The large fire on Wuyue Island came suddenly, rising from the east, and the billowing black smoke stained the clear sky with a layer of dark colour.
Everyone said that this was a fire caused by the lightning last night and that it was a natural disaster.
The flames continued to spread and even had the tendency to spread, making the civilians unable to rest or eat in peace1fig. extremely worried and troubled.
However, at this critical moment, the City Lord disappeared strangely, and no one knew where to look for him. It was at this moment that they realised that the City Lord, who had a sudden appearance, was too mysterious. Once he disappeared, it appeared as if he had nothing to do with the city at all.
Everyone had no choice but to report to the authorities. The newly appointed county magistrate, He Zhiyi, had nowhere to show his fists and feet earlier, and this exactly was what he had sought but failed to get2fig. exactly what one’s been looking for. So he immediately recruited people together to put out the fire.
Everyone worked together to cut wood and pump water to prevent the fire from spreading to the surrounding areas of Jile City. The vigorous firefighting operation lasted for three days, and finally, accompanied by heavy rain, the fire was completely extinguished.
It was said that after Wen Chan and his group returned from the woods that day, they quickly woke up Situ Zhoulan, who was still sleeping, to treat Shu Hua. They then went to bed at dawn.
When he woke up the next day, Wen Chan found that he was the only one among them who remembered what had happened that day and night.
When he asked, feeling puzzled, Liang Shuhong replied, “After we entered the woods last night, the sky suddenly changed, and there was a strong wind and thunder in the summer. Shu Hua was injured during the hasty escape. Didn’t we come back?”
“The matter of the sacrifice……” Wen Chan tried out.
However, Liang Shuhong looked confused, “What sacrifice?”
Even Liang Yanbei was the same. Wen Chan was silent for a while and finally decided not to speak out about this matter. Anyway, others would not believe it, and there was no need to waste his breath.
What he couldn’t figure out was why he was the only one who remembered it?
However, he didn’t wonder for long because the City Lord, who had suddenly disappeared, suddenly appeared in his room.
Ah Fu and Qin Qi were taking care of the Shu Hua, while Wen Chan was eating alone in his room. The City Lord stood quietly behind him.
“I heard that you almost ruined the sacrifice?” His voice suddenly sounded.
Wen Chan was thinking about something, and he was caught off guard and choked when he heard this voice. He took a big sip of cold tea to relieve his breath. And when he looked back, he saw the immortal3(literally, an immortal who has been banished from heaven to live on earth), an epithet for exceptional individuals such as the Tang poet Li Bai 李白 with the white fan dressed in white standing there gracefully.
The City Lord smiled at him lightly, “Do you know how long we have been waiting for this sacrifice?”
Although he looked friendly, Wen Chan still felt the coldness coming from him, so he said, “I don’t know.”
“I almost hurt myself.” He exclaimed.
Wen Chan didn’t know what he meant, so he didn’t respond. He just listened to him continue, “Maybe you don’t even know it yourself. But I sent you back by myself.”
The meaning of this was very clear. The City Lord knew that he was a reborn person.
Wen Chan was stunned. He always thought that his rebirth was a flaw in the cycle of fate, but he didn’t know that it was the work of the City Lord.
“The first time I saw you, you recognised me, and my breath remains on your body. So I was sure that you were the soul I sent. Of course, I myself don’t know why.” He said.
This statement was a bit disgusting, and Wen Chan slightly disliked it. So instead he asked an irrelevant question, “You are not Lou Muge, are you?”
The City Lord was not surprised, and generously admitted, “Yes, the real Lou Muge was only called back last night.”
“A heinous demon?” Wen Chan said.
The City Lord chuckled when he heard it, “That’s what the world says.”
He added, “But it has nothing to do with you, you are just a mortal.”
“You group of monsters got together and called back an evil demon. So how can it not concern me when it takes place within the borders Xi Liang?” Wen Chan wondered, “Anyway, I am also the monarch of Xi Liang.”
Although it was all in the past now.
He said, “You don’t need to worry, everything is controlled by someone. You just need to live your mortal life well.”
His words and sentences just meant: No matter what happened last night, it has nothing to do with you, and you can rest assured.
Wen Chan thought: There is no way I can just not worry about it. After all, this matter involves such monstrous and multicoloured things. You monsters can easily call the wind and summon the rain4(idiom); to exercise magical powers / fig. to stir up troubles; and turn the night into day. I’m really scared.
Of course, he just thought of these words in his heart. Wen Chan wouldn’t really say them out at all. And he was silent for a while, “You came to me just to say this?”
“Your memory is not disturbed. So you need to know the truth.” He replied, “You just need to remember that the Shengui Clan has been destroyed, and what happened here will not affect the civilians.”
These words reminded Wen Chan that although he had a sense of justice and felt that it was wrong for them to call back the monster, he cherished his life more and could not overestimate his own capabilities and bump into the claws of those people.
He came to Wuyue Island to destroy the Shengui Clan. Now that the Shengui Clan had truly been destroyed, although it was not done by his own hands, he had achieved his original purpose. In this way, the Zhong family was equivalent to having its dominant hand cut off.
Even if the current Zhong family had the intention of mutiny, their power was still not properly developed. Surely, Zhong Wenting had come to Wuyue Island this time to win over the Shengui Clan like in his previous life. Though he came seven or eight years early, he wasn’t able to foresee that this world would be different from his previous life. And the Shengui Clan was, at that point, destroyed. If he had not died, he would return home with his tail between his legs.
After breaking the bypass of the Zhong family, Wen Chan really had the upper hand.
The next step was to return to the capital.
Wen Chan didn’t know how long he had been thinking. But when he came back to his senses, the City Lord had already left, and he was once again alone in the room as before.
He hurriedly finished his meal, ran to find Shu Hua, and briefly asked about the situation.
It was what they say a hundred days of injury. Although Shu Hua’s injuries were not serious, he still needed to recuperate for ten and a half days5the exact meaning is that “it takes a hundred days for the bone to knit and the tendons to heal”. So the return to the capital was delayed.
July soon came to an end, and when Wen Chan counted the days on the calendar, he realised that the big day was coming.
For several days in a row, he left early and returned late, and his head or tail couldn’t be seen. Liang Yanbei was left empty-handed several times in a row. He was very depressed and caught Dan Ke to ask, “Do you know what Young Master Wen has been busy with recently?”
Dan Ke was surprised, “You are asking me? How would I know?”
Liang Yanbei frowned in distress.
“Can’t you ask the little eunuch by his side? He follows after him all day long.” Dan Ke said.
Liang Yanbei gave him a look that said, ‘Do you think I haven’t asked already?’, “He refused to tell me.”
“Why are you focusing on him all day long? Can’t people do something by themselves?!” Dan Ke said unhappily.
“I haven’t seen him for four days!” Liang Yanbei then felt that his cousin’s tone was very rude and raised his hand to hit him, “Is that how you talk to me?”
Dan Ke stepped back and shouted while glaring at him, “You can’t take it out on me! I will report you to my aunt when I go back!”
“You dare!” Liang Yanbei threatened.
Dan Ke could not afford to offend him. So he could only dodge him, and he was going to escape with oil on the soles of his feet. Liang Yanbei wanted to chase him, but he saw Wen Chan coming in through the courtyard gate. He turned around and came to his side.
“Young Master Wen, where have you been?” As soon as he got closer, he smelled the scent of grass on him and asked quietly.
Wen Chan seemed a little tired. He looked up at him and said, “I went out for a walk.”
“Oh–” Liang Yanbei looked him up and down carefully. He was obviously still in a hurry to find someone. Seeing that then, he didn’t know what to say, “Then…… Tomorrow night, are you free?”
He nodded, “What’s the matter?”
Liang Yanbei paused and then said, “It’s nothing big. Let’s just have a meal together, and it can be considered a break.”
“Well, I see.” Wen Chan responded indifferently. Maybe he was really tired. After speaking, he entered the room. Ah Fu, who was following him, looked back at Liang Yanbei.
Liang Yanbei’s gaze kept chasing the man back to the room, and he didn’t withdraw it until the door closed. He inexplicably felt a little irritable. He stood there for a while and then went to find his biaodi who deserved a beating.
Wen Chan would naturally not forget what day the next day was.
The last day of July was Liang Yanbei’s birthday. Wen Chan had been going in and out of the past few days just to prepare a birthday gift for him, and he specially told Ah Fu not to tell others.
After meeting Liang Yanbei in his previous life, Wen Chan carefully prepared gifts for his birthday. It was a pity that the things he had prepared since Liang Yanbei married his wife were not given out.
It was not that Liang Yanbei wouldn’t accept it. But Wen Chan couldn’t give it to him anymore.
Wen Chan took a bath and went to bed earlier in order not to let himself think about it.
No one deliberately mentioned Liang Yanbei’s birthday, but many people knew about it. Even Yun Yongxu sent gifts and piled them in the courtyard.
The steward of the mansion served a sumptuous meal and set up a large table in the courtyard. Liang Yanbei was so happy that even the three subordinates by Wen Chan’s side were allowed to sit down to eat at the table, so the whole table was full.
Even Jiang Yueying was invited to participate.
The group of young people, who understood some of the rules, pushed Wen Chan to sit in the main seat. But Wen Chan, considering that it was Liang Yanbei’s birthday, gave up the seat and sat still in the side seat without moving, as if his butt was glued to the stool.
When Liang Yanbei saw that he was separated from Wen Chan by three or four people, he at once didn’t want to sit in the main seat anymore. But just as he moved, he was vigorously pressed onto the seat by Dan Ke, “Biaoge, today is your birthday. So you should sit in the main seat!”
“Who else can you let sit here if you don’t sit here? Do you want to leave the main seat vacant?” He added.
As soon as the words came out, everyone at the table fixed their attention on him. Liang Yanbei suddenly felt unable to stand up and glanced at Dan Ke obliquely, “You speak less. My skull hurts when you talk.”
Dan Ke smiled happily, sat down next to Liang Yanbei, and called out, “Everyone, don’t be restrained. Today is my biaoge’s birthday. Let go of the belly and eat! Let go of the belly and drink! There is enough wine and meat!”
It was unknown if the meat was enough, but the wine was definitely enough. It was Dan Ke who was responsible for buying the wine. This person didn’t feel bad at all for spending money. So he picked up all the expensive ones and bought a bunch of them.
There were wine jars placed by his feet.
Dan Ke opened a jar and poured it for people one by one, “Girls, just drink plum wine like this. A few of us men will drink Trimeresurus stejnegeri6It’s actually the name of a poisonous snake. The plum wine won’t make you drunk.”
Qiao Yanci smiled and said, “There is nothing intoxicating about wine.”
“This wine is really not intoxicating.” Dan Ke said, “There is little alcohol in it, and people here use it as a beverage.”
Situ Zhoulan took the lead in taking a sip, and her eyes flashed with pleasant surprise. She said in approval, “It’s really delicious. It’s neither sour nor has a burning sensation. And the flavour of liquor in wine is not strong.”
Dan Ke smiled triumphantly, “Of course, I specially picked it for you young ladies.”
After pouring it for the girls, it was then poured for the youngsters. It was Wen Chan’s turn, but Wen Chan pulled away his wine goblet and said, ”I don’t drink.”
Everyone at the table didn’t expect him to say that, and they were taken aback at the same time.
Dan Ke was the best at persuading people to drink alcohol, “How can that be? Today is my biaoge’s birthday. If you drink a glass, it means my cousin will live one year more. Young Master Wen, my biaoge is good to you, right?”
Wen Chan was helpless. “How can there be such a reason?”
“We people in the Jianghu reason like that.” Dan Ke stretched out his hand to take his wine goblet, “Don’t talk about anything else. Let’s fill it up first!”
Wen Chan hurriedly guarded it, and the two of them had a fight in full view of the public. Resulting in Liang Shuhong intervening, “Biaodi, since Young Master Wen doesn’t want to drink, aren’t you urging him, like forcing him to do something?”
You have the same moral conduct as your biaoge.
“You are really accusing me wrongly by saying that.” Dan Ke interjected to express his disapprobation, feeling very aggrieved, “I just want Young Master Wen to share some of the birthday joy. How can that be forcing someone to do something.”
“Yes, we all drank. Young Master Wen is the only one who hasn’t drunk. It’s inexcusable.” Qiao Yanci joined in.
“Young Master Wen, drink a little. Let’s all have fun together.” Situ Zhoulan also spoke for the first time.
A single person, Liang Shuhong, was no match for three and lost the battle. Then Ah Fu took over, “Our Young Master has always disliked drinking, and his alcohol tolerance is not good. If he gets drunk……”
Halfway through speaking, he suddenly stopped and blanked. Then, after thinking about it seriously, he said to Wen Chan, “If you are drunk, this humble one will definitely take good care of you. Young Master, just drink a little. It’s for giving a blessing to Young Master Liang.”
He originally thought that he was a friendly ally, but he turned out to be a spy!
Wen Chan glared at him and whispered, “Can you shut up.”
Ah Fu curled his lips.
Seeing that everyone supported him, Dan Ke’s haughtiness rose. But just as he was about to speak, he heard Liang Yanbei say, “Since you can’t drink Trimeresurus stejnegeri, how about drinking plum wine?”
Wen Chan looked at him blankly and saw him smiling softly, “It will be okay if you don’t drink intoxicating wine.”
This was too much to refuse. If Wen Chan rejected it again, it would spoil everyone’s mood. So he had to nod in response.
Dan Ke quickly changed the wine, took the wine goblet that Wen Chan was reluctant to hand over, and filled it up with glug sounds.
“Come on, wish biaoge a healthy and happy new year of life!” Dan Ke didn’t know what he was so happy about. But he couldn’t stop smiling, and shouted, “Everyone, let’s toast together!”
Wen Chan slowly raised the wine goblet to clink glasses, and after clinking glasses, he saw that everyone was drinking. So he also took a small sip.
The taste of the plum wine was really good. It had neither the sourness of plum nor the burning sensation of wine. It was sweet and quite delicious.
It was just that after drinking, a faint aroma of wine came up.
Wen Chan thought that since everyone was drinking, no one would pay attention to him. So after taking a sip, he was going to set down the bottle. However, he didn’t expect to be caught by Dan Ke again.
“Hey — —” he reproached, “Young Master Wen, what’s the matter with you. The first glass of wine has to be drunk completely until the bottom is visible. If you sip it one sip at a time, you won’t be able to finish this glass by tomorrow!”
Wen Chan felt puzzled, “What are you always staring at me for?”
“It’s not that I want to stare at you. You are the most conspicuous one at this table. Our cups are empty, but yours is still full.” Dan Ke said, “Drink it up quickly.”
Liang Yanbei chuckled, “Forget it. Let him be.”
“That won’t do.” Dan Ke didn’t overlook nor spare7unwilling to forgive / to treat severely without listening to excuses and urged, “Hurry up!”
Wen Chan gritted his teeth in anger and muttered, “How is my wine goblet full……” He had just taken a sip then.
However, everyone at the table was staring at him. So he had to empty the bottle in one go.
Translator’s corner
Thank you so much for reading the chapter. If you liked my translation and wanna support me, you can comment down your thoughts or send me a Kofi.
KO-FI
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