c2 (1/2)

I found my two male leads for my novel translation of Yun Zhong Ge. I feel kinda giddy I can cast away whomever I want, just cuz I complain and moan each time an adaption casting turns out wonky, and for once I can do something about it in my neck of the woods. With Yang Mi as Yun Ge, I hereby present my loverboy Yuan Hong as Meng Jue and my special guy Roy Qiu as Liu Fu Ling. I can easily switch these two pretties around because with their acting breadth they can do either. But Ling is older than Jue, and I think this works better in my mind.

This casting might even be possible, since rumors has Yumama wanting to work with both Yuan Hong and Roy Qiu. With his adaptation of Smiling Proud Wanderer already cast, that leaves YZG ripe for him to try and s.n.a.t.c.h these two guys. Hey, either of them are loads better than the usual barrel of bleh leading men he usually uses. Though if Feng Shao Feng isn’t too big for Yumama’s britches, I can see him as Meng Jue as well. Just a reminder that YZG is really slow burn, it’s much much more complex and nuanced than Da Mo Yao, so everything takes a long time to unfold and even longer to fully flesh out. Just read and think, allowing the answers to arrive in due time

Chapter 2: Accompanying Fragrant Gra.s.s

Time is like an arrow, the falling petals are the same every year but the people do not remain the same. When the Winters turn into Summers, the smiling girl of yesteryear has reached her bloom.

A brightly lit room, even though it is but one room, it’s already bigger than many combined rooms in other homes. Underneath the floor is heated so even though it is cold outside, the inside feels like a sunny March day. The window panes are lined with green gauze, the decorations inside are precious Han jade, and an urn to the side is filled with South sea pearls.

A young girl’s laughter faintly rings out, but despite her voice being present, peering in through the doorway there is no one there. There is only a high shelf completely covered with potted plants. Some are blooming red flowers, others are white ones, and some more are just completely green and falling over the sides of the plant and trailing onto the floor. Another plant is growing along the side of the shelf all the way to the roof, where a red star-shaped flower has bloomed.

Many exotic plants are vying for attention in this hothouse, adding warmth and fragrance to the entire room. Walking in, one would think they had accidentally entered a fairy’s residence. Walking deeper inside and past the first flowers, they get an even bigger shock.

Inside there was a stove top right in the middle of the nursery. Even if this stove top cut from stone was extraordinarily made, it still shouldn’t be in the middle of this room. But it really is a kitchen, and right now a black-robed girl with her face covered in a gauze veil was cooking.

Yun Ge was sitting on the window ledge, her feet dangling as she slipped her shoes on and off. She was eating seeds and watching Ah Zhu cooking “Ah Zhu, you are cooking, not practicing swords play. Relax your hands! There are no poses, no rules, just what you feel like doing.”

Ah Zhu remained very serious and staring at the knife in her hand. Each piece of vegetable she was chopping was identical in size and shape. Yun Ge didn’t need to look to know that it would be identical to what she demonstrated to Ah Zhu.

Thinking about when Ah Zhu would move over to cook the vegetables, her every move would once again be identical to Yun Ge’s, even the time and movement of the hands Ah Zhu would copy exactly so. Yun Ge sighed and shook her head, secretly berating her Third Brother. How the heck did he turn an exceptional swords woman into this controlled state of being?

Suddenly a maid came running in “My lady, another guy not afraid of death is here to ask for your hand in marriage.” Yun Ge gave a devious laugh “Come call me to watch the show when my mom tosses him out.” The maid smiled and ran off, but then she didn’t return for some time.

Yun Ge started to get worried and said to Ah Zhu “Let me go see what’s happening, I’ll be right back.” Ah Zhu nodded her head, but she wouldn’t know that Yun Ge’s “be right back” will turn into “never coming back.”Ah Zhu waited in the room until it was dark out and still Yun Ge didn’t come back.

Using the dark of the night, Yun Ge carried her belongings on her back and flipped over the wall out the courtyard. She turned back to look at the courtyard with some hesitation, but she still took big steps and left.

In the shadow behind her, a young man’s voice said “Just like Dad antic.i.p.ated, Yun Ge is really running away from home after I goaded her a bit. Now that she’s taken off, the guy asking for marriage can also leave and Mom won’t feel torn anymore. Dad, do you want me to grab her back in a few days time?”

A soft sigh, with some laughter in his voice, and a tinge of worry “If I’m worried and always tracked your whereabouts, would you be happy?” The young man didn’t respond. “When a little eagle is grown she’ll fly away. An old eagle can’t take care of the little eagle forever. She needs to learn how to take care of herself. Let her go! It can’t be possible that my daughter wouldn’t be able to take care of herself.”

“Then we’ll just let her be?” the young man’s voice was calm but had some mirth. “……………………” After a period of silence, a voice of resignation rang out “I can spout all the logic, but I really can’t do it. I didn’t get this precious daughter until my forties, I know I’ve spoiled her. I keep thinking Yun Ge hasn’t grown up yet. When you have time, just keep an eye on her then.”

“What about you, Dad? Are you and Mom traveling again?” A happy voice said “We finally made it to all of you fully grown, of course we’re going to do whatever we want now.” The young man laughed, the tone of voice like two friends talking rather than a son and father “Yun Ge Er loves sticking to your side. Dad, did you purposely not turn down the offer of marriage so that you can upset Yun Ge so much she’d run away from home?”

In the breeze there was only the sound of soft laughter. But the young man could see in his father’s still sharp as an eagle’s eyes something that he could’t quite understand. It was like his father was remembering someone.

In his heart, his father is someone who won’t even blink an eye if the sky fell down. He can’t imagine a person out there who could put this look on his father’s face.

Yun Ge had run away from home for a few days now but she was still feeling upset. She didn’t understand why her normally loving and accommodating to her wishes parents didn’t kick the marriage seeker out on his rear end. Not only did they not kick him out, they were apparently very solicitous of him.

Third Brother was even worse. Instead of helping her come up with a plan, he was really annoyed with her. Third Brother was always arrogant when he talked, but that moment it felt like he couldn’t wait to marry her off.

Yun Ge had a bellyful of woe she couldn’t find anyone to talk to. She was angry and sad, deciding to run away from home that very night. Since she’s gone, what are they going to do about it? If they want a marriage that badly, they can marry that guy! She was never going to marry him.

Everyone thought she had forgotten, her mom and daddy must believe she’s forgotten, but she has not forgotten. She remembered vividly the promise she made.

The day when she returned home, her daddy and her mom saw the hair rope around her neck and asked her where it came from. She told them the truth, but who knew her parents face would turn somber. She was so scared she didn’t tell them about the subsequent promise and her giving of her shoe.

Mom took away her hair rope and made her promise to never go find Ling gege to play. She cried and refused, and that was the first time her parents didn’t acquiesce to her. In the end her mom couldn’t take her crying and stopped making her promise not to find Ling gege, but she still wouldn’t give her back the hair rope.

Later she secretly asked her daddy to give her back the hair rope. Who knew her daddy, who in her mind wouldn’t even furrow his eyebrows in the face of an oncoming avalanche, actually sighed and said “Yun Er, your mom is doing this for your own good. Don’t let your mom worry.”

It’s been so many years that Ling gege’s face is blurry in her mind, but his smile under the starry night continued to remind her, remind her that she made that promise.

On the day she learned from a book that a woman giving a man an embroidered shoe meant she was promising to marry him, her heart beat so fast it almost jumped out of her chest. She quickly put the book away like she had done something wrong.

That day her mind was in a daze, sometimes worried sometimes happy. She couldn’t sleep that night so she went up on the roof to look at the stars. The stars in the sky were as brilliant as that night when his dark eyes were s.h.i.+ning with little specks of light. In that moment, she suddenly understood what he meant when he said “I accept it. Yun Ge, you must remember!”

He accepted it, which meant he also promised. Yun Ge reminisced about every little moment with Ling gege, her only friend since she was a child.

Laying under the stars, she thought about Ling gege in Chang An also looking at the star-filled night. Yun Ge had this weird feeling, knowing for certain that he must also be looking at this sky right now and also quietly remembering their time together. She was antic.i.p.ating their reunion with happiness. Her lingering worry dissipated and turned into only joy.

Laying on the roof, she said to the stars “I remember! The entire sky full of stars as my witness, I would never dare forget.” From that moment on, Yun Ge had a huge secret.

When she was alone, she would sometimes secretly smile. Normally she hated being alone and loved company, but suddenly she would run off to be by herself and stare at the night sky. When she heard kids sing folk songs about getting married, she would turn beet red. She stopped wearing any red clothes, because she wanted this color to be worn for a certain person on that certain day.

She kept plotting how to go find Ling gege, worried how to make her parents agree to let her go to Chang An. Who knew her parents would suddenly want to marry her off. Since they don’t want her anymore, then she might as well run away and go to Chang An to find Ling gege.

But she didn’t have the hair rope anymore, how could she find Ling gege? And when she saw Ling gege, how will she explain? Tell him that his token was confiscated by her mom? ……………….

Yun Ge sighed. Forget about this for now, let’s get to Chang An first! She’ll find a way.

Traveling East, Yun Ge could only marvel that the Han dynasty is worthy of being called the Sky dynasty. The bustling market towns are more grand than other nations could hope for, with new fun and weird things to see.

But Yun Ge grew up seeing treasures and oddities, plus her parents don’t care about owning things. So even the most unique thing Yun Ge would just take a look and move on, to her its nothing important. She only paid attention to the food along the way. If she heard of a delicious item, she would be sure to sample it.

Ay! Daddy, mom, even her brothers don’t want her anymore. Why is she even bothering learning new dishes for them? Even though she was grumbling, it’s hard to get rid of her habits from childhood, so Yun Ge continued to run into restaurant after restaurant, and buy spice after spice.

Even filled with woe, her face would redden when she would think about not cooking this for Third Brother, but instead cooking it for Ling gege.

Because she was so annoyed, she decided to dress like a beggar to travel, for fun and to make her parents suffer. She felt like the more raggedy she looked, it would make her parents feel even worse, and that made her feel slightly better.

When Yun Ge left home it was cold and frosty out, but by the time she arrived in Chang An it was already Spring. Arriving right outside Chang An, Yun Ge heard about a restaurant called Qi Li Xiang (Seven Mile Fragrant Loft), and she hurried to check it out, wanting to know how the fragrance could waft for seven miles.

Arriving outside the restaurant, she saw it crowded with people already. Her heart lifted, excited to check out something fun! Everyone crowded to watch so Yun Ge was hopping up and down and still she couldn’t see anything over the crowds.

Yun Ge saw the eight-deep crowd and smiled, taking out the pungent fish gra.s.s from her pouch and squeezing it in her hand. She pushed through and everyone pa.s.sed for her as they hurried to pinch their noses and move aside. Yun Ge happily got the best spot and no one came to bother her. She tossed a dried sour plum in her mouth and got ready to watch the show.

A girl around Yun Ge’s age, with a pretty face and some feistiness in her eyes, was berating a younger boy. She jerked the boy’s ear “See if you dare steal money again?” The boy was wearing threadbare clothes and was shaking at the girl’s att.i.tude “Big sister Xu, please forgive me, on account of my eighty year old mother and eight year old younger sister, please forgive me once…..”

The girl was furious and continued to berate the boy and hitting him a few times with a stick. The boy’s ears were bright red, like it was about to be jerked off, wanting to beg for mercy but seeing the girl’s expression gave up “Forget it, forget it!”

Yun Ge was dressed like a beggar this entire way and endured a lot of nasty derision, so seeing the boy this way and hearing he was all alone, felt sympathetic to him. She was thinking of how to save the boy when the owner of the restaurant came out to beg her to stop since she was blocking business.

The girl appeared familiar with the owner, so she gave the boy one more glare before reluctantly letting him go. The girl sold her wine to the owner, counted her money carefully, and then left. Yun Ge’s eyes twirled and then quietly followed the girl.

Because no one was paying attention, so no one noticed that when Yun Ge was outside watching this show, up in the second floor of the restaurant, a richly dressed young man was staring at her. When he saw her leave, he immediately left the restaurant and followed behind her.

Yun Ge followed the girl and walked for some time before arriving at a small lane. She looked around to make sure the coast was clear and wanted to strike when suddenly someone called out “Ping Jun.” Yun Ge stopped and shrank into the shadows.

A tall handsome young man walked up. His black robe was washed so much it was turning white, his shoes were covered in patches, and he was carrying a few chickens that barely had any feathers left on them. Even though his attire was so poor, he didn’t exhibit the demeanor of a poor person. The way he walked was as purposeful as a lion, his eyes showing a kind of lofty coldness. But his smile was open and carefree, revealing a contentment borne from being an ordinary person.

n.o.bility, poverty, coldness, warmth, all of these incongruous auras combined together in this young man. Yun Ge angrily looked towards him and then her heart leapt. Even though his demeanor was not the same, but those eyes……so familiar!

Even under the bright sunlight, his smiling eyes were dark and cold. But Yun Ge knew that when those eyes truly smiled, it would twinkle brighter than a night full of stars. The Ping Jun girl tossed some coins at the man “Take it!” He refused “I won some money in a c.o.c.k fight today.”

“The money you won is for past debt, this is money from that alcoholic Fu Xu. My mom won’t know, so you won’t need to worry about her nagging, plus……” Ping Jun smiled and took a jade piece from her robe and twirled it in front of the man “I’m still holding your item, so I’m not afraid of you paying me back. I’ll get back the money and interest.”

The man laughed heartily and didn’t resist anymore, taking the money and putting it in his robe. He took the carrying stick from Ping Jun and they walked side by side down the lane.

Yun Ge’s mind was in a daze. That jade piece? That jade piece! Under the sunlight the dancing dragon was the identical as before. Yun Ge grabbed a piece of raw ginger in her pouch and smeared it over her eyes. It immediately turned red and her tears came tumbling down. Yun Ge ran towards them, and the man reacted quickly when he heard the footsteps and turned around but Yun Ge had already ran into Ping Jun.

The man grabbed Yun Ge’s arm to berate her, but he saw a beggar with tears so he tamped down what he was going to say. Yun Ge pulled her hand back and looked carefully at his face, before saying “I’m sorry” quickly to Ping Jun and then stumbling away.

Ping Jun had been hit right on her chest and she was red faced with anger, but when she saw Yun Ge’s face, her temper disappeared and she asked “Little brother, who mistreated you?” But before her question was finished Yun Ge had already disappeared.

The man reacted “Ping Jun, check quickly, did you lose anything?” Ping Jun reached into her robe and started running, angry, laughing, and nervous “I can’t believe someone dared to mess with you. Liu Bing Yi, as leader of the young band of hooligans, I can’t believe you would encounter this! Didn’t the rumors all say that everyone works for you?”

Yun Ge sat under a tree and stared in a daze at her jade piece. A few hours pa.s.sed and she never moved. She had been worried about how to find him without the hair rope, who knew she set foot in the city and would immediately run into Ling gege.

A person’s looks will change, but the jade piece wouldn’t change. This one was identical to the one Ling gege wore. Unless a jade came from the same piece and from the same artisan, it was impossible to make two identical ones. Plus he had the same eyes as she remembered.

Before she arrived in Chang An, she worried she wouldn’t find him or he had left, she couldn’t have imagined that he would have forgotten her. Now she no longer could count on Ling gege remembering their promise, which was thousands of days ago. Back then he wouldn’t give her the jade piece, yet now it was in the hands of another girl.

Yun Ge was like a lost desert traveler, thinking she was about to reach a water source, to arrive there only to see more desert ahead. In her despair she thought “Ling gege wouldn’t forget me, he wouldn’t” while another voice said “He forgot, he already forgot.”

Yun Ge sat there until her stomach growled, remainding her that she had gone to Qi Li Xiang to eat. But after all that, she simply forgot. She dragged herself to a random noodle store to just eat something.

The owner look measure of Yun Ge’s get up and was disgruntled, but Yun Ge was so preoccupied she didn’t care to play tricks anymore and just tossed him extra money for the meal. The owner immediately changed his att.i.tude and brought whatever she ordered.

The noodle was just average, and Yun Ge was hungry, but she wasn’t able to eat it. She lowered her head and started counting each strand, when suddenly the chatter in the noodle store all faded into silence.

Yun Ge looked up and startled, a richly dressed man was standing at the doorway and taking off his hat. A simple move, but his movement was alluring and elegant so the viewer simply couldn’t look away. His hair was encircled with a white jade circlet, his black strands darker than the darkest night, seemingly softer than the smoothest silk, s.h.i.+nier than even precious gems.

It was hard to differentiate from his features whether he was Han or Xi Yu, his angles were sharper than the Han, but softer than a Xi Yu person. He was as perfect as if carved from a piece of jade. A personage like him ought to be stepping on jade stones with a beauty on his arm and living in a crystal palace, yet he showed up here and was warm and polite to the owner. He asked for a bowl of noodles.

Because of his appearance, everyone stopped eating and just stared at him. Some people felt overwhelmed and wanted to leave but couldn’t. Yun Ge had seen plenty of lofty personages with powerful auras, but this person was as calm as the moon’s reflection on a lake, as light as the high clouds, as warm as a Spring breeze, as clean as a tree on the banks.

Yun Ge thought of a lot of descriptions but couldn’t find one suitable for him. He gave off the impression that initially felt very clear, but it was as ephemeral as a pa.s.sing cloud or a flowing stream, clear but impossible to capture. Someone like him really is hard to encounter in life.

The man saw Yun Ge staring at his eyes, and there was flash in its obsidian depths. Yun Ge might have been secretly admiring his form, but since she was small she traveled the world with her parents and saw countless interesting people and things. The reason she kept staring at him was because she felt this odd tinge in her heart.

It was like when one is traveling and comes across a new vista. You know you have never seen it before, but there is this indescribable feeling of familiarity almost like you encountered it in a dream. Yun Ge thought about it but couldn’t make any connection, so she shrugged it off and went back to counting her noodles.

Humph! Smelly Third Brother, you smelly peac.o.c.k. If he saw that person, would his narcissism drop down a few notches? But then she remembered there was no way Third Brother would ever visit Chang An. Daddy, mom, her brothers are all hundreds of miles away. She’s all alone here, all alone……

The young man asked Yun Ge with a smile “Can I sit here?” Yun Ge looked around and saw there were no empty tables, but he still didn’t need to pick her to share a table with. There was a pretty older woman staring at him, he could sit with her, why pick someone as dirty as her?