The man reprimanded; “If you mess up the master’s affairs, I will squeeze you to the ditch. Who taught filthy words such as squeezing milk?”
The youngster pouted his lips and said, “Our master¹.”
Man: “…”
Finally, the man only said, “Maybe you just can’t learn. Be good.”
Youngster: “…”
And then, a voice came in. “Si Da², Mei Ren³, stop arguing. It’s useless.”
Si Da, Mei Ren⁴.
Although it has been years since the master has given them these two strange names, whenever they are called together, their lips can’t still help but twitch. The two turned around and saw that there was another bearded man beside the green-clad young man who is their master. There is clearly a sharp dagger against their master’s waist.
The two were shocked, and the man said angrily: “Dou Ma, our master is your apprentice! Even a cruel tiger does not eat his young⁵.”
The youngster sneered and said in a low voice, “Mei Ren, has he ever considered our master as his apprentice? In the past, he taught Qiao Mei and Qiao Rong the best things. The only thing that he taught our master were the superficial ones.”
“Dou Ma, you clearly know that it was master Qiao Chu who made the white agreement with the crown prince, not Qiao Mei! Now that master’s mother is in trouble, and the lord refuses to save her, we can only come to the Chaoge to ask for a humble opportunity. Only if our master becomes Rui Wangfei that she can have Rui Wang intervene and save her.
“Out of the Lord’s five daughters, the two eldest have already been married off, while the fifth princess is still very young. The Emperor has approved that all unmarried daughters can participate in the selection. The fourth princess can come, then why can’t the third princess go? The hateful Lord has only sent Qiao Rong to Chaoge, and now they even send you to prevent us?”⁶
The man called Dou Ma laughed: “Girl, this ambush was already expected by your master, why do you still have to pretend you’re surprised? Otherwise, why are you all dressed up as men and could not go straight to the protocol officer to register your names so that you could enter the prince’s residence?”
Si Da and Mei Ren looked at their master who has now gone silent. The green-clad young man with a face covered with a veil is Qiao Chu. She smiled lightly and said, “No, Qiao Chu⁷ is stupid, I only know there is an ambush; that if I come out, I would be caught even before I reach the protocol officer, I was looking for a way to sneak out, but I didn’t expect to be discovered so soon. I didn’t know that Qiao Mei-jiejie⁸ would even send you, shifu⁹.”
The cold glint in Mei Ren’s eyes flickered, Qiao Chu glanced at her quickly and shook her head.
Dou Ma has sneered: “In order to help Qiao Chu get out of the desert, you were poisoned. If you force your qi¹⁰, you will only die faster.”
Mei Ren said coldly, “Please don’t worry about me. Even if I have to die, I will send her in.”
Dou Ma said softly: “Girl, your body is not as good before, even if you fight to the death, you will not be able to send her in!”
Si Da was furious and glanced at Mei Ren, but he saw her looking at Qiao Chu who is now frowning as she looked straight ahead.
In front of Rui Wang’s Mansion, the two sedan chair stopped. The noise of the tide suddenly fell silent, and everyone held their breath and focused on the woman who had stepped down from the first sedan chair.
Previous | Table of Contents | Next
[character sketch]
Notes:
[1] 主子 (zuzhi) what servants call their masters
[2] 四大 (si da) which literally means The Great 4
[3] 美人 (mei ren) which means beauty
[4] These are the names of Qiao Chu’s maidservants. If read together 四大美人 (si da mei ren) means the four great beauties. Historically there is really a legend about 4 great beauties named Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan, and Yang Guifei, who lived in four different dynasties, each hundreds of years apart. So these names are really odd for regular names. Anyway, this is very reminiscent of the naming of Empress Dowager’s servants in MGT Jixiang Ruyi, which is an auspicious saying.
[5] 虎毒不食子 (hu du bu shi er) I think the idiom is pretty much straightforward that the elder does not harm a family, anyway the more familiar idiom is actually 虎毒不食子 (hu du bu shi zi) which says cubs instead of children
[6] Let me explain because my friend was confused when she first read this translation. Qiao Chu our FL, where Hailan’s soul came into, is the 3rd princess of the Beidi Damo aka the Northland Desert. The first princess, Qiao Han, is married. We will see her later. The 2nd princess is Qiao Mei, the one who was married to the crown prince now. The 4th princess is Qiao Rong, the only one allowed by the lord to participate. The 5th princess was still so young. So the servants were shouting in indignation because Qiao Chu is not married, and is not very young but why is she not allowed to participate?
[7] To those who are unfamiliar with historical novels, illeism is often used here, so referring to oneself in the 3rd person is very very common.
[8] 姐姐 (jie jie) or older sister
[9] 师傅 (shifu) or teacher or master. I retained the pinyin as it should not be confused as the servant’s master but this one is the kind of master that teaches or imparts knowledge to disciples.
[10] actually, the actual phrase was if you force your 运功 (yungong); but yun gong is actually doing qi gong, so I’d rather use qi which means spirit or inner strength.
Kaye's Ugly Translations 
Many thanks
:O what happened into he desert?
LikeLike