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Thread: Legend of the White Haired Maiden

  1. #101
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    Exclamation PTR and responses!

    Ha-lo! (Cantonese accented version of "Hello")

    The post-translation rant has been posted on the Wuxia Discussion forum. There's really quite a few italics and bolds that I'm not so crazy about re-inserting (I'd rather spend my time on the translation lah! hehehe), so please follow this link to read the rant (and I apologize for it being long, but you might find it interesting):

    http://forums.cinple.net/wuxia/index.cgi?read=45871

    Of course, if anybody would like to repost it here and re-insert the italics/bolds, please feel free to.

    Now for the responses!

    Originally posted by TaiHan
    hi Faerie Queene
    I would like to thanks you for translating a LYS's novel. Me being a viet, there are hardly any LYS's novel translated at least I couldn't find any on internet. I probably got check the book store next, but I doubt I would have any luck.
    Yeah, I doubt there would be many LYS novels translated, which is really too bad. I would love to translate more of his novels just so more people can read his works, but to be able to finish this one project is already more than I can ask for. I don't think I could devote the same time and effort to another story anyways. However, I know there are many able bodies out there who does have the ability to do great translations, so hopefully one day someone else would go, "Hey, let me translate this LYS book" ... I would be so happy.

    Originally posted by TaiHan
    I think you should just translate at a rate you desire, you don't need to rush yourself. I too sometime have alot work and actually don't even have time to read translations.

    and I would like to thanks you again

    also thanks to poster(Du gu Seeking a win, someguy44, and moinllieon, hope I didn't leave anyone out)
    Thank you for thanking me

    To see that posters like you are enjoying the story and not complaining about how my translation is not up to par, it should be me who should be saying:

    thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Really. Thank YOU guys

    As for translating at my own pace ... I think there is no other choice. That is all I COULD do. In truth, the pressure to translate faster is mostly imposed on me by myself (as I know you are all very understanding about my slow pace). The thing with me is that I'm at a point of my life where everything's a little uncertain and unstable (and that's really what I prefer). I could seriously be moving half-way across the world if the opportunity comes up. Sometimes I get so busy it's like the rest of the world just passes me by while I'm caught up doing my own thing (just like recently, I had to miss my brother's b-day, a friend's b-day, father's day). The only thing I'm worried about is that if I don't finish up this translation ASAP while I still can, it might come to a point where I've moved on to another phase in my life and won't be able to finish this, or even worse, somehow lose the interest, the drive, the desire to finish this ... and that would make me feel really bad, as I really really really would love to translate right to the end of this book ... you know?

    Anyhow. Enough complaining, more translating.

    I guess you're now on your roadtrip ... whooohoooo, lucky you babaloo!

    Originally posted by Novel
    Hello,

    Farrie Queen,

    Thanks for your translation. Actually I get the VCD for this Novel three years ago as a present from one of my friend. But I was never able to understand. Now thanks to you I am enjoying the movie.
    Thanks for you great work and hope to read more.
    Hi Novel!

    Thanks for your interest and I hope to translate more as well!

    Did you get the VCD for the television series?

    And all I could say is: Your friend has great taste

    Originally posted by eliza bennet
    Thank you so much for the updates Faerie Queene

    There obviously is a connection between the man on the roof and the man who left his palm print on White Stone (what an annoying man White Stone is btw). I can not wait to know more.


    I definitely start to fall for Yue Ming Ke, he really is something and the scene with the Dragon Springs sword was excellent. I can almost hear the sounds of the sword!

    Also please do not hate the footnotes, they are great reads
    Wow! Eliza! Didn't expect you to turn up here as well

    If you've already started to fall for Yue Ming Ke and you already find White Stone annoying ... then I guarantee you that you'll only like YMK more and find WS even more annoying as we progress.

    I'm glad you liked the footnotes, I literally did spend days on them ... as usual, they were a pain in the ***. But I'm glad you guys got a good read out of it all, and I do have to say, in the end, I learnt a lot. So I guess I really shouldn't complain lah

    I'm glad you're liking the fights ... as there would be more coming up ... and more ... and ... uh... more. LYS's descriptions of fights tends to be very aesthetic and very rich in visual detail/description ... it's what I'd like to call very cinematic.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  2. #102
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    Talking Long response to Goofy!

    Originally posted by Goofy
    Since I think not many people here who read Indian literatures, I humbly share some little bit of unworthy knowledge here. Hopefully, I didn't mess up that much.
    You've got to be kidding right? I'm like: and Really interesting and impressive information here ... you wouldn't mind if I incorporate some of this within my footnotes would you? Of course, I will credit you

    Originally posted by Goofy
    I have one comment regarding Yu Lao Cha - She must have had extremely good looking parents to come out looking this gorgeous despite living with wolves for some times - shouldn't she have some scars of sorts (thinking of Mowgli here)?
    I think realistically speaking, you can't be one of the most powerful fighters of your era and manage to get away completely scarless -- I mean, that cut that Zhuo sword left on her at the Tie mansion must have produced a scar right? But LYS's preference of beauty is different from Jin Yong's. JY really stresses the perfect, flawless, smooth white skin of females in his novels. LYS stresses more their expression/aura, especially that of which is encompassed within their eyes, eyebrows and smile. Even his expression of the "jade-like complexion" is I feel more a metaphorical reference to the overall beauty of her countenace. So yeah, I'm sure YLC would have a few scars around her body ... but that doesn't mean she was any less the babe right?

    As for living with wolves, YLC couldn't have spent more than a few years living amongst them as an infant, so I'm sure any minor scars left from that incident would have been gone by the time she grew up into a woman (as our skin naturally goes through a continual renewal/rejuvenation process throughout our youth).

    Originally posted by Goofy
    When I read about Yu, I can't help thinking of Yang Guo and Yin Susu. Actually, the situation between Yu and Zhao seems to have the same setup as ZCS and YSS except that JY's wudang's elder is just not the old fools like those here.

    Was this story written before or after HSDS? Did Liang Yushen collaberate with JY at all then?
    WHD was finished in 1958 (JY should be in the midst of LOCH at that time) and HSDS wasn't written until 1961. Though I personally don't feel the similarity between YLC/ZYH and ZCS/YSS to be very strong, yet I do think the theme of perceived "goodness" and "evilness" of sects runs through both novels. I personally prefer HSDS's more dramatic depiction of the "good"/"evil" ambiguity -- it produces a more striking effect to draw out the theme. WHD was more subtle and Yu Luo Cha has always come across clearly as the heroine and not the demoness, similarly the Wu Tang sect were more losers than villain-type material as well. The true "villain" in WHD seems to lie more in relation to the government.

    LYS and JY didn't collaborate on a project together, but they definitely had influences on each other (and it was also LYS who encouraged JY to write wuxia). In fact, all 3 major wuxia writers had influences on each other while also retaining their own style. Since LYS was the founder of new wuxia, his influence on the other two writers can definitely be felt.

    Originally posted by Goofy
    ladies then were very easy to be impressed, weren't they? (ie a giving of a shirt)
    I think I've really come to understand why YLC fell for ZYH. Lian NiShang was a very different and unique woman. But her difference caused many people to be afraid of her. Like she said before, she never set out with the intention of making others be afraid of her, but they just are. It is perhaps her "wildness" that others can't accept, but that is also who she is and so she chooses to be true to herself. Yet you can imagine, despite that resolution, it's really not easy living your life with everyone treating you as a demoness whom they either abhor or fear. Just like how she purposely let herself be injured by Wu Tang at the Tie mansion, yet in the end, they still became all the more convinced that she's a demoness. Similarly, while she views the Wang family as her friends, yet though Wang Zhao Xi respects and admires her, he is also afraid of her. Even Yue Ming Ke tends to misunderstand and misreads her. YLC is a heroine, but because of her character/personality, she remains to be the outsider.

    YLC may indeed be a very strong woman, but what I love is how Liang YuSheng balances out her dynamic strength with a bit of that fragile insecurity ... it's just so real. YLC hasn't had the easiest life -- orphaned as a child, isolated with her ShiFu (who was herself overcome with bitterness and unhappiness) and then stigmatized by her society when she branched out on her own. But her sadness doesn't always make itself obvious -- this is because her own character tends to be full of dynamic life, her personality one of quirky optimism and her attitude filled with strong will. Furthermore, she was too powerful in martial arts, too beautiful in appearance and too edgy in her temper. Which is why others are afraid of her and though they may even respect her, yet they tend not to sympathize with her or realize that she could also be plagued by unhappiness. ZYH was really the first person to not treat her as the blood-thirsty demoness, but rather the poor orphaned girl who's had a hard life and who also deserves to be cared for and loved, just like everyone else. Giving her the jacket was an indication of how he was willing to treat her with kindness, care and concern while also harbouring no ulterior motives (it is most likely that no other guy has ever treated her like this before). She felt that she had found a friend, somebody who would understand her and care for her.

    However what I find ironic is that YLC was really giving him too much credit. The truth is, ZYH doesn't understand her at all. Like Wang Zhao Xi, he was afraid of her, like his uncles, he was "revulsed" by her. And the fact that he did not treat her as the demoness was not because he saw through her to understand her, but rather he was just judging by superficial appearances -- he simply felt that such a hot babe couldn't possibly be a killer and must be this poor weak girl of whom he should be protecting. Not to mention, the man was totally struck by her beauty, so it's not like his motives should be left totally unqestioned.

    Too bad YLC had fallen too quickly and had fallen at a time when she has not yet understood the guy. Although she did not fall in love with him right then and there (just as ZYH did not fall in love with her right away), but YLC is a person who really holds no inhibitions in her feelings. When she likes a person, she goes into it with all her heart and she would gladly risk her life for a friend she just made. I suppose in the end, she just couldn't help loving a man who treated her kindly. But I can't help but feel that she really was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    And btw Goofy., I'm so happy to see you girl! I thought you had given up on wuxia, but glad to see that I was wrong Wishing you all the best
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  3. #103
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    Exclamation WHD'S OFFICIAL REFERENCE PAGE!!!!

    I've decided to compile together a list of all the online references I'm using for this translation ... this way, it helps me keep track of what sources I've used while also allowing readers to click on the links and further their readings on their own (however, many of the sites will be in Chinese), furthermore, it is my way of sharing with other translators some online resources that might also come in handy for them. I will be adding on and editing the sources as we progress (and will also fill in the resources for the past chapters when I find some time):

    CHAPTER 11
    Mostly about the ancient swords
    http://www.dx.pte.sh.cn/xsly/xiuxian...tongqu_008.htm
    http://www.chinage.net/artlist.asp?artid=64
    http://www.chinage.net/artlist.asp?artid=62
    http://www.chinage.net/artlist.asp?artid=51
    http://www.seaocean.net/Sword067.htm
    http://www.jingjuok.com/jjzs/new_page_1017.htm
    http://heritage.tom.com/Archive/2001/9/27-43997.html
    http://www.cccen.com/bbs/usr/28/28_8027.htm
    http://www.gd.xinhua.org/newscenter/...nt_2040474.htm
    http://www.fjsx.net/sxly/lswh/sy.files/wh3jf.htm
    http://flagger.icpcn.com/doc/bq.htm
    http://www.yikenbbs.com/txt13/31.htm
    http://www.yimai.net/lundao/guojin.htm
    http://www.knight.tku.edu.tw/knight/fight/ftp5.htm
    http://www.sword-art.com/www1/wraiten/hetangkong1.htm
    Soothill and Hodous' Buddhist Terms translation site ... excellent resource for translation of Buddhist terms:
    http://www.hm.tyg.jp/~acmuller/sooth...ll-hodous.html
    Palace Memorials/Vermillion Brush
    http://www.askasia.org/VISIBLE_TRACES/ethnic/ec05.html
    http://artworld.uea.ac.uk/teaching_m...elcome.html#xa

    Chapter 12
    Plum Blossom Needles
    http://www.ycyhealth.com/new_nine_ac...re_needles.htm
    http://www.acupunctureab.com/article.php3?article=1
    http://www.chinabooks.com.au/zhongyi/tcmacup.htm
    http://www.ycyhealth.com/Seven_Start_Needles.htm
    http://www.asny.org/mts015.asp
    Last edited by Faerie Queene; 09-07-04 at 07:35 PM.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  4. #104
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    Exclamation Finally ... Chapter 11 (part 2)

    Yue Ming Ke returned to the Yang household with a dark cloud hanging over his head, but after taking an afternoon nap, he woke up by nightfall fully energized. By the time he finished his evening meal, the time gong was heard to strike the second hour. He changed into a night traveler’s outfit and then said to Tie Shan Hu, “When you stay here tonight, you must take extra care to keep your eyes open and remain on your guard alright? I probably won’t be back until daybreak, but if you don’t see me return by morning, then you should go to the Martial Arts Instructor Liu’s household located on the Northern side of the city to notify Zhuo Yi Hang right away.” Tie Shan Hu cracked up and teased, “You’re becoming more and more motherly every day! It’s not like I’m a little kid, so who needs you to fuss around me like a baby? I’m not a silly goof like you – a full grown man who gets kidnapped away by a female rapist!” Yue Ming Ke laughed and chided, “Nonsense,” before waving goodbye to her and exiting the Yang household to sprint towards the Forbidden City.

    A cold current blew under the vast skies of a moonless autumn night to complete the perfect backdrop for night-crawlers to venture out against. Although there were guards on watch above the Forbidden City, yet Yue Ming Ke’s levitation skills were so superb that he truly did have the uncanny ability to skip across water and move about with the intricate lightness comparable to a tuft of wisp dancing soundless in the breeze. Unbeknownst to the heavenly immortals and undetected by the ghosts of the underworld, Yue Ming Ke stole into the Imperial Palace and entered straight into the Imperial Gardens situated within the inner recesses of the palace.

    The surface area of the Imperial Palace was extremely vast and was comprised of an endless number of palaces conglomerated together like a sea of clouds. Yue Ming Ke hid in a dark corner and was just in the process of re-constructing in his mind the paths he treaded on during daytime when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps passing by him. It turned out to be two palace guards who were dressed in black garments. One of them said, “I wonder what orders the Holy Lord Wei may have for me that would compel him to call upon me in the dead of the night?” The other man replied, “I’ve heard that Cheng Kun has been imprisoned by the Holy Lord Wei. Since you’re Cheng Kun’s good friend, I’m sure that the reason behind the Holy Lord summoning you here must be somehow related to this matter.” The former man grunted with displeasure as he huffed, “Cheng Kun! That little rascal is simply too ungracious! I won’t be able to save him this time.”

    Yue Ming Ke’s heart skipped a beat for he knew that the “Holy Lord Wei” of whom these two people were referring to must be Wei Zhong Xian while Cheng Kun was the Monitor of the late Emperor Chang Luo’s Palace Guardsmen (1). Yue thought to himself: Though Cheng Kun may be a palace guard, yet he still does not fall short of being deemed as an honest and loyal man. The former Emperor has just passed away recently, why would Wei Zhong Xian not be concerning himself with handling the pressing number of important matters first and would instead bother himself with capturing this man? Then Yue Ming Ke also thought to: Since I needed to go find that Wei Zhong Xian anyways, why don’t I just follow these two people into the palace for a look?

    Employing his transcendental levitation skills, Yue Ming Ke silently tailed behind the two guards and through their conversation discovered that they were the trusted men of Wei Zhong Xian. Furthermore, he found out that ever since yesterday, the Western Faction has also been assigned to the sovereignty of Wei. Now, the Imperial Bodyguards were the only ones who were still operating on their own system for they were governed under Long Cheng Ye, the Commandant (2) of the Inner Courts.

    Following the two guards, Yue Ming Ke winded through a labyrinth of paths before finally arriving in front of a palace hall with a parasol shaped dome. After knocking on the door, the two guards entered inside while Yue Ming Ke flitted up to the top of the roof and then peered over the edge of the eaves to spy inside the room. What he saw was a portly eunuch with a white complexion sitting in the middle of the room with four palace guards standing by his side.

    The fires of fury ignited within Yue Ming Ke’s heart for he knew that the eunuch sitting in the middle of the room must be Wei Zhong Xian. He delved his fingers into his projectiles pouch but then suddenly thought to how the Imperial government runs on the principle of lawful justice, thus he knew that if he killed Wei Zhong Xian right here, Military Commissioner Xiong will most definitely reproach him with disapproval. As a result, Yue forced himself to hold off on this impulse.

    After the two guards had knocked on the door and entered inside, they performed the customary rites of greeting to Wei Zhong Xian before Wei was heard to say, “Wang Cheng, Dong Fang, the two of you has finally arrived? I take it that you are both aware of the fact that Cheng Kun is here as well?” The two guards answered “Yes” in response compelling Wei Zhong Xian to continue, “Wang Cheng, you have long been Cheng Kun’s assistant by fulfilling the duties of the sergeant-of-arms for the Palace Guardsmen. Am I right?” Wang Cheng replied, “Your menial servant may indeed be Cheng Kun’s assistant, but I have always been at odds with him.” Wei Zhong Xian asked, “Did the two of you have any disputes?” Wang Cheng hesitated briefly before answering, “No, but we do not get along with each other within our hearts.” Wei Zhong Xian murmured, “Mmm” and then asked, “Dong Fang, you and Cheng Kun were enlisted into the palace at the same time. Amongst all the palace guards, you and him get along the best, am I right?” Dong Fang hurriedly knelt down to perform obeisance while replying, “Your servant only recognizes the Holy Lord Wei” causing Wei Zhong Xian to roar with laughter as he shouted, “Very good!” Then after whispering some orders, Wei Zhong Xian immediately exited the room through the side doors while accompanied by his attendants.

    After a short while, the side doors re-opened but the people who came out of those doors were not Wei Zhong Xian and his men. Rather, it was two other palace guards dragging out Cheng Kun. Both his hands and feet were bounded tightly by shackles and Yue Ming Ke also observed that over the brief duration of two mere days, Cheng Kun has deteriorated into a haggard state of appearance. The guard who dragged him out brought him into the room and then smiled before saying, “Your good friend has bailed you out! Go ahead!” Having said this, he turned around and left the room. However, he did not unlock Cheng Kun’s shackles for him.

    With a big smile stretching all the way across his face, Wang Cheng helped Cheng Kun to a seat while he purred with concern, “You did not suffer I hope?” Cheng Kun snickered coldly and did not reply. Dong Fang said, “Brother, as the old saying goes, ‘People with ability always knows to abide by their times.’ Why must you go against the Holy Lord Wei?” Cheng Kun retorted angrily, “Who’s trying to go against him? I just don’t understand why he has it in for me!” Wang Cheng said, “Brother, we had to use our lives, fortune and connections to bail you out here tonight. All we ask in return is one honest answer from you.” Cheng Kun replied, “Your humble brother I am greatly indebted. What question did you want me to answer?”

    Wang Cheng said, “You were serving the late Emperor in the Hall of Mental Cultivation the day he passed away. At that time, he had summoned in Zhuo Zhong Lian’s grandson. Did you hear what they were talking about?” Cheng Kun replied, “I couldn’t hear very clearly.” Dong Fang asked, “Did they mention the Holy Lord Wei?” Cheng Kun answered, “I was standing guard outside the door.” Wang Cheng pressed on, “When the assassin barged in afterwards, why did the Emperor end up releasing him?” Cheng Kun answered, “I don’t know.”

    Dong Fang then asked, “Did the late Emperor’s health suddenly take a turn for the worse not long after swallowing the red pill? You should know the answer to this one.” Cheng Kun answered, “The late Emperor’s health did suddenly improve during the first day of consuming the red pill. But right after ingesting the red pill on the second day, he immediately burned with a high fever and then passed away in the Hall of Mental Cultivation shortly afterwards. But I’ve already told Wei Zhong Xian about all this!”

    Wang Cheng’s face suddenly changed colours as he solemnly stated, “Brother, we both came into this palace at the same time and having been friends for twenty years, I am now using my whole fortune and my very own life to back you up. But if you won’t answer us truthfully, not only will you never be able to leave this palace alive, but the lives of both our families will also be at stake!” Cheng Kun answered, “I would answer you if I knew the answer! But if I don’t know anything, what do you want me to say?” Dong Fang added, “Brother, the Holy Lord Wei isn’t trying to be overly suspicious, but he has to support the young Emperor and having just recently taken over the new reins of great power, there tends to be some officials and military officers who are at odds with him. When the late Emperor was still living, even he was quite cautious of the Holy Lord Wei. This Zhuo Yi Hang is a family friend of the Minister of War, Yang Kun. He was also closely acquainted with the former Lord during the days when he was still the Crown Prince, so it’s really hard to guarantee that the former Emperor won’t leave behind some sort of last words for him.”

    Cheng Kun said, “Minister Yang is an honest and good official, if Wei Zhong Xian is truly intent on protecting the young lord, Minister Yang would not go against him.” Wang Cheng hurriedly asked, “Then you’re saying that the former Lord did leave behind some last words for Zhuo Yi Hang?” Cheng Kun replied, “I didn’t say that.”

    Wang Cheng continued, “Then we’ll investigate into this matter later on. But this assassin concerns a very serious matter, are you absolutely certain that you did not hear what he said to the former Emperor?” Cheng Kun insisted, “I really didn’t!” Dong Fang asked, “Then what is his name and what do you know about his background?” Cheng Kun lamented, “Brother, why must you push me like this?” Cheng Kun knew that Yue Ming Ke was the envoy of the Military Commissioner Xiong, which was why he was afraid that if he revealed Yue’s identity, Wei Zhong Xian would induce harm upon Xiong Ting Bi. Wang Cheng continued, “I’m not trying to force you, but the Holy Lord Wei is absolutely adamant in having this assassin captured before he could be satisfied. If you know something and refuse to tell, then do you realize you’re dragging my whole family down into the grave with you?”

    Yue Ming Ke was thinking: The beautiful matron I saw in the palace must either be some kind of princess or Imperial concubine. But judging from this interrogation, she must also be part of Wei Zhong Xian’s clan otherwise Wei would not be so anxious to capture me in order to be satisfied.

    On observing Wang Cheng repeatedly bring up the endangerment of his family and fortune as if trying to use this act of kindness to pressure him into feeling indebted caused Cheng Kun to grow suspicious as he questioned him back in return, “How did you know that he was an assassin? If he really was an assassin, then why didn’t he take action when he saw the Emperor?” Wang Cheng replied, “That doesn’t concern you. You just have to tell me what his name and background is. As long as you are willing to talk, the Holy Lord Wei will immediately release you. And who knows? One day, he might even hand the Imperial Bodyguards over to you to be commanded.” Cheng Kun snorted with disgust, “I don’t give a crap about that! Besides, I really don’t know! As soon as that man stepped into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the late Emperor immediately ordered me to go outside and hold back all those guards who were chasing after him.”

    Wang Cheng and Dong Fang turned around and looked at each other before Dong Fang said to Cheng Kun, “You say that you don’t know the answer to everything we ask. But what if I say there is something that you can help us with and of which would not require you to even lift a single finger? Would you be willing to help?” Cheng Kun replied, “That would have to depend on what it is regarding.” Wang Cheng continued, “There are some officials out there who won’t stop insinuating that the late Emperor was killed by Li Ke Zhuo’s red pill, causing even the Prime Minister to be dragged into this whole incident. The Holy Lord Wei would like you to act as a witness and testify that the late Emperor had died the night before yesterday and not in the Hall of Mental Cultivation right after he had ingested the red pill.” Cheng Kun’s countenance underwent an extreme change of colour as he suddenly growled, “I originally did not suspect anything. But from what you are saying now, the late Emperor really was killed by Fang Cong Zhe and Li Ke Zhuo wasn’t he?”

    Wang Cheng hurriedly insisted, “You are merely required to grant this one little favour and then you will be released immediately!” Cheng Kun retorted, “I never lie in my life.” Wang Cheng added, “My whole family comprised of both the young and the old have all been included within this matter. If you won’t agree to this, their lives will be immediately ended!” Cheng Kun immediately blasted with fury, “Wang Cheng! I’ve finally seen through your mask to discover your true rat face! Don’t give me all this crap about backing me up with your life and fortune! Who’s going to believe your lies?”

    Wang Cheng’s face turned an ugly shade of green while Dong Fang suddenly hollered, “Ungrateful bastard!” and then stretched out his hand to seal Cheng Kun’s acupoint. Wang Cheng then took out a sackcloth bag and while putting the shackled up Cheng Kun inside, he remarked with a cackle, “The Holy Lord Wei was worried that if he finished him off in public, he would ignite the fury of all the veteran guards. How do you propose we get rid of him without creating any fuss and without raising the others’ suspicions?” Dong Fang murmured, “This is one hard task. Let me think about it.” After briefly contemplating, he suddenly suggested, “Let’s take off his shackles first.” Wang Cheng asked with surprise, “What for?”

    Dong Fang said, “Since you’ve already sealed his acupoint, he wouldn’t be able to escape even if you took off his shackles. Let’s secretly smuggle him out to some kind of mountain and then hang him on a tree and say that he had hung himself in suicide! Wouldn’t that work out perfectly then? We’ll even let him go to the grave with the glory of a loyal patriot!” Wang Cheng slapped his hands together and praised, “Brilliant!” before untying the sackcloth bag to take out Cheng Kun so that he may unlock his manacles. But when he was turning around to ask Dong Fang, “Is this okay?” Dong Fang suddenly struck him down with his palm! Since Wang Cheng was caught by surprised, he was unable to dodge in time, but having rendered Wang unconscious with one strike, Dong Fang extended his two fingers and was just about to release Cheng Kun’s sealed acupoint when he himself collapsed to a floor with a loud thud! A guard immediately snuck out from the side door and remarked with a cold sneer, “The Holy Lord Wei really has great foresight!”

    **************************************
    (1) “Palace Guardsmen”: Chosen from amongst the Imperial Guardsmen for duty in the inner chambers of the palace.
    (2) "Commandant": In this case used as a prestigious title for military officers.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


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    Default

    It turns out that even though Dong Fang have always been at odds with Cheng Kun, yet his character was still somewhat better than that of Wang Cheng’s. As a result, the moment that Wang Cheng made the decision of killing off Cheng Kun, Dong Fang was immediately hit by the pangs of his guilty conscience. Furthermore, Dong Fang was also terrified of the fact that he would one day end up like Cheng Kun, causing him to suddenly change his mind and decide on releasing Cheng Kun so he could escape out of the palace with him. But what he had not anticipated was that Wei Zhong Xian had already secretly placed a skilled fighter in watch of them, so the moment that Dong Fang struck out, the skilled fighter immediately released a projectile to seal his acupoint.

    Observing on the roof eaves was a surprised Yue Ming Ke who watched the guard reveal himself from his hiding place and then revived Wang Cheng before he grinned and praised, “It all goes to show that you were the loyal one all along.” He then placed Cheng Kun back into the bag while saying, “Dong Fang may be dead meat, but his idea was actually not too bad. We’ll have Cheng Kun ‘commit suicide’ then” as he picked up the bag and walked outside with Wang Cheng.

    The two of them weaved through the Imperial Garden and by the time they had travelled through a portion of the garden, the night had already reached its third hour. Under the thick fog and the chilling wind, the Imperial Garden was a mass of eerie silence. As the two of them travelled around the corner of an artificial mountain, a gust of icy wind suddenly blew their way, causing Wang Cheng to shiver and whisper, “Uh Brother … I’m a little scared.” The guard snapped, “What are you afraid of? We haven’t even murdered him yet! Even if there were to be vengeful ghosts, they wouldn’t be coming for you right now!”

    But the very moment he finished these words, a spine-tingling draft suddenly came up from behind him while a voice was heard to whisper in his ear, “Coming for you!” Before that guard could even turn his head around, his wrist was already clamped tight while the Jiang-Tai Acupoint located on the side of his body was suddenly elbowed to bring about searing pain that stabbed into the very core of his soul. Yet strangely, he couldn’t scream out in pain. Wang Cheng was taken care of in the very same manner, while someone laughed loudly and said, “You guys wanted to murder someone? But the Lord of the Underworld wants the two of you to report to him first!” and then by applying pressure with his wrist, he threw the two people into the cave of the artificial mountain.

    From within the sackcloth bag, Cheng Kun suddenly felt himself being tugged by someone. When his eyes focused, he discovered that it actually turned out to be the “assassin” from the other day. The man smiled and said, “Your acupoint has been released. Go now, leave the palace and don’t work as no Palace Guardsmen anymore.” Cheng Kun exclaimed, “I can’t believe you’d be bold enough to steal in here again!” and then suddenly noticed that there were flickers of light glimmering from afar. He hurriedly instructed, “Brother Yue, change into Wang Cheng’s clothes and I’ll lead you out of the palace” while he took Yue Ming Ke inside the cave. After a short while, Yue Ming Ke had changed into a new set of clothing and the lanterns they saw looming up ahead just a moment ago have also disappeared.

    Cheng Kun said, “We can escape through the West Flowery Gate since it is guarded by the Imperial bodyguards – I have a friend there.” Yue Ming Ke replied, “I’m not going.” Cheng Kun asked with surprised, “What caused you to steal into the Imperial Palace again anyways?” A thought suddenly struck Yue Ming Ke, causing him to state, “Actually, I just happen to have a question that I would like to ask you” and then related his previous encounter once again before asking, “Brother Cheng, would you happen to know who that beautiful matron might be?” Cheng Kun heaved with a big sigh and said, “When the country is coming to an end, one can be sure to find fiends and felons at the root of its cause. I can’t believe that wench would actually dare to challenge the laws of the country and mock the order of authority!” On observing how disrespectful Cheng Kun’s words were, Yue Ming Ke asked, “Is that woman not a princess or concubine?” Cheng Kun replied, “Her power and status right now is above that of even the Empress Dowager (3) herself! She is the wet nurse of our present Emperor, Madam Ke!”

    Yue Ming Ke exclaimed with surprise, “Wet nurse?! How could a wet nurse have so much power?” Cheng Kun explained, “The current Emperor was brought up by her. It’s all very perplexing, but from the Emperor’s youngest years to this present day, he has never been able to leave her side. It just so happens that she’s born with the sort of youthful beauty that enables her, a matron who’s already approaching her mid-forties to look on appearance like a woman who hasn’t even reached her thirties yet! As a result, our late Emperor was also extremely fond of her.”

    Through the allusive tones of Cheng Kun’s words, Yue Ming Ke sensed that there were even more scandalous and decrepit secrets within the palace that were not fit to be known. With a long sigh, Yue remarked, “No wonder she would dare to be so unlawful and unruly!” Cheng Kun continued, “Even Wei Zhong Xian had to rely on her power in order to gradually establish his own power within the palace. When Wei Zhong Xian obtained control over the Eastern Faction two years ago, he sent a few of his trusted guards over to the Wet Nurse Mansion to be fully commanded by her. Eventually, she also brought in her own personal guards.”

    It finally occurred to Yue Ming Ke that the two yellow-robed men who had used the anesthetising smoke to drug him earlier must be her personal guards who helped her kidnap and smuggle men into the palace. He continued to inquire, “Did you guys know that she was kidnapping men and smuggling them into the palace?” Cheng Kun replied, “We have not yet anticipated that she would actually dare to do such things. Since the guards of the Wet Nurse Mansion forms their own clique, it’s not very easy or convenient for the rest of us to inquire into her business.” After Yue Ming Ke had finished asking about the paths towards the Wet Nurse Mansion, he said, “You stay here and wait for me. I’m going for a look and will return very quickly.”

    By following Cheng Kun’s directions, Yue Ming Ke eventually found his way to the Wet Nurse Mansion. Having noticed a few dark shadows patrolling up ahead, Yue stealthily picked up two small stones from the ground and flicked it into an empty space. Then by taking advantage of the guards’ divided attention, he immediately flitted down from a dark corner and stole into the mansion. Since Yue Ming Ke had escaped out of this building just two days ago, he still vaguely remembered the layout of the place. Then by using the various furniture and objects placed about the room as a means of camouflage, he combined in the execution of his light footwork and agile movements to arrive at the complex located in the center of the structure. But the very moment he emerged out of the dark shadows, somebody was suddenly heard to hiss in a low tone, “Is it Little San? The Emperor is inside right now, so go outside to patrol for the rest of your shift.” Since Yue Ming Ke had already changed into the uniform of an Eastern Faction guard, he knew that he must have been mistaken for the wrong person. He therefore did not say anything in reply and just waited for that person to approach him before he suddenly struck out with his fingers to strike his opponent’s death acupoint. Then after hiding the corpse under the stone drums located in front of the Hall, he levitated himself upwards by climbing on top of the roof eaves.

    Peering inside a room lit brightly by sticks of red candles and filled with trails of a subtle fragrant emanating from the incense pot, Yue Ming Ke mused to himself: This room resembles the bedroom of newly wedded couple. After he had time to closely observe around the room, Yue discovered that the arrangements of the room have already been placed in a different configuration than that of two days ago. There was a rectangular shaped table made of Dali Stone propped up in front of the window. Piled on top of the table were a bunch of Memorials presented to the throne (4) and there was a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old sitting there, flipping through the memorials. He would pick up a stack of memorials and flip through them hastily before tossing them aside to pick at another stack with a most spoiled attitude and naughty demeanour. Meanwhile, Yue Ming Ke was secretly lambasting, “What ridiculousness! Even if this Emperor could not yet be considered as a full-grown adult, he is most definitely not a child! Why is it that he still can’t leave his wet nurse’s side? And how could he commit such mad acts of travesty – bringing the memorials presented to the throne into his wet nurse’s bedroom to read?!”

    The little Emperor flipped through a few more memorials and then with a yawn and a lazy stretch he whined, “So annoying!” His wet nurse Madam Ke was sitting by one side and as she poured out a flask of Ginseng soup for him, she coaxed, “But you’re the Emperor now, how can you avoid reading these memorials?” The little Emperor complained, “There are so many words that I don’t even know! Tomorrow, I’m gonna go ask the Grand Tutor.” Madam Ke said, “Oh, my dear baby You (note: Emperor Xi Zong’s name was Zhu You Jiao), that will only cause people to laugh at you. Why don’t you let me have a look, maybe I’ll know the words.”

    The little Emperor picked up a memorial at random and handed it over to her. This was a memorial presented by the Viceroy of ShaanXi reporting of the “bandits’ riot” and imploring for military support. After Madam Ke finished reading it, she said, “Viceroy Wang says here that ShaanXi has already suffered from a few consecutive years of famine, now there are already thirty-six clans of bandits. This is why they wanted to ask you to send them some troops.” Alarmed, You Jiao asked with bewilderment, “How far is ShaanXi from here?” Madam Ke replied, “It’s very far away so you don’t have to worry my dear baby.” You Jiao thus said, “There are so many titles and names of officials out there that I can’t even remember who they are. Tomorrow, I’m going to ask the Minister of War, Yang Kun to go and send somebody over there.” But Madam Ke just smiled again and said, “Oh, you can’t do that my dear. Matters of moving troops and dispatching generals should be left to the sole discretion of the Emperor. If you ask those high officials for answers, one day when the order of Lord and Servant end up interchanging, that would be a problem!”

    Such is: The fox’s charm tricks the young Lord, planted clans disorders the Imperial structure.

    *****************************
    (3) “Empress Dowager”: Typically, the mother of an Emperor.
    (4) “Memorials presented to the throne”: The memorials mentioned here are documents written with statements of facts or petitions that were compiled by officials and then presented forth to authority figures (or a body of authoritative figures) such as the Emperor.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  6. #106
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    Default And now we move on to Chapter 12! (yay!) Part 1 (booooo!)

    Chapter 12
    Frustrated Feelings Not Dissipated
    Sadden Heart Laments One’s Country
    Powerful Villain Pulls Tricks
    Devises Plan to Harm General


    You Jiao stretched again with lazy languor and then whined, “But I really don’t want to read anymore! Being an Emperor is such hard work, I couldn’t care for this job. Wet nurse, what do you think I should do?” Madam Ke was waiting for this exact question. She suggested, “I’ve heard that Liu Ting Yuan, the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of War is very capable, why not ask him to lead the troops?” You Jiao exclaimed, “Okay! Liu Ting Yuan it is then!” and then picked up the vermilion brush (1) to brand his instructions on the memorial, after of which he grinned and said, “Wet nurse, from now on, you read these things for me and whatever you say, I’ll instruct it as so!”

    Madam Ke’s sole purpose behind pushing You Jiao to read these memorials was to make him feel annoyed and pressured so she can then take advantage of the situation and grasp the reins of power into her own hands. Therefore hearing him say these words sent her heart bursting with joy even though her face did not reveal a glimmer of these emotions. Instead, she knitted her eyebrows together and said with a frown, “My dear boy You, this is one responsibility that I dare not take on. If anything happens, those people from the DongLin Group would tear me apart!” You Jiao had to assure, “Don’t worry! I won’t mention it to anyone” before Madam Ke broke out into a sweet smile while she cooed, “Then why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll finish reading the rest of these memorials for you.” But she was suddenly interrupted by You Jiao blurting out, “Xiong Ting Bi is an official of absolute and unquestionable loyalty!”

    It turns out that he had picked up an ink brush pen and was scribbling away on a piece of paper while uttering these words. Although his writing was wobbly and crooked, yet the words on the page were written large and clear, so large that even Yue Ming Ke hiding on the eaves could read them clearly. What he saw was that You Jiao had filled up his whole paper with the sentence “Xiong Ting Bi is an official of absolute and unquestionable loyalty,” repeated over and over again seven or eight times.

    Startled, Madam Ke smiled and asked, “How would you know that Xiong Ting Bi is an official of absolute and unquestionable loyalty?” You Jiao replied, “When my father was alive, he would always say these words to me. He said that had it not been for Xiong Ting Bi who guarded the frontiers against the foreign invaders for us, those Tartars would have charged straight into the palace a long time ago! So when my father was gravely ill, he sent orders to Xiong and bade him to return to the capital. I just saw the memorial that Xiong Ting Bi sent to us half a month ago which reported that he had already taken off for the journey and estimates that he should be arriving here on the twenty-eighth. The twenty-eighth is just three days away! Do you think I should go out of the palace to personally receive him?”

    Hearing this news left Yue Ming Ke to be both worried and elated. He was worried because Xiong Ting Bi was returning to the capital at a time when the Imperial Palace was in the midst of a tumultuous power struggle. With the prime minister Fang Cong Zhe and Wei Zhong Xian bribing people from within and outside of the palace to join their clan in committing villainous crimes and the Emperor being under the control of Madam Ke, Yue Ming Ke was afraid that they would be inducing harm upon Xiong Ting Bi. Yet at the same time, he was rejoicing in the comfort of knowing that he would be seeing his Grand Master in just three days when he suddenly remembered that Zhuo Yi Hang had also arranged a meeting with him in three days. Struck by this reminder, Yue thought to himself: What a strange coincidence! Brother Zhuo specifically designated a “three day” interval for our meeting and this just so happens to coincide with the three day mark of Military Commissioner Xiong’s expected arrival!

    Madam Ke took a sip of the Ginseng soup and then eyed You Jiao askance while she smiled and said, “Look at you, didn’t you just say that you did not want to stress over these kind of matters? And yet here you are, getting all involved and strained. The late Emperor has just passed away and you won’t even have completed your seven days of mourning when the twenty-eighth rolls around. You can’t leave the palace right now, so just let him come here to pay his respects to you. My dear boy, you must be so tired. You should go to bed now!”

    You Jiao did originally want to go to sleep, but thinking of Xiong Ting Bi reminded him of another matter which caused him to remark, “When I was skimming over these memorials just a moment ago, I noticed that eight to nine-tenths of them were incriminating documents charging Xiong Ting Bi with crimes. Since Xiong Ting Bi is an official of absolute and unquestionable loyalty, then that means all these other officials who are incriminating him must be crooked officials! Tomorrow when I sit on the throne for the daily court processions, I’m going to interrogate them one by one. You write down all their names on a piece of paper for me alright?”

    Yue Ming Ke was secretly musing over how the little Emperor was actually not ignorant in handling this matter when Madam Ke jumped up with alarm and hurriedly insisted, “We live in the inner palaces and don’t know about the stuff that happens outside. Even if the late Emperor said that Xiong Ting Bi was a loyal official, yet we can’t guarantee that he wasn’t hogging power or disregarding authority in other ways. Since there are so many people who are incriminating him, then he must have wronged in some way.” You Jiao asked, “Then are you saying that I should be punishing Xiong Ting Bi? If my father’s spirit knew of this in the underworld, he most definitely would not agree to it.” Madam Ke replied, “Ignoring both sides would be the best strategy. If you impeach all those officials who are incriminating Xiong Ting Bi, then where are you supposed to find such a large number of officials to replace them and help you manage the government in the meantime?” You Jiao cocked his head over to one side and thought over these words briefly before replying, “Fine. Then toss all those memorials into a big bin and send them all over to Xiong Ting Bi!”

    Madam Ke clucked, “Fine, fine, now hurry off to bed” while she scrunched up the piece of paper You Jiao was writing on earlier and discarded it underneath the table. After Madam Ke had tidied up and put away his memorials, she took him by the hand and led him towards his bed. You Jiao suddenly made a very strange face as he said, “Li Xuan Shi wants to crown an Empress for me!” Li Xuan Shi was Guang Zhong Chang Luo’s favourite concubine and since You Jiao’s mother died early, she took care of his matters like his mother. Madam Ke laughed and said, “Congratulations my Lord! My little baby has finally grown up.” You Jiao cried, “I don’t want an Empress! I want wet nurse you to be my Empress! Wet nurse, you’re so beautiful! Your daughter looks just like your little sister but when she stands next to you, she’s not even as good-looking as you are!” Madam Ke scoffed, “Crazy words!” as she opened up the doors to the bedroom and went inside with You Jiao.

    ******************************

    (1) “Vermilion Brush”: an ink-brush pen dipped in vermilion (a vivid red) coloured ink used by only the Emperor himself when he reviews the memorials presented to him by his officials. By writing notes, comments, authorization, support and instructions on the pages of these memorials, the Emperor relates his orders to his officials who will subsequently carry out these orders.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  7. #107
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    Default

    Yue Ming Ke glided down to the floor and had just managed to pick up the ball of scrunched up paper from beneath the table when he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening, causing him to hurriedly spring onto the roof beams right at the moment that the doors flew open and a voluptuous young girl stepped foot inside the room. Yue Ming Ke was thinking to himself: why would this girl dare to be so audacious? She didn’t even bother to knock before she barged in!

    Madam Ke was heard to call out from within the bedroom, “Is it Ting er?” while the young girl answered, “Ma” in return. After a brief moment, Madam Ke came out from the bedroom and lightly closed the door behind her before whispering, “Lower your voice a bit, the Emperor has just fallen asleep.” The young girl said, “Eunuch Wei said that the Emperor was at our place, which was why I rushed over here immediately.”

    This young girl was the daughter of Madam Ke and her name was Ke Ping Ting. Before Wei Zhong Xian became a eunuch, he and Madam Ke were actually old lovers and after Madam Ke had an illicit affair with him, they ended up conceiving a baby girl, who became this Ke Ping Ting. This was why when Shen Zong passed away and Wei Zhong Xian obtained power, he immediately had their daughter sent for and brought over here for Madam Ke. However, Ke Ping Ting was not aware of the fact that Wei Zhong Xian was her real father.

    Madam Ke pulled her daughter down onto the seat beside her and smiled, “My silly child, what did you come for? Is it because you wanted to win the Empress’ crown? It’s too bad you weren’t born into that kind of good fortune. Even though the Emperor would listen to my words, yet the candidate for the Empress must traditionally be someone belonging to the ranks of nobility or upper class gentility. It’s too bad that none of our ancestors ever became officials, but what can we do? To have you be just a lowly concubine is something I wouldn’t want. But don’t worry my darling, I promise that I will find you a good husband.”

    Ke Ping Ting blushed deeply and pouted, “Mother, stop joking around. I have serious matters to discuss with you. Have you spoken to the Emperor yet? ShiGong said that it wasn’t very convenient for him to secretly hide out here in the palace, so he wants to secure the Military Commissioner of the Imperial Bodyguards position for himself.” Madam Ke replied, “I haven’t had time to mention that yet.” Ke Ping Ting urged, “ShiGong has already bestowed a sword manual to me. If you don’t put in a word for him, I’ll be placed in a very hard spot.” Madam Ke laughed and said, “It’s not like this is some kind of big deal, what are you getting so worried about my dear child? I will put in a word for you tomorrow morning alright? I promise.”

    Finding this all very strange, Yue Ming Ke mused to himself: This little girl is actually a practitioner of the sword and even has a ShiGong? Ke Ping Ting suddenly asked, “Ma, can you lend the Dragon Springs sword to me for a look?” Madam Ke snapped, “Don’t mention that sword again. That sword almost got me into serious trouble!” Ke Ping Ting insisted, “Does it really matter if I just take a little peak?” Madam Ke warned, “But you must not take the sword away for use.”

    Ke Ping Ting continued, “I heard ShiGong and Commander MuRong say that though there were many treasured swords within the palace, yet this sword was the most superior of them all. As for the rest, they couldn’t even compare with the Gliding Dragon Sword that Eunuch Wei had newly acquired!” The slight traces of surprise and alarm appeared on Madam Ke’s face while she mumbled to herself, “No wonder that kid was so concern about it!” She continued to mumble away as she was simultaneously unlocking the secret compartment to the closet. Meanwhile, having heard them talk about his treasured sword, Yue Ming Ke was concentrating his full attention on Madam Ke’s every move when he suddenly felt a light breeze blow his way. He turned towards this source only to discover a wave of glinting silver hurtling straight towards him!

    With a sweep of his sleeve, Yue Ming Ke shot down the storm of plum-blossom needles (2) and then immediately jumped down to the floor. Ke Ping Ting screamed loudly, “Assassin!” and Madam Ke leapt up in fright when she recognized that it was Yue Ming Ke. Ke Ping Ting reassured her by calling out, “Don’t worry Ma, I’ll capture him for you!” but Madam Ke pressed a switch on the wall and immediately disappeared behind a hidden compartment. Meanwhile, Ke Ping Ting picked a sword up at random and then with a swipe of her blade, pierced towards Yue Ming Ke.

    Yue Ming Ke was greatly taken back! He was taken back not because the young girl’s swordsmanship was masterful, but because the sword skill she was executing turned out to be none other than the stances found in Yu Luo Cha’s exclusive sword art! While he consecutively dodged three stances, sounds of clamouring broke out from outside the room. With a “Boat Crosses Autumn Waves,” Yue slashed towards her wrist while the two fingers on his left hand pierced towards her eyes. Although Ke Ping Ting’s martial arts was not bad, yet this was nevertheless the first time that she has come across such a powerful opponent and therefore the minute fear entered her heart, the long sword that she clutched in her hand was snatched away by Yue Ming Ke. She hurriedly jumped over to one side, causing a sword manual to suddenly drop to the floor! Yue Ming Ke hurriedly picked it up and by then the guards have already arrived outside the door!

    Although the sword that Yue Ming Ke had in his hand was not the precious Dragon Springs sword, yet it was still a remarkably sharp weapon and thus by just randomly throwing out a swipe with his sword, Yue caused the guard’s single-edge broadsword to be broken into two pieces. With a lift of his right foot, Yue kicked the other guard right back out the door while he himself glided up to the eaves and then with another twist, landed on the tiles of the roof before accelerating away with haste.

    After he had darted past a few towers and palace halls, he suddenly heard the cries of “Catch the assassin!” reverberate from all around him! Yue Ming Ke hurriedly dodged into a cluster of flower bushes just as a few dozen guards swarmed out from all four directions. Yet surprisingly, the place they pursued towards was not the Wet Nurse mansion of where he had wrecked havoc! Finding it all very strange, Yue Ming Ke leaped onto the top of a tree for a better look.

    What he saw from afar was a black shadow exploding out from nowhere and with the ferocious speed of a shooting meteoroid, that figure hurtled right out from within the inner palaces to blast past the Hall of Preserving Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony and Hall of Supreme Harmony, tearing through all three of the main outer palace halls before it suddenly vanished! The blinding speed of this person’s movements was like nothing of what he’s seen before! This exhibit of levitation skills was not the least bit below that of his own, leaving Yue Ming Ke to be greatly shocked for he did not expect that there would be someone else other than himself who would dare to charge into the Imperial Palace in the dead of the night.

    The guards spread out and searched the Imperial Palace for about an hour before they gradually started to disperse. When Yue Ming Ke noticed two guards running back and forth in patrol, he suddenly thought to himself: why don’t I capture one of them and ask? Therefore he suddenly pounced out from behind the bushes and extended both his arms to attack his two opponents’ acupoints with lightning speed. As expected, the guard on the left side immediately collapsed with a thud as he came into contact with Yue’s finger. But the guard on the right side instantaneously counteracted this move by bending backwards and then flipped his hands over in a hook to actually clamp down on Yue Ming Ke’s wrist!

    Yue stabilized his weight and pulled back, yet not only was he unable to budge his opponent by an inch, but he was furthermore pushed back by the power of his opponent’s resistance! Extremely startled, Yue immediately took out his long sword and then with a brand of his blade, proceeded to pierce out. Without so much as a grunt, that man twisted his body around and then slashed down with both his palms to attack Yue’s blind spot. With a quiver of his sword’s blade, Yue re-directed his attack towards his opponent’s lower abdomen. Such a move was fast and agile beyond means, but with a grunt and a crouch, his opponent slid right beneath Yue’s blade to pass over to the other side. Having just retracted his palms, his opponent immediately struck out again, causing the forceful blast coming from his strike to slice right past Yue’s ear! The pure intensity of his opponent’s internal energy and the sheer speed with which he changed his stances were all something of which Yue Ming Ke has rarely ever encountered before in battle!

    Although Yue Ming Ke may be shaken, yet the man he was battling with was even more alarmed! This man was the Head Instructor of the East Faction guards and the number one fighter within the Imperial Palace. His name was MuRong Chong. Possessing the supreme skills belonging to both the internal and outer schools of martial arts has enabled him to remain matchless during the last few dozen years. But within the Imperial Palace tonight, there occurred two consecutive cases of an assassin’s intrusion!

    The levitation skills of the assassin discovered in front of the Gate of the Divine Warrior was above that of his own and therefore prevented him from catching up. But at least he could still assert that they did not yet have the opportunity to exchange stances and that way his famed reputation could still be said to have remained relatively unscathed. This assassin on the other hand has already greeted him with three sword stances, every one of them lethal to the point of where MuRong Chong found himself under the actual risk of being stabbed! Furthermore, this assassin was wearing a uniform belonging to the guards of the Eastern Faction, which meant that one of his men must have undergone harm already. Thus if he couldn’t capture him today, how could he possibly face his fellow troops in the future?

    Even though both fighters were harbouring caution and anxiety within their hearts, yet their movements were not the least bit hindered as they exchanged over a dozen stances in just a blink of an eye!

    On observing how the man just battled away in silence without attempting to alert others by unleashing so much as a sound caused a suspicious thought to suddenly dawn upon Yue Ming Ke and induced him to whisper in a low voice, “Hey! Which turf do you belong to my friend? I’m not a palace guard so don’t take me for the wrong person!” When Yue Ming Ke observed how the man did not call out to his fellow guards for help, he reasoned that this man must be in the same predicament as himself and was someone who had secretly stole into the Imperial Palace. But what he did not know was that because MuRong Chong resided in the position of Eastern Faction guards’ head instructor, he had always prided himself as being invincible in his martial arts. This was why having discovered an “assassin,” he wanted to capture him with his very own hands so as to claim full credit. He was afraid that if the other guards arrived, they would end up taking away a share of his glory and therefore remained hesitant in summoning for back up.

    Speaking out in order to voice his suspicions divided up Yue Ming Ke’s concentration ever so slightly, yet just that little bit of hesitation was already enough to induce an effect on the speed of his sword skill. Seizing the opportunity, MuRong Chong attacked through this opening and with a loud boom, landed a concrete punch on Yue Ming Ke’s shoulder! Even though his internal energy was already substantially solid, yet Yue Ming Ke still could not stop himself from convulsing a few times before he was eventually able to swallow up his pain and retaliate with another swipe. After succeeding in this one stance, MuRong Chong accelerated the intensity of his attack and stormed forward with even more ferocity! But having sustained a punch, Yue Ming Ke was gradually forced to the point of where he was starting to have difficulty in upholding the battle.

    Another twenty or thirty stances were exchanged, but by then the palace guards belonging to the Palace of Heavenly Purity have already heard the sounds of combat and were all hastening towards their direction. MuRong Chong was anxious to receive full credit for Yue’s capture and thus hastily executed a hook punch with his left hand while simultaneously generating a soft palm with his right hand. Forced to bend backwards, Yue Ming Ke hurriedly slashed his long sword towards his opponent’s legs just as the force of MuRong’s palm and fist strikes blasted by the tip of his nose with an icy gust. MuRong Chong leaped high into the air so the blade of Yue’s sword only ended up slashing through the leg of his trousers, but leaning over to one side, Yue Ming Ke was right in the midst of whipping out another sword swipe when MuRong Chong suddenly screamed out in pain! Then with a flip of his body, MuRong Chong immediately ran away while a shadow suddenly snuck out from a pitch-black corner and pulled Yue Ming Ke behind the rock of an artificial landscape mountain.

    *********************************************

    (2) “Plum-blossom needles”: More than a thousand years ago, the plum-blossom needle was an acupunctural tool used in conjunction with its very own acupunctural method for the treatment of headaches, giddiness, neurasthenia, imbalance of plant nerve, neuritis, various ocular troubles, acute and chronic intestinal and gastric disorders. These needles were named plum-blossom needles due to the fact that there were composed of five small needles bounded together in the form of a plum-blossom. It is also known as “dermal” or “children” needle due to its ability to inflict little pain (for it only stimulates the channel/meridian point) and is usually used to cure patterns of vacuity or other bodily weaknesses. Though sometimes used in conjunction with “seven star needle,” the seven star needle is in fact seven needles bounded together. However, the plum-blossom needle is also sometimes known to be formed by three needles tied together in a bundle. Modern versions of this acupunctural tool has the needles attached to a metal hammer head and a long handle, such as the following examples: http://www.ycyhealth.com/images/seve...eedles/333.jpg http://www.ycyhealth.com/images/seve...eedles/111.jpg http://www.ycyhealth.com/images/New%...0Needles/6.jpg . However, due to the nature of how this weapon was used within this story (and other stories of Liang YuSheng which mentions this weapon), the needles should have been extremely thin in size and should not have included any mention of a metal hammer head or handle.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  8. #108
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    This person just happened to be Cheng Kun. Being the Monitor of the Palace Guardsmen, he was of course a fighter of first rate abilities. But hiding in the cave all by himself caused the time to drag by so slowly that he was driven to the point of panicking with fear. Thus when the sounds of commotion coming from outside sliced through the silence, he secretly snuck back out to discover MuRong Chong patrolling back and forth on his search mission. Although Cheng Kun’s martial arts were somewhat below that of MuRong Chong’s, yet had this been any other day, he would not have been in a position of where he should feel threatened by MuRong. But at this place and time, he was so alarmed that he had to once again hide behind the rock of an artificial landscape mountain. Coincidently, the spot of where he had dodged to just happened to be located not far from where Yue Ming Ke was hiding.

    Yue Ming Ke snuck out and started to combat with MuRong Chong not long afterwards, but since Cheng Kun has not yet recuperated from the brutal torture that was inflicted upon him during the earlier part of the day, he thus hurriedly began to circulate his inner Qi. After a while, he witnessed how Yue Ming Ke had sustained a punch and was starting to edge towards the face of defeat, thus secretly broke off a few sticks of bamboo and then by using the most supreme projectile technique known as “lashing leaves, pelting petals, exterminating upon immediate contact,” he fired out the bamboo leaves.

    Since MuRong Chong was only able to equal Yue Ming Ke in terms of martial art skills, when he suddenly discovered that there was a skilled fighter ambushed nearby he was immediately worried that this would cause him sustain an injury right there on the spot. Furthermore, even if his companions did manage to arrive in time, such a predicament would only cause him to lose all face. Therefore with a whip of his body, MuRong Chong hurriedly fled from the scene.

    After Cheng Kun pulled Yue Ming Ke behind the rock of the artificial landscape mountain, he whispered “Follow me,” and then weaved through a cluster of artificial mountains before suddenly lifting away a huge rock to reveal the opening to a dark, oppressive cave. Cheng Kun and Yue Ming Ke stepped inside to catch their breaths just as a ruckus was heard to break out once again.

    Cheng Kun whispered, “From here, we can cut straight out to the Imperial Rivers located outside the palace. That way, there would be no need to exit through the West Flowery Gate.” Yue Ming Ke asked, “Does nobody else know about this secret passage?” Cheng Kun replied, “This secret passage was constructed by the late Emperor when he was still residing in the Palaces of the East end. There were only five guards in total who knew of its existence. Since the late Lord’s death, we Palace Guardsmen have already lost all power, so I doubt that they would be willing to work for Wei Zhong Xian and risk the danger of coming to this passage for a search.”

    The two of them expedited along the passage and as predicted, did not come across any impediments nor did they hear any sounds of pursuing troops chasing up from behind them. Not long afterwards, the lapping currents of the rushing water could be heard. Cheng Kun opened up a secret doorway and caused the river’s water to seep into the passage. Yue Ming Ke was just about to dive outside when Cheng Kun shouted, “Wait!” and lifted his hand to press a switch on the stone walls. Only then was Yue Ming Ke able to discover that located outside of the cave was a rapidly spinning bronze wheel composed completely of sharp blades. After a while, the speed of the spinning blades started to gradually slow down and eventually came to a complete halt.

    Cheng Kun closed the secret passageway behind him and snuck out from in between the sharp blades with Yue Ming Ke. After they made it to shore, Cheng Kun looked towards the skies and said, “It will soon be dawn and then it won’t be convenient for us to run about in these wet clothes. Dong Fang’s home is just around the corner, why don’t we go to his place and change into another set of clothing? I also have some words to say to Madam Dong.”

    Although Dong Fang was the assistant of Cheng Kun, yet Dong Fang’s wife who also happened to be a member of the martial arts world was aware that her husband and Cheng Kun have never gotten along on the best of terms. Therefore when she saw Cheng Kun bring in another Imperial guard the moment she opened the door, she couldn’t refrain from jumping back in alarm while they both rushed in, soaked from head to toe. Cheng Kun urged, “Sister, please close the doors behind you! I have something to tell you.”

    Thus Cheng Kun went on and narrated to Dong Fang’s wife the details of how Dong had rescued him in the face of danger but as a result ended up falling victim to a furtive attack. She was well aware of the fact that Cheng Kun never lies and therefore burst into tears as she wailed, “I’ve long told him not to work in this stinking Palace Guardsmen job, if only he had followed my father into the escort business, such a lifestyle would have been so much more carefree. But he wouldn’t listen to me and now look at what happened?!” Cheng Kun assured, “Sister, there’s no need to cry yet. Although the two of us never got along very well, yet I am eternally indebted to him for placing himself in danger in order to save me. I give you my word and promise that I will free your husband from the palace and return him to you!” Madam Deng choked back her tears and looked up at him with wide eyed suspicion. Her sceptical expression seemed to be questioning, “You can’t even solve your own problems! How are you to save my husband?”

    Cheng Kun continued, “Bring me a pen and some paper and I will write a letter for you. Tomorrow, all you have to do is bring this letter to the Commander of the Imperial Bodyguards Shi Hao and tell him to deliver this letter into Wei Zhong Xian’s hands for you. Once Wei Zhong Xian sees this letter, he would no longer dare to murder your husband regardless of how gutsy he may be.” The reasoning behind this request immediately dawned on Yue Ming Ke, causing him to exclaim “Of course! As long as Brother Cheng is still alive, Wei Zhong Xian most definitely would not dare to murder Brother Dong.”

    By then, Madam Dong had also comprehended Cheng Kun’s reasoning. She knew that Cheng Kun was aware of the many dark secrets of the Imperial Palace, including how Wei Zhong Xian and Madam Ke were dirtying up the palace halls and secretly eradicating those in opposition to them. None of these dark skeletons were able to escape Cheng Kun’s detection and furthermore, there were still many guards within the Imperial Palace who were his friends and thus if he used these points as his threat, there was no way that Wei Zhong Xian could afford to not exercise caution.

    After Cheng Kun had finished writing his letter, Madam Dong said, “I have already prepared two sets of clothing for the both of you. Please excuse its threadbare simplicity.” Cheng Kun and Yue Ming Ke thus went into the guest room and after closing the doors behind them, took off their wet clothing. Concealed within Cheng Kun’s wet clothes were a pair of gloves and after studying over it intently from top to bottom and then from front to back, Cheng Kun placed it on the table with cherished fondness and solemn reverence.

    Earlier, when Yue Ming Ke picked up the ball of scrunched up paper that the Emperor had written on, he immediately placed it underneath his many layers of clothing so that it was pressed right up against his bare skin. As a result, the paper has luckily not been soaked through completely. He thus hurriedly lighted up an oil lamp and then spread out the piece of paper over the lampshade in order to dry it off.

    After he had finished changing his clothes, Cheng Kun suddenly stated, “Brother Yue, the excellence of your martial arts belongs to a level of supremacy that your humble brother I can never match up to. You have saved my life and yet there is nothing I can possibly do to repay you during this lifetime. Please be kind enough to take these gloves as my token of gratitude.” Yue Ming Ke exclaimed, “Brother Cheng, why do you say these words?” and though he initially wanted to refuse, yet on observing how genuine the sentiments behind his sincere offer was and further taking into consideration that a pair of gloves was not something that was particularly expensive or priceless, Yue Ming Ke therefore accepted his offer.

    It was only after making sure that Yue Ming Ke had taken over his gloves did Cheng Kun finally explain, “Brother Yue, this pair of gloves was a gift bestowed upon me by the late Emperor. They say that it was knitted together using the fur of the Golden Silk Ape as well as the white leather thread of the Black Dragon Creek. Not only can it provide as an impenetrable shield to protect one against the blades of sabre and spears, but it can also function as an impermeable skin to render one immune against poisonous toxins and deadly substances. Using it to execute the Overcoming Sharp Blade with Bare Hands technique would be the most ideal!”

    Yue Ming Ke exclaimed with alarm, “Why didn’t you say so before? How could I possibly accept such a priceless gift?” and hurriedly took out the gloves again. Cheng Kun laughed and said, “When the gentleman offers his word, it is as irrevocable as the charge of a whipped stallion in flight! You’ve already promised to accept my humble gift, how could you take back your words now?” Yue Ming Ke had no other choice and could therefore only express yet another round of gratitude before placing the gloves into his possession with the utmost care and appreciation.

    By then, the pale white gleam resembling the sheen of a fish’s stomach had already started to break through the Eastern horizon. Madam Dong went out and hired a horse carriage to quietly transport Cheng Kun and Yue Ming Ke away while she herself started to travel towards the Imperial Palace.

    Yue Ming Ke instructed the coachman to drive the carriage over to the Secretary of the Ministry of War, Yang Lian’s home, causing Cheng Kun to remark, “Oh! So that’s where you were staying. Yang Lian is a good official, they most likely won’t dare to be too unheeded in their actions.” Yue Ming Ke asked, “What do you mean?” but Cheng Kun just asked back in return, “Did anybody know that you were staying at the Yang residence?” Yue Ming Ke replied, “The people who knew weren’t many. I never expected so many things to happen when I arrived in the capital and therefore did not take caution in keeping my whereabouts a secret.” Cheng Kun sighed and then whispered softly by Yue’s ear, “I’m afraid they already know where you were staying.” Yue Ming Ke asked, “How do you know?” Cheng Kun replied, “The day before yesterday, right before Wei Zhong Xian locked me up, I overheard some guards of the Eastern faction discussing amongst each other, saying something about keeping an eye on the Yang family. I was curious then as to why they would want to do that, but now it’s clear that it was due to the fact that you were staying there.”

    This filled Yue Ming Ke full of dread and anxiety as they hurriedly hastened towards the Yang mansion. By the time they arrived there, the skies had already brightened completely. Cheng Kun snuck a peek outside to make sure that there were no familiar looking faces before he got off the carriage with Yue Ming Ke. Right away the doors to the Yang household flew wide open as the servants of the Yang family came out hollering, “Master Yue has return!”

    Yue Ming Ke and Cheng Kun dashed towards the main hall only to discover Yang Lian sitting up straight in the middle of the room, thundering with rage, “The world’s coming to an end!” causing Yue Ming Ke to hurriedly inquire about what happened. Yang Lian replied, “I reside as a high official in the Ministry of War, can you believe that there would actually be bandits vicious enough to target in on my very own home?!” Yue Ming Ke asked, “Did you lose anything?” Yang Lian replied, “It’s not the materialistic things that I care about. Those bandits only took away some antiques, but your friend was kidnapped away by them!”

    Hearing this piece of news shook Yue Ming Ke down to his very soul and shattered his spirit into a million pieces. Although Tie Shan Hu and him may not be the most compatible pair in terms of personal interests and ideals, yet having journeyed such long distances together, their relationship was already as close as that of siblings. After he calmed his nerves down, Yue asked, “How many bandits were there?” Yang Lian replied, “I think about seven or eight? They were all masked! Your friend came out and started to battle with them, but was outnumbered and ended being captured.” Yue Ming Ke thought to himself: these bandits must without a doubt be Wei Zhong Xian’s men. Yet he didn’t want to voice these suspicions out loud for he was afraid that it would only end up scaring Yang Lian and burden him with additional worries. Therefore, he just said, “Uncle, let your unworthy nephew ask some friends from the martial arts world to investigate into this incident for you.”

    Yang Lian continued, “There have never been such wild and unruly criminals who dared to show their face in the Imperial capital. I’m going to go over to the Ministry of War’s Yamen (3) and demand that they alert the Supreme Commander of the Nine Gates so I can interrogate him on what kind of job he’s doing. It’s good that you’ve return, keep an eye out for my home while I’m away.” Then after leaving orders for his servants to be on alert and to keep guard over the house and its inhabitants, he stormed off in an angry rage to make a personal appearance at the Ministry of War.

    After Yue Ming Ke and Cheng Kun went inside the guest room, Cheng Kun immediately stated, “This must be the work of the Eastern faction guards. Who is your friend and what is his name? I’ll ask around for you.” Yue Ming Ke snarled, “I’m going to go into the palace and give them hell.” Cheng Kun shook his head and warned, “Don’t do that. You’ve already caused a huge commotion on two separate occasions, they will most definitely be tightening their security this time. Aside from MuRong Chong, I’ve heard that there are two other skilled fighters who have newly arrived to the Imperial Palace. Even I was only able to hear of this through bits and pieces, so their identities are not even known. But judging from the looks of things, they must be Jianghu fighters of extremely high positions. Brother Yue, if you risk the danger of stealing into the Imperial Palace once again, I’m afraid that you’ll only end up surrendering to their trap. I still have some good friends working within the Imperial Palace. In a few days when everything dies down a bit, I’ll secretly investigate into this matter for you.”

    Having thought over Cheng Kun’s words, Yue Ming Ke really had to admit that he had no choice but to listen to Cheng’s suggestion and therefore asked, “Then do you think they would be coming here again? I’m afraid that even if we don’t go around giving them trouble, they’d still come around here searching for us.” Cheng Kun said, “As they say in military treatises, that which appears false is in actuality true, and that which appears to possess substantiality is in fact an illusive disguise. After this whole series of incidents, they wouldn’t think that you would dare to return to the Yang mansion and that is exactly why we should stay right here. Since they don’t have any personal scores of vengeance with Yang Lian, they most likely won’t be venturing over here again. Besides, even if they do come, with our martial arts, we can capture one or two of them right here on the spot and then force our way outside while causing a ruckus big enough to make the whole world take notice. If they want a fight, we’ll give them a fight!” Yue Ming Ke cried, “Alright! That’s what we’ll do then!”

    ********************************

    (3) “Yamen”: The headquarters/office of the head of an agency/office/department.
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  9. #109
    Member Faerie Queene's Avatar
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    There's really not much I want to say for this rant, just have to really apologize for how long it took me to get this out ... I actually had the first draft completed almost a month ago, but due to my schedule and other things popping up, I couldn't seem to concentrate on the editing phase and had soooooooo much trouble in getting the words to connect and flow properly. I'm not even sure if it's at the level that I want, but I simply do not want to look at it again right now, so I hope where it is right now will work for you.

    Again, the timing of the hours as described within this chapter seems a little off. Also, I think LYS probably confused the characters of Wang Cheng and Dong Fang (the two guards who were trying to get Cheng Kun to talk) ... Wang Cheng should probably have been one of Wei Zhong Xian's men and thus one of the Eastern faction guards (b/c Yue Ming Ke took his clothes and was later mistaken as a Eastern faction guard), but it was mentioned in one passage that he was Cheng Kun's assistant, thus part of the Palace Guardsmen clan ... that should have been Dong Fang, not Wang Cheng. But anyhow, who cares? They're just small potatoes.

    But do remember the character of Cheng Kun.

    Also remember Ke Ping Ting and of course MuRong Chong.

    Again, don't get Yang LIAN confused with Yang KUN. Apparently, both are officials belonging to the Ministry of War (though there are some inconsistencies regarding this ... I have to go back and study over this one day), but Yang KUN is the guy whom Zhuo Yi Hang was staying with while Yang LIAN (whom I believe is the subordinate of Yang Kun) is the man Yue Ming Ke is staying with. ***Yang LIAN*** should be the one to remember.

    Did you catch that reference to Zhu You Jiao's (the "little Emperor") rumoured illiteracy? Btw., if ever these names of the Emperors seem confusing to you, make sure to ask. I know that these Chinese pinyin names may not make so much sense to some readers whose native language is not Chinese. In fact, I don't even think they make that much sense to readers who native language is Chinese! I plan to make a character list one day to help readers track who's who and also for them to get a better idea on which Chinese characters are used within these names (as some names has very beautiful meanings).

    A question ... does Yue Ming Ke seem a little lost and frazzled to you after he hears that Tie Shan Hu has been captured? It seems that he was a little at loss of what to do after returning to Yang Lian's home to discover Tie Shan Hu gone. Had Cheng Kun not been there to think for him, he might have done something rash or been at complete loss of what to do. Does anybody else sense that? Or have I just read over that part too many times?

    There's only about 10 pages left in chapter 12 and though I will do my best to slot in time to work on this chapter, yet there's something that I really have to finish first, so realistically, I don't think I'll be able to find much time until October ... so once again, I'm sorry. I really did enjoy these last two chapters and am greatly looking forward to the preceeding ones ... but y'all have to just bare w/ me here.

    Happy readings, wishing everyone all the best!

    Ciao!
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  10. #110
    Senior Member eliza bennet's Avatar
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    Thank you for your efforts Faerie Queenie

    I liked your translation as always. And although these are very exciting and fun to read I have to admit I miss our title character.

    And yes, Yue who was usually logical and sensible turned angry and impulsive after hearing the news.

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    thank you Faerie Queene for another great updates

    Quote Originally Posted by Faerie Queene
    just have to really apologize for how long it took me to get this out ...
    here you go again apologizing, it make me feel really bad . It is like I'm pressuring you to work faster or something.

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    Thanks for the update, Faerie Queene. That was a lot!

    I would tend to agree, Yue seemed unusually upset at Tie Shan Hu's capture. (Intending to storm the forbidden city and "give them hell?" Not calm...) On top of that, when you look at Tie Shan Hu chiding him over being kidnapped by the female rapist... Yeah.

    :P

    On the topic of slow updates... In my opinion, you shouldn't worry yourself. You are already doing us all a favor by translating- for me to complain about the speed would be like being rescued from drowning in a river and complaining that my clothes were wet. Perspective is important.

    Thanks again!

  13. #113
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    Quote Originally Posted by eliza bennet
    although these are very exciting and fun to read I have to admit I miss our title character.
    That's what so brilliant and innovative about the method of story-telling though don't you think?

    First of all, the title of the book starts off right away giving away the fate of the heroine.

    We meet the heroine in her adult form in the very FIRST chapter (I can think of few wuxia novels that introduces their audiences to the protagonist in the very first chapter and even if they are to appear, they usually appear as a child).

    Then he takes the main protagonist away at the beginning of chapter 8 ... now it's chapter 12 and still no sign of her. That's quite a risky move -- especially when you take into consideration that LYS published this story in a periodical form, so he's literally dragging his readers along as they read a story about a heroine who has suddenly disappeared and has not reappeared week after week (I believe the story took more than a year to be completed)

    But what I find brilliant about the way he executes this is that even though YLC isn't around, LYS never lets you forget her. ZYH thinks about her and compares her to other girls, Tie ShanHu repeatedly screams out her name when she's in trouble with Jin QianYan (and for me, I could have sworn she really was going to jump out and make Jin and his cronies pee their pants). And now, this girl Ke PingTing for some mysterious reason knows YLC's exclusive sword skill. Thus he baits his audience, constantly reminding them of her, anticipating her.

    I miss her as well, but really, I think it's a right move to develop Yue Ming Ke's character b/c his story is actually very important, plus it really enriches the whole story. You'll see this as we move along and reach the end.

    Quote Originally Posted by TaiHan
    here you go again apologizing, it make me feel really bad . It is like I'm pressuring you to work faster or something.
    hehe ... now I feel bad for apologizing and making you feel bad

    It is totally me who's giving myself the pressure. You know, I'm known for having high standards but at least nobody can charge me with hypocrisy for going easy on myself

    I am so my own worst critic

    Quote Originally Posted by Anatman
    On top of that, when you look at Tie Shan Hu chiding him over being kidnapped by the female rapist... Yeah.

    :P
    But c'mon, Tie ShanHu teasing him was totally cute though ... don't you think? The truth was, it was dorky of Yue to fall prey to that plot. The man could have annihilated those 2 cronies by flicking a booger at them, but what ends up happening? He ends up in the bed of a female rapist. The poor man could have lost his virginity! (what a waste that would be huh?) Yue has this naivete about him that is just plain cute.

    But that's what I love about these 2 characters though. Tie Shan Hu is not afraid to speak her mind and chastise people when they're wrong ... and it turns out that she's often right -- Yue was so drunk that he didn't even realize it when she was by his bedside, Yue was stressing himself over a decripent government when he should really be concentrating on the people and it was nerdy of him to end up on the bed of a female rapist. Tie Shan Hu is straight enough to tell him all that even though she totally respects and admires him -- but she doesn't sugarcoat or dodge the truth. There's a childish bluntness about her that I just adore. Similarly, on Yue's side, his ability to own up to his folies also makes me love him. He doesn't have this excessive pride that would cause him to take offense to these jokes -- he's man enough to own up to it and then laugh about it. There's a grace and class to Yue Ming Ke that few other characters in the novel can compare with -- you'll know what I mean when we get more into the Wu Tang clan.

    As for Yue's reaction to Tie Shan Hu, he does calm down shortly afterwards but I wanted to highlight this incident as it's important when we come back to assessing their relationship in the future.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anatman
    On the topic of slow updates... In my opinion, you shouldn't worry yourself. You are already doing us all a favor by translating- for me to complain about the speed would be like being rescued from drowning in a river and complaining that my clothes were wet. Perspective is important.

    Thanks again!
    Thank you for your consoling analogy. Like I said before, it's all me. It really is. And with all honesty, spending a week in editing 20+ page is seriously a little inexcusable. So I had to, and should give myself a hard time.

    As for doing people favours, I don't want to approach this translation as a favour bestowed on others. It's just a way of sharing a piece of literature. I translate this because I love the story and want to share it with others. The fact that you are all sharing my enjoyment of the story is already all I can ask for.

    And um, I can't swim ... so stay away from me if we're both in water, I'll just end up dragging you down w/ me

    As I had expected, I didn't get to touch this again until just recently, but the 2nd half of chapter 12 has been started. I expect to deliver within 2 weeks

    Cheers to all
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  14. #114
    Senior Member eliza bennet's Avatar
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    Thanks for the nice post Queenie

    As stated above you do not need to worry over the time, and thank you for sharing with us since this indeed is a good story and I for one am very happy to be able to read it.

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    Senior Member KJ's Avatar
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    May I ask, how many chapters are in this story?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Faerie Queene
    And with all honesty, spending a week in editing 20+ page is seriously a little inexcusable. So I had to, and should give myself a hard time.
    I meant a MONTH to edit 20+ pages ... I wished it only took me a week

    Now looking back, I seriously don't know what I was doing. A MONTH?!?!?!?!?

    Quote Originally Posted by KJ
    May I ask, how many chapters are in this story?
    Hi! There are 32 chapters in total. s.....l......o......w.....l....y..............g... .e..t......t..i.....n.......g..................... .t......h...e...r............e.................... ....
    At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napolean -- and my ambition has steadily grown ever since.

    ~ Salvador Dali


  17. #117
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    Default help on quote

    quote - Yu Luo Sha’s expression was as cold as the wintry frost as she fiercely says, “This is to show you that there will always be another level of heaven beyond this one, and to never think that you can depend solely on your sect’s fame! -- first chapter right after she cuts off wutang's fingers

    hey thaks for the great translation.... i was wondering if you could do me a big favor "there will always be another level of heaven beyond this one" could you tell me the original chinese characters?..please also is this a famous proverb

    keep up the great work thanks

  18. #118
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    Fairie Queen,

    I just wanted to leave a note congratulating you on some really amazing translation work. I love this story, and I owe my being able to read it to you, so please accept my heartfelt thanks.

    Happy Halloween to you and everyone else reading this story!
    Rob

  19. #119
    Senior Member dingnoy's Avatar
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    I love this translation Fairie Queen keep up the good work.

    Is it just me, but how come Yu lou cha doesn't seem to be in the last few chapters. I mean theres a lot of zhou Yi hang and Yue ming ke, but wheres Yu Luo cha?

    Also by reading teh last few chapters I'm starting to like Yue Ming Ke more than ZHou Yi Hang, he seems more like the heroe of this story lol.

  20. #120
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    Default dingnoy's comments

    I agree with your assessment of Zhou Yi Hang. I expect that his character will become more indecisive and frustrating as the story moves along. Yu Lou Cha is classy and cool.

    Love the translation.
    j

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