“Madam.” A man dressed in grey kneels down on one knee, “You have worked hard all these years…I have been ordered to come and immediately take you away.”
“It’s been over ten years, you guys finally showed up.” The woman doesn’t seem to be interested in what the man had said but says with a sigh “I used to fervently wished for you guys to show up but was also afraid of you showing up at the same time. Now, it has finally happened.”
“ The special investigative unit recently had a change in leadership.” With his eyes lowered, the man in grey continues, “In these past ten plus years, to avoid their discovery, Madam you have kept a low profile in the Capital with young master. However, our foe is truly too clever. Our spies have informed us that they have already obtained concrete evidence and will be making their move soon. Please gather up your things, we will be leaving immediately.”
The woman smiled serenely. “Why should I leave?”
The man in gray was stunned.
“Once I leave, then his dream will be for naught.” The woman’s face is pale but her eyes were bright, “I don’t care what different opinions you guys have but as for me, what I need to do is to finish what he asked me and to accomplish his lifelong dream. Why would I stop now when I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”
“But….”
“So many years of preparation.” The woman continues, “Why waste it.”
“Madam.” The man in grey says gravely, “This is life and death.”
“You are right, it’s life and death.” The woman’s lips twisted into a strange smile, “However, some lives have always been prepared from the very beginning to be sacrificed.”
After a long moment of silence, the man in grey says hesitantly “Master Commander still feels this is too risky…what if…”
“Empires have always been built in peril.” The woman says breezily “Your generation might place more importance on the stability of the nation and the survival of the royal bloodline but for me, what I remember is his dying wish. Someone such as he would never accept defeat but had to experience the destruction of his nation, the loss of his organization, to watch his brothers and friends dying one by one…he even had to suffer that last soul crushing betrayal. He never said anything but I knew the hatred that festered inside him, I knew the dying wish he buried deep down. He wants to see the destruction of this empire just as this empire had witnessed the death of his closest family and friends….this wish, he couldn’t accomplish, I couldn’t accomplish it but I believe someone will do it.”
“Madam!” The man in grey cries out in alarm, “You are going against…”
“Don’t preach to me about who is against whom.” The woman cuts the man off haughtily, “I am not a member of your organization, I am not going against the decree and mission you all have carried through each generation. To me, I simply need to do everything in my power to accomplish my husband’s dying wish.”
The man in grey falls silent as he thought about the last Master Commander, that strong and fearless man. In that man’s short life, he only lived for one dream and he used his fixation to influence the woman in front of him so that she too, lived for his dream all her life.
“Don’t forget, your master, was raised and taught by me.” The woman suddenly smiles, “Only I know best under what kind of provocation your master would make up her mind and walk onto the path I want her to go on.”
“But young master is not necessarily a good fit for that sort of path…”
“No, she is perfect.” Her eyes sparkling with pride and gratification, “Look at everything she has done. Look at the 16 year old royal envoy that has stunned the world! She is a natural born king, one whose brightness cannot be hidden by dust. This kind of person, the noblest bloodline that cannot ever be surpassed, you are willing to let her give up her god given talent and mission, to spend the rest of her life in a mundane existence. Under your organization’s protection, she will marry and have children, live her life like every other woman you can see out on the street? Do you really feel that’s the right choice for her? Do you really feel you can answer to your last Master Commander? (She meant her husband) Or the last empire’s bloodline?”
“This is Master Commander’s feeling.” After a long moment of silence, the man in grey answers, “He feels, the mission we were given was to simply safeguard the royal bloodline. As for the change of empires, that is something that cannot be avoided in the flow of time. As long as young master is well, then nothing else is worth sacrificing for.”
“Your Master Commander, certainly inherited the great emperor’s carefree spirit.” The woman sneers, “But I can’t. All these years, whenever I thought of how he departed in loneliness and the way he gripped my hand right before he died, wanting to say something but couldn’t…I knew then that there is one thing I will never give up and will use my whole life to accomplish it.”
Her expression was one of resolute, her words firm with determination. The man in grey stares at her blankly, knowing full well that his mission tonight will not be accomplished no matter what.
“This is your native country…” After a moment the man in grey says with a sad smile, “I did not expect you would…”
“There is no such thing as a native country, Tian Sheng’s empire was forcefully built on Da Cheng. If you really want to get into the details, Tian Sheng is Da Cheng’s traitor.” The woman says calmly, “I don’t care about everyone else, I only care about one person.”
The man doesn’t say anything more but simply stare silently at the woman. Legend has it that she has a temper as fierce as fire and pride as high as the sky. He had once assumed that after years of suffering, the woman’s sharpness has all been polished off but who would’ve thought only now, after meeting her, he has come to discover that her sharpness has only increased.
“That is it, I am going back to sleep.” The woman doesn’t say anything more, blows out the light and really lays back down on her bed.
In the darkness, the man in grey lets out a sigh.
“….stay well.”
————————-
Four days ago.
The Qiu manor has fallen into chaos– Madam Qiu has suddenly fallen ill and cannot speak as she lays paralyzed on the bed. Qiu manor has hired all the surrounding well known physicians so there are constantly people coming in and out.
Which meant the little courtyard that has long been forgotten is even more forgotten at this time.
On this early morning, Madam Feng gets up as usual and after finishing cleaning up her room she heads to Feng Zhi Wei’s place.
During the time while Zhi Wei has been gone from the Capital, her place has rejected all guests, telling everyone that Zhi Wei had contracted smallpox. Sometimes when people go to deliver things to Qiu manor, they could see a woman walking around with her face veiled. However, since last night, that woman also disappeared but of course with Qiu manor in such chaos, no one noticed.
Rummaging around a bit, Madam Feng takes something and heads out the door with a small pack on her back. Arriving at the dungeon gate, Madam Feng asked to see Feng Hao and was finally allowed in after giving the guard a hefty bribe.
Feng Hao has been imprisoned for quite a while but thanks to Ning Yi’s orders, he not only has not suffered, he has even gained some weight. However, he has not been allowed any visitors so the moment Madam Feng shows up, Feng Hao immediately throws himself against the wooden bars and calls out loudly, “Mother! Mother!”
“Son.” Madam Feng squats down in front of Feng Hao’s prison door, carefully looks over his face before reaching a hand in to gently caress his messy hair.
“Mother, you come to get me out right?” Ecstatic, Feng Hao grabs Madam Feng’s hand excitedly, “That’s great! I am fed up with this! Mother, it has been so long, why didn’t you come see me?”
Madam Feng didn’t shy away from meeting his expectant eyes. She calmly looks at Feng Hao, carefully, not missing an inch as if she is going to carve the image of this child whom she has raised for the last sixteen years into her eyes.
The expression in her eyes was so strange that even the ecstatic Feng Hao begins to feel something is amiss. Slowly quieting down, Feng Hao asks with a hint of fear: “Mother, what’s wrong, are you unhappy?”
After being locked up for almost half of a year, the spoiled and self indulgent Fang Hao has begun to learn to pay attention to other people’s moods. His timid question instantly made Madam Feng’s eyes redden.
Taking a deep breath, she reaches out a trembling hand to caress Feng Hao’s hair, “Hao Er…Hao Er….” (Adding the “Er” to a name is often a term of endearment parents use with their kids.)
However, Feng Hao is already starting to get impatient and promptly moves his head out of the way, “Mother, are you or are you not here to take me away? I will die soon if you don’t get me out! I will die!”
Madam Feng’s body stiffens then slowly pulls her hand back. Gazing at Feng Hao, the moisture that had been sparkling at the corner of her eyes slowly dissipates, replaced by iron clade determination.
Thanks to an awesome reader who had a great memory and tipped me off to the fact that the novel I had included at the end of last week’s post has already been translated elsewhere, I am posting the link here in case some of you are interested in reading the short story: http://onesecondspring.blogspot.com/2015/08/our-second-master-by-twentine-he-5.html
Now I just need someone to tell me that they found Phoenixes completely translated somewhere else…
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
You are awesome! Thank you for this translation. I have been following them since they began and look forward to them each Monday morning, coffee in hand. I appreciate your efforts. I have also bookmarked the short story. Have a wonderful week!
Thanks for the translation! I come visit the blog every Monday to read the next installment.
This is sooo good!
Hi Ninja, so if I’m getting your translation correct, does it mean that Madam Feng is the one that is instigating a rebel against the current empire Tian Sheng? If so, it’s so different from the drama again!
So one of the huge differences between the drama and the novel is what the “Bloody Pagoda” is. In the drama, Bloody Pagoda is this small and powerless group that ends up being pawns of the princes’ fight for the throne. In the novel though, Bloody Pagoda (with the exception of Madam Feng’s husband) was never a group that was created for the purpose of defending their empire. In fact, their creator (the leads in Legend of Fuyao) specifically told them not to worry about the demise of their empire. Their ONLY job is to protect their young master, the last royal bloodline and to help her. Now, the second part of their mission is where Madam Feng is using for her own advantage. She knows that while Bloody Pagoda has no interest in reclaiming the empire but that if it was Zhi Wei who desires it, then Bloody Pagoda would have no choice but to help Zhi Wei. You also might have noticed that different from the drama, Bloody Pagoda in the novel is not a weak powerless group but one with plenty of members who could easily help Zhi Wei reclaim what’s rightfully hers. It might be asked if Bloody Pagoda is so powerful then why have they allowed their young master to suffer so much? Well, that too is on purpose and will be explained by the end of the book.
Thank you so much for your kind explanation. I would never have gotten so far as 10% of what you just explained by reading the Chinese book myself!
Thanks for another wonderful chapter.
Until next week.
Regards.
Thank you for another translation this week! Your consistency in posting is crazy impressive, I’ve been following since the beginning of your translations of RoP and you haven’t missed even a single week. Thank you for making Mondays something to actually look forward to. 🙂
I recently watched the drama on TV and immediately wanted to read the book. So sad it wasn’t translated until I found your site. And read all the posts until this the lost recent one. It has been wonderful to learn more of the characters. This is a titanic work. Thanks you very much.
Eu só tenho gratidão por você se dedicar tão grandiosamente para que possamos ter uma tradução tão primorosa.
Muito obrigada!!!
Oh my gosh… give the fact that many things were different in the drama I was unsure if Mama Feng would be wanting to bring the Tiansheng Empire down, but after this I an only wait to see what comes… oh, and having Feng Hao in jail for almost six months is definitely not enough(for me) for all the trouble he gave Zhi Wei, but, now is time to wait until next Monday.
Thank you very much for you effort!!
if I tell you that i saw fully translated novel, will you stop translating it? Because I’m still waiting your translation every monday. Thank you so much for it 🙂
Is there really one?! If the translation is good and has all the parts I see as vital to give a complete understanding of the novel then yes, I don’t see the point of redoing all the work someone else has already provided. I would still keep translating though if I see there are big enough differences between their translation and mine.
Yes. I found some translation with 704 Chapters on novelhall web site. I don’t know about quality of translation. Sometimes some sentences were confusing for me and my translator. (I’m not a native English speaker). But I haven’t read the whole novel. I was only trying to find scenes when Zhi Wei and Ning Yi are together, ( and I couldn’t find a boat scene😂).
I apologize in advance for mistakes in the text.
I will go check that out, thanks! As for the boat scene…it is REALLY really short (like two sentences) so I would not be surprised at all if you missed it even if it was included in the translation.
I read the first page of RoP on novelhall and found it very difficult to follow. I have no experience with Chinese sentence structure or culture and it reads similar to a paragraph of the original Chinese writing that I ran thru google translate. While google had choppy words that portrayed an incomplete picture in jerks and starts, you, Ninja, translated it from the Chinese to create a beautiful picture. It was Madam Feng’s husband running along the cliff in the rain with a child in his arms, protecting the baby from the raindrops. I am hoping that you will keep up your translation with your insights into the Chinese culture. I think neither you nor your readers will find the translation at novelhall as satisfying as your work. You are truly giving us a wonderful gift with your passion and commitment for sharing this exciting novel with those of us who do not read any Chinese. Many many thanks to you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you for your super kind words!
I feel like this is such a pivotal scene in the novel. Mme Feng’s determination sure changes ZhiWei’s fate. I skipped through the mtl novel and all I can say is that had it not been for her will, the outcome would’ve been a lot sunnier for the two protagonists. Hmm but I guess so is fate…