Is the Gentleman Feeling Alright? – Chapter 25

  
  Nearing the time of the third night watch (11pm-1am), there was a sudden sound of footsteps passing by and taking off on the eaves. It was especially clear in the quiet autumn night, but it went away in a different direction without pausing for even a moment.
  Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu looked at each other, opened the door and made to chase.
  They had only made a few steps before they heard some noise in another courtyard; dropping down and looking around, they found that it was Su Xing’s residence. The guards in the courtyard had gone off somewhere, and looking through the window, one could vaguely see a mess in the house, looking like the aftermath of a fight.
  Chu Mingyun patted Su Shiyu, “Over there.”
  Sure enough, a person’s figure flashed past the corner and headed towards a remote corner of the residence. They gave chase, and a half-open iron gate appeared in their field of sight in the dark of the night, it was the residence’s water prison. Zheng Wan, the previous Right Fufeng, had a kind heart and had abandoned and left it unused and locked for many years. But now the iron chain of the water prison was broken and draped on the ground. Cold wind blew from the darkness within the door, chilling the face where it met skin.
  They couldn’t help but pause, and in this instant Su Xing’s muffled voice came from within. Su Shiyu frowned slightly, grabbed Chu Mingyun’s wrist, and walked down the stone steps inside the door.
  Chu Mingyun looked at Su Shiyu’s hand in surprise, and only after a good while he belatedly remembered what he said casually at the entrance of the Eternal Joy Casino, but he didn’t expect that Su Shiyu would still remember it. But he didn’t know what to say at the moment, so he smiled silently. The man’s palm was still warm.
  Su Shiyu seemed to be quite familiar with this water jail, and was able to follow the sounds without much trouble even without being able to see anything before him.
  The fierce sounds of fighting was a bit ethereal and weird by the echo of the aisle, and it seemed to be near, and in the darkness sparks of gold where metal met metal and stone constantly flashed.
  ”Uncle?” Su Shiyu raised his voice slightly.
  There was sharp screeching of blades in the distance, and someone raised their voice to snarl something. But it broke off before one could hear it. The sound of the weapon falling heavily to the ground resounded over, and immediately there was a dead silence in the prison.
  After a while, a fire suddenly lit up in the dungeon, and the flame of the oil lamp gradually stabilized, illuminating this space. Su Xing leaned against the wall panting, and a black-clothed masked man lay not far away from his feet, and although he no longer drew breath, he was still glaring at Su Xing hard as if his eyelids would rip.
  Chu Mingyun approached and squatted down and tore off his mask. They had seen that face many times in the past few days, and it was the official Registrar. His mouth was open wide as if exhausting all his effort to say something, but unfortunately his throat had been cut open and he couldn’t make the slightest sound, only succeeding in making his face a bit hideous. (T/N: This must be Chu Mingyun’s POV)
  Su Xing lay wounded in disarray, coughed hard, and cursed: “This b*stard, it’s no wonder that he suddenly said that he caught the murderer. Turned out that he was the one who killed, and now he even wants to kill me!”
  Chu Mingyun smiled uncomprehendingly, did not answer his words, stood up and was about to walk over, but was suddenly stopped by Su Shiyu’s hand. Chu Mingyun looked at him suspiciously, and saw that Su Shiyu looked at Su Xing fixedly, with a strange calm expression.
  Su Xing beckoned to him in wonder, “Yu’er, you come, come and help your uncle up.”
  Su Shiyu stood still, “Uncle,” after a moment of silence, he suddenly said, “When you asked me that day, and I kept something from you. Actually there was something Zheng Wan’s wife said.”
  ”What?”
  ”Since they’re someone familiar with us, then how could they do an act so vicious.”
  Su Xing smiled, looking at the official Registrar lying on the ground and said: ” And isn’t that true. Who would have thought that after following Zheng Wan for so long, he would viciously murder him.”
  Su Shiyu still looked at him and repeated: ” Since they’re someone familiar with us, then how could they do an act so vicious.” His voice was gentle and his words were clear.
  Su Xing was stunned, his complexion changed slightly, “…what do you mean?”
  Su Shiyu said lightly: “Zheng Wan has known you for many years, and the official Registrar is under your command. Uncle, why bother doing something this vicious .” Chu Mingyun had a profound meaning . His gaze hovered over the two of them, copying his hands and consciously leaning against a wall to watch them coldly.
  Su Xing’s expression was completely ugly, “Yu’er, what do you mean? You’re suspicious of me?!”
  ”After hearing the confession before, it was still suspicion,” his eyes were deep, “But tonight it’s confirmed.”
  ” Confirmed what?! Confirmed it was me who killed him?” Su Xing couldn’t believe it, “I am your uncle, you and I are blood relatives! When you were a kid I even held you, and took you out for outings, don’t you remember?”
  Su Shiyu laughed very lightly, “Nephew naturally remembers. More than that, I still remember that my uncle supervised the construction of this dungeon when he served as Right Fufeng. You brought me here and told me about the mechanisms you hid,” he raised his eyes and looked at Su Xing, “…the one who has forgotten, I am afraid it is you.”
  Su Xing’s pupils shrank suddenly, and then his whole body trembled in anger, “So what if there are mechanisms? Don’t tell me you think I will harm you?”
  Su Shiyu looked down and said after a long silence: “Do you remember the aunt’s retelling when I came by my uncle?”
  
  ——I saw it when I passed by Jinling this time. Your aunt, she said that your mourning period is almost a year past, and since Du Yue is in Chang’an, if you delay any further, she will personally take care of it for you, and she can see her son along the way.
  ——She said that your mourning period is almost a year past.
  
  ”My parents died in July, Zheng Wan was assassinated in August, and then you were ordered to take up the post of Right Fufeng. My aunt has a rigorous personality, and she will never remember the memorial date by mistake, and it doesn’t seem to be a slip of the tongue…. That means you came to Chang’an before July, but didn’t ever show your face then, why is that?”
Came to Chang’an, hid in Fufeng County and secretly plotted this series of murders. After they arrived, [he] arranged for a fake murderer to confirm Chu Mingyun as culprit. Within two days, used the onlookers to spread the rumors of the conspiracy of the Grand Marshall committing murder, and then killed the official Registrar who was doing the work for him, then there was no one who could identify [him as the mastermind]. At the same time, they were led to the water prison, as long as [he] could use the mechanisms to kill them, the end result others would naturally draw is that the Grand Marshall took the opportunity to attack the Grand Secretary but wasn’t entirely successful, and both met their demise. Anyway, there is no living soul to bear witness, what would it have to do with Right Fufeng, who just took office?
  The plan was meticulous, and there shouldn’t have been even the slightest bit off.
  But Su Shiyu saw it clearly, and his guess wasn’t even the slightest bit off.
  Su Xing was stunned for a long time, lowered his head, and his shoulders trembled slowly. He was actually laughing. The laughter grew louder and reverberated on the walls of the water prison. When he raised his head again, his expression had already grown cold and he stared at Su Shiyu. “You had actually started suspecting me since then?”
  Su Shiyu said quietly: “I came here on orders, for the purpose of investigating the case.”
  ”Heh, Su Shiyu!” Su Xing sneered, “You’re truly the good son taught by Su Jue, exactly the same as your father. …No, your father isn’t even comparable to you!”
  ”Don’t tell me that back then, Uncle was also banished from the capital for this reason?”
  ”Back then I hadn’t done anything wrong, Su Jue just used one phrase that I had ‘impure ambitions’ and threw me out! Expelled his own brother out of the capital, a thousand miles out! “
  Since he had already torn face1 with them, Su Xing had no more scruples, “So what if I had impure ambitions, can Li Yanzhen that brat wet behind his ears, be regarded as a monarch? I don’t share your interest in coaxing children.”
  ”…So my uncle has decided to perch on a different branch2 now?”
  ”Or what, to be just like you father-and-son? Head full of maintaining the rites between subject and monarch, and not knowing to open my eyes and look at what has become of the world! A few years of riots, unending natural disasters, in the end these are actually man-made disasters. After a short period of tranquility, do you really think that it is starting to be peaceful? Wake up a little, it’s destined that you can’t raise up Li Yanzhen, that mediocre and incompetent person!”
  ”Uncle should speak primly.” Su Shiyu frowned slightly.
  ”Don’t call me uncle anymore,” Su Xing sneered, “I understand, yes, blame me for forgetting what kind of person you are. Back then your father wanted to kill you with a sword I shouldn’t have stopped him, otherwise I would be spared regrets now! I have long heard people say the Grand Secretary is this and that, and now I want to say they are really right.” He raised his hand and pointed directly at Su Shiyu, “Heartless and desire-less, incapable of shedding blood and tears! You just go on like this, and you should have lifelong loneliness!”
  They were blood relatives, yet how could he curse at him so bitterly.
  This bout of cursing was so vivid that Chu Mingyun couldn’t help taking a look at Su Shiyu. Su Shiyu’s expression was bland, calm as if no waves rocked the boat, but you couldn’t tell if this person was exactly as he seemed, to have a heart this cold and unfeeling, not moved in the slightest.
  It wasn’t until Su Xing ran out of breath and stopped speaking that Su Shiyu spoke up calmly: “This nephew has heard your teachings. It’s just that Uncle claims to care about the people, and chose another master, but he committed a murder harming the loyal officials of the court.” He watched. Su Xing, “Zheng Fufeng (Zheng Wan as addressed by his official title) was diligent and honest and cared for the people, what crime exactly did he commit against the people, why did he have this sort of ending?”
  Su Xing went speechless and did not answer.
  Su Shiyu sighed, “May Uncle plead guilty.”
  ”Plead guilty?” Su Xing smiled, “Stay in jail, then wait for you to torture me before being executed?”
  He took a step forward unsteadily, “I don’t need you to do it!” He suddenly slapped the wall beside him, the mechanism indent sank with a “click”, the whole stone slab that capped the wall crashed down, falling a few feet in front of Su Shiyu like thunder, shocking both one’s heart and ears.
  Su Shiyu’s figure did not move at all, and was silent for a while.
  ”Master Su?” Chu Mingyun called tentatively.
  Su Shiyu lowered his eyes in silence, and saw the blood slowly flowing out from the cracks in the stone wall, winding and snaking around the edges of his boots.
  ”…Master Su?” Chu Mingyun straightened up and walked a few steps closer.
  Su Shiyu turned around, “Let’s go, order someone to clean up here, and then search and gather up his accomplices as soon as possible.”
  Chu Mingyun followed him and thought for a while and said, ” Master Su and your honored Father… It sounds like your relationship was tense?” He had a rare instance of using his words euphemistically.
  ”Don’t think too much, my father’s personality is just a bit harsh.” He said in an light and serene tone.
  ”Hey—I’ll say,” Chu Mingyun looked at his back profile, “There are some restaurants here that don’t close at night. If you feel unhappy, I can go accompany you for a drink or two.”
  Su Shiyu seemed to chuckle slightly. The voice, “The murder case is solved, you and I finally fulfilled the royal decree, why would my heart be unhappy?” “Okay, let’s go have two glasses to celebrate the removal of my suspicion?” After blurting out the voice, Chu Mingyun couldn’t help but pause. Very rarely, I feel a little bit awkward.
  Unexpectedly, Su Shiyu paused, looked back at him, and smiled: “Master Chu has the mood to celebrate?”
  ”…Still okay.”
  ”Let’s go.”
  
  Although he agreed to speak a little more casually, Chu Mingyun looked at General Su Shiyu. They quickly gave orders to carry out the search, and then he really came out with him.
  After all, Fufeng County is a prosperous place. Even though it is late at night, the restaurant was still completely lit and there are two or three idling customers.
  They found a secluded area upstairs and sat down relatively, the wine in the glass exuding warmth and a mellow aroma. Chu Mingyun was not in a hurry to drink, holding the porcelain cup and slowly warming his hands, carefully studying Su Shiyu’s expression.
  Su Shiyu took a sip of wine and asked without
  raising his eyes: “Is there anything on my face?” Chu Mingyun said seriously: “There is a flower.”
  ”…” Su Shiyu looked up at him and said with a smile. “I didn’t expect Master Chu to be drunk so soon.” Chu Mingyun smiled in a low voice, paused, and suddenly thought of something, “By the way, since Su Xing is the mastermind, Boss Mu from Eternal Joy Casino said you should call you elder brother (xiongzhang), then he should be Su Xing’s son?”
  Su Shiyu shook his head slightly, “Uncle has no son, only two daughters. I have seen them several times at my aunt’s place. The eldest daughter is already married to a merchant, and the younger daughter is still small, they have nothing to do with that Boss Mu. And according to my Uncle’s personality, the things he does, are likely to be kept completely secret from his family.”
  ”Then who on earth is the person who should be calling you elder brother?”
  ”Frankly, I also have no clue.” Su Shiyu said, “The Su family has several generations of officials, most of the people in the ruling and opposition parties have some association with my family, and among the brothers of the same generation, I am the eldest, so there are countless people who should call me elder brother.”
  Chu Mingyun nodded as if he didn’t really care either way, “I seem to remember I am a few months older than you?”
  Su Shiyu glanced at him calmly and did not answer.
  Sure enough, Chu Mingyun continued: “Then how’bout you call me Gege once?”
  Su Shiyu looked down at the porcelain cup in his hand, as if he hadn’t heard what he said.
  Chu Mingyun reached out and gripped his wine glass, rubbed his fingertips over his wrist, leaning forward slightly and saying with a smile in his eyes, “Call me Gege, and I’ll treat you to a few more pots of good wine, how does that sound?”
  ”……”
  ”Che,” Chu Mingyun wrinkled his brow slightly, “How come you’re ignoring me.”
  …… So you are also able to tell when others are ignoring you.
  Su Shiyu couldn’t help but laugh softly, and pulled his hand away, “According to the law, officials with more than two thousand stones3 are not allowed to meet in private and seek profit by claiming sworn brothership or marriage ties.”
  Being the Grand Secretary is such an advantageous position, he could find such good reasons at any point.
  Chu Mingyun took a disinterested sip of his wine and said casually: “You said that Su Xing’s family didn’t know what happened. Now that he died like this, wouldn’t his wife and children hate you to death?”
  Su Shiyu’s fingertips He paused, squeezed the cup tightly, and then relaxed again, “Perhaps,” he said again, “But Uncle committed a grave crime, and according to the law all nine clans of kin4 will also be held accountable. Whether they have a chance to hate me is yet to be known.” Chu Mingyun froze slightly, “You’re going report the whole truth like this?”
  Su Shiyu gave him a strange look, “Why not?”
  ”Don’t you know that you are also included in the nine clans?”
  ”Of course I know that.” Su Shiyu said lightly.
  Chu Mingyun looked at him with a complicated expression, “Then Master Su, this is considered… chopping off your head with your own hand?”
  ”The law is like this, so I should follow as such.” Su Shiyu filled the two glasses and said, “But as of now, not everything is yet settled, so we have to wait until Uncle’s residence has been searched before we can make a conclusion.”
  ”After the search, I’m afraid Su Xing’s charges will only increase and not lighten.”
  Su Shiyu smiled lightly and didn’t answer.
  Chu Mingyun drank all the wine in his glass, and looked at Su Shiyu’s slender hand holding the cup with one hand. The silver-embroidered rolled cuff of his sleeve slightly slipped down, revealing a thin wrist. The eyelids at half-mast occluding the ink-dark pupils of his eyes, elegance in extreme. He suddenly couldn’t help but blurt out: “If you die like this, maybe I will really be quite saddened.”
  Su Shiyu thought about it seriously for a bit, but still didn’t understand the intent coloring these words; but looking at Chu Mingyun’s expression, there was no hint of joking, and it didn’t seem to be mockery, so he had to read it as an attempt to comfort him. He chuckled softly, “Thank you for your concern.” Then he changed the subject, “But people like Master Chu are really few in this world.”
  ”How so?”
  ”Having this manner of speaking like yours, nine out of ten would be beaten up, so that leaves one with extraordinary martial skills, and naturally there’d be few in this world.” Su Shiyu smiled.
  Chu Mingyun who had extraordinary skill, smiled without changing expression, “You too, you too5.”
  Su Shiyu didn’t carry on the conversation anymore, and filled himself another glass. After drinking it he suddenly felt that the wine was slightly cold, and the chill of it seemed to seep into his heart the moment it went down his throat.
  After a long time of silence, with a very light sigh, a hand suddenly fell on the skin between his eyebrows. Su Shiyu looked up in surprise, only to see Chu Mingyun looking at him with a smile, his expression seemed slightly intoxicated, but his eyes were clear, as if reflected the sky’s light and the clouds’ shadows.
  ”I already said I invited you to drink in celebration, why do you still keep frowning?”
  Su Shiyu looked at him in a daze, forgetting to speak. Chu Mingyun’s fingertips were pressed between his brows, then slowly and meticulously as if he were drawing his eyebrows, carefully smoothed along the arc of his brow bones, and finally stopped at the tips of his brows.
  His fingertips were warm and slightly scented with wine, a sandalwood fragrance wrapping around his sleeves, and Su Shiyu felt these sensations clearly. The skin he touched felt slightly itchy, making him slightly anxious; foreign and strange emotions suddenly surging into his heart, but they were fleeting and disappeared before they could be discerned and savoured.
  Chu Mingyun looked at him like this, and suddenly turned his head and smiled, “Master Su…” His shoulders couldn’t help but tremble, “That expression really makes me want to pinch your face.”
  ”…” Su Shiyu silently removed his hand, paused for a moment, looked at Chu Mingyun, who was smiling crookedly, and couldn’t help but laugh.
  A chill suddenly fell on the side of his face, and then the sound of rain turning into ripples. Su Shiyu followed Chu Mingyun’s gaze and looked out the window. A curtain of autumn rain fell outside the window, awakening the lamps of thousands of homes.


(T/N: The reason this took so long to come out, is because I lost the previous draft when it didn’t save, so I had to translate half the chapter all over again. I lost patience and ended up reading most of the novel yesterday, and I’m glad I did, because I realised some of the poem references are listed in the author notes for later chapters. The ending was…unexpected, and I have kind of mixed feelings about it tbh. I might take a break after chapter 28 to translate the extras for Luan Shi Wei Wang aka. To rule in a turbulent world. If you like my translation, please leave a comment.)


1.To tear face is to not care about acting civil in front of someone because your relationship has soured.


2. 另择木而栖 – A phrase originating from the idiom ‘even birds pick which tree to perch on. Basically that people of intellect choose good masters or backers to serve.


3. Referring to the ranking of officials by salary.


4. For a heavy crime like treason, anyone within ‘nine degrees of kinship’ with the primary offender are executed along with them. So 1) Parents, 2) Grandparents, 3) Spouses 4) Parents-In-law, 5) Siblings and sibling-in-laws, 6) Aunts and uncles (both blood and married-in) 7) Children 8) Grandchildren and their spouses 9) Cousins. Technically SSY falls under this. Children below a certain age may be spared and sold into slavery instead.

5.彼此彼此 – a phrase one usually uses to return a compliment.

Is the Gentleman Feeling Alright? – Chapter 24

T/N: Again, this is one of those chapters where you might have to read the footnotes in order to understand the conversation.

After a short break, Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu set off to the home of Zheng Wan, who was killed first.
  Zheng Wan, the previous Right Fufeng, has been dead for more than a month, and his body has long been laid to rest in the ground, but everyone in his home was still in mourning clothes, the mourning banner had not been kept away; scented candles and incense lingered in the courtyard. A woman in mourning garb came out to greet them leaning on her maid. She wore a white flower pin1 slanted in her forelocks, her face was haggard, and her whole body was so pale white that the only colour were her eyes that had reddened from crying.
  After offering a few words of comfort, they were led directly to the courtyard where the incident occurred. The governor’s office had come to examine the scene before, and had already held a funeral, so most of the objects here were not as they were at the time of the incident. Only the faint bloodstains on the stone slabs of the courtyard that could not be washed away were left, a silent memorial of everything that has happened.
  After Su Shiyu stood in front of the book case and looked at it for a long time, he picked up a few documents and concentrated on something in contemplation. Chu Mingyun retracted his gaze, but felt that he couldn’t see anything odd in the courtyard, so he turned and walked towards Mrs. Zheng.
  The look on Zheng Wan’s face as if he did not die a peaceful death2 was still vivid in her eyes, and this other courtyard had become a wound to Mrs. Zheng’s heart. She was unwilling to set foot in it again, so she had been waiting for them outside the courtyard the whole time.
  ”Ms. Zheng,” Chu Mingyun asked, “Since it is said that your husband was killed late at night, then what did he stay here for instead of going back to bed to sleep?”
  ”There were still some official documents in the mansion, so Husband brought them back to the study to review.” Madam Zheng replied slowly.
  ”Zheng Wan does this often?”
  ”Not exactly often,” she thought for a while, and said, “If some important documents were just sent to him (before he left his office), Husband is used to taking them home to slowly read.”
  ”So if the murderer is not in your house. The attendant is someone who is familiar with You Fufeng.” A gentle voice sounded behind him, and Su Shiyu walked steadily.
  Chu Mingyun looked at him and smiled slightly: “Was there something Master Su found?” 
“I didn’t find any useful clues originally,” Su Shiyu said, “but the question Master Chu just asked reminded me.
  ” …Grand Secretary, why do you say that?” Madam Zheng looked at Su Shiyu, the light in her eyes flashed.
  Su Shiyu smiled faintly, “It’s just my guess, but it should more or less be correct. There are still guards’ bodies in this courtyard, which means that the killer’s skill is not good enough to go completely unnoticed, but no one in the other courtyards were aware anything happened here, even Madam only found out yourself the next morning that Master Zheng was killed, so it seems that the murderer entered this yard directly.”
  Madam Zheng frowned and looked at him uncomprehendingly, “What Your Honor has said, what does this have to do with the identity of the murderer we were talking about?”
  Chu Mingyun has already understood, “He means that the other party must know that Zheng Wan has the habit of approving official documents here, and also knows the layout of your mansion, so he could immediately find it here, it won’t be someone unacquainted with your husband.” He paused, turned his head and said to Su Shiyu: “And it has to be someone who knew that Zheng Wan had important documents that night.”
  Su Shiyu nodded and wanted to speak, so he listened to Mrs. Zheng. The voice trembled and said: “How could it be…”
  They looked at her in a little surprise.
  ”How…can that be…” Madam Zheng’s fingers twisted her sleeves tightly, unable to accept it, “My husband is kind, and we have never wronged any of the servants in this residence , and all of them have served us for many years. Nobody left after the incident, even the little girl from the accountant’s family came to comfort me…how could they be murderers!”
  ”Madam Zheng…”
  ”If it is someone familiar with us…” Tears have appeared in her eyes and her figure trembled slightly, the maid next to her hurried to hold her up, she hung her head in compassion. Madam Zheng took a deep breath and stared at them, extremely confused, and in a near-interrogating tone asked, “Since they are familiar with us, why would they commit an act so vicious?”
  Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu had no words to answer.
  Madam Zheng then turned her head away, covering her face and weeping silently.
  
  Soon after they returned to the residence, Su Xing came over to ask about the state of the investigation. Su Shiyu smiled and simply said that there was still no result. Seeing from Su Xing’s expression that he seemed to still have something to say, he asked, “Is there something else Uncle?”
  Su Xing glanced behind him, and the official Registrar stepped forward in tacit understanding, saying: “Replying to both Your Honor’s, I caught a person sneaking among the people leaving the city today. I just managed to interrogate it out of him, he admitted he was the one who killed Master Zheng… “
  Chu Mingyun couldn’t help sneering and said, “There hasn’t been a lead after looking for so long, yet now it only took a short while for you to catch them?”
  ”Perhaps he knew that Your Honors have come, and he couldn’t hold back his guilty conscience anymore.” The book said, “Anyway, do both Your Honored selves want to go take a look?”
  Su Shiyu looked at him for a moment, and laughed softly, “Alright.”
  
  The prison was lit with oil lamps, and the jailers saluted them, moving to stand to the side. The middle-aged man in the cell was dozing off, with slightly bulging temples faintly visible under his disheveled hair. His thick palms laid on either side of his body, and it could be seen that his skill wasn’t shallow, who knows why they were able to catch him.
  The man was startled by the sound and dazedly opened his eyes. He was shocked awake when he saw the people incoming, his face showing a terrified expression. Before anyone could respond, the man knelt down suddenly, making a loud noise as the iron chains were pulled, and he said to Chu Mingyun in extreme fear: “My lord…my lord spare me!” 

Chu Mingyun looked at him, baffled, “Are you talking to me?”
  ”This……this subordinate did not do things well……but……” The man raised his head and quickly glanced at Chu Mingyun, shaking like chaff, “I beg my lord to be magnanimous!”
The jailers suddenly sucked in a breath, unanimously turning to stare at Chu Mingyun.
  Su Shiyu watched on thoughtfully, but did not speak.
  Chu Mingyun tilted his head and looked at the man for a moment, then suddenly shook his head and laughed, “You want to drag me down with you yet you didn’t even get your facts straight, there isn’t anyone as ugly as you among my subordinates.”
The man’s words were immediately choked off.
  Su Xing glanced at Chu Mingyun with a subtle expression, then turned his head and said to Su Shiyu, “Yu’er, you’re not going to ask anything?”
  Su Shiyu smiled faintly, “Since he is pleading with Master Chu for mercy, then let Master Chu lead the interrogation.”
  Hearing this the man quickly looked at Su Shiyu, continually pleading: “Grand Secretary, Your Honor! This peasant has committed a grave crime, and I know I’ll be put to death3……but, but that wife and child of mine are innocent after all, I plead Your Honor to save them.”
  These words held rather deep meaning, Su Shiyu looked at him with serious eyes, only smiling wordlessly.
  Chu Mingyun glanced at Su Shiyu, and then said to the man again: “Okay, stop yelling. I ask you, it’s been so long since Zheng Wan was killed, you didn’t escape from Fufeng County earlier, why did you show up today instead? “
The man looked straight at Chu Mingyun, distorted his face a little, and said: “I just acted according to orders, since my lord has said this to clear himself of suspicion, how could I explain it clearly.”
  ”Heh,” Chu Mingyun was cold. Said, “You claim to be my subordinate and that you were acting on my orders. Then now you are asserting I’m involved, what manner o’ reporting4 to your master is this?”
The man avoided his gaze and lowered his head, “Like my lord said, I I’m just a pawn that you can throw away at will. How can you count as your subordinate. When it’s like this, it’s just a try to see if my wife and child can survive.”
  ”What happened to your wife and child?” He said good-humoredly.
  ”This, I’m afraid my lord would knows more clearly than me…”
  Chu Mingyun squinted his eyes slightly, and was about to step forward but was suddenly grabbed by someone’s arm. He turned his head to look, and Su Shiyu smiled slightly at him: “Looking at how emotionally unstable he was, we probably won’t be able to ask anything out of him. Interrogation doesn’t need to be rushed, and Master Chu is likely already worn-out today, why not go back to rest for now?”
  Chu Mingyun frowned and examined Su Shiyu’s expression, then turned his head away and grunted as a perfunctory response.
  This development was really exciting, after they left the prison cell, the jailers could finally get together and were talking all at once without any hesitation, having an very carefree discussion. Outside the cell, the expressions of the official Registrar and his party were also quite strange.
  Su Xing couldn’t help pulling Su Shiyu again and whispered: “Yu’er, looking at the situation just now…”
  Su Shiyu interrupted him rarely, and his tone was still gentle and calm. “Using one-sided words to frame influential officials for a false charge is not uncommon. Besides, there is no evidence that it must be the man who committed the crime. Uncle should not make a conclusion too early.”
  Chu Mingyun walked alone in front of him and he heard clearly, and he understood even more that the man’s words could be confusing. People can’t make Su Shiyu suspicious of him, not to say how much Su Shiyu trusts him, but Su Shiyu has always believed in his own judgment and will not be easily shaken by outside interference.
  Chu Mingyun glanced back at him and chuckled without any inflection.
  
  Yet the man in prison leaned against the corner again and fell asleep after they had left, and after an uncertain amount of time had passed, he suddenly heard footsteps in his dazed state. As soon as he raised his eyes he saw a white-robed young man come close before turning back, making a gesture to the jailers. The jailers hurriedly nodded and all retreated, leaving only the two of them in the prison.
  Su Shiyu turned his head and looked at him, “I’ll be bothering you.”
  ”Grand Secretary…”
  ”There’s only the two of us here, so you don’t need to worry about being heard by someone else. If you sincerely want me to help you settle this matter, then you should come clean with the truth.”
The expression in the man’s eyes that were partly obscured by his messy hair flickered slightly, but his words remained unchanged, saying: “Each word of what this peasant said was the truth, I dare not deceive Your Honor!”
  Su Shiyu nodded, “Looking at this appearance of yours, your skill should not be too bad, how could you be arrested and imprisoned easily ?”
The man felt relieved, so he blurted out in reply, “Your Honor is perceptive. As this peasant said earlier, everything I’ve done is because my wife and children in someone’s grasp, and dared not disobey.” He opened his mouth and explained the process of how the crime was committed, from the orders he received in the city these few days, to the situation where he was arrested leaving the city—- nary a loophole in his explanation.
  Su Shiyu listened to him quietly, pondered for a moment, and suddenly said: “I’ve heard you mention your wife and children many times, you must be very concerned about them.”

The man glanced at him, not understanding his intention, and paused for a moment. Then he whispered: “Yes, as long as they’re safe, it doesn’t matter whether I live or die.”
  ”You remind me of a person.” Su Shiyu smiled softly, “You know the previous Minister of Works Tan Jing?” The
  man shook his head.
  ”He is very similar to you, he only wants to protect his wife, not hesitating to pay any price to do so, and when I interrogated him he also told me lies.” (T/N: He uses present tense for most of this). Su Shiyu seemed as if he didn’t see the man’s expression change suddenly, and continued, “I guess someone else might have promised him something, and after thinking about it, (I realised) the only thing that could be used to control him must be his wife. But in the end Tan Jing was executed according to the law, and in his residence his innocent wife was also tragically poisoned right after. He was still unable to protect his wife in the end.”
  A tremor ran through the man’s body, and he lowered his head to avoid Su Shiyu’s line of sight, “I don’t understand these things you’re saying, Grand Secretary, Your Honor, how am I like him? This peasant has already truthfully told you the facts of the case. When did I tell you lies? You’ve really overestimated me, how would I have that sort of courage…” 
“There’s one point I’m confused on.” Su Shiyu looked at him quietly, “Since (someone has) already detained your wife and children to threaten you, why would you think that after you die, the other party will still accommodate their safety5 on your behalf?” The man froze in cold sweat, and abruptly raised his head to look at him, “Grand Secretary, Your Honor…”
  ”Let’s hope your luck will be better than his.” Su Shiyu gave him a faint smile, then turned to walk out.
  ”Your honor! Your honor!” The man suddenly panicked, and rushed forward as if he wanted to seize him, pulling on the chains until they made a cacophony of jangling noises, his voice seeming to have changed. “Your Honor wait! I beg you, please don’t go. !”
  Su Shiyu stopped and turned to look at him. The man fell to his knees, his entire face shrouded in dejection.
  
  Chu Mingyun was slightly irritated, and it became more obvious after he was insistently set up by that man in prison. After all, he always had a bad temper, playing mind games with Su Shiyu’s and harassing each other was fine, but he really had no patience with other people.
  And who knew if Su Shiyu was aware that he wasn’t in a great mood, for the two days that followed, Su Shiyu unexpectedly neither went to the cell to interrogate nor did he go to Zheng Wan’s house again, but rather he pulled Chu Mingyun to Fufeng County to help him approve/review most of the official documents that had piled up due to Zheng Wan’s death, and so Chu Mingyun became even more irritated.
  At night, when Su Shiyu knocked on the door of his room holding a few books, Chu Mingyun leaned on one hand against the door frame and completely fed-up, said: “Master Su, if you are not here to accompany me to sleep6, please go back.”
  Su Shiyu flashed the book in front of his eyes. They were not official documents but books on military strategy, “No need to sleep, I’m afraid there’s going to be an incident tonight, you and I will wait in your room.”
  Chu Mingyun raised his eyebrows slightly, retracted his hand and put him into the room, “What incident? “
  ”I don’t know the specifics of exactly what will happen.” Su Shiyu put the things on the table, “but I have already told my uncle to leave Fufeng County to investigate elsewhere, so if they don’t make a move tonight, they will have no other chance.”
  ”They?” Chu Mingyun sat down opposite him, “You know something?”
  ”It’s just a guess,” Su Shiyu smiled, “Organized crime always requires someone to dispatch. In these past two days, I’ve compared the time and place where the five officials met their demise in sequence, and I realised that if the mastermind is here, this timing will align perfectly.”
  ”So you plan to use the both of us as bait?”
  Su Shiyu looked up at him, his eyes reflected as black as ink in the candlelight, and even cracked somewhat of a joke: “Don’t tell me Master Chu is afraid?” His gentle voice was slightly lilted at its end, and seemed to hide a careless sense of humour, which was really nice to listen to.
  This manner of his made Chu Mingyun slightly stunned, which quickly changed to smile as his lips hooked upwards, and said, “Didn’t you come running to my room because you’re scared?”
  Su Shiyu shook his head and chuckled, “I came here so that it would be more convenient to do things, Master Chu has taken it the wrong way.” 
“Why force yourself to explain,” Chu Mingyun said with a wide smile, “With such thin skin7, is it so difficult to frankly tell me that you want my protection?”
  Su Shiyu looked at him wordlessly for a moment, and suddenly said: “Right, I wanted to ask you one thing earlier.”
  ”En?”
  ”Master Chu’s skin is so thick, don’t you feel hot?” Su Shiyu asked him solemnly.
  ”…” Chu Mingyun replied solemnly, “You touch it and see for yourself?”
  Su Shiyu silently picked up a military book and handed it over, terminating the conversation.
  Chu Mingyun glanced down at the title of the book, “Already read this, swap me another.”

(T/N: Honestly, Shiyu has so much patience, Chu-chu is so vulgar in his flirting any lesser man would have stabbed/slapped him by now. Translating instead of sleeping, give me energy by commenting)


1.白簪花 – I can’t exactly confirm this but judging from the contextual clues this is probably that fabric flower worn in the hairstyles of mourning women, although I believe this should only be for members of the imperial family.


2. 死不瞑目 – this is usually taken as the equivalent of ‘rolling over in one’s grave’ but the text says Mdm Zheng vividly remembers the look of it, so it has perhaps been used in its literal meaning, which is ‘to not close one’s eyes even in death’, i.e. he died unpeacefully so his eyes were open.


3. 自知当死 – literally ‘I already take myself as a dead person’.


4. 回事儿 – ‘回事’ is an archaic term for reporting to one’s master, but adding the ‘er’ character to the end makes it sound informal on CMY’s tongue so I translated it to ‘manner o’ reporting’.


5. 安置 – refers to settling someone down i.e. finding a house for them and making sure they have a way to live like the way Chu Mingyun settled Chen Siheng.


6. 陪睡 – I translated it literally, but it actually means to trade sexual favours for benefits.


7. To say one is thin-skinned means that they are easily embarrassed.

Is the Gentleman Feeling Alright? – Chapter 23

  Since they were to investigate the case, the first investigation would naturally be the first victim, Zheng Wan of Right Fufeng.
  Chang’an City was not far from Fufeng County. Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu were not people who liked extravagance, and they don’t have heavy luggage to bring, so after a simple briefing of their subordinate officials on handling court duties, they put on regular clothing and left the city on horseback with ease. They travelled very quickly, passing by rolling rivers, crossing through lonely barren hills, and seeing the shadow of an inn just as night fell, they would likely enter Fufeng County by the next day.
  It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, coinciding with the time when wanderers returned to their hometowns on horseback1. The inn was brightly lit, and the sounds of conversation made it lively. The Xiao’er (小二, a colloquial title for waitstaff in small establishments) was busy shuttling between the tables and hurriedly went to greet them when he saw the two entering the store. After hearing that they planned to stay the night, the Xiao’er wiped his forehead with the sweat towel on his shoulders. He was a little embarrassed: “To you two honored guests, you have also seen that there are many people staying here today, we only have one room left here……” His gaze flicked between Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu, and asked: “That room is quite big. Since the two honored guests are both men, if you don’t mind… can you squeeze a bit? “
  When one is away from home, you should be prepared for a lack of vacancies in the inn. Since even if they camped outside he would still have to be facing that face all night, is there really a choice?
  The furnishings in the guest rooms were all prepared. Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu stared at the bed for a while, and finally Chu Mingyun broke the silence with a loud voice, “It’s fine, tonight I can sleep on the ground.”
  Su Shiyu frowned slightly, “You don’t need to use the way you treat girls on me. You and I are of equal status. How would it be decent of me to let you sleep on the ground?” Chu Mingyun sat at the table and topped up the cup of tea for himself, glanced out the corner of his eye, and said with a half-smile: “The Grand Secretary supervises hundreds of officials, but I never heard he has to oversee them all the way to the bed. If I don’t tell others, who would know this sort of trivial thing?”
  Su Shiyu looked sideways at him, “Manners are set as such, even if no one is aware, there are still boundaries that cannot be violated.” 
“…Why do I sense an underlying meaning in your words?” Chu Mingyun, who has never taken etiquette seriously, asked rhetorically.
  ”Is that so?”
  ”Yes.”
  ”…” Su Shiyu glanced at him, and smiled faintly: “Master Chu is imagining things.” After a pause he added, “Regardless of etiquette, Master Chu is currently a suspect, in the unfortunate event that another murder case happens tonight, without me testifying at your side, I’m afraid it will be difficult for you to handle.”
  Tapping the wooden table lightly with his fingertips, Chu Mingyun propped up his chin and chuckled, “Oh? Turns out you’re worried that I’ll run away in the middle of the night?” His voice paused slightly, while his eyes staring at Su Shiyu deepened, and said slowly in a low tone: “Then you–aren’t you worried about what I might do to you in the middle of the night?”
  ”If Master Chu really thinks I would allow myself to be slaughtered.” Su Shiyu smiled.
  Chu Mingyun retracted his gaze, spreading his hands and turning a bit innocent, “Am I not being conscious of my bad reputation, and afraid of implicating Master Su? To think I’m being this considerate of you, and you don’t appreciate it.”
  Su Shiyu heard this and even seemed to nod in agreement, then looked up at rafters and smiled gently, “Since Master Chu has good intentions at heart, then I have been disrespectful. However, I am afraid that I will have to trouble Master Chu sleeping on the inside, to avoid me accidentally stepping on you when I wake up to drink tea at night.”
  ”……Master Su has the habit of getting up to drink tea in the middle of the night?”
  Su Shiyu gave him a look, smiling, “I didn’t have one before, but who knows if I might tonight.”
  ”……” Chu Mingyun spread the fan and covered his face with a brush, holding the skirt of his clothes in one hand, and sighed faintly: “I didn’t expect Master Su to be so insistent on sleeping with me for the night, then I’ll have to follow you2.”
  ”……” Su Shiyu said, “Let’s go downstairs for dinner.”
  The guests downstairs were sparser than when they came, and no longer so noisy. Xiao Er went to the restaurant and yawned and left. For a while, there was only the sound of cups in the inn.
  Chu Mingyun suddenly thought of something, swallowed his tea, and said, “By the way, Su Xing, who is filling in for Right Fufeng, what relation does he have with you?”
  ”He’s my uncle3.” Su Shiyu said.
  ”Blood-related uncle?”
“Yes,” Su Shiyu said, “My father is the oldest, followed by this uncle, and A’Yue’s mother is the youngest.”
  ”But how is it I remember, that back then it was your father Su Jue’s idea to exile from the capital under accusation of receiving bribes, without listening to other opinions?” Chu Mingyun asked.
  ”It’s true,” Su Shiyu said in deep thought, “but I’m still not really clear why, I only know that there was some conflict between my father and uncle afterwards. After that, my uncle was far away in Zhenjiang, and we’ve rarely been in contact these years. In the beginning when both my parents died of illness, he didn’t come, but he asked my paternal aunt to deliver the eulogy on his behalf.” Chu Mingyun was uncomfortable to comment on other people’s family affairs, so he nodded his head and didn’t say anymore.
  As the night darkened, the inn became completely silent, and Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu also stood quietly beside the bed for a long time, neither party making any movement.
  Although they have made a decision to sleep in the same bed and were prepared for it, when it really came down to this time, there would still inevitably be some awkwardness. After being silent for a long time, Chu Mingyun finally spoke again and pointed to the bed, “How does Master Su think…we should allocate (the space)?”
  Su Shiyu retracted his gaze and said as flatly as possible: “How did you squeeze into one bed with others in the past, just do the same now, why care too much.”
  ”But I only slept with women in the past,” Chu Mingyun laughed, “They usually snuggle into my embrace, so Master Su, you too…?” He didn’t finish his sentence, raising his brows slightly, staring at Su Shiyu with a meaningful smile.
  ”…” Su Shiyu took a deep look at him, then turned his gaze and sighed, raised his hand to draw a line out of thin air, “I always wake up early, you sleep on the inside.”
  Chu Ming made a noise of agreement, he had no objection.
  To think they have opposed each other for many years, and in these years they had not exchanged many words, and yet now they would be in the same room, removing their guan, letting down hair, removing belts and loosening their robes. It can be seen that things of the world are truly fickle and unspeakable.
  But when it came to taking off the outer robe, they somehow couldn’t move on to the next step. Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu looked at each other silently, blew out the lamp, and lay down in their clothing. Unspeakable awkwardness enveloped the whole room.
  It has always been difficult for Chu Mingyun to fall into deep sleep, not to mention now there was another person beside him, it was unknown how much time had passed, yet his mind was still alert. Laying down a little irritated, Chu Mingyun wanted not to disturb Su Shiyu and got up quietly, but suddenly he smelled a faint fragrance when he moved.
  A little light and gentle breath lingered on the tip of his nose, like a flower that blooms silently in the night, he concentrated for a moment to identify it, it was a Calming Incense (安神香). Chu Mingyun leaned a little closer to Su Shiyu’s direction. Sure enough, the scent was even clearer. It calmed down and soothed his mind. In the coolness of the night, it was lingering warmth, slowly immersing one into the dark.
  Chu Mingyun lay back, lying sideways with his arm, his eyes naturally fell on Su Shiyu’s face.
  Moonlight fell heavily over the building4, light leaked through the decorated doorway5; a layer of silvery white fell like frost on the bedside. Su Shiyu lay with his eyes closed next to him, breathing smoothly, his eyelashes slightly tinged with moonlight which created a small patch of shadow on his face, and his brows had a gentleness and peacefulness that he had not seen before.
  He stared straight at Su Shiyu, engrossed, and suddenly raised his hand silently, bending his fingers in a sharp arc slowly reaching toward Su Shiyu’s neck.
  It was the perfect opportunity to let this person die silently, without being noticed by anyone, as long as people thought that he was assassinated like the five people, it wouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, in any case he is lying here now, completely defenseless…
  –completely defenseless?
  Chu Mingyun halted his movement, an inch away from being able to strangle Su Shiyu’s neck.
  Su Shiyu’s breathing remained steady, without the slightest change in reaction. Chu Mingyun squinted his eyes slightly, and then the corners of his lips lightly tugged upwards, he relaxed his fingers and then let them land on that smooth forehead, brushing a few strands of loose hair to the side of his face. Chu Mingyun retracted his hand and stared at it for a moment, then rolled over and closed his eyes to fall asleep.
  Only when there was finally no more movement on his side, Su Shiyu opened his eyes. He raised his hand to press to his own forehead, and glanced sideways at Chu Mingyun in confusion.

  When he woke up the next day, the other side (of the bed) was truly already empty. Chu Mingyun zoned out for a while, unexpectedly realising that he slept well last night, and he didn’t know if it was thanks to the Calming Incense on the body that had laid next to him. He got up slowly, went downstairs to eat with Su Shiyu, and they continued the hit the road without stopping.
  The past few days can be regarded as high in autumn, and the visible skies were crystal-blue, but it is a little cold. They finally arrived at Fufeng County just before noon. After receiving the news of them entering the city, Right Fufeng Su Xing brought people to greet them in front of the mansion. Seeing Su Shiyu from a distance, he quickly walked over with a grin.
  Su Shiyu dismounted, turned to greet Su Xing, and smiled: “Uncle.”
  ”Aiyah, good, good.” Su Xing patted him on the shoulder, his brows suddenly frowned, “Yu’er, I haven’t seen you these years, how have you lost this much weight?”
  ”It’s probably because I’m occasionally busy, but I don’t really think I lost weight.” Su Shiyu gestured to his side, “That’s Grand Marshall Chu Mingyun, who came to investigate the case with me this time. Uncle should have seen him a few times before.”
  Su Xing looked over and made a satisfactory greeting.
  Someone had led their horses down long ago, and the Yamen led them to the inner courtyard residence. Su Shiyu took two steps backward slightly, connected to the topic before: “It’s fine if you don’t know how to take care of yourself, but your uncle (referring to himself) has been hearing people in Zhenjiang say, you have never had someone at your side to take care of you.”
  Whenever he reunited with friends or relatives in Chang’an and exchange pleasantries, they always talk about how he was not married yet.
  Su Shiyu smiled and said, “I’ve troubled Uncle to worry about me, I…”
  ”Don’t try that with me,” Su Xing interrupted him, “With conditions such as yours, if you were looking for one, all of the ladies in Chang’an would be up to your choosing. Just tell me the truth, what on earth are you thinking?”
  Su Shiyu sighed and said: “The situation of the court is yet unstable, this nephew cannot be distracted from it. Besides, without a family I can be spared from being dragged down, doing things by oneself ultimately. …”
  ”Nonsense!”
  ”……” Su Shiyu was silent.
  ”When you create a family, only then can one be considered settled.” Su Xing seemed to hate iron not becoming steel6. “Yu’er, you are older than the other brothers (family members i.e. cousins, not actual brothers) of the same generation, but now everyone else has three or four children, and it’s just you who only has a position.”
  Su Shiyu was silent for a moment, looking at Chu Mingyun’s back in front of him, said with intent to console his anxiety: “Why does Uncle need to be so overly concerned, in the capital I’m not the only person like that. Grand Marshall Chu is also a person in a high-ranked position, and he has also yet to produce heirs. “
  Chu Su Xing has long heard what type of character Chu Mingyun has. Hearing this he glanced at him disdainfully, and said, “With his character, it is only right that he has no descendants.”
  ”…” Chu Mingyun, who was walking in the front, showed that he had heard everything, so he paused, turned around unhurriedly, looked at Su Shiyu with smiling brows and eyes, and said softly: “Why are you walking so slowly? Is it because I made you tired last night? Would you like me to come over and carry you?”
  Except for the two of them, everyone present suddenly looked like they had been struck by lightning.
  Su Shiyu stared at him with a smile deep with intent, ” Master Chu.”
Chu Mingyun smiled at him, and turned back to proceed forward having attained peace of mind and body.
  Su Shiyu turned his face towards the shocked Su Xing, and said helplessly: “It was just a joke, I plead Uncle not to take it seriously.” 
“You…him…” Su Xing’s hand trembled as he pointed, unable to speak.
  Su Shiyu met Su Xing’s gaze and said flatly: “Uncle thinks he should believe me, or believe him?”
  ”…oh.” Su Xing returned to himself with difficulty, forgetting what he wanted to say before, opening his mouth a few times, then he said: “Forget it, I won’t nag you anymore, you should pay a bit more attention. When I came to take office this time, I saw your aunt when I passed by Jinling. She said that it has almost been a year past your mourning period7, since Du Yue is also in Chang’an, if you delay any longer, she will personally take care of it for you and see her son along the way.”
  Su Shiyu was slightly taken aback, “Aunt really said that?”
  Su Xing smiled and glanced at him, “Every word is what your aunt originally said, so consider it yourself.”
  Su Shiyu nodded, his eyes darkened.

The author has something to say:
This time the two people sharing the same bed can still be barely considered straight, but the next time…cough cough, just goes to show that things of this world are really fickle and wonderful.


(T/N: I’ve been holding back on reading this novel so I can read it along as people get the translated version,….but there’s no one talking in the comments either hahah ;=;)


1.游子归乡 – literally translates to wanderers’ return to their hometown, but in general these ‘wanderers’ refer to anyone who had to live outside their hometown for work/ travelling merchants etc.


2. 从了你 – meaning that you’re willing to get married to the person (as a wife or concubine).


3. 叔父 – father’s younger brother, though I’m sure you could tell from the dialogue.


4. 《月上重楼》which is the title of a xianxia novel by 南夜公子.


5. 光漏入绮户 – the “Qihu” refers to a doorway ornamented with paper decorations, may be a reference to a poem on a sleepless night by Su Shi (Song Dynasty poet): “转朱阁,低绮户,照无眠。”


6. 恨铁不成钢 – to be disappointed by


7. 服丧期 – this is a period after the passing of close relatives where one cannot become engaged or marry an engaged spouse, nor take concubines. It’s usually 3 years for parents’ death, so it has been nearly 4 years since Shiyu’s parents died.

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