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Thread: The Deer and The Cauldron

  1. #1121
    Senior Member Ace High's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crazee View Post
    Look like XB will not be able to play prank with so many soldiers surrounding him.....
    Are you sure?

  2. #1122
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update foxs. Have a great 4th of July!

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    Junior Member ah-gi's Avatar
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    Thanks foxs.

  4. #1124
    Senior Member crazee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ace High View Post
    Are you sure?
    I'm just assuming .... (making an a** out of you and me ?? ) that with a big group of soldiers guarding him, he will be too cramped to do hanky panky..but knowing XB, I suppose he'll turn the army into a group that fully support him and do wonders his own way...( Xiao Bao will then sing " I did it my way " heh heh
    cheerio..

  5. #1125
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
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    Default Chapter 22 - Part 1

    H.Ge-C.Liu, Sky, Ah-gi, you are welcome. Happy 4th of July to those of you in the US. Ace, thanks, I have fixed it. Crazee, you got it right, 'My Way' ... LOL. Triardy, I don't read cyrillic (I am assuming it is cyrillic), so I am not sure if it has anything to do with our thread, or is it a spam?

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Chapter 22 - The old cassock of the mountain altering revealed secret, the out-of-this-world beautiful woman altering the adornment.
    (Translated by Foxs)

    By the time Wei Xiaobao set out on the journey, it was already late afternoon, but the imperial decree required him to leave the Capital that very same day, so no matter what they had to exit the city wall. Going out the Yong Ding Gate, they only travelled for twenty li when they had to pitch camp for the night.

    The Valiant Cavalry was the Emperor’s personal guards, its members were all the children of Manchurian royal family, close relatives or trusted subordinates of the Emperor. Its provision was ten times better than regular soldiers’. They have been staying in the Capital for quite a long time, hence going out of Beijing, without exception everybody was in high spirit, much less they were not going out to fight any battle. This assignment to go to Henan was like going on a scenic tour funded by the imperial court; it was completely different from their regular duties.

    After dinner, it was too early for Wei Xiaobao to go to bed, thereupon he summoned Zhang Kangnian, Zhao Qixian, and the other Imperial Bodyguards, along with the officers of the Valiant Cavalry, to assemble in the command tent. They all thought, “I wonder what important matter His Majesty wants Vice Commander Wei to handle; he is summoning us all, it must be because he wants to brief us on the special imperial decree.”

    After everybody had paid his respect, Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “We, boys, do not have anything to do. His granny, let us gamble, Laozi will be the banker.”

    The officers stared at him blankly; they thought he was joking. But then they saw him took out four dice from his pocket and tossed them to the small table in front of him, the dice rolled around, and only then did the people cheered thunderously. Generally, the soldiers were not prohibited from gambling, except when they were marching into battle, then gambling was strictly prohibited, to avoid the troops from having unstable minds and thus damaging the important matter. But how could Wei Xiaobao understand this rule? Although the officers of the Valiant Cavalry knew this martial law, they thought that this time they were not marching to battle, why would they want to obstruct the Vice Commander’s esthetic pleasure?

    Wei Xiaobao fished a pack of banknotes from his pocket and placed it on the small table, it worth at least five or six thousand taels silver. He said, “Who has the ability to win?” The officers scattered back to their tents to get their money.

    Although there were a lot of low ranking officers in the Valiant Cavalry, their families were rich. Hearing that Vice Commander Wei was opening a gambling table, they quietly sneaked into the tent.

    Wei Xiaobao called out, “There is no young and old on the gambling table, only money and banknotes! Heroes and warriors, the more they lose, they happier they are. Turtles and lambs, they win and immediately run away!” He blew on the four dice before tossing them onto the table.

    When he was in Yangzhou, he envied the power and prestige of the bankers of the casino. Being the Deputy Chief, the Vice Commander, was nothing to him. Today he had a couple of thousands crowd and he was being the banker, now that was the thing he was most proud of in his entire life.

    One after another the officers placed their bets, some won, some lost. After a while, their spirit aroused, the stake was growing higher and higher, the lower ranking officers at the back were starting to lay their bets. The Imperial Bodyguard Zhao Qixian and a Manchu officer stood by Wei Xiaobao, helping him collect the winning and pay the winners. The large army tent was filled with the shouts of people winning and the cry of those losing, just like the sound of a big gambling establishment. More than two hours later, there were more than twenty thousand taels of silver piling up on the gambling table. Some people lost all, they went back to their tents to borrow more capital from their companions who were not gambling.

    Wei Xiaobao threw the dice, all four dice showed red spots, which means sweep the decks. Everybody was dejected, some cursed, some sighed. Zhao Qixian reached out to take all the money. “Wait!” Wei Xiaobao called out, “This is the first day that Laozi leads the troops and be the banker. This time I am giving away everything to the friends here, I won’t take the money!”

    The troops cheered happily, they shouted, “Vice Commander Wei is a true hero!”

    “Anybody wants to increase his bet may do so!” Wei Xiaobao called out.

    Having been through a narrow escape, they all felt that their luck was really good. One after another they put more money that it piled high on the table. Suddenly a loud and clear voice said, “I bet on the Gate of Heaven!” and he threw a watermelon-shaped object on the Gate of Heaven.

    As soon as they saw it, everybody was shocked. The object on the gambling table was a badly mangled human head. The severed head was still wearing an officer hat, unexpectedly he was an Imperial Bodyguard. “Getong!” Zhao Qixian cried out in fear. Turned out it was the Imperial Bodyguard Getong’s head. He was on duty, patrolling outside the tent tonight, and had his head chopped by the intruders.

    The crowd raised their heads in alarm, and saw at the entrance of the army tent stood a dozen or so people wearing blue clothes, each one held a long sword. The officers’ attention was focused on the gambling table, nobody knew when did these people come in? The crowd of military officers in the tent did not bring any weapons, momentarily they were at a loss of what to do.

    A young man, about twenty five or twenty six, stepped toward the gambling table, both hands were empty, he said, “Gambling Officer, do you accept the bet?”

    “Seize him!” Zhao Qixian called out, immediately four Imperial Bodyguards pounced on the young man.

    The man spread his arms and grabbed two men on the pit of their stomachs. ‘Bang!’ he banged the two heads against each other, the two men immediately fainted. Immediately afterwards white ray flashed, two swords were thrust forward, the swords pierced the other two Imperial Bodyguards’ backs and went straight through to their chests. The two Imperial Bodyguards cried miserably as they fell to the ground, dead. The blue-clothed men who thrust their swords were a middle-aged man and a Taoist priest. They pulled their swords and waved their hands, the two swords flew up and ‘pop, pop!’ the swords stuck onto the gambling table.
    The middle-aged man shouted, “I bet on the Upper Gate!” The Taoist priest shouted, “I bet on the Lower Gate!” The two swords, not surprisingly, landed on the Upper and Lower Gates, respectively.

    The young man waved his left hand, four people in blue rushed forward, four swords were pointed at the vital points all around Wei Xiaobao’s body.

    With a trembling voice Zhao Qixian shouted, “Who are you? What … what a nerve! You killed officers, broke into an army camp, aren’t you … aren’t you afraid of … of being beheaded?”

    Suddenly from among the four people pointing their swords at Wei Xiaobao came a scoff as someone laughed and said, “We are not afraid; are you afraid?” It was a tender and delicate voice of a woman.

    Wei Xiaobao stole a glance sideways, and saw a young woman, about fourteen or fifteen years old, her face was rather round, her appearance very sweet, her pair of large eyes were pitch-black and bright, there was a smiling expression at the corner of her mouth. He was actually scared out of his wits, but as soon as he saw this good-looking girl, his courage involuntarily grew. He laughed and said, “With Miss one person pointing your sword at me, I am already scared.”

    The girl raised her sword a little, the tip of the sword was pressed against his shoulder; she said, “Since you are scared, why are you laughing?”

    Immediately Wei Xiaobao’s face turned serious, he said, “I am most obedient to women, Miss says for me not to laugh, I am not laughing.” Sure enough, there was no trace of smiling expression left on his face. Seeing him putting on an act, the girl could not help but stifling her laughter.

    The young man who acted as their leader frowned slightly and said with a cold laugh, “Manchurian Tatars will soon meet their end, they send this little baby whose smell of mother’s milk has not yet dried to lead the troops. Hey, two swords and one head are already placed on the table, why haven’t you rolled the dice?”

    With a good-looking young woman by his side, also hearing the man said to throw the dice, Wei Xiaobao’s panic diminished somewhat; he asked, “If I lose, what must I pay?”

    “Do you need to ask?” the young man said, “You lost to a sword you pay a sword, you lost to a head you pay a head!” He thought this juvenile general would definitely beg for mercy.

    Who would have thought that when Wei Xiaobao was having martial art match, when he lost he would simply surrender, but on the gambling table, whatever happened he would never be a coward, admit himself to be useless, much less there was a pretty young lady by his side; while he was still alive, how could he lose face in front of a good-looking girl? He also thought, “Your four swords are pointed to me already, if you want to kill me, it won’t matter if I win or lose, you will kill me anyway, why would I want to give you the satisfaction of winning the argument?” Immediately he picked up the dice and said, “Alright, I accept! If I lose to a sword, I’ll pay a sword, I lose a head I pay a head, I lose a pair of pants I’ll take my clothes off! You throw first!”

    The young man did not expect this young general to have such courage and insight; he was stumped for words instead. The middle-aged man said in a low voice, “Large army outside, if we delayed, there will be a big change of the plan!” He wanted him not to waste time senselessly, if those two thousand Manchurian troops burst in, contrary to what he might expect, they would not be easy to deal with.

    The young man cast a glance to Wei Xiaobao, he noticed there was not a scared look on his face. “If I don’t bet with you this time, you won’t submit to me even in your death,” he said. Taking the dice, he threw a six. The Taoist priest and the middle-aged man also threw the dice and both got eight.

    Wei Xiaobao picked up the dice and held them in front of the young woman. “Miss,” he said, “Please blow on the dice!”

    The young woman smiled and asked, “What for?” But she still blew on the dice.

    “That will do!” Wei Xiaobao said, “When a beautiful woman blew on the dice, I would only make a kill and would not lose!”

    He shook the dice several times in his hands and was about to throw when Zhao Qixian suddenly said, “Hold on! Vice Commander Wei, ask … ask them what they really want.” He was afraid that when Wei Xiaobao threw the dice this time, he would get less than six dots, inevitably there would be someone’s life to be concerned about. Moreover, he was afraid that instead of compensating the loss with his own head, Wei Xiaobao would want to pay with his, Zhao Qixian’s, head; who told him to stand on the side to be the banker’s assistant?

    The young man laughed coldly and said, “If you are scared, just kneel down and beg for mercy.”

    “Only turtle bastards are afraid!” Wei Xiaobao said. His hands had not stopped moving, his only fear was that his technique was not too good. Tossing the four dice, they rolled around on the table. When the dice stopped, it did not show a couple of Heavens, but showed six dots. Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, “Six beats six!” he called out, “I killed the Heavenly Gate, and lost to the Upper and Lower.” He picked Getong’s head and placed it in front of him. “Zhao Dage,” he said, “Get a couple of swords to pay for the Upper and Lower Gates.”

  6. #1126
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks foxs.

  7. #1127
    Senior Member Ace High's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    along with the officers of the Valiant Cavalry
    The Eight Banners had different command structures than the Green Standard Army. The major official ranks of the Eight Banners were (but not limited to)

    1b Commander-in-Chief (都统; dūtǒng), more commonly translated as a Lieutenant General [led a gusa of 5 jalan]
    2a Deputy Commander-in-Chief (副都统; fùdūtǒng)
    3a Regimental Commander (參領; cānlǐng) [led a jalan (regiment) of 5 niru]
    3b or 4a Deputy Regimental Commander (副參領; fùcānlǐng)*
    6a Company Commander (佐领; zuǒlǐng) [command a niru (company) of 300 men]
    7a Assistant Commandant (?领; xielǐng)*
    8a Lieutenant of Cavalry Brigade (xiaoqixiao)*

    * I have a difficulty in determining their actual pǐn-ranks.

    Quote Originally Posted by crazee View Post
    Look like XB will not be able to play prank with so many soldiers surrounding him.....
    Barely twenty li from the Capital, yet he already making and getting into trouble.
    Last edited by Ace High; 07-04-11 at 07:51 PM.

  8. #1128
    Senior Member tweety365's Avatar
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    Thank you foxs!

  9. #1129
    Senior Member crazee's Avatar
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    Hey... I'm no 4....

    Oh yes, barely 20 lis and he's creating havoc.... whatta guy.

    Thanks Foxs,.....do I sense another wife for Xiao Bao ???
    cheerio..

  10. #1130
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    Wish I could take WXB with me on my next trip to Vegas.

    Thanks, Foxs. Hope all the US'ers had a great 4th of July.

  11. #1131
    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    "When he was in Yangzhou, he envied the power and prestige of the bankers of the casino. Being the Deputy Chief, the Vice Commander, was nothing to him. Today he had a couple of thousands crowd and he was being the banker, now that was the thing he was most proud of in his entire life."

    How do you argue with that?!

  12. #1132
    Senior Member crazee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smurf120 View Post
    "When he was in Yangzhou, he envied the power and prestige of the bankers of the casino. Being the Deputy Chief, the Vice Commander, was nothing to him. Today he had a couple of thousands crowd and he was being the banker, now that was the thing he was most proud of in his entire life."

    How do you argue with that?!
    We cannot accuse our hero for being not hardworking enough to fulfill his dreams, right ?

    Now he's gonna gamble his enemies away....and win a wife ??
    cheerio..

  13. #1133
    Senior Member Ace High's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smurf120 View Post
    "When he was in Yangzhou, he envied the power and prestige of the bankers of the casino. Being the Deputy Chief, the Vice Commander, was nothing to him. Today he had a couple of thousands crowd and he was being the banker, now that was the thing he was most proud of in his entire life."

    How do you argue with that?!
    It really justified. Within 2 hours he already won twenty thousand taels. A Provincinal Commander (1a rank officer) monthly salary was only 95 taels. and that already considered as extremely well paid. If we convert the amount to the current value, we can safely assume WXB has won more than 2 million.

  14. #1134
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
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    Default Chapter 22 - Part 2

    Sky, Tweety, you are welcome. Ace, I saw your original post earlier, but this morning I saw that you edited it, perhaps you were afraid to offend me? Well, let me tell you this: I do NOT have any problem translating those military ranks ... I DO have problem translating the whole novel. Thanks. I do wish someone would at least help me with translating the chapter title. KChill, how was the 4th in DC? I imagine it must be wonderful. If you don't mind me asking, you are not politician, are you? Smurf, Crazee, he has been dreaming about opening his own casino and brothel ... Ace, seriously, how did you know about all those things? History book? You are so knowledgeable about China and Chinese culture, are you in academia or something along that line?

    ----------------------------------------------------------
    “Yes!” Zhao Qixian replied. He walked toward the tent’s entrance, but a man in blue stuck out his sword on Zhao Qixian’s chest and shouted, “Stop!”

    “You won’t let him get the swords?” Wei Xiaobao said, “Very well, not a problem. One sword can be considered a thousand taels of silver.” From the pile of money in front of him, he took two thousand taels, and divided it equally and placed the money by the swords.

    This group of heroic visitors rushed into the army tent and took control of the commander in chief, the military officers were at a loss. Not only the enemy had high martial art level, they killed people without the slightest scruple. Although their side had more men, they were all outside the tent, and had not been alerted. When a tangled battle ensued, the people in the tent were unarmed and defenseless, perhaps everybody would lose their lives. While they were trembling in fear, they saw Wei Xiaobao and the enemy were tossing the dice, gambling, talking and laughing as though nothing had happened. They could not help but admiring his courage, but some people thought, “Little child does not know the immensity of heaven and earth; do you think this bunch of bandits are here to have fun with you?”

    The young man laughed coldly and said, “With our two treasured swords we only win your two thousand taels? Take all the money on the gambling table!” Six, seven men in blue stepped forward and took all the money and banknotes on the table. The young man took a sword and pointed it toward Wei Xiaobao’s throat and shouted, “Little slave, are you a Manchu or a Han? What’s your name?”

    Wei Xiaobao thought, “Even if Laozi surrenders, you have already barged in, if I surrender now, it would be ‘starting without able to finish’, ‘completely discarding previous achievement’; a real man want to fight, he will fight to the end.” Thereupon he laughed aloud and said, “Laozi is the Plain Yellow Banner’s Deputy Commander, my name is Huacha Huacha Xiaobao. You want to kill then just kill, you want to gamble then let’s gamble! Hey, hey, the big bullying the small, not a hero’s conduct.” By saying the last eight words [the big bullying the small, not a hero’s conduct] he was in reality begging for mercy, but in the way he said it there was a little bit of heroic spirit.

    The young man smiled and said, “The big bullying the small, not a hero’s conduct. You are right. Xiao Shimei [little younger martial sister], you are more or less of the same age as him, you can fight him.”

    The young girl laughed and said, “Alright!” Raising her sword, she stepped forward and said with a laugh, “Hey, General Huacha Huacha Xiaobao, I am asking some advice of your masterstroke.”

    The other three people pointing their swords to Wei Xiaobao pushed the swords slightly, nudging his clothes, they said, “Go out and fight!”

    The young man waved his hand, the sword in his hand flew and landed on the table in front of Wei Xiaobao. Wei Xiaobao mused, “I don’t know anything about swordsmanship, I won’t have any guarantee I can beat this little miss.” He said, “The big bullying the small, not a hero’s conduct. I am bigger than this Little Miss, how can I bully her?”

    The young man grabbed the back of his neck and lifted him up. He shouted, “You don’t dare to have a sword duel, then kowtow to my Xiao Shimei and beg for mercy.”

    Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Alright, you want me to kowtow, I will kowtow. Men have gold on their knees, it’s best that we kneel in front of women every day!” Bending his knees, he kneeled in front of the young girl. The group of people in blue clothes roared in laughter.

    Suddenly Wei Xiaobao leaned sideways, and turned toward the young man’s back, the dagger in his hand was pointing to his back. He laughed and said, “Are you going to surrender or not?”

    This changed happened so suddenly and amazingly that although the young man’s martial art skill was high, unexpectedly he was caught off guard and the vital point on his back was threatened by Wei Xiaobao.

    What happened was that realizing that the six moves to save his life he learned on the Divine Dragon Island had not been trained to perfection, Wei Xiaobao was forced to act happy and keep giggling, to jest and assume the role of a clown, so that the enemy would laugh looking at him making a fool of himself. When he kneeled down, he reached out to grab the handle of his dagger, and suddenly used the move ‘the flying swallow circle around overhead’, and unexpectedly succeeded in turning the tide. If he were a grownup, the opponent would guard against him, and if he had not mastered the move, the half-baked move would definitely be in vain. But first of all, the move was indeed very ingenious, although it was not used properly, it still had quite a formidable power; secondly, how could the young man think that this clown-like teenager unexpectedly was able to come up with such a smart trick? Consequently Wei Xiaobao succeeded.

    The people in blue clothes were shocked, seven or eight swords were immediately pointed toward Wei Xiaobao’s body. They shouted together, “Let him go!” But seeing that Wei Xiaobao’s dagger was aimed at the young man’s back, although there was no doubt that each one of these seven, eight swords could stab him to death, but he only needed to push the dagger lightly, and then the young man would undoubtedly lose his life. Thereupon as the points of the swords were about a chi away from Wei Xiaobao’s body, nobody dared to advance anymore.

    Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You want me to let him go, then I’ll let him go; what’s so strange about that?” Brandishing his dagger, he cut around in a circle, ‘clang, clang!’ and cut the tip of the seven or eight swords down, and then he put the dagger back on the young man’s back. The people in blue clothes were shocked, they all take a step back.

    Wei Xiaobao said, “Put the money back, I’ll spare your leader’s life.” The people in blue who were holding the money did not hesitate at all, they put all the money and the banknotes back on the table.

    They heard several hundreds of people yelling outside the tent, “Don’t let the bandits escape!” “Quickly surrender!” Turned out in the chaos just now, two officers in the tent managed to escape and gathered the troops; they had surrounded the army tent.

    The Taoist priest shouted, “Kill the little Tatar first!” He pulled the sword from the gambling table; a white ray flashed, ‘stab’ he thrust the sword into Wei Xiaobao’s right chest. This sword strike was accurately calculated; it cut down in an oblique angle, stabbing from the front of Wei Xiaobao’s body into his back, he knew for sure that when Wei Xiaobao was hit by the sword, his body would be pushed backward, then the tip of the dagger would definitely move away from the young man’s back. To his surprise, however, the sword bent, and ‘crack!’ it snapped off instantly.

    Wei Xiaobao called out, “Aiyo! The stab did not kill me!” Seeing that unexpectedly blade and spear could not enter his body, the people in blue clothes were startled that they were staring blankly at him.

    The Taoist priest felt that the tip of his sword had bumped into a soft flesh, not a hard steel armor; momentarily he did not understand what was going on. How could he know that Wei Xiaobao was wearing the treasured vest to protect his body that he could not be injured by sharp blade?

    By this time, several hundred officers had burst into the tent, the people in blue were densely covered by spears and broadswords all around, the Imperial Bodyguards and the officers had also obtained weapons from their subordinates’ hands. Even if those people in blue had higher martial art skill, it would be difficult to break through the tight encirclement; much less several people had their swords broken, and their leader was under the enemy’s control. Their upper hand had instantly reversed, and they were now completely beaten and in a hopeless position.

    The young man shouted loudly, “Don’t mind me, everybody kill the enemy and rush out!” But the Imperial Bodyguards and the officers rushed forward, each group of seven, eight people surrounded one person in blue. As soon as one person moved ever so slightly, he would face the calamity of blades raining on his body that he would turn into a minced corpse; they had no choice but throwing down their weapons, with hands tied and waiting to be captured.

    Wei Xiaobao thought, “These several people have superb martial art skill, and are opposing the imperial court, perhaps they have some association with Tian Di Hui, how to release them and let them go?” Thereupon he laughed and said, “Laoxiong [old chap], just now you could have killed me but you didn’t. If at this time I killed you, and not giving you any chance to recover your capital, unavoidably you would think I am not a hero and a warrior; this is called ‘turtles and lambs, they win and immediately run away’. How about this: let us bet over our heads again.” At this time there were seven, eight different weapons were pointing toward the young man. Wei Xiaobao drew back his dagger and with a chuckle he sat down.

    The young man angrily said, “You want to kill me just kill, no need to toy with Laozi.”

    Wei Xiaobao picked up the four dice; he laughed and said, “I be the banker, we bet on your heads. Each one of you throws the dice, whoever wins, then you can walk out immediately, plus take a hundred taels as your travel expenses; whoever loses, Zhao Dage, you get ready with a sharp blade on the side, chop down and cut their heads away to avenge our Getong Dage.”

    He counted the opponents, altogether there were nineteen people. Immediately he set aside some money, altogether he made nineteen piles, each pile a hundred taels of silver.

    Those people in blue killed government official and thus they were starting a rebellion; since they were captured, naturally they would be beheaded without the slightest hope of lucky escape. Unexpectedly this young general wanted to be a real man and opened up a path to life. If they lose, they were doomed to die anyway. The Taoist priest called out, “Very well, a real man gave his words …”

    Wei Xiaobao said, “Dead horses cannot chase it! When I, Huacha Huacha Xiaobao, do my business, I never take advantage of other people. This Xiao Jiejie, or perhaps Xiao Meimei [little older sister, little younger sister, respectively], just now helped me by blowing on my dice and thus helped me preserving my head; you don’t have to throw dice. Just consider it I have won your little head, and am giving it back to you as a bonus. Take these hundred taels and walk out the tent first. Pass on this order: the guards outside must not give her any difficulty.”

    An aide announced the order in loud voice, “Deputy Commander’s order: those who are released out of the command tent are to be allowed to leave on his own, they are not to be stopped or given any difficulty.” The guards outside the tent complied in loud voices.

    Wei Xiaobao took two yuanbao worth fifty taels each and pushed them in front of the young woman. The young woman’s countenance alternated between white and red as she shook her head slowly and said in a low voice, “I don’t want to. We … nineteen of us of the same school, we … we will live and die together.”

    “Very well,” Wei Xiaobao said, “You do have yi qi. Since you will live and die together, then there is no need for each one of you to throw the dice. Little Miss, you and I are going to gamble. If you win, all nineteen of you will walk away with the money; if you lose, all nineteen heads will roll. Don’t you think it’s straightforward and quick?”

  15. #1135
    Senior Member Ace High's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    Ace, I saw your original post earlier, but this morning I saw that you edited it, perhaps you were afraid to offend me? Well, let me tell you this: I do NOT have any problem translating those military ranks ... I DO have problem translating the whole novel. Thanks. Ace, seriously, how did you know about all those things? History book? You are so knowledgeable about China and Chinese culture, are you in academia or something along that line?
    It just a very bad habit of mine. I tend to edit not only a lot of my post (and not just in this forum) and also my works. I normally revised my own works three or four times before i'm completely comfortable to submit it to others. Sometimes it just because a minor thing here and there, I'll start from the scratch again. You might notice my previous post about the pin-rank was edited quite a lot (i think more than 10 times).

    I'm a civil and structural engineer by the way.

    And I claim the first again
    Last edited by Ace High; 07-06-11 at 11:15 AM.

  16. #1136
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    That's WXB for ya...loses his manhood every time a young girl smiles at him.

    Thanks for the great translation, Foxs. 4th of July was great, but I just spent it with my family. It's much too crazy going anywhere NEAR downtown -- unless you like not being able to move or breathe for half the day. And no I'm not in politics -- although like most people living here I do work for the government.

  17. #1137
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update foxs.

    Huacha Huacha Xiaobao. LOL What a name he created for himself!

  18. #1138
    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KChill View Post
    That's WXB for ya...loses his manhood every time a young girl smiles at him.
    I think he is showing some progress - it was the smile AND thinking about Tin Dai Hui.

  19. #1139
    Senior Member IcyFox's Avatar
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    Hi. I just dropped by, and I'm not surprised to see Foxs here, firm as Tai Shan as always.

    Keep up the great work, Foxs!

  20. #1140
    Senior Member crazee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KChill View Post
    That's WXB for ya...loses his manhood every time a young girl smiles at him.
    I'd loose my marbles every time JY's girl smile at me!!! ....oooooh imagine, pretty, white as jade, fragrant...etc etc...

    Hi Foxs, really appreciate the translation. You're doing well !!!, not that stupid me will know the difference but I get to read the novel is already a big big bonus....thanks again.
    cheerio..

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