The Strategy of Washing Clean a Slag Shou Chapter 31
The Prince's escaped fiancée (Arc 2-14)
Yancheng was situated at the border of the South China Sea, isolated from the Central Plains and Jiuzhou. This made travel and business dealings difficult, and gradually came to be viewed as uncivilized territory.
Although the customs of the inhabitants here were considered uncouth, the place was nonetheless an important military hub. The Imperial Court had long set up patrols made up of Yancheng soldiers to guard the borders of the territory from foreign invaders.
Due to this system, Jianzhou had been able to receive information on the Wokou pirates' invasion almost as soon as it occurred. Regrettably however, the elaborate dealings of the Imperial Court, with the Emperor and his courtiers each too busy minding their own interests, meant that the relief troops were not dispatched in a timely manner.
The once beautiful and tranquil coastal city was ravaged by the war, and was now all the more eager to usher in their saviour.
Su Yang was arranged to be housed in the army's relay station with Jing Cheng. As the days passed, he saw less and less of Jing Cheng. The man would be missing every time he opened his eyes in the morning. Only when the sun began to set would Jing Cheng hurry back to shower him with affection.
{T/N: Relay station, probably looked like . It was where ancient intelligence officials (the kind in charge of handling information) would stay to rest and eat and change their horses for fresh mounts}
Su Yang was kissed till he felt dizzy from lack of air. He could feel the growing chill within him slowly leave his body.
The weather at the coastal city of Yancheng was cool and refreshing, the climate pleasant and hospitable. But Su Yang hated it. Every night, his body would break into a cold sweat. He would wrap himself up in several layers of thick quilts each time, but could not escape the icy touch in his bones.
Only when Jing Cheng was by his side, would this discomfort subside.
Jing Cheng touched his face. “Why have you grown thin again?”
Su Yang puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. “Not thin! Ate a lot of fish! Getting fat!”
“Greedy little cat.” Jing Cheng pinched his nose teasingly. “Don't just eat meat, you should eat your rice and vegetables as well. Don't be a picky eater.”
Su Yang immediately pulled a long face at the mention of vegetables, and wordlessly buried his face in Jing Cheng's chest. He began to whine, “Fūjūn, when can we leave this place, Yu-er doesn't like it here.”
Jing Cheng asked, “Why, has someone made you unhappy?”
“No.” Su Yang shook his head, and said, “It's cold everyday, the wind outside is always blowing. It feels like winter. At night, even with the quilts, my hands are still cold.”
As if to prove the truth of his words, he used his icy little paws to grasp Jing Cheng's cheeks.
His palms were as delicate and smooth as high quality silken tofu, but the frigid touch sent chills down one's spine. Jing Cheng reached up and covered his icy hands with his own, the emotions veiled in his dark eyes.
He tugged Su Yang's hands down and stuffed them against his chest, trying to use his own body heat to warm them, to no avail.
He said in a gently comforting manner, “Wait a little while, it won't be cold for long, just wait a while longer alright….” Whether the lie was for Su Yang or himself, was anyone's guess.
Su Yang merely thought that this was all due to the local climate, and nodded obediently. His eyes curved playfully as he said, “Fūjūn, stay with Yu-er more often, then Yu-er won't, won't feel cold!”
Jing Cheng looked at his pale, wan cheeks which still tried to pull up in a smile, and the painful feeling in his chest grew.
Back then, the Great Master Jue Qing owed him a debt of gratitude, and gifted him with the priceless horse Red Shadow and the Tiānshān Lock as repayment. But he did not leave Jing Cheng with the world's only key.
The Great Master's whereabouts was unknown. Fortunately enough, Red Shadow was familiar with his tracks and the paths he tended to take. Cao Rui has already been travelling in search of him day and night. They only needed to wait a few more months, just a few more months.
{T/N: Cao Rui is Deputy General Cao}
Jing Cheng fingered the silvery white bracelet on Su Yang's wrist, his eyes filled with loathing.
He has mastery over the lore of Heavenly Stems and Earthly branches, and was also learned in the secret Tiāngāng arts of manipulation of the inner energies. But all this was useless against the deceptively slender looking chain. This must be retribution for his sins!
{T/N: 一甲子 (yī jiǎzǐ) : Stem-Branch or Gan-Zhi for short, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are the most important counting system in the Chinese calendar. Gan-Zhi is used to record days as well as in Feng Shui and divination. Now, it's not only applied for counting hour, day, month and year but also greatly used in Chinese astrology for fortune-telling.}
Su Yang noticed his peculiar behaviour, and asked anxiously, “Fūjūn, the Wokou pirates, are they very strong? Even Fūjūn can't win?”
Jing Cheng suppressed the look of turmoil in his eyes, and smirked, “Silly puppy, who do you think your Fūjūn is. These Wokou pirates are nothing more than a minor annoyance. They are barely worth your husband's attention.”
He pressed Su Yang close against his chest, and murmured, “I was just thinking, the days are growing cold. I will send for ginger tea to be prepared to warm your body.” He paused, then added sternly, “You must drink it.”
Su Yang pulled another long face. This ginger tea will be the end of him!!
However, Jing Cheng's forbidding expression brooked no argument. He nodded meekly.
Dawn had barely arrived when Jing Cheng received news of the enemy's movements. He immediately got up from their bed, and moved the room's heating stove to the bedside. He also stuffed a hand warmer into Su Yang's arms, before pulling on his armor and striding out.
{T/N: Chinese hand warmer (手炉) : pic. Used like this.}
As soon as he left, the supposedly soundly sleeping Su Yang immediately opened his eyes. His eyes darted about for a moment, before he got up as well.
The relay station was mostly occupied by the older veterans who had been guarding the borders for many years. Wherever he went, he was bound to hear snippets of discussion of the current fighting, and the Róng Wángye's godly military tactics which repeatedly routed the Wokou pirates' attacks and sent them back with their tails between their legs. Victory was just around the corner.
Su Yang grew bored after a brief listen. He had come out in search of the kitchens. Jing Cheng has decreed that his three daily meals be served with ginger tea, and he planned to seek out the kitchen ladies to plead his case and beg for mercy.
Suddenly, a sentence caught his attention: “But that Róng Wángfēi is a real oddball.”
Su Yang pricked up his ears and turned back. This ‘Róng Wángfēi' they are discussing, should be referring to himself right?
Another voice sounded out disapprovingly, “Watch what you're saying. The Róngwáng and the Wángfēi niángniáng are a deeply loving couple. Don't talk rubbish.”
“I'm not just shooting my mouth off,” the other retorted. “It is now the peak of summer. Our Yancheng may be cool and breezy, but the sun is still boiling hot during the day. But he not only keeps the bed heated, he even has three heating stoves in the room. You tell me, what kind of freak does that.”
The voice of an elderly woman joined in: “I say, the Wángyé had also instructed us to add ingredients that warm the body into each of the Wángfēi's meals, but to not let him know. My guess is that the Róng Wángfēi likely has some illness that makes him susceptible to cold. The Wángye's level of care is really praiseworthy ah.”
The first person echoed his agreement. “That's right. You tell me, the beautiful Young Master and son of the Minister, is now always looking pale and wan. Who knows if he has some kind of incurable disease.”
“The Wángye loves his Wángfēi so deeply. If anything were to happen to this little Young Master, how will the Wángye…..”
“Ai, such is fate…..”
Su Yang blinked in a daze. He stared at the hand warmer he was hugging to his chest, and said uncertainly, “According to them, I'm about to die very soon.”
The system remained silent.
Su Yang persisted, “You told me that the Tiānshān Chain is not life-threatening, right.”
The system paused, then replied, “The Tiānshān Chain is not deadly. But what you are wearing on your wrist is not the Tiānshān Chain, but the Tiānshān Lock.”
Su Yang: “……”
He frowned, “What suǒ suǒ suǒ, I don't understand you.”
{T/N: Reminder, the ‘chain' 索 and ‘lock' 锁 sound exactly the same, suǒ. What Su Yang hears is: The Tianshan XuanSuo is not deadly but you're wearing the Tianshan XuanSuo, not the Tianshan XuanSuo.}
The system explained, “Previously, you requested for information on the thin, silver chain; that was the Tiānshān Chain. But what you're wearing on your wrist now is not part of the Tiānshān Chain, but an entirely separate item.”
In a state of shock, Su Yang jabbed at the white screen that had appeared in front of him, and the previously purchased information came up. It was as the system had said, the high definition image only showed the silver chain, and did not include the bracelet.
Reminder: Would you like to purchase information on the [Tiānshān Lock] for 50 experience points? Click Ok to confirm or Cancel to exit.
Su Yang flew into a rage. “You damn conman!! I'm not buying anything!! You've known about this all along but you never said a word! You can wait till I'm good and dead, and get yourself a new contracted host!!”
The system fell silent. After a moment, it offered feebly, “Take it as a gift of friendship.”
Su Yang was still stewing. Nonetheless, his gaze moved back to the screen.
Tiānshān Lock (锁):
Material: Forged from the Tiānshān Chain, it contains the bitter cold of the arctic temperatures accumulated over thousands of years, and is several hundred times more powerful than the Tiānshān Chain.
Function: The ravaging cold will eventually destroy the vitality of the living body.
Origin: Great Master Jue Qing's labor of love.
Weakness: The rate of its destructive force will be impeded by the yáng forces of the Tiāngāng's Qi
Pros: The world's most perfect manacle; once worn, the foundations of the body will be destroyed. Capable of preserving a body from decay for millennia.
Cons: Insufficient experimental data, everything stated above is purely theoretical.
Su Yang: Motherfucker, I have something to say to you 🙂
The system: That was free of charge, be grateful.
Su Yang blew his top. “How much longer can this body last? The progress, what about the progress!”
“The progress bar has already reached 88% completion,” the system replied calmly. “Rest assured, you won't die for a while yet.”
It had been a while since Su Yang's legs last trembled this way. Unable to stand, he crouched down on the spot, still clutching the hand warmer that Jing Cheng had tucked into his arms this morning.
—–He had been too naive, to have actually believed that the bastard had meant him no harm. What should he do now.
He knew that Jing Cheng's men were always silently guarding him, hidden from view, watching his every move. He no longer cared. Deng! Deng! Deng! His footsteps pounded on the floorboards as he ran back upstairs and shut himself in his room.
He is afraid of dying.
Everyone fears death. He was no exception.
His eyes fell on the silvery white chain on his wrist. To think that such a fine and delicate looking thing could be so lethal.
Since the silver bracelet could not be taken off, how about chopping the hand off instead.
He chewed on his lower lip contemplatively. Losing a hand would hurt, but Jing Cheng was already rather fond of him. If he were to suffer such grievous injury, it was possible that Jing Cheng's heart would grieve enough to fill the progress bar and complete the mission in one fell swoop. Then he can immediately leave this world.
But what if Jing Cheng does not care? After all, he was the one who had personally fastened the bracelet onto his wrist, and has never taken it off after all this while. How sure was he that Jing Cheng was not looking forward to seeing him suffer?
And this body he was using, was too delicate and fragile. The ancient medical practices were miles behind the modern developments of medicine. Blood loss, festering of the wound, death from horrifying agony, all of these were possible.
What should he do…..
After receiving the news, Jing Cheng burned with impatience and anxiety. As soon as the arrangement of the troops' formations were completed, he immediately headed back.
He pushed open the doors to their room, but saw no one. His eyes roved around, and finally spotted the little puppy who had so thoroughly occupied his mind and heart. The boy was curled up in a corner, hugging his knees. His long, dark hair formed a startling contrast against his pale face, and his eyes were glimmering with tears that threatened to spill.
Jing Cheng's breath hitched in his chest. He hurried forwards and lifted the boy from the ground, chiding him gently, “The floors are cold, you could catch a chill. Don't do this again, alright.”
Su Yang suppressed the instinctive fear that rose, and rested his head on Jing Cheng's shoulder. He said softly, “So what if I catch a chill. Anyway, I don't-I don't have long to live.”
Jing Cheng's back stiffened. He said sternly, “Who told you this, who has filled your ears with nonsense! You have many years ahead of you, you will always be by my side, no one can take you away, not even God himself!”
His vehemence sent Su Yang's mind into confusion. This was what you wrought, you did this to me. And yet you have the gall to throw a fit at me, how shameless can you get!
Jing Cheng's eyes had turned red. Struggling to hold onto some semblance of sanity, he carefully laid the boy on the bed.
He crouched down in front of Su Yang, pulled his cold hands closer and placed them against his own chest. The room was warm, but like Su Yang's body, his heart was frozen in winter.
The mid year work rush is over, hopefully I will have more time to translate in a more timely manner. Enjoy the chap!
Regarding ‘Holding on to my Man', thanks to everyone who has left their thoughts and views about my picking it up! The general consensus seem to be concern that I will not be able to fit a 3rd novel without compromising on the release speeds of TSWCSS and TSSSG. Tbh, this is not unfounded, although I'm still leaning towards picking it up. Still deciding. But whether I do or not, TSWCSS will still be my main project.
For readers of TSSSG, for those of you who were directed here from WhiteSky, you may recall that my intention was to translate only the current arc, as Tian (WhiteSky) wasn't very happy with the plot of that arc. I checked with Tian last week, and she has no intention of continuing with TSSSG after I complete the current arc. On my end, I'm not particularly keen on translating any further past the current arc either. This is unrelated to whether or not I pick up HOTMM, as I had been trying to decide if I like TSSSG enough to dedicate more hours to translating the series, but I find myself losing the initiative to do so. I entertained some thoughts about finding a co-translator to work with me so that this series won't be abandoned (again lol ><), but I'm not sure if that would be better than dropping it entirely and letting someone else take full ownership of it. So for now, I'll wait and see if anyone is interested first. The end of the arc is still quite some ways off, so there's still time for me to decide, and time for some brave soul to step up. 😀 Like Tian, I also hope that the novel will be properly taken care of. The story is good, even if the MC drives me frothing mad sometimes.
Your thoughts and opinions are very much welcome and even more appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
-Syeki
P.S : Three (3) more chapters to go till end of this arc of TSWCSS!