LWSL Chapter 23

Ruan Zhizheng supported his waist, limping as he walked out of Shuli Garden. It was obvious that he’d taken a beating. Following behind him, carrying Ruan Yīng and Ruan Yong out, were guards from Shuli Garden.

“Young master, are you alright?” Ruan Sheng and Ruan Ying rushed over to support Ruan Zhizheng.

Ruan Zhizheng pursed his pale white lips together tightly, and closed his eyes to hide his immense anger and humiliation. Since birth, he had never been as embarrassed as he had been today.

“Carry these people out of the Wu estate yourself.” The guards from Shuli Garden tossed Ruan Yīng and Ruan Yong onto the snow-covered ground with expressions of disdain.

Ruan Sheng saw the two of them who were injured all over and shouted in shock: “Ruan Yīng, Ruan Yong!”

He hurried forth to check on them, both of them were already on the brink of death, so he scrambled to take out wound medicine¹伤药 (shang yao): specifically medicine for wounds/injuries. It sounds a bit awkward in English, but I’ve left it translated to differentiate it from other kinds of medication 药 (yao) that comes up in text..

The guards from Shuli Garden immediately smacked his bottle of medicine onto the floor: “Our master already said, no feeding them wound medicine.”

Ruan Sheng was anxious and angry: “If we don’t feed them medicine, they will die!”

“If they die, then that’s their fate. If they can tide through this, our master also won’t pursue this matter any further.”

“You… you…” Ruan Sheng was aware that the Ruan family couldn’t compare to the Wu family, so he begged Wu Ruo for help: “Young Master Ruo, I beg you, please save them.”

The bottom of Wu Ruo’s eyes flashed with ruthless intentions, so quickly that others couldn’t catch it: “Shi Jiu, Shi You, feed them medicine.”

“Understood.” Shi Jiu picked the medicine pills up from the ground.

The guards from Shuli Garden stopped them with a heavy voice: “Young Master Ruo, this is a matter of our Shuli Garden. Do you want to stick your hands²插手 (cha shou): means to interfere. I liked the mental image of Wu Ruo getting his vengeful fingers into everyone’s pies, so I left it as “stick your hands” in text. into our matters?”

Wu Ruo said: “This concerns two people’s lives, how could I just close my eyes to other people’s misfortunes³见死不救 (jian si bu jiu): literally “to see death and not help”. It means to see someone else in trouble and not offer any help.? Moreover, I’ve known them for so many years.”

The guards from Shuli Garden asked in reply: “The servants in Shuqing Garden have also gotten along with Young Master Ruo for an even longer time. If they commit a mistake, will Young Master Ruo not punish them on account of getting along with them for so many years? If so, what rules are there to speak of?”

“Then, do you want me to just watch them die without doing anything⁴眼睁睁 (yan zheng zheng): literally “with eyes wide open”. It means to “look on helplessly or unfeelingly”. I’ve rephrased for better flow here.?”

Shi Jiu and Shi You immediately knelt by Ruan Yong and Ruan Yīng’s sides.

The guards from Shuli Garden loudly reprimanded: “You cannot feed them!”

Ruan Sheng and Ruan Ying’s eyes met, immediately blocking in front of the guards from Shuli Garden.

“Did you hear me, you cannot feed them!” The guard from Shuli Garden said angrily: “Young Master Ruo, if you insist on this, I can only tell our master to come⁵Here the guard’s words are meant to convey: “you leave me no choice but to call my master to come and settle this matter”, but I’ve left the direct translation in so as to keep the translation as close to the original Chinese text as possible..”

At this moment, Shi Jiu stood up and said: “Madam, the attendant has died.”

Shi You also said: “This one’s breath has also already broken.”

Ruan Sheng, Ruan Ying were stunned: “What? Dead?”

They knelt down in a flurry to check their breathing, Ruan Yīng and Ruan Yong already weren’t breathing, the two of them were dumbfounded in their spots.

Dead.

The good friends⁶兄弟 (xiong di): again, this directly translates as brothers, but in this context is meant to refer to them as bosom buddies. They are not actual brothers. It’s just that brand of “brotherhood” in Chinese culture. that they’d spent ten over years with were actually dead.

The guard from Shuli Garden sneered: “They deserved it.”

“Take them away.” Ruan Zhizheng clenched his fist and said hoarsely, then without turning back, he dragged his injured body towards the side entrance.

Wu Ruo directed Shi Jiu and the rest to help carry the corpses as he called out at Ruan Zhizheng: “Zhizheng, wait for me.”

As if Ruan Zhizheng couldn’t hear what he was saying, he walked faster and faster.

When Wu Ruo chased them to the side entrance, Ruan Zhizheng and the rest had already left with the corpses.

Shi Jiu asked: “Madam, should we chase after them?”

“Yes, of course, we have to.” Wu Ruo had to do things satisfactorily. In any case, even if he managed to catch up to them, Ruan Zhizheng wouldn’t meet him.

As expected, after chasing them to the Ruan estate, Ruan Zhizheng shut the doors and wouldn’t see him.

Wu Ruo returned to the Wu estate’s Shuli Garden again.

Shi Yi reported the situation from the previous night to Wu Ruo: “After Ruan Yīng and Ruan Yong were caught, they were lashed all night long. Later on, Young Master Ruan was brought to Shuli Garden, and following that, his pants were taken off in front of everyone, and he was given⁷In the original Chinese text, it says 吃了三十板棍子 which literally means “ate 30 rods”. 30 lashes.”

Wu Ruo smiled coldly, suffering this sort of humiliation, Ruan Zhizheng definitely wouldn’t have the face to appear in front of him for a very long time.

He looked to Shi Jiu and Shi You: “Tell me honestly, how did Ruan Yīng and the rest die?”

Shi Jiu replied: “This humble one⁸Here, Shi Jiu refers to himself as 小的 (xiao de), which literally translates as “little one”. Not sure if anyone else has used it before in previous chapters, but it’s commonly used among servants of the royal family to refer to themselves (e.g: eunuchs, palace maids, etc.). It’s also used among servants of noble families when deferring to their masters, to express that they’re putting themselves in a lower class compared to their masters. It’s not consistently used by the servants to refer to themselves, because in the next sentence, Shi You uses 我 (wo) which is the most common way to say “I”. I don’t think it’s rude for servants to use wo, at least among noble families, but you will never (rarely?) hear anyone use wo in front of the royal family/emperor. Or well, you shouldn’t. took advantage when I was feeding the medicine and when others weren’t paying attention to press on his life pulse, causing him to die immediately.”

Shi You said: “I did the same.”

“Very good.”

Wu Ruo’s lips quirked up in a smile, extremely pleased. Shi Jiu and the rest were really resourceful, able to understand his every word and direction.

Now that Ruan Zhizheng suddenly lost two trusted aides, he was probably especially furious, and even more resentful towards Ruan Lanru. However, the events of today were only just the beginning.

• 1
  伤药 (shang yao): specifically medicine for wounds/injuries. It sounds a bit awkward in English, but I’ve left it translated to differentiate it from other kinds of medication 药 (yao) that comes up in text.
• 2
  插手 (cha shou): means to interfere. I liked the mental image of Wu Ruo getting his vengeful fingers into everyone’s pies, so I left it as “stick your hands” in text.
• 3
  见死不救 (jian si bu jiu): literally “to see death and not help”. It means to see someone else in trouble and not offer any help.
• 4
  眼睁睁 (yan zheng zheng): literally “with eyes wide open”. It means to “look on helplessly or unfeelingly”. I’ve rephrased for better flow here.
• 5
  Here the guard’s words are meant to convey: “you leave me no choice but to call my master to come and settle this matter”, but I’ve left the direct translation in so as to keep the translation as close to the original Chinese text as possible.
• 6
  兄弟 (xiong di): again, this directly translates as brothers, but in this context is meant to refer to them as bosom buddies. They are not actual brothers. It’s just that brand of “brotherhood” in Chinese culture.
• 7
  In the original Chinese text, it says 吃了三十板棍子 which literally means “ate 30 rods”.
• 8
  Here, Shi Jiu refers to himself as 小的 (xiao de), which literally translates as “little one”. Not sure if anyone else has used it before in previous chapters, but it’s commonly used among servants of the royal family to refer to themselves (e.g: eunuchs, palace maids, etc.). It’s also used among servants of noble families when deferring to their masters, to express that they’re putting themselves in a lower class compared to their masters. It’s not consistently used by the servants to refer to themselves, because in the next sentence, Shi You uses 我 (wo) which is the most common way to say “I”. I don’t think it’s rude for servants to use wo, at least among noble families, but you will never (rarely?) hear anyone use wo in front of the royal family/emperor. Or well, you shouldn’t.