c55 (1/2)

Chapter 55 is really a long overdue moment for Xu Ping Jun and Meng Jue to talk again. It’s probably been years since these two really had a heart-to-heart, not since a young Xu Ping Jun begged Meng Jue for help so that she didn’t marry her betrothed and could be together with Liu Bing Yi (Liu Xun). What I love in the complexity of Yun Zhong Ge is that the characters truly grow and change during the course of this novel. Yun Ge’s maturation was caused by pain, whereas Xu Ping Jun’s maturation was caused by love. She wanted to be good enough for Liu Bing Yi, and she managed by hard work to learn to read and is currently sitting in the second loftiest spot in the entire dynasty as the Empress. But inside she’s still the same Xu Ping Jun, loyal and quick to anger, fearless and without airs. Of course Yun Ge wasn’t going to die in front of Liu Fu Ling’s tomb, however much it might be romantic in that period drama way where lovers are reunited in death. But if Yun Ge doesn’t die, then how will she handle the truth about Liu Fu Ling’s a.s.sa.s.sination, and will she continue to blame Meng Jue? Despite Yun Ge’s reasoning in the last chapter, her theory was only half-right, but it’s the rest of what she doesn’t know that will have consequences that reverberate to everyone she cares about – Meng Jue, Xu Ping Jun, and even Liu Xun. This chapter also takes a short walk down memory lane, and as usual I was sniffling through each word I translated. Not to mention it also contains an amazing scene that is a redux of an epic scene in Da Mo Yao between Jiu Ye and Yu Er when he was ill she went to save him. Like father, like mother? So it seems they are also destined to walk the same path.

Chapter 55: Meeting Again Because of the Vast Sky

The same moon, the same stars, the same quiet. But the night view in Wei Yang Palace is different than that of an ordinary home.

The darkness can cover so much ugliness. Nefarious plots seem to love the darkness. In this Palace, darkness is usually when things happen. The Emperor and his consort trade secret glances in bed. The consorts shoot daggers at each other while changing. The princes toast each other while sharpening their knives under the table….

In this place, smiles are near but true happiness is very far. The body is near but the soul is very far. The beauty is near but kindness is very far. And the ugliness that should be far away is in fact closest here. Ugliness resides under every beautiful visage, under every beaming smile, under every glamorous robe, under ever gentle whisper, under every decorated door.

But in the darkness sometimes there is a normal flower.

In the evenings in Shu Fang Pavilion, other than not having a man of the house, it was no different than an ordinary home. A kind mother with needle and thread in hand, a son reading his book. Under the warm candle light, Liu s.h.i.+ laid on the pallet studying while Xu Ping Jun did needle work while keeping an eye on him.

Liu s.h.i.+ did some work and saw his mother still sewing and asked “Mother, aren’t you tired? Don’t you want to rest for a bit?”

Xu Ping Jun smiled and shook her head “Let me fix this sleeve first, then I’ll rest.”

“Mom, why are you making clothes for me, why don’t you make an outfit for the soon to arrive little brother or sister?” Liu s.h.i.+ poured a cup of water for his mother and couldn’t help himself and touched her rounded belly, unable to believe a living being resided there.

“The clothes you wore when you were small can be worn by the new baby. But you keep growing every day so before the little one arrives and I still have time, let me make you a few outfits otherwise you’ll find yourself with nothing to wear.”

Liu s.h.i.+ laughed “Master also said I was growing very fast lately. But the Palace has clothes prepared for me already.” Xu Ping Jun glared at him “Next time you come with mom to the village where I grew up. and hear that there isn’t a son raised there that didn’t wear clothes made by his mother.” Liu s.h.i.+ smiled and said nothing.

Xu Ping Jun finished a sleeve and stretched. Liu s.h.i.+ was about to get up to rub her back when suddenly there came shouts from outside. Liu s.h.i.+ furrowed his brows and went to check.

Liu s.h.i.+ walked out but ran in “Royal mother, Fu Su heard intruders invaded the Imperial Tombs and 500 soldiers were dispatched there.” Xu Ping Jun smiled “That’s good” but then realized and asked “No! Which Imperial Tomb?”

“Ping Ling! Fu Su heard it was girl and he’s so worried that it could be Auntie.”

Xu Ping Jun jumped up and the baby inside kicked wildly. A maid helped her but Xu Ping Jun took a deep breath and walked out “I need to go check now. If its not your Auntie then it’ll be fine. If it is……”

Liu s.h.i.+ said nothing. His mother and his Auntie’s bond was tighter then even normal blood sisters. He knew his mother would leave the Palace so he had already told Fu Su to prepare a carriage. “Mother, normal people can’t even get close to the Imperial Tombs. But if Auntie wanted to go she would find many ways, so why go at night. I don’t think it’s Auntie but just to make sure let’s go together!”

Xu Ping Jun wanted to say something but her mouth opened a few times before she finally said “When you are older I’ll tell you about your Auntie’s situation. Because there are many ways and yet she’s never once visited Ping Ling. So if it’s her tonight, then something major must have happened. Make the horses go faster.”

Liu s.h.i.+ helped his mother on the carriage and told Fu Su “Fast and smooth.” Fu Su drove the carriage out of Wei Yang Palace and into the pouring rain. When they arrived they did not see Yun Ge, only a thick cl.u.s.ter of soldiers crowded around the Imperial Tomb. The dais was covered with blood mixed with rain.

Liu s.h.i.+ looked and almost got dizzy. He wanted to stop his mother “Royal mother, please don’t go. There is blood outside……..”

Xu Ping Jun jerked her hand out of his “Your mother has experienced way more than you can imagine.” She jumped out of the carriage and Fu Su covered her with an umbrella. Seeing the blood on the dais, Xu Ping Jun’s heart thundered but kept her face calm. She walked towards the dais and told Fu Su “Order everyone to kneel!”

Fu Su cleared his throat and hollered “The Empress and the Crown Prince are here! Everyone kneel in supplication!”

Everyone turned around and kneeled one by one. The power of the Empress plus the Crown Prince was great indeed and in seconds everyone was kneeling. On the dais she could see a sword cutting through the air and flas.h.i.+ng in the darkness. Xu Ping Jun finally saw Yu An, but Yun Ge….

Yu An was covered completely in blood and the moment he saw her, his entire body toppled forward and Yun Ge appeared from behind him where he was s.h.i.+elding her.

Xu Ping Jun spied blood on Yun Ge and she started running. Fu Su grabbed her “Your Highness, you are expecting. Let me go check.” He handed the umbrella to another servant and leaped over the heads of the kneeling soldiers onto the dais.

He took Yu An’s pulse and could find a weak one. His heart hurt so much and he hollered with rage at the soldiers “Do you guys know who he is? You guys……” He wanted to strike them but stopped himself to go check on Yun Ge. He ordered a soldier “You carry him down and immediately send to Dr. Chang’s medical clinic outside Chang An. If he doesn’t survive, then you better prepare your own funeral.”

The soldier immediately picked Yu An up and hurried to seek help.

When Fu Su picked up the unconscious Yun Ge, he was relieved thinking she was not injured. Then he sensed something was not right because her entire face was bright red. He felt something sticky on her back different than rain. He checked and saw a not small wound. Normally it could be treated but she’s been out here bleeding in the rain, now….

Fu Su refused to think any further and picked up Yun Ge to carry down the dais. “Your Highness, the Miss is injured. She needs a doctor.”

Xu Ping Jun saw Yun Ge’s state and her anger and sadness bubbled forth. Her entire body shook with rage as she pointed at all the soldiers “You guys dare injured her here at Ping Ling……”

Liu s.h.i.+ heard his Auntie was injured and tried to calm his mother down “Royal mother, they were just doing their jobs. What’s most important right now is saving Auntie and not punis.h.i.+ng them. Let’s hurry back to the Palace to see a royal physician.”

Xu Ping Jun cleared her head and the two of them followed Fu Su into the carriage with Yun Ge. Xu Ping Jun stared at Yun Ge without blinking, constantly checking her pulse and her breathing. Liu s.h.i.+ could see his mother wasn’t doing so well either and tried to ease her worry. “Mom, you saw blood back there, why weren’t you scared?”

In the dark carriage with the rain coming down, Xu Ping Jun’s mind went back in time. “One time, I saw even more blood then this. I even saw heads flying. That time there was also a huge rainstorm. I was pregnant with you and was captured by bad guys. Your Auntie, to save your mom and you…..”

With the sound of the rain as accompaniment, Xu Ping Jun recounted the story with tears in her eyes as the carriage traveled from the present to the past.

Because someone invaded Ping Ling at night, Liu Xun was waiting for news in the Palace. He knew the Empress and Crown Prince had left the Palace before their carriage even pa.s.sed the gates. He also knew Yun Ge was severely injured. Liu Xun calmly acknowledged the news and went back to bed, sleeping soundly in a few minutes.

Beside him, Huo Cheng Jun couldn’t sleep at all. She wanted to get up but didn’t dare. She could only close her eyes and feign sleep. She didn’t even dare turn her body around. Finally dawn arrived and Liu Xun went to Court. She quickly sent someone to get the latest news and the person brought back the best news she could hope for.

“The royal physicians stayed by her bedside all night but she remains unconscious and her fever won’t break. I asked an old royal physician and he said that if she keeps burning up, even if she doesn’t die she’ll become an idiot.”

Huo Cheng Jun wanted to contain her laughter but she couldn’t and finally she burst out laughing, Before she was done another great news came to her. “Your Highness, Lord Meng apparently is severely ill and could not attend Court this morning. The Emperor is very worried and sent someone to check on him.”

Huo Cheng Jun worriedly asked “He’s really sick?”

The maid nodded “Really sick. The Great General Huo also went to check on him and reported back and he’s very sick and it’s serious. His entire face is as white as snow and his mental state is not quite lucid. Apparently when the Emperor told him that his wife invaded the Imperial Tomb last night and is currently teetering on the brink of death, he almost fainted.”

Huo Cheng Jun tamped down her lips to contain her glee. Yun Ge, Yun Ge! You did exactly what you vowed to do! The two of you mutually tormenting each other!

“Miss…..” Her maid suddenly changing the way she addressed her, Huo Cheng Jun knew what she wanted and ordered all the other servants out. When they were alone, the maid wondered why after so many years in the Palace she has never conceived while the Empress is on her second child and other Consorts have also bore children for the Emperor.

All of Huo Cheng Jun’s happy thoughts were wiped clean instantaneously. She threw all the food on the table on the ground and ordered the maid out.

Huo Cheng Jun proceeded to destroy her room and she thought back to every thing that could be done to help her conceive, she tried it over the years. Anything from touching a rock shaped like a man’s part to drinking the urine of a virgin boy to trying every medicinal herb under the sun.

[Yun Ge gave Liu Xun a medicine to slip into Huo Cheng Jun’s food that will keep her from conceiving, like ancient birth control.]

As a woman she cannot even do the most basic thing such as get pregnant. Her father’s coldness, her mother’s derision, the pressure of the entire family resting on her. The other Consorts scorn, all the weird looks from the maids…..

How dare Xu Ping Jun have yet another child……… Huo Cheng Jun thought those people might drive her crazy!

“I will have a child. I will…..” As she muttered she continued to trash everything in her room.

Xu Ping Jun knew deep down that something must’ve happened between Meng Jue and Yun Ge, otherwise Yun Ge wouldn’t invade Ping Ling in the middle of the night. She didn’t want to take Yun Ge back to the Meng Estate, but it wasn’t suitable to bring her into the Palace. She suddenly thought of the old house she used to live with Yun Ge that was still empty. She sent Liu s.h.i.+ back to the Palace and she took Yun Ge to the old house and summoned the royal physicians there.

The three royal physicians sat beside Yun Ge all night in the inner bedroom. She ordered a cot placed in the outer room and she rested there so she could keep watch over Yun Ge. Everytime she got up, the royal physicians would shake their heads at her so she could only quietly go sit back down.

The rain outside was getting smaller and was turning into a light pitter patter. In the dark night the sound was like an old man telling a story. She strained to hear but couldn’t hear clearly, only feeling the sadness of the tale from the sound.

Xu Ping Jun carefully looked at every nook and cranny of this house, it was exactly like it used to be. The bamboo cup on the bookshelf, the Go board in the corner, the zither on the pallet, and also the panel to the side…..

She remembered Meng Jue sitting in front of the pallet, dressed in all-white, playing the zither under the moonlight.

She remembered when Liu Bing Yi (Liu Xun’s former name) made the panel and he laughed “This panel is so well made. I am loathed to send it to Qi Li Xiang.” Yun Ge stuck her head out of the kitchen “Then don’t send it there, let me keep it. Tomorrow we can drink and write poems on it.”

The tree in the yard, during the Summer the four of them would place a table under there and eat and enjoy the breeze. Sometimes Bing Yi and Meng Jue would be so absorbed in their discussions that he would send her next door to bring back more wine.

“Ping Jun, go home and bring back more wine.” She furrowed her brows “You still want to drink? This time I didn’t make much that much wine, we still need to sell it……” He drunkenly acted all huffy towards her and said “I am the man of the house and if I tell you to go get it, you go! Go!” But his gestures were like a kid wheedling a parent and begging for affection as he grabbed her by the shoulder and gently rocked her back and forth.

Yun Ge stood off to the side stifling her laughter. Meng Jue reached for his money but could find none so he reached over and grabbed a hair piece off Yun Ge’s head and tossed it to her “Exchange this for the wine!”

This time it was she who stifled a laugh as she shot Yun Ge a look.

The happy chatter and the easy laughter, those sounds reverberated in Xu Ping Jun’s ears. Xu Ping Jun thought she really saw them in front of her and she couldn’t help herself and stood up with a smile and walked towards them. Right when she was about to sit down she realized she was standing in an empty courtyard and all that was around her was the morning sun s.h.i.+ning through the branches. The sharp sunlight hit her eyes and made her want to cry.

She stood underneath the tree and couldn’t understand it. Rain, it stopped. Morning, it came. Yun Ge, she was still not awake. And everything…… they could not go back anymore!

The three royal physicians faced her with exhausted faces to beg forgiveness “Your servants, we, did everything we could. It’s not that we are not good doctors, it’s that Mrs. Meng’s body is refusing the medicine.”

Xu Ping Jun didn’t blame them, thanking them and sending them away. She summoned a servant to go fetch Meng Jue. One was that he was a unparallel doctor, the other was to figure out what happened. It appeared Yun Ge’s physical injury was just one part of the problem. Only by knowing what the root of the illness was could it be treated.

When Xu Ping Jun saw Meng Jue sitting in that wheelchair, she couldn’t believe her eyes and kept shaking her head. The handsome debonair Meng Jue, in one night, wasted away to this! Her bellyful of questions all vanished “Meng dage, didn’t you and Yun Ge patch up? I heard she was learning medicine from you. But now….what illness did you contract? Why can’t you even walk?”

Meng Jue said nothing and Ba Yue, who was wheeling him, couldn’t control herself and said “Master isn’t sick, he still has poison in him. Plus his worries attacked the heart and he can’t calm down to heal properly. That is why he is so weak.”

Xu Ping Jun asked in shock “Poison? Who dared to poison you? Who could possibly succeed in poisoning you?”