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minmotl · 4 years

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Chapter 53: Sui Zhou Saves A Kidnapped Tang Fan; Tang Fan Drools on Sui Zhou’s Back

Context: Wang Zhi enlists Ah Dong to help him out on the missing children’s case, but gets kidnapped. Tang Fan is kidnapped too when he goes to find Ah Dong, and while he is being held captive, the two leaders of the Nan Cheng Bang (Southern City Gang) who kidnapped him are fighting over whether to leave him to be used or just kill him. In the ensuing power struggle between these two leaders, Tang Fan tries to escape with nothing but the skin on his back and rescue the missing children as well.

Just as he’s about to be caught and killed, the cavalry finally arrives.

Introduction Post | Masterpost

—

Highlights under the cut

Tang Fan has been doing his best to waste time, but Sui Zhou and the rest of them fail to show themselves time after time, so even if he has a hundred tricks under his sleeves, they are futile against someone with real skills.

Feeling entirely helpless, Tang Fan knows that he cannot outrun his opponent. Resigning himself to his fatal fate, he ends up closing his eyes and waits for death without struggle.

After a few breaths however, when the steel sword that is supposed to deliver the final blow to his head fails to land and the expected pain does not come, in its place the sound of weapons clashing echo in his ears. He cannot help but open his eyes again, only to find that the situation before him has already changed completely!

The two buff men who were about to slash him to death collapse; one of them has a xiu chun blade stuck in his back, while the other one has an arrow embedded into his head. Other arrows fly towards the horses and land on other bodies. The herd of horses, frightened and hurt, throw their riders onto the ground.

Deng Xiu Cai is both furious and stunned, immediately shouting to his men, “Hurry and run!”

However, it’s obvious that he is already half a step too late, and from the forests in front of them, four figures descend and rush towards Deng Xiu Cai and his men. A closer look shows that it is indeed Sui Zhou and the others!

Sui Zhou’s hands are empty, and it is not difficult to see that it was he who threw out his xiu chun blade, ending the life of one of the men who was about to kill him.

Tang Fan hollers, “Your blade is here!”

He pulls the xiu chun blade out from the dead man’s back and uncaring of the blood splattering on his body, he flings the blade towards Sui Zhou. Sui Zhou leaps up beautifully and catches the blade in mid-air steadily, and with a backhand, he injures another bandit.

Deng Xiu Cai’s henchmen are not weak either, and especially that handful of his most trusted men, their skills are spoken for. Even at their best, with only Sui Zhou and his men’s return, they manage to get rid of several of Deng Xiu Cai’s men, but this is not enough to send them into panic.

The real factor that has turned the situation around is the cavalry that Wang Zhi has brought with him!

The arrows from before were all shot from the hands of Western Depot’s men.

As Wang Zhi approached from the distance with his army of men earlier, he first shot a first wave of arrows to assert his dominance in the fight, and then entering the battle after, this made it seem as if Sui Zhou had divine support. And it is this that has put pressure on Deng Xiu Cai and the rest.

Both sides fall into battle and it is only a matter of time before the winner and loser emerge.

However, Tang Fan is filled with trepidation - taking advantage of Deng Xiu Cai’s inattention, he runs towards the horse carriage that is filled with the children, because if he’s one step late, these children may be used by the panicking Nan Cheng Bang members as hostages.

The partition to the carriage is lifted at a corner and he sees that Ah Dong, who was supposed to be restrained and tied up, is crouched there looking outside. She is also hiding a few heads behind her as the children clutch at the corners of her clothes tightly, their expressions filled with fear. The only reason why they can move freely now is precisely because the broken ceramic piece that Tang Fan left Ah Dong has been useful. Ah Dong freed herself in the chaos, and then helped her little companions to get loose too.

This has definitely saved him some time and Tang Fan, delighted, runs over to the side of the carriage, taking Ah Dong and the other children one by one and putting them down on the ground. Then, he gets Ah Dong to bring the children to the huge rock on the side and hide behind, telling them that unless all the evil men are dead, they should not come out.

It is as he’s sombrely relaying his instructions when Sui Zhou yells, “Run Qing, move aside!”

Tang Fan’s head snaps around hard, and that is when he sees Deng Xiu Cai rushing towards him with a steel blade dripping in blood in hand. His face is twisted from insanity, his murderous intent plain to see. He is obviously reluctant to just give up despite the battle’s sudden turn of events which have led to his defeat, and intends to grab some of these children as hostages.

Although it was only but a slight moment when things changed, Deng Xiu Cai’s mind is extremely lucid, even though he looks as if he’s descended into insanity. He knows that catching Tang Fan as a hostage is useless as the man is only a minor official, and thus his efforts would be futile. Since Tang Fan is useless and can be given up on at any time, if Deng Xiu Cai is to find a hostage, his best bet would be to grab the two children of those two major officials. The two children are the real targets and the reason why the courts have chased the gang relentlessly. Deng Xiu Cai will truly be safe only if he catches both of them.

How would Tang Fan not know what he is thinking - Once Zhu Yong’s daughter lands into Deng Xiu Cai’s hands, no one will be able to stop him then, so without thinking about it, he does not hide to the side, but instead rushes at Deng Xiu Cai!

This action may seem foolish to bystanders who are not involved in the matter, because Tang Fan himself does not know the slightest bit of martial arts and is a normal person from head to toe. Moreover, he neither has any weapons in hand nor the ability to confront Deng Xiu Cai. This move of his is futile.

And yet, Tang Fan rushed at Deng Xiu Cai anyway. In that fraction of a moment, he does not move without reason, nor does he pretend - all he does is act out of unconscious instinct. In Tang Fan’s eyes, he does not think that he is of higher rank than the children just because he is an official, but it is precisely because he is an official, that all the more he should step up and protect the common people.

Fool!

Big fool!

A huge, huge fool!

Wang Zhi naturally sees this moment. He is a distance away and so is entirely unable to stop Deng Xiu Cai’s knife from approaching Tang Fan, and so he can only watch, while scolding Tang Fan loudly.

Sui Zhou is closer and originally, he would not have been able to make it, but he still intends to try with all his might, so he does not start yelling like Wang-gonggong and instead quickens his pace. Swift as lightning, as if he was just a black shadow, Sui Zhou lunges towards Deng Xiu Cai with his xiu chun blade in hand.

Unexpectedly, however, just as Deng Xiu Cai is about to strike at Tang Fan, Tang Fan suddenly grabs at something in his hold, and aggressively attacks Deng Xiu Cai with it. The object is black and there seems to be a few pieces of it. It resembles a concealed weapon, is very sharp and there seems to be some substance coated over it.

… could it be a concealed poisonous weapon?

Deng Xiu Cai’s face loses all its colour and the blade in his hands dances as he moves to protect his own body fully, only to hear the crisp sounds of that object being struck away, part of it shattering into pieces and dropping onto the ground. Deng Xiu Cai takes a look, and that anger he feels then!

What concealed weapon, it is clearly just a few broken pieces of a porcelain bowl! And the areas that looked like they were covered in poison, are simply the bowl’s blue patterns on its exterior!

At that moment, Deng Xiu Cai wants to cut Tang Fan up into pieces. However, a moment can change everything on the battlefield, and the few short seconds that Tang Fan earned with throwing out the bowl pieces is sufficient for Sui Zhou to arrive!

With immeasurable force, the xiu chun blade is driven towards Deng Xiu Cai with killing intent. The man has no choice but to turn away and deal with Sui Zhou with gritted teeth. His opportunity has vanished in a flash - with Tang Fan’s interference, Deng Xiu Cai has lost the best chance he had to take the children as hostage.

Shortly after, the Embroidered Uniform Guards follow, and so do the men from the Western Depot. Everyone knows that Deng Xiu Cai is the mastermind behind today’s events, so if they catch him, it would be a huge accomplishment.

The other culprits are caught and restrained one after the other, and this frees up some of the guards and Western Depot’s men who were dealing with them. They rush like a swarm of bees and have Deng Xiu Cai surrounded. Deng Xiu Cai’s defeat is set in stone - it is only a matter of time.

Tang Fan, who has managed to escape from the threat of a blade and survived, finally heaves a sigh of relief. After the fear of that moment, his body goes soft entirely and he simply sits on the ground.

“Da-ge, are you okay?” Ah Dong runs over to help him up.

“I’m fine,” he says wearily.

“Da-ge, you’re bleeding!” Ah Dong points at his neck.

Tang Fan touches at his neck and indeed there is a fine, thin trail of blood. He was probably in the line of fire when Deng Xiu Cai parried against the flying porcelain pieces and sent them flying again.

Ah Dong retrieves a handkerchief and gives it to him. This is the prize that Tang Fan won earlier at a game of riddles from the mid-autumn festival celebrations. At that time, Ah Dong had a pile of items in hand and just handkerchiefs alone she had three pieces. When would she use them, if not now?

Tang Fan casually presses the handkerchief over his neck, and caressing at her head, he says, “Go take care of those little brothers and sisters, don’t let them run around.”

Ah Dong agrees, and turns around to leave.

Then, from behind Tang Fan, a snort is heard, “How pathetic!”

He doesn’t even have to turn around to know who it is.

“Why did Wang-gonggong not head over to help, and is relaxing here instead?”

Wang Zhi replies, “The result of this battle has been set. As long as the case is solved, the credit comes to me, so why should I personally involve myself?”

Tang Fan says, “Didn’t you go in the direction of that state route, how did you get here so quickly?”

“That time, after you went into the small roads, I turned back to the official’s post and found some horses, then sent out two batches of men and got them to go around both state routes to give chase, and then came over here to find you. The journey in between, going and returning, and then having to find horses, this wasted quite a bit of time, otherwise I wouldn’t have only turned up now. Those Embroidered Uniform Guards are truly useless. If it was the Western Depot going this route, we would have defeated this bunch of clowns much earlier, not to mention preventing you from landing in the hands of these bandits!”

Tang Fan sighs, but it looks as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, “Who is to blame? I told you earlier that we should take this route, but you refused to believe me and wasted so much time! We already caught a Nan Cheng Bang member earlier, but who knew he still had a knife on him and severed two fingers, then deceived us. Sui Zhou and the rest, there were only four of them, and fearing that they would not have enough men, all they could do was focus on chasing their way up the mountains. Your arrival was timely and these bandits are on the brink of death, otherwise I figure I would have to die here as well!”

He continues, “The reason why Deng Xiu Cai and the rest of them came out of the cellar in the ground is because Nan Cheng Bang has a stockaded village up ahead on the mountains and they can head towards there to temporarily wait for danger to pass. When you take them back later, remember to ask for the exact location. It will be best to eliminate the village entirely as well. Also, Deng Xiu Cai’s small number of men does not fully make up Nan Cheng Bang’s full extent of power. There must be some other connections in various points of the city. I would like to request that Wang-gonggong roots our all sources of evil and eliminate their operations entirely.”

Wang Zhi’s brows furrow and it is obvious that he is unwilling to go the extra mile, because in his eyes, his mission is complete now that they have successfully found the children.

Tang Fan happens to turn his head at the same time and seeing Wang Zhi’s expression, he too knows what the man is thinking of, and says, “Nan Cheng Bang has connections to the White Lotus Sect.”

Wang Zhi freezes, “Is that for real?”

Tang Fan nods, “That’s what I heard for myself in the basement. The Nan Cheng Bang is only a faction under the White Lotus Sect, and is also one of the sect’s sources of funds, but because Deng Xiu Cai was reluctant to take orders from others, there was an internal disagreement between him and the sect’s head ambassador and this led to her death. After you catch Deng Xiu Cai, you can try searching him, there should be a White Lotus Sect token on him.”

Li Zilong’s demonic ways once made members of the palace fearful, and after investigations proved that he is connected to the White Lotus Sect, whenever these three words are officially placed in front of others, people have no choice but to take it seriously.

It is a pity that in these two years, even with the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Eastern and Western Depots investigating secretly, not much progress has been had. This organization is hidden too deep, so much so that even Wang Zhi and his men are unable to see anything amiss and can only catch some small fry to deal with this.

Now that the link between the Nan Cheng Bang and the White Lotus Sect has surfaced, Tang Fan does not need to say more; even the Jing city’s underworld leaders such as Boss Lai and Six Fingers Li, Wang Zhi and his men will naturally investigate them as well.

In the span of their conversation, despite Deng Xiu Cai’s extraordinary martial arts skills, he is still unable to overcome his opponent’s advantage in numbers, and is finally caught.

Not counting those who were shot dead from indiscriminately flying arrows and those who were killed in the battle, there are seven people alive, including Nan Cheng Bang’s second and third in-charge. More importantly, Zhu Yong’s young daughter, Official Geng’s grandson and the other children are unhurt, only shocked.

After powering through the night, even though their meritorious contribution lies before their eyes, no one has the energy to celebrate with everyone’s deep exhaustion showing on their faces. If this is the case for those who are trained in martial arts, then for a normal person like Tang Fan, his various experiences of near-death is truly way above his pay grade.

The horse carriage that Deng Xiu Cai and his men prepared to transport the children with is still being used for the same purpose, the only difference being the destination and direction.

Tang-daren, immensely exhausted and sporting injuries from head to toe, also cannot be bothered to ride on a horse alone. Afraid of dozing off halfway and falling off, Tang Fan shares a ride with Sui Zhou directly.

Everyone is tired and the horses’ pace is not quick either, and coupled with the uneven roads, Tang Fan who is sitting behind Sui Zhou, dozes off under this rhythm and his drool even drenches Sui Zhou’s back.

Sui-qianhu looks towards the sky, speechless.

===

Notes:

*绣春刀 xiu chun dao

A special blade that only Embroidered Uniform Guards are given.

*风紧扯呼 feng jin chi hu

This is described as 黑话 (hei hua), and literally translated means black/dark words. These are code words frequently used between thieves and bandits, and means to hurry and run/escape.

*南城帮 nan cheng bang

Literally translated it means Southern City Gang, but I left it as Nan Cheng Bang because it sounds better XD Although ‘bang’… I’m not sure if that sounds better.

*以卵击石 yi luan ji shi

Metaphoric idiom, literally meaning to strike at a rock with eggs. This is used to describe taking on an opponent or challenge with useless weapons/attacks.

*官道 guan dao

I don’t have a much better translation for this except for state roads, or literally translated, this would mean a channel (route) used by officials. A search translated this as ‘state highway’, but I left it as state route instead.

*拿着卖白菜的钱，干着卖小命的活 na zhe mai bai cai de qian, gan zhe mai xiao ming the huo

Literally means to be paid very little (the amount you would pay to buy some cabbage) to do work that will lead to your death. In Tang Fan’s case, it means that he’s being paid peanuts (if at all) to put his life on the line for the case.

*千户 qian hu

There are four ranks within the Embroidered Uniform Guards - 千户 (qian hu)、百户 (bai hu)、总旗 (zong qi)、小旗 (xiao qi) arranged highest to smallest rank, aside from the Commander 统领官 (zong ling guan).

#the sleuth of ming dynasty #成化十四年 #cheng hua's fourteenth year #fanzhou #tang fan #sui zhou #tsomd #tsomd novel #translations #ahahahaha i'm alive and i am sort of back #sorry for the wait #this one was a bit tough to translate #sorry if it reads a little weird and confusing #i translated this for sui zhou calling tang fan 'run qing' as always #and tang fan drooling on sui zhou's back

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minmotl · 4 years

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Chapter 27: Sui Zhou & Tang Fan Living Happily with Each Other (Among Other Things)

Context: After arresting Li Man (Tang Fan’s ex-landlord) for the murder of his wife, Tang Fan and Sui Zhou are trying to find the man’s missing concubine who is a suspected member of the White Lotus Sect. Li Lin is Li Man’s son, who now owns Ah Dong and the house that Tang Fan was staying in previously. More importantly, Tang Fan moves in with Sui Zhou and begins a life of being pampered by Sui Zhou and Ah Dong.

Introduction Post | Masterpost

—

Highlights under the cut

Sui Zhou lives in a house with three sections and courtyards, if a large family lives here, it would be a tight squeeze for everyone, but if Sui Zhou is the only occupant, then the house is ridiculously spacious. Adding Tang Fan to the house is only too easy; there are three main bedrooms, and three side chambers. Aside from the room Sui Zhou is staying in and the single side chamber he uses for storage, the other two main rooms and smaller chambers are offered to Tang Fan for his choosing.

Note: No rent needed.

Tang Fan never thought of staying for free, but Sui Zhou does not lack his bit of rental money, and even if Tang Fan didn’t move in, Sui Zhou would still be the only occupant in this huge house.

Since Sui-baihu said that he will not take any money from Tang Fan with a cold look, Tang-daren does not insist, but whenever he is free, he will buy some rice and noodles and bring it home, together with some other groceries as well. This is equivalent to taking on the food expenses, and this, Sui Zhou does not refuse.

Tang Fan picked a smaller chamber for his own room, not because he’s being courteous and doesn’t dare to stay in a main room, but because the chamber he’s in faces East, and when he opens his door, he can immediately see the courtyard. The view there is pretty good, and when he’s free, he can even grow various plants and flowers under the pillars of the yard.

On a rest day, Tang Fan moves his thing over.

Li Lin didn’t expect that before he could deal with Tang Fan, the man managed to find new accommodations so soon.

Ah Dong’s situation was solved similarly quick, and while Tang Fan could not handle this matter directly, Sui Zhou does not share the same concerns as he.

He didn’t even have to turn up to solve this in person. All the guards from the Northern Administrative Court had to do was station themselves at the Li family’s house, saying that Li Man’s case has not yet been solved and that they intend to take some of the people in the house back for questioning. So the guards grabbed Ah Chun, Ah Qiu, Ah Dong and the other servants, then returned them, and then took them back to the court again, then brought them back, and then to the courts again. Just a few trips like that and the Li family was unable to tolerate it anymore. Steward Li spoke to the guards and begged them to show mercy, even shoving two silvers at them, but the guards refused. In the end, the Li family could only give up the slave contracts — not only Ah Dong’s, but even Ah Chun’s.

Lady Zhang is no longer here and Ah Chun is not willing to stay in the Li family. Her greatest wish is to regain her freedom and find someone to marry. Previously, Li Lin wanted her to become his concubine, but she was unwilling, so Tang Fan decided to play Good Samaritan thoroughly. Since he agreed to save Ah Dong, he would bring Ah Chun out as well. Ah Qiu is willing to stay in the Li family, so Tang Fan left her to it.

Within three days, everything is settled and Tang Fan cannot help but sigh in awe of the Northern Administrative Court’s efficiency. Moreover, they can do what others cannot, so it is no wonder everyone’s faces change when they hear of the words ‘Embroidered Uniform Guards’.

Ah Dong was sold to the Li family when she was young, and she has nowhere to go after leaving the Li family. The only thing she can do is come and look for Tang Fan.

However, Tang Fan does not hold onto Ah Dong’s slave contract. He instead burns it in front of her, telling her that he will take her in as his adopted sister. Tang Fan adopts her before she is 15 years old, and after that, if she would like to marry, he will not keep her. When that time comes, he will naturally put together a dowry for her and find her a good family.

Of course, Ah Dong is more than willing and immediately begins to call him da-ge. And for Ah Dong who never had a surname, from now onwards, there is a surname in front of her name - Tang Dong.

The house originally had two adult men who left early and returned late, and the housework was usually done by temporary workers. Even if Sui Zhou knows how to cook, it’s impossible for him to have time to cook everyday. After Ah Dong arrived, they do not even need to hire temporary workers. She cooks the food, took the initiative to take on all the housework, and even though she’s young and a little greedy for food and playful, she’s meticulous when she works. It takes no more than two days for the interior and exterior of the house to look entirely new, and she even planted plenty of different plants and flowers. Sui Zhou and Tang Fan are very satisfied with this.

From here on, Tang-daren begins a happy life, absent of the worries of household cleaning chores and cooking.

***

Tang-daren’s life cohabiting with Sui Zhou is entirely too comfortable.

He managed to get several types of seeds to plant in the courtyard and Ah Dong is responsible for taking care of them. Some of the flowers they bought are already blooming well and shortly, the originally empty space is filled with a myriad colours, blooming with vibrance, and the courtyard is suddenly looking more alive.

Tang-daren doesn’t have much skills when it comes to cooking, but he searched for quite a lot of external recipes and says that he’s teaching Ah Dong how to improve the standards of her cooking.

During one of his rest days, as Ah Dong is cooking, a Tang-daren with nothing on his hands starts to recite recipes at Ah Dong, “Wash the plum flowers clean, cook the porridge with snow-melted water, and when it’s cooked, put the plum flowers in and cook them together…”

It’s so noisy that Ah Dong covers her ears and whines, “Da-ge, I’m illiterate, whatever you’re reciting right now, I don’t understand it at all!”

Tang-daren looks so innocent when he says, “It’s not that difficult to understand, is it? Come here, I’ll teach you how to identify characters first. What ‘washing the plum flowers clean’ means, is picking up the fallen petals of plum flowers in the winter, collecting them, washing them clean and then adding it to porridge cooked with melted snow water…”

“But it’s not winter now, where do the plum flowers come from?”

“It can be substituted with plenty of other alternatives. Not just plum flowers, but black locust flowers or pear blossoms, these can be mixed with the porridge, and there are also different effects using different flowers.”

Ah Dong blinks, “But what does plum flower porridge taste like, isn’t it a mouthful of flower petals?”

“… you’re such a spoilsport. Fine, then let’s switch to something else. Erm… here it is! This dish is called Huai Ye Tao. We have to specially pick leaves from the top of the locust tree, pound it and mix it into thin noodle strips. After it’s cooked, we put it into cold water for a soak, and it becomes cold noodles. Then we slice up some garlic, add some vinegar and drizzle it together over the noodles with oil. Oh right, isn’t there a locust tree behind the house? It’s summer too, how about we try this one?”

Ah Dong is drooling too, “This sounds like it’ll be really delicious, and the locust tree isn’t very tall, why not I try tomorrow?”

Tang Fan protests, “No way, you’re still young, what if you fall? You can count on your da-ge in times like this, I’ll go pick the leaves.”

“Huh? Da-ge, you can climb trees?”

“Of course, when I was younger I too was energetic, climbing trees and getting into rivers, why, you don’t believe me?”

Ah Dong looks him up and down properly, and shakes her head.

Tang Fan rolls up his sleeves gleefully and says, “If you don’t believe me, I’ll climb one now to show you. It’s still early anyway, once I pick the leaves, let’s have this for dinner!”

“But I’m already cooking the rice, and it’s better if you don’t go. What if you fall and end up getting scolded by Sui da-ge?

Tang Fan responds, “It’s alright. He’s still reading in the study and won’t have any time to care about what we’re doing for a while.”

As soon as he says this, he turns around and sees the person standing right behind him.

Tang Fan laughs awkwardly, “Guang Chuan-xiong, you’re done so soon?”

Sui Zhou nods, “I heard that Tang-daren is going to climb a tree, so I’m here specially to observe.”

Tang Fan sweats, “What’s there to see when a person is climbing a tree? I’m doing this so everyone can eat more delicious food, don’t you want to try it too?”

“Who’s the one said he wanted to try some Ba Xia Gong the last time, insisted that I bring a rabbit home and then treat the meat with some ancient recipe? In the end it was both sour and bitter, we couldn’t eat even a bit of it,” Sui Zhou says with a stoic expression.

Tang Fan carefully wipes at his sweat, “That was an accident. I forgot that we had to marinate it with alcohol first.”

“Then who was the one who courageously declared that he would make us bamboo shoot soup, and ended up ruining the entire pot?”

“…”

Ah Dong pops her head from the back and betrays Tang Fan without hesitation, “It was da-ge!”

Tang-daren is lectured extensively, unable to lift his head. After Sui Zhou points out his abysmal record, he takes Tang Fan out of the kitchen with him and says, “So you should just be responsible for eating. Going into the kitchen is not suitable for you.”

With this, Tang-daren’s reputation as a rice bucket is cemented.

An expressionless Sui Zhou continues to chide him as they walk away, “Next time when Ah Dong is cooking, don’t go in and disturb her anymore.”

Well aware that he’s at fault, Tang Fan accepts the scolding, “Yes yes yes!”

“Just eat whatever Ah Dong makes, don’t keep coming up with strange recipes for Ah Dong to try, and if you want something fancy, we can go to a restaurant outside.”

Tang-daren nods profusely, “Yes yes yes!”

“Also, you have to eat lesser in the evenings. It’s okay to indulge once in a while with snacks, but this cannot be done every day. Ah Dong told me once that when she was helping you to clean your room, she found some leftover pastry crumbs under your table, and in the beginning she thought we had rats in the house.”

“Yes yes yes!”

Tang-daren feels entirely helpless, and thinks, when I was living alone this was how I lived, so why is it now that after I adopted a sister, made another friend, it seems that I’ve suddenly found two nagging mothers for myself?

After some time staying under the same roof with Sui Zhou, Tang Fan realizes that the man’s life is so simple that it’s bordering on dry and boring.

Usually when it comes to leaving for work, Sui Zhou and Tang Fan will leave the house at about the same time, and even though they come home at different times, they still manage to enjoy dinner together often.

After dinner, they would chat for a while before going back to their own study rooms to read, and they sometimes will have a game of chess or something similar, but Sui Zhou’s game skills are only average and he basically loses every round, suffering defeat at the hands of Tang Fan.

It is common for the Northern Administrative Court to have endless amounts of things to handle, endless numbers of records to read, criminals to catch and secrets that they have to investigate. Compared to Tang Fan, it is several times busier at the court as they have to deal with matters inside the palace, and also outside of it.

When one is at Sui Zhou’s position, it is often that he has to pull several all-nighters without returning home, but Sui Zhou is serious and sombre in nature, unlike other men who occasionally go out to eat, drink, gamble and visit brothels. His life is even simpler than Tang Fan’s.

Tang-daren feels that as a friend, he has a duty to change the lack of fun in Sui Zhou’s life, so when he’s free he thinks of various ideas, hoping to spice up Sui Zhou’s free time.

Just like what he’s doing now.

“Here, xiong-di, these are novels I’ve kept for many years. If you’ve got some time, don’t always bury your head in work, you’ll get old easily like this. I know that your duties are important, but we have to live well too, am I right?”

Tang Fan puts a stack of books on the table, and smiles at Sui Zhou.

Spending so much time with Tang-daren has taught Sui Zhou that under the man’s gentle and elegant appearance, Tang Fan can be rather eccentric and unorthodox, and so hearing what Tang Fan said, he puts down his brush and helplessly leafs through the books.

He says, “I’ve read all of these.”

“You’ve read them all?” Tang Fan asks, stunned. Indeed, a book cannot be judged by its cover, he really could not tell!

Sui Zhou replies, “Some time back the disciples from White Lotus Sect used books to spread rumours and confuse the public, so the Northern Administrative Court needed to check all the books in the market, in case malicious actors used the books as an excuse to commit treason.”

He gets to the last book and takes it out, “What is this about?”

Tang-daren goes ‘oh’, and sheepishly, he says, “I wrote that.”

“…”

===

Notes:

*百户 bai hu

*三进 san jin

Houses during this era are all measured by how many 进 (jin) it has. A proper house would have several courtyards, sections and chambers, and every enclosed courtyard is consider one jin. From a visual perspective, each rectangle section formed in the house regardless of the size is considered one jin. It’s pretty interesting and you can take a look at a diagram of how the house is sectioned here.

*主房, 厢房 zhu fang, xiang fang

A courtyard is usually surrounded by four room sections, and the two longer ones are considered bigger main rooms/houses, while the smaller ones are considered chambers. You can take a look at the diagrams here.

*春夏秋冬 chun xia qiu dong

The four seasons - spring 春 (chun), summer 夏 (xia) autumn 秋 (qiu) winter 冬 (dong). The Li family had four servants, Ah Dong being one of them, and it’s common to name girls after the seasons, so the servants were named Ah Chun, Ah Xia, Ah Qiu and Ah Dong.

*大哥 da ge

Older brother. You can call any male slightly older than you da ge.

*槐叶冷淘 huai ye leng tao

The novel names it huai ye tao, this is a historic cold noodle dish.

*拨霞供 ba xia gong

A rabbit meat dish.

*饭桶 fan tong

Literally translated means rice bucket (fan tong). Rice bucket can be understood to refer to a person with a bottomless pit for food, but is also used as a metaphor for a useless person. First referenced in Chapter 8.

*兄弟 xiong di

Meaning brother. This can be meant for like bros - brothers or actual biological brothers. You can also use both characters separately, with xiong used for a male your age or older, and di for someone younger. Tang Fan calls Sui Zhou Guang Chuan-xiong quite frequently.

*人不可貌相 ren bu ke mao xiang

An idiom that is equivalent to ‘don’t judge by a book by its cover’. It means simply not to judge a person from their looks, but the idiom works well in this case.

*《拾珍记》、《一枝花话》、《莺莺传》、《取经诗话》、《武王伐纣平话》、《金玉良缘》、《多情记》、《梨花缘记》

In the novel they do name all the books that Tang Fan tries to get Sui Zhou to read towards the end of the chapter, but it’s really hard to translate, so I didn’t attempt, but the books that Tang Fan chose are mostly fiction (erotica or not) and the one Tang Fan wrote himself is the last one in the list above called Li Hua Yuan Ji which translates roughly to The Story of the Pear Blossoms.

#the sleuth of ming dynasty #tsomd #tsomd novel #成化十四年 #fanzhou #fanzhou highlights #novel translations #tang fan #sui zhou

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