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Mentions of minor character death, mentions of funerals, mentions of hitting children (as a joke), explicit discussion of familial discordYao Shuyuan also didn’t wish for the never ending quarrels and arguments every day. Especially when she saw the scenes of disharmony between her children and grandchildren, she was more upset than anyone else. As such, she joined in with Elder Rong and the others to persuade Wu Bofang: “I’ve been married to you1Literally ‘I’ve been husband and wife with you for so many years’. for so many years, although I can’t say I clearly understand all the thoughts and opinions in your heart, but I more or less understand what you’re worried about.
“I know that the Wu estate is your heart’s blood2A.K.A the result of his blood, sweat and tears., it’s like a child to you. You painstakingly built it up bit by bit, and you want it to blossom and flourish, becoming stronger and better, one day capable of surpassing the Huangdu clan to become the main branch. But at present, the Wu family is facing a calamity that we were unable to anticipate, if we continue on like this, the Wu family might really collapse in one fell stroke and then it’ll be too late to repent.”
Wu Bofang’s expression was solemn and he clenched his fists tightly. He still had no intentions to split the family.
Yao Shuyuan continued speaking: “You’ve also seen for yourself. In these past few months, there have simply been too many incidences happening. We can’t bear any further blows; we don’t have to split the family, we’re just letting everyone move out to stay for a little over half a year. When the calamity of this year is over, then we’ll get everyone to move back home. We can still be together in the future.”
Wu Bofang sighed: “I understand what all of you mean. I’m just worried that even after I let them move out, we still won’t be able to overcome the calamity. Now that all four main estates have quarreled to this point, if it weren’t for me keeping them in line, they might be even more unruly.”
Yao Shuyuan frowned: “But if they move out, this calamity might scatter3This is a little hard to translate. What Yao Shuyuan means is that the force of the calamity is very strong while they’re all living together, but once they separate into different households, the calamity will spread itself across all the separated households and won’t be one strong concentrated hit.. It may not befall on every single one of us, causing our Wu family side branch’s descendants to be annihilated4Another sentence that is hard to translate, since I try to retain as much of the original text without anglicizing it. In English, this sentence sounds more like it might mean ‘if it doesn’t befall on every single one of us, it will cause our descendants to be annihilated’. However, in Chinese, it comes off more as ‘it might not befall us, (because if it does befall us) it will mean our descendants will be annihilated’. Hopefully that clears up the meaning of the sentence a bit more.
Also, Yao Shuyuan says 乌家旁系这一脉绝子绝孙: the phrase “zhe yi mai” is a way of referring to all the branches of the Wu family (the main one in the Huangdu capital, the side one in Gaoling City, and other unnamed/unmentioned branches) as ‘vessels’ that make up the entire Wu family, akin to blood vessels. It is also the ‘mai‘ that physicians check when they ‘take your pulse’. There’s a sense of the entire family unit as a living entity of its own. The term used that I translated as ‘annihilated’ literally means ‘dead sons, dead grandchildren’..”
When Wu Bofang heard the last word, his heart clenched, and he stood up, saying: “I’m going out for a walk.”
However, after he left Bojin Garden, he didn’t know where to go either. He could only stroll around in the central gardens.
It was right at this moment that the sounds of fighting and arguments came from the Eastern main estate.
When Wu Bofang looked over, he only saw Wu Qiansu leading a group of people from the Eastern main estate over to the Northern main estate to cause a ruckus.
Wu Bofang speedily headed in their direction, but after taking two steps, he stopped again. He sighed softly and thought in his heart: he could stop them once, but could he stop them a second time?
Wu Bofang might as well not bother. He turned to the main gate of the next estate and entered through it. Yet what entered his field of vision was an entire estate filled with white coffins, white lanterns and white flowers. The bodyguards and servants of the estate were dressed in mourning garments. No one spoke and it was extremely desolated. There was only the occasional sound of tragic sobbing.
In this moment, Wu Bofang realized that he had walked into the Western main estate5Recap: A lot of people from the Western main estate just died because of the massive yao that the Southern main estate unleashed..
Wu Bofang originally intended to enter the main hall to light some joss sticks for the deceased, but for funerary matters, it was extremely taboo for white-haired individuals to send off black-haired individuals6Basically, someone older shouldn’t be attending the funeral of someone younger. If someone older is attending a younger person’s funeral, it’s most likely because the younger person died a violent or unnatural death.. On top of that, he didn’t know how to face his descendants of the Western main estate either. As such, he turned around and left the Western main estate, absentmindedly walking to the Southern main estate.
The Southern main estate had been trashed full of potholes and appeared extremely dilapidated. Although some places had been mended, but the spots had been covered with piles of mud paste from the Yellow River. If rain fell, the mended spots would collapse at any time. However, the atmosphere was a little better than that of the Western main estate. There was a little bit more liveliness7人气 (ren qi): in modern Chinese, it refers to ‘popularity’. In this context, it refers to the energy of having people around, so I have translated it as ‘liveliness’. and on the surface, everyone seemed extremely harmonious. The master of each estate8Note that every main estate is divided into several smaller estates/gardens. Shuqing Garden is a smaller estate within the larger Southern main estate. obediently remained within their own residences. There was neither any fighting nor any crying noises. It unexpectedly felt a bit peaceful.
“Xixi9嘻嘻 (xi xi): the onomatopoeia for ‘giggling’, similar to ‘hee hee’ in English., daddy, quick! Come catch me!”
Suddenly, the sound of a child’s voice traveled into Wu Bofang’s ear.
He absentmindedly raised an eyebrow and thought in his heart, why would this place have the sounds of a child?
Following the sounds, Wu Bofang came to the entrance of Shuqing Garden and saw Wu Ruo blindfolded. He was currently playing the mo xia zi game10摸瞎子 (mo xia zi): literally translates to ‘touch (the) blind person’. The rules are that the ‘blind person’ is usually someone blindfolded, there’s an area of play established and everyone is meant to keep quiet until they are found. There’s a recent trend on Douyin/Chinese TikTok of the ‘blind person’ using a nerf or water gun to find the hiding players. with the little toddler11小娃儿 (xiao wa er): Might have left a footnote for this a couple of chapters back, but Dandan hasn’t shown up in a while so in case anyone forgot, this term actually means ‘little doll’. It’s a common way of referring to toddler-aged children. who had chased away the giant yao beast.
Wu Ruo laughed and said: “Just wait till I catch you, then I’ll smack your little butt and see if you still dare to run amok!”
“You can’t catch me, you can’t catch me!” The little toddler dodged Wu Ruo’s pursuit, extremely energetically.
Wu Bofang couldn’t help being infected12As in, infected by their bubbly, positive mood. and let out a small smile.
Wu Ruo couldn’t see and could only catch based on sound. Suddenly, he touched a body.
“Yi13Onomatopoeia for confusion.? Who’s this?”
“…” Wu Bofang let Wu Ruo touch his face.
“Is it Dad?” Wu Ruo frowned: “Doesn’t seem like it.”
Dandan giggled: “Daddy, if you can guess who it is correctly, I’ll let you smack my butt!”
“Alright, you said it yourself.” Wu Ruo touched the other person’s yipao14Previously translated this as ‘robes’, but I think I prefer it better as yipao. Essentially refers to the person’s clothes. Has a connotation of the clothes being hanfu (A.K.A traditional Chinese clothing) but the term doesn’t specifically pinpoint clothes from any particular dynasty.: “Dad didn’t wear these set of yipao today, so it can’t be Dad. Who can it be?”
The material of the yipao were very good. It was absolutely not something that the estate servants could afford to wear. Could it be dabo or the others?
Hei Xuanyi who was standing to a side watching Wu Ruo touch another man narrowed his eyes and walked over. Under Wu Bofang’s questioning gaze, he stretched his hand out and let Wu Ruo touch it.
Wu Ruo had only just touched his hand, but he immediately confirmed: “It’s Xuanyi.”
The corners of Hei Xuanyi’s mouth curled up slightly. With one tug, he pulled Wu Ruo into his arms.
Wu Ruo sniffed: “Even the fragrance on his body is the same, it’s definitely Xuanyi without a doubt.”
He placed both hands affectionately onto Hei Xuanyi’s chest: “I guessed it right, so are you going to teach me how to use the jian15A type of Chinese longsword.?”
Wu Bofang was inwardly shocked. He had always assumed that Wu Ruo hated this marriage, he never would’ve thought that their relationship would be so good.
Hei Xuanyi took the initiative to help him take down the piece of cloth on his face.
Wu Ruo lit up with a smile16More literally, he ‘lifted’ up a smile.: “I guessed it!”
Randomly, he thought of how the clothing material that he’d touched before and the ones Hei Xuanyi was wearing were different, and so he looked over to the side. He unexpectedly saw Wu Bofang.
“Great-Grandfather?!”
Wu Bofang nodded his head and asked: “Are your dad and mum around?”
“They are.”
Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong heard Wu Bofang’s voice and came out from the main hall: “Grandfather, is something the matter17More literally: “why have you come over?” But it sounds rude in English, which is definitely not what it conveys in Chinese. Hopefully what I actually did choose doesn’t sound rude LMAO Please let me know if it’s not coming off right. This is meant to be a respectful greeting.?”
Wu Bofang laughed with a little sigh: “Just walking about.”
“Please come in18It’s actually “quickly come in” but again, it sounds a little rude in English, which is not what the Chinese conveys.!” Wu Qianqing invited him into the main hall.
Guan Tong said: “It’s almost wushi19From 11am to 1pm., Grandfather, have a meal here before you go20Again, this phrasing is not considered rude at all, although it may sound that way in English to some people..”
Wu Bofang wanted to reject the offer, but when he thought of how, after he returned, the Western main estate’s residents might come and look for him to discipline the residents of the Southern main estate again, he agreed to stay at Shuqing Garden for his lunch.
Of course, it wasn’t because he was biased towards the Southern main estate and was unwilling to punish them. He was also angry that Wu Qianjing and the others would actually dare to unleash a giant yao beast, causing the deaths of so many of his children and grandchildren. How could his heart not ache? However, after punishing the Southern main estate, those from the Western main estate wouldn’t just give up and let things be.
They were full of deep seated hatred towards the Southern main estate. They wanted the people from the Southern main estate to go and die. If Wu Bofang punished the Southern main estate, those from the Western main estate might take advantage of the opportunity when those from the Southern main estate were injured to take the rest of their lives21Imagine them having a HP bar like a video game. If he punishes them down to like 15 HP, it will be much easier for the Western main estate residents to swoop in and reduce that to 0 HP. This is the general idea that Wu Bofang is referring to.. This wasn’t the conclusion that he wanted to see.
The atmosphere at Shuqing Garden was very peaceful. Everyone chatted with each other amiably. It made Wu Bofang unwilling to leave. However, at the end of the day, this wasn’t where he wanted to stay. So, after finishing his meal, he left Shuqing Garden and returned to Bojin Garden, ascending his beloved multi-storey pagoda.
Recently, because there had simply been too many things happening, it had already been quite some time since he’d last gone up the pagoda.
Standing at the highest peak, looking out towards the residences that belonged to the Wu estate, Wu Bofang felt aggrieved22The term JYB uses here also literally translates to ‘sour’. Therefore, to feel ‘sour’ in your heart is to feel wronged or aggrieved. Coincidentally, I read through some comments and was reminded that I had translated 委屈 (wei qu) as ‘aggrieved’ too, but the word used here is different from wei qu. Many nuances that are difficult to translate, I’m afraid. in his heart. If he forcibly kept everyone within the Wu estate residences, it was possible that the descendants of the Wu family would die here one after another, resulting in the annihilation of his descendants. If he let them leave, to stay outside of the estate, perhaps it would truly be as his wife said, the calamity might dissipate upon every individual, such that everyone only bore a little bit of it, perhaps they might be able to safely tide through this year23Not an editing error, JYB does use 说不定 (shuo bu ding) twice. It literally translates as ‘hard to say’ but is best paraphrased as ‘perhaps’ to fit English.
Again, to explain the logic: if they stay as one family unit, the entire calamity will befall them as a collective. Their hope is that by separating the family, the force of the entire calamity will be scattered upon each person to a lesser degree. I.E: 100kg of force exerted on one airplane filled with 100 people versus 1kg of force exerted per person on 100 people..
Wu Bofang thought about it on the pagoda for a lot24In English, intangible things are usually measured in periods of time. In Chinese, it’s measured according to volume.; he stayed up there until deep into the night before he descended from the pagoda.
The next morning, he summoned everyone from all the Wu estate residences to Bojin Garden.
When the four main estates came face to face, they almost erupted in a fight again. At this point, where did they resemble people with blood relations to each other? They were simply like enemies who had been feuding for hundreds of lifetimes.
Wu Bofang watched as they exchanged insults25Original text uses 恶言相对 (e yan xiang dui) but according to Pleco, the phrase is 恶言相向 (e yan xiang xiang). Variation may be due to regional differences or a misuse of the idiom on JYB’s part. among each other and the rims of his eyes reddened slightly. Yao Shuyuan who was beside him stepped up to pat him on the back, comforting him.
When Wu Bofang who had originally not resolved on a decision saw such a scene, his expression rapidly darkened and he said coldly: “Do all of you still remember the matter of the three joss sticks breaking, during the winter solstice, after I inquired with the deities?”
Everyone looked at him, stunned.
“Now, I’ll tell all of you the conclusion. These three joss sticks foretell that our Wu family will encounter a severe calamity. I have written a letter to Lord State Tutor to request for assistance. His response says that all of you need to leave the Wu estate to lie low and stay out of trouble. After this year has passed, then all of you may return. Now, after all of you go back26To their own residences., immediately find a place to move out to. After five days, all of you must leave the Wu estate.”
Everyone’s expressions changed; one after another, they began discussing. However, no one questioned Wu Bofang’s words. Because everyone knew how highly27The actual Chinese term is 看重 (kan zhong), literally ‘view heavily’, meaning ‘to place importance upon’. Wu Bofang regarded the Wu estate’s unity. If there wasn’t really an urgent matter, he would never let them leave on a whim.
Right now, they were both scared yet reluctant to leave this place. After all, they had stayed here for so many years, surely there would be attachments. Moving out and moving back in was also troublesome.
Someone asked: “What about the matter of the children attending the academy?”
Wu Bofang said: “We’ll temporarily put a hold to it first. They can continue once you’ve all returned. All of you can educate your children yourselves first. Alright, quickly go back and source for houses.”
Everyone was afraid to be slower than others and not be able to find a good house, so they hurriedly scattered, only those from the Southern main estate lingered in their spots.
Wu Qianbin said: “Grandfather, we still haven’t been cured of the gu parasite.”
Wu Bofang replied: “The shaman should arrive at the Wu estate tomorrow. After he arrives, I will immediately get him to cure all of you of the gu parasites. Now, all of you should go and source for houses first.”
The residents of the Southern main estate could only leave. After returning to the Southern main estate, Wu Xuanran first instructed the servants to go and look for houses that they could stay in. Afterwards, in front of Wu Qianqing, he summoned his descendants from all the other estates to his own residences, purposely ignoring Wu Qianqing.
Wu Qianqing laughed bitterly and, with Guan Tong and Wu Xi, returned to Shuqing Garden.
Wu Xi said: “Dad, Grandfather probably doesn’t want to stay together with us. All of them don’t even treat us as members of the Wu family.”
Wu Qianqing sighed: “If he doesn’t want us to stay together with them, then we won’t stay together with them28Each of the four main estates will most likely choose to find a cluster of houses and live close to each other, so that they can still look out for and take care of each other, similar to their living situation within the Wu estate.
By choosing to not to include Wu Qianqing in the discussion for house hunting, Wu Xuanran is deliberately signalling to Wu Qianqing that he doesn’t want Wu Qianqing living near the rest of their more ‘immediate’ family, thus pushing him outside of the umbrella of looking out for and taking care of each other, of being ‘together’ as a family.
Again, familial relations are a huge thing among Chinese people so this is a very significant blow from Wu Xuanran towards Wu Qianqing..”
Guan Tong comforted him: “If we live among ourselves, it’ll be a little calmer. There won’t be as many troublesome issues.”
Now, after much difficulty, they were able to separate. She wouldn’t want to stay together with the others from the Southern main estate, provoking another big pile of ridiculous issues again29Again, similar to a previous footnote that I left before (I think). It’s not that ‘staying together’ with them causes the ‘big pile of ridiculous issues’. It’s ‘if they stay together with the others’, the three of them will get tangled up in things when (not if) the others from the Southern main estate get up to their nonsense again.
It expresses Guan Tong’s opinion that the Southern main estate’s other residences will probably get into more ridiculous trouble again regardless of their presence. But if they hang around, they’ll most definitely get involved as well..
Wu Qianqing nodded his head in agreement.
“Dad, Mum, Xiao-Xi, what are all of you doing standing around here?” Wu Ruo who had rushed to the academy to attend classes, saw them standing in the middle of the alleyway, asked in surprise.
Wu Xi couldn’t shut her mouth and immediately related everything about the matter of Wu Xuanran ostracizing their family, and the matter of Wu Bofang summoning them to Bojin Garden before that once over.
The more Wu Ruo listened, the bigger the smile on the corners of his lips. In the end, he suppressed his inner heart’s excitement, and smiled happily30I’m assuming here that JYB means ‘smiling happily’ is already a muted reaction. Maybe Wu Ruo wanted to burst out cackling with joy LOL: “Is that so? Grandfather wants all of you to move out? How coincidental, Xuanyi bought a large residence next to Hei Manor a little while back. All of you can move over there to stay.”
The three of them stared, stupefied, at Wu Ruo’s smile and were lost in their thoughts. Wu Qianqing’s heart was full of surprised thoughts, why was his son so happy hearing about these two incidences?
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Surprise update today because it’s a loved one’s birthday, and also because I’ve had a horrible end and start of the year, and being able to share this story with everyone cheers me up. Fingers crossed I make it on time for the 2nd week of February update.
As always, thanks to everyone for reading, liking, commenting and supporting LWSL! Happy Chinese New Year!
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