Chapter 23 China Dreams 1-Ordinary People Doing Harm to their Peers for Opportunities of Being an Government Official Capable of Preying all Inferiors

Author: Jin Xifeng Translator: Fanglin Louis

Introduction of the novel "The Great Khan" from the author:

A modern Chinese soul-travels to the Tang Dynasty 1300 years ago and merges into the body of Xue Chongxun, the eldest son of Princess Taiping of the Tang Dynasty of China. He tragically discovers that he and his families will be killed by the then Crown Prince Li Longji in a coup within the forthcoming two year later according to the original historical development. Therefore, Li Longji becomes his destined mortal enemy since he soul-travelled back to the world. So, as the protagonist of this novel, how can he sort out to avoid that disaster? In order to survive, is he qualified to be the opponent of Li Longji, the original great man in Chinese history? How should he reinterpret the prosperous Tang poetry in this time and space he traveled to? ……

Message from the transaltor:

All contents posted here is my Enlgish transaltion of the Chinese novel ,which was oringinally posted in the website as https://www.xiguasuwu.com/bookread/3704055759/405861.html

(Continued)

"My Lord, I have found out that Xiao Heng lives in Xuanpingfang in the south, in a rented courtyard. The owner of the courtyard is a merchant from the East Market. There are only three people in Xiao Heng's family. His parents are not in Chang'an. He has a wife and a son, and the youngest son is still in swaddling clothes. He also has no servants." Fang Yuzhong bowed and reported at the door of Xue Chongxun, and checked the details of the handsome man he met in Shuiyunjian.

After hearing this, Xue Chongxun thought about the bad things he was going to do, and he actually felt excited and expectant. He couldn't help thinking: am I really a person without love and humanity... What a sheer and intense pleasure is rising in his heart at this moment, just like the one from a cool wind in his sweaty face and body while he is being fallen into the abyss of hell. ?

He tried to suppress the indulgence he is expecting in his heart, and on the surface he was still calm and said: "I know, you go and call Sanniang, and the three of us will go. It's not good to have too many people involved in this matter."

"Yes, my Lord." Fang Yuzhong clasped his fists and saluted, and then went to make the arrangement as his master ordered.

After a while, Fang Yuzhong and Sanniang came over. Xue Chongxun took a look and saw that Sanniang was wearing a tight-fitting dress and a veil on her head, where there was a piece of black gauze hanging in front of the veil to cover her face.

Xue Chongxun saw this and said, "You are too eye-catching dressed like a female knight. Go back and change into some clothes of the ordinary people so that you won't be noticed in the crowd."

So Sanniang went back to her room to change clothes very reluctantly. She took off the veil on her head, put on a square headscarf, and wore a robe with a turn-down collar. She covered her eyebrows with her palms, looked up at the sky, and explained, "The sun is too strong."

Usually people like sunny days with white clouds. Does she like gray weather? Anyway, Xue Chongxun doesn't like the feeling of depression brought by the dark clouds and low sky.

He looked at Sanniang whose skin was as pale as ever, but with a red and beautiful lips. Her face was cold, like a female corpse just out of a coffin... With a face like this, she would easily attract attention no matter what clothes she wore. She liked to cover her face with a black scarf, probably because this headscarf was like the sunglasses that people liked to wear in his memory of his previous life, which could make the light shining on the face not so bright.

"Well, just wear this dress, let's go." Xue Chongxun didn't want to fuss about such details. After taking two steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned around to ask, "By the way, when Li Shouyi came to the mansion to search that day, you said you had something to say to me. At that time, it was too urgent, so I asked you to say it later. What was that sentence?"

A trace of shyness and embarrassment flashed in Sanniang's dark and deep eyes, but it disappeared immediately. She said casually: "It's not an important thing, I just want to thank you for your thoughtful arrangement (which saved me from being hunted all day long)."

"Oh." Xue Chongxun turned around and continued to walk outside. Sanniang and Fang Yuzhong followed behind.

This time, Pang Er drove the carriage again. The three of them got on a large felt carriage together. The felt carriage was covered tightly on all sides, and the light inside was very dim. Sanniang seemed to be relieved after entering. Xue Chongxun thought: It seems that only in the dark can she feel at ease.

Fang Yuzhong pointed out the route to Pang Er through the wall of the carriage. The felt carriage went out from the gate on the south side of Anyifang, then crossed a street and entered Xuanpingfang where Xiaoheng rented a house. After a while, Pang Er knocked on the carriage and said, "Master, we have arrived."

Xue Chongxun jumped off the carriage and looked around. He saw that this was an alley with a bluestone pavement. The walls on both sides were relatively high and the alley was narrow, so that the west-facing sunlight could not shine in, making it cold and gloomy. Moss also grew on the walls.

It had just rained a few days ago. The alley probably dried slowly because of the short exposure to sunlight, resulting in mud hidden under the loose slabs. If people accidentally stepped on such loose slabs, the slabs would tilt and splash mud with a "beep" sound, staining the hem of their robes. Xue Chongxun stepped on it twice in a row, and the hem of his robe was stained. He couldn't help but curse secretly.

At this time, Fang Yuzhong pointed to a wooden door and said, "This is the house where the guy is living with his families."

At this time, Xue Chongxun was not in a hurry to ask someone to knock on the door. He lowered his head and looked around, then walked to the wall, picked up a few stones and put them in his purse. He smiled evilly and then held the purse in his hand.

……

Xiao Heng in the room was frowning. His left hand was wrapped in gauze and smelled of medicinal wine. He used his only movable right hand to look for something in the cabinet, and asked, "Where is the pot of wine I haven't finished yet?"

A young woman who was rocking a baby cradle immediately cursed in a low voice, "You are injured like that, and you still want to drink? Don't you want your hand to heal?" This young woman was Xiao Heng's first wife surnamed Dou. Dou was not very old, only in her teens( because women in the Tang Dynasty originally married early) although her round face still looked like a little girl, but her hairstyle and dress were married women's. Her child was in the basket next to her, sleeping sweetly, and the child looked less than one year old; women in the lactation period have very full breasts, and Dou's breasts with plenty of milk did not seem to be coordinated with her petite body.

At this time, Xiao Heng frowned and said, "I'm feeling annoyed."

Dou complained, "You spend all day either going out to have fun or staying at home to kill time! When you have free time, you should go to Minister Liu 's house more often. It's better to find a job as soon as possible."

Xiao Heng said, "If I don't go out and spend money, how can I have money to bribe Minister Liu? Can I pass the imperial examination? You are such an ignorant woman! You only care about your husband and children, why do you interfere with my business?"

Dou was not convinced and said, "You are so capable, and why did you fail to kill that witch? Your finger was injured like this, do you feel ashamed?!"

"Damn it, how did I know that she could be saved after drinking red arsenic? Don't mention this to me, it makes me annoyed!" Xiao Heng was angry, "And my finger, that guy doesn't know that I am Minister Liu's man, if he knew, he wouldn't dare to offend me like that... Forget it, I don't want to get angry, I'll take care of the important things in front of me first and then manage to retaliate against that guy later."

Dou's tone softened a little, and asked: "Since no one was killed, you shouldn't get into trouble with the lawsuit, right?"

Xiao Heng nodded and said: "The lawsuit involving me is not a big problem. The problem is that if Meng Xiaoyu tells the story in the brothel Shuiyunjian, a place of gossip, which might lead to that it is unfortunately spread out-as a result how can I be promoted to be an court official if my reputation is ruined before that! And...You can't reveal a word about the whereabouts of the money even if Minister Liu doesn't promote me to be an official, we can only swallow our anger- he will definitely retaliate against us because if we leak this secret and implicate him!"

When Dou heard him mention Meng Xiaoyu, the whore from the brothel who wanted to share a man with her, she was filled with hatred and anger, and could not help but curse: "Such people are shameless. How can she come to our house last time to make such a shameless request? Humph, it was her own fault to let you eliminating her with red arsenic! If it weren't for that witch who insisted on marrying you as a concubine, we wouldn't have to make such a big fuss."

Xiao Heng glared at his wife: "She has given us all the money she has saved for half her life, and she just ignores it? If it were you, would you be able to swallow your anger and let it go?"

Dou whispered: "I'm not as stupid as her!"

"You stupid woman who doesn't understand romance!" Xiao Heng cursed.

Dou was furious, stood up, put her hands on her waist, pointed at Xiao Heng's nose and cursed: "I don't understand romance like the prostitutes in the brothel, so why don't you marry a whore to give birth to a baby? If you dare to let a woman like that come in as a concubine, your father will break your legs!"

At this moment, there was a rapid knock on the door.

Dou stopped venting her anger at her husband and immediately became nervous: "Could it be that the officials came to the door?"

Xiao Heng said: "You are a prophet of bad things! I'll go and see." He then stepped over the threshold with his robe, walked into the yard and opened the door, only to see the black-faced man who had a grudge against him in Shuiyunjian.

He was about to get angry, but Xue Chongxun rushed to say: "I am here to apologize to you. I hurt you, and I can't let you spend money on medicine."

Xiao Heng looked down and saw that Xue Chongxun was really holding a heavy purse in his hand. The bag was filled with hard goods, probably gold and silver... If it was so much gold, it would not be a small amount! Even if it was silver, it would be good. Xiao Heng immediately swallowed his anger and endured it for a while because these days he was in need of money.

Xue Chongxun said again: "It is said that there is no acquaintance without fighting. If we had not misunderstood each other in Shuiyunjian, we would not have met each other, right? A man's mind should be as broad as the sea. Please give me a favor and let's talk, how about it?"

Since the things in the purse might be gold and silver, Xiao Heng opened the courtyard door and said: "Come in and talk. I want to hear who you are and how the misunderstanding happened."

"Okay, okay." Xue Chongxun entered the courtyard with his two servants, and Pang Er waited outside the door with the carriage.

When Xiao Heng brought the guests into the house, Xue Chongxun gave Fang Yuzhong a wink, hinting that Fang Yuzhong stood in the yard to keep watch. Xue Chongxun and Sanniang followed him in. As soon as they entered the house, they saw another woman inside, probably Xiao Heng's wife... The customs in the Tang Dynasty were relatively open, but the guests that the wives could see were generally relatives or very good friends of their husbands, otherwise they would not be allowed to see guests.

Xue Chongxun smiled and said, "Excuse me."

Xiao Heng said, "My family is not in Chang'an. This is just a temporary rental house, so it's not very spacious. Please sit down."

Xue Chongxun put the purse on the table with a "click". Judging from the sound, there must be several kilograms of gold and silver in it... Dou was very surprised when she saw the woman behind Xue Chongxun, but soon her attention was attracted by the purse on the table. However, she was embarrassed to open it in front of the guests, so she had to guess whether it was gold or silver.

"I'll go pour tea for the guests." Dou became enthusiastic.

Xue Chongxun hurriedly said, "Don't be so polite, please sit down, madam." He pointed to the child in the cradle and said, "Son or daughter?"

Dou said proudly, "Boy."

Xue Chongxun smiled and said, "What a blessing, what a blessing." He stared at Dou's chest and said, "Madam, your breasts are so big!"

Xiao Heng and Dou were both shocked and stunned. After a moment, Xiao Heng came to his senses, stood up from his chair, and said angrily, "What do you mean?"

"Don't be impatient." Xue Chongxun still smiled and raised his hand to beckon him to sit down, but Xiao Heng didn't give no heed to it and still stood there with glaring eyes. After a while, Xiao Heng finally realized that something was wrong and gave Dou a look, signaling her to go out and call for help.

Dou was still in surprise and didn't react. Xiao Heng tried for a while but to no avail. He had to say to his wife, "We have something to talk about. You stay out first."

"You are promising and worthy to be taught with a lesson you deserve!" Xue Chongxun said with an unchanged smile.

Dou was about to go out, but Sanniang blocked her way and said coldly, "Where are you going? Stay here!"

"I haven't used a sword for a long time, especially a horizontal sword. I actually prefer the Mo Dao (note 1, a standard military sword in Tang Dynasty) used in battle. It's big and imposing." Xue Chongxun took off the horizontal sword from his waist and slowly pulled it out. The sharp metal made a "sizzling" sound when it was rubbed on the scabbard, just like the heavy metal music he had heard in his previous life.

The horizontal sword is a two-handed sword with a narrow blade and thick spine, and the craftsmanship is exquisite. The later Fuso samurai sword is somewhat similar to the horizontal sword of Tang Dynasty in style, but the difference is that the horizontal sword does not have the tiny arc of the Japanese samurai sword. The origin of the samurai sword, the weapon most respected by the Japanese people, is actually very embarrassing. It is completely imitated from the standard sword of the Tang army. From the style to the craftsmanship, everything is copied... But it's not surprising, because everything in Japan at that era was learned from the Tang Dynasty, from architectural customs to cultural costumes, rules and regulations.

When Dou saw the sharp and terrifying horizontal sword, she couldn’t help herself to open her mouth and screamed.

(To be continued)

Note:

1.?????? ?Mo Dao(陌刀in Chinese), a double-edged long-handled sword, is one of the four types of swords and is also a standard weapon commonly used by the Tang army. It is about 10 feet long (3.33 meters) and weighs 20 catties (15 kilograms). It has a strong deterrent effect to urge one's own soldiers to attack the enemy.(Data Source: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%99%8C%E5%88%80/8215910)