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Descriptions of gore, severe injuries (minor characters)The moment Wu Ruo got onto the carriage, he wanted to advise Wu Zhu not to take up Wu Yu’s proposal.
But even before he opened his mouth, Wu Zhu already spoke first: “Xiao-Ruo, Xiao-Xi, I hope you won’t tell Dad and Mum about this task that Xiao-Yu spoke of.”
If this was found out by Dad and Mum, they would definitely object to him participating in this task, but he didn’t want to give up just like that. Besides, he was already an adult, he was capable of bearing the consequences, and he was also capable of providing for this family.
Wu Ruo: “…”
Under the circumstances where he didn’t have evidence, if he told his dage that Wu Yu’s proposal was actually a trap, his dage definitely wouldn’t believe that Wu Yu wanted to harm him. After all, this was Wu Yu’s ‘good intentions’, why would he so viciously plan to harm someone else?
Wu Xi’s expression was full of worry: “Dage, you have no experience, I’m afraid you’ll run into danger.”
Wu Zhu patted her bangs: “It’s precisely because I have no experience, that’s why I want to go and gain some. If I don’t go because it’s dangerous, then there’s no need for me to go on my internship either, because I’ll run into the same kind of danger on my internship. And I can’t just stay at home forever, right? So, you don’t have to worry, I’ll take good care of myself.”
He looked towards Wu Ruo, who hadn’t spoken since they got onto the carriage: “Xiao-Ruo, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Wu Ruo sighed: “You’ve already said everything, what else is there for me to say?”
Although he really wanted to say that Wu Yu wanted to harm Wu Zhu, because Wu Yu was jealous that Wu Zhu was much more capable, but if he said it, would they believe him?
Wu Zhu chuckled: “You’re worried about me too, right?”
Wu Ruo rolled his eyes: “As long as you know that.”
Wu Xi shook Wu Zhu’s arm, acting cutely1Ah, the return of my translation nemesis: 撒娇 (sa jiao). I think it’ll take me this whole novel to figure out a good way to translate this into English. Refresher for anyone who needs it: sajiao is a term in Chinese similar to the Korean term aegyo, where someone behaves or speaks in a cute or endearing manner to someone else, to try to convince the other person to do something for them.
It’s usually used between romantic couples, family members, or close friends, and often it’s done by women to men. It’s also often done by younger people to someone older.: “Dage, look, erge is also worried about you, it’s better if you don’t go.”
Wu Zhu smiled helplessly: “The two of you…”
It was hard to tell what Wu Ruo was thinking of. His gaze suddenly flickered, and he felt that it might not be a bad thing for his dage to go on the task with Wu Qianbin and the others: “I’m worried for dage‘s safety, but I don’t oppose him going on the task with shushu and the others.”
“You don’t oppose to me going?” Wu Zhu raised his eyebrows, surprised.
“Hn.” Wu Ruo smiled slightly: “The task this time is just nice for dage to ‘properly’ gain experience. Next time, dage will be more seasoned2长记性 (zhang ji xing) literally means ‘to grow (one’s) memory’, but it refers to Wu Zhu gaining the knowledge of how to handle going on tasks/missions, so I opted to translate it less literally., and won’t let himself get hurt. So, why would I oppose him going?”
Wu Zhu was dumbfounded. Why did he feel like his didi‘s words had some underlying meaning?
After half a shichen, the carriage returned to Hei Manor.
After Wu Ruo got off the carriage, he first got Shi Yuan to bring over his medicine case. Then, he said to Wu Zhu and Wu Xi: “Dage, wait for a moment, I have something to give to you.”
“Hn, okay.” Wu Zhu and Wu Xi also got off the carriage.
Wu Xi gazed towards Hei Manor: “Erge, you’ve been married for so long, but I still haven’t been into your manor before.”
Wu Ruo froze for a moment. It was true that he hadn’t let his family members come over. Even in his previous lifetime, he also hadn’t allowed his dad, mum, and the others to come over: “Then, do you want to have lunch here at my place before going back?”
Wu Xi shook her head: “Dad and Mum are still waiting for us at home. We’ll come again next time.”
“Alright, in a few days, I’ll invite all of you over again.”
Not long after, Shi Yuan walked out carrying Wu Ruo’s medicine case.
Wu Ruo took out a small pouch that stored only two small medicine pills from the medicine case and handed it to Wu Zhu: “On the day when you go with sishu and the rest for the task, hang this little pouch around your neck.”
Wu Zhu opened the pouch and sniffed it, but he couldn’t smell any medicinal scent from it: “What kind of medicinal pill is this?”
Wu Ruo laughed: “It’s just for boosting your energy. Before you come back from this task, you have to wear it with you. Otherwise, I’ll tell Dad and Mum about this matter.”
“Alright.” Wu Zhu hung the small pouch around his neck: “Then, we’ll be heading back.”
Wu Ruo watched them get onto the carriage and leave. Only when he couldn’t see the carriage anymore did he huff coldly.
Now, he was all the surer that his dage‘s death in his previous lifetime definitely had something to do with Wu Yu. It was a pity, this time round, Wu Yu had miscalculated.
Wu Ruo narrowed his eyes, then turned around to enter Hei Manor.
In the main hall, Hei Xuanyi, who was in the midst of giving Hei Gan instructions, saw Wu Ruo entering and said nonchalantly: “You’re back.”
He stood up and walked to the entrance, stretching a hand out towards Wu Ruo.
Wu Ruo was dumbfounded.
Shi Yuan could roughly guess what Hei Xuanyi wanted to do, so he passed Wu Ruo’s hand over to Hei Xuanyi.
Hei Xuanyi held onto Wu Ruo’s hand and sat down on the chair in front of the dining table.
Wu Ruo stared at Hei Xuanyi, shocked by the affection3受宠若惊 (shou chong ruo jing) does literally mean ‘to be shocked by receiving someone’s affection’, as I’ve used in text. For a bit more explanation, it’s an idiom which is a humble expression meaning ‘to be overwhelmed by favour from a superior’. From a reader’s POV (not as a translator), I don’t think this phrase really suits being used by Wu Ruo towards Hei Xuanyi, but then again, I’m not the writer so it’s not really up to me..
Why was this person suddenly so warm-hearted towards him?
Hei Gan also seemed like he was surprised by Hei Xuanyi’s actions, his expression was a bit dazed.
Hei Xuanyi said to Hei Xin, who was standing to one side: “Let’s eat.”
“Yes, sir.” Hei Xin beamed as he walked out of the main hall to the kitchens, to get servants to bring forth the food.
Hei Gan hesitated for a moment, then he followed Hei Xin out. After that, he called after him: “Xin-bo4If I’ve already explained this, feel free to skip this footnote. Otherwise, when Hei Gan calls Hei Xin 信伯 (xin bo), it’s just a respectful way of referring to Hei Xin as someone older than him. It’s the same bo that means ‘father’s older brother’ or simply a man who is older than your father.
I’m also soft about the next sentence where Hei Xin calls Hei Gan Xiao-Gan uwu.”
Hei Xin turned around: “Xiao-Gan, what’s the matter?”
Hei Gan’s expression was a little awkward: “It’s nothing much, I just wanted to talk about Master and Madam.”
Hei Xin roughly understood what he wanted to talk about, and asked, smiling: “Were you very surprised by Master’s actions just now?”
“Hn.” Hei Gan had never seen the master taking so much initiative towards anyone before, and moreso, he had never seen the master assisting anyone before, including the master’s own relatives.
Hei Xin smiled: “Now, you must be able to see that the master isn’t forcing himself, right?”
Hei Gan: “…”
Hei Xin patted his shoulder: “It’s time for lunch now, help me go and find the little young master.”
“Where is the little young master?”
“If I knew where he were, would I still need you to go and look for him?”
Hei Gan: “…”
The corpse servants brought the food to the main hall’s dining table. Hei Xuanyi picked up a piece of roasted meat straight away and placed it into Wu Ruo’s bowl.
Wu Ruo ate the roasted meat, then, another piece of braised chicken meat was placed into his bowl.
He glanced at Hei Xuanyi in wonder.
Hei Xuanyi asked: “What kind of food do you like to eat?”
Wu Ruo was struck dumb: “Steamed fish.”
Hei Xuanyi picked up fish meat from the long dish, dipped it in some soy-based dipping sauce5The reason why I didn’t translate this straight into soy sauce is that soy sauce, as most people are familiar with it, is 酱油 (jiang you). The author uses 酱汁 (jiang zhi) here, where the word zhi means ‘juice’. It is most likely mainly soy sauce with some other ingredients. The ingredients in a dipping sauce differ regionally, based on which ingredients are more commonly available to the region and the cultural preferences of each region.
I’m not sure where the author bases Gaoling off of, so I have no idea what kind of ingredients might be included in this dipping sauce. If anyone else knows, please leave a comment and I’ll be sure to add it into the footnotes!, and then placed it into Wu Ruo’s bowl.
Wu Ruo froze and stared at the food in his bowl, silently picking up his chopsticks to eat. After that, every time he finished the food in his bowl, Hei Xuanyi would immediately pick another piece of food and put it into his bowl. He felt that Hei Xuanyi was being very strange today, but internally, he didn’t reject Hei Xuanyi picking food for him. Conversely, he was inexplicably a little pleased, he even felt that the food was even more delicious than it was in the past.
Hei Xin, who was serving them from the side, smiled as he watched their actions. He could tell that their relationship was getting better and better, there was also a great change in the master.
On the second day after Wu Chu’s burial, Wu Ruo received a letter that Wu Xi had sent someone to deliver. The letter informed him that Wu Zhu had already followed sishu and the rest, and left for the task.
After he finished reading the letter, he internally counted the day of Wu Zhu’s return. When that day came, he brought Shi Yuan and the rest to the Wu estate.
When Wu Qianqing saw him, his expression suddenly darkened, and he reprimanded: “How could you and Xiao-Xi mess around like this? You actually hid the matter of your dage going on a task with your sishu and the rest from us? If6万一出了意外 (wan yi chu le yi wai) does mean ‘if something unexpected happens’, but I like the expression for ‘if’ used in Chinese here and wanted to leave a footnote. There are many ways of expressing the possibility of something happening, which translates to ‘if’, and in this case, the author uses wan yi, which directly translates as ‘ten thousand, one’. It sort of means ‘a one in ten thousand chance’, but is usually simply translated as ‘if’.
Another fun fact, not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but the Ruo in Wu Ruo’s name also expresses the possibility of something, meaning ‘if, supposing, assuming’, but it also means ‘as if; like (something)’. I’m not sure if the author chose the names intentionally with regard to meaning, or if they chose whatever sounded nice, but it’s interesting to consider that they chose Wu Ruo’s name to refer to the character getting a second chance. As in: “what if/supposing that this character’s life circumstances changed in this manner, what would things be like for them?” something unexpected happens…”
“Nothing unexpected will happen.” Wu Ruo said, certain.
Wu Qianqing was dumbfounded: “I heard that this was a task to capture a huge Yao, how could there be no danger?”
“There being danger doesn’t mean that something unexpected will happen. In a few days, dage will leave for his experience training7I’ve been translating 历练 (li lian) strictly as ‘internship’ so far, but from now on, I’ll use it interchangeably with ‘experience training’, since that’s a more accurate translation of the phrase.. At that time, he will definitely come across danger many times. Does that mean Dad will not let him go, then?”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Dad, I know what you’re worried about, but dage is already an adult. There are a lot of things that he can decide for himself.”
Wu Qianqing sighed: “You’re also an adult now. Dad already needs you to come and straighten out my thinking, and console me.”
Wu Ruo giggled: “That’s right, I’m also an adult now. It’s about time that dage and I take care of the family.”
Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong were placated by his words, and finally managed to smile a little.
Wu Xi, who had been lectured for a few days now, also sighed a breath of relief, and stuck her tongue out at Wu Ruo.
At this moment, the servants guarding at the main gate of the Wu estate came reporting: “Third Master, Third Madam; Fourth Master, his son and the others have returned.”
Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong immediately stood up: “Are they alright?”
“Fourth Master and the rest have all gotten some injuries.”
Wu Qianqing hurriedly brought Guan Tong and the rest to fetch Wu Zhu. He only sighed a breath of relief when he saw that Wu Zhu was currently helping to carry those who were injured into the estate.
At the same time, the people from the other estates had also rushed over to the main gate.
When Wu Yu, Wu Shi and the rest saw Wu Zhu, they were all struck dumb. However, they very quickly returned to normal.
Wu Xi rushed to Wu Zhu: “Dage, are you alright? Do you know how worried to death8No translation footnote, I just wanted to laugh at how exaggerated Wu Xi is. She’s very adorable. I was these few days?”
“I’m fine.” Wu Zhu patted her shoulder, then, he looked toward Wu Qianqing and the others: “Dad, Mum, let’s talk after we get back.”
Wu Qianqing glanced at Wu Qianbin and the rest, and nodded his head.
When Wu Zhu returned to the main hall of Shuqing Garden, in an instant, his expression fell, and he sat down wordlessly.
Wu Ruo took one look at him, then gestured to Shi Yuan and the rest to close the main door, and to stand guard by the door.
Wu Qianqing immediately sensed that something wasn’t right: “Xiao-Zhu, did something happen?”
Wu Zhu was silent for a moment, then he said: “Dad, someone wants to kill me.”
Wu Qianqing, Guan Tong, and Wu Xi all stared at Wu Zhu with expressions of shock: “Who wants to kill you?”
“Servants from our Wu estate, but I’ve never met them before. It could also be outsiders who had blended into our Wu family’s entourage to try and secretly kill me.”
Wu Ruo internally snorted.
Those people had taken action after all.
Wu Xi said: “Could it be Dad’s enemies from before?”
Wu Zhu shook his head no: “I don’t know.”
Wu Qianqing said: “Tell us about what happened at that time.”
“It was all calm on our way there, until we reached the recesses of a mountain forest called Shouchong Forest9首虫林 (shou chong lin) means ‘first/lead insect forest’. From what I recall, I don’t think it gets much mention hereafter, but I just thought it would be nice to leave a footnote about the meaning of its name.. After that, sishu asked me to use my blood10放血 (fang xue) refers to the act of deliberately letting blood, but I wanted to use a simpler phrasing so that the translation is easier to read. to undo a strange seal. Following that, a really huge Yao appeared, its figure was as huge as a whole mountain…”
Wu Xi said, shocked: “Heavens, such a huge Yao, were all of you able to capture it?”
Wu Qianqing spoke up: “Xiao-Xi, don’t interrupt, let your dage finish talking.”
“Once the huge Yao came out, it went around eating people. Although sishu and the rest immediately took out all kinds of weapons to counter it, but once the weapons hit its body, it was simply like tickling it. There was no effect whatsoever on it at all, sishu and the rest very quickly got injured.
“And the one who was most badly injured was ershu, not only did he vomit blood, his spiritual field was also damaged. In the short period of just half a joss stick, the huge Yao had eaten more than half of our people.
“Those who could run ran, those who could escape escaped, there was just no one who could tackle it. Just as I was running away, I was smacked to the ground by the huge Yao.”
Other than Wu Ruo, everyone else gasped in cold fright: “Then what happened?”
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