Chapter 11 (1/2)
Chapter 11: A n.o.ble Gentleman – Part 3
Translated by: Ritpoppy
Edited by: Ren
”Good boy!” Ming ChangYan shouted as he clapped his hands.
Huai Yu twirled his wrist as he walked down from the shooting platform. Along the way hearing the exaggerated boasts and flattery coming from the audience. The stall owner kept to his words, he promptly went to report to the master of the Zhao family, to tell them that this building is now owned under Huai Yu's name.
Ming ChangYan ran up to him, extending his hand and he proceeded to grab the other's left hand. Huai Yu glared at him, asking, ”What are you doing!”
”'What am I doing?' I'm taking a look at your hand.” Ming ChangYan then proceeded to tear open his wrist brace, and as expected, there was a bloch of deep red on the other's hand.
Huai Yu argued, ”This is nothing.”
Ming ChangYan raised his eyebrows, ”Such a brat, what are you flaunting over, let me see how serious it is. Your hands were clearly shaking during those last few arrows, did you think that this shaoxia wouldn't be able to tell?”
He reached into his chest and took out a jar of ointment, twisting the lid open and smearing the contents onto Huai Yu's wrist. Even though Huai Yu wore a face full of discontent, he didn't decline the offer.
Ming ChangYan ma.s.saged his wrist for him while saying, ”You half-sized boy, you just love to act stubborn don't you?”
Even though Ming ChangYan says these things, in his heart he secretly thought: Even though this mischievous child appears to be 17 to 18 years old, he wears such expensive robes; no matter how I look at it, he just looks like some n.o.ble family's young master that snuck out. Who would've expected that he wasn't lacking in ability? He properly calculated the distance between the shooting platform and the building. It's evident that he's a master at the martial art techniques of the Central Plains and has the capability of being able to hit each target with his 49 arrows with precision and accuracy.
”Ai! You have impeccable archery skills, you're even stronger than me! You actually managed to win the Sky Mansion! How about you teach me your archery techniques later on in the future?”
After hearing this, Huai Yu's expression eased up a lot. Ming ChangYan looked calm and collected, trying to restrain himself from laughing: He really is a child!
After the application, he put away the ointment. He patted Huai Yu's back and couldn't help but pull on his hair, ”Let's go, after letting you play for a while, the sky is already darkened. LiMin-Jun and the others must've already arrived at the mountain stream and are waiting for us.”
Huai Yu s.n.a.t.c.hed his hair back, saying, ”Don't play with my hair.”
Ming ChangYan, ”Alright, alright, alright. I won't play with it. I just saw that your hair was long, and just touched it for a bit, so stingy.”
The two walked around for a while when Ming ChangYan smiled, ”We've arrived.”
They arrived at the end of the Flowing Mountain Stream, the stream trickling into a vast clearing, with brooks from all four directions converging together to form a big lake. This lake is precisely the Tan River.
On the sh.o.r.e of the s.h.i.+p dock, Qin YuBao yelled, ”s.h.i.+-xiong!!”
Ming ChangYan replied, ”Coming!”
Qin YuBao couldn't wait any longer, striking a posture of wanting to slip away from the boat but was grabbed by the back of his collar by LiMin-Jun, ”What are you running for, it's not like your s.h.i.+-xiong is gonna get eaten!”
Ming ChangYan hopped onto the boat, after gaining a firm stance, he turned around to lend his hand out to Huai Yu but to his surprise, Huai Yu had already jumped on the boat. He took back his hand, giving the colored lantern to Qin YuBao, ”Hold it!”
After receiving the colored lantern, Qin YuBao's joy was enough to reach the heavens.
Ming Yue saw this, and he lowered his gaze to Ming ChangYan's waist, only after seeing a jade pendant dangling from his waist did he open his mouth, ”s.h.i.+-xiong.”
At this moment, from afar came a wild figure dressed in black. As he grew closer, it turned out to be a youngster, a male that had the appearance of a woman, with soft, feminine features making him extremely attractive. When he saw Ming ChangYan, he immediately shouted, ”Da s.h.i.+-xiong, I want a colored lantern too!”
Ming ChangYan said, ”YuLou! What are you running so fast for, don't worry, I've brought you guys a bunch of other stuff.”
He felt around his bosom for a period of time and with a ding-ling, items scattered around the boat. LiMin-Jun picked one up to examine and saw they were just a few small rubbish play-things, nothing special about them. It was just some things that little children would like. He crouched down together with Ming ChangYan, bending his back to a.n.a.lyze the use of these items.
LiMin-Jun said, ”Zhong YuLou, weren't you still outside, how did you suddenly come back?”
Zhong YuLou suddenly jumped on the boat, panting, ”I finished my task in advance so I came back. But n.o.body was on the mountain, so I a.s.sumed that you guys had gone down the mountain to celebrate the Flower Festival! Sure enough, I found you guys here!”
He picked up a monocular from the ground, closing one of his eyes and excitedly looked around.
”Da s.h.i.+-xiong, why is it that the other boats have flowers on them while ours don't?”
Ming ChangYan picked up an intricate perfume bag, giving it to Ming Yue.
He answered, ”We don't have it? Then it must be because Er s.h.i.+-xiong forgot it.”
LiMin-Jun, ”The other boats are partic.i.p.ating in tonight's Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion, do you guys plan on partic.i.p.ating?”
Huai Yu asked, ”What's the 'Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion?'”
After Ming ChangYan handed out the little trinkets out to everyone, he stood up and said, ”Now this is going to be hard to explain.”
The Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion is one of Lin'an's local traditions. Every year in April, all the flowers would bloom, which resulted in the formation of a holiday: The Flower Festival.
The Flower Festival, Flower Viewing Banquet, and Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion. Among them, the Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion is an evening celebration full of dancing and singing, something that the Lin'an officials arranged together with the wealthy merchants. On the surface of the Tan River stood a large platform, blooming with tens of thousands of flower candles, the light from the candles illuminating the crystalline waters, making the scene look gorgeous and splendid.
Ming ChangYan said, ”Who's hosting the Colored Lantern Pet.i.tions this year?”
Qin YuBao lifted his lantern and replied, ”I like that Shangguan family's young lady, her performance as the flower fairy last year was fantastic.”
LiMin-Jun, ”The Zhao family's young master is very fond of that Miss deemed the Queen of Blossoms, so his older sister threw out thousands of gold pieces in order to get her to come from Kyoto to Lin'an. As a result, tonight's Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion will be hosted by Lady Li Li.”
Ming ChangYan laughed out loud, ”No wonder there are more people this year in the Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion than last year, so it turns out that this is the reason!” Pausing, he thoughtfully continued, ”I've haven't yet seen what this legendary most beautiful woman in the world looks like.”
LiMin-Jun said, ”Of course they're going to be beautiful, we'll get to see later on.”
Qin YuBao said, ”Then our boat should get a flower, I want to partic.i.p.ate in the Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion too. Er s.h.i.+-xiong, how do we partic.i.p.ate in the Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion?”
LiMin-Jun paddled the boat a few times, handing the oar over to Ming ChangYan, letting the small boat drift on the surface of the water. He answered, ”Do you see that body of water over there bordered with red silk? All the boats that want to take part in the Colored Lantern Pet.i.tion arrive here. When flower fairy brings out the glazed colored lantern, it doesn't matter if the people aboard jump down to swim, or row their boats, in short, whoever's able to get to the heart of the lake first and retrieve the glazed, colored lantern, whoever's tonight's victor.”
Huai Yu commented, ”Is the glazed colored lantern a valuable object? What happens when you manage to s.n.a.t.c.h it?”
Ming ChangYan answered, ”Nothing happens, it's just like receiving a token of good luck. It's similar to hanging colored lanterns, who said that hanging the lanterns high was the only way to get a good husband?”
After a while, Huai Yu suddenly asked, ”Does the glazed colored lantern have the same meaning?”
Ming ChangYan actually didn't know the meaning behind the glazed colored lantern, opening his mouth, he spout out a bunch of nonsense, ”Of course! By the way it's hung up so high, it most likely means that the person who's able to pluck the lantern away will marry into a faraway family!”
Qin YuBao puzzled, ”What if a man gets it?”
Ming ChangYan pondered for a bit then declared, ”Then they'll probably marry someone from this country.”
Two hours pa.s.sed, and the sun had begun to disappear into the western horizon. A curtain of darkness was beginning shroud the sky while the Tan River was brightly lit, bustling with noise. On the west side of the lake, someone shouted, ”It's the Zhao family's s.h.i.+p!”
Everyone looked up in unison and saw a fleet of grand s.h.i.+ps slowly drifting their way. They were all two-storied and hundreds of feet tall. Aboard the s.h.i.+p was decorated with lanterns and colored banners, exhibiting a splendid banquet. Within the banquet, the people were drinking and gambling, emitting joyful cries while celebrating the happiness with songs and dances. On the exterior of the boat, servants were hurriedly scrambling around while pampered n.o.blewomen were huddled in groups, chatting amongst themselves. By the railings, the full moon shone down on the boat, making the s.h.i.+p glimmer in the rays of light.
This was translated by , any other repost of this is stolen and if you steal my hard work, I'm going to use the TianQing six sword techniques on you.
”Such an imposing s.h.i.+p!”
”Zhao family is ranked chief among the top three most influential aristocratic families and is the richest family in the Central Plains. If they're not imposing, then who would be?”
”They have powerful connections, that Zhao family's youngest master is deeply favored by the empress, they might as well be in a mother and son relations.h.i.+p!”
”Alright, alright, stop chit-chatting. There's still a flower performance coming up.”
After LiMin-Jun heard this, he turned his head to face Ming ChangYan and said, ”I remember that Zhao family's young master really likes you.”
Ming ChangYan was sitting at the prow of the s.h.i.+p, teaching Qin YuBao how to properly bind colored lanterns and without much thought, said, ”Really? There are too many people that like this shaoxia, I can't remember anymore.”
LiMin-Jun, ”Yup, I have a bit of an impression on him. When the child was about as tall as my waist, every year he would come to TianQing sect to register his name in order to learn martial arts. Every time he would be knocked out in the first round, often sitting at Xian Yue Mountain's doorsteps and crying. Years after years of failure and years after years of tears, the Zhao family even tried to bribe me with money.”
Ming ChangYan smiled, ”This child's willpower isn't bad.”
Hearing this, Ming Yue coldly stated, ”It's a pity that he was nothing but a worthless piece of trash. Even if he has willpower, in the end, it'd still be a waste of energy. Innate skill is more important than hard work.”
Yet Ming ChangYan warned, ”Ming Yue, you mustn't talk like this.”
Ming Yue outraged, ”I'm not wrong!”
Zhong YuLou disdainfully snorted, ”So you do know that talent is more important than hard work. Your innate skill is the same as him, if one person can get accepted into a sect, then the other person can automatically get ridiculed by someone who has inferior talent?”
Ming Yue's face flushed red, grinding his teeth, ”YOU!”
He tensiously stared at Zhong YuLou, the latter showing a face full of contempt. With both his hands crossed around his arms, he had an air of arrogance. However, this person was the capital at being arrogant. Within the inner disciples, Zhong YuLou possessed the highest talent and intelligence. Ming Yue enlisted late, plus his innate gift was weaker than him, so he couldn't refute when being satirized by him.
Ming ChangYan grabbed a glutinous rice cake, using it to block Ming Yue's mouth, ”Alright, your mouth loves to talk the most, quickly eat.”