The Deer and The Cauldron

[foxs]

Ali, OwlHoot, you are welcome. ycb5959, I noticed it was your first post, welcome to the forum. Smurf, Ace, I do remember reading about it, and since the only other source I know is Minford's, it must be he who wrote about that status equalizer. Crazee, Akolaw, but Chen Jinnan also treated him like a son, so the feeling was mutual. (He was the only one who cared about WXB's poisoning). Ace, Pannonian, that was one thing I never could understand, why would they do that? (loyalty to the ruler above the country's best interest)

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“That is even worse,” Kangxi said, “This man Wu Yingxiong, I have met him twice. He is competent and efficient, a talented individual. Plus he is not too young, I don’t know how many good-looking concubines he had in his house; how could he have the audacity to be arrogant and treated the Princess impolitely? Humph, do you think I don’t know the Princess’ temperament? It must be that she had some disagreement with Wu Yingxiong, and she cut … she cut his damned eggs.” Speaking to this point, he could not help but bursting in laughter.

Wei Xiaobao also laughed; he stood up and said, “It’s not convenient for the Princess to tell this kind of matter in details; your servant naturally did not dare to ask too much. Whatever Princess said, that was what your servant reported.”

Kangxi nodded. “You are right,” he conceded. “This fellow Wu Yingxiong has been wronged. Go pass on my edict, tell them to select an auspicious date to conclude the wedding in the Capital. After a full month, they may return to Yunnan.”

“Your Majesty,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Concluding the wedding is not a big deal, that fellow Wu Sangui is about to rebel, you must not let the Princess return to Yunnan.”

Kangxi remained calm and collected; he simply nodded and said, “So Wu Sangui is about to rebel. What did you see?”

Thereupon Wei Xiaobao told in details how Wu Sangui colluded with Tibet, Mongolia, Luocha Country and Divine Dragon Cult. Kangxi listened with serious expression, he was deep in thought and did not say anything. After quite a while, he finally said, “That traitor! Unexpectedly he is colluding with that many foreign powers!”

Wei Xiaobao knew early on that this matter is extremely thorny; hence he did not dare to make a sound.

After a while, Kangxi asked again, “And then what happened?”

Wei Xiaobao told him that they had captured the Mongolian Prince’s emissary. He recounted how he pretended to be Wu Sangui’s younger son and swindle the emissary into spilling everything; how Wu Yingxiong wanted to seize Hantiemo back by setting the Princess’ dwelling on fire, but suffered castration instead; how Wei Xiaobao sent the troops under his command to masquerade as the Palace’s guards, and fight in a brothel over some beauties, and thus gave the impression that they killed Hantiemo.

Kangxi was listening leisurely while stretching on his chair; he said, “That’s much more fun.” He continued, “This man Wu Sangui, I have never seen him. That day there was news spreading in the Palace that when Fu Huang [father emperor] returned to Heaven, Wu Sangui led a massive military force to the Capital to offer sacrifice. I wanted to go see him, several regent ministers wanted to guard against him entering the Capital with his soldiers and suddenly revolted; therefore, they told him to mourn and offer sacrifice outside Beijing, they did not allow him to enter Beijing’s city walls.”

Speaking to this point, he stood up, paced back and forth, and said, “That servant Oboi failed to see this matter clearly. If he was worried that Wu Sangui would enter the Capital and revolt, he only need to issue a decree granting them, father and son, to enter the Capital to worship, while his large army must remain outside the city; what could he possibly achieve? If he did not dare to enter the City, that means his etiquette was lacking. By not allowing him to enter the city, the message was clear: ‘We are afraid of your large army, we are afraid that you will enter the Capital and revolt. You must not come in!’ Hey, hey, it was a display of utmost weakness! Wu Sangui must know that the imperial court is suspicious and jealous of him and also afraid of him; how can he not know? Perhaps his rebellion scheme was born because of this incident.”

Listening to Kangxi’s detailed analysis, Wei Xiaobao’s admiration grew from the bottom of his heart. “Supposing he saw Your Majesty that time,” he said, “Your Majesty could enlighten him well, maybe he would not dare to revolt.”

Kangxi shook his head. “At that time I was too young,” he said, “I did not understand military and national affairs. If I did see him, I would not have any formidable things to say to him, he might rise in rebellion sooner.” And then he inquired in details Wu Sangui’s appearance and mannerism. He also asked, “About that white tiger skin in his study, what exactly is that?”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly surprised; he described the appearance of the white tiger skin, and then said, “Even small matter like that Your Majesty also knows.”

Kangxi smiled, but did not say anything. He then asked about Wu Sangui’s troops and horses deployment, about the temperament and talent of the ten great zongbing [regional commander] under Wu Sangui’s employment. In these questions, he seemed to have a detailed knowledge of Wu Sangui’s situation; he knew which great general under Wu Sangui who was greedy for money, which one was given to lust, which one was courageous, which one was muddleheaded. He clearly understood everything.

Wei Xiaobao was already stunned, now he was full of admiration. “Your Majesty,” he said, “You have not been to Yunnan, yet you know about Ping Xi Wang Mansion’s inside situation better than your servant.” He suddenly realized, “Ah, right, you must have sent not a few spies to Kunming.”

Kangxi laughed and said, “This is called ‘know yourself, know your enemy, emerge victorious in every battle’. He wholeheartedly wants to rebel, do you think we will simply ignore him? Xiao Guizi, your merit this time is very big, you managed to verify Wu Sangui’s collusion with Tibet, Mongolia and Luocha Country. My spies are not able to uncover this big secret. They can only find minor matters, but cannot investigate important matters.”

Wei Xiaobao felt the bones in his body were considerably lighter. “This is all due to Your Majesty’s flood of good fortune fills the heavens,” he said.

Kangxi said, “Bring that Hantiemo into the Palace; let me interrogate him personally.” Wei Xiaobao complied. Leading ten Imperial Bodyguards, he brought Hantiemo to the Upper Study Room.

As soon as Kangxi saw him, he started questioning him in Mongolian. Hantiemo was surprised to hear his native tongue Mongolian was spoken, but he also felt warmness in his heart. Seeing the grandeur of the Palace, he no longer dared to cover up the truth, he told Kangxi everything he wanted to know ‘in fives and tens’.

Kangxi interrogated him for more than four hours; other than about the collusion between Mongolia and Wu Sangui, he also asked in detail about Mongolian military strength and disposition, the monetary, grain and production situation, the mountain and river topography, local conditions and customs, as well as various Mongolian ruling class, the princes and dukes: who were astute, who were mediocre, who had enmity with whom, and who had close relationship with whom.

All along Wei Xiaobao was waiting on Kangxi on the side, listening to these two people talking gibberish incessantly. He saw sometimes Hantiemo looked impressed, some other times he looked afraid, until finally he went down on his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, as if he was expressing a deep gratitude. And then Kangxi ordered an Imperial Bodyguard to take Hantiemo back to prison.

A little eunuch delivered a bowl of ginseng soup. Kangxi received it and drank it. He said to the little eunuch, “Pour another bowl for Wei Fu Zongguan [deputy chief].” Wei Xiaobao kowtowed to express his gratitude for the kindness shown, and drank the soup.

They heard the sound of footsteps outside the Study Room. A little eunuch appeared and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty: Nan Huairen[3] and Tang Ruowang[4] are here to serve Your Majesty.” Kangxi nodded. The little eunuch called out the notification. Two big and tall foreigners came in, kneeled down and kowtowed before Kangxi.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly surprised; he mused, “How come we have foreign devils in the Palace? This is really strange.”

After doing their obeisance, the two foreigners both took a scroll from their bosom, and placed the scrolls on Kangxi’s desk. The younger one, the foreigner by the name of Nan Huairen said, “Your Majesty, we are going to discuss about the shooting of the cannon today.”

Wei Xiaobao could hear Beijing dialect in his speech, sharp, clear and fluent; he could not help but exclaiming in surprise. In great amazement he thought, “Strange, strange, very strange; the devils cannot release foreign fart.”

Kangxi laughed at Wei Xiaobao, and then he turned his attention to the scroll on his desk. Nan Huairen stood by Kangxi’s side; with finger on the scroll he made some explanations. Whenever Kangxi saw something he did not understand, he immediately asked.

Nan Huairen talked for about an hour. The other foreigner, the old and white-bearded Tang Ruowang, continued by speaking about astronomy and calendar system; he also talked for about an hour. And then the two of them kowtowed and withdrew.

Kangxi laughed and said, “The foreigners speak our Chinese language, you were surprised, weren’t you?”

“At first your servant felt it was very strange,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “But after thinking about it, I am not surprised anymore. The Sacred Son of Heaven is blessed by a hundred gods. The Luocha Country conspires against you, the Heaven then sent two foreign devils who can speak Chinese language to assist the Sacred Dynasty in manufacturing firearms to sweep away the Luocha.”

Kangxi said, “Your mind is quick. However, the foreign devils can speak Chinese is not due to divine providence. That old man arrived in China during the Ming’s Tianqi Emperor[5]; he is a German. The younger one is from Belgium, he came during Shunzhi’s reign. They are Jesuits clergymen, and came to China to do missionary work. To preach, they need to learn how to speak Chinese.”

“So that’s how it is,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Your servant has always been worried that Luocha Country’s firearms too formidable. After listening to those foreigner talking clearly and logically about those cannon or short gun today, I am relieved.”

Kangxi paced back and forth slowly in the Study Room. “Luocha people are humans,” he said, “We are also humans. If they can build firearms, we can do the same thing. It’s just that all along we did not understand how. When we fought the Ming Dynasty at Liaodong Peninsula in the past, the Ming troops had cannon, we suffered quite a bit of defeat. Taizu Huangdi [posthumous title for the founder of a dynasty] was injured by gunfire, he rode the dragon and returned to Heaven. However, didn’t we still manage to take the Ming Dynasty’s land under the heavens? It can be seen clearly that firearm is important for the people to use, but if the people using it fail to live up to expectations, even a more formidable firearm will be worthless.”

“Turns out Ming Dynasty had cannon,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I wonder where are those cannons now? We can take them and blast ws that old fellow, blast him one Buddha get reborn, two Buddhas ascend to heaven!” [not sure about this]

Kangxi smiled and said, “Ming Dynasty’s cannons were only a few, they were purchased from Aomen’s [Macao] red-haired people. Only buying the devils’ firearm is useless. If we fight a battle against the devils, they will refuse to sell it to us, won’t that be terrible? We must build it ourselves, then we won’t be afraid other people would make us desperate.”

“Very true, very true,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Your Majesty is still concerned that those Jesuits clergymen would build western cowrie shells to swindle you, thus you personally want to know how to do it. From now on, let those devils give an exaggerated account of things, trying to confuse you [orig. seven meat eight elements], you won’t be deceived.”

“You understand my intention,” Kangxi said, “The technique to build firearm is very complicated and very difficult. Just to refine the highest quality fine iron is greatly not easy.”

“Your Majesty, let me go get all blacksmith inside and outside of Beijing,” Wei Xiaobao volunteered, “We call them together, everybody pump the bellows, push and pull, push and pull, refine several million catties of those fine iron.”

Kangxi laughed and said, “When you were in Yunnan, we have already refined several tens of thousands catties of fine iron. Tang Ruowang and Nan Huairen are in the process of supervising the building of cannons. When the time comes, you will come with me to take a look.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted. “That is very good,” he said. Suddenly he remembered something and said, “Your Majesty, foreign devils are malicious and two-faced, we must guard against either one of those. The place we build cannon will have gunpowder and lots of ironware. Your Majesty must not go personally, let your servant supervise it for you.”

“No need to be worried,” Kangxi said, “This matter concerns the country’s destiny. I won’t feel reassured if I do not see it with my own eyes. Nan Huairen is loyal and upright. Tang Ruowang’s old life was rescued by me, he is very grateful to me. These two men can’t possibly have different feelings toward me.”

“Unexpectedly Your Majesty has saved the foreign old devil’s old life,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That is indeed strange.”

Kangxi smiled and said, “Kangxi’s third year, Tang Ruowang said that the imperial observatory’s calculation of the solar eclipse contains errors; he and the imperial observatory’s Chinese officials had a sharp debate. Imperial observatory Chinese official Yang Guangxian[6] argued, but failed to find any flaw in Tang Ruowang’s argument; hence he submitted a memorial to the throne, saying that Tang Ruowang formulated the document ‘Great Qing Constitution Period Calendar’, in which he calculated a total of two hundred years. But our Great Qing has obtained the Heaven’s provision, the divine blessing has no bound, our rivers and mountains will last tens of thousands of years. Tang Ruowang’s calendar stops at only two hundred years. Isn’t that the same as putting a curse on our Great Qing that it will only last for two hundred years?”

Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue. “Formidable, formidable! This foreign old devil can calculate astronomy and geography, but he cannot calculate the trick of the government official.”

“Isn’t that so?” Kangxi said, “At that time Oboi was in power. That fellow randomly accused Tang Ruowang of cursing the imperial court, hence he deserved to be executed by lingering death. The decree was sent to me to review, immediately I was able to see a flaw in it.”

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[3] My dictionary did not give me any names, but Yahoo! Babelfish returned ‘Ferdinand Verbiest’. Wikipedia has an article on him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Verbiest

[4] Johann Adam Schall von Bell, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Ruowang

[5] Regnal name of the 15th Ming Emperor, Zhu Youxiao (1605-1627), reigned 1620-1627. Zhu Youxiao (or Youjiao?) also appeared in Liang Yusheng’s White Haired Demoness.

[6] Yang Guangxian, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guangxian (Courtesy of Smurf120)

[tweety365]

I really enjoy this update. It shows how astute Kangxi is in all matters. I have always wondered why WXB never guarded against Kangxi. If he can send spies to WSG, he can do so with his other enemies as well. WXB should know that Kangxi is a king first and a friend second.

Thank you, foxs.

[smurf120]

Kangxi is very sharp! The Jesuit priest histories are quite interesting and this guy really provides some real life villain drama:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guangxian

[crazee]

I really enjoy this update. It shows how astute Kangxi is in all matters. I have always wondered why WXB never guarded against Kangxi. If he can send spies to WSG, he can do so with his other enemies as well. WXB should know that Kangxi is a king first and a friend second.

Thank you, foxs.

Wow...tweet...you echo my thoughts.
I was wondering that with the spies being able to find such intimate detail about WSG, XB should have an inlling as to who is the spy.
Another thing is that with the spies, how is it that the romantic adventure is not laid bare to Kangxi ??

Imagine at a young age, Kangxi have already learnt to value loyal ministers.....

Thanks Foxs....

[foxs]

Tweety, Crazee, I have been wondering the same thing. We have talked about this in the past: WXB, as well as Tian Di Hui and those other organizations were underestimating Kangxi too much. But then again, it is Jin Yong, not Tom Clancy or Ian Fleming ... Smurf, thanks for the (cough, cough) subtle correction. I'll fix it.

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“Kangxi’s third year, that means you were only ten,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Yet you were already able to see the deceit in it. Indeed the Sacred Son of Heaven is intelligent and wise, a rarity from time immemorial.”

Kangxi laughed. “You should pat the horse hindquarters less,” he said, “Actually, this case was quite shallow. I asked Oboi, when did Tang Ruowang finish the ‘Great Qing Constitution Period Calendar’? He said he did not know. Upon further investigation, he returned with a report that it was finished during Shunzhi’s tenth year. At that time the Late Emperor bestowed a commendation by conferring him the title of ‘Tong Xuan Jiao Shi’ [lit. master/teacher who understands mystery]. I said, ‘That’s right, because when I was six, seven years old, I have already seen this ‘Great Qing Constitution Period Calendar’ book in the Study Room. This document was finished ten years ago, why didn’t anybody say that he was wrong back then? At this time someone is striving with him, isn’t that simply settling an old debt? This is not fair. Oboi thought I was right, hence he did not have him killed, but have him locked up in prison. Afterwards I have forgotten about this matter. Only recently Nan Huairen brought it up to my attention, and then I issued a decree to have him freed.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Let your servant put some thoughts in him to create the ‘Great Qing Ten Thousand Year Calendar’.”

Kangxi chuckled for a moment, and then his expression turned serious as he said, “I have read the previous dynasty’s history book; those who cherish common people were sure to reign for a long time, otherwise, what good would it bring to simply say auspicious speech? Since the ancient times, everybody always call the Emperor as Lord of Ten Thousand Years, while in reality, let’s not say ten thousand years, not one of the emperors had ever reached a hundred years. What ‘ten thousand years of boundless longevity’? It’s all nonsense to deceive people. Fu Huang earnestly urged me to obey his particular instruction of ‘never raise taxes’. As long as I observe these four characters [yong bu jia fu], our rivers and mountains will be as strong as iron. All those foreigners’ cannon, Wu Sangui’s troops and horses, are nothing to worry about.”

Wei Xiaobao did not understand all these governing-the-country principles; he only repeatedly nodded and made some noise to voice his agreement. From his pocket he took out the copy of ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’ he stole from Wu Sangui’s desk, and presented it with both hands to Kangxi, saying, “Your Majesty, this sutra was indeed embezzled by that old fellow Wu Sangui. Your servant saw it in his study room, hence I led away a goat in passing, and return it to its rightful owner.”

Kangxi was greatly delighted. “Very good, very good,” he said, “The Empress Dowager is always concerned over this matter. I’ll go and present it to her, the Senior, and then take it to the imperial ancestral temple and cremate it there. No matter what secret is hidden inside, henceforth nobody will find out.”

Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, “It is best that you are burning it! This is called ‘destroy the corpse and leave no trace’. Nobody will ever find out that I stole the pieces of thin leather inside the sutra.”

He returned to his viscount mansion. When the night fell, he bolted the door, took out the bundle of skin pieces, and summoned Shuang’er. “I have a ‘rubbing the water’ job I’d like you to do for me,” he told her. And then ordered her to assemble and restore the several thousand pieces of thin leather into its original state.

Bending over the table, Shuang’er slowly looked at the cutting mark, and paired the pieces one by one to see if there was a match. But these several thousand pieces of skin were jumbled together at random; restoring the pieces into the original condition was indeed easier said than done.

At first Wei Xiaobao was still sitting by the table, offering some advice, taking a piece from the east, a piece from the west, trying to find a match. But after doing it for half a day, he could not find even a pair of matching pieces; his interest waned, he went to sleep without saying anything.

When he woke up the next morning, he noticed that there was candlelight in the outside room. With a piece of skin in her hand, Shuang’er was staring at the table as if she was in daze. Wei Xiaobao tiptoed behind her back, and then ‘Ha!’ he yelled. Shuang’er jumped in fright. She laughed and said, “You are awake?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “These pieces of skin are very troublesome, I don’t need it right away, why didn’t you sleep the whole night? Quickly go to bed!”

“Alright,” Shuang’er said, “I will tidy up first.”

Wei Xiaobao saw a large sheet of white paper on the table, on which about eleven or twelve pieces of skin were pinned down with embroidery needles; the pieces were joined together in a good fit, he was delighted. “You have fitted quite a few pieces,” he said.

“The beginning was the most difficult,” Shuang’er said, “Right now I already understood some logic behind it, later on I should be able to assemble the pieces a bit faster.” She put the pieces back into the bundle and carefully wrapped it with oilcloth, along with the large sheet of white paper, and locked everything inside a gold-painted chest.

Wei Xiaobao said, “These pieces of skin are very useful, we must not let anybody steal it.”

Shuang’er said, “I will stay to guard here, I won’t leave even for half a step. I am only afraid if I fell asleep, something bad might happen.”

“No worries,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I will get a small group of Valiant Cavalry Brigade sergeants to guard outside the room, and guard you as well.”

Shuang’er smiled and said, “I feel much better.”

Wei Xiaobao saw her pair of beautiful eyes was bloodshot, obviously she worked really hard the previous night; he felt tenderness toward her. “Quickly go to sleep, I’ll carry you to the bed.”

Shuang’er’s face blushed of shyness, she repeatedly waved her hand and said, “No, no, not good.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “What do you mean good or not good? You helped me, you worked hard the entire night, I carry you to the bed, what’s the big deal?” While saying that, he reached out to carry her. Shuang’er squealed and slipped out of his arms.

Wei Xiaobao tried to grab her several times, but each time he only caught empty air. He knew that his qinggong was far below hers, in his heart he was quite dismayed. Taking a deep sigh, he sat down on a chair. Shuang’er chuckled and came near him, saying, “Let me serve you have a wash and eat light breakfast, and then I’ll go sleep.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head without saying anything. Seeing him in low spirits, Shuang’er was worried. “Xianggong,” she said in a low voice, “Are you … are you angry?”

“I am not angry,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “My qinggong is too lacking. Shifu taught me a lot of good techniques, I always cannot learn it. Even a little girl like you I cannot catch, what a useless fart am I?”

Shuang’er smiled and said, “You wanted to carry me, naturally I ran away desperately.”

Wei Xiaobao suddenly sprang up and called out, “I must catch you.” With arms spreading wide, he threw himself toward Shuang’er. Shuang’er giggled and leaned sideways to evade. Wei Xiaobao pretended he was pouncing to the left, but as soon as she fled to the right, he reached out to grab the corner of her garment. “Ah!” Shuang’er cried out. Afraid that he might tear the garment, Shuang’er did not dare to pull too hard. Wei Xiaobao reached out with both arms and grabbed her waist. Shuang’er only giggled. Wei Xiaobao’s right hand went down behind her knees, and carried her horizontally across his chest, and put her on his own bed.

Shuang’er blushed deep red. “Xianggong,” she cried, “You … you …”

Wei Xiaobao laughed. “I what?” he said. Pulling the quilt, he covered her body. And then he bent over and planted a gentle kiss on her face. “Quickly close your eyes,” he said with a laugh, “Go to sleep.” And he turned around, walked out the room, and closed the door behind him. “This girl was afraid that I was angry, she deliberately let me catch her,” he mused. When he got to the hall, he ordered his personal guard to summon a squad of Valiant Cavalry Brigade sergeants to guard outside his room.

For the next several days he distributed the money and gifts he received from Yunnan to the imperial concubines, princes and dukes, court ministers, imperial bodyguards and palace eunuchs; scheming in his heart, “If I said it is a gift from Wu Sangui, that means these people would receive favor from that old fellow. I’d better let laozi be the good man.” Therefore, these several hundred thousand taels of gold and silver from Wu Sangui became the Imperial Envoy Minister, the Valiant Cavalry Brigade Commander Wei Xiaobao’s gifts. Naturally the recipients of his gifts poured high praise on him. Everybody in the Palace and the Imperial Court said that the Emperor was indeed an enlightened sage, he promoted this astute, capable and experienced young commander into a very fitting official position.

These days, Shuang’er worked hard every day assembling the pieces of sheepskin. Each time she found a matching piece, she would pin it to the sheet of paper with an embroidery needle. Wei Xiaobao watched her every night; he saw the finished section was growing bigger and bigger. As expected, he saw mountains and rivers terrain drawn on the map, there were also curvy characters written on the map. “These are foreign characters,” Shuang’er said, “I do not recognize even one of them.”

Wei Xiaobao had lived in the Palace for a long time, hence he knew that those were Manchurian characters; but since he did not know even Han characters, he could not care less of what were written on the map.

At the evening of the eighteenth day, Wei Xiaobao returned to his residence, and saw Shuang’er with happy expression all across her face. He reached out to stroke her chin, and asked, “What is it that makes you this happy?”

Smiling, Shuang’er said, “Xianggong, go ahead and guess.

Before he went to sleep the previous night, Wei Xiaobao saw there were still two, three hundred pieces not assembled yet. In this kind of assembling effort, one piece assembled means one piece less remaining, and the task became one part easier. The first one or two days were the most difficult, in one sichen [2 hours] she may not necessarily be able to find two matching pieces; afterwards, however, she was able to make a rapid progress.

He guessed that Shuang’er had been able to assemble the entire map, and thus her delight overflowed to the tip of her brows. Wei Xiaobao laughed. “Let me guess,” he said, “Hey, you must have wrapped some Huzhou zongzi for me.” [See chapter 17, first time Wei Xiaobao met Shuang’er.]

Shuang’er shook her head, “Not that,” she said.

Wei Xiaobao said, “You found and picked up a treasure from the floor?”

“No,” Shuang’er said.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your Yi Xiong [foster/sworn older brother] sent some good things for you from Guangdong?”

“No,” Shuang’er replied, “He is so far away, how can he send something for me?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “The Zhuang Family’s Third Mistress sent a letter to you?”

Shuang’er shook her head, her eyebrows slightly knitted. “She did not,” she said softly, “I wonder how the Zhuang Family’s Third Mistress and the others are doing? I often think about them.”

“I got it!” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed, “Today is your birthday.”

Shuang’er smiled and said, “It’s not. My birthday is not today.”

“When is it?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Shuang’er said, “It’s ninth month ten[7] …” Suddenly she blushed and said, “I forget.”

“You lie,” Wei Xiaobao said, “How can you forget your own birthday? Right, right, it must be the old monk, your friend when you live by Shaolin Temple, came to visit you.”

“Pfft!” Shuang’er stifled her laugh. “Xianggong is funny,” she said, “How can I have a Shaolin Temple old monk as a friend? It is you who have some.”

Wei Xiaobao scratched his head and muttered, “It’s neither this nor that; this is a difficult riddle. I was actually going to guess that you have finished piecing the map together, but last night I saw there were still two, three hundred pieces not joined together yet, at the quickest you will need five, six more days.”

Shuang’er’s pairs of eyes were gleaming with delight as she smiled and said, “What if I finished it today for real?”

“You are deceiving me,” Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “I don’t believe you.”

“Xianggong,” Shuang’er said, “Come and see, what is this?”

Wei Xiaobao followed her to the table and saw the large white sheet was full of several thousand embroidery needles, the several thousand pieces of skins had been assembled together into a complete, whole large map. What was amazing was that several thousand pieces of skin fit together; there was not a single extra piece, and there was not a single hole either.

Wei Xiaobao cried out in delight, turned around and gave Shuang’er a hug. “It is a great success, you deserve a kiss,” he called out, while planted a kiss on her mouth.

Shuang’er was shy, her face blushed as she turned her head sideways, so that Wei Xiaobao’s kiss landed on her earlobe. Shuang’er felt her body had turned into a jelly. “No, I don’t want it!” she cried out in fear.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and let her go. He pulled her hand and had her stood next to him as they looked at the map together, while he clucked his tongue incessantly and praised her, saying, “Shuang’er, if you did not help me with this task, if I had to do it myself, I am not sure if I would not be able to piece everything together in three years and six months.”

Shuang’er said, “How many important matters you have to manage? How can you find the time to do this kind of stupid effort?”

“Aiyo,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Did you call this a stupid effort? This is the most brilliant effort in the world.”

Hearing his praise, Shuang’er was very happy.

Wei Xiaobao pointed to the map and said, “This must be a mountain, and this is the river.” He pointed at a bend of a big river, where eight small circles with different colors gathered together, and said, “The entire map is drawn in writing brush, but these eight small circles are red, white, yellow, blue, and there’s yellow circle with red border. Ah, I know, these are Manchu people’s eight banners. The location of these eight small circles must be very special. I wonder what mountain this is, and what river this is.”

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[7] In Chinese, ten to nineteen start with the character ‘ten’, shi, shi yi, shi er (ten, eleven, twelve), and so on. Hence Shuang’er birthday could be anywhere between ten and nineteen.

[Anh Nam]

Thanks Foxs

[crazee]

Wow.... what a terrible monster XB is. Even in distributing rewards he plans to his advantage.
Thanks Foxs,

The more I read about Shuang Er the more I love her.
It's good that XB really cares for her too and fully trust her.

I suppose of all the wifes she must be the most loyal and helpful one.

This update gives us a very important insight of KangXi's real talent even at a very young age.
No wonder rebels find it hard to suceed....

Now that the empress is the real one, how come Kangxi is still unaware of the real value or secrets of the sutras ???

[ycb5959]

Foxs - thanks for the fast update!

I hunted down the 2000 series (Dicky Cheung) - while it is entertaining, it is definitely not in line with the book. I prefer WXB's wit rather than seeing him 'kung Fu'ing his way to victory as in the series. Now hunting for the Tony Leung (199X version)

Not sure if it is a spoiler - At the end of the series, something happened to the Princess wife (Jianning). Is this the same in the book?

===edit====

"Catch no ball" with this phrase in chapter 34 part 6 (2nd paragraph):

Kangxi laughed. “You should pat the horse hindquarters less"

Anyone care to elaborate?

[teteq]

it would mean that he should stop or do less bootlicking

[ycb5959]

it would mean that he should stop or do less bootlicking

Thanks. I had a suspicion Kangxi meant that but first time I am hearing this...

[smurf120]

I hunted down the 2000 series (Dicky Cheung) - while it is entertaining, it is definitely not in line with the book. I prefer WXB's wit rather than seeing him 'kung Fu'ing his way to victory as in the series. Now hunting for the Tony Leung (199X version)

Not sure if it is a spoiler - At the end of the series, something happened to the Princess wife (Jianning). Is this the same in the book?

The Duke of Mount Deer - 1984 Tony Leung/Andy Lau version is far superior (if you understand Cantonese?); otherwise try to watch 2008 DOMD with Huang Xiao Ming.
http://www.spcnet.tv/TVB-Series/The-...iew-r1480.html

Let's just say that 2000 Dicky's version is completely bastardized.

click to show/hide spoilers

No she does not die. It was merely Wong Jing's attempt at overwrought drama.

----------------------------

Foxs - LOL! Seriously, I don't even know what I corrected (these Chinese names are far too complicated for me) - I just thought that fella's wiki page makes him seem quite evil.

Great translation as always - I really like this tender scene between WXB and Shang'er.

[athlonkmf]

The Duke of Mount Deer - 1984 Tony Leung/Andy Lau version is far superior (if you understand Cantonese?); otherwise try to watch 2008 DOMD with Huang Xiao Ming.
http://www.spcnet.tv/TVB-Series/The-...iew-r1480.html

Let's just say that 2000 Dicky's version is completely bastardized.

Huang Xiao Ming ruins the series IMO. He's no WXB material with his overacting.

The Tony Leung/Andy Lau version is the best indeed (even though the female casting is a bit bleh) and it surprisingly stick to the story a LOT.
But you NEED to see the uncut version. The official VCD release has pretty much killed the experience as it has cut out a lot of scenes. Luckily for internet, I've been able to download the uncut (OK, it's split into episodes of 22 minutes, but the material is uncut), rebroadcast version at a much higher quality than VCD.

[ycb5959]

The Duke of Mount Deer - 1984 Tony Leung/Andy Lau version is far superior (if you understand Cantonese?); otherwise try to watch 2008 DOMD with Huang Xiao Ming.
http://www.spcnet.tv/TVB-Series/The-...iew-r1480.html

Let's just say that 2000 Dicky's version is completely bastardized.

click to show/hide spoilers

No she does not die. It was merely Wong Jing's attempt at overwrought drama.

Thanks. Will get the 1984 version. Always like tony leung/andy lau's acting...
All 7 wives must be grannies in real life by now -lol!

[crydee]

Thanks Foxs!..Shuang’er around is much more better then Ah Ke!

[smurf120]

Thanks. Will get the 1984 version. Always like tony leung/andy lau's acting...
All 7 wives must be grannies in real life by now -lol!

LOL not quite grannies, but certainly some of the best actresses in Hong Kong in the present day. I absolutely adore Sandra Ng (Golden Chicken I and II is a must watch) and Teresa Mo (Men Suddenly in Black, etc.).

[crazee]

LOL not quite grannies, but certainly some of the best actresses in Hong Kong in the present day. I absolutely adore Sandra Ng (Golden Chicken I and II is a must watch) and Teresa Mo (Men Suddenly in Black, etc.).

In those days movie techniques were not so advanced and there were no computer special effects. A lot of emphasis were on actor / Actresses talents. Yes, the JY serials in the sixties and seventies have a cast of good actor/actresses - mostly the top names in Hong Kong.

I love the Tony / Andy version. Tony's acting as XB is good with his witty and naughty dialogs.
I recalled chasing for the tape from rental shops. We will get the tapes 1 episode at a time 1 day after the serial was shown in HK. We will have to be fast or else it'll be taken by someone else.

I had watched a number of serials and the only set that I do not own ( DOMD ) or watch fully is yes... the Dicky Leung version... Used to like Dicky when he acted as the Sun Wu Kung ( journey to the west ) but after he screwed up acting as XB, I never watch his movies anymore.

The china series are not bad....all XB's wifes are superb...but somehow Mandarin is too cultured compared to cantonese for DOMD....those who compare the language used will know what I mean.

Sorry friends, just an old man remembering the good old days....

[ycb5959]

I love the Tony / Andy version. Tony's acting as XB is good with his witty and naughty dialogs.
I recalled chasing for the tape from rental shops. We will get the tapes 1 episode at a time 1 day after the serial was shown in HK. We will have to be fast or else it'll be taken by someone else.

LOL - By the time we got these tapes, it was blurry but watchable. Long queue for some popular ones.
IIRC I only caught the last episode of Tony/Andy's version - think the closing scene was Tony's wives caught him trying to 'tackle' another woman. My sister rented it but I was away outstation.

... the Dicky Leung version... Used to like Dicky when he acted as the Sun Wu Kung ( journey to the west ) but after he screwed up acting as XB, I never watch his movies anymore.

Dicky's version - his acting and mannerisms in XB is the same as when he was playing monkey king. It was cute the first time (monkey king) but quickly gets really old in XB.

[Drak17]

Oh man, I finally found a translation for Duke of Mount Deer. I am so very glad that it is still going on translating. Thank you foxs muchoo! I saw the John Mindford's version, and as a fan who watches many wuxia series and Zhang Jizhong adaptation of JY works, it was somewhat uncomfortable and weird reading "Trinket" instead of Wei XiaoBao.

I've never read wuxia novels before, but only watches them. Suddenly I'm all interested in reading them now lol. Very glad I can find translations novel for this. Thanks again!

[ycb5959]

I saw the John Mindford's version, and as a fan who watches many wuxia series and Zhang Jizhong adaptation of JY works, it was somewhat uncomfortable and weird reading "Trinket" instead of Wei XiaoBao.

Ah - fellow newbie like me!

I browse Mindford's version in a local store a number of years ago. I could not relate at all and found it boring. At the time, Jordan Chan's version (1998) was the last version in my mind (caught some episodes few months/years earlier)

[Drak17]

Ah - fellow newbie like me!

I browse Mindford's version in a local store a number of years ago. I could not relate at all and found it boring. At the time, Jordan Chan's version (1998) was the last version in my mind (caught some episodes few months/years earlier)

Yes! lol. I love wuxia very much~ Never got the chance to read wuxia novels, hence I wanted to try one and found this great translation from foxs. Very glad he spend his time on fans like us ;D.