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Thread: The Deer and The Cauldron

  1. #1041
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for another quick update foxs. How are things going for you? I hope everything is well with you and your family.

    It seems like Jiaozhu and his Madame have a pretty loving and playful relationship. He seems to adore her to no end.

  2. #1042
    Senior Member tweety365's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SkyWalker View Post
    He seems to adore her to no end.
    For an 80 year old man to have a gorgeous young woman that could be his great grand daughter, obviously he has to adore her. Well, at least she doesn't have to sleep with him. Or does she? Not sure if the tv series got that info right.

  3. #1043
    Senior Member crazee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tweety365 View Post
    For an 80 year old man to have a gorgeous young woman that could be his great grand daughter, obviously he has to adore her. Well, at least she doesn't have to sleep with him. Or does she? Not sure if the tv series got that info right.
    Yep... just wondering other than for pride why would an old man want a great grand daughter for s wife ? won't it be better to have a great grand daughter and great grand son in law to keep him company ?
    Anyway, I guess I'll never be able to be in their shoes....

    Thanks Foxs, as usual it's a much appreciated update.

    Now it looks like our hero XB will be entering the next stage of his adventure.
    errr, I miss his wifes leh....heh heh heh
    cheerio..

  4. #1044
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
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    Default Chapter 20 - Part 9

    FIRST!! .... wait, I forgot I am not eligible ... (first of what?)

    Hoju! You don't know how many times I wanted to quit. But ... um, echoing Tweety, when are you going to continue? Sky, still no change. Crazee, Tweety, from their banter during the naming of the Heroes' Three Moves, I think they slept together.

    Anyway, here is the end of Chapter 20.


    -----------------------------------------------------------
    Fat Toutuo said, "You are wielding the Five-Dragon Command, I am your subordinate, even if you beat me or curse me, I cannot revolt; much less you did not intentionally want to hurt me. My Shixiong and I have substantially different temperament, character, appearance and voice, just by swapping the name 'Thin' and 'Fat' will not change Fat Zunzhe into Thin Zunzhe, and change Thin Zunzhe into Fat Zunzhe."

    Wei Xiaobao nodded his head and said, "So that's what happened."

    Fat Toutuo continued, "Five years ago, Jiaozhu sent Shige and I on a mission. That mission was very 'thorny'; by the time we finished it, we were already three days overdue. Immediately we embarked the boat and returned to the Island. On the boat the medicine suddenly flared up, the suffering was very difficult to bear. Shige's temperament was very violent, his anger flared and in his madness, he kicked and broke the mast of the boat. The ship then drifted on the sea. Day by day passed, I grew taller and taller, and thinner and thinner; he grew shorter and shorter, and fatter and fatter. This ‘leopard embryo tendon altering pill’ can stretch a short and fat person tall and slim, and press a tall and thin person short and fat; Hong Jiaozhu indeed has an extremely vast magical power. We were drifting like that for more than two months, at that time it was hard to say if the two of us would survive. We have finished eating the provision on the boat, we have killed the helmsman and the sailors one by one and ate them. By a struck of sheer luck we came across another boat, and were saved. We forced that boat to take us to the Divine Dragon Island immediately. Jiaozhu knew we finished the mission properly and did not tarry deliberately; thereupon he bestowed us with the antidote. It could be said that our two lives have just been snatched back."

    The more Wei Xiaobao heard, the more he was alarmed; turning his head toward Lu Gaoxuan, he saw his expression was serious, so he knew Fat Toutuo was not lying. He said, "In that case, we have to obtain those eight copies of 'Forty-two-chapter Sutra' and return to the Divine Dragon Island within one year?"

    Lu Gaoxuan said, "If we can obtain all eight copies of the Sutra, nothing can't be better; but isn't it easier said than done? As long as we manage to get one or two copies and hurry back, naturally Jiaozhu will bestow the antidote."

    Wei Xiaobao mused, "I have six copies in my hand, when I really have to alternative, what’s so difficult to part with one or two copies to give to Jiaozhu?” Immediately he felt relieved and said with a laugh, “If Jiaozhu does not give us the antidote this time, maybe we, the young will become old, the old will become young. I will turn into a seventy, eighty years old man, the two of you will turn into little babies; won’t that be very interesting?”

    Lu Gaoxuan’s body trembled; he said, “That … that’s absolutely must not happen.” His voice was filled with terror. He continued, “I have single-mindedly pondered over this, most probably the ‘leopard embryo tendon altering pill’ was made of leopard fetus, deer fetus, the placenta, seal kidney, and other important supplement and rare drug ingredients to induce growth, mixed and refined together. The drug property is obviously to reverse the original body’s characteristic. I am guessing that when Jiaozhu manufactured this drug, his intention was to recover human’s youthful vigor, but when he tested it on someone else, the effect did not exactly follow his heart’s desires; therefore … therefore …”

    Wei Xiaobao picked up, “Therefore, Jiaozhu did not personally take the drug, but use it on his subordinates.”

    Lu Gaoxuan hastily said, “This is only my wild guess, it must not be considered as the truth. I am asking White Dragon Envoy never to raise this topic again.”

    “The two of you may set your hearts at ease,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I guarantee that Jiaozhu will definitely give us the antidote. Please sit down, I have something to say to Miss Fang.” He saw Mu Jianping the other day, hence he was eager to tell Fang Yi.

    Lu Gaoxuan said, “Madame Hong has already summoned Miss Fang, she says White Dragon Envoy not to worry, as long as you wholeheartedly handle this matter for Jiaozhu, Miss Fang will only have good things on the island.”

    Wei Xiaobao was startled, “Miss … Miss Fang is not coming with us?” he asked.

    “Madame Hong has already sent someone to fetch her,” Lu Gaoxuan said, “She left a message to my wife and that’s what she told her. Besides, that Mu Jianping, Miss Mu of the Scarlet Dragon Gate is in the same situation.”

    Wei Xiaobao groaned inwardly, just a moment ago he told Priest Wugen that he wanted to select several people from the Scarlet Dragon Gate to go with him, naturally he had Mu Jianping in his mind; who would have thought that Madame Hong had already anticipated this? With a trembling voice he asked, “Madame … Madame does not trust me?”

    “This is our Cult’s rule,” Lu Gaoxuan replied, “Those who receive orders from Jiaozhu to go out on mission cannot take his family.”

    With a forced laugh Wei Xiaobao said, “Those two Misses are not my family.”

    “More or less, they are,” Lu Gaoxuan said.

    Actually, Wei Xiaobao was thinking that the next day he would leave the Island with Fang and Mu, two women, and was so happy; but this instant he could not help but feeling dispirited. He mused, “Jiaozhu and Madame are indeed formidable, tying the ‘leopard embryo tendon altering pill’ on my head[4] is not enough, they still hold my first and young wives hostage.”

    Early morning the following day, Wei Xiaobao had just woke up when he heard the sound of bugle horn, a lot of people were calling out from outside the door, “The White Dragon Gate disciples respectfully send off Zhangmenshi on his journey, to handle matters for Jiaozhu wholeheartedly.” This shout was followed by the sound of drums, string instruments and bamboo flutes.

    Wei Xiaobao rushed out the door and saw about three, four hundred people were lining up outside the door. They all wore white clothes, young and old alike. Everybody shouted in chorus, “Zhangmenshi will win victory on raising the flag, will have instant success!”

    After that, several dozen Cult members wearing blue clothes also came to send off their acting Zhangmenshi, Fat Toutuo.

    Wei Xiaobao’s spirit rose, immediately he felt invigorated. Together with Fat Toutuo and Lu Gaoxuan, they board the ship. While he was exchanging salute with Priest Wugen, Zhang Danyue, Yin Jin, and the others who had earlier to bid them farewell, suddenly he heard the sound of hoof beats, two riders galloped toward the boat. The two riders were wearing white clothes, surprisingly, they were Fang Yi and Mu Jianping, two women. Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, his heart was thumping madly as he mused, “Could it be that Madame has changed her mind and let them go with me?”

    Fang and Mu, two women dismounted their horses and took several steps forward. In a loud and clear voice Fang Yi said, “We received Jiaozhu and Madame’s order to send White Dragon Zhangmenshi off on his journey.”

    Wei Xiaobao’s heart sank, “They are only sending me off,” he thought.

    Fang Yi bowed and said, “Subordinates Fang Yi and Mu Jianping received order from Madame to transfer from the Scarlet Dragon Gate to White Dragon Gate, we are ready to receive White Dragon Envoy’s order.”

    Wei Xiaobao was startled, but then he suddenly saw the light, “Turns out you … you have been Shen Long Jiao’s member under the Scarlet Dragon Gate. Along the way you were only pretending on Jiaozhu’s order to deceive me into coming to the Divine Dragon Island. Fat Revered Monk failed to invite me, you came to invite me using a gentle method.” Thinking about it, he was very upset; originally he wanted to say some intimate words with those two women, but now he lost interest completely. Suddenly he remembered something and said to Lu Gaoxuan, “Mr. Lu, that servant girl who attend to me, Shuang’er, send someone to get her, I want take her along in this journey.”

    “This …” Lu Gaoxuan said.

    Wei Xiaobao was angry, he shouted, “What ‘this’ or ‘that’? Get her, now!”

    He shouted in a stern voice, Lu Gaoxuan did not dare to disobey. “Yes, yes!” he replied, and turned and said something to the attendant onboard the boat. The attendant leaped on shore and dashed away. Not too long afterwards, he saw two riders rushed rapidly over. The one on the front had a petite and slender figure, she was none other than Shuang’er.

    Without pulling the reins, she called out, “Gongzi!” and leaped away from the saddle, lightly and deftly landed on the bow of the boat. In the eyes of Priest Wugen and the other martial art experts, there was nothing extraordinary with this kind of qing gong [lightness skill], but noticing that she was very young, yet her posture was very pleasing to the eye, they all cheered.

    At first, when Wei Xiaobao knew the boat was about to sail, he was afraid that Shuang’er had already fallen into some evil people’s hands, and thus he was very anxious; although her martial art skill was strong, she was a young child after all. Not only that, she was gentle and refined by nature, and did not understand the way of the world. On the sea-going ship, she had nowhere to go, and would definitely get the worst of it. Moreover, realizing that Fang Yi was actually a Divine Dragon Cult’s disciple, he suddenly also realized that the boat with which they came to the island naturally belonged to the Cult. Now that he saw Shuang’er, he was very happy. He pulled her hands, but saw that her countenance looked wan and sallow, her eyes red and swollen, obviously she had been crying a lot. “Did they bully you?” he hastily asked.

    “No, they … they didn’t,” Shuang’er replied, “I was only worrying about Xianggong. They … they locked me up.”

    “Alright!” Wei Xiaobao said, “We are going home.”

    Shuang’er said, “In here … there are a lot of poisonous snakes,” while saying that, “Wah!” Shuang’er burst into tears again.

    Wei Xiaobao cast a glance toward Fang Yi; he remembered she led him walk into the forest and let him be bitten by the vipers. A good deal of artificial gestures, all kinds of sweet speech and honeyed words on the boat, everything was a hypocrisy; he could not help but was furious. Casting a hateful glance toward Fang Yi, he said, “Set sail!”

    Aboard, the sailors weighed the anchor; ashore, the firecrackers went off, the people sending off their masters chorused, “Respectfully wishing White Dragon Envoy to win victory on raising the flag, to have instant success and will set up great merit for Jiaozhu!”

    Taking advantage of the fair wind, the boat hoisted its sail and slowly left the Island. Everybody on the shore shouted, “With Jiaozhu’s treasured teaching always in our hearts …”

    Wei Xiaobao thought, “If I did not know Miss Fang had already entered the Cult, I would have missed her all the time. This way, I have nothing to worry about her.” Yet when he recalled Fang Yi’s touching tender sentiments, he could not stop his heart from feeling melancholy.

    He thought further, “How could those two enter Shen Long Jiao? It’s very strange. Ah, right, they were captured by Zhang Laosan and his men, Young Mistress Zhuang said she sent people to rescue them, apparently they failed, consequently they were forced to join Shen Long Jiao. Xiao Junzhu has taken Jiaozhu’s poison, it’s only natural that Miss Fang has also taken the poison. Um, if Miss Fang did not obey, she did not want to deceive me into coming to Divine Dragon Island, the poison in her will flare up and she die. Indeed she had no choice, so I can’t blame her. It’s just that this little mother’s skin [小娘皮 - see Chapter 10] was putting on an act and deceived her husband without spending any effort at all; she is not a good person! Damn it, in the end, what is Shen Long Jiao up to? Although Laozi has become the White Dragon Envoy, I am completely in the dark!”

    Thinking that it was all because of Zhang Laosan, he mused, “I wonder which gate does this old fellow belong to? When in the future Laozi is back on the Divine Dragon Island, I will have him transferred to the White Dragon Gate, then I will have this old fellow’s buttocks flogged three hundred times every day.” He also thought, “I wonder if Zhang Laosan is on the Island? Most likely he does not dare to report to Jiaozhu that I am Xiao Guizi; otherwise, when Jiaozhu heard that he had already caught such an important person but then let him go, Jiaozhu would have chopped his head. He is an old fellow, not a pretty boy [lit. ‘little white face’], which Jiaozhu and Madame are going to kill anyway. If they found out that he had violated such matter, wouldn’t he be killed like, seventeen, eighteen times already? That’s right, Fat Toutuo did not dare to expose my trickery, Zhang Laosan also did not dare to expose my fraud[5]. There is one thing I do not understand, Madame loves ‘little white face’, that’s not so strange, but why does Jiaozhu also love them?” [Translator’s note: the part about ‘‘little white face’ does not exist in the 3rd edition]

    -----------------------------------------------------------
    [4] The original word means ‘ring’. What came into my mind was Sun Wukong’s headband from Journey to the West. (From Wikipedia: Guanyin understood that the monkey would be hard to control, and therefore gave Xuanzang a gift from the Buddha: a magical headband which, once Sun Wukong was tricked into putting it on, could never be removed. With a special chant, the band would tighten and cause unbearable pain to the monkey's head. To be fair, she also gave Sun Wukong three special hairs, which could be used in dire emergencies. Under Xuanzang's supervision, Sun Wukong was allowed to journey to the West.) Please bear in mind that this is only my impression, not in Jin Yong’s original text.

    [5] There is a play of words here, the original says, ‘Fat Toutuo … trickery [西洋镜 - xi yang jing, literally means ‘western world mirror’], Zhang Laosan … fraud [东洋镜 – dong yang jing, lit. ‘eastern world mirror’]’.

  5. #1045
    Senior Member tweety365's Avatar
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    First again!

    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    [I]Crazee, Tweety, from their banter during the naming of the Heroes' Three Moves, I think they slept together.
    In that case, ewwwwww
    Thank you, foxs!
    Last edited by tweety365; 06-12-11 at 05:25 PM.

  6. #1046
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    Quote Originally Posted by tweety365 View Post
    First again!

    In that case, ewwwwww
    Thank you, foxs!
    Well Well , 2nd is not too bad eh ?
    Wow, 80 plus with a young young partner....I suppose with the high level of energy...
    Anyway, that's people's taste, I might find disgusting but then it's human ???
    cheerio..

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    Quote Originally Posted by crazee View Post
    Well Well , 2nd is not too bad eh ?
    Wow, 80 plus with a young young partner....I suppose with the high level of energy...
    Anyway, that's people's taste, I might find disgusting but then it's human ???
    Young women are attracted to powerful men, regardless of their age. I'm sure if the leader could make the Leopard Embryo Pill, he could also come up with his own medieval Viagra. LOL.

  8. #1048
    Senior Member Hoju!'s Avatar
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    Hi tweety! Hope you're doing well!

    You are doing amazing foxs, and you've got a loyal following to prove it.

    WLWS is still on the back burner at the moment. I am currently part of a small team of mainly spcnet members that is doing a non-wuxia translation project of the internet novel, Bu Bu Jing Xin in anticipation of the drama release this summer. I don't think I could handle a translation on my own at the moment since the not-so-little (she's turning 1 in 6 days!!) baby takes up so much time and energy. One day, I hope to go back to Wu Lin Wai Shi. Until then, I will follow along in your project, foxs. Thanks for all your hard work!
    Last edited by Hoju!; 06-13-11 at 12:42 PM.
    一杯酒,一個朋友!
    --离歌笑

  9. #1049
    Senior Member tweety365's Avatar
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    Wow Hoju, time sure flies by. She's 1 already? Hope she doesn't give you too much trouble. Oh, so you've been hiding in the BBJX thread . Well, we will all be patiently waiting for WLWS.

  10. #1050
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks foxs.

    Quote Originally Posted by tweety365 View Post
    In that case, ewwwwww
    They're married so it's not that bad, even though he's an old man. Maybe she really loves him.

  11. #1051
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    Default Chapter 21 - Part 1

    Chapter 21 – Golden scissors silently utter winding ground, treasured hairpin dreams of swallow clinging to a man.
    (Translated by Foxs)

    One day the boat reached Qinhuangdao [Hebei]; they came ashore and continued to Beijing. Wei Xiaobao said, “I must think of a way to sneak into the Imperial Palace, but I don’t know which day I will succeed. We all must find a place where we can take shelter.” Immediately Lu Gaoxuan rented a house at the Xuanwu Gate, Hair Alley, in a quiet neighborhood; they immediately moved in.

    After settling down, Wei Xiaobao went out alone to the Water Well Alley, to look at Tian Di Hui’s temporary lodging. He saw that the place had been turned into a tea-leaves shop. He tried to ask several questions according to the secret code of the Society, but the man was just staring at him not understanding what he was talking about; obviously the Society had moved out of that place.

    Next he strolled around the Heavenly Bridge area, thinking that even if the Eight-arm Ape Xu Tianchuan was also forced to join the Divine Dragon Cult and was no longer at Heavenly Bridge, he might come across the rest of the brethrens like Gao Yanchao, Fan Gang, Qian Laoben and the others. Who would have thought that after strolling back and forth around the Heavenly Bridge several times he unexpectedly did not see anybody he knew. Thereupon he went to Xizhimen [main northwest gate of Beijing], to the inn he stayed at the last time he came to Beijing. He took out three taels of silver and tossed it to the counter, saying that he wanted the best room.

    Seeing how liberal he was with money, the innkeeper greeted him very respectfully. Wei Xiaobao took out five more qian, and stuffed it into the inn servant's hands, insisting that he wanted the Heaven Wing, room number three on the second floor. By coincidence this room was unoccupied, so it can be considered that the servant had made an easy five qian.

    Wei Xiaobao drank a cup of tea, then he lay down and closed his eyes to rest. After making sure there was no noise everywhere, he pulled his dagger out and pried the hole on the wall. The copy of sutra Emperor Shunzhi gave him was still nicely tucked inside the hole. He unwrap the oilcloth to inspect the book. Finding nothing out of ordinary, he put the brick back on the wall. Fat Toutuo had become his subordinate; therefore, there was no need for him to summon the Imperial Bodyguards to escort the sutra. Putting the book into his bosom he walked toward the Forbidden City.

    When he reached the Palace, the Imperial Bodyguard on duty saw a young man in civilian clothes walking toward the Palace gate; he shouted, "Little fellow, what are you doing?"

    Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, "You don't recognize me? I am Gui Gonggong of the Palace."

    The Imperial Bodyguard looked at him carefully, and recognized him, it was indeed the Gui Gonggong, His Majesty's most favored eunuch. Quickly a big smile appeared on his face as he said, "Gui Gonggong, you are wearing this kind of clothes, hee ... hee ..."

    Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, "His Majesty sent me out on an important assignment, I was hurrying to go back and did not have time to change."

    "Yes, yes," the Imperial Bodyguard said, "Gui Gonggong's face is glowing with good fortune, naturally this assignment is completed without any trouble at all, His Majesty will definitely reward you handsomely."

    Wei Xiaobao returned to his own residence to change into his eunuch uniform. He wrapped the sutra using a piece of old cloth and then went directly to the Upper Study Room to see the Emperor. As soon as Kangxi heard that Xiao Guizi was seeking an audience, he said delightedly, "Come in quickly, come in quickly."

    Wei Xiaobao quickly entered in and saw Kangxi, filled with joy, was waiting at the inner study room's door. "Damn it," he said, "Xiao Guizi, roll in quickly, why have you gone so long this time?" He only said those three character 'damn it' [ta ma de] in front of Wei Xiaobao, he had suppressed his desire to say those words for very long.

    Wei Xiaobao kneeled down and kowtowed; he said, "Congratulations Your Majesty, it's an enormous happiness."

    As soon as he heard it, Kangxi knew his Fu Huang [father emperor] was indeed still alive; emotion surged in his heart, his body swayed several times, he reached out to hold the door frame as he said, "Come in and tell me slowly." His chest ached, tears nearly flowed down his face.

    Wei Xiaobao entered the inner study room, turned around to close the door and put on the door bolt. He looked around the bookshelves and after making sure there were no other eunuchs who usually serve the Emperor, he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I saw the Old Emperor on Mount Wutai."

    Kangxi grabbed his hand tight; he said in a trembling voice, "Fu Huang ... really became a monk on Mount Wutai? He ... what did he say?"

    Thereupon Wei Xiaobao narrated how he met the Old Emperor in the Qing Liang Temple, how the Tibetan Lama intended to harm the Emperor, how summoning up courage and determination he had rendered his assistance, staking out his life to escort the Emperor, how luckily the Eighteen Luohan of Shaolin had come to their rescue; he told him everything one by one. This matter was already very thrilling, as it was being narrated by Wei Xiaobao, the excitement grew thirty percent, his own loyalty and gallantry grew by fifty percent.

    He heard Kangxi was rubbing his cold-sweated hands and repeatedly saying, "How dangerous, how dangerous!" Kangxi also said, "We must send a thousand Imperial Bodyguards immediately to go up the mountain to protect the Emperor."

    Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, "Most probably the Old Emperor won't want that." Thereupon he repeated everything Shunzhi had told him.

    Kangxi heard how his father did not want him to go up Mount Wutai, and how he had praised him with these words, "He is a good emperor, thinking about the important matters of the imperial court first, not like me ..." He could not bear and broke in loud cry as he wailed, "Definitely I must go, definitely I must go!"

    Wei Xiaobao waited until he had cried for a while before he took out the sutra and presented it with both hands, saying, "The Old Emperor wanted me to tell you: 'In the matters of the world, he must let nature take its course, nothing can be forced. It would be best if he could benefit the common people of the Central Plains. But if the common people wanted us to leave, then from the place we came, there we should come back to.' The old emperor also wanted me to tell you: 'If he wants the whole world at peace, 'never raise taxes', these four words [yong bu jia fu] should be firmly planted in his mind. If he can accomplish these four words, it is good enough for me, my heart will be happy.'"

    Kangxi listened in daze, tears flowing down his face and dripped onto the cloth wrapper of the sutra; with trembling hands he received the bundle, opened up the wrapper, and saw a copy of 'Forty-two-chapter Sutra'. Turning the cover, he saw on the first page four large characters 'Never Raise Taxes' [yong bu jia fu]. The brush stroke was delicate yet supple, it was indeed his father's handwriting. With a sob he said, "Fu Huang's admonition, child will never dare to forget."

    He calmed himself down, and then asked in details whether Shunzhi was in good health, how was his appearance now, whether he was suffering greatly in the Qing Liang Temple. Wei Xiaobao reported everything according to the facts. Kangxi was overwhelmed with grieve again and broke out crying.

    Suddenly Wei Xiaobao had an idea, "Damn it," he mused, "I'd better accompany him crying for a while, then he would definitely give me more rewards; tears are free anyway." As soon as he had that thought, he started to sob, tears flowing copiously from his eyes. 'Boo hoo hoo ...' the more he cried, the more miserable he sounded.

    Although Kangxi's grief was hard to endure and he cried audibly, but he had a reputation to maintain and must not demean himself, thereupon he constantly tried to suppress his emotion. Wei Xiaobao, on the other hand, intentionally putting an act and wailed loudly. This particular skill was developed when he was still in Yangzhou, and he was quite an expert on this. Before his mother's feathered bamboo clappers even reached his bottom, he was already crying an earth-shattering cry; moreover, although he was not really crying, but real tears would cascade down his face. It would be very difficult for other people to tell whether he was really crying or not.

    Kangxi cried for a while, and then he wiped his tears and asked, "I miss my Fu Huang, hence I cried. But you are crying even sadder than I am; why is that?"

    Wei Xiaobao replied, "I saw how grieved you are, and I remember the Old Emperor's gentle affection; he commended me repeatedly, saying that without giving any thought of my own life I protected him. He likes me very much, and thus I feel even more grieved." While saying that, he did not stop whimpering. He continued, "If I did not know how much you were concerned over this matter and wanted to rush back to report to you, I really wanted to stay on Mount Wutai to attend to the Old Emperor, so that I won't be worried over bad people bullying him."

    "Xiao Guizi," Kangxi said, "You are very good, I will definitely reward you heavily."

    Wei Xiaobao's tears had not stopped flowing; sobbing and sniffling he said, "Your Majesty is already very good to me, I don't want any reward. I only hope that the Old Emperor is safe and sound, we, as the servants, will be very happy." On the Divine Dragon Island he had heard people shouting loudly, 'Jiaozhu will enjoy immortal good fortune forever, his long life will be the same as the heaven's', and thought nothing of how shameful they were; inevitably his face grew thicker and thicker, his boot-licking skill made a tremendous progress. The more the Cult people wanted to make their Cult Leader happy, the more exaggerated their talk become.

    Kangxi, however, accepted his speech as the truth. He said, "I am also deeply concerned that Fu Huang has nobody to attend to him. You said that that Monk Xing Dian is rude and impetuous, he is very clumsy; Fu Huang has no competent people by his side, it really makes me more anxious. Xiao Guizi, it's beyond my expectation that Fu Huang likes you ..."

    Hearing this, Wei Xiaobao's jaw dropped and he could not close it up; while groaning inwardly, "Aiyo! Aiyo! This time Laozi is in a very big trouble; Laozi is blowing my horn a bit too hard."

    He heard Kangxi continued, "... actually, I don't want to lose you either, but as a son, I have to have filial piety toward my father. Whatever I have in my hands, always give the best to my father. You are my most competent subordinate; although you are young, you are actually very competent, and very loyal and devoted to us, father and son ..."

    Wei Xiaobao cried out in his heart, "Obedient my @ss! Mother! You send laozi to Mount Wutai to accompany the old monk, it's the same as sending me to prison."

    Sure enough, he heard Kangxi continue, "Let's do it this way: you go to Mount Wutai, be a monk at the Qing Liang Temple and take care of my Fu Huang ..."

    Wei Xiaobao realized the urgency of the situation: not only he had to accompany the old monk, he himself must become a little monk; the situation was far from encouraging, nothing could be worse than that. Thereupon without waiting for Kangxi to finish, he hastily said, "Taking care of the Old Emperor is very good, but you want me to be a monk, this ... I don't want to!"

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    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    On the Divine Dragon Island he had heard people shouting loudly, 'Jiaozhu will enjoy immortal good fortune forever, his long life will be the same as the heaven's', and thought nothing of how shameful they were; inevitably his face grew thicker and thicker, his boot-licking skill made a tremendous progress.
    And so Wei Xiaobao continues to improve in his understanding of the 64 stances of the Divine Boot-licking Skill. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet mastered the subtleties of the skill, where some stances have to be applied with care and discretion. Power and speed isn't everything in the marvellously nuanced world of fartial arts (named after Fartius, the Roman god of wind).

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    Senior Member tweety365's Avatar
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    LOL, WXB's own fault for exaggerating and flaunting his accomplishments. But even without bragging, his accomplishment really is great. Yeah, WXB is definitely not monk material.

    Thanks, foxs!

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    Quote Originally Posted by tweety365 View Post
    LOL, WXB's own fault for exaggerating and flaunting his accomplishments.
    hehe....this time its back firing... he blowed his horn too loud

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    Quote Originally Posted by rati4u View Post
    hehe....this time its back firing... he blowed his horn too loud
    Won't be so quick to cry next time!!!

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    Thanks foxs.

    Monk WXB. Oh the horror!!!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    [B] "Let's do it this way: you go to Mount Wutai, be a monk at the Qing Liang Temple and take care of my Fu Huang ..."
    With 3 wifes and asking him to be a monk ?
    Maybe I should take care of his wifes in the meantime....

    WXB the monk....that'll be hilarious.

    Thanks Foxs
    cheerio..

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    Default funny stuff

    thank you foxs
    Ali Derhamy

  19. #1059
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
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    Default Chapter 21 - Part 2

    So sorry last time I only had time to post and had to leave immediately. Tweety, Crazee, KChill, Sky, I thought people with high level of internal energy can direct their bloodflow to down yonder ... no viagra needed. Besides, if they are really in love ...

    Hoju! Happy birthday to the Little Angel ... Looking forward to the completion of your work, though ...

    Pannonian, as always, your creativity amuses me. Why don't you try 'gulongize' some of Wei Xiaobao's antique? Rati4u, Ali, thanks for dropping by, I agree, WXB and being a monk should not be mentioned in one sentence.

    I think Athlon was right, only 2 parts going into Chapter 21, I have already seen some details that the other translator skipped. Not a lot, but some ... Here it is. Enjoy! And oh, Happy Father's Day to all of you who are fathers (definitely not you, Hoju! and Sky ... )


    -----------------------------------------------------------
    Smiling slightly, Kangxi said, "I did not mean for you to be a monk forever. It's just that Fu Huang has wholeheartedly decided to meditate; if you become a monk, it will be somewhat more convenient to serve him. In the future .... in the future, if you want to leave the monastic order, it will be up to you." The implication was clear: someday Shunzhi would grow old and die [the original world denotes 'the dying of Buddhist monk or nun'], if at that time you don't want to be monk anymore, nobody can stop you.

    It does not matter if Wei Xiaobao had a hundred excuses, right now he had his hands bound and was unable to do anything about it. Although he knew that the young emperor was very good to him, since the Emperor had issued an order, if Wei Xiaobao resolutely refused to go, not only his previous merit would go down the drain, the Emperor might become hostile to him and immediately had his head chopped off; now that would not be fun. Thereupon he sullenly said, "I ... I hate to part with you ... Wah ...!" he broke into crying. But this time it was not a fake cry, he was crying for real. Only it was not because he was loyal to his lord or he loved his master, but because he really did not want to be a little monk.

    Kangxi was greatly moved; he gently patted Wei Xiaobao's shoulder and warmly said, "How about this: you become a monk for several years, serve my Fu Huang well. Later I will send someone else to take your place so that you can return to my side; won't that be good? Fu Huang does not allow me to have audience with him, I simply cannot come to him. It does not have to be too long before you can come back and see me again. Xiao Guizi, be a good boy and listen to me, in the future I will make you a good government official."

    Seeing Wei Xiaobao did not stop crying, he said consolingly, "When you have time in the temple, you may study and learn to read, so that when you take an official post someday, you can be a high-ranking official."

    Wei Xiaobao mused, "Whether I be a government official in the future or not, it does not damn matter, but right now, I am afraid me being a little monk has already been decided." But then he had a second thought, "If I go to Mount Wutai, I can talk nonsense and making a ruckus so that the Old Emperor will let me go; I think it won't be difficult. I will say that without me serving the young emperor, he does not feel like eating, this time I left him for a month or two, he already lost several catties and grew thin. The Old Emperor cherishes his son, certainly he would send me back to the Palace."

    With this plan formed in his mind, he slowly stopped crying. He said, "Whatever mission you send me, I will go through water and tread on fire for you, under no circumstances I will decline. Let's not say being a monk, even if you ask me to be a turtle son of a b1tch, I will gladly do it. Your Majesty, set your heart at ease, I will definitely do my utmost to serve the Old Emperor, to make him, the Senior, strong and healthy, that he will reach a hundred years ... and ... and enjoy the immortal good fortune forever, his long-life will be the same as the heavens'."

    Kangxi was greatly delighted; he laughed and said, "You left Beijing for several months, unexpectedly your knowledge also progressed, your use of the idiom is not bad. Why did you tarry on Mount Wutai for so long? It was not easy to meet the Old Emperor, was it?"

    Wei Xiaobao thought that it would be best if he did not say anything about the Divine Dragon Island; "That's right," he replied, "No matter what, the Abbot of Qing Liang Temple, also that Old Yulin Fashi, did not want to admit that the Old Emperor was in the Temple, while I felt it was inappropriate to point it out bluntly; I had no choice but to rove around at another temple on the mountain while thinking of a plan. Today I went to Xian Tong Temple to perform sacrifice, tomorrow I go to Fo Guang Temple to feed the starving ghosts. From among several thousand big monks, little monks on Mount Wutai, I know at least a thousand of them. If not for those evil Lama coming to harass the Old Emperor, perhaps I would still be donating Buddhist robes and vegetarian meals even today."

    Kangxi laughed and said, "You must have spent a lot of money! To get reimbursement of your expense, go to the office of the internal affairs." He did not even ask the amount, thinking that Wei Xiaobao had already set up great merit, plus he was willing to be a little monk; he thought that even if Wei Xiaobao wanted to embezzle some money, he would simply let him.

    Unexpectedly Wei Xiaobao said, "To tell Your Majesty the truth, the last time you sent me to search and seize Oboi's home, your servant had already taken quite a bit of advantage. At that time I was embarrassed to report to you, so this time I went to Mount Wutai, after seeing the Old Emperor and receiving the Senior's lesson, I understand that I must not commit any dishonesty toward Your Majesty, thereupon I donated all the money I previously acquired to the temple. Just consider your servant is helping Your Majesty to amass secret virtue, hoping that Bodhisattva will bless and protect, so that the Old Emperor and Your Majesty will reunite sooner. That money originally belonged to Your Majesty, you do not need to reimburse me." He thought that if you, father and son, reunite sooner, the time I have to become a little monk would be reduced by several days; while at the same time he was covering his own back, just in case someday someone lodged an accusation against him by saying that during the search of Oboi's home he embezzled a huge sum of money, then he would say, "I have already donated the money on Mount Wutai on your behalf, what else do you want to investigate about?"

    When Kangxi heard this, he was even happier; he nodded his head repeatedly and asked, "Is Mount Wutai fun?" Immediately Wei Xiaobao described the scenery of Mount Wutai. Kangxi listened with keen interest; he said, "Xiao Guizi, you go first, I will come soon. We have to think of a way to get Fu Huang back to the Palace. If the Senior is determined not to return to normal life and regain the throne, he could meditate in the Palace; won't that be the same?"

    Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, "I am afraid that would be very difficult ..."

    Suddenly they heard the sound of boots outside the door, followed by a sharp and clear female voice calling out, "Huangdi Gege [Older brother the Emperor], why didn't you come to have a martial art competition with me?" While saying that, 'bang, bang bang!' she knocked the door as hard as she could.

    Kangxi's face showed a faint smile as he said, "Open the door."

    Wei Xiaobao thought, "Who is that? Could it be she is Princess Jianning?" Walking to the door, he lifted up the bolt and opened the door.

    Like a whirlwind a girl wearing crimson embroidered clothes rushed in; she said, "Huangdi Gege, I have waited for a long time, you did not show up. You must be afraid of me, aren't you?"

    Wei Xiaobao saw this girl was approximately fifteen, with an oval face and thin lips, her facial feature showed that she was quick-witted, there was a hint of heroic spirit in her mannerism.

    Kangxi laughed and said, "Who's afraid of you? I'll say you can't even beat my disciple, you are not even worthy to fight me."

    The young girl was surprised. "You have received a disciple?" she asked, "Who is it?"

    Kangxi winked his left eye to Wei Xiaobao and said, "This is my disciple, Xiao Guizi; his martial art came from me." Turning to Wei Xiaobao he said, "Quickly pay your respect to your Shigu [martial aunt] Princess Jianning."

    "Indeed she is Princess Jianning," Wei Xiaobao mused. He knew that the Old Emperor fathered six daughters; five died in childhood, only this princess grew up. [Author’s note: Actually, Princess Jianning was Qing Taizong’s[1] daughter, or Shunzhi’s younger sister. The title Head Princess Jianning was bestowed only during Kangxi’s sixteenth year. Shunzhi’s daughter, Princess Heshuo, was actually Kangxi’s older sister, who married Oboi’s nephew. But in this novel, everything does not necessarily have to fit with historical fact; scholars and well-learned people do not need to perform an in-depth investigation.] She was the daughter of the Empress Dowager. Wei Xiaobao was extremely afraid of the Empress Dowager, normally he would not go to the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful, while the Princess had never been to the Emperor’s study room. Consequently, today was the first time that they met each other.

    Listening to Kangxi, Wei Xiaobao knew that the brother and sister loved to play around; thereupon he readily complied to please them. With a tee-hee giggle he stepped forward to pay his respect, “Shizhi [martial nephew] Xiao Guizi kowtowed in salute to senior Shigu; wishing Shigu ten thousand golden good fortunes …”

    Princess Jianning also giggled; but suddenly her foot flew up and hit Wei Xiaobao right on his chin. This kick arrived without the least bit or warning, Wei Xiaobao was bending one leg, bowing in front of her foot, how could he evade? He had not finished speaking, his chin suddenly got heavy kicked; his lower jaw closed, biting his own tongue. “Ah!” he cried out in severe pain. When he opened his mouth, fresh blood streamed down the front of his lapel.

    Kangxi was shocked. “You … you …” he stammered.

    Princess Jianning laughed and said, “Huangdi Gege, your disciple’s martial art skill is totally useless; I kicked him to test his skill, unexpectedly he could not evade. I think your own martial art skill is more or less just like this.” Finished speaking, she giggled happily.

    Wei Xiaobao was furious, in his heart he cursed several dozen times, ‘stinky little mother, rotten little miss’; but in the Palace, Princess was his master, how could he dare to curse openly even for a word?

    Expressing his sympathy, Kangxi asked Wei Xiaobao, “How is it? Your tongue is bitten? Is it very painful?”

    With a forced laughed Wei Xiaobao replied, “Not too bad, not too bad!” But since his tongue was bitten, he could not talk clearly.

    Copying his voice, Princess Jianning said, “Not too bad, not too bad! Most of my life has gone bad!” And then she broke out in laughter. Pulling Kangxi’s hand, she said, “Come on, let’s have a martial art match.”

    When the Empress Dowager taught Kangxi martial art earlier, Princess Jianning was watching with keen interest, so she nagged at her mother to teach her as well, and the Empress Dowager taught her a little bit. Seeing her mother was half-hearted, only taught her with far less attention she gave to her brother, in her desire to outdo others, she went to the Palace’s Imperial Bodyguards and asked them to teach her boxing. Learning several moves from the east, training several styles from the west, she had been practicing diligently for two, three years, unexpectedly she made some progress.

    These past several days she had learned several moves of qin na [grab and capture/grappling] techniques and had tested the new skill against the Imperial Bodyguards. Naturally everybody was yielding to her, they all put on an act and the little princess managed to rout them out completely. Yet she knew these Imperial Bodyguards were trying to make her happy, and was dissatisfied instead, thereupon she came to her Huangdi Gege to get him to have a martial art match with her.

    Kangxi has not had any sparring with Wei Xiaobao for quite a long time, his hands and feet were itching, so he agreed to indulge his imperial younger sister and happened to have a match with her once. The two of them sparred in the small palace hall. Kangxi was half-hearted, half yielding and half serious; from five rounds, he won four. Princess Jianning was unbearably angry; she came back to her mother and badgered her to teach her some new moves.

    The Empress Dowager was just recovering from her heavy injury, her vitality had not yet returned, so she expelled her out. Princess Jianning had no alternative but went to find Imperial Bodyguards again and learned qin na some more, and made an appointment with Kangxi today to have a match.

    Unexpectedly Wei Xiaobao returned to the Palace and had a long talk, so that Kangxi forgot about this martial art match altogether. Obtaining news about his father emperor, Kangxi had mixed feelings of grief and joy, his heart and spirit were perturbed, how could he have any interest to play with his sister? He said, “Right now I have a very important matter to attend to, I don’t have time to play with you. Go and train some more, we will have a match in a few days.”

    -----------------------------------------------------------
    [1] Posthumous title of Hung Taiji (1592-1632), eighth son of Nurhaci; reigned 1626-1636 as Second Khan of Later Jin dynasty, then founded the Qing dynasty and reigned 1636-1643 as Emperor.

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    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    Pannonian, as always, your creativity amuses me. Why don't you try 'gulongize' some of Wei Xiaobao's antique?
    Not creativity as such. I was just struck by the wording of that line, describing Wei Xiaobao's improvement in bootlicking, using the same phrasing that Jin Yong had previously used to describe Guo Jing's improvements in martial arts after months of backbreaking practice.

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