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

Princess Agents 特工皇妃楚喬傳 Chapter 176 English novel translation

Princess Agents - 特工皇妃楚喬傳 

Synopsis:  The next few chapters conclude the wistful and tragic story of Li Ce condensed into three to four chapters.  I'm not sure why the author decided to end things like this for one of the most lovable characters in the novel, but then, there it is.

We start with the inner turmoil of Bian Tang and how Li Ce had to quell a rebellion against his half-brother (same mother, different father) whom he grew up with since childhood, Li Luo, who crowned himself king.  Chu Qiao and her entourage did not make it to Bian Tang after parting ways with Zhuge Yue, and instead were waylaid at Han Sui.  Despite her status with the emperor she could not get to the capital. Han Sui ran into famine and plague as a result of the war, but Chu Qiao and her group stayed out of it for the most part, as they had packed for long distance travel and camped outside the city.

The entire rebellion lasted 11 days, and Li Ce prevailed while his brother was erased from the annals of history.   It was a rather sad affair, since Li Ce relied on his general Xu Su, who was brother-in-law to Li Luo.  The general's sister ended up committing suicide.  From what I could tell, since I skipped many of the earlier Bian Tang chapters, Li Ce had only ever been in love with one woman, a childhood friend named Fu'er who was in love with Li Luo.  Their parents ended up marrying her to Li Ce, likely against her will, and she died early.  After the rebellion, he buried Li Luo next to her, but he executed Li Luo's entire family.  (Perhaps it is because of this other woman that Li Ce supported Chu Qiao wholeheartedly to choose her own path in life.)

When Chu Qiao finally makes it back into the palace she has no other place to go.  In the process of the war, her inn and the entire scholar town was burnt to the ground so Bian Tang was as good a place to stay as any.  

When she visits Li Ce she sits next to him, rather than opposite him, as she is aware that place is reserved for the dead.  He is getting drunk alone and looks rather miserable, which makes her want to cry, to which he replies, "I'm not dead yet."   He explains that when he became crown prince, he wanted to fulfill Li Luo's dream of being a scholar by opening a history bureau for him, but never got to tell him after Fu'er died.  (Her death drove a stake between them.)  Chu Qiao just listens to him, knowing that he needs a sympathetic ear.

Zhuge Yue has since taken to writing to her (something she accused him of not being able to do in an earlier chapter).  He doesn't mention any of the turmoil he's been embroiled in with the DaXia princes.  Bian Tang's inner conflict eased pressure on Da Xia's border.  Prince Zhao Che had been waylaid by a snowstorm.  Zhao Yang took the opportunity to make some progress towards Bian Tang and positioned himself 30 miles outside of the capital.  Zhuge Yue then took 5,000 QingHai escorts to face off with him.  If Wei Shuye had not come in the next 3 hours, it would have been a mess.  He didn't mention a thing to her in the letter, but she had to learn it from the mouth of the guard who delivered the letter.  The messenger told her how nerve wracking it was for 5,000 QingHai guards to face off 30,000 Southern Army soldiers. 

Now that the DaXia emperor was on his deathbed, the Zhao princes were starting to move. While Chu Qiao is unoccupied she goes to the temple to pray for the safety of her loved one.  She remembered the Dowager Empress had once asked her son not to tear down this temple and to worship Buddha.  

She also comes across He Xiao after years of separation, who is now a third-ranked officer guarding Li Ce's inner harem.  She explains that she did not want to abandon them, and she considered him one of her best friends having been through thick and thin together.  He responds that he had also been selfish since he had seen all her inner turmoil in Yan Bei.  He should not have placed the responsibility on her that drove her to go against the king and end up like this.  The emperor said that she needed to let go of the past to attain happiness, so He Xiao wishes her well, hoping she can choose to live for herself.  He is embarking to the southwest for his next assignment, and perhaps there will not be a chance of them meeting again.  Chu Qiao realizes he already knows she is going to QingHai.  She calls him 'brother' while he calls her 'little Qiao', they exchange farewells and part ways.  

For the most part, Chu Qiao avoids Li Ce's grand parties for the New Year, preferring the quiet seclusion of her place in Jin Wu palace.  On the 28th day of the 12th month, a long string of beautiful carriages pulled up to Jin Wu palace, each laden with precious gems and jewels, furs, brocades, art and antiques, calligraphy and other luxuries as far as the imagination could reach.  Not only that, but also many things that girls would love, such as palace clothes, shoes, bright red hairpins, top grade flowers, coral decorations up to three feet high, rare orchids, a curtained screen inlaid with eastern pearls, jades that glowed in the night, and even things from overseas like matches, telescopes, simple chiming clocks, foreign women's clothing, and specialty products like foreign medicines.  Altogether, twenty carts and 200 boxes large and small were delivered to her doorstep.

What was more ridiculous was the inclusion of some indigenous produce, some ugly looking squash things.  Chu Qiao realized this was the QingHai melon Zhuge Yue had once written to her about.  When she put it to her nose it was slightly was fragrant, and a sudden sweetness overcame her heart.  She concluded these ugly melons were worth more to her than the other treasures he had sent.  (TN: ^__^)

These melons had been treated with great care, each wrapped in red cloth and tied with red string. She knows the locals in Qing Hai had gone to great lengths at their master's bidding.  To one of these melons his letter is tied.  She opens the golden envelope and sees his flying, thin handwriting in great volume.  He always does this.  Even the tone of his letters are awkward.  He speaks of weather, politics, economy, like the cordial banter between two heads of state.  And then, at the very last part he gives a strange warning, "Make sure you secure your doors and windows at night as a precaution against unsavory people." 

Li Ce sees what he had written and flies into a fit accusing Zhuge Yue of badmouthing him behind his back; and Chu Qiao generally stays out of it knowing they were both probably guilty.  Still, at the very end of this letter, he writes, "I am entangled in a difficult situation and will not be able to spend the spring banquet with you.  Next year, on the day when the spring flowers bloom I will fulfill my promise.  Wait for me."  (TN: So I guess all these gifts were for her was part of an apology for asking her to wait another year)

In response she draws a little cartoon of two figures, one serious and awkward, another smart and delicate on a high hilltop, staring at a grassy green plain before them,  with various cattle and sheep in the distance.  Further out, she drew a large ocean.  Beneath the "letter" she wrote, "Waiting for you."

She lets herself be selfish and willful with him, and she must believe once more.

Then, in March, Li Ce's second son dies of fever, leaving him only one son, six, and one daughter, four.  Chu Qiao visits him again and sees he has gotten very drunk. He asks her desperately as he clings to her, "Is it because my hands are stained with blood?"

In May, another of Li Ce's concubines, Zhan Ziming (from book 2), entered the palace to give birth to another child, a son, which puts the whole palace into celebration mode again.  Li Ce named this boy, QingRong.  The Dowager Empress was not in attendance and Chu Qiao's  attendant at JinWu palace told her the empress had not been seen in the palace for many years, having gone into seclusion at AnYing temple.

A few days earlier, Zhuge Yue had sent a pair of beautiful twin HuDi birds to her.  They were rumored to be paired for life, and if one died the other would not survive.  (TN: awwww, who said he wasn't romantic?)  Chu Qiao renames them as lovebirds, and she is unusually attached to them.  She hand feeds them herself and the female became really friendly to Chu Qiao, while the male bird always squawks angrily at everyone.  

Li Ce also liked the birds and came to tease them every so often.

One night, while she was sleeping, Chu Qiao finds a drunk Li Ce in her bedroom.  (TN: ^__^ Zhuge Yue was right to warn her…)  He holds her in a tight embrace, and she strokes his back to ease his loneliness and pain.  She asks him if he was mistaking her for Fu'er, who also lived in JinWu palace.  Li Ce laughs it off and said Fu'er's figure was much nicer than hers.  When he leaves she saw he had left his jade ring behind, and she calls out for him to take it back.  He says he'll come back for it tomorrow, and in frustration she accidentally jams her bare foot against the door frame and bled everywhere.  She has a frightful premonition after that.

The next night her attendant and MeiXiang rushes into her bedroom saying there had been an attempt on the emperor's life.  Chu Qiao dropped his ring, and it chipped a corner.  He had been stabbed by an old eunuch who was loyal to Li Luo while staying in the temple.  Chu Qiao was a bit incredulous since Li Ce was careful not to allow people near him and he was strictly guarded.  

The doctor is tasked to seek two people for the emperor, Minister Su Di and Chu Qiao.  Before the watchful eyes of the court, Chu Qiao enters Li Ce's chambers.  He looks terrible, but he says with a raspy smile, "Scared you both."  A dagger wound an inch away from his heart is carefully bandaged, and Chu Qiao is really afraid for him.

Li Ce explains that under these circumstances he is unable to personally prepare a dowry for her, and has to rely on Minister Sun to do it for him, jokingly saying he doesn't know whether the minister will be corrupt or cheap and try to pocket the goods.  Chu Qiao smiles back and tells him she'll keep an eye on him.

He looks tired and Chu Qiao tells him to rest.  In turn he asks that she stay with him.  She does as he asks and sees the doctor come by to change his dressing several times.  Her worries about the wound grow but she says nothing.  She stays for three days, and Li Ce looks as though he is improving.  It was then that the Dowager Empress comes to visit.  Chu Qiao was shocked to see the Queen Mother had turned very old, with a full head of white hair, deep wrinkles everywhere, her eyes red and sunken.

Chu Qiao accompanies the haggard looking woman to Li Ce's temple chamber, and is told to leave by the Queen's attendant.  Mei Xiang wants to say something, but Chu Qiao says it was appropriate to leave and give the mother time with her son.  Her attendant added that the Queen will not harm her own son.  When Minister Sun arrives he rushes towards the temple, saying news of the emperor's assassination attempt is not known outside the inner palace, and the queen would not have heard of this news so quickly.

A sudden scream made both Chu Qiao and Sun Di rush into the temple, only to see the woman holding a bloody dagger.  "I will kill you!  I will kill you and avenge Luo'er!!  You are all beasts, damn you all. I will avenge my husband and my son!"

When she looked at Li Ce it was as if she sees through him for the first time.  She clearly sees his happiness, anger, grief and joy.  She saw the affection in his eyes he had suppressed and hid deep in his heart and the desolation that was like the pure white snowy outer regions north of the Great Wall.

Li Ce looks at his mother with a bone-weary exhaustion, without shock or anger.  Chu Qiao is petrified to see him thus and goes blank. She knows other people are pulling her to leave, but she only screams loudly and rushes into the inner hall.  Several guards block her way, and Li Ce shouted for them to let her go, all the while pouring blood from his mouth and chest.  She stays all day while the crowd of doctors and attendants busy over him.  And in the evening, when she hears the choking sobs of the imperial doctor Chu Qiao finally faints.

I'm going to go into detail about Li Ce's final moments because I really like Li Ce and it's my tribute to such a fun character in these novels, the only really multi-dimensional character in the entire series.  This ends up being a catalyst for helping Chu Qiao rise to awesomeness again, so I am grateful to his character. 

When she wakes in the darkness Sun Di comes to get her, saying the emperor wishes to see her.  When she goes to see him, he is colder than her own fingers when she touches him.  He opens his eyes and looks at her quietly, ever so calm, as he said "Qiao, Qiao…."

Her tears roll down as her grief is caught in her throat, and she sees how much weight he has lost in these few days.  He touches her face and tells her not to cry.  Chu Qiao blames herself for not being with him when it happened, and he says she was not to blame, for no one would have suspected that a mother would do such a thing to her own child.  He tells her he had wanted to personally marry her off, but now he cannot.  Chu Qiao stubbornly refuses to believe he will die, and in her panic and misery she begs him to stay.

"If you are gone, what will happen to me?  If something happened to me who will come help me? I don't even have anywhere to live right now, who will I shamelessly live off of?"  To this Li Ce replies, "So in the end, I was just a sucker."  The years of their friendship was like a clear spring rolling past them through the lonely and cold air between them. She no longer had the strength to look at him, like her heart was being gouged out by a knife.  He then told her, "I've sent word to Zhuge Four. (a nickname for Zhuge Yue.  It could also be interpreted as a play on words meaning Zhuge Die, or Damned Zhuge.  Zhuge Yue calls him Li Fox -- a sly, untrustworthy person)  Someone will escort you to him, and you will go with him."  Chu Qiao bit her lip.  "In the future, don't hesitate, and don't throw fits of childish temper."  (TN: he knows her too well…)

He then asks her to help him up, and though she didn't want to because he was too wounded to do it, he was resolute.  She then helps him fix his hair because he complained of it being messy.  As she combs his hair each stroke brings back the memory of their relationship over the years and her hands tremble though he didn't turn around to see it.  When she is done he turns around and smiled charmingly, asking, "Do I look better?"  Of course he is handsome as ever, though his complexion was pale like white jade.

"Totally awesome."  (TN: Chu Qiao uses modern slang here)

"Are you praising me?"

She nods and he gives her a brilliant smile, just like old times.

Holding back the sadness in her heart, she asks him, "Li Ce, do you still have any wishes?"  (TN: last requests, unfulfilled….)

"Wishes?"  He thinks for a while before lightly chuckling, "Not anymore."  

His breathing suddenly becomes labored, he turns to her and reaches out his hand remotely, and whispers, "Qiao Qiao, let me hug you."

A gust of wind blows open the small window, letting in the moonlight.  She kneels on the floor, half in his arms, and cries into his chest.  The breaths at the top of her head fade, like a fresh breeze affectionately blowing away cherry blossoms, and then all is silent.  In that moment, it is as if the young and frivolous young man of many years earlier, dressed in red robes and ink black hair who had fallen from the sky, whispers behind her ear, "Still not going to stop?" (TN: His spirit is poking fun at her)

Chu Qiao's eyes are cold and empty like dead ash as she looks at him.  He sits there quietly, head askew, looking as if he was caught in some lovely dream.

She goes out of the palace doors, nods sorrowfully to Sun Di, and announces under the cold moonlight to the waiting court, "The Emperor has passed."  (TN: R.I.P. Li Ce!!!  *bawls*  Whyyyyyyyyy???!!!!)

The entire city is in mourning for weeks.  His mother dies.  Chu Qiao is not invited to the funeral as she is not an official of court, but she mourns him nonetheless. By the time the White Moon festival rolls around again, he has already been dead for a month.  Zhuge Yue repeatedly sends people to escort her away from it all, but she stubbornly stays because of a thought that won't let her go.  Though Li Ce was gone, taking away all the mirth from Jin Wu palace, there is still something she has to do.

She retraces the times she spent with Li Ce and realizes that he was in love with her.  And though he had given her many hints, she never figures it out until after he died.  When they buried Li Ce, she moves out of Jin Wu palace and buries her weak incompetent self with him, swearing that it is the last time she would ever cry.

She moves into the manor that Li Ce had refurbished for her as a dowry, filled with riches and antiques and a handful of servants -- a gift he had spent more than two years preparing.  The only thing it is missing is a name, Sun Di explained, since Li Ce had been picky and hadn't decided what to call it.  

Mei Xiang greets her with Zhuge Yue's ninth letter, saying if Chu Qiao doesn't respond he will be very worried.  

Yan Bei and DaXia are again at war.  Four battles have already been fought below Yan Ming Pass, the front line expanding into the Batuha territories. The DaXia emperor is dying.  Zhao Yang colluded with Ling Nan Mu and his Highness Jing Han and took full control of the southwestern soldiers to oppose Zhao Che and Zhuge Yue's powerful northern army.  Danger lurks on every side, and conflict can break out at any moment.

At a time like this, Chu Qiao understands it all, and wonders how Zhuge Yue cannot.  When Mei Xiang asks her what they were going to do, Chu Qiao responds, "We wait."

The new emperor is enthroned and holds court on the second day.  His Queen Mother sat behind him.  Also on the dais was Zhan Ziyu, as imperial regent  (TN: From Book 2 recall the Zhan family and this man in the wheelchair was the one who rescued Chu Qiao and Liang Shaoqing from the slavers when she fled DaXia).  As Li Ce did not have brothers or sisters living, and his mother was now dead, and the current emperor's mother was not high enough in court to be knowledgeable about politics, that left only Li Ce's royal uncle next in line to be regent.  Chu Qiao suspects him.  All of Li Ce's trusted officials and Minister Sun Di are suppressed in court, then arrested for conspiracy with Li Luo and thrown into prison.  On that day, all of Li Ce's loyal servants were executed. All the women and dancers were pushed out of the palace to be nuns.

The new emperor's regime is fierce and vigorous and any opposition would be cut down without question.  The first person to stand up to the regime is surprisingly Li Ce's old opponent, Liu Ge.  The old man stops Zhan Ziyu before Jin Wu palace, hurls insults at him and calls him a thief, accusing him of being behind the attack on Li Ce in the temple.  Before he dies on the spot he shouted Li Ce's posthumous name.  When Chu Qiao hears this, she pondered it for a long time into the early morning.  

Students from all over Bian Tang then gather in the capital to protest his death, appealing to the judiciary.  But then Zhan Zhiyu burns down the judiciary court and throws the minister's body into a mass grave.

Then the young emperor stops coming to court sessions, and even the queen behind the curtain is gone to take care of the emperor's health.  Zhan Zhiyu then builds a chair as magnificent than the throne and sits on it during court sessions.  He declares it was a gift from Li Ce and that he is also allowed to move into Jin Wu palace for convenience sake.  

When Chu Qiao reads the report, she turns to Tie You (Li Ce's right hand man and leader of his Wolf Army) and tells him to go watch over the little emperor.  The end of this farce is near.  That's where we begin….

Chapter 176: Tang Dynasty Melting Point

On the evening after the third day, a huge clamor came from the direction of Jin Wu palace.  All who were awake and those who were sleeping were roused into alarm, senior officials and commoners alike hastened out of their rooms in succession. Standing in their respective courtyards they looked up and gazed in the direction of the source of that noise.  They only saw that all the lanterns in Jin Wu palace were lit in splendor, with a looming red shadow as if there was a big fire, accompanied by the sound of endless killing, a mournful assault to the ears, as if ghosts were crying. 

Very quickly, everyone's faces went deathly pale.  Worried men held onto their wives and children and hurried back into their houses, and closed all the doors and windows tightly, fearing they would suffer from troubles not of their own making.  Only a few high ranking officials looked astonished in the direction of the palace gates, muttering to themselves, "I'm afraid the sky will change once more."  (TN: the sky refers to an emperor's regime)

Sometime around midnight the palace gate was attacked and broken open.  Lu YunXi's robes were covered in blood as he took 3,000 of his Valiant Wolf Army and faced Chu Qiao standing before the Tai'an Gate, and said in a deep voice, "Miss, we have already captured Ling Xiao Hall."

Under the pitch black canopy of heaven, Chu Qiao was dressed all in black robes, embroidered with gold brushes and green birds (TN: the bird is a 'luo' which is a mythical bird related to the phoenix, the symbol of a queen), her face like white jade.  Behind her stood a dense and dark mass of 10,000 XiuLi soldiers. He Xiao looked calm and collected sitting erect atop his battle horse, and a tight contingent of guards were on either side of her.  The banner of the red cloud on a white backdrop was raised over their heads.  The night was dark and the wind high, overcast with clouds, with no moon or stars.  The blood red light of the torches reflected onto Chu Qiao's face that was like a cold sword without the slightest expression.

"Into the palace."

The ice cold voice spoke faintly, like the sound of a blade scraping across and sharply piercing everyone's ears.  The large winds blew up the hem of Chu Qiao's robes.  She lifted up her pointed thin chin, both her eyes narrowed slightly, dug her heels into her horse's side and drove her horse into the beautiful and imposing, towering imperial palace.

When the last guard of the Ling Xiao Hall fell, the fire in the West Hall was extinguished.  Du Ping An rushed forward with a group of soldiers and the young man's eyes shone with a firm and tenacious brilliance, as if he had grown up overnight.

Ten thousand guards stood behind Chu Qiao, and their glowing torches illuminated the sky, reflecting onto the mess of corpses on the ground.  Chu Qiao rode her horse all the way to the white jade stone steps.  The daily palace attendants who dared not even look up at the door of the Regent's palace were felled to the ground and her horse made small crunching noises as it stepped on top of them.

A court servant who was adept at reading the situation rushed forward, shouting loudly that he would welcome the general to dismount.

Chu Qiao's cold eyes glanced at him, and thereafter actually stepped onto the man's back to dismount, and step by step she walked towards the majestic palace door.

The palace doors were quickly thrown open, bringing the scent of sandalwood incense head on with the cold wind.  The howling gusts picked up her black cloak, the sword at her waist was like ice in a cold forest, its chilly air stabbing into the recesses of the heart. In the empty, quiet and lonely main hall Zhan Ziyu sat alone. Vaguely it seemed he remained just as he was many years ago on the bow the river boat, a man in black sitting atop a wooden wheelchair, facing the torrential river waves, enveloped by a clear moon, his eyes unclouded like a mountain spring with his mellow and quiet voice asking, "Who is there?"

The wind entered the carved window, blowing down a thin piece of bright yellow imperial paper, actually an object for imperial use only, used solely by the emperor for the purpose of issuing imperial edicts.

Chu Qiao stepped into the hall, stepped onto the imperial decree, her eyes indifferently watching the shadows behind the deep and quiet layers of curtains as she quietly said, "I've come to take your life."

Zhan Ziyu smiled lightly, and like a thin cloud in the breeze he said, "I didn't think it would be you."

"A wise man of a thousand schemes will make at least one mistake, and certainly will lose once.  It was not easy for you to climb so high in five years from the position you were in."

Chu Qiao said this calmly, her expression steady, without a single waver. 

Zhan Ziyu smiled, "Are you trying to console me with these words?  I guess it's not so bad. It's not easy to be praised with a sentence by the world renown XiuLi General."

 Chu Qiao said faintly, "Do you have any wishes unfulfilled?"

A trace of lonely desolation suddenly went across Zhan Ziyu's face, he frowned slightly, and seemed not reconciled, saying, "I have never ridden an eight horse carriage, my heart is still not resigned to that."

As soon as she heard it Chu Qiao's mind was slightly shocked and could not help but think of the joke she had shared with Zhan Ziyu that year.  At the time, the two of them had been chatting, and Zhan Ziyu said he could no longer ride horses in his lifetime and in order to help him feel better Chu Qiao playfully told him he could try to raise eight exceptional horses to pull his carriage.  At the time Zhan Ziyu had chided her for being silly, because only the emperor could ride in such a carriage and if he dared to do it, it was a sure sign he was going to rebel.

Time ran like water, everything was reflected against the water like a mirror, no longer returning to the past.

"General Chu, why is it that the Li family can sit on this land, while I cannot?  Was this throne not taken by the Li family from the previous holder as well?  Why is that they are seen as the orthodox power of this world while I am a treacherous minister and usurper?"

There was a trace or two of lofty expression between Zhan Ziyu's brows.  He raised his head and looked up towards the lofty ceiling, and not without a fierce ambition as he said, "Besides, I've only taken back what the Li family owes me, is that so wrong?"

Chu Qiao was unmoved, and she said in a calm tone, "That is a grudge between the two of you, it has nothing to do with me."  

She slowly walked forward, flowing and steady like a night watchman's drum beat, echoing throughout the large hall.

"You caused the death of someone who was very dear to me.  I will kill you in revenge."

Her sharp, rare treasure sword pulled out inch by inch out of its scabbard.  The chilling light flashed like winter silvergrass under the evening moon, like the bright light of star fire, coldly reflecting on her face in a streak of white.

"Do you have anything more to say?"

"Let my sister go, she is just a woman and everything she does, she does for me."

Chu Qiao looked at him, for a long while she had no words, and a trace of bitterness rose up from the bottom of her heart.  The wind blew in from far away, stirring the hems of both their clothing, like a pool of black ink.

"I'm sorry.  I can't do that."

She coldly spit out those few words, then suddenly swung her sword.  Vaguely she once again thought of that night when Zhan Ziyu smiled and said to her, "What you say isn't wrong.  But as an insider you cannot see through the game, and when you come across an opportunity, you cannot help but want to give it a try."

Give it a try….

A handful of blood suddenly sprayed out, splattering onto Chu Qiao's ink dark robes, quickly seeping through and condensing into a clustered dark shadow onto the fabric.

Chu Qiao bent down from the waist to pick the human head off the ground.  The man's ink black hair was combed meticulously, his face was pale like jade, the expression on his face was peaceful as if he were asleep, except his severed neck was bleeding from the savage cut.

Chu Qiao tossed the head into the arms of an attending guard and said in a low voice, "Hang the head above the palace gate, and let the attacking Central Army see it."

As soon as she said it she turned to exit Ling Xiao Hall, and agilely flipped herself back onto her horse, saying to those around her, "On to Roufu Hall."

***

At some point in time the moon had drilled through the layer of clouds, sprinkling a gloomy layer of clear and bright light.  Ling Xiao Hall gradually cooled.  The soldiers in armor rushed away, leaving behind the corpses littered over the ground.  Crows in the sky cawed, their black wings like funeral banners.  In the empty great hall, a headless body still quietly sat on the golden dragon throne, looking rather gruesome and horrible.

The battle of Ruofu Hall was already over by now. Tie You and Sun Di came together, both of them covered in blood as proof of how fierce the battle was.

Chu Qiao dismounted and came forward, saying to Sun Di, "You've been inconvenienced."

Sun Di shed a smile, saying, "It couldn't be helped.  Except the food in prison was really bad.  I was so hungry I've become skinny."

"Miss, imperial concubine Zhan has been apprehended."

Tie You said this in a low voice, and Chu Qiao briefly raised her brow, "And the emperor?"

Tie You's brow slightly knit together, "He is unharmed, but he was a little frightened by these events."

"That's good then."  Chu Qiao sighed, and asked, "Then why are you pulling a long face?"

"The Queen Mother Yuan is dead.  When we rushed inside she thought it was imperial concubine Zhan, and before we could get a word in edgewise, she committed suicide."

As soon as she heard it, Chu Qiao tightly knit her brows together.  Who would have known that the woman would have such a fate, when she had tried her best to create this path for the mother and son and without a word, she was now dead.

"Miss," Sun Di walked forward and said, "The Zhan siblings colluded for their self-interests to assassinate the previous emperor, and all their plans of enthroning QingRong have been seized in the search and collected as evidence.  Tomorrow all the world will know of their crimes."

Chu Qiao slowly took the few sheets of paper from him, and though it was only paper, she felt it was heavier than a thousand pounds.

"Let me out!  You wretched bunch of  slaves!  Let me out!"  A heartrending cry suddenly burst forth.  The majestic Ruo Fu Hall was now in tatters.  A large fire was still burning, dust and rubble were everywhere.  Zhan Ziming dressed in full red phoenix attire struggling with two palace attendants to escape the hall.  Both her eyes were fully red, her face without a trace of grace or sumptuous beauty.

When she saw Chu Qiao, Sun Di and the others, she was suddenly shocked to a standstill, her eyes steadily latching and staring at her, and when she finally recognized her, she laughed and screamed wildly, "So it was you!"

Chu Qiao said nothing and only stared back at her, in a flash of many years, she did not want to reunite with this person here today.  That girl who eagerly gazed at and followed behind her older brother was already dead.  The one who stood before her today was nothing but a madwoman.

"Where is my third brother?"

She suddenly asked sharply. 

Chu Qiao's face didn't change when she said slowly, "He's dead."

Zhan Ziming then stopped abruptly, as if she expected there would come a day like this.  After a long while, she smiled slyly, and let out a mournful wail, like a night eagle in the heavens.  The light in her eye gradually faded, and looked at Chu Qiao with lifeless eyes, asking, "Did you kill him?"

"Yes."

"Good.  Good.  The one he fell in love with was unexpectedly very good.  It's no wonder that even though the palace was filled with women, he was only ever sincere towards you."

Chu Qiao stared coldly back at this beautiful and mad woman, her gaze for a moment altering to pity, seemingly able to pierce through her exterior beauty and into the depths of her heart.

"What will you do with Rong'er?"

"He is not only your child but also the child of Li Ce. I will treat him well."

Zhan Ziming nodded and smiled bitterly.  "Good.  My hands are stained with blood and I've hurt even him.  If it wasn't for my third brother, I would have forfeited my life long ago.  You can end it."

At that moment Chu Qiao saw the woman's riddled heart through her awkward smile.  From her childhood admiration for her brother, to her listening to everything her brother Zhan Ziyu prearranged for her.  Yet after entering the palace she gradually fell in love with Li Ce, and perhaps did not even know it until she tried to assassinate him according to plan, and only then did she know her own heart.  On the day of the attempt her grief was not fake.  Unfortunately for her, of the two men she loved in her life, one never loved her back, and one could not love her.  She eventually became a cruel joke of Fate.

"Give imperial concubine Zhan poisoned wine and white damask."  (TN: poison and a shroud for a noble lady's modesty)

Chu Qiao coolly turned around and strode out of the hall.  The wind outside howled as it blew over.  The dark night was like a thick tide spreading over her entirely.  The entrance to Jin Wu palace was brightly lit, and the sounds of yelling and killing were slowly dissipating. The sharp call for retreat blew through the chilly night sky.  The air was filled with the smell of smoke and dust, the smell of tens of thousands of slain, the smell of countless souls.  In an instant her ground shifted again, and she was surrounded from all directions.

In her hand she held a silver sword, her ink dark robes were stained with blood, behind her was a blazing fire, and black armored soldiers stood to her left and right.   Her eyes were so cold, firmly gazing at the ends of heaven and earth.  The extreme far north was in that direction, the frigid quiet rolling along.  In that short time her eyes did not blink, as if she was looking at someone, but in the end the figure was submerged in the ruins, without a trace.

"Imperial concubine Zhan has passed---"   The eunuchs announced her demise and began their rituals.

In that moment the sun pierced through the dark layer of clouds, the sky would soon be clear, and this slow, long night would pass.  But the darkness in her heart, what would it take to dispel it?

***

Epilogue:  Chu Qiao sees the new emperor, Yi'er, who comes running towards her, who still calls her "auntie" out of habit.  He laments that his mother is dead, and Chu Qiao looks at the little six year old boy and hugs him tightly.  This was Li Ce's son, his dynasty and his family.  Mei Xiang brings over his half-brother, Rong'er, swaddled snugly and asleep.  When she saw how much the baby looked like Li Ce she brought him up to her face and almost cried, her heart empty.

She sent word to the ministers of what had happened, the central army was subdued and awaited her judgment. 

Then, with baby in one arm and holding onto the emperor's hand, she entered the throne room before the waiting court.  As the sun rose, cries of "long live!" sounded throughout the hall, shining onto her black robes and the banner of the red cloud on white with the words "XiuLi" in large letters.  When the emperor says he doesn't want to sit on the throne, Chu Qiao lifts him up and sits him on it anyway, telling him that the seat was made of the blood and bones of many generations, that both his parents died for this seat, that the Tang Dynasty rested on his shoulders, and all his ancestors would be watching him here, that it was his heavenly mandate which he could not renounce.  (TN: no pressure…)

When the emperor asks, she promises she would always be with him.  Since Li Ce protected her for so many years, it was her turn to protect his legacy. The ministers were unsure of whom they should be honoring, the emperor or the beautiful general by his side.  

The dust had returned to the ruins and settled. The chess piece was already moved, and there was no room for remorse.

Chu Qiao thought quietly to herself, Li Ce, rest assured.

***

Translator's notes:  I felt I had to set up the preface to the events that lead up to Chu Qiao staying with Zhuge Yue as the other half the Xing/Yue OTP.  So even though Zhuge Yue doesn't show prominently in these chapters, it was Li Ce's demise that taught her Fate is whimsical, and she decides to jealously guard her happiness and the people she cares about with both eyes open and sword at the ready.

This is progress from that young girl who blindly followed an ideal only to be betrayed by a man she thought she loved, and a step above the weepy Chu Qiao who couldn't see past her own misery; and still a better evolution of the Chu Qiao who is in love and waiting quietly for Zhuge Yue to return, in my opinion.  But Li Ce died… still sobbing….   -Kero

Princess Agents 特工皇妃楚喬傳, Chapter 159 English novel translation

Princess Agents - 特工皇妃楚喬傳 

Chapter 153 - Chapter 158 Synopsis

After Zhuge Yue's death, Chu Qiao is ill for quite some time. At first it's psychological and she doesn't want to wake up in a world without him.  She finally realized she was a woman, and that having her heart broken was painful. Then it's a long rehabilitation process because her health was seriously damaged by being dunked in the cold for so long.   Making her emotions worse was that Yan Xun had told the world Chu Qiao instigated Zhuge Yue's death, so everyone loyal to the Zhuge family would come after her.  Though Yan Xun and He Xiao made sure no one ever touched her, the assassins' curses and their vitriol made her truly feel his death was her fault.  Yan Xun is such an @ss…..

Her sister ZhiSu is married to an officer of Yan Bei.  Chu Qiao withdraws from politics thereafter.  She transfers the city of Shang Shen to Mr. Wu's stewardship.  Yan Xun monitors her, but mistakenly believes she will eventually turn around and see things his way.  When he remembers that she had told him she would never forgive him if Zhuge Yue died in Yan Bei he realizes she has left him to live elsewhere.  After recovering she goes out to a lantern festival where she breaks down and cries for the first time since Zhuge Yue's death.

Two years later, she lives with her new make-shift family; the little soldier Ping An; his sister JingJing; the shepherd boy DuoJi and his uncle; MeiXiang, her servant freed from slavery, and He Xiao lives in a nearby hut to keep an eye on her.  The county of QuiLan where they live prospers because Yan Xun protects it, and the people are exempt from military service.  Chu Qiao has made improvements so it becomes a large, prosperous area.  Her loyal followers from Shang Shen came to live here too, and as a result of Yan Xun's propaganda, many people think her the reincarnation of the Yan Bei goddess.   She spent the first year helping reconstruction all over Yan Bei after the wars.  She wanted to escape but Yan Xun emotionally manipulated her by letting commoners go to her and beg her to stay.  The remains of the XiuLi Army also stays with her.

Though Yan Xun carved a perfect little place for her, the rest of Yan Bei suffered under his taxes, his stringent military service, and Yan Bei became less free under his tyranny than DaXia.

The Zhuge family expunged the 4th son from their family records and tried to distance themselves from his disgrace, but they lost power in the government as a result of Zhuge Yue's embarrassing death of being tricked by a woman.  His betrothed, Le WanYi, daughter of General Le Xing, declared she never knew her betrothed was such a deceitful man and declared the engagement was fraudulent and an insult to the Emperor, and she would rather be a nun.  She and her father became rather devout Buddhists after that, so his power in the government did not diminish.   Zhao Che also suffered by association and was sent to guard the northeastern border garrison that didn't really need any protection.

Southwest of HeLan Mountain rose the small kingdom of QingHai, ruled by someone who mysteriously ascended and crowned himself King of QingHai, barring Yan Xun's entry into DaXia.  QingHai was mostly desert, a place where exiled prisoners were sent to die.  When Yan Xun tried to attack the southern gate of YanMing Pass, he was stopped by this fierce, mysterious force of the QingHai King, who incidentally took over CuiWei Pass.  So in addition to DaXia forces opposing him at MeiLin Pass, he had to worry about CuiWei Pass on the other side.

Behind her house, Chu Qiao erected a simple tomb for Zhuge Yue.  Two years ago, she found out that his family had disowned him and refused to bury him in the family cemetery, whipped the corpse as punishment and buried him in a mass grave. She was very upset.  With 300 XiuLi warriors she stole the body.  Wild dogs had gotten to the corpse so she pieced it back together and cremated the remains.   Later, when she heard about Miss WanYi, she was so unsettled by the girl's actions Chu Qiao ambushed her on the road back from the temple and shaved off the girl's hair so she could really be a nun.  ^__^;;; (OMG girl, I'm dying….)  It was that time she finally accepted that he was dead, and his remains were in a jar in her possession, and there was nothing she could do to save his name, his reputation, his dignity, or his body.  It was then that she stopped coming down from her mountain.

I'm guessing she has frequent one-sided conversations with him in the pine forest behind her cottage where she erected his tomb.  In Chapter 154, there is a scene where she sits and makes mutton stew in front of his grave.  She scolds DaXia for him, saying they are all incompetent without him and knows that he wants to take revenge because he is rather a vengeful person.  She asks him whether the reason she isn't able to see him in her dreams is because he is still alive, or is it because he's still sulking that no one else has cared to come kill her for revenge recently, but she complains that the assassins have really been of poor quality of late.  ^__^;   She also reminds him that she gave him paper money since she has nothing else to repay him with.  Since he came from a rich family she guesses he is unable to get along in the underworld without money, but as he had so many people go with him that he will continue to be a big shot down there.  She also asks him to watch over Mo'er since she has been unable to locate him.

She confesses that she didn't sleep the prior night, going over what she could have done that day on the lake to save him.  She should have used the XiuLi Army better, she should have taken out the archers first and she should have taken Yan Xun hostage.  She also blames him for pushing her back up to the surface because she had a dagger, and they could have gone downstream, then broken out of the ice.  After all, if Jack in 'Titanic' stayed alive for a while, they obviously would have better chances since they were both trained martial artists….  ^___^;;; (Literally LOL'd when I read that, and everyone around me looked at me like I was crazy)

She remembers a time when they fought back to back and they were so compatible, their movements were like one mind.  She kicks herself for not being more level headed before he died and tells him, "Zhuge Yue, this is our life now."  This scene is both touching and sad that she would finally show some loyalty to him after he is supposedly dead, and that she's gone a bit crazy.

The next morning she received word that Yan Xun was purging and executing members of DaTong in Yan Bei by labeling them traitors for opposing his war tax.  This includes Mr. Wu, Ms. Yu, and his sister's husband.  They were all killed by ZhiSu's husband.  The now pregnant ZhiSu saves ChuQiao from house arrest and apparently dies in a fire.  (This has to be a running gag because ZhiSu never dies when I think she has, but I haven't seen her in many chapters after, so maybe….?)

Yan Xun then traps Chu Qiao and the Xiu Li army between the forces of DaXia and BeiShuo City.  The city has orders not to open their gates.  Yan Xun sent ordinary citizens along the way to beg her to return.  So essentially he calculates that she would want to protect these people and agree to go back into custody.

Though Yan Xun accused her of not knowing who he really was during the 10 years they lived together, she also knows that Yan Xun didn't know who she was either.  He clumps her together with women like ZhiSu, but Chu Qiao is definitely not that kind of person.  He asks her if she is willing to defy him to protect these irrelevant people (DaTong), and she sneers at his condescension.  He asks her if she is willing to sever her love for him like this, to which she responds that he should never say that word because he is unworthy of it.  (Burn) 

She finally says goodbye to Yan Bei, the land she vowed to free but only ended up leading it to more tyranny.  Chapter 155 ends the "Yan Bei" novel, and Chapter 156 begins the "QingHai" novel, which is the final installment.

She chooses to fight to the death.  She and the XiuLi Army fight hard for days, and some people from BeiShuo and in the mountain garrison are horrified that they cannot help her.  Just as she's about to give up, just as things get really grim and her soldiers are dying around her, help comes from two unexpected sources: the Emperor of Bian Tang who swoops in at the last minute, and the King of QingHai who creates a diversion to lure Yan Xun's forces away.  That's where we begin….

Chapter 159: A Tide of People

"Protect Her Excellency!"

Someone had shouted this at the top of his lungs, but the soldiers had rushed so far ahead that it was impossible for them to charge back.  There were corpses everywhere, and before their eyes was just a palette of bright red.  The wind blew to stab their bones.  The entire sky of wind and snow continued to permeate everywhere.  Chu Qiao thought, There is already nowhere to retreat.  So it's like this.  She nodded her head slightly, and in a raspy voice she said, "So be it, then.  So be it."

A row of sturdy bows all pointed upward and the entire sky was filled with a dense cluster of arrows piercing through the cold wind, whistling as they flew.  Chu Qiao looked up and saw the life robbing arrows in mid air in a daze, her mind wandering.

She thought, perhaps she was going to die soon, and time suddenly seemed to stand still.  In a trance she remembered her entire life.  From when she was a little girl in the orphanage who was selected by the government, who, after more than ten years of grueling training, was admitted to the military academy, joined the war department to assassinate, spy and finally gave her life for her country.  (TN: Lord, that's a sad existence…)  Then she came to this bold and unconstrained land of chaos, and once again went through this kind of doomed reincarnation for ten years.  She suddenly felt that she was so very tired and burnt-out.  The wind was blowing from across the way.  She faintly wanted to give up all her persistence and struggle.  In these past few years, no matter what dilemma she faced, she never gave up her desire to live, but now, she suddenly didn't want to continue desperately fighting.  She really felt very tired, so she wanted to let it be.  Going like this, being able to rest, was also fine.

"Excellency!!"

He Xiao gasped in horror at what he saw.  He stared as Chu Qiao stood on the battlefield, raised her head and gazed at the rain of arrows in mid air without dodging or flinching; merely indifferent, like a frozen icicle.

He felt as though his heart was about to be shredded, and he wielded his sword like a madman, the edge of his blade like lightning, crashing like a white light coming down in mid air, sending two human heads flying.  The fresh blood splashed all over He Xiao, but the tide of the enemy rushed up again and he was unable to get away, nor was he able to push his way through.  He could only watch with both eyes open as the arrows slipped closer to her person.

The Yan Bei troops on the top of LongYin Pass also watched the scene with wide-eyes.  The face of a young soldier turned white, and his knees suddenly went weak, and in that moment he knelt down onto the ground, gazing at the pale woman standing in the middle of the blazing, raging fire, and he wailed, "Excellency!"

He was also a soldier from Shang Shen City.  Chu Qiao had rescued both his parents and his sisters from slavery, abolished their status and even gave them land.  But he was not a courageous man, and when the XiuLi Army fought outside the gates he dared not speak out.  When DaXia robbed them time and again he dared not speak out.  When the snowstorm raged over their camp he dared not speak out.  When the people down below were pitifully crying outside the city he dared not speak out.  Not until this moment, when his mother's words came back to him.  The old woman with a full head of white hair shouted and cried out on their land, something they had never once owned in their entire lives, "We will remember this kindness for a thousand years, Her Excellency is our benefactress."

A loud wail went up from the tower.  On the field the tall grass rustled and the snow fell thick and fast, a canvas of endless white.

In this half month, all of Yan Bei witnessed the loyalty of an army, and in this moment, the entire world saw the misery of one woman.

The arrows flew up, rising, higher and higher, until they reached their apex, then passing their half arc, came down with swift and violent speed.

Everyone's eyes opened wide.  The wind tossed up Chu Qiao's clothing, and she slightly narrowed her eyes as the severe gust of air tousled the hair on her forehead.  Penetrating pain pricked her scalp, her mind went blank, and in that sparse space in-between a pair of eyes were watching her, saying slowly: Keep on living, keep on living.

She smiled slightly, light and teasing, like mist.

I can't continue, after all. I'll come and find you then, all right?

Suddenly, the sound of a burst abruptly cleaving the wind rose up.  There on the western side of the slanting snow peak of LongYin Pass, pitch black figures looked as though they was about to leap down like apes.  They carried long cords in their hands and from the sky they repelled downward.  Hundreds of scimitars flew out.  Rather miraculously they were so precise that they struck the arrow shafts that filled the sky.

In an instant the entire area erupted in uproar.  The black clad men quickly slid down from the snow peak, each of them wearing dark blue leather armor, their posture robust and swift as they leaped, shifted and jumped rather like ominous jungle beasts.  Against the light from the fire, each of them had a dark red tattoo on their face.  (TN:  In ancient China, they branded criminals on their faces to wear their shame for the rest of their lives.  These are all people of QingHai, the barren land where criminals are sent to die)  Their eyes were like those of wolves, valiant and brave, coming to slaughter the dumbfounded DaXia soldiers.

Before the DaXia soldiers could even react, from the southwest came a sudden clamor.  Snow, fog and dust rose up with the wind, and thousands upon thousands of men and cavalry's hoofbeats trampled the ground like a rumbling drum.  The elite cavalry in the front row rushed into the camp, their swift swords cleaving and hacking, their skills swift and fierce.  These were armed forces of quality, charging in the style with weapons pointed, seething with murderous air.  As the horses arrived, the inscription depicted on their silver blades revealed they were soldiers of Bian Tang.  Gleaming silver armor rushed into the camp and the young emperor suddenly pulled her entire person tightly and so fiercely that the force of it seemed as though it would break her to pieces.  His armor was cold as a knife, his breaths heavy, leaving puffs of white in the air.  The sound of battle gradually faded away and she could smell the peaceful scent of fallen pine needles everywhere.  The light from tens of thousands of torches reflected back on them, and it was bright and warm like a noon day sun in the middle of June.

The strong wind had gone far away, rumbling over the earth.  Li Ce's voice was low and calm, but still a trace of indistinct panic seeped through as he whispered over and over, "It's all right now, it's all right now, it's all right…."  (TN: Poor Li Ce, he was really scared for her)

Chu Qiao didn't want to cry.  The bottom of her heart was a large expanse of boundless emptiness, as if everything was was unreal. But her tears fell bit by bit, and a few even spilled onto Li Ce's chest plate and rolled all the way down.  She closed her eyes and it was as if she could see tens of thousands of mountains and rivers splatter and wreck.  The stars fell before turning to ash, brightly burning as they descended from heaven.    The seas ignited into raging fire, boiling over and falling down, pouring into a bottomless abyss.  (TN: She broke up with her long time boyfriend, she lost her new love, and now all of her dreams were flushed down the toilet.  Yeah, I would cry too…)

She wanted to speak, and actually had a lot to say, but she opened her mouth and only could make small noises like a deaf mute.

Li Ce, did you know?  Mr. Wu is dead, Ms. Yu is dead, a lot of people are now dead.  Yan Xun has killed a lot of people.  Tell me, would he kill me?

Li Ce, Zhuge Yue is also dead.  It was my fault he died, did you know?  He died because of me.

Li Ce, you were right, Yan Bei is a really cold place, the people's hearts are already frozen to death.  Even promises turn to ice.

The world was suddenly so open and empty.  Chu Qiao slowly drifted to sleep leaning against Li Ce's chest, exhaustion creeping over her entire face.  Li Ce lowered his head and only saw how pale and thin and frail she appeared.  He thought that perhaps he was really going crazy.  As he thought of that moment not so long ago when the sky was filled with arrows as he arrived he was so frightened that he was going mad.  If he had come any later, if he had come any later--!

A large gust of wind blew onto the, and he took off his fur cloak and wrapped Chu Qiao against his chest.  She was so thin, shrunken into a little ball, like a small child.

He raised his head looking at the snow filled sky, looked over the nearby powerful army of DaXia seething with murderous air, and looked at the lofty tower on LongYin Pass, and his heart was so angry he could no longer suppress his indignation.

Yan Xun, how could you be so hard-hearted?

You, how could you be so heartless?

"Your Majesty, DaXia sent a messenger to ask why Bian Tang has interfered in its internal affairs.  How should your subordinate respond?"

His guards dismounted and rushed forward, Li Ce carried Chu Qiao, his face cold.  He said lightly, "Tell Zhao Yang it was I, Li Ce who took this person away.  If he wants, We respectfully await him in Tang Jing."

"Your Majesty, we have brought him here."

TieYou came forward, and following behind was a middle aged man with a tattoo.  Impressively he was the leader of the group who had just come down from the snow peak to rescue Chu Qiao.

Li Ce's facial expression eased up a bit and nodded as he said, "Thanks to you all."

The man with the tattoo on his face lowered his head and replied, "We are few in number, and if it wasn't for the Emperor of Bian Tang, Her Excellency would have had a perilous end."

"Regardless, it was you all who came in time to save her.  This favor We will remember in Our heart.  If there is an opportunity in the future, We will repay it."

"I wouldn't dare presume.  I was merely following orders."

Li Ce's brow slightly rose, probing with a question, "From your master?"

"My master has already barred the Yan Bei main force.  He has also merged troops to reinforce at each strategic pass.  Bian Tang should hurry and get back on the road.  We will cover your retreat."

Li Ce slowly nodded, his gaze deep as he said in a low voice, "Mere thanks do not begin to express my gratitude for this favor.  Please be careful."

When all was said and done, Bian Tang's great army and the XiuLi Army left rapidly.  The army at LongYin Pass only numbered about 6,000.  As they saw Li Ce bring close to 200,000 troops in such stately fashion, for a moment they didn't know whether they should go out and pursue.  The defense commander considered it for a long time, until finally gritting his teeth and saying, "Hurry, go and ask for instructions from His Highness."

His troops all sighed in relief.  It was good since by the time they received further instructions, this threat will have already passed.  (TN: the threat is described as 'falling comets' or to describe a volatile and dangerous situation)

In less than half an hour, when the row of troops arrived at the ShiChuan exit, a prearranged group of about 2,000 people were quietly waiting.  After Li Ce's people exchanged a few words with them, those men left a horse carriage behind, turned around and left.

TieYou came back and said, "It's still those people, saying that they're prepared horses and food for the next 20 miles.  They've also left a carriage saying that Yan Bei was cold and chilly.  Your Majesty can ride in the carriage as you go."

He opened the curtain, and say that the interior was quite spacious and covered in soft brocade.  Under the high bed was an iron plate, and underneath two braziers burned.  Inside was warm as springtime.  There was also a small stove, and the lid to the medicine pot released white puffs of steam.  Lifting it up, he saw it was a hot, bubbling pot of ginseng chicken soup.  (TN: OMG where do I find a man like this?  I have to say it's a lot fancier than the smelly carriage they rode in on route to Bian Tang many chapters ago…. ^__^;)

"Your Majesty, this King of QingHai, what on earth kind of saint is he?  He gets a tide of people involved to do this, but is he really just trying to curry favor with Bian Tang?"

Li Ce quietly looked at the pot of chicken soup, and for a long time he did not speak.  Chu Qiao was lying on the bed inside the carriage, her little face so pale it was pitiful, but it seemed as though she felt the warmth and she slowly breathed a long sigh.  She then quietly curled up on the bed, peacefully, like a sleeping rabbit.

"TieYou, if it was you, who would do such things for you?"

Tie You was surprised, thought about it for a long while, then said in slow, halting words, "I'm afraid only my mother would.  Not even my wife would do it."

The corner of Li Ce's mouth pulled upward, and he smiled slightly, "Exactly. These kinds of people are quite few."

"Your Majesty, do you know who it is?"

"I know," Li Ce nodded.  He turned his head and gazed towards the boundless mountain range in the distance hidden away by the pure white snow.  His voice carried traces of light uncertainty, "If it was in the beginning I only had my suspicions, but now, I am certain."

Fate was tricky, with a deceptive, layered strategy and every one was wrapped in its silk threads like puppets, walking on their own path in a predetermined trajectory, and unexpectedly, no one was able to break free.  So why would he unveil the outcome during the prologue?

Li Ce smiled slightly, gently, with a bit of casual calm at the reversal of fortunes.

Zhuge Yue, I can't compete with you.  (TN: He literally says he is 'inferior' to him, but in English this fits too.  I think Li Ce is conceding to Zhuge Yue here, since Yan Xun is out of the picture.  This girl is boss, her reverse harem has quality choices….)

Before the brightness of dawn broke through, the thick snow finally stopped.  Before the sun showed its head, the vast land was still immersed in bleak darkness, and high on a mountain summit stood a man dressed in casual green robes.  The snow bird flapped its wings from a distance.  The man extended his arm and the most ferocious bird of the QingHai plains landed docilely upon it.  Its entire body was white except its tail, which had three long red feathers, bright like fresh blood.

He removed the written message. Even having escaped from calamity without dying, the hand writing had not progressed at all and was still ugly as ever, about as pleasing as a common shop sign, and it read: Tang Emperor took troops already returning to TangShui Pass, in good health, do not miss.

The man's face was calm, his eyes clear and cold as always.  He automatically hears his subordinate's ridicule for him.  Who is in good health? And whom should he not miss?

He used his pen to reply: No need to withdraw.  Just die there.  (TN: ^__^;;  The bromance between Zhuge Yue and Yue Qi is real)

When the young general received the message he grinned broadly, bearing all his teeth.  He waved his hand and called to the soldiers still bitterly complaining to high heaven, "Withdraw, we're withdrawing.  Let's go home."

"General Qi, you miss your wife then, eh?"

A man in his forties laughed heartily.  He had taken an arrow to his shoulder and had just now wrapped it, and he was currently like a hale man in his guffaws.  The tattoo on his face trembled, like a small, wriggling snake.

"Get out of here! You old bachelor.  I hope you will never suffer from the pain of yearning for your love in your entire life."

"Damn it, this Yan Bei whelp is too vicious!"

A 30 year old or so soldier came inside.  Despite the cold weather one shoulder was exposed.  The front of his chest was wrapped in white cloth, and it was apparent he had just been wounded in action.

"Ain't like I stole his wife, damn him, playing with my life."

General Qi laughed, "You weren't the one who stole his wife, our master stole her.  Let's go, we're not here to fight a war anyhow.  Tell QiLang to prepare the evacuation route.  Everyone go back and man your posts.  Get ready to make yourselves scarce."

The one General Qi called 'old bachelor' was also a general, and he muttered to himself as he stood up. He spoke as he walked away, "Methinks this battle the master has fought is not his style.  He didn't even take a look at his wife before letting someone else snatch her up.  It's not like we would have lost to them for sure.  This was kinda bad, as deals go." 

The men in the large tent gradually left, and General Qi stood on the battlefield, and having listened to the others' his mind slightly drifted for a bit, meditated on it for a while longer, and then whispered, "The Young Master cannot risk this danger!"  (TN: I don't think Zhuge Yue has fully recovered from his near death ordeal, but also it probably isn't the right time to reveal himself)

Exactly, a short battle ending in stalemate for the sake of diversion, there is death and misfortune there, and even if it produced a victory, what was the point?

General Qi thought of the person he saw on the battlefield earlier, a pair of young eyes gently narrowed, carrying with it a faint trace of bitterness.  This account will need to be squared away sooner or later.

 When Li Ce took Chu Qiao to TangShui Pass and boarded his ship, three dawns had already come and gone.  As the sun rose over the horizon it sprinkled gleaming, glittering golden light.  The sky was very high, clear and cloudless, none to be seen for miles.  TangShui Pass was close to the southwest, its climate very mild, and the river water was like a pulsing green jade.

The large ship set out with a thundering noise that rang out to the horizon.  Upward of a thousand large ships were anchored in a row, the frothy waves were set off in all directions encircling them, like rolling avalanches of snow.  The horizon appeared to be color glazed in a gorgeous cyan blue.  Each mast raised their fluttering white sails.  

"Set sail--"

TieYou called out loudly, his shout prolonged, carrying a few traces of cheerful air.

Li Ce stood at the stern, dressed in pine green brocaded robes, the shape of his eyes roguish, an uninhibited handsome man. He turned his head slightly upward to one side, saw the lofty CuiWei Mountain, and saw the faintly visible figure in rustling robes at its peak.

The sea of faces, the sea tide and the climate are interchanged.  The wind from the river blew upward to the mountain peak, bringing with it the delicate fragrance of dusk and it seemed to stir a subtle ache and numbness inside the bones.  Without precedent, his train of thought became clear.  (TN: Don't know who this line is referencing, but perhaps it's referring to Zhuge Yue here remembering the last time he confessed to her in Bian Tang as he watches them leave?)

Li Ce suddenly laughed, laughing like a crafty fox, happily grinning to reveal all his white teeth.  Then, to the horror of all his subordinates, he blew a passionate kiss towards the lofty mountain peak.  (TN: OMGROFL….)

Everyone became embarrassed, and TieYou asked cheerlessly, "Your Majesty, did you see a village woodcutter girl on the mountain?"

Lie Ce turned his head in pleasant surprise, "Ah! How did you know?"

Everyone sighed helplessly: Your Majesty, who would not know?  (TN: hahahaha)

The large river was like a chain, the ships meandering, the rising sun was starting to ascend, everything was perfect.

At the mountain peak a man stood quietly.  He clearly saw Li Ce's provocative gesture, his brow wrinkled slightly, but he did not turn around to leave.

The ships gradually went far away, but he remained there for a long, long time.  His heart was tranquil and quiet like the mountain and wind.  There was no sadness, no exhaustion.  The wind from XiaoXiao Mountain blew at his back.  His long shadow dragged behind him with a faint, clear radiance.  In the mountain forest the dust and water vapor mingled their scents and sprinkled onto his face with unusual warmth.

He absently thought of the expression in her eyes.  As if following the barren wasteland spread over with weeds that was his memory, he suddenly saw a tall tree and her gentle expression, her chilly disposition gone completely.  

He never needed her to know.  If he could, he would rather maintain the status quo, and send her off to a place of peace and quiet.

It was the ninth month, 29th day of year 778, when Bian Tang's chrysanthemums were blooming in season.  He could hear the sounds of horses in the city.  The bright and sunny day sprayed its golden light onto the ground.

The ships went south, slowly sailing into the direction of that extravagant and wasteful, sweet fragrance.

Translator's notes: I translated this chapter because the connection between Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao is real, even through his 'death', and even though they are both alive but apart, their connection is still there.  It's romantic without being a romantic scene.  She would rather die and go find him; he would save her at whatever expense.  But also he wants to keep her safe, even if it means she will never meet him, which is dumb, but I can see why he thinks that.  Even in his new position, he still has many battles to fight and he knows she is exhausted at this point.

We see how evil Yan Xun has become; he literally gives 0 f's that she's about to be pierced by a rain of arrows.  What was he thinking?  If she won't come back to me, then she's better off dead?  I will never let her go? That's messed up, man.  What a psychopath.

I have to say, I really love Li Ce.  He's fun and wise and loyal.  I almost spit out my tea when he blew a kiss to Zhuge Yue from afar….  These two make a good team.

So in the next part we have another time jump, another year, before she and Zhuge Yue meet at a local lantern festival…. ❤❤❤ -Kero