Translated by the Cyrrene and edited by Uhei.
Luo Wei continued without halting the horse, watching helplessly as he was about to leave Yunguan. Wei Lan spurred his horse in front of Luo Wei’s, and barring Luo Wei’s path he said, “What is the matter with you? Leaving the pass?”
Luo Wei saw there was a tea pavilion1 at the roadside, leaped off his horse, and entered the tea pavilion.
Wei Lan tied the two horses to the tea pavilion’s pillars, walked to the pavilion and saw Luo Wei sitting on the pavilion’s railings, gazing at the sky with his head raised. “It’s so late, There’s also no tea to drink here.” Wei Lan sat beside Luo Wei and said, “What is the matter with you? We had better go back sooner, if the eldest young master was to find out, wouldn’t he give you an earful?”
“Long Xuan’s people went to search Uncle Hong’s residence.” Luo Wei said.
“Will Uncle Hong be alright?” Wei Lan quickly asked.
“It will be fine if the corpse is disposed of,” Luo Wei said, “Lan, it looks like Long Xuan does not want Mingjian Villa anymore.”
“No longer wants?” Wei Lan said, “What does this mean? He wants to kill Ning Shuying?”
“I’m the one who wants to kill this person,” Luo Wei said, “Long Xuan simply doesn’t wish to save them.”
Wei Lan saw again on Luo Wei’s face that relentless ferocity he saw that day while in Northern Yan’s central commandant’s tent. Wei Lan could not help but turn his head and said, “After all is said and done, that man is still Zizhou’s father. Young master should reconsider again.”
“Zizhou is also hoping for his death,” Luo Wei said.
“That is his blood-related father,” Wei Lan said, “If young master really invokes disposing Ning Shuying, I fear that in days to come when Zizhou meets young master again, his heart won’t be completely without a grudge, like it is now.”
“This is how you see it?”
“Wei Lan doesn’t know who his father is. This person has also never fostered me for a single day, but if there is a chance, I would still like to know who it was.” Wei Lan said, “Wouldn’t this be called the ‘innate bond between father and son2’?”
At Wei Lan’s words Luo Wei’s heart suddenly moved. Come to mention it, he also wanted to know who his blood-related father was. Not seeking anything else, he also wanted to know who this person was, and would even be fine with just a glance. “If that’s the case, then I cannot do anything to Ning Shuying yet?” Luo Wei said to Wei Lan, “Then what should I do?”
“How about young master hand over Ning Shuying to Zizhou?” Wei Lan said, “Let Zizhou make the decision himself.”
“Capture Ning Shuying alive?” Luo Wei said, “Luo Tingchao does not even have this capability, all for a Ning Shuying I even have to mobilise the troops?”
Ning Shuying’s martial arts skill was considered deeply divine3 among the Jianghu; Wei Lan thought about it and also agreed that capturing Ning Shuying alive was an impossible task.
“Speaking of Luo Tingchao,” When Luo Wei thought of Luo Tingchao, he could not reign in the killing intent in his heart. “If Long Xuan’s secret recipe was obtained from Luo Tingchao, this person also has no reason to stay alive.”
“Young master will be fine as long as you beware of this person.” Wei Lan could only say this.
“But Luo Tingchao should not betray me,” Luo Wei added, “I had him take a drug. If this person will (work) for Long Xuan, does he not even want his life?”
“When did young master make Luo Tingchao take the drug?” Wei Lan asked.
“When I went to Qilin Villa, otherwise how could I use him with my mind at ease?”
Wei Lan said, “Could it be that he discovered the antidote?”
“Impossible,” Luo Wei said, “It was a drug from the imperial palace, Long Xuan also could not possibly know which kind I had him take.”
The two of them momentarily had nothing more to say, and sat together watching the sky full of stars. It was as if before them was a perplexing riddle–over and over they pondered, continually conjectured, yet no matter what, these problems were inextricable.
“Let’s go back,” At last, Luo Wei decided not to think about it anymore. He pulled Wei Lan to stand up. “We will know when we ask after returning to Shangdu. There’s no need to rack our brains here. If Luo Tingchao cannot be of use to me, then we can just dispose of him.”
“I’ll bring over the horses,” Wei Lan said.
“Lan, you only need to keep in mind that I just care about your safety.” Luo Wei uttered this single remark behind Wei Lan.
“I didn’t have that sort of thought,” Wei Lan went to the pavilion’s pillar and untied the horses while talking to Luo Wei, “Has young master forgotten? Wei Lan is also someone who has killed countless people. I would not think about this issue of the young master killing people.”
“That’s right, it looks like you and I are really quite the couple,” Luo Wei began to laugh, kicking small pebbles under his feet. “However Lan, your life, as far as I’m concerned, is a truly priceless treasure.”
“The young master’s as well,” Wei Lan led the horses over, and watched Luo Wei mount a horse. Then he leaped upon a horse himself and asked Luo Wei, “Would you like me to go over to Uncle Hong’s to take a look?”
“There’s no need,” Luo Wei said, “Uncle Hong should be able to deal with this issue. Lan,” Luo Wei pointed towards the sky. “There is not much of any scenic view here at Yunguan, but the starlit sky here is quite nice. Are (the stars) here much brighter than in Shangdu?”
Wei Lan raised his head and glanced at the sky. He did not have much poetic charm4; after earnestly staring, he finally said to Luo Wei, “More or less, or could it be that there are more stars here than in Shangdu?”
“Let’s go,” Luo Wei was so amused by Wei Lan’s honesty that he laughed out loud. Wind, flowers, snow, and the moon5–were completely tasteless in this person’s view. This kind of person who did not comprehend this inclination and interest just happened to be the one he was especially fond of.
“What are you holding?” At this moment, Wei Lan noticed Luo Wei was holding a piece of green bamboo.
“This should be a shepherd’s flute,” Luo Wei turned the green bamboo flute around in his hands.
“Where did it come from?” Wei Lan recalled that Luo Wei said he did not like music6.
“Picked it up just now from the tea pavilion,” Luo Wei was about to place the shepherd’s flute next to his lips and play it.
Wei Lan blocked him and said, “We don’t know if it’s dirty or not, you should look carefully.”
“I am pretty good at playing the flute,” When Luo Wei heard Wei Lan’s words, he briefly wiped the flute on his clothes before placing it again next to his lips and said to Wei Lan, “You listen for a bit.”
“Will it bother others?” Wei Lan took a look at the desolate main street devoid of people and worriedly voiced, “Everyone has fallen asleep.”
“This place is Yunguan,” Luo Wei said, “Who would mind me?”
Wei Lan stopped trying to advise, and he also felt some anticipation. He heard that Luo Wei was skilled at playing the qin7, and had studied under the once-in-a-generation famously talented Gao Chengfeng. Yet after Luo Wei had lost the tip of one of his fingers, there was not even a single qin in the room, so Wei Lan had not ever heard Luo Wei playing the qin nor ever seen Luo Wei touch any musical compositions. Right now, Luo Wei was suddenly in the mood, wanting to play the flute for him. Wei Lan was not worried that Luo Wei’s flute playing would be unpleasant, but was only concerned that he would not be able to appreciate it.
Luo Wei lightly inhaled and blew into the shepherd’s flute he was holding.
Wei Lan followed closely beside Luo Wei, quietly listening.
The melodious sound of the shepherd’s flute next to Luo Wei’s lips flowed forth. With a simple tone, it was only a minor folk tune of when a shepherd boy set his herd grazing in the pasture. The cheerful, clear sound of the flute while strolling through Yunguan’s treeless main street melded with the crisp clopping of the horse’s hoofbeats–it seemed as if this flute sound had summoned forth a sort of enchantment, carrying Wei Lan into green hills and clear waters8. At this time, a heart tightly wound with worldly affairs, unable to unburden, could obtain a brief moment of bliss within the sound of the flute.
“Did that sound good?” Luo Wei asked Wei Lan after he finished playing the tune.
“It sounded pleasant, but I couldn’t tell what song it was.” Wei Lan said in embarrassment.
“I was just whimsically playing, it wasn’t any particular song,” Luo Wei spurred the white horse he was straddling in front of Wei Lan and said, “I’m not a musician, as long as Lan enjoyed listening,” while Luo Wei was speaking he began playing a different tune on the shepherd’s flute.
This tune Wei Lan could identify as soon as he heard it. This was a tune played in the Great Zhou when a man married his bride. Wei Lan began laughing, yet when he was just about to tease Luo Wei with a few words about why he thought of playing this tune, the sound of the flute playing abruptly stopped. Wei Lan gazed out towards the road ahead and saw Long Xuan riding alone, standing before them.
Hi, sorry for getting this out late! I got too frustrated with crappy internet.
1.茶亭: could also mean a tea shop or a tea stall.
2. 父子天性: the affections between father and son are born out of natural instinct.
3.神乎其神: chengyu used to describe how something is mysteriously marvelous to an extreme degree; originated from Zhuangzi’s “Heaven and Earth” in the line 深之又深，而能物焉；神之又神，而能精焉。(“where one deep is succeeded by a greater, he can people all with things; where one mysterious range is followed by another that is more so, he can lay hold of the subtlest character of each.”).
4.诗情画意: chengyu, literally, quality suggestive of poetry or painting.
5.风花雪月: chengyu referring to certain types of sentimental poetry and literary works, a love affair, or a romantic atmosphere.
6.音律: can also refer to musical temperament or tuning.
7. 琴: a stringed musical instrument, in historical novels usually refers to the guqin. See more about it here.
8. 青山绿水: chengyu which means “beautiful country scenery”, and comes from a set of koan lines in Song dynasty monk Shi Puji’s《五灯会元》.