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1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
The 15th day of the eighth month.
Shi Cheng brought Liu Xu’er to Hanzhong city to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival with his parents.
The Shi family was small, so it wasn’t as festive as Liu Xu’er’s family. At 5pm, just as the sky was starting to darken, Shi Qing went to set off some fireworks in the courtyard with his servants. Shi Cheng and his father sat in the main house sipping tea and chatting while Liu Xu’er sat in the house with her mother-in-law.
Shi Cheng’s mother asked Liu Xu’er – how were her sanshu and the rest sentenced? When she heard the outcome, she sighed and said, “That isn’t too bad…. Being able to preserve their lives is the most important thing.”
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Nkw Dw’la dseele bla blye.&dcpr;
Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla zssjle yv bla yde pyke, “Mbkp xktbv dsv cl dknl vs blya, cwv pkdnl vblu’hl yzalyeu clld pldvldnle vs lmkzl, vbld prlyj vs uswa tayderyaldvp yde ryaldvp. Mblu nyddsv jllr kd nsdvynv okvb vblx! Mblpl psavp sq rlsrzl dlhla nbydtl. Vlabyrp vblu okzz nsdvkdwl vs nsxxkv nakxlp kd vbl qwvwal yde kxrzknyvl vbl qyxkzu ytykd!”
Nkw Dw’la dyvwayzzu nswzed’v pyu yduvbkdt vs vbkp, ps pbl fwpv dseele yde bwxxle bla ytallxldv.&dcpr;
Fbk Ubldt’p xsvbla nsdvkdwle vs rayvvzl sd, “Mblpl vurlp sq rlsrzl – obyv tsse kp vblal kd nsdvkdwkdt vs xykdvykd y alzyvksdpbkr okvb vblx? El byhld’v clld kd nsdvynv qsa ps xydu ulyap, yde ulv vblu pvkzz xydytle vs kdhszhl wp kd vblka xyvvlap! Rq ol olal vs xykdvykd nsdpvydv nsdvynv, obs jdsop obyv xktbv byrrld kd vbl qwvwal! Slyzzu, usw dlle vs ts cynj yde oyad uswa tayderyaldvp. Psd’v ts yde hkpkv uswa pydpbw. Rv oswze cl clpv vs ekpsod bkx nsxrzlvlzu!”
Nkw Dw’la zkpvldle yp bla xsvbla-kd-zyo’p osaep clnyxl xsal yde xsal lmvalxl. Ohlauvbkdt oldv kd sdl lya, yde swv vbl svbla. Fbl oswze fwpv ralvlde pbl dlhla blyae vbkp, yde elnkel qsa blaplzq obyv vs es qasx blal.&dcpr;
Gqvla vbl hlaeknv bye nsxl esod, Nkw Qys pbk bye blyhle y bwtl pktb sq alzklq yde nyzxle esod. Lykdyk oyp ynvwyzzu y hlau ayvksdyz yde zstknyz rlapsd. Fbl jdlo kd bla blyav vbyv qsa bla psd vs cl yczl vs ralplahl bkp zkql oyp yzalyeu yd kxxldpl czlppkdt. Oprlnkyzzu nsdpkelakdt vbl nakxl bl bye nsxxkvvle! Nkw Qys pbk oyp hlau tayvlqwz vs vbl Tlyhldp qsa vblka rasvlnvksd yde eked’v eyal vs ypj qsa yduvbkdt xsal.&dcpr;
Jlqsal Nkw Ubydttwk oyp pldv vs lmkzl, Xze Yyd Nkw yde Nkw Qys pbk bye xyel y prlnkyz vakr vs Psdtnbydtqw yde olald’v cynj ulv. Gzsdt okvb vblx olal Nkw Ubydtik, Nkw Mys, Nkw Ubydttldt yde Nkw Ubydtpbk. Ohlau sdl sq vblx oldv vs hkpkv Nkw Ubydttwk yde Nkw Zwd’la, yde vs qkde swv oblal vblu oswze cl pldv. Mblu caswtbv yzsdt okvb vblx psxl dlnlppkvklp yp olzz yp psxl pkzhla vs blzr vblx sd vbl asye. Xq nswapl, lhld Nkw Qys pbk jdlo dsv vs tkhl vss xwnb. Mblu olal ralryale vs sdzu tkhl vblx y qlo vylzp osavb sq casjld pkzhla yde psxl nsrrla nskdp – fwpv ldswtb qsa vblx vs prlde.
Ls xyvvla obyv, lhld kq vblu oswze dlhla xllv ytykd kd qwvwal, vblal oyp pvkzz vbl alyppwaydnl vbyv vblu olal yzkhl. Rv oyp clvvla vbyd ds dlop yv yzz. Oprlnkyzzu pkdnl vbl lzelap sq vbl qyxkzu olal pvkzz yzkhl – vblu nswzed’v ktdsal vblka qllzkdtp ycswv vbkp.&dcpr;
Because Liu Changgeng and the rest still hadn’t returned, Liu Xu’er didn’t know exactly where they would be exiled to. But she did know that they would be led toward the southwest, so it was probably Sichuan. The miasma of the place was quite heavy, and after entering the place, there was no way out. It had always been a good place to exile people.
Meng shi continued to speak for a long time, mostly to vent. But Liu Xu’er’s face remained calm. Occasionally she would nod. Seeing that she didn’t argue, Meng shi was somewhat satisfied.
In the main house, Shi Cheng and his father were also discussing her sanshu’s matter.
“The matter has already been resolved, but I am still worried. What if these officials get addicted to trying to extort us? What if whenever anything happens, they think of us? That would be really troublesome….” Shi Cheng’s father said, his brows furrowed.
Shi Cheng smiled and said, “Dad, why are you so worried about this?”
Shi Qian sighed and looked toward the inner room. “Because I didn’t want your mother to worry, I had to comfort her. But honestly, I am still worried. Although you are now a juren, there are apparently still people who don’t think much of it! This matter…” He shook his head, “In any case, it really makes me uncomfortable.”
Shi Cheng then said, “I know what dad is worried about. You’re not concerned about being extorted this small sum of money, you’re just worried that it will keep happening again and again in future. Dad, are you thinking about what happened when you offended the magistrate before?”
Shi Qian sighed and nodded his head, “That’s right. Of course, at that time, I was young and impulsive. I didn’t know how to give in gracefully. You’re much better than I was, but…. We are business people. The thing we fear most is being eyed by officials. The instant they have their eye on you, whenever they need money, they would come and ask. That would be really troublesome.”
Shi Cheng brought the teacup to his lips. He smiled and said, “I just knew that dad was thinking about what had happened before… I just want to say a few words. What happened before, as you yourself pointed out, was because you were young, and didn’t know how to give in,” He smiled. “If you did, the situation wouldn’t have become so big…. Actually, we just have to abide by that principle in everything. So long as one knows how to give in gracefully, and have some strategies to turn the situation around, there’s nothing to fear.”
Shi Qian took a sip of tea. He slowly said, “En, I know that we are doing business, and it’s impossible to avoid meeting with officials… That’s right, is Senzi going to continue to take the exams? He’s so young? If he were to study seriously, he would definitely pass the next round! Look at how young he is! There are people dozens of years older than him that are still trying to become xiucai! It would be such a pity if he didn’t continue with the exams.”
“That’s up to him. He doesn’t want to take the exams for now, and in any case, both Xu’er and I think he’s still too young. Becoming a juren should be his limit for now; he cannot continue onwards yet. If were to actually pass the next round of exams, there would be all sorts of talk of a “child prodigy”. He is still so young, and might have his head turned by so much praise. Similarly, if he were to fail, he might start to pressure himself, and that might affect his mentality. If it starts to affect him… No matter how we look at it, there’s no good outcome.”
Shi Cheng smiled then, “The most important thing is that Senzi himself doesn’t want to continue to take the exams. He probably doesn’t want to study for a while, so we should just let him be. He’s also quite intelligent, and knows what he can and cannot do. Now, he’s developing an interest in business, so he should continue to manage their family store. Perhaps in a few years, he will change his mind and continue with the exams. Either way is fine.”
Shi Qian nodded his head, “I have to say that I really admire your in-laws. Each and every one of their children really shines in their own way! Senzi is so young, but so obedient and sensible. He knows what he should do.” He paused for a moment and said, “If Senzi were to pass the next round of exams, and becomes an official, we would have support.”
Shi Cheng smiled and said, “Dad! Why would you think that? That’s not a guarantee. Every single position brings their own sets of trouble. If your position is low, then the trouble tends to be smaller. If your position is high, then the difficulties would be much more serious, because the person making trouble for you would similarly be in a high position…. We are right now just doing some simple business. Occasionally, we would be eyed by officials, and would be extorted some silver…. But that isn’t something that happens often. Think about it, are we still expecting to have another few relatives involved in smuggling silver, or committing crimes?! This situation should not happen again!”
Shi Qian was a rather clear minded person. The only thing he was still worried about was being extorted in the future. That was actually something that most would have to consider seriously.
Shi Cheng was not the same. He had, after all, experienced a lot in life, and had actually been involved in big business, and very important occasions before. It was their previous experiences that allowed Shi Cheng and Liu Xu’er to be so calm and unshakeable. They both knew that being that rich and being ranked that highly would mean that they would have to rub shoulders of people similarly rich and highly ranked. As such, any issues that came their way would be much more difficult to handle.
“But if everyone really thinks that so long as we have an official’s support, we would never be extorted – well, that’s just not possible. If Senzi were to enter officialdom, he would need to meet with other officials. The rivalries and factions of the court are much fiercer than we think. Although lower ranked officials wouldn’t dare to extort us, in order for us to maintain Senzi’s official status, we would need to support his career in officialdom, and would probably have to spend even more money! Why do so many officials become corrupt after entering court? One of the main reasons is that they need to make connections, and help others in order to get work done. Once you enter those muddy waters, then you really need to be prepared to give hundreds, if not thousands of taels of silver. Perhaps, you would even need to spend 10s or 100s of thousands!”
Shi Cheng paused and continued, “If he were to offend a rival official…. And honestly, it’s a given he would. If they are not of the same faction, he would definitely offend them. And if the official is more powerful than him, and manages to get some dirt on him, then they would continue to drain him of even more money! Who knows how much money would have to be poured into that!” He shook his head, “That’s why I feel that our situation right now is optimal. The era we live in is safe and prosperous. We just have to live our lives in these safe and prosperous times as ordinary citizens. We don’t need to worry about too many issues. We can just simply concentrate on living well.”
Shi Qian slowly sipped his head. After a while, he smiled and said, “You really are very clear. Alright, it seems that you are clearer than I about officialdom and are even more ambivalent about it than I am!”
Shi Cheng smiled, “It’s only because I’ve seen what dad had gone through. I have also experienced quite a lot when doing business. This time, with Xu’er’s family matter, I had time to slowly think about it, and managed to think through some matters.”
Shi Qian sampled his tea and nodded, “It’s true. What you say does make sense. An ordinary citizen’s life is actually rather good. It’s enough not to have to worry about food on the table. It’s not necessarily a good thing to try and fight your way up the ladder.”
As father and son spoke, mother and daughter-in-law were also speaking. After a while, the sounds of fireworks drifted into the house, Liu Xu’er ran out of the room. She smiled and said, “It’s still so early – have they already begun to set off fireworks?”
Shi Cheng smiled and stood up. “Let’s go. I’ll bring you to a good spot to watch the fireworks!” He turned, smiled and said, “Dad, are you and mum going out as well?”
Shi Qian smiled and waved his hand, “You two go ahead! It’s not as though I’ve never seen fireworks. It’s enough to look at them from here. There’s no need to go somewhere special.”
Shi Cheng’s mother came out and said, “Don’t stay out too late. In another hour, we will be having our meal. Your father has even brought in two large baskets of crabs from Songjiang prefecture specially for us to eat!”
Shi Cheng smiled and agreed. Then he pulled Liu Xu’er by the hand. He ran to a pavilion in the back courtyard. It was a two storied building and was built with the intention of enjoying the view. He entered it and told the servant girls to bring them some snacks and tea. Then the couple sat down to enjoy the fireworks.
“What did mum say to you? Did she start to nag you about sanshu again?” Shi Cheng asked.
Liu Xu’er nodded her head. She smiled and said, “But it went in one ear and out the other…”
Shi Cheng had asked her because he was worried that she would be tired of his mother’s repeated nagging. When he heard her words, he smiled and nodded, “Good, good, good. Mum can be naggy. You just have to listen, but don’t let it affect you and make you angry with her.”
“I won’t….” Liu Xu’er turned and asked him, “How about you? What did you say to your father?”
Shi Cheng smiled, “Isn’t it the same thing? My dad is quite clear headed. So long as I explain everything clearly, he’s fine.”
Liu Xu’er nodded her head.
Then there was a sharp, clear crack that shot up toward the sky. Suddenly, a shower of fireworks exploded and untold numbers of what looked like shooting stars started to scatter and fall. It was unspeakably beautiful.
Shi Cheng stretched his arm out to pull Liu Xu’er to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. He pressed his face next to hers and the two of them smiled and continued to admire the fireworks.
Translator’s Note: Tomorrow’s the final chapter! Some of you might be sad, but as a minor consolation, it’s twice as long as the normal chapters😊😊 In any case, everything is nearly a wrap!
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Awwwww!