Chapter 23 – Fourty Thousand: A Debt Collecting Ghost's Story
Because the An Hua Junzhu had led the noble girls back to Bodhi Temple earlier, the ladies of the families in the temple had more or less heard of what happened in the mountain. Due to reputation, An Hua Junzhu’s mother did not dare to wantonly make it public. She gave gifts to every family there, implying that they should not talk, and immediately returned home.
Wang Lao Furen was the host for this time’s Buddha prayer. Every family came through her invitation. When she saw Xiao Guifei's closely related Saosao hastily leave without a greeting, suspicions rose in her heart and she immediately sent someone out to ask. The situation was still fine when she hadn’t asked, but once she asked, it felt like the heavens were falling and the earth was cracking.
Blu: saosao - older brother’s wife, a.k.a. sister-in-law //
"This is impossible! How can it be that my beloved grandson is such a wanton savage!" Although Lao Furen refused to admit it, she was disturbed inside. Lin shi rushed to the temple gate with a pale face, wanting to see if her obedient son is back yet.
As soon as their group arrived, they saw a convoy rushing over, and a group of young men jumped out of the carriage one after another. When they saw the Wang's family, they did not salute them nor clasp their hands and bow; they didn’t even nod their heads in greeting. They simply made a detour as if avoiding a viper. You Shu also drifted with the crowd. Looking at Lin-shi's eyes, he saw a cloud of black mist attached to her back. A man's face suddenly appeared, then a woman's head suddenly popped out. After a few breaths, it changed to five or six ghosts’ shadows. This just illustrated how many sins she had committed throughout her life.
You Shu walked past her without a glance, causing her to repeatedly look over, her eyes resentful. The black mist behind her which had disappeared instantly under the intimidation of the two ghost children, only gathered back together when the youth was far away.
Seeing her family’s carriage, Lin-shi couldn't afford to question the strange behavior of the crowd, and quickly took a few steps to lift the carriage curtain. She saw her son bound with his arms tied behind his back in a corner and her daughter continuously crying, as if she had been greatly wronged. The pair of children were Lin-shi's reverse scale. While letting the servant help the brother and sister down the carriage, she grabbed and angrily shouted at Fang Yi, who was at the back and similarly supporting his younger sister, "You have such guts to dare to bind my son! "
Samui: had to bit of research for this one reverse scale comes from the saying ‘touching the reverse scale (which is a dragon’s scale)’ meaning ‘offending the emperor, or a man of power’ - basically it means ‘touching that person’s bottom line’
"So what if I bound him? I still want to kill him! You do not have to look for a quarrel with me. You’d better think well about how to calm down the anger of Gui Fei niangniang and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Fang Yi was young and vigorous, and immediately contradicted her. While Lin-shi was shocked, he shook her off and hurried away. He also has grievances that he wanted to turn back and say. If the An Hua Junzhu cannot be touched, then can his sister be trampled on as they please? What does the Wang family think his Fang family is? A dog?
Blu: niangniang - addressing or referring to an empress or an imperial concubine. Update: Can also be used by mothers.
Lao Furen saw that everyone was avoiding the Wang family and saw her granddaughter crying while scolding her brother. She felt even more unsettled. It can’t be that her grandson really humiliated the An Hua Junzhu? How did it happen?
She hadn’t gotten the specific details, so she still felt that the situation could be saved. She made the servant girl bring her granddaughter into the room to secretly interrogate and think about some countermeasures. Wang Junxi knew that her mother was born in a low-ranking family. She lacked knowledge and experience and only knew how to fight for affections. When she encountered major events, she became unreliable. Her reputation was damaged and her marriage might be cancelled. Only Lao Furen who was born in a wealthy family had the skill to mediate for her, so she spilled everything in full detail.
Wang Lao Furen looked like she suffered a heavy blow. She was overwhelmed with fear, she jabbed her granddaughter on the forehead while scolding ‘evil creature’. What ‘peerless child prodigy’? What ‘Third Young Master of the Capital’? He turned out to be a sex hungry maniac, but now that he has been stripped of his human skin revealing his true colours and even bullied a royal. How to settle this? HOW TO SETTLE THIS AH?
Wang Lao Furen held her head and slowly toppled over. Before she fainted, she exerted herself and ordered, "Quickly, quickly send word to Lao Taiye and Laoye!"
Blu: Lao Taiye - the grandfather /// Laoye - the father
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While the Wang family would be in turmoil and chaos for a while, You Shu carefreely ran to the kitchen and asked for two hot buns from a monk warming himself by the fire.
He only cares about eating here, and Ji Changye, who is playing chess with Wei Shizi , felt uneasy from time to time. Although Ah Da delivered a letter saying that he would secretly follow You Shu and would definitely make sure that he was safe, all sorts of dangerous scenes kept flashing through his mind when he thought of You Shu being in the same place as Wang Tian You.
Pata
He threw away the chess piece in his hand and profoundly inquired, "The back of the mountain seems to have a cliff called Tiger Leap Cliff. The terrain is very dangerous?"
"Exactly, I heard that a few people fall to their deaths every year." Wei Shizi didn’t understand why Ji Changye was asking.
Ji Changye’s heart trembled. He suddenly stood up and walked out. Because his movements were too urgent, the chessboard was overturned. Wei Shizi, who was rained on by black and white chess pieces, quickly chased after him and asked him what happened.
Ji Chanye didn't answer but just called Ah Er to prepare the horse. He just walked to the gate of the courtyard when he saw You Shu strolling over.
"Master ..." The boy was expressionless, but he showed two dimples on his cheeks, looking very cute and obedient. He walked two steps, spread his arms, like a nestling returning to his nest.
Ji Changye’s high-strung heart came crashing down and pulled him to his side with somewhat rough movements. He fumbled his body up and down. When he saw that You Shu’s chest had two bulges like a woman, his expression changed. Wei Shizi was also very surprised, and quickly set looked away in embarrassment, "It turned out that You Shu really was a woman who was dressed as a man. Previously, this Shizi was very rude, please forgive me." You Shu, You Shu, no wonder he felt that this name was lady-like. She was also too beautiful.
Samui: You Shu in characters means ‘There’s a beauty’, unfortunately this is a very hard joke to get across in a translation
You Shu’s forehead twitched slightly. Stretching his hand into his lapel, he took out the two big white buns hidden on his chest. The two little ghosts who accompanied him fell to the ground with laughter, Wei Shizi's complexion kept changing, and finally held his fist to his lips, so as not to be rude, but there was still a “puchi puchi (laughter)” sound leaking from the corner of his mouth.
But Ji Changye could not laugh. He forced the young boy into his arms, reprimanding, "You know very well that Wang Tian You has no good intentions towards you, why would you still go out with him? When did my You Shu become so dumb?"
"I ..." You Shu just raised his head when he realized that he could not leak out the existence of the two little ghosts, so he had to obediently confess his mistakes and promise that there won’t be a next time.
Only after he promised did Ji Changye felt relieved. Seeing that the youth was comfortably nesting in his arms, rubbing his chest with his hairy head, Ji Changye’s face was full of nostalgia but he began to regret it again. He had finally made up his mind to drift apart from Yuo Shu and let him learn to be independent, but why - during the short 2 hours of separation - did his heart frequently feel like he was sitting on needles and having thorns on his back? If he blindly spoils him, protects him, and continuously brings him under his wings to protect him from the wind and rain, not only will his feelings for himself not whittle away, but will only deepen even further. When the time comes for him to leave, how will he set off on his own? How will he get married and have children?
So, for You Shu’s happiness and well-being, you should let go! He admonished himself and then gently pushes away the boy, pretending to be indifferent, "Alright, since you know that you are wrong, next time you should avoid people with ulterior motives. If you do not stand under a dangerous wall, then how can misfortune befall you?"
You Shu promised while stuffing the steamed buns back into his arms to prevent the heat from dissipating.
Wei Shizi was not interested in the grudges between the boy and Wang Tian You, and just looked at him and smiled. The youth is sometimes intelligent, sometimes well-behaved, and sometimes stupid, but no matter what his appearance is, it is so charming. No wonder someone as cold as Ji Changye was willing to break his character for him.
Ji Changye glanced at his good friend's pampering expression and the feeling of suffocation struck again. He collected himself and was about to send You Shu away, but You Shu had already started to leave because of the encouragement from the two little ghosts.
"Master, I’m going out to play and will come back for dinner. If you don’t see me after dinner time passes, you can eat it by yourself. I have food reserves here." The teenager patting his bloated chest did not look back as he left.
When he saw his back getting further and further, Ji Changye's face turned pale and fluctuated, and finally he looked at Wei Shizi, forcing a smile, "The child has grown up, he’s also very playful."
"This is the case for children of this age. If they are restrained for too long, they will be like a disconnected kite the moment they are released. And like a young swallow throwing itself into the forest, they will go and never return. You ah, you should let relax and don’t meddle too strictly. " Wei Shizi sincerely warned his good friend.
Samui: nothing of note here except HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS SPEECH IS. I prayed to never fall for the supporting character again after Huaisang (gotta love the man) but now, well Wei-gongzi, you have my heart /// Blu: Huaisang? who tf
Ji Changye repeatedly chewed over the words "go and never return". He couldn’t even keep the gentle mask on his face. His dark eyes are full of bitterness and the corners of his mouth are pressed into a strict straight line. If he completely let go, would You Shu really leave? Thinking of the child who always loved and depended on him, he shook his head ... and then shook his head again.
Under the guidance of two little ghosts, You Shu climbed up a large tree growing on the wall of the courtyard and looked out of the wall through the dense branches and leaves. It was the courtyard where the Wang family lived. There was a crowd of people in the courtyard and scolding was heard from time to time. It seemed that a conflict was erupting.
Two groups were pushing and shoving each other for a while when he finally saw Wang Lao Furen slowly walking out with the help of Lin-shi, holding two strings of charred black beads in hand hand, saying with certainty, "If you don’t believe it, then get these beads checked by Master Xuan Ming to see if the old man was lying. My grandson did not deliberately go mad, but because of a disaster caused by ghosts! I have discussed with Master Xuan Ming and will chant the scriptures for him tomorrow at wushi (11 am to 1pm). My son had already gone to apologize and explain the cause to Gui Fei niangniang and Your Highness the Crown Prince. If you have doubts, you can go to the prayer place tomorrow and watch. "
The middle-aged woman who has been constantly hurling abuse came out from among the crowd and took the two beads to see and smell. The beads have been burnt black and accompanied by a stench. When they held it, they just felt a ray of cold wind drill into the body along the acupuncture point of the palm, seeming like it wanted to invade. The middle-aged woman, who was the mother of Fang Yi and Fang Fang, originally thought that the Wang family was making excuses, but this scene shocked her and made her believe about 70 - 80% of the story.
She threw away the beads as if she had been burned, and sneered, "Then I will come back tomorrow and see what Master Xuan Ming has to say."
Wang Lao Furen personally sent her to the door. She waited for the group to walk away before looking at Lin-shi and instructed, "Leave a string of beads for purification and send a string of beads to the Crown Prince’s fu. Please ask His Royal Highness to invite an expert to have a look. This proves that my grandson and granddaughter are innocent." Fortunately, there are ghosts to take the blame, and the Wang family will not suffer a severe blow this time.
Blu: fu - official residence
"Master Xuan Ming is very powerful?" Watching till here, You Shu communicated with the ghosts in his mind.
"Very powerful, not worse than the living Buddha in the north" The ghost boy looked terrified and continued, "Following the resentment on the beads, he can easily find us."
You Shu thought for a moment, fished out a steamed bun from his arms, broke it in half, bit his fingertip and dripped a drop of blood, and comforted, "Don't be afraid, have something to eat to relax."
Samui: og translation was “Don’t be afraid, something to eat is overwhelming” and like... nah
The two little ghosts immediately rejoiced, took the offered steam bun and chewed, and said vaguely, "Master Xuanming is not as impressive and daren is not as impressive as daren’s Master."
Blu: daren - title of respect towards superiors
"En, Master is invincible." You Shu deeply completely agreed and couldn't resist squeezing out the small dimples on his cheek.
THE CORNER
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