Princess Agents 特工皇妃楚喬傳 Chapter 178, English novel translation

Princess Agents - 特工皇妃楚喬傳

Translator's notes: Perhaps Chu Qiao should have heeded Zhuge Yue's warning to not get involved in Bian Tang politics.  Though she had no intention of doing anything beyond getting revenge for her best friend, she also feels obligated to stay behind because Li Ce's son was still so young and susceptible to outside influences as an orphaned emperor.  What makes it worse is that the poor child saw his mother commit suicide and still has nightmares.  As his 'auntie' Chu Qiao stays with him she has inadvertently become his guardian.  Everyone looks to her to make decisions for him and Chu Qiao suspects that she is exactly where Sun Di wants her to be.  This is an EXTREMELY long chapter, but well worth the wait because of the reunion at the end.  I'm intermittently summarizing the war/politics and fully translating the interesting parts. - K

***

Synopsis:  Sun Di and Tie You have a heated argument outside of her presence.  The three of them all want what is best for Bian Tang but Tie You confronts Sun Di about the death of the Queen Mother.  Sun Di does not deny that he wrote a letter to the Queen Mother while he was in prison that distressed her so much, it led her to commit suicide when the Valiant Wolf army rushed in to secure the premises.  Sun Di does not deny that he would have killed her sooner or later if it meant he could protect Bian Tang all the longer.  She was a silly woman who would not have been able to capably govern for her son, she would have been heavily influenced by the opposition party due to her relations.  His purpose in killing her was to keep Chu Qiao here, knowing that her loyalty to the deceased Li Ce would make her stay out of obligation.  If she stayed here, she would unlikely marry Zhuge Yue.  If she married Zhuge Yue it was unlikely that the king of QingHai would allow his wife to stay in Bian Tang to govern. This way, Bian Tang would be well protected on both sides with Chu Qiao and her XiuLi Army here, and Zhuge Yue, will uphold the defenses of DaXia against Yan Bei at CuiWei Pass.  Tie You thinks his scheme is improbable, dishonorable and they cannot force her to stay.

Though she promised Zhuge Yue she'd wait for him, things have changed again, and despite Mei Xiang's desperate pleading with her, telling her the dead are already dead and she should not live for the dead, she feels compelled to stay to do what she must.  Of the thirteen letters Zhuge Yue wrote her, she didn't open a single one, partly in fear that his words will make her lose her resolve.  She could picture his stern face and wondered if he decided to scold her, give up on her, or if he still wanted to marry her.  She didn't have the courage to open them and decides to burn them all.  Mei Xiang tries to stop her and as Chu Qiao looks down at the burning pile she notices these words on the curling paper:

You must wait for me…..

…waiting for you….

It was at this time that Sun Di concocts a scheme to help her rule Bian Tang.  They would announce her marriage to Li Ce posthumously.  Since Li Ce had granted her a manor that belonged to his forefather, it was his intention to bring her into the royal family.  Since he died before naming it, they could write down an imperial name to make her more legitimate.  The terms of the marriage would be that if anything happened to Li Ce, then she would rule as Emperor until she gave birth to a son.  Since it was impossible for her to conceive a child by Li Ce, she would simply rule as Emperor.   She would be the XiuLi Wang (Beautiful Monarch).

As she ponders her next move, Chu Qiao has a flashback of the time she spent with Zhuge Yue in the back garden of the inn at Qiu Feng City (conveniently left out of that chapter just so it could be a flashback here):

The heat in her chest cooled bit by bit, gradually solidifying into a lump of sturdy ice.  She absently recalled the words he spoke to her that night.  At the time the laurel tree was swaying lightly, the moon was enchanting, and he turned his head to look at her, his eyes with that clear handsome expression.  He slowly asked, "The road ahead is not yet at its end, and there may be some other variables. Are you afraid?"

The wind blew softly then.  The weather was warm and tepid and her sleeves were bulging airily by the wind, like a butterfly that wished to fly.  At that time she had thrown away all the knots in her heart and she quietly laughed lightly and said she was not afraid.  He smiled gently, a very rare occurrence.  There was no awkwardness, no fit of pique, no bickering, no disagreement.  His smile evolved from his innermost self.  Then under the moonlight he slowly lowered his head and kissed her lightly on the side of her lips, a strong hand rested on her waist, his lips and teeth gently caressing her soft skin and fragrance, allowing him to breathe in many years of yearning and sweetness. 

However, this dream could be over before it even began.

The years in her were already cursed with death by a thousand cuts and isolation.  Her fate was boundless nothingness, just as a raging wildfire over a once burned wilderness; unable to cover, unable to douse, eternally restless, completely without peace.

But at that very moment Zhuge Yue is taking ten days off from his official duties while his family covers for him to go to Tang Jing at breakneck speed without rest.  When he makes it to the ferry at Xiang Yang which is the shortest route he is told it will take 3 days.  At this time, he had not heard that Chu Qiao was about to be enthroned in 3 days, and opts to get there on horseback before then.

Sun Di believes he has the upper hand, having suppressed the opposition to Chu Qiao's enthronement with the threat of force from the armies.  At this time Chu Qiao sends MeiXiang and DuoJi off in a bait and switch throwing off Sun Di's spies, and she goes to meet He Xiao and whispers something in his ear, asking him if he will help her.  Naturally, her right hand man fist bumps her in consent.  And, just as Zhuge Yue makes it to the capital he comes across someone who was racing down the same road to seek him.

The day of the coronation arrived.  Dressed in brocade and finery Chu Qiao feels the scrutiny of the crowd and the very walls of the ancient palace on her.  If she consented, she would control one-fourth of the continent. There was no warmth here, not even the sun was warm.  As the ceremony drones on she recalls the intensity of his handsome eyes and those fierce flying letters in his handwriting, You must wait for me!  Wait for me!

As it is happening, Zhuge Yue is racing towards the city, the bell around his neck continuously sounds, "Remember, I'm waiting for you…"

A sudden explosion erupts at one of the city gates and the messenger announces that Prince Jing'an of the opposition was at the city gates and General Xu Su who was supposed to be countering him suddenly switched sides.  The Minister of Rites fainted and the phoenix seal in his hand rolled down the marble steps.

Chu Qiao confronts Sun Di and hands him a letter, on it written a cluster of high ranking ministers who have been secretly supporting Prince Jing'an, and told him to take care of it.  Several of the ministers in the audience seemed to go pale and Sun Di realized he was seeing this woman clearly for the first time.

She declares she will meet Prince Jing'an on the field, and entrusts the emperor and the city to him.  When he says the enemy of 400,000 outnumber the city garrison of 150,000 Chu Qiao seems certain that General Xu Su will turn again.  That's where we begin….

Chapter 178:  Country's High Stakes Gamble

Sun Di immediately froze.  He stared for a while as Chu Qiao tore off her majestic celebratory costume without much difficulty, revealing the close-fitting silver white suit of armor she wore inside.  (TN: A variation of Li Ce's armor)  Her coif full of pearl and jade ornaments were plucked out and she wrapped her head with a blue scarf made of three thousand silk threads.  Immediately she mounted the horse that He Xiao had brought her and she lead the officers and men of the XiuLi Army, and roared away.

The 150,000 strong imperial garrison soldiers had prepared earlier and were already in full battle array.  The young woman was already in full battle attire, her face no longer showing that deep silence or indifference from before.  She was bathed in resplendent high spirits, like a phoenix reborn.

She raised her sword, lifted her head beneath the city gate and shouted, "Open the gates!"

In that moment, it was as if the world opened its first thread of light, so beautiful that it brought people to tears.

Sun Di watched the towering city gate slowly open, thousands of horses hooves picked up the yellow earth and dust, heading for the battlefield ten miles out in thunderous unison.

The world was a smelting furnace, and all things on earth its fuel, the chaotic world was flowering, and she, she was the sharp sword coveted by all.

The cold wind continuously pierced the air by her ear and she once again recalled what Li Ce had said to her before his death:

"After I die, the imperial court and country will be in chaos.  The Zhan siblings are but paper tigers.  The members of the imperial clan will be the real wolves.  Sun Di is rather extreme, so if there are any abnormal shifts you must not listen to him.  Take the ring I gave you and go first to Han Shui. Once Xu Su sees it he will obey your command.  Tie You's Wolf Army will also heed to your direction.

Qiao Qiao, your life is so full of restraints.  If, because of my death, your footsteps are once again bound, then even when I am in the underworld I cannot rest with peace of mind.

You, must not disappoint me."

She felt a prick in the corner of her eyes and Chu Qiao pursed her lips tightly.  She only saw that the two forces were already engaged in the wilderness before her, with Xu Su leading the charge, his body armored like a god of war, his hand holding a large saber, and large flags behind him that read: Kill the Rebels, Punish Wicked Officials.

"CHARGE!"

The Wolf Army gave out a deafening war cry, and so finally began the first turmoil after the ascension of Emperor Yongjun of the Tang Dynasty.

***

Xun Su had been acting under Chu Qiao's direction to lure the enemy out.  And the world's history records the epic event as follows:

  Prince Jing'an, 57, died at the hands of general Xu Su and the XiuLi Wang relinquished any right to rule, favoring the young Emperor as the rightful heir to the throne.  The Emperor in turn gave her the honorary title of highest imperial concubine, awarding her a hereditary seal of the Tang Dynasty, other treasures and gifts, naming her, "Princess XiuLi."  -- From the Book of Histories, XiuLi Wang, Chapter 127.

(TN:  I love how Li Ce anticipated this would happen and when he hugged her that night while drunk he might have had a premonition that his life was near its end, and so made preparations.  That hug was both an appeal and an apology for asking her to save his legacy.  I love their friendship… the feels!! TT__TT)

Before she leaves Bian Tang she has a heart-to-heart with Sun Di.  She relinquishes her XiuLi Army to live in Bian Tang and flourish there.  She entrusts the country with him as steward until the emperor is old enough to rule on his own because Sun Di has no real military power, he is a high ranking civil servant with no ties to the royal family, and Li Ce trusted him.  Though he is extreme, she knows he is most loyal to Li Ce's legacy.  She gives him a letter from Zhuge Yue and and Zhao Che pledging their support to the new emperor's regime, which will lend him some weight as steward, and tells him all they can do is protect Li Ce's bloodline and the foundations of the Tang Dynasty.  They cannot avoid war with Yan Bei and warns him not to interfere with geopolitics until the country is stronger again.  The people have suffered first under Prince Luo and now because of Prince Jing'an.  He concedes to her wisdom and will fulfill his promise to Li Ce and heed her words under punishment of death if he fails.

*** 

At the bridgehead, Zhuge Yue was fully dressed in brocade robes, sitting high atop his horse.

Fang Chu said in a low voice, "Master, Miss Chu has come."

Just as his voice fell, a team of horses and people suddenly appeared over the horizon, led by a young woman in a white cape, her face smiling, urging her horse against the wind as she rushed over.

"Miss!"

Mei Xiang had originally been sitting on top of rock but as soon as she saw Chu Qiao she happily ran over to her.  DuoJi followed suit and took a few glad steps forward.  In a flash, Chu Qiao and the others were right before their eyes.  She jumped off her horse and she and Mei Xiang embraced.  Half crying, Mei Xiang said, "Miss, I even thought you had lied to me, I really thought you wouldn't come."

Jing Jing, Ping An and the others happily rushed over to Duoji, and the began asking each other about their ordeals.  Ping An of course had to recount the events of the big battle that day in vivid portrayal in a way that made him pleased with himself.  He Xiao, who had no family, did not wish to stay in Bian Tang and instead followed Chu Qiao.  He, Yue Qi and the other guards had not met in person before, but they had mutually heard much of the other's accomplishments, and in little time they became well acquainted.

Only Zhuge Yue stood with a livid expression on the field, coldly watching Chu Qiao who was in the middle of her warm reunion with Mei Xiang, clenching his jaw so hard the two rows of his teeth nearly shattered.  (TN: ^__^; someone needs a hug)

Finally, his inhuman gaze startled that other reunion to pieces.  She smiled and walked over, and just as Zhuge Yue was about to move, she obediently raised both her hands, and cried aloud, "I surrender!  That was the last time!  I promise!"

Zhuge Yue raised his hand to dispatch some small form of punishment on her, but after gesticulating for a long time, he didn't even know where he should start.  Seeing that she had shrunk her neck and closed her eyes shut, and said with awkward anger, "Why aren't you fighting back?"

Chu Qiao opened her eyes, and with a pout, she looked extremely pitiful, "I'm admitting I was in the wrong."

"Do you even know where you'd gone wrong?"  Zhuge Yue's eyes glanced at her, regardless of the subordinates all watching them with amused expressions, unexpectedly, in a nonsensical way, reached out to pinch Chu Qiao's already thin cheeks, saying in a low voice, "You dare not reply to my letters, you've become quite capable, is that it?"  (TN: laughing so hard right now…)

"I didn't have time!"  Chu Qiao made a bitter face as she tried to justify herself.

"You didn't have time to reply yet you had time to burn my letters?"

Chu Qiao raised her head and continued to argue in her defense, "If I didn't make a display of bitter suffering Sun Di would not have believed it.  If he didn't believe it then Prince Jing'an would not have believed it."

"So you even lied to Mei Xiang?"  Zhuge Yue glared at her intently, and very incisively continued to interrogate, "Are you certain that at the time you really didn't think that way?  Are you certain that you didn't discover your conscience at the very end and changed your mind?"

"How could I?"

Chu Qiao cried in grievance, "Am I such a person who waffles in her position?"

As soon as she said it, she turned her head and looked around, indeed discovering that her own subordinates and lackeys were all betraying her, hastily nodding, as if they were saying, Don't doubt it, she is!    (TN: ROFL)

Chu Qiao glared at them in disdain, and hurriedly turned her head, making mental notes to tally all the meal tickets, travel arrangements, free board, spending cash, etc. they all owed her in the future.  "Don't believe any of them, my revolutionary willpower was the most resolute those years I was in the army."  (TN: LOL she's not even defending herself in the present very well…)

Zhuge Yue glanced at her with disdain, gleaming with stubbornness, "I count you as sensible, otherwise I would have brought my soldiers to destroy his lair, and see whose princess you could become."

As if.

Chu Qiao whispered that in her heart, but on the outside she was still very tactfully said, "Still, how could I?  I stand by what I say, I would never back out of my commitment to you."

Zhuge Yue's held his head high in a very puffed up manner, his male self-esteem was greatly satisfied.  (TN: she plays him like a fiddle….hahahaha)

"Waaaaaaaaah!"

The sudden cry of a baby came from the carriage that had traveled with Chu Qiao.  Zhuge Yue and the others were shocked and Chu Qiao quickly ran over, opened the curtain to the carriage, revealing two nursemaids carrying a 4-5 months old baby boy.  The baby had just woken up, and at the moment was doing his obligatory course: crying.

Chu Qiao quickly held the child to her chest, very skillfully trying to coax it.

"What is that?"

Zhuge Yue's facial expression sunk into negativity as he asked coldly.  (TN: as soon as she declares her commitment he finds out she had a baby, hahahahaha)

Chu Qiao looked at him incredulously, and replied rather straightforwardly, "A baby."

"I know that," Zhuge Yue's temper became more and more unstable, asking angrily, "Whose baby is that?"

Chu Qiao realized she had not yet explained it to everyone, and said, "This is Li Ce's third son, his name is Li QingRong, but perhaps later on we will have to give him another name.  His mother was Zhan Ziming.  Before he passed Li Ce left him in my care, saying he was afraid the child would come to harm in the palace, and so entrusted him to me to take him out of the palace."

"That's Li Ce's son?"

Zhuge Yue frowned and eyed the baby, only seeing that its lips were red and its skin white, his eyes were very dark, at the time he was holding back his grievances and was playing with the tassels of her cape.  His small eyes shifting wildly as he babbled, just like his old man who had passed.

His heart felt a bit desolate, and just as he was about to say something, the baby suddenly saw him, and his dark eyes rolled around, and it suddenly opened its mouth and released an earth shattering cry loud enough to wake gods and frighten ghosts.  It waved its hands and feet wildly, obviously out of sorts to the extreme.

"What's wrong? Why do you cry?"

Chu Qiao asked bewildered, and Mei Xiang ran over asking the nursemaids, "Is he hungry?"

The nurse maids shook their heads hastily, saying he had just eaten.  Mei Xiang turned over the baby's swaddles and did not see he needed to be changed.  Chu Qiao suddenly arrived at the conclusion, turned to Zhuge Yue and said, "Children probably dislike you."

Zhuge Yue turned blue and asked angrily, "Why would it hate me?"

"Just go farther off and try, it's probably you."

As someone who really could not accept it, he furrowed his sword brows asking, "Why? I didn't even hit him?"

"Some people are just very unpopular, and it's possible you are such a person."

"It's true, brother-in-law, just go farther off, perhaps Rong'er saw you and got scared."  Jing Jing said from the side, adding oil to the fire and vinegar to the wound. 

"Why would that be?"  Yue Qi said quietly with very little effort to protest, actually trying to defend his master out of loyalty, "The young master actually looks very amiable and easy to approach, affable and genial…."

Unfortunately, even he didn't think it worth the effort and his voice got smaller as he spoke.

Finally, Zhuge Yue went far far away after being elbowed out by the crowd, and Li QingRong suddenly stopped crying.  Although he had just been crying wildly, now, though he was taking some time to calm his small sobs, he was already smiling a little.

After a while, the group of people suddenly erupted into laughter, and the little guy was playing with Yue Qi's sword hilt, and then desperately gnawing on Yue Qi's shoulder.

Zhuge Yue sat on a rock far far away from it all, looking at the crowd from a distance, his mind full of unspoken criticism: Damned whelp, just like your old man.  (TN: haha, the rivalry lives on!)

At some point in time, Chu Qiao ran over to him, and sat closely next to him.  Yue Qi and the others were the type of men who need only move their feet to make the world tremble, yet they continued to be sent into a flurry by a baby boy.  After a while they heard Mei Xiang scolding, "Aiyo, as soon as a child comes you just want to leave.  When I say hold him, just hold him!"

Chu Qiao hugged Zhuge Yue's arm, and rested her face against his shoulder, sighing with relief, "It's finally over."

"Tired?"

"I'm fine."  Chu Qiao closed her eyes, and golden red colors sprinkled across her face, with a layer of dazzling light.  "I was afraid you would worry and all the while was at odds with myself saying I had to go faster, and hurry up."

Still rather resentful, Zhuge Yue continued persistently to ask, "Why didn't you read my letters?"

"I didn't even know if I was going to succeed."  She raised her head slightly, and smiled directly at Zhuge Yue, "I didn't have any confidence at the time, I was afraid I would fail, or I would die, afraid that if I read your letters I would have no more courage to continue to persevere and be strong."

Chu Qiao's smiling face was like a flower, and in her life it seemed she rarely smiled like that, without any worries or burdens.  She smiled and said, "You are my weakness.  You could make me lose all my resolve."  (TN: and she is his weakness...)

Zhuge Yue looked at her, his face gradually softening.  He reached out his hand to pull her waist closer, his voice low and deep as he said faintly, "By my side, you don't need to be strong."

As soon as he said it, he lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.

"Oooh!  For shame!"  

They suddenly heard Jing Jing cry out.

The heavens and earth were so vast and expansive, in the season of late autumn, a palette of bright yellow splendor.

The wind blew from far away, blew across the bell, and it quietly murmured:  Remember, I am waiting for you.

I am waiting for you…. I am waiting for you…  Forever…. I will be waiting for you…..

"Zhuge Yue, why didn't you go into the city?  When I was going to be a princess the outfit I wore was so beautiful!"

"Just wait, wait until I give you something even more beautiful in the future."  (TN: as his princess… ^__^)

"If you say it, it has to count."

"It will count."

"Hehe!"

….

Translator's notes:  Here ends the story arc for Li Ce.  We are approaching the end of the novels, friends, only 12 more chapters!!   Then we can all scour the web for the lost novels and read other people's blogs!!!  hehe.  Has anyone heard anything about Season 2? What will we do before that?  Oh, the torture! 

So Chu Qiao finally stays by his side, a little earlier than anticipated, but we shall see what they can accomplish together.  And if the other summaries are any indication, it gets a little hotter after this!  ^_^  You were all warned…..  -Kero