Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 012: Autopsy (2)

Tada! My little bonus! Extra chapter! In the end, I really wanted to continue reading this a bit more since it’s getting to an exciting point! Pirate Princess Su Su (Gu Yun’s daughter) will have a wait for a while! But don’t worry, I’ll have it out sometime soon, as well as the next scheduled chapter. Though, honestly speaking, I’m in a good mood recently, and I feel like reading more of Zhuo Qing x Lou Xi Yan, so I’m completely disregarding my schedule and releasing another chapter in a day or two. Then in a few weeks it’s finals time, so things might get slower then.

Anyways, if you spot any mistakes, please leave a comment to let me know! Thanks!
And enjoy~
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Once Zhuo Qing finished talking, everyone immediately looked towards the corpse.

That’s right. His clothes are clean and neat without a single wrinkle, and his shoes don’t even have a speck of dust on them. In comparison, the carelessly bundled up hair is indeed somewhat messy. Not to mention, how is it possible for a convict who’s been in prison for two months to be wearing a new set of clothing?

Wu Zhi Gang asked in a loud voice: “Who was the bailiff keeping watch last night?”

A lowly bailiff with an average build who was silently standing by the side hurriedly stepped forward, and replied in a low voice: “It was This Lowly Person He Liu Wu.”

“What’s this all about? Why is he changed into a new set of clothing?”

The bailiff timidly replied: “Reporting to DaRen, yesterday night, the Lin family’s housekeeper Li Ming came to visit Lin Bo Kang, saying Lin Bo Kang has been unable to wash up for days, and hoped he could send in a set of clean clothing. Seeing that their master-servant relationship was so deep, and he since he really did bring some clothing, we let him go in. But he only stayed for a burning stick of incense’s time* and then left.”

A burning stick of incense, to murder someone within that amount of time is a bit tight. Lou Xi Yan who kept quiet the entire time asked in a low voice: “After Li Ming left, did any of you go in and check up on him, was Lin Bo Kang still alive or not.”

Although Lou Xi Yan didn’t get angry, the lowly bailiff still didn’t dare to raise his head to look at him. Closing his eyes he urgently described last night’s circumstances: “Replying to Prime Minister Lou, when Li Ming came, it just so happened to be when the rain and wind was at its heaviest. The branches of the big tree outside the prison was snapped in half by the wind, and piled up outside the prison door. We were busy carrying the branches away, then after a while, Li Ming came out, and even helped us move it away, then afterwards he left. At that time our clothes were also drenched, and when we finished changing it was already very late into the night, so no one was patrolling the prison. Until just recently when DaRen wanted to send for the criminal, only then did we find out……” He was dead….

“You idiots!” One of Wu Zhi Gang’s hands slapped onto the lowly bailiff’s official’s cap. These bastards, they went as far as making him look like a fool in front of Prime Minister Lou. If this made Prime Minister Lou think that he was a this kind of prison supervisor, how can he still keep his official’s hat!

Lou Xi Yan never paid attention to his little show in the first place, and asked seriously: “Call for Li Ming.”

Li Ming was the last person to see Lin Bo Kang, he must know something!

“Yes.” The lowly bailiff hurriedly ran out.

Seeing the corpse lay there stiffly on the ground like that made people feel a bit horrified. Wu Zhi Gang hurriedly flatteringly said: “Prime Minister-daren, the autopsy is already completed, and the negative air in the prison is so heavy, so why not rest in the lobby first, as to not let the unluckiness rub off on you.”

Lou Xi Yan turned around, and just happened to look into Zhuo Qing’s eyes who was continuously staring at the corpse without looking away. His foot which had already stepped out of the jail cell stopped again, Lou Xi Yan suddenly asked: “What do you think.”

Asking a youngster this question was a bit ridiculous, but Lou Xi Yan’s intuition told him this youngster would give him a different answer.

“I….” Zhuo Qing hesitated for a moment, however knowing that the deceased’s cause of death was suspicious, but still watched from the side with folded arms violated her job ethics and code of conduct. After secretly sighing, Zhuo Qing replied: “I want to go in and take a look.”

“How impudent!” It was that odd brat again, he was the one who was making a commotion in the court just a while ago, and now he even followed into here. Just when he wanted to throw him out, Lou Xi Yan’s mood suddenly improved and smilingly said: “Let him go in.”

Lou Xi Yan already spoke, so no matter how unhappy Wu Zhi Gang was, he didn’t dare to oppose him.

After being in the bureaucracy scene for so many years, he also learned how to see a few things. Prime Minister Lou was extremely fond of this youngster…..Zhuo Qing entered the jail cell, and crouched down beside the corpse. Only giving a glance to the strap marks on the neck, Zhuo Qing used all of her fingers and stretched into the deceased’s hair, thoroughly inspecting the head.

After a moment, she lifted up the deceased’s neck, and examined the back of the neck. After she examined it, Zhuo Qing halted for a moment, then pressed on a corner of the deceased’s mouth, a thread of saliva faintly came out following along a corner of the mouth.

It was just as she thought.

Zhuo Qing grasped onto the deceased’s arm, and used a little strength, it was completely unable to bend at all, the rigor mortis was very obvious! Pulling up the sleeve, she saw livor mortis on the arm, and some intertwining scars and bruises. But from the look of it they looked like old injuries, so it looks like the thing about interrogation under torture to extort a confession was true.

Zhuo Qing was very attentive, but in Wu Zhi Gang’s eyes, she was just making trouble without any reason, and deliberately mystifying things to make things unnecessarily complicated.

Not bothering to look at her, Wu Zhi Gang took advantage and analytically said towards Lou Xi Yan: “Prime Minister Lou-daren, from what This Lowly Official sees, since it has already been ascertained that it was suicide, it must be that Lin Bo Kang had planned this in advance long ago, thus he asked Li Ming to bring some clean clothing here, so that he can use his belt to commit suicide. ”

Lou Xi Yan weakly smiled but didn’t say a word, his gaze only stayed on Zhuo Qing, embarrassing Wu Zhi Gang.

As expected Zhuo Qing didn’t let him down, thus he threw out a sentence in a not casual nor serious tone: “What if it wasn’t suicide?”

Not suicide?

Lou Xi Yan’s smile became even bigger, he knew, this youngster will definitely give him a nice surprise.

Wu Zhi Gang froze. Wang Bing Sheng was the first to react, and shouted: “Rubbish!” Where did this brat come from, he even dared to question the results from his examination, and not only that it was right in front of DaRen and Prime Minister Lou too, how could he endure such a thing?!

Walking to the corpse’s side, and pointing at the corpse’s neck, Wang Bing Sheng glared at Zhuo Qing, and said with certainty: “If he had been hung up after he died, then the strap marks on his neck would appear as white, and not light purple! All four of the deceased’s limbs are naturally hanging downwards, and some spotted burns from a fire-like marks have appeared on his feet, precisely being the most important proof that he died by hanging himself! If you don’t understand then you shouldn’t talk nonsense.”

Completely ignoring his hooting, Zhuo Qing slightly lowered her head, and called out in a low voice: “That blue eyed one, you come here and help me for a bit.”

Not having an assistant is really troublesome!

Blue eyes? Mo Bai froze for a moment, but in the end he still walked over there, and crouched down beside Zhuo Qing. Following her commands, he lightly turned the corpse over to the side.

Lou Xi Yan didn’t actually expect that Mo Bai would unexpectedly go over to help him. Unlike Jing Sa’s unfeeling outward appearance, Mo Bai’s coldness comes from within his heart which leaks outside. How was that youngster able to get him to act?

Even during a time like this Lou Xi Yan was calmly looking at Zhuo Qing’s concentrated back, waiting to see what kind of performance he will play out.

To be completely disregarded by him, and to top it off it was by a nobody with no reputation! How could Wang Bing Sheng hold back this anger. Just when he wanted to open his mouth to denounce him, Zhuo Qing while examining the deceased’s back asked with an indifferent tone: “If he was first choked by someone until he lost consciousness, then hung up on the ceiling, wouldn’t the corpse also show the exact same kind of marks?”

“That….” Wang Bing Sheng was immediately speechless. Not letting him ponder on it for too long, Zhuo Qing slightly raised her head, and said with a cold voice: “I’m only asking you, yes or no!”

Under the brim of the hat came a completely pressuring powerful and dominating line of sight, Wang Bing Sheng panicked, then thought it over again. The opponent was just a youngster, what was he panicking over.

Lightly coughing to cover up his bewilderment from a moment ago, Wang Bing Sheng loudly replied: “There is such a possibility, but this is only a guess of yours, what evidence do you have to prove that he was first choked until he passed out then hung up afterwards?!” He’d like to see what kind of abilities a brat like him could have!

Evidence? Zhuo Qing laughed sarcastically, and suddenly got up.
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Notes:
– *A burning stick of incense’s time (一炷香的時間):

A burning stick of incense.

Meaning the amount of time it takes for one stick of incense to burn. And from my searching, it’s ~60 mins plus or minus. (Though in reality, it doesn’t always burn for exactly one hour, it really all depends on the weather and other conditions which may affect it’s burning progress. ) When “a stick of incense’s time” is used in writing, it means “an extremely short amount of time”.

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 011 – Autopsy (1)

Here’s my promised second chapter. Next is my bonus for taking a long break ^^. Though I’m still somewhat wavering on what I should do…well…we’ll see. It’s either the prologue chapter of The Pirate Princesses or the next chapter of this. I have to do both anyways, it’s just a matter of what I feel like posting first. I’m just going to get some rest first.

Please comment below for any mistakes found, thanks!
Enjoy!
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“Why the need to be in such a hurry to chase someone out. Whether it’s suicide or homicide, we’ll know when we see the corpse.”

Dead bodies never lie!

A cold and indifferent voice sounded out from within the lobby. The voice was especially ear-piercing, moreover the one who said those words was a strange person who was completely drenched in sweat in an ash grey gown.

Wu Zhu Gang impatiently shouted out: “Who are you?! How dare you make a racket in the court!”

“I…..” How should she reply? Zhuo Qing lightly raised up the corners of her mouth, and lazily replied: “I’m a passerby.”

Pass~~Passerby!!

Everyone was flabbergasted, that…what kind of answer what that!?

Lou Xi Yan rubbed his nose, and forced out a light cough in order to stop himself from laughing out loud. Passerby?! How impressive of him to be able to come up with such an excuse.

He he he’s practically just plainly insulting the court!! Wu Zhi Gang’s complexion turned black from anger. Ignorant child, what kind of place does he think the court is!

For a moment he forgot Lou Xi Yan was still beside him. Wu Zhi Gang went up to the middle of the lobby, pointed at Zhuo Qing and angrily said: “How preposterous, servants! Go and bring him……”

“Wu-daren.” A not casual yet not serious low voice called out, as if it were a basin of cool water hat poured down from above his head.

Wu Zhi Gang became alert at once, hurriedly turned around, and respectfully replied: “What orders do Prime Minister Lou have?”

Getting up and smoothing out the somewhat wrinkled lapel, Lou Xi Yan asked: “Where is the corpse right now?”

Wu Zhi Gang looked towards the bailiffs who came to report earlier. The bailiffs frantically replied: “Still in prison.”

Passing through the lobby, Lou Xi Yan leisurely strolled towards the side door. Wu Zhi Gang was greatly alarmed, and immediately followed from behind, and worriedly said: “Prime Minister, what are you…?”

“Get the coroner to do the autopsy, This Minister wants to personally supervise it. To find out whether it was suicide or homicide!” Lou Xi Yan was neither warm nor angry, his emotions couldn’t be made out easily, but terrifying horror followed from behind his back. Wu Zhi Gang’s back was already completely soaked long ago.

Once Mrs. Lin heard there was going to be an autopsy, she wanted to rush over again. Lin Bo Kang’s death was very sudden, all the villagers whole-heartedly wanted to get an understanding.

A group of people also followed and rushed forward towards the side door. The bailiff’s long sticks were already raised out: “You people can’t go in!”

The hand that Mrs. Lin used to tightly grab onto the long stick was trembling very violently, while trying to burst through at the same time she was crying she said: “Why? That’s my husband!”

Wu Zhi Gang’s tall and robust body blocked Mrs. Lin from the side. The simple and honest faces whole-heartedly begged: “Government official-dage*, please let us through!”

“Out of the question!” The bailiffs never even looked them in the eye, and left no leeway for interceding.

Zhuo Qing semi-leaned against the door frame, while looking at the back-and-forth argument between the villagers and the bailiffs like she had no relation to them. They didn’t understand anything, so it’d be useless even if they went in. They might as well just pray for that Prime Minister Lou so that he’s an unrivaled wise genius who can solve cases even better than the gods.

Yawning, Zhuo Qing turned around and headed out. She was extremely tired, ever since she mysteriously arrived at this place, she never got a good night’s sleep. She wanted to find a place to get a good rest first, then think about what she should do next.

One foot just stepped outside the door sill, when a man’s spring water like cold clear raw voice sounded out: “Let them come in.”

The person who came was Prime Minister Lou’s personal guard. The bailiffs looked each other in the eyes, but didn’t dare to obstruct any further and immediately took back their long sticks. The villagers followed along with Mrs. Lin and rushed inside together.

Hearing a very pleasant-sounding voice, Zhuo Qing turned around curiously. A white flash of a shadow impressively appeared beside the side door. He was probably one of Lou Xi Yan’s guards; slightly narrowing her eyes, Zhuo Qing secretly sized him up.

He was approximately 190cm tall, and had snow white skin which was well matched with his dark brown hair. His facial features were distinct, and his azure eyes resembled translucent colored glass. Looking at his overall appearance, he can definitely be regarded as a top quality mixed blood beauty. But his most special trait weren’t these and is actually the fact that he doesn’t show many expressions on his face. He gives off the impression of not being grim and unfeeling but he wasn’t gentle and soft either, giving off a distant aura. She didn’t really like him, but she still had to admit, he was very charming!

That man suddenly walked towards her direction. Zhuo Qing pulled down the brim of her hat and waited for him to pass by, but he stopped beside her instead. An indifferent voice calmly stated: “Let’s go.”

“To where?” Zhuo Qing played dumb.

“I don’t mind making a move if I have to.” Along with his cold and detached reply, his pale hand tightly grabbed onto Zhuo Qing’s arm.

“Stop! I can walk myself.” That hurts so much, why use so much strength!

His pale hand slowly let go, and without saying a word he walked ahead.

Zhuo Qing rolled her eyes, so no matter what era the bodyguards are from all of them have a need to put on a display of oppressiveness!

She very unwillingly followed him into the jail cell. When she passed by him, Zhuo Qing coldly hmphed and said: “Considering that you have a pair of beautiful eyes, I won’t bother to argue with you this time.” Otherwise…..she always did had a bad habit of holding grudges!

Mo Bai froze, beautiful? Because of his eyes, he had been abandoned by his family, and everyone called him a demon. He doesn’t have any relatives, nor any friends, and furthermore no one was even willing to or dared to look straight into his eyes. With these kind of eyes, he says they’re beautiful!?

A sneer flashed across his eyes, however his pale face was still as indifferent as always.

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。 After many twists and turns in the prison, Zhuo Qing finally arrived at Lin Bo Kang’s jail cell.

Zhuo Qing immediately began observing the surrounding environment. The jail cell just happens to be in the inner most part of the entire prison, the bailiffs who take turns with shifts don’t come here, in fact they can’t even see this cell at all. Furthermore it’s unknown if this is just a coincidence or done on purpose, but the few other cells nearby this jail cell are all empty, in other words, there are basically no eye-witnesses to anything that happens in this jail cell.

The gate to the jail cell was jam-packed with people since earlier, Zhuo Qing stood at the very back, but she was still able the corpse which was still suspended high up on the ceiling.

The deceased’s complexion is light purple, and swelling is very obvious. There is also some scattered dots of blood on the skin of his face, the reason of death should be by suffocation, but looking downwards on the body….Zhuo Qing’s brows unconsciously knit together.

“Paying my respects to Prime Minister-daren!” A man’s voice suddenly sounded out from behind.

Zhuo Qing turned around and looked. It was a thirty plus year old middle aged man who had hurriedly rushed here, directly facing Lou Xi Yan while cupping his hands to greet him.

“Who are you?” He asked the middle aged man, although Lou Xi Yan’s eyes however had stopped on Zhuo Qing; just now the gaze he had while he was staring at the corpse was completely focused and sharp.

Jing Sa had investigated for the entire night last night, Niu Jia Village never had a disfigured youngster to begin with. Just who on earth was he, and was it his idea to kidnap Qing Feng, also what are his intentions? Lou Xi Yan was very interested in knowing everything and anything pertaining to him!

The middle aged man respectfully replied: “This Lowly Person is Wang Bing Sheng, one of Ying Tian Governmental Office’s coroners. I have been examining corpses for over ten years.”

Coroner? Which is also the ancient times’ forensic investigator then. Mentioning autopsies, his face gained confidence and even went as far as to having somewhat of a responsible expression.

Zhuo Qing had been agitated for the entire day but her mood finally became a bit better, she really wanted to take a good look at how they examined corpses.

“Good, then go ahead and do a thorough examination to find out whether it was suicide or a homicide.”

He only focused on the details of the case, and didn’t focus on the person at all. If it really was homicide, then the implications this case will bring are definitely not small at all. If someone was able to commit murder in Ying Tian Governmental Office’s prison, how can they be just a simple person.

“Yes.”

Wang Bing Sheng entered the jail cell. The bailiffs had already brought down the corpse earlier. His appearance was practically indistinguishable due to the light purple face in addition to the swelling.

The rigid body stiffly laid on the ground. Mrs. Lin* immediately collapsed from shock, and became paralyzed on the ground: “My husband…”

“Careful madam!” The villagers helped her up and then took her to retreat to the side.

Zhuo Qing took advantage of the situation to get closer to the jail cell.

She only saw the coroner lifting up the corpse’s head, inspecting the strap marks, then went on to take a look at the deceased’s hands and feet.

From the beginning to the end it only took less than five minutes, then he stood up, walked to face Lou Xi Yan, and reported: “Reporting to Prime Minister-daren, the corpse’s complexion is redish-purple, both hands and feet are perpendicularly pointing downwards, also there are some kind of burn marks on his feet. The light purple strap mark on his neck had stretched up the areas behind the left ear to the area behind the right ear, so from these we can see that he had died from committing suicide by hanging, and the object he used to hang himself up with was his belt.”

Suicide? Lou Xi Yan muttered to himself, then asked again: “When was the time of death?”

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Bing Sheng replied: “Probably about, four hours ago.”

That can’t be right!

Just by looking at the livor mortis, you can see that the deceased had been dead for at least ten hours and above! But since she stood outside the jail cell, and was too faraway from the corpse, Zhuo Qing was unable to determine the deceased’s cause of death. Besides, if she had rashly spoken aloud, it might create trouble for herself instead.

Looking in the direction of the Lou Xi Yan who was focused on looking at the corpse, Zhuo Qing decided, she’ll first throw a brick to attract a jade*!

“How strange!” Zhuo Qing purposely feigned astonishment and shouted out: “What a good life this person has, he was given a chance to freshen up nicely before committing suicide, he even changed into some new clothing and shoes. But what’s strange is, he had changed into new clothing and shoes, but he didn’t comb up his hair!”
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Notes:
– *Da ge (大哥): A little honorific(?) referring to young men as a polite way to call them OR “older/oldest brother” when someone says it to their friend or older brother. If I had to compare it to something, it’d be ‘onii-san’ in Japanese. There is a third way which is to refer to their boss in a more friendly way but still respecting them (like in a mafia or something). Madame Lin uses the first case to refer to the bailiffs in this case.

– *Mrs. Lin: Note, I don’t know why the author typed Mrs. Wang in the original text, but I think that was just a typo since even in the previous chapter her maiden name was never revealed then suddenly came in the Wang Bing Sheng coroner, so it’s probably just a mix up with the new character. Not 100% sure, but I’m 99.8% positive she meant to write Lin and not Wang. Not to mention it’s never mentioned again and the nest time she’s called, they call her Mrs.Lin.

– *Throw a brick to attract a jade (拋磚引玉): An idiom, meaning “to offer some humble remarks and asking for his valued opinion on it.” Basically, she’ll bait him with some statements with vague meanings, and lead him to what she wants him to know.

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 010 – Suicide to Escape Punishment

Sorry I’m so late with this release m(_ _)m
I injured my right hand recently after hurting my left…so I decided to take a little break from translating. Sorry. I’ll have the next chapter up ASAP. I’ll rush to finish them tonight. Plus, a little bonus for me taking a break. Look forward to it!

Once again, if any mistakes are found, please leave a comment, and I’ll fix them. Thanks!

Enjoy!
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The next day.
Ying Tian Governmental Office.

In the bright spacious lobby, a sign with Zheng Da Guang Ming* imprinted on it was hung up in the center most area. The characters were lightly carved in and the green jade embedding contrasted with the red wood frame. Contrasting with the dark red frame were a few large flowing gold* characters glittering with sparkling light. It was exceptionally blinding to the eyes.

Two rows of bailiffs* dressed in deep-red clothing making them appear as if they exuded with strength were separated onto the left and right sides, their hands held onto a long stick, and had somewhat of an imposing appearance.

The villagers which were granted permission to listen to the trial could only stand at the very back of the lobby. They were practically standing outside of the lobby, but even so, the villagers still stood there in perfect stillness. All the villagers’ bodies were as straight as it could be, and their heads lowered to as low as it could be; they didn’t even dare to breathe out loud heavily.

Except for one person….

Lou Xi Yan’s gaze swept across while he himself crossed his arms over his chest. The lonesome view of his back leaning against the door frame while he had crossed over and sat on the door sill gave him a fierce and tyrannical appearance which was very unfitting with the governmental office’s lobby image. His worn-out hat covered up a large part of his face, and although his expression wasn’t visible, Lou Xi Yan was able to guess, his face was definitely filled with anger at the moment.

Thinking of this, Lou Xi Yan was feeling very delighted for no reason.

He was feeling delighted, meanwhile someone else was overflowing with anger.

The hour of Wu* was twelve noon right? Those idiots didn’t sleep a wink at all last night. She didn’t know what they were tossing and turning around about, but once it was daybreak this morning, while the sky only had the first few glimmers of dawn, they dragged her to the front of Ying Tian Governmental Office, and they waited until now while welcoming the sun!!

The clothing she wore were coarse and thick, so her back was drenched with sweat long ago. The hat was so tightly put on that air wasn’t able to flow through, so on her forehead and face were also drenched and dripping with sweat. Zhuo Qing’s agitation rose to an even higher point while she stared at the refreshed and cool Lou Xi Yan who was sitting at the official’s desk.

The Lou Xi Yan today was different from the Lou Xi Yan from yesterday. He wore a purple and gold white jade bundling-crown* on his head, and a dark red and flowing gold changpao. A half-leaning-half-crouching gold qilin* was embroidered on the front part of his robe, its eyes were bright, and it seemed to have taken on the stance of something waiting to take action after having gained power. On his pure black silk brocade belt hung a round green jade pendant. On his face was his never changing bright shallow smile like always, but even then there was no one who dared to act rash in his presence.

“This Subordinate of yours pays my respects to Prime Minister Lou.” The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice Wu Zhi Gang was half bowed over while his heart was anxious and frightened at the same time.

Although both the Ministry of Appointments and the Ministry of Justice are both overseen by Prime Minister Lou, the Criminals & Prison Division is usually the one in charge of re-examining cases, and you would absolutely never see Prime Minister Lou within the prefectural government office. He was only a minor forth rank official, how could he not be terrified!

Lou Xi Yan sat down on the chair by the side, slightly raised his hand, then weakly smiled and replied: “Forego the formalities.”

Wu Zhi Gang slowly straightened his body, but no matter what he would never dare to sit down. Prime Minister Lou was present, so how would he dare to sit down in the master’s seat*. Standing beside the sentencing-table*, Wu Zhi Gang asked respectfully: “Prime Minister Lou, the reason you came today is……”

Lou Xi Yan had on a relaxed smile: “The several hundred villagers of Niu Jia Village joined together to present a petition, in order to declare the case of Lin Bo Kang stealing and switching the army provisions as an injustice. What’s your opinion on this?”

Lou Xi Yan had asked him very casually, but Wu Zhi Gang’s complexion was flushed white. One of his hands had cupped into a fist and covered by his other hand, and he hurriedly replied: “I’m sure Prime Minister Lou understands, this case has both human testimonies and material evidence, and Lin Bo Kang had already pleaded guilty himself, there is absolutely no chance for this case to have been wrongly carried out!”

“No chance for this case to have been wrongly carried out?” Lou Xi Yan looked towards the married woman at the side of the lobby, and asked: “Madame* Lin, do you have anything to say to that?”

Zhuo Qing slightly lifted up her eyes and looked over, she could only see one fifty plus year old married woman who was already kneeling down on the floor. Her voice was somewhat trembling, but her reply was extremely loud and clear: “Replying to Prime Minister-daren, this married-commoner* had come to visit my husband on this month’s eighteenth which is also the third day after the governmental office convicted my husband. My husband said that he didn’t steal and switch the army provisions, and that he had been wronged!”

The married woman’s voice only just barely faded away, but Wu Zhi Gang was already unable to hold it back, and urgently replied: “How absurd! It’s all written in black and white, it even has his personally marked sign on the confession document. How is it acceptable that just because he had said he was wronged then we should believed he was really wronged! Private adviser*, hurry and bring the file to Prime Minister Lou to have a look!”

“Yes yes yes.” The man who had been standing by the side being timid the entire time immediately rushed towards the inside of the inner hall. Not long after, he ran out holding a folded object in his hands.

Wu Zhi Gang hurriedly took the file, and respectfully presented it with both hands: “Prime Minister Lou, this is the file for the case. Both the human testimony statement and the material evidence are here, so it won’t allow for him to deny his crimes!”

Zhuo Qing was half leaning against the stoop, her clear eyes were side glancing Lou Xi Yan, waiting for him to respond.

He had even found Lin Bo Kang’s wife and called her here, so he must have seen this case’s file already. It’s only been a night’s time, what else has he done?! This man’s still young but he has already reached the highest position an official can obtain; he definitely has reasons for doing so.

As expected, Lou Xi Yan didn’t take the file, rather he put on a troubled appearance, and sighed: “One of you claims that the case had been given it’s justice, and the other keeps on saying over and over again that injustice had been served. Since it’s like this, let’s just bring the convict here, this official wants to personally inquire about it.”

Wu Zhi Gang froze, but didn’t dare to say anything. Then told the two bailiffs by the side in a lowered voice: “You two, hurry and go bring the convict Lin Bo Kang to the lobby here.”

“Yes.” The bailiffs accepted the order and went.

Unexpectedly once they went, they went for over half and hour. Zhuo Qing faintly felt something bad was going to happen. Lou Xi Yan’s complexion however was the same as always, not twitching in the least, one hand was on the seat and was tapping down every once in a while. Only the Wu Zhi Gang who was painstakingly standing beside him had a thin layer of sweat seeping out from his forehead, but standing beside Lou Xi Yan, he didn’t dare to make any movements.

With great difficulty, the two bailiffs who went came back. Wu Zhi Gang scolded them in a lowered voice: “What took so long?” Seeing that there was no one behind them, he hurriedly asked: “Where is he?”

The two were both quietly panting endlessly. One of them flusteredly replied: “Replying to daren, Lin Bo Kang he…he had committed suicide to escape punishment this morning!”

Committed suicide to escape punishment?!

Zhuo Qing secretly took notice of Wu Zhi Gang’s expression.

After he heard the news, he almost tipped over, his complexion changed from white to green, seemingly as if he had also received a big shock, which didn’t look like it was a fake reaction. Lou Xi Yan didn’t say a word, his brows had slightly knit together. Perhaps he too didn’t expect that he would unexpectedly die either!

Could it really be suicide; Zhuo Qing subconsciously denied that idea, because—– it was just too coincidental, the timing was too perfect!

“Our benefactor is dead?!” The villagers encircled around outside widened their eyes, all were unable to believe it, and wanted to crowd inside, but Prime Minister Lou was present, so they didn’t dare to act rash, and could only worry helplessly.

“My husband……” Once Mrs. Lin heard she immediately toppled down and paralyzed on the ground, and she sobbed endlessly with her head hung down.

As if she suddenly thought of something, Mrs. Lin suddenly climbed up, then pointed at Wu Zhi Gang and wailed: “My husband was wrongly accused, it’s impossible that he committed suicide. It must be you people, you people must have murdered my husband!”

Mrs. Lin crazily pounced towards Wu Zhi Gang, but was blocked by the bailiffs on the two sides with their long sticks, her mouth was still cursing while being unforgiving however.

Wu Zhi Gang came back to his senses, and flusteredly and exasperatedly shouted out loudly: “Shut up, ignorant women and children shouldn’t roar and bellow in the law court! Drag her out!”

Wu Zhi Gang carefully looked towards Lou Xi Yan, in fear that he would get angry. Fortunately Prime Minister Lou had on a appearance of pondering, as if he hadn’t noticed that shrew’s excuses.

“Let go of me!” Mrs. Lin desperately struggled, but in the end she was still unable to win against those two big grown men. One bailiff from the right and one from the left pulled her up and dragged her outside.

“Wait.”

Just as Mrs. Lin was about to be thrown outside, a cold and indifferent voice quietly sounded out: “Why the rush to chase someone away so quickly, suicide or homicide, we’ll know when we see the corpse.”
——————————
Notes:
– *Zheng Da Guang Ming (正大光明): Means “just and honorable”. I was deliberating on which to use, the literal translation or the transliteration, but decided to use transliteration just because…it’s more appropriate? And I think it’s easier to imagine than “Just and Honorable” written on a sign.

What the scene might look like; except I’m positive that it’s much less grand, more simple and dimmer with colors.

– *Flowing gold (流金): When the gold was melted it was then morphed into a liquid shaped thing. The color of it is bright and beautiful and it doesn’t have a fixed form/pattern/shape. Something like a free-flowing design?

– *Bailiff [of feudal yamen = feudal governmental office] (衙役): The best way I can explain this is: they’re not quite officials, but rather the minions of the official in charge of that governmental office who carry out tasks like giving punishment and bringing in the convicts + kind of guarding while a trial is ongoing and whatnot.

– *Hour of Wu (午時): Basically 11AM – 1PM. In Ancient China, time was separated into two-hour subdivisions. One of these subdivisions are called “shichen (时辰)”. Interesting fact, the names for these subdivisions are actually the same as the name for each of the different Chinese zodiac signs (rat, ox, tiger, etc). Wu (午) happens to be the horse.

– *Bundling-crown (束冠):

Different types of bundling-crowns. Imagine they’re all white jade like the first one. In my opinion, it’s most likely Lou Xi Yan was wearing shape #1 or #2 but his was better w/ gold and purple gems. Of course, there are more styles; these just happen to be the ones I found.

In Lou Xi Yan’s case…he’s wearing a bundling crown that’s either completely white jade and purple+gold decorations. By the way, this is not the official English term since there’s no such thing in Western society, it can also be called binding-crown, or according to Google Translate, beam-crown.

– *Qilin (麒麟): or ‘kirin’：

– *Master’s seat (主位): The seat of highest ranking. If you sit here, it displays you are of a higher rank and great power. Nowadays, there is still a master’s seat or “seat of honor” – which is now reserved for the person who’s oldest or the owner or host of a place.

– *Summoning table (案桌):

The table in the center is the summoning table. This is similar to what a “law court” would typically look like. Lighting and other decorations will probably differ from dynasty to dynasty and location to location.

– *Madame (氏): I didn’t use “Mrs.” since 氏 indicates for her maiden name, but she’s married at the same time so. If I used -shi, it’s technically a Japanese transliteration since they share pretty much the same spelling and sound, but meaning and usage is different, so I thought Madame might fit best since I mostly see it used with the meaning for maiden name (the other usage would be for famous people in things like reports and newspapers which is also the meaning for -shi in Japanese language.)

– *Married-commoner (民婦): A title belonging to a married woman of commoner status. It’s a different term if they’re unmarried woman/men + commoner status, or whatever status. I tried making it sound the most natural as it could, but ancient terms don’t translate that well (+ they’re super emphasized in ancient society), so forgive me.

– *Private adviser (师爷): A private assistant attending to legal, fiscal or secretarial duties in a local governmental office (or yamen). Basically the secretary of the official, but is privately hired, and has no relation to the royal court.

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 009 – Confrontation Upon First Meeting (2)

Sorry, I semi-promised this last week, but due to circumstances (ahem, hunting down some people for a project), it was delayed a bit (still on schedule though). Right, I decided to try and release a chapter about once or twice a week, every Monday and/or Wednesday. So next chapter miiiight be up on Wednesday, if not, probably Monday (maybe Saturday or Sunday).

Anyways I was squealing with their interaction~ I’m completely hardcore shipping the two and when Zhuo Qing couldn’t help but notice him, I smiled so hard!

As per usual, please help report any mistakes found in the comments below, and…happy reading!

(Did I mention I hate translating idioms? Well I have something I hate even more now. Translating Confucianism principles.)
————————————————————
Lou Xi Yan was silent, everyone else didn’t know how to react either. The several hundred people standing by the village entrance was quiet and silent, and there was a strange feeling; the air had changed into a stuffy atmosphere.

Zhuo Qing cast a side glance towards Lou Xi Yan. He was still smiling, his long and narrow eyes lightly rose up, and gazed at her with incomparable “concern and care”, unfortunately no matter how Zhuo Qing looked at it, she felt it wasn’t gentle at all, instead it gave off a feeling which made her entire body go numb!

He was a prime minister, “rumors say” he’s gentle like jade and his manner is extraordinary, he probably shouldn’t be that narrow-minded right?!

Pulling on the edge of the hat, Zhuo Qing quietly retreated back. A true man won’t stand beside a collapsing wall*….who knew that the moment she moved her foot, a boom from a sudden clap of thunder along with dazzling lightning striking down appeared.

It was originally just breezes of gentle spring winds but then suddenly everything abruptly changed, the wind blew all vegetation up in the air.

Zhuo Qing recieved a sudden fright, and raised her head up to look at the sky, she could only see an ink black horizon which was already being filled with rising winds and scudding clouds*.

Zhuo Qing was stunned: “No way!” She didn’t say anything that was of treason and heresy nor something god-forbidden* right! Nothing to go as far as to deserving this kind of lightning-flashing-thunder-rolling-wild-wind treatment right?!

After a few claps of thunder came a large downpour of rain.

“It’s raining—-” The sudden rainstorm unintentionally made the people forget everything and ended up making a huge mess.

Zhuo Qing hurriedly took advantage of the mess and retreated, but her hand suddenly began to hurt. Her wrist was tightly grabbed by a big clean and slender hand. Zhuo Qing looked up, it was Lou Xi Yan!

Under the rainstorm, everyone looked very savage-like, all except him who still had a free and unconstrained appearance. Blocked by the thick mist from the rain, his appearance was nearly impossible to be seen clearly, but Zhuo Qing was still able to feel that intense stare directed at her from that pair of thin and slender pupils.

The rain was getting more and more heavy, Wu Si shouted out in a loud voice: “Prime Minister-daren, please come this way to the ancestral hall to avoid the rain!”

Lou Xi Yan smiled and nodded, pulling along Zhuo Qing from the side of the village entrance to the ancestral hall.

After a few attempts of Zhuo Qing using all her strength to struggle she gave up. From his refined thin and weak appearance, his strength was unexpectedly strong. Unless she didn’t want that hand anymore, she shouldn’t even think of escaping!

The corners of Lou Xi Yan’s mouth unconsciously lightly lifted up after he turned back to see the youngster only struggle for a few times before silently following behind him.

The so-called ancestral hall was really only a large mud constructed house. There were a few sacrificial offering tables, and a few nearly almost all burnt up joss stick and candles. The four walls were almost completely broken, and rain drops from time to time would leak through from the cracks of the roof tiles.

This place was originally a very small place, but then came a large group of people, making it look exceptionally crowded. Fortunately Lou Xi Yan’s “Hei Bai Wu Chang*” like bodyguards were standing there, so the villagers also didn’t dare to squeeze through, they could only rest beside a corner of the sacrificial table.

Zhuo Qing was very unaccustomed to having her hand grabbed on by someone, so being unable to bear it she swung away her arm. Zhuo Qing impatiently said: “Prime Minister-daren, you can let go of my hand now right?!”

Once Lou Xi Yan who was originally prepared to let go of her hand heard his voice filled with dislike and avoidance, he contrarily used more strength to grasp onto his wrist, and said with his usual gentle voice: “You asked for someone else’s name, but you didn’t report your own name, isn’t that a bit lacking in some manners.”

Tss~ It really hurts!!

This person is too evil! Her hand was practically going to break! Zhuo Qing stubbornly bit down on her teeth tightly*, not uttering a word, nor giving an answer.

Feeling the wrist which was uncontrollably trembling in his hand, Lou Xi Yan loosened his grip. This youngster’s hand was too slender, he was also genuinely afraid that if he wasn’t careful he might break snap off his hand.

Letting go of his hand, Lou Xi Yan indifferently asked: “Your name.”

His clear cold voice quietly sounded out, fading out like the low chord of an instrument.

Zhuo Qing lifted up her head slightly and looked at Lou Xi Yan, looking at his facial features up close he was even more handsome. The him as of this moment wasn’t smiling, but without his smile was a contrasting side; his long and narrow eyes, his raised small thin lips, faintly showed a nefarious and unrestrained charm.

Zhuo Qing was entranced, but suddenly she noticed a faint flash of amazement flashed across Lou Xi Yan’s eyes.

Her face! Zhuo Qing hurriedly lowered her head, but Lou Xi Yan grabbed onto her chin, and slowly turned her face back around. A timely flash of lightning flashed across, under the white light, two deep scars grandly covered the clean and white cheek, nearly shadowing her complexion.

Lou Xi Yan’s expression slightly shifted, who was so fierce to leave behind these malevolent marks on a youngster’s face.

Zhuo Qing was unable to lower her head, she was only able to pull on the ragged hat on her head, making it so the other side of her face was tightly and fully covered up. Lifting up her foot towards Lou Xi Yan she ruthlessly stepped down.

“Humph!~” Lou Xi Yan made a smothered groaning sound, and while he was somewhat distracted, Zhuo Qing hurriedly took advantage of the situation and slapped away his hand, then retreated a good few steps back.

Getting away from him a bit, the feeling of oppression she felt finally lessened.

Grabbing onto the hat, she covered up her face, then Zhuo Qing pretended to be surprised and said: “Did I step on you? I’m sorry Prime Minister-daren, it was too dark, so I couldn’t see.”

At this time she missed her three-inch heels more than anything.

Couldn’t see?! Could he be anymore fake!

Seeing the injury on his face, Lou Xi Yan who had stretched out his hand paused, but he ultimately put it down.

Lou Xi Yan didn’t go forward again. Zhuo Qing finally let out a breath of relief, but then she heard the Qi Tian Yu who was currently interrogating Wu Si: “You wanted to see the Prime Minister, now he’s here, so you should also hand over the little beauty you snatched away right!”

Wu Si scratched his head, his face was covered with an expression of not knowing what to do. Miss Zhuo Qing said they couldn’t tell them, now what should he do?

“Where is she?!” Having seen through Wu Si’s well-behaved nature, Qi Tian Yu interrogatively asked: “You people didn’t kill her right?”

Shaking his head repeatedly, Wu Si hurriedly said: “No no no……absolutely not!!”

“Sold?”

Wu Si loudly shouted out: “How is that possible!”

“Then where is she?!”

She…… The villagers once again looked for her figure in the ancestral hall.

SHIT!* Zhuo Qing silently cursed. Here we go again!

Bang! Only a loud sound was heard, Zhuo Qing ferociously smacked down on the sacrificial table.

The originally worn-out sacrificial table was unable to bear it as it swayed back and after a few swings it unexpectedly…..collapsed with a bang…..all the villagers stared at Zhuo Qing with alarm. Lou Xi Yan lightly raised up his brow, what is he playing at now?

Good, now everyone was staring at her, Lou Xi Yan probably wouldn’t find out now.

The person these idiotic villagers were trying to find just now was her! She achieved her goal, but….it hurt so much——@$,$ &@,

Slowly taking back her hand, she hid it behind her back and lightly rubbed it. Zhuo Qing sucked in a deep breath, and with a clear voice she replied: “She’s alive and well, you can feel reassured Prime Minister, we will look after her with great care in your place. After the public hearing of the case is over, Prime Minister will naturally be able to see her.”

“So you mean to say, if this case won’t open for a public hearing, we’ll never get to see the little beauty?!”

Glancing at the scattered and smashed pieces of wood on the ground, Qi Tian Yu with a look of watching a good show, clicked his tongue then smiled and said: “Prime Minister-daren, someone’s intimidating you.”

Who was this person?!

Motivated by a desire to see the world in chaos*, Zhuo Qing secretly clenched her teeth, and replied with a cold voice: “This gongzi has misunderstood me, I would never do something without any practical results like intimidating someone.”

What a heavy tone of voice! Qi Tian Yu began to make a long whistle, this guy really is interesting~

Feigning alarm while shaking his head, Qi Tian Yu exaggeratedly shouted: “If you’re not intimidating, then you must be trying to threaten huh? Coercing a court official is a very serious crime!”

“You!” Zhuo Qing’s anger peaked!

Lou Xi Yan suddenly began to laugh aloud, and with a serious voice he said: “Tomorrow at noon, this official will review this case’s files at Ying Tian Governmental Office and inquire about the details of the case. I will allow ten people from Niu Jia Village to watch the trial. Whether this case will be re-investigated or not, this official will make a decision after examining the files and meeting the convict!”

“Many thanks to Prime Minister-daren!”

Once the villagers heard this piece of good news, they immediately knelt down to thank him for this favor, only Zhuo Qing alone was staring at Lou Xi Yan as if she was in thought. Anything this man does always seems to make others not know of how to make any sense of the matters.

Seeing the rain gradually lighten up, Lou Xi Yan didn’t speak anymore, and prepared to leave.

Qi Tian Yu caught up to Lou Xi Yan, frowned and asked: “You really don’t want the little beauty?”

His gaze swept past Zhuo Qing, Lou Xi Yan indifferently smiled and said: “Let’s just have him take care of her in my place.”

Zhuo Qing’s body couldn’t help but stiffen up, his smile always made people feel absolutely horrified!

Walking to the entrance of the ancestral hall, Lou Xi Yan suddenly stopped in his tracks again, turned around and looked at Zhuo Qing, then said: “You, you must appear tomorrow.”

“Why?” What did this have to do with her?

“If you don’t appear, these people don’t need to come either.”

Spitting out those words Lou Xi Yan and his party of people rapidly disappeared into the drizzling rain.

“Hey—-” Zhuo Qing was speechless, who was intimidating who here—-!!
——————————
Notes:
– *A true man won’t stand beside a collapsing wall (君子不立危牆之下): A Confucianism principle taught by Kongzi. To summarize, it just basically means people must know to stay away from danger and when to get away from danger (or something like that.) Honestly, I got really annoyed reading about Confucianism philosophy, since I’m not a fan at all.

– *Rising winds and scudding clouds (風起雲湧): Idiom which means “turbulent times, violent development”. Very perfect double-meaning idiom to describe this situation~

– *Treason and heresy nor something god-forbidden (大逆不道、天理不容): I thought I just had to explain why I need to explain this. It’s funny because of the timing of her words and then Lou Xi Yan’s anger. Right when she said those words, everything completely changed, making it seem like Lou Xi Yan’s doing. LOL. If you re-read it again, everything about the changes of atmosphere had a double meaning.

– *Hei Bai Wu Chang (黑白無常): The literal English translation would be “Black and White Impermanence”. Usually mentioned in folklore, they’re two deities who are in charge of escorting spirits to the underworld, and also like their name, one’s dressed in black and the other white. Furthermore, one is short and the other is tall, and they’re chained together at the ankle and are in charge of rewarding the good spirits and punishing the bad ones. More info here.

– *Bit down on her teeth tightly (咬緊牙關): Idiom meaning “to bite down on one’s teeth and endure the pain” or “to bite the bullet”. In context, it means she endured the pain.

– *SHIT!: I just thought it’d be interesting to note she actually said this in english, the exact wording, word for word. Haha. It’d be so funny if she said it aloud though.

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 008 – Confrontation Upon First Meeting (1)

HAHAHAHA. Omg. I clapped so hard when Zhuo Qing said “THAT”. No spoilers, but I think you’ll know what I’m talking about! I’m totally rooting for Zhuo Qing’s victory, but Lou Xi Yan is such a strong candidate~~~

With this I’m all caught up!! Yay! On another note, I’ll try translating and releasing another chapter tomorrow (not guaranteed but I’ll try my best), since I really wanna see part 2 of this…anyways enjoy this one for now! Any mistakes found, please leave a comment!
————————————————————
Lou Xi Yan looked towards where everyone else’s line of vision was aimed at, it was a flimsy silhouette with their head lowered, semi-bent down on the ground.

After a long time, that person slowly stood up. He wore a big hat which covered over half of his face, making it so his appearance couldn’t be seen clearly, and he wore wide coarse cloth hemp clothing, making him appear to be even more petite and skinny. Looking at his figure, it resembled a harmless youngster, but Lou Xi Yan didn’t think that way.

He was completely silent and didn’t talk, Lou Xi Yan was full of interest towards him, and asked: You were the one who wrote this indictment?”

With her head lowered, Zhuo Qing deepened her voice, and replied in a weak and strengthless tone: “That’s right.” She really wanted to answer that she didn’t, but kneeling behind her were a group of idiots, who only creates messes for her. This was the first time she ever loathed simple good and honest working people!

Qi Tian Yu sized Zhuo Qing up and down once, lightly shaking the indictment in his hand, and on purpose exclaimed in a loud voice to Lou Xi Yan: “The usage of words is pretty concise and sharp! But the writing is just too ugly!”

Zhuo Qing’s head was still lowered, and she didn’t utter a sound. She never said that her own writing was pretty-looking before; if he wants to provoke her, he’s still a bit lacking.

Zhuo Qing made up her mind to act stupid and looked spaced out, Lou Xi Yan wasn’t in a rush either, and looked towards Wu Si on the side, and asked: “You aren’t his family, and you’re unrelated to this case, why do you want to help him get justice, and what evidence do you have to prove he was wrongly accused?!”

Not daring to look directly into Lou Xi Yan’s eyes, Wu Si completely spilled out the words he rehearsed in his mind countless of times: “Prime Minister-daren, Lin Bo Kang is our entire village’s benefactor! Niu Jia Village only has three wells. All the people, animals, and food grown in the land rely on that water, but during times of bad weather, droughts often makes it so we have a bad harvest. For all these years our benefactor have provided us food, and in the winter he brings quilts. This was not for one or two days, but for ten years! He was a good person who did it for a whole ten years, how is it possible for him to have stolen and changed the army provisions with shoddy goods? Our benefactor isn’t that kind of person! He must have been wrongly accused! Prime Minister-daren please investigate properly!!”

So it was the case about the theft and replacement of army provisions; about half a month ago, the Ministry of Justice had already given the judgement. Both human testimony and material evidence were present, and a confession from the convict was recorded. Lou Xi Yan didn’t understand: “The people from the provincial government building already made a judgement for the case. Lin Bo Kang also admitted to it and signed his name on official documents, what grievance are you talking about? Or could it be that you have some kind of evidence in your hands?”

“We….” What kind of evidence could they have! They only had persistent faith! Afraid Prime Minister Lou wouldn’t believe him, Wu Si once again kneeled on the ground with a loud thump.

“Our benefactor wouldn’t do such a thing! DaRen please investigate properly!!”

A grown man was choking with sobs while kowtowing. The villagers behind him also followed suit and went down.

The thudding sounds from the kowtows made Zhuo Qing’s anger rise up while she was listening to them. As expected they were a bunch of pigs, they didn’t say what they should say, only knowing to kowtow!!

Grabbing right onto Wu Si’s shoulders, Zhuo Qing coldly said: “That’s enough.”

Ignoring the crowd, and standing in front of him, Zhuo Qing said with a cold tone: “According to what Lin Bo Kang’s wife said, after the case was concluded when she went to visit the imprisoned Lin Bo Kang, Lin Bo Kang still insisted he had been framed. So let me ask you, why would someone who has already confessed say he was unjustly accused. This case wasn’t a public hearing, so we have reasons to suspect that Lin Bo Kang had received an interrogation under torture to extract a confession, or he was forced to press down his fingerprint while he was unconscious.”

“Interrogation under torture to extract a confession*….” This phrase was interesting.

Even though he still wasn’t able to see his appearance, this person’s clear calm voice and his manner while being in this kind of tense situation however revealed this person wasn’t just a normal villager.

Step by step he approached Zhuo Qing, Lou Xi Yan questioned him in order to get more information: “So are you saying you have evidence?”

What a strong feeling of oppression! His tone was supposedly light, and his smile was indifferent, but every time she met that that gentle and soft line of sight, she always felt an inexplicable feeling of nervousness.

Like Gu Yun always says, offense is the best defense, and she just so happens to agree with that too! She’s never had the habit of retreating, this time was no exception.

Slightly raising her head, Zhuo Qing loftily replied: “Whether it was an interrogation under torture to extract a confession or not, we’ll know for sure if we examine whether or not his body has injuries. Lin Bo Kang insisted he was wrongly accused, in addition there was someone who was clearly anxious and concluded the case, so I dare to ask you Prime Minister, what will you do if it really was an interrogation under torture to extract a confession?”

Lou Xi Yan didn’t anticipate this, he unexpectedly didn’t retreat!

Under the moonlight, the two were practically standing directly in front of each other. Under the hat, a pair of clear eyes firmly looked into his eyes.

That’s right, they were clear! It had been many years since he’s seen this kind of magnanimous expression in someone’s eyes. He had been in the world of bureaucracy for too long, everyone lived while wearing a mask, he had nearly forgotten that kind of magnanimous expression existed.

His heart warmed, for the purpose of this hard to come by limpidity, Lou Xi Yan replied with a serious tone: “If it really is as you said, then it is only natural that this case is re-investigated.”

That’s great! Following her victory of this battle she continued to attack*, Zhuo Qing deliberately asked in a loud voice: “For the purpose of being fair, you the Prime Minister will surely make this case into a public re-investigation right?”

Public re-investigation?! He was just plain forcing him now! If he doesn’t agree to a public re-investigation now then wouldn’t that make him look like he failed to be fair!

Very well then! Lou Xi Yan lightly smiled and nodded, and replied in a magnanimous manner: “This Minister intends to do just that, a public re-investigation for this case is only proper!”

Those words were exactly the ones she was waiting for, Zhuo Qing was in a cheerful mood but after listening to the following words she was thrown into an abyss.

“Only……” Purposely dragging out his voice, Lou Xi Yan drew closer to Zhuo Qing, and enunciated each word distinctly, speaking exceptionally slowly: “According to Qiong Yue’s laws, if there isn’t any new evidence to prove the convict is innocent, or if after the re-investigation, the original judgement was correct, then the one who proposed to re-investigate is nevertheless guilty of infringing upon the law and insulting the law-court. The light sentence is to be beaten one hundred times with wooden staves, the heavy sentence is to serve the court* for three years!”

What? There was such a thing?! What kind of system was this, if you wanted to make an appeal then you also had to go as far as to taking on the possibility of committing a crime?! Why hadn’t anyone told her!

She swore, she could see a thread of ridicule in that whatever Prime Minister’s eyes, even if it was only a quick flash! But it was absolutely there!!

Just as Zhuo Qing was about to say something, Wu Si who was immediately overjoyed the moment he heard that Prime Minister Lou was willing to re-investigate this case, he replied in a loud voice: “We believe our benefactor is innocent, so we are willing to shoulder any crimes!”

You’re willing to but I’m not!! Besides Lin Bo Kang wasn’t necessarily innocent, and if he was really innocent, where’s the evidence?! Zhuo Qing really wished she could ruthlessly give Wu Si a kick!

She was quickly being angered until she was half dead, but at this time Lou Xi Yan was smiling with interest and elatement and said: “You, what’s your name?”

This person was very interesting, he was upright and intelligent, but at the same time he seemed as if he didn’t understand anything at all. He had been secretly observing him and his turbulent undercurrent* interaction with the villagers all along, but Lou Xi Yan’s interest towards him was only increasing more and more.

With no way of venting out the stifling breath anywhere, Zhuo Qing coldly replied: “Before you ask for someone else’s name, you should report your own name first, this is called manners.”

Is that so? Lou Xi Yan weakly smiled and replied: “Lou Xi Yan.”

“Xi Yan*?” Zhuo Qing quietly mumbled, and then a pair of bright pupils began to wander around Lou Xi Yan’s face.

Zhuo Qing’s expression was strange. Qi Tian Yu faintly felt there was going to be a good show to watch, and so he crossed his arms, smiled and said: “Boy, you have a complaint?”

Indifferently shaking her head, Zhuo Qing frankly and straightforwardly replied: “Nope.”

That’s it? Right when Qi Tian Yu was in the middle of feeling disappointed, Zhuo Qing sighed and in a not low nor high and not casual or serious tone said: “I didn’t think that a grown man would choose a woman’s name.”

Zhuo Qing’s “monologue” was effectively astonishing, the several hundred people gathered by the village entrance was quiet and silent in a flash.

The villagers’ faces were filled with alarm, Jing Sa and Mo Bai’s brows knit together. Qi Tian Yu was dumbstruck, although he too felt that the name Xi Yan was very……but no one ever dared to talk about it right in front of his face; this guy——had guts!

Qi Tian Yu could swear, he just saw the Prime Minister Lou who is always cultured and refined with a friendly smile and renowned throughout all six countries for the first time have a stiff smile on the corners of his mouth which looked like he was…twitching….looks like someone’s out of luck…..
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Notes:
– *Interrogation under torture to extract a confession (刑訊逼供): Believe it or not, this looooong English “phrase” is only four words in Chinese, thus phrase. This is probably the reason why Lou Xi Yan’s interest was piqued because it’s so short yet summarizes everything in four words and absolutely not something a person without any education could say (unless they learned it from someone/somewhere but still, you had to know the meaning of it to use it).

– *Following her victory of this battle she continued to attack (乘勝追擊): An idiom (once again) which fully translates to “to follow up a victory and press on the attack” or “to pursue a retreating enemy”. You get it metaphorically right? If you don’t, she means she wants to take advantage that he lost to her and wants to take advantage to get more. (Ha, I love this girl.)

– *Serve the court (服役): It never really stated what kind of service he meant but the official definition of the word means to serve in active service or military service. Assuming Lou Xi Yan thinks Zhuo Qing is a male and the one to suggest for an appeal, it’s probably military service…but if I assume it’s the entire village (including the females) then it could be just simply court service of some sort. Either way it’s serving the court.

– *Turbulent undercurrent (暗潮洶湧): He speaking really metaphorically comparing the rather…forceful way she tried to stop and incite the villagers with strong currents (LOL).

– *Xi Yan (惜顏): Haha, Zhuo Qing totally took a different character as his name’s actual character. It should be 夕顏 and not 惜顏. (Just a little guess, but 夕顏 probably means the color of dusk, while 惜顏 probably means lost of color.) And yes, this is a rather…feminine sounding name.

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 007 – Lou Xi Yan (2)

Loving Lou Xi Yan and Zhuo Qing characters more and more! Can’t wait for the actual interaction between them!

Next chapter will be up either later today or tomorrow! Enjoy! (Any mistakes found, please leave a comment below~)
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Under the banyan tree by the village entrance, two men stood facing nearly several hundred villagers, their statures were well-built.

One of them had dark skin, and nearly blended in with the moonlit night, his face was frosty cold as if it were a solid ten thousand year old piece of ice. The other had skin that was as white as snow, the color of his eyes were blue and resembled the deep sea, his eyes seemed to belong to a demon who had the ability to mesmerize people. But both people’s gazes were swift and fierce, their manner imposing and threatening. Under the night scene, this duo of black and white stood beside each other, both were somehow indescribably scary.

His body was tilted, he was dressed in traditional Chinese clothing and he leaned against the banyan tree while looking like he was bored to death. His appearance was handsome and bright, his movements were casual and uninhibited, and he had a somewhat elegant aura.

Zhuo Qing’s wandering gaze moved towards the man behind who stood tall and straight under the tree, her eyes unexpectedly couldn’t move away!

Under the moonlight, he wore a dark reddish purple changshan; there were a few gold-threaded stitches of a discreet simple ripples design on the lapel. His hair was simply bundled up using a jade, and he didn’t wear a cap, but despite that he remained elegant and respectable looking*.

His long and narrow eyes slightly raised up, matching with the warm smile that formed by the corners of his lips, effortlessly appearing as a flawlessly graceful man; he really was a modest nobleman who was as gentle as jade*. Only four words were needed to describe him, warms heart & delights eye*. However Zhuo Qing somehow felt he was a little odd, especially his eyes, it was deep and peaceful, like it could see through everything.

His eyes had something indistinct reflected within….what was that something?

Zhuo Qing squinted her eyes and looked, wanting to get a better look. The man’s gaze suddenly changed, and looked towards her direction.

Zhuo Qing’s heart quaked, and hurriedly dropped down her head, pulling down the worn-out hat a little, blocking over half of her face, only then could she let out a breath; he was a very sharp person!

Lou Xi Yan looking casual glanced at the dense crowd of people, but he didn’t find anything unusual. Could the feeling of being observed just now be an illusion, or could it be that that person was extremely good at concealing them-self?! If that’s the case, then this trip here might actually be worth coming for.

With his mood improved, he made a warm smile. Lou Xi Yan walked forward to meet the terrified villagers who were hastily coming forward and staring at him bewilderingly.

Lou Xi Yan slowly entered; the villagers then reacted, promptly kowtowing and said: “We pay our respects to Prime Minister-daren!” Zhuo Qing didn’t have the habit of kneeling, but she had no choice but to go along with the flow and semi-bent down.

“Everyone may rise.” Lou Xi Yan lightly raised his hand, softly smiled and asked: “Is there some kind of problem for you to invite me here?”

Invite? Zhuo Qing lightly raised her brow. This can be considered as inviting, what an overbearing attitude!

His clear, smooth and sweet-sounding voice was somewhat low and deep, it was very fitting with the impression he gave others. Pulling on the hat again, Zhuo Qing couldn’t resist raising up her head, and looked towards the man who was smiling like the refreshing spring breeze.

The Prime Minister was indeed cultured and refined like the rumors say, and he also seemed to love the commoners as if they were his own children which gave the villagers a huge boost in morale, they said in unison: “Prime Minister-daren, please redress an injustice for us!”

After hearing them cry out their grievance, Qi Tian Yu couldn’t stand for it and picked his ear, then coldly said: “If you want to get justice you should go to the authorities. You first kidnap someone, then you secretly threaten an official of the court, do you want to go to jail?!”

He originally thought there would be some interesting show to see, if he knew it would be this boring, he never would have come.

Qi Tian Yu didn’t finish talking yet, but Wu Si hastily got up. Zhuo Qing wanted to drag him back, but his movements were too quick; Zhuo Qing didn’t have the chance to even grab on to his clothing yet.

He resolutely did three consecutive kowtows while bumping his head on the ground in front of Lou Xi Yan, then Wu Si sucked in a deep breath, and said with a loud voice: “Prime Minister-daren, this lowly commoner is slow-witted, but we only did this much as a last resort. We have already been to the the authorities countless of times, but they insist the case has already been given a sentence, and they forcefully kick us out on top of that. We want to get justice for Ting Xing-daren, but DaRen* is not in the capital. We want to reason with you, but how can the Prime Minister’s Residence be a place ordinary people can casually go to? We really are……”

The rest of the bitter hardships, Wu Si didn’t know how to continue explaining, so he had no choice but to just continuously kowtow.

Zhuo Qing became fearful while listening to the sound of the constant thudding, did he think his head was made of iron!!

Patting the Xiao Wu Zi beside her, Zhuo Qing said in a low voice: “An injustice!”

“What?” Xiao Wu Zi was confused.

You pig! Using strength to pinch his arm, Zhuo Qing forced out two words from between her clenched teeth: “An—injustice—”

Finally regaining his senses, Xiao Wu Zi shouted out loud: “He was wrongly accused~~~” She had way too much hand strength! That really hurt!

The practically mourning yell awakened the dazed villagers, and one after another shouted out after that yell of injustice “Prime Minister-daren, redress the injustice—!”

“Prime Minister-daren, help us redress the injustice!!”

He secretly glanced at the simple and honest yet passionate faces with his sharp eyes. It looks like these people really did have an injustice to inform him of.

Lou Xi Yan walked forward, and helped the Wu Si who was still kowtowing up, and said: “You might as well say it directly, what grievances do you have?”

Wu Si frantically got up, not daring to get helped up by Lou Xi Yan.

After a good few moments of groping his body, he carefully took out a paper from his bosom, and extremely carefully passed it up: “Here is the indictment.”

They also wrote an indictment! Lou Xi Yan received it while lightly smiling, and slowly unfolded it.

After a while, Lou Xi Yan’s smiling expression didn’t change, and casually asked: “This indictment, who wrote it?”

Qi Tian Yu got up, and took the indictment with curiosity. He and Xi Yan could be considered as childhood friends, so he knew the more casual his tone of voice was, and the more gentle and soft his smile was, it meant he was was more mindful, and more suspicious of something!

Oh no! Zhuo Qing silently cursed!

Please don’t ever turn around, don’t let him see me!! Please don’t turn around!

Zhuo Qing silently repeated it countless of times in her heart, unfortunately the Heavens didn’t hear her prayers. The villagers all turned their heads in unison, everyone without an exception stared at her.

Damn it! They really were a bunch of idiots, brainless pigs, @#%&*,~~~

She swore at them using the all the swear words she knew and could think of from her twenty something years of life, but Zhuo Qing still had no other choice but to slowly get up, because that “gentle” line of sight was already tightly locked onto her.
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Notes:
– *Some people might not understand since it’s an ancient Chinese thing, but wearing hats were essential for adult men in order to show their high social status. And since most commoners were not allowed to wear a cap, by wearing one you would automatically be granted respectable-status. Since Lou Xi Yan wasn’t wearing one, but still looked the part, you can imagine how “noble” he appeared to be. More info here

– *Once again this is a Chinese thing; jade = perfection. Since it also stands for beauty, grace, and purity, it’s often used to describe beautiful people and things. Basically Zhuo Qing’s saying he looks like a beautiful creature of perfection. More info here

– *Warms heart & delights eye (賞心悅目): Okay so I cheated to make the phrase into four words using the ‘&’ symbol, but you get it right? The full translation of the idiom should be “warms the heart and delights the eye” which just means pleasing or delightful, but that wouldn’t fit the criteria either. Sigh, idioms.

– *DaRen: This daRen refers to Ti Xing (their benefactor), not any other daRen.

Record of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 006 – Lou Xi Yan (1)

Sorry for the delay, this should have been done days ago if I didn’t have my midterms coming up. The next two chapter (7 and 8) will probably be released after Thursday (probably sometime between Friday and Monday?). And then after that, I’ll be all caught up!

Oh and a little preview/spoiler/comment…Lou Xi Yan is seriously sly…Ha. The two’s interactions are going to be really entertaining!

As per usual, any mistakes found, please leave a comment below and I’ll double-check! Happy reading!
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In a simple and crude thatched hut, all four walls were worn down and wind easily penetrated through. The rickety table and chairs occasionally made creaking sounds.
A small oil lamp was placed on the table, a tiny flame flickered back and forth but it might as well not be lit since the moonlight was brighter. A bowl of plain rice porridge, a small plate of preserved white radishes, a silhouette of someone wolfing down their food, and a group of flabbergasted villagers.

“Miss Zhuo~” Wu Si glanced at her and then once again glanced at large emptied bowl, he gulped, and asked cautiously: “Would you like another bowl?”

Putting down the bowl, Zhuo Qing replied coldly: “Call me Zhuo Qing, and I’m full now.”

“Oh.” Wu Si let out a long breath of relief, she was finally full, however a whole pot of rice porridge was emptied out! Didn’t people say girls from noble families eat slowly, and that they only ate and drank the most exquisite things? They didn’t kidnap the wrong person did they?

This was the thought that every villager had! Their eyes were practically bulging out.

Zhuo Qing didn’t even need to look them and she already knew what they were thinking. She hadn’t eaten for three or four days already, so she didn’t feel like pretending to be reserved.

The villagers only dared to whisper to themselves in their hearts, no one dared to say anything aloud. This young lady’s coldness, especially her expression, seemed to be able to pierce through people like an arrow, they didn’t even dare to stare at her.

The fearless Xiao Wu Zi made his way up, but didn’t dare to get too close, and crouched by the side and asked her while trying to stay on her good side: “Good thing you dressed up as a villager in advance, otherwise you would have been discovered by them. But how did you know that some people from the Prime Minister’s residence would come?”

Pulling the wide coarse cloth hemp garment she had on, Zhuo Qing was in a bad mood and scolded: “The people who came weren’t soldiers but servants, you should count yourselves lucky that you chose to deal with the right person.”

It seemed like this Lou Xi Yan was someone who unexpectedly was able to distinguish between right from wrong, someones who empathizes with the commoners. But the reason he didn’t dispatch soldiers to capture them all in one swoop, wasn’t it because he was afraid there would be no one around to confess?!

Seeing how he was met with a strong rebuke, Xiao Wu Zi’s mouth twitched, still wanting to know more, he asked: “Then do you think Prime Minister Lou will still come?”

Putting on a slight smile, Zhuo Qing calmly replied: “He will definitely come.”

Seeing that the smile on her face didn’t match with the calmness she had, Xiao Wu Zi was a little dazzled. After looking at her for some time now, she’s actually pretty nice to look at!

Zhuo Qing hadn’t finished talking yet, before an urgent excited male voice shouted while coming from the village entrance: “Wu-ge! Wu-ge…..”

He burst into the house with great difficulty. Liu Yu’s brow was beaded with sweat, he was gasping for air, while his face turned into a shade of dark red, and he didn’t have the breath to talk either. Wu Si hastily pat his back to help him regain his breath, and asked: “What happened to make you this anxious?!”

Pointing outside, Liu Yu excitedly shouted: “Lou…Prime Minister Lou arrived!”

Wu Si’s eyes enlarged; he grabbed onto Liu Yu’s collar, and hurriedly asked: “Really? Where is he?”

The excited Liu Yu didn’t seem to care that his collar was being grabbed, and he shouted out loudly: “It’s true, he’s at the entrance.”

After a moment of silence, sounds of joyous shouting erupted out from inside the hut.

“Prime Minister Lou really came!” Wu Si mumbled to himself out of disbelief, but then returned to reality, and immediately shouted aloud: “Go go go, hurry and go welcome him!”

He was hurriedly rushing towards the door when he stopped besides it, Wu Si immediately thought of something, and then rushed back into the house tossing things around to look for that something, he hurriedly said “Indictment! Where’s the indictment?”

Zhuo Qing stayed settled on the bench, her cold eyes looked at him as if he was like a headless house-fly buzzing around in panic. She couldn’t stand it any longer and rolled her eyes, raised up the rolled sheet in her hand, and impatiently said: “It’s here.”

Rushing forward he took the indictment and carefully held it in his hand. Wu Si laughed excitedly and said: “Zhuo Qing, come along with us to the village entrance. Prime Minister Lou came already, so once we tell him about the injustices, you can also return with him.”

“We can’t!” Zhuo Qing hurriedly said.

“Why not?” Wu Si didn’t understand; she was originally one of Prime Minister Lou’s people, but why is her face full of unwillingness now that she can go back.

Because she is Zhuo Qing, not a gift, and even more not an accessory. But of course she couldn’t explain this to them; Zhuo Qing’s gaze changed, then with a rarely heard tone she gently replied: “If I return with him, what will you do if he won’t address to your injustices?! You guys can go, I’ll stay here.” After they all leave, she’ll escape secretly!

“That won’t do.” Wu Si hastily shook his head: “You are a young lady from a noble family, you have already suffered by being kidnapped by us, and then you also helped us write the indictment; since you’ve helped us with the appealing of the injustice, we cannot have you suffer even more. Return with Prime Minister Lou, I believe, since Prime Minister Lou came, he will definitely help us villagers!”

This young lady had an ice cold expression on for the entire day, but she actually has a genuinely nice character, they cannot delay her any longer. As a young lady, being kidnapped away for a few days will definitely bring damage to her reputation and integrity!!

“That’s right! Miss Zhuo, you should go back.”
“Yeah! Don’t let us delay you.”

Zhuo Qing felt very apologetic in her heart with one after another’s sincere and honest urging, if she just escapes, then what will these villagers do?

She was unable to bear letting these villagers get into any trouble because of her, but she didn’t want to a gift either. Zhuo Qing couldn’t advance or retreat*, and unexpectedly that Prime Minister has already arrived at the village entrance, so with no other choice, Zhuo Qing could only take things step by step.

With her arms still crossed, and Zhuo Qing’s face firm, she deliberately asked: “Do you people actually want to help Lin Bo Kang appeal for the injustice or not?!”

“Of course we do!” Wasn’t this obvious!

Very well then! She slightly lifted her head, and with her calm gaze she slowly glanced at each person in the house, then Zhuo Qing said with resoluteness: “If you want to then listen to my instructions! I naturally have my own plans to make Prime Minister Lou have no choice but to help you address your injustices. In a moment I will be going with you, but before Lin Bo Kang’s case comes to a conclusion, you must not let Prime Minister Lou find out my true identity, so at the moment I am a villager of your village, named Zhuo Qing, do you understand?!”

All the villagers looked at each other in dismay, most of the people still didn’t understand, but every time they looked into those calm and ice-cold eyes, they were somehow unable to oppose them, so they could only foolishly nod and reply: “We understand!”

“Let’s go.” She secretly let out a breath. Zhuo Qing grabbed a ragged hat that was hung up on the wall, then fastened it onto her head, ensuring that her tall bunned-up hair was completely covered up, only then did Zhuo Qing exit the worn-down house. Going along with the villagers, she walked towards the village entrance which had been surrounded by people since earlier.

She only hoped that that Prime Minister Lou or whatever wasn’t someone too hard to deal with!

A group of people hurriedly rushed to the village entrance. Zhuo Qing didn’t go too far forwards, her position just right. She could see the situation clearly from there, and she would also be hidden among everyone.

She squinted her eyes and looked forward. Zhuo Qing couldn’t help whistle to herself deep inside her heart. She originally thought that since no-matter-what he was still the prime minister who was leaving his residence, and he would meeting up with a group hot-headed villagers, so this event would definitely not be small, if he didn’t bring at least over a hundred guards, then he should have at least brought a few dozen elite soldiers! Who would’ve thought it would be this kind of scene instead…..
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Notes:
– *Couldn’t Advance or retreat (進退兩難): An idiom meaning a dilemma without any way out. The actual translation of the idiom should be “no room to advance or to retreat” but it wouldn’t make sense grammatically, so I just took out some parts.

– *Take things step by step (走一步是一步): She’ll make plans as she’ll go on depending on what will happen in the future.

Record of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 005 – Niu Jia Village

Any mistakes found, please leave a comment below and I’ll double-check~
Enjoy.
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Unfolding the paper, Zhuo Qing was immediately flabbergasted…..

Her mother was a professor who specialized in studying the ancient Chinese civilization, so Zhuo Qing understood the few traditional Chinese characters which were on the paper, but, what do these O’s and X’s mean. Don’t tell me that the writing system here was made up of Chinese characters and symbols? This might be tough even for her.

“Sigh…sigh…” After deeply sighing a few times, Zhuo Qing looked towards the young Liu Yu, and asked: “Sorry to inconvenience you, but may I ask for some of your guidance?”

Liu Yu foolishly nodded.

“What are the meanings of these O’s and X’s?

“Eh…”His face turned red, and he grabbed his hair. Liu Yu shamelessly replied: “It stands for the food and quilts that our benefactor gave us.”

He only learned characters for two years, the words he didn’t know, he could only replace it with a drawn picture.

So it was like that! According to what he said, these pictographs were just replacements for the words he didn’t know, so fortunately, the writing system here was probably traditional Chinese characters.

Reading on, Zhuo Qing’s brows wrinkled up again, and asked: “And what do these dots mean?”

Liu Yu laughed with a hehe and replied: “That…it means injustice undone*.”

His dad once taught him that phrase, he said that only educated people would use it, unfortunately he never taught him how to write the characters.

The corners of Zhuo Qing’s mouth stiffened, he means to say these dots represent snow? How creative! Too creative! She’ll endure it!

She continued reading, and not long after, she saw something that looked like a net of some sort drawn on the paper.

“This is…” In accordance to his way of thinking, Zhuo Qing thought for a moment, then said: “I know, this must stand for a fishing net!”

“No it’s not.” Liu Yu mumbled: “It stands for a jail cell.”

This was a jail cell?!

“I seriously…”

Don’t get angry, don’t get angry, after deeply breathing in and out a few times, she tossed the indictment to Wu Si. Zhuo Qing then grit her teeth and spat out a few words: “I admire you to the point of wanting——to prostrate——before——you——*”

This was an indictment?! She suddenly really wanted to see the look on that Prime Minister Lou’s face when he sees this indictment, it will definitely be a marvelous sight to see!

Hearing the answers to the questions asked, Xiao Wu Zi ferociously swat down on Liu Yu’s head, scolding him: “Damned Liu Yu! Wu-ge told you to write up an indictment, but you were actually just scribbling down some undecipherable handwriting!”

“Aiyo, stop hitting already.”

Protecting his head, Liu Yu who was also feeling wronged shouted aloud: “I originally didn’t want to write it, but it was you guys who forced me into writing it!”

“You still dare to talk back!”

The two looked like they were going to begin fighting at any moment now.

“Stop quarreling already!”

After loudly shouting, Wu Si then dejectedly crouched on the ground, and his simple and honest face, was covered with disappointment. He clenched up the indictment in his hand very tightly, making the whole thing wrinkle up.

“If we don’t have an indictment, how will we be able to help our benefactor clear away his injustice!”

It’s all your fault! Xiao Wu Zi glared at Liu Yu, and then he also crouched down beside Wu Si, and carefully consoled: “Wu-ge, when Prime Minister Lou comes, we can just kneel down before him, so even if we cannot write it out, we should be able to tell him!”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, we’re all just a bunch of rough people, we probably can’t explain it properly in a short amount of time, and if Prime Minister Lou becomes impatient and leaves, what are we supposed to do then?!”

It’s not that they didn’t try going to see the feudal official, but other than being driven away, they didn’t even get the chance to see the official stationed there yet!

If it wasn’t like that, why else would they need to kidnap Prime Minister Lou’s woman!

“That…”

Pointing at Zhuo Qing, Xiao Wu Zi said: “She’s literate! Get her to write it!”

Zhuo Qing coldly turned her head, these people, they were passionate but lacked brains, even if they had an indictment it would be useless.

Zhuo Qing ignored them. Wu Si suddenly stood up, then walked in front of her, dropped down to the ground, and did one bow after another. He was was just a thirty something year old, but his face was already full of hardships, his heart determined to beg: “Young lady, we were in the wrong to kidnap you, but we only did that because we really were at the end of our ropes, I beg of you! Please help us write an indictment!”

Zhuo Qing was alarmed, the her that lived in the twenty-first century, was not used to being kowtowed to. Standing up and taking a step back, Zhuo Qing’s voice was as indifferent as before, but she was actually quite moved: “No matter what the reason is, to forcefully kidnap someone is against the law, even if Prime Minister Lou really came, the injustice you mentioned might not get the understanding you want it to, instead it might bring trouble for the village instead!”

Straightening his back, Wu Si’s face was indifferent. He replied in a loud voice: “Kidnapping you was my idea, I will take full responsibility for it, as long as Prime Minister Lou comes, I can get a reverse on the verdict for our benefactor, even if he wants my, Wu Si’s, lowly life, I am willing to give it up!”

Both his wife and child had passed away during a plague anyways, he was alone even if he lived or died!

Just as Wu Si’s voice fell, the originally quiet villagers were touched and began to shout out one after another too.

“No, kidnapping you was my idea!”

“It was my idea!”

“It’s worth dying if we can reverse the verdict given to our benefactor!”

“That’s right!”

More and more people began to join in on the yelling, and each and every one’s simple and honest faces now had an expression of bravery that looked like they were ready to face death.

Zhuo Qing’s head began to throb again!

“Shut up!”

A clear and cold woman’s voice coldly said aloud, all the villagers immediately shut their mouths. Pairs and pairs of eyes filled with hope were fixedly staring at her. Zhuo Qing took Wu Si’s sleeve and pulled him up, and then helplessly sighed and said: “If you want me to write an indictment, then you need to tell me the whole story of the matter.”

Zhuo Qing had to admit, she was touched by these people’s simple and honest yet wholehearted devotion. To repay the kindness they received, they had even dared to kidnap someone belonging to the Prime Minister’s residence without any hesitation with just some simple hoes on a shoulder-pole in their hands. She thought about the fact that they could barely even hold up a writing brush, and were lying on the tables with very distressed looks, and then she recalled that indictment which was covered with those O’s and X’s, Zhuo Qing couldn’t help but smile.

“She’s agreed! That’s wonderful!” The villagers began to shout out in joy, and then the only thing she could see was the entrance of Niu Jia Village. People were rushing forward, completely surrounding Zhuo Qing, while talking at the same time….. “So it happened like this……”

“Our benefactor is a very good person….”

“Let me tell you, the authorities……”

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。 The big and spacious study was divided in half by a green jade screen. On the left, was a simple red sandalwood desk, along with a few watercolor paintings, showcasing the owner’s elegant and delicate refined nature. On the right, was a low tea-table by the windows overlooking the room, two unusually elegant men sat opposite to each other, their eyes concentrating on the dots above the low tea-table.

After a moment, the corners of Lou Xi Yan’s mouth lightly raised up, he smiled and said: “You lost.”

2-3-4, nine-points – small!* He lost again! He pushed away the dice cup with a lack of interest attitude. Qi Tian Yu quietly cursed then said: “I’m not playing anymore, if I continue to lose, I’ll lose the entire Qi family’s fortune to you!”

Lou Xi Yan indifferently laughed and said: “Qi-da gongzi* must be joking, me winning a few of these games is nothing more than a hair from nine oxen* for the Qi family!”

It was indeed just a hair from nine oxen, but he didn’t want to accept it. His family owned a casino, and from when he was a child until now, gambling with dice was his best skill, but for some reason every time he played dice with Lou Xi Yan, it always ended with him losing?! He had to be cheating! He silently cursed in his heart, but Qi Tian Yu didn’t have the courage to search Lou Xi Yan’s body.

Looking outside the window, the moon had peeked out long ago. Qi Tian Yu mockingly said: “The sky darkened long ago, why isn’t your little beauty here yet! You aren’t hiding her on purpose so I can’t see her are you?!”

He arrived at noon, but he never even got to see the beauty, and lost several thousand taels of silver instead.

Seeing his impatient manner, Lou Xi Yan indifferently replied: “If you’d like, you can take her back home later.”

Although he wasn’t like General Su, who treats woman with disdain and contempt, he wasn’t particularly fond of things like sexual matters or romance.

“Are you trying to get me killed!”

Qi Tian Yu shouted out in a strange voice while pretending to be scared: “Who would dare steal the gift the Emperor gave you! Besides, you haven’t even seen this little beauty yet, you might not want to part with her once you see her. I’ve heard rumors that the Qing family’s Second Miss was a beauty who is capable of causing the downfall of states. She didn’t lack in her knowledge of poetry, songs, or literature. If you want talent she has talent, if you want beauty she has beauty…..”

While Qi Tian Yu was in the middle of speaking joyously, a low and deep knocking sound sounded out from the door.

“Come in.”

The man who entered through the door had dark skin, and a resolute face, one that was like a rock carved with a knife. His expression was cold and stiff and lacked in emotions. Qi Tian Yu had never seen any kind of expression appear on this rock’s face either.

Not waiting for him to talk, Qi Tian Yu urgently said: “Jing Sa, has the little beauty arrived? ”

Jing Sa’s face turned colder, and hesitatingly looked towards Lou Xi Yan.

Knowing Jing Sa’s personality very well, Lou Xi Yan already knew in his heart, something happened. His expression remained the same as always, Lou Xi Yan weakly smiled and said: “Say it out loud.”

Jing Sa coldly replied: “Miss Qing’s carriage was stolen just outside of the capital.”

“Stolen?!” Qi Tian Yu was dumbstruck, there was really someone daring enough to take Lou Xi Yan’s woman!! Were they tired of living?!

“At that time about a hundred or so villagers surrounded them, then abducted Miss Qing, and they threatened, that they’ll only release her if Master personally went to Niu Jia Village himself. Your Subordinate* has already sent someone to investigate. Niu Jia Village is a small village thirty Li* away from the capital, it’s one of those typical poor people dwellings. The residents consisted of both old and young, and had a population of about two hundred people only.”

Qi Tian Yu laughed aloud excitedly: “A village of only about two hundred people altogether sent out a hundred or so to fight with you for your woman?!”

“The guards which were sent reported back, they’ve already searched all over Niu Jia Village, but they didn’t find any traces of Miss Qing. They insisted, if they don’t see Master, then they won’t release her.”

He had heard about Qing Feng being kidnapped in the afternoon, but he originally thought it was just a farce by some villagers, so he sent out some people to take her back. Who would have thought that these villagers were also quite remarkable. As if they knew what they would do in advance, they hid her away very well. They were also completely unwilling to yield towards the matter.

A subtle spark flashed across Lou Xi Yan’s eyes. The corners of his mouth seemed like it had calmly raised very subtly, he lightly smiled and said: “If you put it that way it looks like it won’t do if I don’t go and have a look!”

The expression Xi Yan had….Qi Tian Yu got goosebumps all over his body without any reason.
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Notes:
– *Injustice undone (沉冤得雪): The entire phrase put together means to clear away the injustice, but since 雪 alone means snow, and Liu Yu didn’t know any other way to express it…he tried expressing it very literally…

– *——: The —— is probably (I’m guessing) her sarcasm; she’s stretching out the last syllable of the word to emphasize her “amazement”. It doesn’t really work for English, but I guess you would be emphasizing the final syllable of the word.

– *2-3-4, nine-points – small: They’re playing a game called “cee-lo” or “四五六” (or 三六豹子 in parts of China) though it can just be called “dice” too. I don’t really know much about the rules, but 2-3-4 are the points on three different die, and together it all adds up to nine which makes it a “small”. I assume he bet money on whether the result would be “large” or “small”, in this case small, meaning the banker (Lou Xi Yan) wins the money he bet. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cee-lo]

– *Da Gongzi (大公子): 公子 is a honorific title usually for the sons of officials or nobility or just to address someone like a gentlemen, and 大公子 in this case means he’s the eldest son of some minister or noble’s family.

– *A hair from nine oxen (九牛一毛): An idiom literally meaning a hair from nine oxen, another way of saying it is “a drop from the ocean”.

– *Your Subordinate (屬下): He’s referring to himself, but lowering himself down to Lou Xi Yan since he’s his master.

– *Li (里): A Chinese measurement for distance, in modern measurements, 1 Li is about 500 meters. So 30 Li is approximately 15000 meters.

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 004 – Indictment

As per usual, if any mistakes are found please leave and comment below and I’ll double check. Enjoy.
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“Once you’ve talked enough come in and help me up.”

An icy cold voice quietly sounded out, making the people outside the carriage shiver for no reason; do all girls from wealthy families talk in this kind of manner?!

Wu Si grabbed onto his head, then turned around and looked at his brothers* behind him, everyone took a step backwards; since he was the one who talked on endlessly, they let him go help her.

If he had to go then he’ll go! He Wu Si can’t possibly be scared of a woman! He secretly gulped, and then while one foot was stepping onto the carriage, Wu Si lifted open the carriage’s hanging screen door, and ducked inside.

Unexpectedly he was met with a pair of icy pupils; looking at the woman in front of him clearly, Wi Si sucked in a cool breath.

Inside the carriage, the woman covered in red clothing was semi-leaning on the carriage’s wall, her slightly raised pupils were staring at him coldly. Wu Si had never met this kind of woman before, with eyes like that. Being stared at by those eyes, he had difficulty breathing for no reason, in addition on her face were two deep scars engraved on with a blade ruining her entire right cheek. With just the first look she seemed very terrifying, this was the beautiful woman sent by Hao Yue?

Wi Si was puzzled, they couldn’t have kidnapped the wrong person right?!

Just when Wi Si was sizing up Zhuo Qing, Zhuo Qing was also observing him. The man in front of her was over thirty, his hair was unkempt and tied up with a strip of cloth, the cloth clothing he was wearing was filled with patches, looking very shabby, his appearance, resembled….someone from the ancient times!

Everything was too strange! Controlling the restlessness in her heart, Zhuo Qing extended out her hand, grabbing onto Wu Si’s arm, and borrowed his strength to stand up. Unfortunately because she hadn’t used any strength for a long time, Zhuo Qing immediately fell down softly. Wu Si hurriedly supported her by holding onto her hand, this woman was really thin!

Helping Zhuo Qing to the side of the carriage entrance, before lifting open the hanging screen door, Wu Si suddenly grabbed the veil which was inside the carriage, and covered up Zhuo Qing’s face, then he took her out.

Zhuo Qing was completely powerless, so she could only semi-lean against Wu Si’s bosom, allowing him to barely support her with his arm while walking. The fiery red marriage clothing made her sweet, fair and graceful figure disappear, and every step she took was extremely delicate looking, the veil covered her face, making people imagine boundlessly.

A youngster in his teens clicked his tongue and called out: “Waa…the women from Hao Yue really were made from water! Even the way they walked was different from the women in the village.”

Going along with the youngster’s teasing, a group of people also began to heckle, Wu Si ruthlessly glared at the youngster while supporting Zhuo Qing to the stone bench to sit down, after a moment, he too didn’t know what to say.

Xiao Wu Zi stepped forward, pulling Wu Si aside, laughed and asked: “Wu-ge*, I’ve long heard that Hao Yue specialized in producing beautiful women, in addition the young lady sent this time was renowned within all the countries, and she had been stolen by us already, so why not let our gang see how she looked like, all right?”

“Out of the question!” Wu Si roared out loudly, and scolded: “What we did today, was only done to get justice for our benefactor, we only kidnapped her because we had no other choice, if the bunch of you do that, what difference is there from us with those evil deceitful bandits?!”

Xiao Wu Zi gulped, and mumbled: “Wu-ge, we just want to see what those so-called beauties who were able to ruin and overturn states looked like, we don’t plan to do anything to her!”

Wu-ge was usually someone who never tries to offend anyone, why was he like this today?

Meeting the puzzled expressions of the villagers, Wu Si also felt that he went a bit overboard, and urged in a lowered voice: “Even if it were like that it’s still no good!”

Which woman didn’t care about her appearance, who knows how her face was marred, if anyone saw it, he was afraid that she would feel even more sad and heart-broken.

“Wu-ge…..” Xiao Wu Zi still wanted to say something, but then a red silk cloth was suddenly agilely thrown away onto the ground.

Xiao Wu Zi turned around, a face with a large cut on it came into his eyesight, and made him shout out in alarm: “Wa! Oh my god! What kind of beauty is this!”

The surrounding villagers who came to watch also received a scare, and for a moment the large group of people was so quiet it was somewhat scary.

Zhuo Qing silently returned the crowd’s burning stares, in the sea of astonished, afraid, sympathizing and pitying gazes, she slightly raised her head, and with her ice cold pupils she swept her eyes over everyone. The villagers unconsciously retreated back a step; she originally thought that people who would kidnap someone definitely wouldn’t be any well-doer, but in front of her eyes were actually what seemed to be just a group of incomparably simple and honest villagers.

Zhuo Qing slightly calmed her heart down, and asked: “Just now who did you say I was?” This body wasn’t hers, so what she needed to find out now was, who on earth was she?!

Xiao Wu Zi gulped, and replied: “You are a woman from Hao Yue, offered as a tribute to the Emperor, but I heard that the Emperor awarded you to the Prime Minister, however with your looks, it’s probable that even the Prime Minister wouldn’t want you!”

“Xiao Wu Zi!” Wu Si quietly shouted out.

Zhuo Qing’s face remained the same as it normally was, and continued to ask: “Where is this place?”

“This is Niu Jia Village, just a bit ahead is Qiong Yue’s capital city Huan Yang.”

Qiong Yue? Huan Yang? Never heard of it! Deeply taking in a breath, Zhuo Qing looked at the group of people who circled around to watch, with a clear voice she asked: “Have you ever heard of China before?”

Everyone made the same motion, they all shook their heads.

They spoke Chinese, dressed in ancient costume clothing, but they didn’t know of China, and according to what she knew, the world she lived in shouldn’t have a place like this to ever exist, but she, unexpectedly also exchanged bodies. No matter how much she didn’t want to believe it, she still knew clearly, she came to an unknown place, and entered a body that became a “gift”!

God! And her head was still in pain!

“Young lady, are you okay?!” Wu Si looked at Zhuo Qing with a somewhat indescribable look, just now she was still arrogant and overbearing, but why was her face full of pain now.

Zhuo Qing wasn’t in the mood to try and understand anyone else, she needed to calm down!

“Wu-ge! Wu-ge!” Coming from within the village was an excited male’s voice. A twenty something year old young man rushed straight towards Wu Si, pushing aside the villagers who were circled around.

Liu Yu held up a piece of paper, holding it like it was a treasure and shouted: “You’ve returned, I finished writing it, Wu-ge come have a look!”

Pushing away Liu Yu’s hand, Wu Si awkwardly smiled and said: “Look at what, I don’t even know how to read.”

Xiao Wu Zi’s lips also curled up, and heckled: “That’s right, you’re the only one here who can read! If you tell us to read it, we won’t even be able to make sense of what we’re looking at!”

Liu Yu’s head dropped down, feeling embarrassed he grabbed his head, laughed and said: “I…I too only learned how to read from dad for two years, after he passed away, there was no one else to teach me.”

“That’s still better than us!” Snatching the paper in Liu Yu’s hand, Xiao Wu Zi looked at it from every angle but he still couldn’t make any sense of it, and asked puzzledly: “Wu-ge, why do we have to write this kind of thing?!”

Using some strength to swat Xiao Wu Zi’s head, Wu Si took the paper back, then carefully unwrinkled it, sighed and said: “Didn’t the authorities already say so, we must have an indictment, and since we can’t afford a barrister*, we can only write it ourselves. If Prime Minister Lou really came, we can also tell all the facts of injustice no?”

“Though I think that this thing was written for nothing now!” Giving Zhuo Qing a side glance, Xiao Wu Zi silently cursed, this woman’s appearance was marred now, what would Prime Minister Lou even bother to come for?!

The authorities said so already, having an indictment was absolutely essential, whether or not they were able to help their benefactor clear away the injustice he received depended on it.

Wu Si glanced at Zhuo Qing who was sitting upright on the side, then his eyes flashed, and requested her: “Young Lady, could we inconvenience you to help us take a look?!”

One look at the young lady and you could tell she came from a prestigious family, she must know how to read!

Zhuo Qing pondered for a little while, and replied: “Bring it out.” She too wanted to know, the reason to why these simple and genuine villagers went as far as kidnapping someone, and in addition she had never seen this place’s writing before, so she wanted to take this chance to have a look.

Unfolding the paper, Zhuo Qing was immediately flabbergasted…..
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Notes:
– *Brothers (兄弟): Not his actual brothers, friends and other people who were close to him like they were brothers. You get the idea.

– *_____-ge (___哥): Suffix for “bro” or brother since there’s no English equivalent, and since the Japanese honorifics were the same (transliterated), these should also be the same (well in my opinion at least).

– *Barrister (狀師): Aka a lawyer; they mostly specialize in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the philosophy, hypothesis and history of law, and giving expert legal opinions. Often, barristers are also recognized as legal scholars.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrister]

Records of Washed Away Injustices: Chapter 003 – Stolen Bride

Someone please correct me about the note of imidazole if I’m wrong, since chemistry isn’t my specialty.

As per usual, if any mistakes are found please leave and comment below and I’ll double check.
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Early spring, the season of beautiful flowers.

Qiong Yue was powerful and prosperous, so naturally the entirety of the capital Huan Yang* was well-off. She hasn’t even entered into the capital city yet, and you can already hear the extraordinary hustles and bustles and clamors coming from the city.

Government officials stood on either sides of the road, there were also many people entering and exiting Huan Yang’s shops. The commoners however, were not excited in the least.

The cool breeze brushed across his face, birds were chirping and the flowers were fragrant. Seeing the city gates of Huan Yang which they were quickly approaching, Li Xu was both excited and afraid at the same time!

He was happy because they had been rushing to get there for over ten days straight, and although it was frightening it wasn’t dangerous, and they were finally almost there. But what he was afraid of was, the faces of the three young misses…..Inside the carriage, a pair of slim arms was currently trying her best to grab the not-at-all high curtain covering the window. Unfortunately before she even got a chance to touch it, her arm dropped down from her lack of strength.

Just a little further!

Zhuo Qing tried stretching out her right hand again. The wound on the right side of her face was terribly painful, making Zhuo Qing even more clear-headed.

She had been shut inside this narrow space for a good few days already, and everyday someone would feed her a large set amount of imidazole* hidden in her food, for the last few days. She had been pretending to be unconscious, so they had no choice but to give up on force-feeding her after a few mouthfuls. She was currently quite clear-headed, but was still as powerless as before.

Where was Gu Yun? After they were attacked in her office, were they taken away together, and who were these people? What were they planning on doing? What kind of place was this since carriages are used as transportation? Where exactly was she at the moment? Zhuo Qing’s ever astute mind was quickly turning, hoping to find even the slimmest shred of a clue, unfortunately the only thing her brain was revolving around were a whole pile of questions.

The carriage suddenly stopped, outside the carriage, a familiar male voice began flattering someone with a respectful tone: “DaRen, The Qing Sisters have arrived, please take a look…..”

She recognized this voice, she had heard it coming from outside the carriage for these past few days. He should be the mastermind behind this time’s abduction.

The surroundings outside seem to be somewhat noisy. Zhuo Qing attentively listened. After a while a slightly deep and low male voice coldly said: “The Emperor has already ordered, for the Eldest Miss of the Qing family to immediately enter the palace, the Second Miss to be sent to Prime Minister Lou’s residence, and the Third Miss to be sent to General Su’s residence. You’ve worked hard Li DaRen, please make your return now!”

Emperor? Enter the palace?

Which country still had a monarchy system implemented in today’s modern times? So she had actually been sent out of China. From the conversation they had just now, she was sure that, there were three people who were kidnapped altogether, and Gu Yun was likely to be one of them?!

Zhuo Qing controlled her breathing, continuing to listen attentively.

Outside of the carriage, Li Xu immediately bowed to salute, replying: “Many thanks for the graces of the Emperor of Qiong.”

The Minister of Ceremonies didn’t look at Li Xu for much longer. His eyes swept across the three carriages, and asked: “Which carriage is the Qing family’s Eldest Miss in?”

Pointing towards the carriage in the middle, Li Xu hurriedly replied: “It’s this one.”

Two men who were dressed in palace clothing quickly ran towards the carriage, took the reins, and announced towards the Minister of Ceremonies: “Returning to the Palace!”

The group of people slowly headed towards the eastern city gate.

Right outside the city gate, there were two other groups of men on horses. As a person who is dedicated to serving, Li Xu only need one look, and he knew. The people on the left dressed in blue, who were refined and had manners, was definitely people from the Prime Minister’s residence. And the vigorous-looking people dressed in grey cloth clothing on the right, were all tall and well-built, so naturally they were guards from the General’s residence.

Nodding his head to greet them, Li Xu smiled and said: “DaRens, the Qing family’s Second Miss is in this one, and in that one is, the Qing family’s Third Miss.”

After sending out people to lead the carriage, the two lightly cupped their hands towards Li Xu, then separated and went towards either south or north, both groups leaving in different directions.

After the three carriages were lead away, a low-ranked soldier asked in a lowered voice: “Li-daren, what should we do now?”

Raising his horsewhip, Li Xu shouted in a loud voice: “Let’s go, we’ll spend the next few nights rushing back to Hao Yue!”

The Emperor of Qiong went as far as to not even let them enter the palace doors before quickly sending them away, and he didn’t even look, before immediately casually giving away the two other young misses! Though after thinking about it a second time, they were just some gifts sent from a tiny country, why would Qiong Yue give them a grand welcoming, a banquet and treat them with cordiality?

Turning around and glancing in the three different directions, he saw the carriages which were gradually moving further away, Li Xu sighed quietly, you young misses will have to rely on your own abilities to find your own happiness.

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。The carriage began moving again, but it wasn’t moving particularly fast. Zhuo Qing’s back leaned against one of the carriage’s walls, and slowly moved the bamboo curtain bit by bit. The bright and beautiful sunshine immediately made her close eyes, but after a while she slowly adapted, and then she saw the world outside the open window. Zhuo Qing couldn’t help but go blank, this….where is this?!

How long has she not seen this kind of azure sky for. The air brought along a faint smell of grass, and on both sides of the path, there were towering trees, each one was thick and solid and very lush.

Zhuo Qing stared blankly towards the front of the carriage, there were four men dressed in a long blue changshan* riding shiny black furred steeds, they even had long hair too! They were dressed too strangely.

Looking down at herself she saw a body covered in fiery red ancient-period marriage clothing. One part of Zhuo Qing felt like this wasn’t just a simple kidnapping. She reached out her hand and stroked through her hair. She gently pulled down a few strands from her tied up hair. Black hair? That can’t be right, her hair was brown! And, it wasn’t this long!

Zhuo Qing’s heartbeat which was steady until now suddenly began to speed up. Lifting up her wide sleeves, the skin on her right arm was bright and clean like jade, and then Zhuo Qing’s hand began to tremble uncontrollably. This wasn’t her body!! She was supposed to have a ten centimeter long scar on her right arm!

Just what was going on!!

Zhuo Qing tightly gripped her hands turning them into fists, she needed to calm down before she can make clear of this situation. Just what on earth happened!

Unfortunately before Zhuo Qing was able to calm down, the carriage suddenly made an urgent stop, nearly throwing her out of the carriage.

On both sides of the path, over a hundred people who were hidden within the dense trees suddenly came out. All of them were dressed in cloth clothing, their ages ranged from the teens to the several of tens, in their hands they held…..hoes on shoulder poles*!!

Lan Zi Qi stared at them blankly, and saw that they didn’t look like bandits, but the sword which was already taken out slowly unsheathed, and in a clear voice he asked: “Who are you people?!”

Unexpectedly the group of people didn’t explain anything, and was only listening to the well-built man among them shouting out in a powerful voice: “Grab her!”

Without any organized battle formations, the group of people swarmed forward, their eyes only set on the carriage.

Lan Zi Qi and the other three guards immediately drew out their swords to face them, unfortunately there were too many of them. A few men climbed onto the carriage, whipped the horses and left. Seeing the carriage escape, those people didn’t continue fighting any longer, and dispersed in different directions to run away.

The well-built man who shouted out “grab her” just a moment ago was running while shouting: “Go back and tell Prime Minister Lou, if he wants his woman back, come in person to the Niu Jia Village!”

If it wasn’t for the fact that there were a few hoes which were thrown away on the ground, and that even the shadow of the carriage couldn’t be seen anymore, they wouldn’t have believed the scene which just happened happened at all.

The whole thing seemed to be a farce.

The guards looked blankly at Lan Zi Qi, and asked: “What should we do?”

“Go back to report!”

What else could be done! Lan Zi Qi’s entire face was dark. He was only a low-ranked guard from the Prime Minister’s residence, but with a casual point of a finger from Steward Jing, he was allowed to come and receive someone.

How would he have known that something like this would happen just outside of the capital!!

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。After rushing away like mad for over half an hour, the carriage finally stopped.

It was clamoring outside, but soon, a clear and loud male voice who’s tone which could be considered as courteous called out from outside: “Young Lady please come out of the carriage.”

Zhuo Qing quietly cursed, she actually wanted to get off, but the problem was that her limbs were limp at the moment. Even sitting up was difficult how was she supposed to get off the carriage!!

For a long time there was only silence coming from within the carriage. Wu Si waved his hand at the men standing behind him, hinting for them to stop being so noisy. She was a young lady after all, and if they were this loud, he was afraid she had been startled by them.

Softly coughing to clear his throat, Wi Si deliberately talked gently, and said to her with a lowered voice: “Miss you don’t need to be afraid, we are not bad people! We only wanted to meet with Prime Minister Lou, so we had to kidnap you. But don’t worry, we won’t hurt you, after seeing Prime Minister Lou, we’ll let you go right away!”

There was once again only silence coming from within the carriage. The group of people looked at each other in dismay. Could it be that young lady fainted from being too scared?!

Just when Wu Si was at a loss at what to do, a cold female voice sounded out from inside the carriage: “Once you’ve talked enough come inside and help me up.”
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Notes:
– *Huan Yang (煥陽): Qiong Yue’s capital city, the name means brilliant and positive/bright.
– *Imidazole: Basically she was drugged with an undetectable (scentless, tasteless, colorless?) drug. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidazole]
– *Changshan (長衫): A male version of a qipao. It can be called cheongsam, which I originally went with but since cheongsam is the general term and changshan is the term used to refer exclusively to the male counterpart, I used that instead.
– *Shoulder-poles (扁擔): [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_pole] That except with hoes attached to the ends.