Nanwan, the 28th year of TaiMing, late spring.
The imperial capital JinPing’s flowers were about to wither, but the fog had not dissipated yet.
Since the Grand Master of refining tools, the one with the Golden Touch, the deity Lin Chi, respected as the one with the “Imitation Gold Technique”, descended to the earth, the fog in the mortal world became thicker and thicker every year, and became more and more suffocating every year.
But this wasn’t something to really complain about.
The imitation gold technique that made the “moon-plated gold” was something magical bestowed by the heavens. The steam made from the moon-plated gold was so powerful and plentiful that it could lift a thousand-foot boat off the ground. Making a trip across the sea to Northern Ming was nothing difficult, and the activated angled cart could open mountains and fill the seas. Outside the southern city wall, there were countless large and small factory workshops. The machines roared all day long with no rest, producing cotton cloth yarn like running water. It was sold to BeiLi in the north along the Grand Canal and transported to XiChu in the west, but in the mountains of NanShu, with its continual hot summer, there was no need to worry about the market for tulle and silk.
It’s unknown how many families, from the old to the young, depended upon moon-plated gold for their livelihoods. Thirty li from the city, “Maze Station” had just been completed the year before, but it was already bustling, with many people coming and going. The train that was swallowing and spitting out snow-white steam was called the “Rising Cloud Dragon” among the people and was busy on the tracks every day, with one line during the daytime and one during nighttime. The morning trip was to transport goods and the night trip was to transport people.
Wasn’t this cultivator giving the common people an advantage?
The fog over JinPing City can’t be called fog, but must be called XiangYun.
After the New Year, large numbers of young and strong workers streamed towards the capital like a flood, and Maze Station was packed with people every day. It was too expensive to find a house to live in in the city; even the doghouses on the east bank of LingYang River couldn’t be rented without at least 50 coins every month—enough for a strong worker’s rations.
Workers from other places could only rush to the shacks in the factory area outside of Nan City, and it was almost like a proper town had formed outside.
JinPing City was particularly lively this year because it was a “grand selection year” that took place once a decade.
The immortal sect was about to choose their disciples.
There was only one place in DaWan that was worthy of being called an “immortal sect”: the national sect “Xuan Yin”, one of the four large sects of today.
Every grand selection year, Xuan Yin would pick a favorable, auspicious day to send cultivators to JinPing and select talented mortals to begin cultivation. JinPing City had been astir since the New Year; heroes and prominent figures from different walks of life followed suit and made it even more hectic—the candidates the cultivators chose were to burn incense and pray to the gods, to train and cultivate both their body and mind. Those who had achieved the rank of juren had to enter the capital for an examination, martial arts halls rose in rank through fighting competitions, and even brothels didn’t want to be left out, following the trend to vote for a “top courtesan” to add to the fun.
When there was a large amount of people, there would be a lot of things to be done, and there were naturally a lot of places in the city that were recruiting workers. Those who had the strength were willing to come and try their luck, and could always find a source of income. Therefore, although the national sect only selected disciples from the children of nobles and had nothing much to do with the commoners, the people still looked forward to the grand selection year.
With the immortal descending the mountain, there would be favorable weather and an abundant harvest of crops.
It was acceptable if the harvest wasn’t that plentiful as well. Being able to enter the capital and get a look at the decorated pleasure boats on the LingYang River was considered gaining an experience. If they could hear the singing that accompanied the string songs from a distance away, then they could return and say they’d heard the courtesan warming up her voice, enough to brag about for half their lifetime.
On the first day of the fourth month, the season of blooming flowers was about to end.
The flower festival that was held at the most famous location in JinPing City for romance and beautiful scenery, ZuiLiuHua’s “JianHuaHui”, was about to end as well.
It was truly a splendid sight that could compete with the colors of spring and shattered rouge that scattered across the city.
Getting a “JianHua Invitation” to the show was invaluable.
After midday, Marquis Yong Ning was dragged to ZuiLiuHua by a group of “bothersome gentries” and witnessed the crowning of the new top courtesan.
Jiang Li, a famed courtesan, was the winner this year. The Marquis munched on melon seeds while he glanced at her, feeling like this “famous flower” was nothing to write home about. The corners of his eyebrows and his eyes inched downwards and he looked unhappy.
However, rogues of all kinds danced wildly in ZuiLiuHua for most of the night and everyone’s faces were covered with three layers of white paste, making it hard to differentiate who was who. The Marquis let them raise a ruckus until their eyes hurt. He watched as Jiang Li brought a musician onto the stage, with plain clothes and without makeup. No matter how well the song was sung, she had made a somewhat favorable impression already, simply because she wasn’t raucous.
The song she sang was said to be a new piece that the musician had found somewhere. The musician was rather up to par; although she was playing the instrument by herself, her skills were quite good, and the melody and song were not bad. The guests also felt refreshed. When the song ended, the gold and silver beads rained down like snowflakes, steam filled the raised stage because of these beads, and the small building resembled a bamboo steamer.
Just like that, the camellia crown for the top courtesan landed on Jiang Li’s head.
Jiang Li, wearing the camellia crown, descended the stage to thank the guests. The larger patrons asked her to toast and sing acapella, which she deserved. Fortunately, there were a lot of people, and many of them were notable people, so they couldn’t be too rowdy. After she entertained them for a round, she had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to bow out and exit when suddenly, an idler from who-knows-where jeered at her, saying, “Miss winner, you won first place today, and half of the credit should be given to that minstrel. From what I’m seeing, she’s a newcomer, and is superior to the other one that was raised in this building before. Why don’t you call her out for us to see, and everyone can take care of her in the future?”
Jiang Li’s musician had concealed their face the entire time and hid behind the veiling on the stage. Only the corner of their long dress was exposed when they stepped down off the stage, and was so mysterious that it made one’s heart itch.
Jiang Li was startled for a moment, then smiled and replied that her own musician had accidentally hurt her hand, so the musician today that accompanied the song was invited from outside, and it was inappropriate for them to show their face in public at ZuiLiuHua; please forgive her for this.
The patrons started to make a ruckus, unsatisfied: What “inside and outside” person? With so many nobles among the guests, even the top scholar that passed the civil service examination would have to dismount his horse and bow to them with his hands clasped in front; what was this top night courtesan being so pretentious for?
Jiang Li had a style of being “beautiful in appearance and refined in temperament”, but being so, she was not practiced in conversing, so she inevitably didn’t know how to deal with this scene. She froze on the spot, not knowing what to do, when she heard someone say, “Coming! Look, if you want—as long as you dare to.”
The voice sounded as if it was low in nature but was deliberately squeezed to sound high. The voice couldn’t go any higher and cracked as it sounded discordant, giving everyone who heard it goosebumps.
When everyone raised their heads, they saw that the musician that Jiang Li had so carefully hidden away was a straightforward person and very boldly carried… held the instrument and came down.
This person had conspicuously applied a face of heavy makeup for beautiful ladies and atop the white paste, wore a veil that covered half of their face.
Normally, slathering on such bear-ish makeup would still allow one to see what the nose and eyes looked like, so the person shouldn’t be ugly… but for some reason, she exuded a peculiar feeling all over.
This person looked too tall and strong, and most of the girls’ heads only reached to her shoulders. That large, white head was in a league of its own, towering above all the beauties, which was a bit frightening. Tall and with a large frame, her grand collarbone on her “fragrant shoulder” was perched between her shoulders and seemed like it would rip her sleeves anytime. Her large feet filled her embroidered shoes until they looked like a pair of boats, and as she turned her feet, the earth quaked and the mountains shook… and she stretched out the same hand and foot when she walked.
This person came out and bowed all around, grinning and displaying her white teeth in every direction: the rouge on her mouth looked as if it was applied hastily and accidentally stained her teeth, so when she opened her red mouth, it looked like she’d just finished gnawing on the bones of a dead child and hadn’t rinsed everything off. If someone took more than a glance at her, they would feel possessed, as she completely and thoroughly frightened both the guests and their wine awake!
Marquis Yong Ning had already quietly left his seat.
When the Marquis was young, he received much love from women as the most beautiful man in JinPing City. He felt like this group of “famous courtesans” were only average-looking, and the so-called “artistry” was even sloppier and out of tune. There really wasn’t much to see, so he would rather go home and look at himself in the mirror. He came to ZuiLiuHua half-heartedly for social niceties and had already greeted the people he needed to, so he didn’t want to bother with watching these people jeer and be virtueless. After tidying up his attire, he went downstairs, ready to go home. But right when he got downstairs, he came face-to-face with the large-footed musician who had just bowed out of the stage.
The Marquis was not willing to look at the woman directly, but he was helpless, as this person’s head was much too exuberant, and if he didn’t look at her then he would have to roll his eyes.
He was startled by that face with the heavy makeup and was just wondering where this evildoer came from… but how come it looked vaguely familiar? The musician, who was able to skillfully and easily deal with the hooligans before, suddenly changed their facial expression, almost splitting the half catty of white paste on their face, and ran in the other direction without a word.
“She” didn’t even want her instrument anymore, and the embroidered shoes went up into the air. The movement of their running was no small matter; they looked like a large wild horse with a steam lighter on its head and was missing only the white steam that would come out of its tailbone!
The Marquis didn’t expect that the fragrant, glimmering ZuiLiuHua had raised such a mythological beast. He was at a loss for a moment, but right afterwards, he suddenly reacted to something and covered his chest with hand while his face turned ashen.
The servants from his household that were next to him thought that he was having chest pain again, and one hurriedly stepped forward to help: “Master?”
Only to hear the Marquis weakly force out a sound with a tremor in his voice: “Grab… for me…”
The bodyguards and servants were baffled: “Grab who?”
The Marquis took a deep breath and concentrated on his dantian: “Grab that devil’s spawn for me!”
The whole ZuiLiuHua became silent after the Marquis’ roar, and after a while, everyone guessed it—ladies and gentlemen, brothers, guess what happened? The “lady minstrel” that was scared to death just now was nobody but Marquis Yong Ning’s eldest son in disguise!
A man dressed up as a woman at a brothel, and bumping into his own father! How exciting!
So who was Marquis Yong Ning’s eldest son, exactly?
His formal name is Xi Ping. It is said that since JinPing City is so large, there are thousands of wastrels, but no one can surpass him.
This time, this eldest son came up with a new preposterous trick. While many nobles’ sons were still trying to fight for a JianHua Invitation to ZuiLiuHua’s flower festival until they were bleeding from their heads, he’d already gone up to the stage as a flower himself. Who wouldn’t praise him for “knowing how to play” after this?”
At that time, the dandies in ZuiLiuHua sobered up and their necks grew another two inches per head. They only hated the fact that they didn’t know the “flying head” move and couldn’t toss their head out the window to watch the Marquis’ eldest son running away at night in women’s clothing.
That eldest son’s sleeves waved and floated about, and were crushed by his father’s people into something that resembled a giant moth. He tore the skirt that wouldn’t let him extend his legs at the knees and flew out of ZuiLiuHua with his two large, bare feet, running towards the northwest.
Just when he passed the decorated pleasure boats’ crossing, he ran directly into the Ministry of War’s assistant minister’s son, Wang BaoChang. Xi Ping couldn’t help but secretly complain that it was bad luck—truly a situation of enemies being on a narrow road together.
Turns out that this Young Master Wang was also someone who didn’t learn good things, yet he himself felt like he was rather skilled and could be called a person with outstanding talent. The supposed “genius” and successful imperial examination candidate had actually failed the examination, forcing his parents to pay for him in order for him to get a job within the imperial guards. He often came here to boast; when he was happy, he would drink, but after drinking two small cups of yellow rice wine soup, he couldn’t tell which direction was north, yet still wanted others to perform “Strength to Pick Up Mountains” for him. He would slightly rage and berate the serving girls around him, and he oftentimes became violent when the alcohol rushed to his head. Thus, the girls were afraid whenever he came, and gave him the nickname “Wang DaGou”.
Xi Ping and Wang “Genius” didn’t get along, and would compete with each other whenever they had the chance to.
Right now, Wang BaoChang was standing at the mouth of a small road that was about four feet wide. This noble’s son figure was valiantly out of the ordinary and blocked over half of the road with a pale lantern in hand. His pair of dead fish eyes stared at Xi Ping, not knowing to move aside.
Coincidentally, at that moment, a strange gust of wind blew over and the whole row of steam-powered street lights on the road went out somehow, letting out a puchi sound while emitting a slight wisp of smoke. The kingfisher wood carving under the lights was largely covered in soot and swayed lightly in the wind.
Xi Ping told himself that he’d already covered himself with the lustre of makeup, and his own father didn’t recognize him when they met, so how could Wang DaGou?
But to avoid a new problem, he still planned to hide his face a little. He flicked his long, green sleeves, letting the fragrant scent waft over Wang BaoChan’s face, and made his eyes into slits, yelling: “Traitor to my love, give me back my life—”
Brother DaGou, with a female ghost demanding his life in the middle of the night, was probably so scared that he went dumb. He had no reaction for a long time, so Xi Ping took the opportunity to knock him aside with his shoulder, running straight for Prince Zhuang’s palace without even looking back.
Prince Zhuang is the current Third Prince, born from the Imperial Noble Consort of the Xi family.
The consort is Marquis Yong Ning’s younger sister, Xi Ping’s aunt.
When Xi Ping was younger, he was Prince Zhuang’s reading partner for a couple of years and was very close to this cousin of his. Whenever he was about to get thrashed, he would escape to his palace to take refuge. The Marquis couldn’t slam on the doors of a prince’s palace in the middle of the night to demand for him, anyways.
He ran through the narrow street in one breath and noticed that the footsteps running after him had disappeared sometime ago. He looked back for a moment and saw that his dad’s henchmen hadn’t caught up. Looks like they knew where he was going to go and couldn’t catch up, so they simply gave up.
So, Xi Ping proudly flicked his scattered long hair behind him, hummed a little melody, and elatedly tramped over to Prince Zhuang’s palace with his torn skirt.
There was no moonlight on the first day of the month. Dust and dew mingled together, unwilling to part with each other.
The gray, murky water vapor crept over Xi Ping’s gold-dusted footprints, spread outwards from LingYang River, and blended together with the steam from lighters. Airtight, covering the entirety of JinPing.
Speaking of the people from Marquis Yong Ning, they heard the spirit-like yelling from far away. When they came close to where they heard it, they saw Wang BaoChang.
Wang BaoChang’s face, illuminated by the lantern in his hand, looked colorless. The servant that took the lead had a lot of experience, so as soon as he saw the expression in his face, he knew that his young master had probably done something inhumane, and immediately stepped forward to say: “My apologies, Young Master Wang, that was my young master just now… He drank too much, so if he did anything to offend you, the Marquis will make him come to apologize to you tomorrow.”
Wang BaoChang was as dumb as a board and didn’t make a sound.
The young master didn’t scare him so badly that it was a disaster, did he? The servant was in a perturbed state of mind and took another step forward: “Young Master Wang…”
At that moment, Wang BaoChang suddenly stiffly turned his body that Xi Ping had slammed aside earlier. He looked like a machine that had become rusty; his staring eyes rolled in their sockets for half a circle, and his pupils spun to the top.
The servants from the Marquis Yong Ning’s household looked at each other, not knowing what this person making demonic faces meant… perhaps he was so frightened by their young master’s female ghost that his courage had shattered, and he was planning to scare them back as revenge?
Before they could decide if they were going to play along with this shocking appearance, they saw Wang BaoChang open his mouth and unpleasantly howl: “Raise the coffin, two shelves of sutras, stop the spirit for seven days full—”
Not to disparage Wang BaoChang for singing badly, but the words that he yowled were indeed the <Resurrection Melody> sung during funerals in villages around the area of Ning’an, JinPing.
His voice was croaky and mournful, like an old crow cawing at night, and made their hair stand on end for a while.
As he sang, he strode forward with stiff steps.
“…The road opens to the sky… return home… journey… soaring… ka!”
For every word he sang, he took a step forward, and when he reached the word “journey”, his voice and his steps stopped abruptly. He stood straight and sang the word “ka” for a while, then slammed into the ground like a door without its frame.
A green jade plaque fell from his body and rolled out onto the stone road for two feet, making a continuous crisp, clanging sound.
He stopped moving.
Only after a long while did a brave servant go over to check, stretching out his hand to push Wang BaoChang’s shoulder and raising the lantern in his hand.
“Young Master Wang? What’s wrong, Wang… ah!”
That servant let out a short scream and landed on his behind, shattering the colored glass lantern in the process.
He had no room to care about what he’d broken, and his feet scrambled on the ground, going out a couple feet from under his butt—
He’d touched a cold, dead man, so thoroughly dead that he was completely stiff, and there was even a corpse spot on the back of his neck that was facing the sky!
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Translator's Notes:
Nanwan - i believe "Nanwan" is referring to the prefecture-level city, Nanyang, that was called as such before the warring states period (before 481 BC ish?)
angled cart - umm not sure about this one. will come back to it if i figure anything out!
Dragon - the character used seems to specifically mean a legendary dragon with the ability to control rain or flood
XiangYun - the character used seems to specifically mean a legendary dragon with the ability to control rain or flood juren - a rank achieved by people who passed the xiangshi exam in the imperial examinations; a provincial examination and the second-highest degree Jiang Li - also means peony
dantian - "sea of qi", "energy center", "qi focus flow centers" "Strength to Pick Up Mountains" - an elegy
DaGou - means large dog!
ka - a coughing sound
please let me know if there are any mistakes in the comments or through email! the next chapter is 1/3 longer than this one was, so it might take me a couple of days to translate it!
translation twitter: @jiyangtrans