RP Chapter 1 - Chang Feng - Part 1
Please read the plot introduction and trigger warnings here in the Index.
Please forgive any mistakes in spelling/grammar as it's a fan translation. If you're curious how I translate please see the FAQ. {My translators notes will be in italics like this.}
Chapter One - Part 1
Qingzhou Mansion, Yunxie Pavilion. It was raining heavily that night.
The night in early spring was still a bit chilly. Sandalwood and agarwood were quietly burning in the gold-plated Boshan stove in the room and the smoke curled up silently.
Sitting behind dozens of tables were a group of soldiers drinking wine from large bowls. They squinted as they watched the dancers twirling their bodies and passing by like light swallows. It should originally have been an extremely calm and serene atmosphere but it was completely washed away by the wine, meat, singing and dancing. The men at the table were in high spirits and interrupted the dancing of the ladies with their loud clamor.
Someone lifted the curtain and a tall figure appeared along with a rush of damp and cold air. As soon as he stepped in, there were cries of "General Meng", "Brother Meng" and “You’re late so you should be punished with a drink”...
The man's armor had not yet been removed, nor had it been cleaned by the guards. There were still blood stains and a few suspicious dirt stains upon it but he didn't care at all. When he sat down, he hugged the dancer closest to him, smiled and said; “Easily said and done.” He put one hand around the girl's slender white waist, grabbed the wine bottle with the other hand, raised his head and drank half of the bottle. He said with a smile, "Done. Good enough?"
"Again!" His colleagues were still shouting.
Meng Liang drank so fast that the wine poured all over his chin and neck. He didn't wipe it off but instead laughed and swore: "You are a bunch of bastards. Laozi cleaned up all the mess for you and this is how you repay me?” {Laozi is a macho way of referring to oneself, literally meaning “this old man”, but the person speaking doesn’t have to be old. Usually men speak this to fellow men, a casual/”bro” way of talking.}
As soon as the title "Commander" was spoken, everyone became speechless. The sound of singing and dancing was overwhelmed by the sound of the rain for a while, and it was so soft and charming. The generals were silent for a moment and one of them said: "The Commander? Just forget about it then."
The sound of the zither suddenly became urgent, like green beads falling on a jade plate, making a pleasant tinkling sound.
(Chinese zither).
A man’s voice came faintly from behind the curtain: "Why just forget about it if I come?"
Before he arrives, his voice will arrive first.
The unscrupulous soldiers who had just been drinking and laughing suddenly all stood up straight. Even Meng Liang, the most bohemian one, pushed away the woman in his arms and stood solemnly. Although no one was supervising them, they all knelt down on one knee in an extremely uniform manner, lowered their heads and said: "Commander."
The dancers, musicians and maids knelt down quickly and silently.
A slender and tall figure slowly walked gracefully to the main seat, supported it lightly with one hand and said softly: "No need to be polite, get up."
In the right corner of the Yunxie Pavilion, according to Qingzhou customs, was the place where the zither player played music while separated by a curtain. The sound of music leaked out like running water, filling the entire room. Currently the person playing the zither was a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old. He was twirling his fingers slowly. He looked back and looked at the girl sitting next to him: "Are your fingers okay?"
The girl lowered her eyes and said in a low voice: "I’m fine. For some reason, the string broke just now."
"Fortunately, no one noticed it because the Commander came in." The zither player comforted her. He looked outside the curtain with a rather complicated expression on his delicate face.
The girl didn't answer, just lowered her head like a sculpture.
The laughter outside the curtain became even louder, almost drowning out the sound of the zither. Suddenly, someone hurried over and pulled open the curtain.
There were dozens of candles as thick as a child's arm in the hall. With the lights brightly lit, the girl squinted her eyes slightly and happened to see a black-armored Commander hugging a woman in the distance. The scene was quite erotic.
"The Commander said he wants to listen to the previous song." The maid hurriedly ordered. "Hurry up and change to that one."
The zither player was stunned and said, "Yes." After the maid walked away, he asked the girl, "What did you play just now?"
"Ge Tan." {This song is about farming Chinese arrowroot, which is used for medicine, as well as to weave baskets and cloth. Can also be used to symbolize growth and spread.}
The zither player stopped playing "Lu Ming" and started playing the previous tune. He felt a little confused in his heart. The aristocrats liked to listen to elegant and classical music, this was the custom of the world. This Commander though... he is quite special. He is from the royal family after all, so how come he likes to listen to folk tunes?
Before the song ended, he heard the belated General outside, who was already a little drunk, shouting loudly: "Commander, we won the battle and everyone is in good spirits! The brothers are saying every time it’s us getting drunk, it’s too boring!”
After a while, he heard the Commander say calmly: "Then how can we make it more interesting?"
"Come, Meng Lang offers a toast to the Commander to congratulate him on Ya City's great victory."
“I see." The low voice paused, "I'll drink to that."
"Woohoooo--" The atmosphere suddenly became excited.
For a while, toasts were heard one after another and the Commander did not refuse anyone who came up to him, drinking one cup after another.
"Wrong." The girl suddenly spoke to remind the zither player that he had played a wrong note.
The zither player grimaced. He was just too surprised. He has been playing the zither for the Commander for several months. Whenever the Wu Army held a banquet after winning a battle, he would always appear but he had never heard the Commander drinking with his colleagues.
He guessed the Commander was extremely happy because of the great victory in Ya City. He collected his slightly distracted thoughts and repeated the previous note.
"Who played just now?" Another attendant came over, looked up and down at the girl with her head lowered, and urged in a low voice, "The Commander said he wants to listen to the previous player.”
The zither player looked at the girl next to him and hesitated: "Her finger is injured..."
Just before the Commander came in, she stopped to take a drink of water but the tea cup shattered in her hand. Then the zither player was switched. The girl timidly raised her hand to show the attendant. Sure enough, her long and thin white fingers were full of scratches. The attendant frowned, upset, and sighed: "What can be done? The Commander-"
Before he finished speaking, a man rushed closer and shouted: "Why are you so slow? The Commander wants to see the zither player."
"Older brother—" The young girl suddenly raised her head and looked at the boy beside her with a look of panic on her face. {Brother can be used to call someone older than you of the same generation, doesn’t have to be blood related.}
The young zither player smiled at her and comforted her in a low voice: "It's okay. The Commander is a kind man and won't do anything to us."
The attendant led the two people to the center of the hall. He saw the two people standing there numbly. They probably had never seen much of the world. They only knew to lower their heads and appeared very frightened. He quickly reminded them in a low voice: "Kneel down quickly."
The two knelt down and only said: "Greetings to the Commander."
The hall was as quiet as water. The soldiers who were very noisy just now stopped talking and looked at the two kneeling people with interest.
On the main seat, the Commander sat alone. Wearing a thick black brocade robe, his black hair was tied up with a jade crown. His eyebrows were straight and his eyes were very bright because of the slight alcohol within them. He just stared at the kneeling girl lightly and said softly: "Lift your head up."
The girl's body trembled slightly. After a long time, she slowly raised her head. However, due to the dim light of the candles on both sides, she felt that the face of the person on the main seat was blurred. According to the custom, her face was covered with thick white facial grease. In fact, it couldn’t be discerned what she looked like but her eyes were extremely black and bright, as though they were full of water.
"Were you playing Ge Tan just now?" The Commander asked softly, playing with the wine cup.
In fact, this waterside pavilion was huge, with a distance of more than ten feet wall to wall. His voice was not loud but every word was transmitted into everyone's ears very clearly.
The girl nodded and said, "Yes."
"Play it again." The smile on the young Commander's lips grew a little thicker.
"Commander, her hand... is injured." The young man on the side said anxiously. He heard that the Commander always treated people kindly and never made things difficult for his subordinates. That’s why he mustered up the courage to speak.
The Commander's eyes narrowed slightly but he just waved his hand lazily.
The guard knew what he meant. He took the young zither player with him and the girl returned back to the zither room.
Sitting alone behind the zither, the girl's eyes no longer looked frightened and timid. She gradually calmed down. The attendant on the other side of the curtain said coldly: "Quickly play. The Commander is waiting to listen."
The wounds on her fingertips were vividly visible and the blood had not yet solidified. However she just smiled and plucked the first sound. The strings scratched into the wound and you could almost hear a tingling sound as the silver wire embedded itself into her flesh.
Thick blood fell drop by drop, gently bringing about the sound of the twang of the zither.
It's really a “drop” of zither music. {“Di” is the numerical word used for counting zither notes, it’s also the numerical word for counting blood droplets. Author is just emphasizing this.}
The sound crossed the lake outside the waterside pavilion. It was as though it was twanging from a small boat on the water, far away from here. The sound of the zither was stained with little bits of water mist, soaking everyone's heart. However, it was the second drop, the third drop...until the continuous drizzle floated down from the sky, like cow hair, but also like the breeze, dense and soft, moistening the clothes. The drizzle gradually became a torrential rain which surged down, shocking people to the point of being breathless and being unable to make a sound. It was like an iron horse with an iron sword, full of a murderous aura.
After a long time, the sound of rain suddenly stopped and the sound of the zither gradually disappeared.
"Good!" Someone in the hall suddenly shouted, "Good song!"
The Commander was still fiddling with the cup of wine and his fingertips were faintly white. He raised his head and drank it, then smiled and said: "Meng Liang, when did you learn to understand music?"
"Commander, why don’t you just gift me this zither player?" Meng Liang let go of the dancer in his arms and said carelessly, "You always said that I’m not good at studying. Now if I listen to more music, isn’t it a good thing? "
In the battle of Ya City, General Meng Liang was not afraid of death. He rushed to the city wall and achieved great success. Judging by past experience, the Commander would never refuse when a person who has made great achievements asked for a reward.
The Commander leaned against the table. A trace of black hair fell from his forehead, covering his lowered eyes, but he only smiled without comment.
However, Meng Liang thought he had agreed. So he laughed and said, "That little girl is so pitiful. She has to continue playing the piano even though her finger is injured. Commander, how about someone else?"
The Commander put down the wine cup but did not mention the matter. He only said: "Our army won brilliantly in the battle at Ya City. Thank you for your hard work."
The soldiers stood up one after another and all humbly expressed that they didn’t deserve such praise.
The attendants presented them with rewards. The Commander was always generous and the rewards were abundant, making his subordinates smile with joy.
"Everyone, continue to have fun." The Commander stood up and was about to leave.
"Commander, what about my zither player?" Meng Liang asked.
The young Commander turned half sideways. Half of his expression was hidden in the half-light. He paused and calmly replied to his proud subordinate: “Not her."
"Gah?" Meng Liang sat down slumped, looked at his lord's back and sighed, "How stingy."
His fellow soldiers came over and laughed: "Don't push your luck too far. I think the Commander treats that woman differently."
"How is it different?" Meng Liang said in a low voice. "He only has eyes for Lady Bo, she’s his obvious favorite and he even takes her with him when he goes to war. So what's wrong with me asking for a zither player?" While muttering this, he did not notice that the sound of the piano from that corner gradually stopped.
It was late at night when the banquet broke up.
The servants began to clean up the messy cups and plates at the waterside pavilion. One person glanced at the figure in the corner and said with a smile: "Why haven’t you left yet?"
It turned out to be the young zither player. He slowly approached and said with a smile, "My junior sister hasn't come out yet. I wonder where she went?"
"Ah! That girl who played the zither?" The attendant smiled strangely. "She was taken to the Commander's residence. You’d better not wait any longer."
The zither player was momentarily stunned and, when he came to his senses, the people in the pavilion were gone and only the sound of frogs in the pond was left.
*
When the girl was taken away from the waterside pavilion, her right hand was already bloody.
She followed the maid until she entered the house and then asked in a low voice: "Sister, what’s going on?"
"The Commander ordered you to wash off the fat on your face." The maid had a flat expression and pointed to the basin of water on the table.
The girl paused, as if she had heard an extremely difficult request. After a long time, she slowly rolled up her long sleeves and whispered: "Yes."
Putting her right hand into the water, the basin of water immediately turned light pink. The girl took in a slight sharp breath but restrained herself from making a sound. She just bent down and washed her face with her hands with difficulty.
The makeup was slowly washed away. She raised her neck slightly and a drop of water fell on the tip of her nose. With a pop, it fell into the turbid water, causing small ripples in the basin. Following the spreading water pattern, a black figure suddenly came into view.
She stood up in panic and there was a clang beside her. The copper basin fell to the ground, splashing half of her body with water. However, her vision was blurred by the water and she could only vaguely see the man in black walking towards her step by step.
She quickly knelt down, put her bloody hands flat in front of her, kowtowed and said, "Commander."
The man was standing just one step away from her and she could see the corner of his thick black brocade robe. The cloud patterns were dignified and luxurious. Her heartbeat went peng, peng loudly.
She lay on the ground, her sleeves soaked with cold water, and her fingers hurt all the way to the bones.
For a long time, she shivered uncontrollably, almost about to faint and finally heard the sound of his clothes fluttering.
She thought he was leaving but suddenly someone grabbed her hair and pulled hard.
Pain went through her scalp and the girl almost screamed out loud, but she suddenly looked into those dark eyes. The whirlpool inside then became deeper and deeper. Amidst the turbulent ups and downs, the young man's voice spoke, and it was so deep that one couldn't tell whether he was happy or angry—
"Han Weisang, how dare you appear in front of me again?"
*
Translators Notes: If you like the translation, please leave me a comment. It will help me translate faster!
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