Chapter 3 (1/2)
Translated by: Ritpoppy
Edited: Ren
Notice: Sorry for being gone for such a long time ಥ_ಥ
I've got no excuses for why it took so long. But here it is! This chapter was significantly longer than the other two.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat here's A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 3~
Peony and Fu Ling looked at each other in dismay, Fu Ling said, ”Shaos.h.i.+, perhaps doesn't understand, after entering the palace, if you want to be called upon by the emperor, he must first flip over your plaque *. Apart from this, the concubines within the palace are forbidden to secretly meet with the emperor. The rules in the palace are very strict, there has never been any concubine that have served the emperor without getting called on first. Shaos.h.i.+…”
*(TL: In Ancient China, if the emperor wants to spend the night with one of his concubines, then he would be presented with a stack of names on tablets and he would choose which one he wanted to sleep with.)
Ming ChangYan cut her off, ”Rules are meant to be broken! I'm going to meet him today so that everyone else gets a chance tomorrow. Come, come, come, my dear Peony, step aside, step aside. If you guys don't take me, then I'll just go myself.”
After saying that, his body nimbly got up and walked between Peony and Fu Ling's body. Before the two could react, he slipped on his shoes and began running so fast it looked like he was flying. With a whoosh, his figure disappeared from the doorway of the Bamboo House.
Peony and Fu Ling's complexion changed, and they immediately chased after him.
While running, the two loudly shouted ”Shaos.h.i.+” and ”Miss”, never stopping as panic arose within them while they pursued their mistress.
Although Ming ChangYan lost all of his cultivation, he still ran like a wild horse. Uncontrollable. The palace maids that he encountered along the way all hastily moved aside for him to pa.s.s through.
After wildly rus.h.i.+ng out of the Bamboo House and rotating around 4 to 5 hallways, he entered a stone carved arched doorway. After going through ten doors, the terrain suddenly opens up. Ming ChangYan slowed down his footsteps, and in front of him, he saw an expanse of endless jade-green lotus leaves. The sweet fragrance of the white lotuses. .h.i.ts him in the face, dispelling away the summer heat.
Ming ChangYan promptly moved forward two steps. After crossing the bridge, he noticed there was someone standing on the bridge. The person didn't seem to have had a pa.s.sing of age party yet*. He had the conduct of a proper man, a splendid-looking face, skin the color of white jade, with his hair tied up with a golden headdress. This person must be one of those immortals.
*(TL: 不到弱冠, bu dao ruo guan, in Ancient China, when a man reached twenty of age, they would hold a ceremony to show that they were adults. Ming ChangYan is basically saying that hot guy on the bridge is not yet ready for that ceremony.)
The person held a jar of fish food on his right hand, while his left hand threw the fish food into the lotus pond. Even after Ming ChangYan hastily burst in, the other person's complexion never changed, his imposing body motionless. His gaze didn't even move an inch from the pond.
After Ming ChangYan hurriedly ran in into this foreign place, he realized his mistake. Not being able to find where the Emperor's bedroom was, Ming ChangYan shamelessly cupped his hands together in greeting and said, ”This Young Master, do you perhaps know where the Emperor lives?”
The Young Master, didn't apparently seem to hear him which causes Ming ChangYan to think: Is this man deaf?
”Hey! I'm talking to you, Young Master! Xiao Gege! Little Husband*! How come you're ignoring me? Ey, are you deaf?”
*(TL: 小相公, xiao xian gong, could mean other things but I chose the gayest one, plus it fits the timeline the most.)
At that moment, Fu Ling and Peony managed to finally catch up to him. The two panted heavily, their posture slacking. Looking at Ming ChangYan shamelessly pestering the young man, they once again were frightened and astonished. With a swoosh, their entire complexion turned deathly pale. It seemed that the Heavens were shooting lightning down at them. The two's faces look haggard and withered. In the moment of turmoil, they kneel on the ground and hit their heads on the ground.
”Please spare our lives, Immortal Yun Qing! This Shaos.h.i.+ just entered the imperial palace and has never met an Immortal before! Even though she provoked this immortal, please spare the Shaos.h.i.+!”
While kneeling and hitting their heads on the ground, Fu Ling grabbed the hem of Ming ChangYan's robes, trying to pull him down to kneel with them.
Ming ChangYan thought: Immortal Yun Qing? Why does that name sound so familiar? Could this man be one of the troops that he saw earlier pa.s.s through the entrance?
He pretended to be ignorant and said, ”Peony, what are you grabbing at my robes for? I already kneeled for him this morning, why do I have to kneel for him again without a good reason to? What? Do you want us to perform the kneeling ritual to become husband and wife and pay respects to his parents while at it*?”
*(TL: It's an old wedding ritual where the bride and groom do three bows, first one for the heavens, second for the family, and the third one for each other. Search it up if you're curious about it.)
After hearing Ming ChangYan shoot his mouth off, not once, but twice offending Immortal YunQing, she was afraid that even dying ten thousand times wouldn't be adequate. She blinked as teardrops flowed down her cheeks. Her body began trembling, trying not to let out a sound, and started crying.
Ming ChangYan seeing Fu Ling cry as if her liver and guts were being cut up, was astonished, and thought: What is this charming youngster's influence? If he really did meet and brought the devil's incarnate, to be born just to die, wouldn't it be a huge misfortune?
Before becoming a cultivator Ming shaoxia was a jack-of-all-trades for a short while. If he couldn't win he fled, if he couldn't flee then he would bow to protect his life. In addition, he could bow and submit, his face st.u.r.dy, merciful and flattering words flowed out of him the moment he opened his mouth. No one could ever think that one of JiangHu's most powerful martial artist and gentleman could suck up to people with this much skill.
This is translated by , any other translation of this is stolen work and if you read stolen work, may all your bacon burn
Many people have preposterous reasoning, thinking that when someone becomes a hero, they can also commit treacherous evil-doings. The times are different and so are the situations they're in. Only those who are able to recognize recent trends can be chivalrous heroes.
For the elite Ming ShaoXia—forget about committing evils, he has already dressed up as a woman, what's the worse he could do? Kneel for a child? For a gentleman like him, revenge is a dish best served cold. When he gets a hold of the Immortal Gra.s.s and regain his golden core, then he'd come back and settle accounts with him.
Ming ChangYan promptly lifts up his skirt, and humbly knelt down, ”Ok, ok, ok. Good JieJie*, there's no need to cry. I spoke without thinking, if you want me to kneel, I'll kneel. I'm kneeling, really kneeling, do you see?”
(TN: Means older sister in Chinese)
That Yun Qing Immortal paused for a second, finished feeding the fish, and finally opened his mouth to speak, ”What part of the palace is this person from?”
Peony didn't have much guts, after bowing her head once, she was so frightened that her entire body was shaking. She replied, ”In—In the Bamboo House. She just became a Shaos.h.i.+ today. She was shouting saying she wanted to see the emperor, saying—saying that she was going to find her husband. This servant couldn't stop her in time, allowing her to trespa.s.s into the Lotus Terrace. This servant should die a thousand times! A thousand times!”
Yun Qing glanced at her, and said, ”No need to meet him. Bring her back.”
Fu Ling and Peony while pus.h.i.+ng and hauling, dragged Ming ChangYan up from the floor, and hurriedly rushed him out of Lotus Terrace.
After walking approximately 15 minutes, the Lotus Terrace had completely disappeared from the three's line of sight, Ming ChangYan turned to Fu Ling and asked, ”Peony, who is that Yun Qing Immortal?”
Peony said, ”Yan Shaos.h.i.+, I'm Peony, she's Fu Ling.”
Ming ChangYan turned around, ”Fu Ling, then you answer.”
Peony who seemed to have been choked by him, slowly explained, ”Immortal Yun Qing is the last blood-related disciple of Chang GuoXiang, and is also called Xiao GuoXiang. Different from other cultivators, Xiao GuoXiang grew up in the palace, his food, clothing, and conduct are equal to that of a prince. The emperor has always been infatuated with the idea of cultivation, resulting in his status within the palace to be extremely high. Forget about a lowly Shaos.h.i.+, even an Imperial Concubine has to show him proper courtesy. Shaos.h.i.+ must remember to never contradict him again like today.”
Ming ChangYan said, ”I was only asking for directions, how does this count as contradicting him when all I did was ask a question? It's only because you two didn't tell me where the emperor was that I slandered with that, that Yun Qing or whatever!”
Peony covered her mouth, stunned, ”How could Shaos.h.i.+ talk this way.”
Ming ChangYan, ”It's because you two JieJie look so pretty that I talk this way, if it were others, I wouldn't dare speak to them.”
Peony and Fu Ling glanced at each other, grabbed Ming ChangYan's arm and persuaded, ”While Shaos.h.i.+ is in the palace, you must be very careful, especially when it comes to talking. Just now, the way you called us, must not be heard by others and you should never call us by that again. In the palace, you're the mistress, we're the servants. What kind of mistress calls their servants JieJie?”
Ming ChangYan took his hand out from between the two and spurt out a few words of security, ”I can walk by myself, no need to trouble these two JieJie.”
He asked, ”Then doesn't that mean that this Yun Qing Immortal is able to enter harem by himself?”
Fu Ling, ”No one else is able to, but he is the only one who has the privilege to do so. The harem is full of womenfolk. Usually, without the consent of the Imperial Bodyguards, going into the palace harem could get your head cut off.”
Ming ChangYan thoughtfully nodded his head. Fu Ling, seeing that he was unwilling to be lent a hand for support, thought that her mistress's temperament was extremely weird. After realizing she was falling behind a few steps, she immediately followed after them and said, ”There's still enough time for Shaos.h.i.+ to return to the harem to freshen up. At around 5-7 pm, all newly entered concubines are to pay a formal visit to the Imperial Concubine Yuan.”
Ming ChangYan returned to the Bamboo House together with the other two. While Peony was selecting hairpins and cosmetic powders, the other person already had their eyes closed, sleeping soundly. After they had finished applying makeup on, and only after some pus.h.i.+ng did he wake up.
The amount of rouge and face powder Ming ChangYan had brought throughout his life and the number of young ladies that he would give them to were all because they were following a fas.h.i.+on trend. He never thought that one day this kind of cute thing would end up on his face.
Peony said, ”Yan Shaos.h.i.+. Let us go together with w.a.n.g Shaos.h.i.+ from the western side of the Bamboo House to formally greet Imperial Concubine Yuan.”
w.a.n.g Shaos.h.i.+ was born with an egg face and perfect eyebrows, who walked while swinging her hips side to side and had an incomparable flirtatious behavior. Ming ChangYan exited through the door, stepped forward and said, ”w.a.n.g JieJie, sorry to make you wait.”
w.a.n.g Shaos.h.i.+ covered her mouth and delicately smiled, her fan swaying back and forth, ”The way you talk is so interesting.”
Ming ChangYan smiled, ”I have something even more interesting. What kind of perfume does w.a.n.g JieJie have on? Just smelling it is intoxicating.”
w.a.n.g Shaos.h.i.+, ”That mouth you have says the sweetest things. This is a special perfume from my hometown Yanjing*. If you like it, then I can send someone over later to give you one. But there are so many people that use perfume in the palace, mine isn't all that special compared to others. When that happens, don't regret it.”
(TN: Present day Beijing)
Ming ChangYan questioned, ”There's a lot of perfumes in the palace? If everyone uses perfumes in the palace, does that mean that the men wear it too? Since Yanjing produces an abundance of perfumes, has w.a.n.g JieJie ever smelled a perfume similar to a lotus yet refres.h.i.+ng as winter snow? Just smelling it makes one's heart flutter and the mind unable to calm down.”