”
When he finished speaking, he turned and left.
Wu Chenzi: “…”
Hei Xuanyi, Wu Qianqing and the others hurriedly left with him.
If you enjoy my translations, please consider dropping me a one-time tip or joining my monthly recurring membership tier on Ko-fi. Reading the novel chapters without an ad-blocker will also help to support my translations. Thank you!
![Raiders Counterattack [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cover.jpg "Raiders Counterattack [Quick Transmigration]")
