TSP 36.1 – THE WONDERFUL CAPITAL CITY

The current location, which was supposed to be full of luxury and pleasures, became a place offering repose. Where one enjoyed zither music and drank tea.

Jiamin sat in a corner without a sound. Meanwhile, Hua Liuli leaned against the back of a soft couch, beautiful maidservants waiting on her. Noticing that the two commandery princess kept quiet, the other young ladies did not speak as well, holding their teacups as they admired the sound of the zither.

 

In a peculiar manner, Young Miss Yao said, “They say for a man to die because of a woman would prove a happy death. Commandery Princess Fushou is of poor health. It’s better if you don’t go outside too often.”

Hua Liuli, who had been relaxing with her eyes closed, opened them.

“Actually, those in poor health need to stroll about more. Because if they’re in a good mood, their health will naturally improve,” said Jiamin, heart leaping when she had noticed Hua Liuli opening her eyes. She grabbed her cousin’s wrist, hinting for her not to say anything else. “As the saying goes, a feast for the eyes. Commandery Princess, you have a poor appetite. If you see good-looking people more often, it will be beneficial for your body.”

Never had Young Miss Yao imagined that Jiamin would back Hua Liuli up to this degree. Just who is the one who’s actually Jiamin’s cousin? Why is she helping outsiders instead?　　

Hua Liuli noticed Jiamin was nervous. Slowly, she rose to her feet. Smiled. “Elder Sister Jiamin is worthy of being the daughter of an imperial princess. Is indeed experienced and knowledgeable.”

Dry laughter left Jiamin’s lips. Who could understand the pain of lying with your eyes open?

“I suddenly remember that I have something to do at home. Goodbye,” said Young Miss Yao, glancing at Jiamin. She got up to leave.

She was already angry, so Jiamin should coax her into a better mood, right?

“Then, careful on the road.” Jiamin sighed in relief. It’s good that she was leaving. Because if she left, then she wouldn’t provoke Hua Liuli’s anger.

“You…” At this moment, Young Miss Yao became genuinely angry. So angry that she turned and left.

“Young Miss Yao, take care!” said Hua Liuli, waving at her.

“Hua Liuli, don’t be so proud of yourself!” said Young Miss Yao as pointed at the other girl. “In a few days, the exam results will be out. I want to see just what rank your brother will receive.”

After saying these words in a ruthless manner, Young Miss Yao stepped out, leaving behind Jiamin and the other young ladies who all wore awkward expressions.

“Commandery Princess Fushou, my elder cousin sister has a bit of a crafty and unruly personality. But…” Jiamin was truly too embarrassed to speak. But my cousin doesn’t have any ill intentions. However, because Young Miss Yao had already mocked Hua Liuli’s elder brother, it would hardly be a good thing if Jiamin tried speaking well about her.

She looked at Hua Liuli, and she pressed a hand to her forehead without a word. It had always been other people cleaning up after Jiamin’s messes. When had she ever said such placating words before? But Hua Liuli was someone who held grudges. And the type where one smiled as they stabbed you. Who knew when she would suddenly take revenge?

“It’s alright. Young Miss Yao has a straightforward personality. I trust that she bore no ill will,” said Hua Liuli, all smiles. “Let’s all appreciate the zither music together.”

Silent, Jiamin cast her a glance. Not a single one of this woman’s words can be trusted.

Now that these noble young ladies finally intended to listen to his music properly, the zither musician grew more energetic and played an extremely difficult song.

As Jinling Center’s most famous zither musician, he was most proud of not only his face but the zither-playing skill of his hands, which caused countless women to grow infatuated with him.

“This tea isn’t as good as the ones we have in the other tea house we frequent more.”

“In the end, this isn’t a proper teahouse.”

The hands of the zither musician trembled a hint. He played the wrong note. The most famous zither musician performed in this place, yet these ladies were more concerned about whether the tea was good?

“I don’t drink tea. Nor am I aware of which types are good and which are not,” said Hua Liuli. “How about we have the wait staff serve you all some new tea?”

“Even if the tea in this sort of place is decent, there is still a limit to how good it can be. Commandery Princess need not trouble yourself,” said a young lady sitting next to Jiamin, appearance sweet and cute to the max. According to Hua Liuli’s memory, she was a legitimate daughter of the Tian family. Tian Ruidong’s full-blooded younger sister.

Young Miss Tian placed her teacup onto the table. In a curious manner, she looked at Hua Liuli. “Commandery Princess grew up in the border station. May you describe the scenery there to us? Does it resemble this verse from a poem: ‘Among the desert stands a lonely fire beacon, smoke rising straight to the skies?’”

Hua Liuli shook his head. “Qinghan Prefecture’s terrain is  arduous to traverse, the mountains high and the roads steep. Every summer, there are many snakes, insects, and mice. Come night, there would be countless mosquitos biting.”

“That terrifying?” The young ladies present had all grown up in the lap of luxury. They could not imagine such nasty living conditions.

“But there are benefits to a place like that. It’s easily guarded and hard to attack. The locals are tough as nails. When the enemy attacks, the men of age will patrol the city spontaneously. They lend us a hand quite a few times in capturing spies from Jinpo Country.” A sigh escaped Hua Liuli’s lips. “However, transportation there is inconvenient. The situation there is nasty as well, battles happening again and again. Great Jin’s merchants don’t like doing business with the locals. That’s why, for a very long period, the livelihood of the locals was poor.”

After that, one of the young ladies held her breath as she listened intensively to Hua Liuli. They waited for Hua Liuli to continue.

“Afterward, my father led troops to eliminate the bandits that lurked in the surroundings blocking the roads. Gradually, the merchants arrived to Qinghan Prefecture to conduct business. In recent years, life has greatly improved there.” Hua Liuli noticed that musician playing the wrong note quite a few times. She turned her head and smiled in an insincere manner toward him. “Are you interested in these stories about the frontier?”

“This humble one grew too engrossed in the stories. May the honored customers forgive me.” The musician rose to his feet and walked in front of Hua Liuli. Following that, he saluted her.

He wore a loose, white robe. When he stooped to perform the salute, it gave a peek of his collarbones.

“I heard that eleven years ago, a natural disaster occurred in Qinghan Prefecture, several roads leading to it blocked by debris from collapsed mountains.” Jiamin remembered this because her father, Prince Consort Yao, had personally served as the official  who escorted army provisions there. On an ordinary day, he idled about all day. But after returning from Qinghan Prefecture, he was depressed for almost half a month, and even curbed most of his spendthrift habits.

Translated by Sleepchaser at https://sleepchaser.wordpress.com/ If you read it anywhere else besides Sleepchaser’s wordpress, that copy was stolen.

“Back then, I was four years old. There are many things I don’t quite recall clearly anymore,” said Hua Liuli. She shook her head. “Today, we’re here to listen to music. Why are we talking about this kind of topic?”

Then she turned her head and noticed the musician still standing before her. She waved. “Musician, continue to play.”

Said musician glanced at her. Silent, he returned to his seat.

The group of girls ate fruits and light refreshments, staring at the musician for a bit less than one hour. And they were all bored at this point. But the two commandery princesses had not said they wanted to leave, so the other young ladies could only hang in there and listen to the music.

“Musician, what is your name?”

“This humble one’s predecessors committed a crime. For three generations, we are to stay in the untouchable caste. Furthermore, we no longer have a surname,” said the musician, seizing an opportunity to stop playing the zither. When he began to play again, his fingers couldn’t endure it. “The people here all call me Yunhan.”

“Yunhan…” muttered Hua Liuli, staring at the musician deep in thought.

The musician slowly raised his head, a pair of beautiful eyes in Hua Liuli’s view.

“This name sounds a bit cold,” said Hua Liuli after quite a while, airing out her inner thoughts.

The smile on the musician’s face stiffened a hint. “Honored Guest is correct. This humble one does not find the ‘han’ character good as well.”

Jiamin was immensely skeptical whether Hua Liuli would tease the beauty into happiness. Why were the words she had spoken so prone to choking up people? Hua Liuli actually tried to steal a beauty from her like this. What a joke.

“No, what I meant was that this name is just like you. Like the spotless white clouds rising high into the heavens. While it is lonely at the top, there is a great lofty and unsullied feeling.” Hua Liuli rose to her feet. Made her way before the musician. She extended her hand and fiddled a bit with the strings of the zither. Her actions were rather at will, carrying a free and at ease flavor. “Your skill in the zither is exceptional, and you are this remarkably beautiful. There’s no need to undervalue yourself.”

She faintly approached the musician. Just as the other young ladies thought she would do something to him, Hua Liuli stood up straight in a flash. She fished out a handkerchief. Covered her mouth as a few coughs slipped from her lips. “Sorry, I’m in poor health and cannot stay outside for too long. Musician should return to rest.”

Yurong went forward and supported Hua Liuli’s arm. Meanwhile, Yuanwei placed a bag of pearls into the musician’s hands. “Our master does not have a definite schedule for going outside. Young Master should not see any customers in the next few days, so as to not make things inconvenient when Master wishes to see you.”

The musician accepted the pearls and placed the bag on the table in passing. He cupped his hands obeisance. “This humble one shall wait for Honored Guest’s return.”

His salute proved cultured to an immense degree. It resembled that of an immortal who had fallen to the mortal realm out of nowhere. It made people want him to remain in the mortal realm, yet also want him to become an aloof and remote immortal.

If these noble young ladies were like other girls, they would have been convinced by his graceful bearing.

But they were different from other people. They had, earlier on, met Fifth Prince, the pinnacle of graceful bearing, words, and actions. A man like Yunhan, who was from a music and dance establishment, would only garner a few looks from them. In these young ladies’ eyes, he would never be seen as breathtaking.

Hearing Hua Liuli voice her intention on leaving, Jiamin also stood, rushing as she did. “There are still matters to attend to in my estate. I should return as well.”

If I don’t leave now, don’t tell me I’m supposed to stay here and fight over a man with Hua Liuli?　

Once the group of girls had left from Jinling Center, before Jiamin could even breathe out a breath of air, her gaze met with that of Du Xiuying from across the street.

for a man to die because of a woman would prove a happy death: 牡丹花下死做鬼也风流. The connotation is that that the woman is trouble and the man lacks brain cells for acting on his desire.proper: Because people also sell their skills here (music/dance/singing), which is considered lower class.)legitimate daughter: 嫡出千金. In ancient China, births were separated into two types: di (born from the legitimate line/ wife) and shu (born from the illegitimate line/concubine-bone). Only the children born from the proper wife were considered legitimate/di, and they were considered of higher status than the concubine-born children, and were given better opportunities/marriages. I believe in some dynasties, only the legitimate/di children were recorded into the household’s family register/genealogical records, but don’t quote me on that. However, shu/illegitimate children were still considered part of the family. It’s different from children born to mistresses outside the house.Among the desert stands a lonely fire beacon, smoke rising straight to the skies: Comes from the poem Shizhisaishang (使至塞上) by Wang Wei (王维) a Tang Dynasty poet. I tried my best making this into a poem in English.han: 寒. Means cold. Also part of his name Yunhan, which literally means cold cloud.