Princess Agents Chapter 97 English Translation

Translator's Notes: Now we have a scene where our protagonists Zhuge/Yuwen Yue and Chu Qiao are actually speaking and not fighting, which is a change for them.  They had not really spoken since they were still children, before she escaped his household and spent 8 years with Yan Xun.  This is where the TV drama splits from the novel.  She did not learn kung fu from him, nor did she live with him for a long time to be his spy.  For a complete translation of Chu Qiao's early years in the Zhuge household, see Angela Chua's translations HERE.  

The banter in the TV drama is not imagined, and it seems the star and the moon are constantly at odds with one another, and for good reason.  But where reason goes the heart doesn't necessarily follow…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

特工皇妃楚喬傳

Princess Agents 

Chapter 97: A Life Owed

The room was deadly silent, the palace lantern burning quietly in the corner, from time to time a crackling spark would flare.  Outside was total darkness with the occasional hum of summer cicadas sounded through the small window in the wall. Moonlight like water flood in through a crack of the window; nighttime in WuPeng Cheng is pleasantly cool, the temperature suitable, everything serene.

Those who practice martial arts have extremely keen hearing, especially in such a quiet environment.  A short time later, the sound of the guard's deliberately lowered voices came in, the escorts carefully gathering together, gossiping about their master.

"The young master usually looks very serious, I did not expect him to like that sort of thing."

"Who said it wasn't loud, throwing clothes everywhere, the scene was so intense, man…."

"When that woman came everything turned around; she was even able to climb onto our young master."  [TN: the translation is for a word that also means "social" status climber.]

"But that woman's figure is really fine, those legs, so long and white…."

"Are you daft?  That's the young master's woman, be careful he doesn't dig out your dog eyes."

"Ah, Brother Zhang is right, we have to completely forget about this matter, just pretend we're all blind."

"I've worked in this household for many years, you guys haven't seen how the young master's temper is considerably better?  When I think about that first year he was such a tyrant, among the higher and lower levels in the household, who wasn't afraid?  Seriously, listen guys, I'm right about this! But then again, this little girl slave is not bad with that figure and those looks.  Somehow she seems kinda familiar."

"When it comes to the beauties of the world they're all familiar to you."

Everyone let out a few quiet chuckles, and after that they were silent, probably walking farther away.

Inside the room, the two still maintained their original stance, both gripping the other's throat, four legs tightly wrapped together.  Four eyes were equally locked, though there were so many complicated things swirling behind them.

A sudden wind blew through the window, and the breeze from the smaller window blew towards the bed causing the red gauzy curtains to dance.  Dozen of gauze curtains shook and swayed between them, covering their eyes, and throughout the thin fabric, each other's appearance became indistinct.   [TN: props to the producers and director for making the scenes in the TV series picturesque, though, with this source material, it makes sense.  The author may be trying to depict the fact that Chu Qiao and Zhuge/Yuwen Yue don't really know one another at this point, having been separated for 8 years, and the prior image they envisioned may no longer be accurate.]

Time slowly passed, to the farthest place, the drum of the night watchman sounded through the thick night, reverberating off the large mansion,  like a cliff in the misty rainy season, like the ripples of a boat crossing the river.  Slowly but surely the sound drew out like a song, the unique flavor of Bian Tang, soft and sensual.

Their expressions were still coldly continuing, inch by inch.

From the initial shock, to embarrassment, to anger and hostility, they gradually turned to a subtle calm.  Like a huge stone thrown into a lake, despite the first splashes of water, gradually the stone will sink into the lake, submerged little by little, and one ripple after another will gradually lessen and become calm, as if nothing had happened.

The two had an implicit agreement and at the same time slowly loosened the fingers around the others' throat, and little by little, gradually backed away.

Chu Qiao pulled the silk quilt close to cover her scantily clad body, her eyes fixed on the man at the moment, and in the blink of an eye, all of her feelings were forced down.  From there, she remained guarded and careful.

Indeed, this man who had just arrived in WuPeng Cheng was the Fourth Young Master of the Zhuge House, Zhuge Yue, and based on his status, naturally a small little town on the outskirts of Bian Tang would want to curry favor with him.

In degrees, this once furious man calmed down leaving only a dark expression. His slanting eyebrows and cold countenance did not necessarily mean he was still hostile, only that he had reverted back to his usual visage, languid and apathetic.

Without any scruple, he moved from the center of the generous bed, tied the black and gold robes he previously discarded, and instinctively put it back on; he pulled his waist belt sideways, leaving a large portion of his bronzed chest exposed.  Then, he disposed of any excess benevolence by rummaging around for Chu Qiao's wet clothing, picked it up and walked over with her drenched clothing in one hand and thrust it in her direction saying, "Take it."

"Take it?" Chu Qiao lifted a brow.  "Take what?"

Zhuge Yue raised his brow, gave her a sideways glance that seemed to imply that she not be coy with him.

"Yan Xun and his entourage who escaped the nest have become a group of beggars who are now so hard pressed for money, is that it?  He's left you no choice but to become a thief now?"

"What did you say?" Chu Qiao answered with cold, angry eyes.  "Consider your words carefully."

Zhuge Yue glanced at her faintly and said disdainfully, "Just meat on the cutting board and yet it dares to be so arrogant."

On the bed, Chu Qiao's expression was cold but she did not retort. A careless word and she would lose any advantage.  This night's excursion was really an epic failure.  She couldn't feel more annoyed, and at this time lamented secretly herself how surprisingly bad her luck was.

Still, though she did not want to admit it, at the moment she saw Zhuge Yue's face, her heart suddenly felt an inexplicable trace of elation.  Perhaps falling into his hands was better than into the hands of others.

At the very least, she wasn't in any immediate danger.  She knew the emperor had placed a price on her head, but not the rest of her.  [TN: wanted dead, rather than alive]

"Give it here," Zhuge Yue relentlessly continued.

"Give what?"

"Don't play dumb with me," the man said coldly, and in a chilled voice said, "It was probably you on top of the corridor just then, so you don't need me to repeat what you proceeded to take from my person, do you?"

Chu Qiao suddenly realized, but stubbornly responded, "Who cares about your things, I just took it by accident, and threw it away soon after.  It you want it back, then just send some people from this dog minister's house to go straight away to the lake and fish for it."

Zhuge Yue gently raised his brow, his expression dismal.  Chu Qiao looked at him without reservation, the bright expression in her eyes unbending, with a trace of calm resolve.

With a *huff* Zhuge Yue tossed her wet clothes into her face and then turned towards the door, threw it open, and guards immediately stepped forward.  With two simple sentences Zhuge Yue gave his orders, his voice quiet and the request simple: go to the lake and fish out his jade pendant.

However, when everyone heard the order their faces suddenly turned green; the lake was not big, and a boat could make a round in about half an hour, but its full depth was four feet.  They would have to scour a large area to find a small jade pendant.

A guard looked up with a bitter expression and said with embarrassment, "Young master,  this…."

A sudden *slap* rang out before the guard could finish.  Zhuge Yue instantly struck the guard, who was now seeing stars as he brought his head involuntarily low.

"No one said you could look up."  

The guard nodded his head and for the life or death of him would not look up again.

When she heard this while still sitting on the bed Chu Qiao was surprised because the door was opened to face this outrageously large bed, and at the moment she was still not wearing any clothes.  

The escort soon retreated, and in a bit the entire outside was lit full of torches, with the sound of people clambering about, including all the escorts who had been awakened in the middle of the night, and all of Minister Tian's guards.  That enormous and powerful body of soldiers all went to the back garden to the lake.

When Zhuge Yue had turned around again Chu Qiao had already put a piece of her wet clothing back on, but because the fabric was like a thin tulle, it clung to her body as if she wasn't wearing it at all, and somehow looked even more enchantingly seductive.

Zhuge Yue looked at her and slowly frowned; Chu Qiao saw there was something definitely wrong in his expression, and inevitably felt more embarrassed.

Zhuge Yue headed straight for a row of closets and opened one of them, and Chu Qiao's expression changed color but made no sound as she heard a *bang*.  The woman she had tied and stuffed into the closet fell towards the ground at Zhuge Yue's feet.  His reaction was quick, but he hurriedly and mistakenly mistook the woman for an assassin, and mercilessly delivered a flying kick.

And the pitiful slave girl, before her body even hit the ground, went flying like a foot ball, her body curled up like a shrimp and but for the fact she was gagged, one would have heard what that would sound like.

Fortunately as Zhuge Yue was still unclear of the circumstances he did not use deadly force, and when he saw the half-naked, seductive woman lying on the ground, he suddenly paused and frowned tightly, appearing to think really hard.

From the onset that woman was like a frightened bird; for no reason she was knocked unconscious and then locked in a closet, and when she was finally let out, before she even had an opportunity to shout "intruder," she was mercilessly kicked.  In that moment, when facing this obviously baleful man, her eyes rolled back and she very simply fainted again.

"Hey!  Don't hurt her."

Zhuge Yue turned around to see Chu Qiao's face, clearly embarrassed, and he suddenly realized.  Since Chu Qiao was pretending to be the slave in this room then the one lying on the ground presumably was the one Minister Tian had prepared for him.

Thinking past that critical junction, Zhuge Yue proceeded to ignore the woman lying on the floor, continued to take clothing out from the cabinet, turned back and returned to Chu Qiao's side.  He tossed the clothing at her and the corners of his mouth lightly pulled upward as he said faintly, "Xing'er, your actions are still really ruthless."

"Don't call me Xing'er!"  she said with cold intonation.  Without taking off her soaked inner garments Chu Qiao immediately put on the clean outer robe. 

[TN: Xing'er/星儿 literally means "Star child," the 儿/child part is a word used as a term of endearment.  You can add it to any name.  His name is Yue/玥, which doesn't directly mean "moon," but it's more like an expensive pearl in a religious offering; round, precious and white like the moon.  Ironically, the little girl whose life Chu Qiao inherited was named Jing Yue'er, literally "Moon." The Star name was something Yue had given her when they first met, like a pet name.  She obviously hated that period in her life and his House, though she can't deny he looked out for her and went out of his way to take care of her.  His brother Zhuge/Yuwen Huai describes it as a "first crush," though knowing Yue, it's more like love at first sight.  If you've listened to the love ballad for these two, "Stars/Moon" from the TV series you'll note the lyrics are both passionate and wistful.  It seems these two will always be at odds with one another, though their feelings can't be denied.  The male song lyrics say that once he loves, he loves for the rest of his life.  TT__TT]

However her voice was overshadowed by a sudden burst of anger; like a wild tiger Zhuge Yue in that moment pounced on her, his well built form immediately pinning Chu Qiao beneath him, his legs in a pincer move around her two long legs while one hand roughly grabbed her chin. His countenance was somber and he said with a disquieted tone, "Then what should I call you?  Jing Yue'er?  Or what else?  Chu Qiao?"

With a dark expression, in his eyes it seemed as if a huge tornado was brewing, the force in his hands continuing to increase, in a husky voice he said each word with pausing emphasis, "What, if getting involved with Yan Xun has led you to fail to recognize your ancestors and go so far as to even change your surname, then why not just directly add yourself into the 'Yan' family then?"

Chu Qiao unemotionally looked Zhuge Yue in the eyes and said with a cool voice, "Let go of me!"

"Let go of you."  The corner of his mouth crooked upward and laughed darkly, "You want to run. You've come to Bian Tang for that old flame of yours who's about to have an enormous wedding, or is this just a detour to Yan Bei?  How did we not see from the start that our little Xing'er was an alluring beauty who could bring the demise of an entire town with a smile?"

"Zhuge Yue, I'm warning you.  Let go of me."

"Warning me?"  His eyes narrowing coldly like a sparrow hawk, and he said in a deep voice, "Xing'er, is this the first time you've met me?  When have I, Zhuge Yue, ever feared someone else's warning?"

Without another thought Chu Qiao's five fingers turned into claws fiercely angled at Zhuge Yue's neck….

Zhuge Yue had decent reflexes and he moved back so Chu Qiao's had that was aiming to grip his neck gripped his collar instead.  That piece of clothing was already loose to begin with, the penalty was that she forcefully shredded more than half the cloth, revealing half of his bronzed and muscled chest.  The finger Zhuge Yue held at Chu Qiao's chin suddenly fell, slipped down her white neck to her exquisite collar bone and laughed wickedly, "What, just can't wait for it?  Can it be you schemed to get close to me representating Yan Bei as a honey trap?"

Chu Qiao's face was unchanged, her eyes narrowed slowly, bringing along many varied expressions of indignation, and suddenly brought up her leg towards his groin to back kick Zhuge Yue.  Her motion was swift and vicious!

Zhuge Yue was the type of person to engage the enemy head-on, so there was no way he would ever concede.  She saw his two hands push his entire body aloft, and he did a backwards arch roll.  By the time he came back down Chu Qiao's move was already spent.  His two arms braced up his body and he was suddenly very close, in the very same position as before, posturing himself over Chu Qiao's body face-to-face, she was close enough to hear his breath exhale.

Chu Qiao grunted angrily and her eyes flashed furious while her hands twisted to viciously hit Zhuge Yue in the shoulders.  

His shoulders fell, completely withdrawing his strength, and his body went sideways taking Chu Qiao involuntarily with him into the roll.  With one arm Zhuge Yue hugged her waist in the process of turning inward, and all the brocades on the bed were overturned and tangled with the two of them.  In a moment their two bodies were tightly rolled together like a giant rice dumpling.  With one hand he secured both Chu Qiao's arms and with a scissor leg move clamped down and closed her legs tightly.

Chu Qiao struggled vigorously, but the two were bound up so completely, the more she struggled the tighter the bindings became, not to mention Zhuge Yue was much stronger and larger than she was.  In no time she exhausted herself and lolled to one side on the bed, gasping for air.  Seeing her struggle was useless, she still looked up and wanted to bite him.  After her struggle her clothes were pried open, showing quite a bit of her white skin, and her face thoroughly flushed red.  Her eyes stared spitefully at Zhuge Yue, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

"Still not giving up?"

 Chu Qiao cursed, "Bastard."

Zhuge Yue lay on top of Chu Qiao's body, listening to her vigorous breathing, feeling the quick pace of her heart.  In the space of each breath he caught the scent of her delicate fragrance in consistent waves, and his expression unexpectedly relaxed.  

He proudly smiled, "Does the gentle beauty still say fight, or no?

Chu Qiao clamped her lips shut. In all these years she had rarely ever eaten out of others' hands, but if she didn't relent there would be more unspeakable situations of panic.  For some reason she just wanted to run away from this place immediately and never see this man in front of her again.

 "Let go of me."

"Xing'er, you keep saying these words but don't you feel redundant?"

The bottom of Chu Qiao's clothes were turned open revealing her two white legs, Zhuge Yue's legs were tightly wound around them, skin to skin, the space between them suddenly intimate.

Chu Qiao rooted her stare at Zhuge Yue and said between clenched teeth, "I really want to stab my knives into you."

Zhuge Yue laughed out loud, his expression fiendishly charming, his bright red lips unrestrained in his hearty laughter, "It would be better to hit me with your fists."

"Hmph."  Chu Qiao turned around angrily and refused to look at him.  She couldn't best him, she couldn't escape, the situation between them was just six of one and half a dozen of the other.  Her experience was a cut above the rest, but for a drawn out battle of brawn, there was no way she could keep up with a man, not to mention all his security detail outside.

Chu Qiao's eyes suddenly turned red and she angrily retorted, "Kill me then."

Zhuge Yue looked at her a smiled, "Xing'er, don't tell me you're going to cry just because you can't beat me.  That's rather out of character."

The tension in the room relaxed, but the two were still postured in a rather suggestive position, and at that moment the woman who was unconscious under the bed made a small noise, apparently about to wake up.

Chu Qiao looked at him blankly, but seeing Zhuge Yue's expression change and he let go of her hands, picked up a brocaded blanket and threw it in the air to cover the woman's face.

However, in the moment he released her hands,  Chu Qiao peddled down her feet, and like a loach wriggled out of the quilt, half kneeling on the bed ready to run off.

Zhuge Yue smiled cooly, his smile not reaching his eyes, and with one hand on a thin brocade blanket he used it like a whip to snake around Chu Qiao's ankle.  She didn't look but her heart gave out a little cry of distress, followed immediately by Zhuge Yue forcefully pulling her back.  In a moment Chu Qiao went down, and in a ball Zhuge Yue rolled with her.

By then it was too late!  When they heard a *bang* as they landed on the bed, followed by a rumbling noise, the bed frame from which dozens of curtains and beads were hanging collapsed.  Sheer curtain sashes and pearls came down all at once and thoroughly buried Chu Qiao and Zhuge Yue.

The sound was so loud even the people outside could hear it very clearly.

Only half the guard were outside at this time, the other half having gone fishing in the lake for the jade pendant.

One young guard turned to face another by the name of "Zhang" and asked softly, "Brother Zhang, what was that noise coming from inside?"

The guard named Zhang also had his ears perked up and listened carefully, after hearing the question he nodded his head slightly and said a bit mysteriously, "I think probably the bed collapsed."

"Bed collapsed?" asked the young guard, and said quietly, "By the gods, so intense."

Zhuge Yue was surrounded by a pile of silks, which required a bit of effort to climb out of, and as soon as he poked his head out his expression immediately changed. He glimpsed Chu Qiao half kneeling in front of him, her expression heartless and her eyes cold with a piece of wood that had just broken off the bed frame.  The wooden shard was thin and sharp, and in that moment, it was pointing directly at his throat!

"Don't move!" the young woman shouted cooly.

Zhuge Yue smiled faintly, his eyes glancing at Chu Qiao's chest in front of him and said dryly, "Next time when facing your opponents with such capability, first make sure you're properly attired, lest you lose your fearsome image."

"Shut up!  Let me go, now."

Zhuge Yue smiled and said, "Xing'er, I think you're mixing something up.  Right now you're the one holding me hostage, how will you still let me release you?"

"Zhuge Yue, don't think that aside from begging you I don't have any other ideas.  Even if I killed you I would still have an opportunity to break through the guards' encirclement.  I just don't want to go that route.  Even though there is bad blood between us, I don't want to kill you like this."

"That's a pity," he shrugged and said indifferently, "Due to the circumstances in which I live, I will not let you go."

Chu Qiao slowly narrowed her eyes and said, "Do not push me."

"Do not push me."

At this time they suddenly heard a cluster of footsteps coming closer, surprising both of them at the same time, noting the footfalls were messy and clearly not Zhuge Yue's escort.

Noting her distraction, Zhuge Yue suddenly moved his body to the side in order to evade the sharp weapon she held.  But in that moment Chu Qiao prudently watched his actions, and almost subconsciously, in one fluid motion she used the wooden spike in her hand without hesitation, as though she had practiced the move a thousand times.

She heard *puff* and a shining blood red stream burst forward.  Cold terror gripped her heart, her pupils dilated in that instant when outside she heard the respectful tone of Minister Tian speak: "My lord, are you still awake?"

Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao sat on the corner of the bed; him with a wooden stake with the full thickness of a thumb sticking out of his shoulder, and she, being the master that she is, had completely impaled his shoulder.  The blood was gushing everywhere, meandering its way across half the giant bed.

All of this happened in an instant; the wood piercing Zhuge Yue's body in a single line, Chu Qiao seeing his mouth open wide under such intense pain.  Surely he wanted to cry out but at that same time Minister Tian was steadily standing outside the door!

Tian RuCheng had been a military officer from a young age, and with his father, he was a part of the Bian Tang conscripted army, and they had fought all the way to DaXia's inland.  Had they not encountered the Lion of Yan Bei, Yan SheCheng, perhaps it would have been Bian Tang taking the Summerlands instead, from Shu to Hong, inheriting the earth.  Tian RuCheng's father had died in that war.  The Tian family, who was late to send in troops, was relegated to the court, their family prestige significantly dropping in status, and now they only defend a small little town on the outskirts.  One could only imagine how much he hated Yan Bei.

At this time Zhuge Yue only had to utter the slightest unusual sound and the minister would not have hesitated to break down the door.  To be sure, if Chu Qiao fell into his hands, there was only one outcome!

At the first sign of trouble Chu Qiao reached to touch her calf, where in any other peaceful time she kept a dagger.  With her skill even at a great distance, knife throwing to kill a man was not nearly the same as killing a man who was already injured.  With a cut of the knife he would not have the opportunity to cry out.

But she had forgotten that not long ago her dagger was lost when she was fighting on top of the corridor.

Almost at the same time Zhuge Yue noticed Chu Qiao's subconscious movement, his eyes slightly narrowing as he realized it meant she wanted to kill him.

"My lord, are you asleep?"  Tian RuCheng continued carefully calling out.

It was in this moment when the entire situation was hanging by a thread, she heard with her own ears Zhuge Yue say in a perfectly calm, utterly unjustifiable, manner,  "Is that you, Minister Tian? This deep into the night, whatever is the matter?"

In that instant Chu Qiao's heart was a spectacular mess; she looked up and glimpsed Zhuge Yue's blood soaked hands and she was stunned.

"It's like this, my lord.  I had heard that a very important belonging of yours has fallen into the lake.  The guards combed the area for half a night and still have not found it.  This officer has come to ask that perhaps instead the lake water could be drained and the object would be easier to find."

Zhuge Yue took a deep breath and applied pressure to his still bleeding shoulder wound, and said in a deep voice, "If that is case, I would like to thank Minister Tian for your good intentions."

Minister Tian laughed aloud, "It is my good fortune to be able to share your concerns, my lord."

"If that will be all, please retire and rest, Minister."

"I take my leave then.  Good night, my lord."

The sound of footsteps gradually drifted away and calm was restored outside.

Zhuge Yue sighed with relief, leaned his entire body weakly against the bed, then with one hand he took one end of the wooden stake and clenched his teeth, and with a *shuah* he savagely pulled it out!

"Nngh."  

Zhuge Yue frowned, his facial features distorted as he made as sound from his throat depicting his pain, but at great feats keeping the volume to himself.  At that time fresh blood was gushing out in jets.

Chu Qiao, at first dumbfounded, then suddenly rushed forward, pushing down on his hideous wound.  An enormous pain overcame him and his eyes went dark, nearly fainting as Chu Qiao continued to press his shoulder and asked, "How are you holding up?"

Zhuge Yue's face was white from the loss of blood, and after a long while only slowly said, "I'm still not dead."

"Don't move yet, I'm going to get you a bandage."

Chu Qiao stood up and quickly ran to the bathing chamber, and in a flash returned carrying a wooden bucket and with a few steps leaped back onto the bed.  She then proceeded dexterously to clean Zhuge Yue's wound.

Zhuge Yue said hoarsely, "There are still bits of wood inside, you have to dig them out."

Startled, Chu Qiao lifted her head towards his pale face and slowly asked, "Can you handle it?"

He replied noncommittally, "Won't know until you try."

Chu Qiao found a knife in the room, as well as the table wine, and after disinfecting the knife with fire she took a towel and placed it in his hand and said, "Bite down on this to avoid biting your tongue when it hurts."

In the end, Zhuge Yue did not use it, but instead grasped it in his other hand.

Chu Qiao stopped speaking at that time, instead concentrating on his wounds.  

A wound made by the jagged entry of a wooden stake was more serious than that of a knife wound.  Not only was the wound bigger, it was also uneven, taking a lot of flesh and blood with it, leaving miscellaneous and numerous wood thorns inside the body; if not completely cleared it would start rotting inside the wound.  Facing such an injury, even Chu Qiao began to shudder.

"Or you could go find a doctor."

Chu Qiao looked up at Zhuge Yue, watching him with a firm stare.

She knew as soon as the doctor came she would inevitably be discovered, and that path would lead to her demise.  Or perhaps she could use the doctor as a distraction and in the chaos take a chance to escape, although, slim chance that would be.

Zhuge Yue grabbed the knife and said somberly, "If you cannot, I will."

He meant to dig out his own flesh!

"I'll do it!  I'll do it!" Chu Qiao panicked, quickly grabbed the knife back and gave him a long, intense look.

Zhuge Yue's eyes closed his eyes part way, as if unconcerned.  If not for the fact that his face was paper white, Chu Qiao would have suspected the injured person in front of her was not him. 

Then she took a deep breath and began to operate on Zhuge Yue's wound.

Three hours later, when the sky was already brightening, Chu Qiao's clothing was completely drenched up and down in her sweat.  She found the clothes she was wearing when she arrived in this room, and in her pocket conveniently found a bottle of jin chuang medicine.  After applying the medicine she dressed the wound in clean white silk.  Everything was finally over.

Amid the entire process Zhuge Yue did not utter a sound, but Chu Qiao also didn't dare look up at him.  By this time when she looked at him she realized he had passed out, his forehead full of sweat, the center of his eyebrows furrowed into a "川" word.  [TN: literally using the word 川/chuan as a pictogram, meaning the pain was so great his brow was frozen like that]  The towel he grasped in his hand was soaked clear through with his sweat, as if soaked in water.

After tidying everything up Chu Qiao helped him onto the bed, washed a face towel and cleaned his body of blood and the sweat from his face, and afterwards proceeded to dry him off one pat at a time with a dry cotton cloth.

Far away the elegant cry of a cock crowed piercing through the morning mist.  Outside the day was bright, behind the door servants walking about to and fro, and Chu Qiao nervously pinched her voice to tell them that Zhuge Yue had not yet awoken.  In that moment she could hear the young guards quietly whispering and smirking in laughter.

"Of course, with such furious tossing for half the night, it's likely he'd sleep the day away."

"Besides, we need to stay in WuPeng Cheng for two more days."

So the guards gave orders to the mansions serving maids to not bother to disturb the young master again and to let their master rest and only bring his meals regularly.

Back in bed, Zhuge Yue continued to sleep, Chu Qiao lowered her head, her expression also exhausted as she stared at this man, at his stiff eyebrows, baleful eyes, bright red lips, and that mouth that always spits out cold quips and cool retorts, and she gradually frowned.

Her frown wrinkled tight, as if she would never relax her face again.

"We're enemies," Chu Qiao murmured.  She did not know if she was saying it to Zhuge Yue or to herself.  [TN: I think she's come to a realization that will stay with her for the rest of her life…. If someone were to ask when exactly she fell in love with him, I would say it was here.]

"In public, I am a treasonous slave girl, you are a noble of the empire.  In private, you killed Lin Xi, killed Xu Xiang, killed Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba; you've killed so many children of the Jing family, and caused me and Yan Xun to live like pigs and dogs in the imperial city for eight years.  In exchange I killed your grandfather, your servants, and I defected from the Zhuge House.  The conflict between us cannot be reconciled.  [TN: literally, "the pike and shield cannot reconcile"]  If you killed me, it's understandable.  If I killed you I'd be perfectly justified.  There is no affection between us, so there is no need for mercy.  You live, I die; I live, you die. This is…this is how it should be."

And as she herself said, these words should all be perfectly justified, without any flaw of logic or loophole, no moral aberration.  

Before, Chu Qiao had never wavered.   

But for some reason, at that moment her voice became smaller and smaller, gradually diminishing to the sound of a mosquito, so faint that not even she could hear it.

She looked at the unconscious man, wrinkled her brow and her heart couldn't help but reach out her hand to stroke the wound on his shoulder.

"Regardless, I owe you a life."  Chu Qiao said slowly, "Zhuge Yue, I'm sorry."

The room was deathly quiet.  Outside the window the sun was rising, its light warm, penetrating through the window paper, spreading varied depths of light and shadow.

Chu Qiao was half-sitting on the floor, half leaning on the bed next to Zhuge Yue, overwhelmingly weary, and just like that she fell into a deep sleep. 

[TN: This is probably my favorite chapter.  It begins and ends the same, as if these two go in a giant circle, like yin and yang.  We see Zhuge Yue changed as told by his guards, having softened due to her influence.  We see her coming to realize she cannot kill him for reasons yet unknown to herself.  Zhuge Yue is obsessed with her, but he probably didn't love her until after this encounter.  Is he listening?  Enemies? Frienemies?  Hopefully we find out that he does something for her like rescue her sisters.  The next chapter is about Yan Xun, so I have no idea what happens after this, or if her sisters are ever rescued?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.  The super fan who posted the original raw novel here didn't type several chapters and I can't open her screen shots so I won't be able to know what happens and will skip to Chapter 101]