Translated by Cyrrene and edited by Uhei.
The emperor, the princes, and the civil and military officers all left the city to welcome the great army upon their victorious return. The Imperial palace guards, the Feathered Forest1 Imperial army, and the Six battalions of the East and West were all mobilised; the spectacle was so large that it rendered people speechless. Outside the northern city wall, Luo Wei, who had been conferred Brocade Marquis on the spot, was doubtlessly the one in the limelight2 that day. The third young master Luo, still in his teens, had been bestowed the rank of marquis while also possessing outstanding beauty. That day as he walked past on the streets that had been rinsed clean, it was not known how many young girls’ hearts he captivated, or in how many young men’s hearts he invoked envy.
Soon after Emperor Xingwu, without reservations, awarded each of the subjects who returned from Black Frost City with accomplishments. The Luo family’s eldest son Luo Qi and second son Luo Ze, after Luo Wei, were also granted the title of marquis. Luo Qi was the Grand Commandant of the three armies this time, so to be conferred a marquis title for his military exploits was beyond question. Luo Ze’s marquis title conferment drew many remarks, however, Emperor Xingwu clarified in the edict that bestowed Luo Ze as the Dingwu Marquis, his conferral was because of his many years of service guarding the capital. This reason made everyone only able to whisper secretly behind their backs, not daring to speak openly in public.
Luo Zhiqiu’s three sons were all conferred marquis titles. The Senior Chancellor’s Luo estate was for a while unparalleled in their fame; the numerous visitors that came to offer congratulations and well-wishes nearly trampled down the Chancellor estate’s doorway threshold.
Luo Wei was not in the mood to pay attention to the liveliness at home. With the excuse that his body needed to recuperate, he did not go to greet the guests who came to add flowers to the brocade3, except for Zhao Henian—the Zhao clan brothers who were old family friends of the Luo family. Only then did Luo Wei come out to meet them for a bit; during the rest of the time he just stayed within his own courtyard.
Of course, Luo Wei could not have possibly slept the whole time he stayed in his own courtyard; he spent the whole day with Wei Lan so close they might as well be rubbing their fringes together4. Luo Wei did not go outside for several days after returning to the capital, and invited Ning Fei over to consult for a couple of days. Soon after, Great Zhou’s Jianghu gave rise to stormy waves, and Mingjian Villa was shut down by the authorities. The villa master Ning Shuying, from being the leader among the righteous martial arts community, became a criminal declared for arrest by the imperial court overnight. The Yu Zhou mine case, which had already been closed, was once again unearthed by local authorities. After (the investigations of) Yu Zhou’s officials, Mingjian Villa became the first aristocratic martial family implicated in the Yu Zhou mine case.
Just when people were still startled over Mingjian Villa’s tumultuous collapse, the martial families with close ties with Mingjian Villa were also investigated in succession. Commoners do not fight the government5—the people of the Jianghu were also merely commoners, even with many skilled heroic figures among them, yet when faced with this type of suppression from both above and below, there was not much they could do. Either they simply admit defeat at the mercy of others, or they abandon their families and businesses, desperately fleeing to the ends of the earth.
When the influence of one party collapses, there will be another new power to replace it. The people of the past thought it was the Qilin Villa’s turn to unify the Jianghu. No one expected the Qilin Villa to remain silent during this time, close its doors, instead passing their days honestly, maintaining an overall disregard for the Jianghu’s affairs. During these days, the biggest news people heard from Qilin Villa was that Luo Tingchao’s eldest son Luo Haisheng became gravely ill. This illness left him almost permanently in bed6, becoming handicapped.
Since the Qilin Villa’s master did not make an appearance, the various clans and factions of the Jianghu began another round of disputes. Anyone could become the martial community’s next Mingjian Villa. Another episode of bloodbath7 within Great Zhou’s Jianghu seemed inevitable. The memorial reported to the imperial court from the local officials all mentioned that the carnage among the Jianghu was increasingly intense.
Just when the people of the Jianghu had already gone berserk8‘, the feudal reign of Mingjian Villa was already dissolved by the local officials. All the properties of Mingjian Villa were returned to the already second-class ranked general Ningfei, who was granted a position as Xuanwei General, Ning Zizhou. The people of the Jianghu who had been killing to their hearts’ content finally understood that the presumed reinvestigation of the Yu Zhou mine case, which had rendered Ning Shuying—this type of figure in the Jianghu who stirred up trouble9—into a criminal by imperial decree, and raised such a ruckus, were all just a pretext for Ning Zizhou, this sixth young master who had already severed all ties with Mingjian Villa, to be able to take control of Mingjian Villa.
After Ning Fei obtained Mingjian Villa, shortly after, he married Xiangdong prefectural governor Fu Jingzong’s daughter10, and became the Quyu Fu family’s son-in-law. For a dancer’s11 son to rise to such a position like this today, people couldn’t help but sigh emotionally at Ning Fei’s good fortune and excellent future prospects.
Long Xuan watched Fu Yun displaying each piece of clothing he would be wearing on his grand wedding day while listening to the scouts reporting on Ning Fei’s wedding scene.
“Did the third young master Luo also attend?” Long Xuan asked.
“He went,” the scout replied, “except he did not go to the main hall, but only stayed in the rear hall.”
“You may leave,” Long Xuan had the scout retreat. It was as if he wasn’t concerned about Ning Fei’s wedding, but was concerned about whether Luo Wei had attended the occasion.
“Your Highness,” Fu Yun cautiously and gently asked Long Xuan, “Are you satisfied with the clothes?”
“These were sent by the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix,” Long Xuan said, “In what way could I be dissatisfied?”
Fu Yun didn’t dare speak. This time Luo Zhiyi simultaneously prepared for Long Xuan and Long Xing’s grand weddings. From Fu Yun’s viewpoint as a person who was entirely devoted to Long Xuan, Luo Zhiyi handled this issue flawlessly. Everything regarding Long Xuan’s was rushed here first, that Long Xing on the contrary, couldn’t see how much this empress cared about her own son.
“Go put them all away,” Long Xuan said.
Fu Yun quickly had someone come to put away all the items that were laid out.
Peace had finally been restored for Long Xuan when Long Xiang suddenly came to visit. Long Xiang was delighted about his older brother’s grand wedding. When he entered Long Xuan’s study room, he said to Long Xuan, “Brother, today I saw our mother.”
Long Xuan’s usually indifferent facial expression suddenly revealed astonishment at this. He said, “How did you enter the Hall of Blossoming Beauty?”
Long Xiang said, “I requested from the empress, and she allowed me to go. She also said that if brother wishes to see mother before the grand wedding, you can also go see her.”
“How was mother when you saw her?”
“Shang Xi from the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix followed, so I wasn’t able to get closer.” Long Xiang shook his head and waved his fist, “Mother was sleeping on a daybed. The curtains weren’t lifted, so I couldn’t see our mother’s appearance.”
“How does this count as seeing her?” Long Xuan said.
“What else could I do?” Long Xiang said to Long Xuan, “You’re the one who told me to respect the empress, otherwise our mother will have to suffer.”
“Then what did you say to our mother?” Long Xuan asked again.
“Mother said she was fine right now. She has always been taking the medicine sent by the Imperial Medical Ward,” Long Xiang repeated the words back like a parrot10, “She said that with the empress looking after both of us, she can be at ease and focus on her recovery. And also, she said she really missed the Empress Dowager. I also don’t know how the Empress Dowager is, so I had difficulty answering our mother.” When Long Xiang said this, he was slightly vexed again. “Brother, otherwise next time I will go request the empress to have her allow me to see the Empress Dowager.”
“You need Imperial Father’s decree in order to see the Empress Dowager,” Long Xuan said, “What use is there to seek the Empress Dowager?”
Long Xiang sat down in a chair across from Long Xuan and said, “Your place is so cold and cheerless. Long Xing’s place is much more lively. Brother, I saw that Luo clan’s daughter. That saying was so accurate, ‘Youyan’s beautiful girls are aplenty’—she was a great beauty.”
“Aren’t you so bored?”
“Not like I wanted to see. Yesterday, she was over at the empress’s, okay. When I went in, I only saw the profile of her face,” Long Xiang said, “I also asked the empress. This Luo clan’s girl is older than Luo Wei by a few months. She could be considered Luo Wei’s older paternal cousin.”
“So what?” Long Xuan said, “What exactly are you trying to tell me?”
“I’m saying the Luo clan is so impressive right now,” Long Xiang thought about it and felt it was unjustified, “If this time you had brought me along to Northern Yan, I could also establish an outstanding battle record. Even if I couldn’t compare to either you or Luo Wei, I’m at least stronger than Ning Fei? That brat managed to rise to second-class general rank in one go! What kind of reasoning is this?”
Long Xuan said, “Based on the way you currently idle around when attending the Study, you can’t compare to him!”
When Long Xuan mentioned attending the Study, Long Xiang stopped talking, and immersed himself in eating the snacks on the nearby tea table.
For Ning Fei to be able to receive a second-class general rank, Luo Wei must have exerted his resources considerably. On Ning Fei’s behalf, it could be said that Luo Wei exhausted all his tricks and scheming. Long Xuan also couldn’t see any reason for Ning Fei to not wholly dedicate his utmost to the Luo family. (Long Xuan) had originally believed that Luo Wei would destroy the Mingjian Villa, but had not anticipated that with a sleight of hand, Mingjian Villa would be sent to Ning Fei. This move was undoubtedly brilliant.
Next update on Tuesday will resume the normal update schedule.
1. 御林军: a division of imperial bodyguards. See more here. [Return]
2.出风头: to stand out. [Return]
3.锦上添花: figuratively, it means to be amiable when the other party is in a good situation; to lend a helping hand when none is needed. [Return]
4.耳鬓厮磨: sharing close intimacy, especially between men and women. Origin of this phrase is from “Dream of the Red Chamber.” [Return]
5.民不与官斗: the first part of a common folk proverb 民不与官斗, 贫不与富争后面几句 (commoners do not fight the government, the poor do not fight with the rich). [Return]
6. 都将与床为伴: the more literal translation of this phrase is “practically made him into the bed’s companion” [Return]
7. 腥风血雨: lit. foul wind and blood rain; reign of terror or carnage. [Return]
8. 杀红了眼: entered a state of mind where the eyes have turned red and only thinking of killing. [Return]
9. 呼风唤雨: chengyu, lit. call the wind and summon the rain. [Return]
10. 嫡女: daughter of a principal wife. [Return]
11. 舞妓: a woman who is trained in performing arts in an establishment, similar to maiko. [Return]
12.鹦鹉学舌 [Return]
