The sky in the palace forever looks like it has been enclosed in a square box, forbidding you to break out and escape. Just like a coffin that forever keeps the physical body in. Zhi Wei sits with her legs crossed on the ground with two coffins in front of her as she finishes reading the letter Madam Feng had hidden within her waist strap.
Reading each word slowly and with the utmost care, after a long long time, Zhi Wei puts the letter close to the Chang Ming Lantern (a lantern that is not supposed to be put out, usually used to remember the dead. ie. fallen soldiers) allowing it to burn up slowly until it turns to ash. The light from the lantern reflects her gaze that is chilled to the bone, like a bottomless pit that no light could escape.
With the Chang Ming Lantern in hand, she walks around the two coffins aimlessly like a ghost. One coffin belongs to Feng Hao. After they have matched the body to his identity then he will be thrown into the fire to be cremated. She begged the Emperor to let her bury her brother and after seeing her bloodshot eyes, the Emperor agreed after thinking over it for a bit. (In the olden days in China, there are some periods of time when cremation was seen in a negative light as a person’s body is the last lingering link to one’s family and ancestry. By burning the body, it eradicates the person’s existence.There is generally no such stigma anymore.)
“This is His Majesty’s compassionate mercy.” Returning the body to her, the eunuch declares in a high pitched voice, “This is the first time that a body has entered here and has been allowed to leave in one piece.”
How ironic that she should be thankful to his mercy for giving her a body. But, that’s alright. Compared to me, you are indeed merciful — you will find that out in the future.
Adding more oil to the Chang Ming Lantern, she leans forward and carefully examines Feng Hao. The kid is sleeping quietly, his eyes wide open. There are still lingering expressions of fear and pain in his eyes– he left this world with lots of resistance and resentment. Staring at him for a long time, Zhi Wei slowly reaches out a hand to caress his ice cold face. When was the last time she touched him? She can’t remember. She detested him so much that she had never been willing to come into physical contact with him. She hated that he was useless. When she was young, she felt like he was there to drag them down and once she grew up she thought this brother of hers as the biggest burden of her life. She even purposefully threw him in the dungeon months before he was going to die in place of her. He spent the last remaining time on this world in prison. In the end, it is her who is the biggest burden. In the end, she is the one who was such a burden that she will never ever be able to repay. Mother said that she had wronged him but at least mother spoiled him for sixteen years and tried to the best of her ability to repay him. Yet, the one who is truly indebted to him, treated him coldly for the last sixteen years. Her finger slowly moves across his face…Hao Er…let me for the first time and the last time of my life feel you. You lived and died for this sister of yours but you have never received once ounce of warmth from me. Let me try to compensate for that now even if it’s destined to be forever too late.
Her hand didn’t close Feng Hao’s wide open eyes. Hao Er. See me, see me clearly. This is the world’s most callous sister, the most heartless family, the most foolish woman. She used sixteen years, to let you down.
The light from the lantern flickers in the darkness, casting ghost-like shadows. She stops in front of Madam Feng’s coffin. Mother. I had asked you countless time in the past who took all the glory and blinding sparkle from the legendary Fire and Wind Female General. (That was Madam Feng’s official title when she was the general) You didn’t have to give me a reply so why did you have to use death to tell me the answer to this question? We had promised that we would leave the Capital together. However, the heaven above has never granted me anything, even my tiniest most humble wish. You never waited for me and I will never be with you, to go see the mountains and seas, to spend our life away from the world. Is this, my fate?
I still don’t dare to think about how you managed to live through the last sixteen years. I still don’t dare to think about that time when I returned to Qiu Manor. You had brought over a set of new clothes but because you were unwilling to send younger brother away I refused to let you in. It was drizzling that day. Behind the door, I waited and listened for the sound of you leaving. How long did I wait? I waited until I almost fell asleep…that day, your clothes must have been soaked through. Only today did I finally understand. You couldn’t let him be sent away. Because that’s too far, if things get dicey there would be no one to die in my stead. You couldn’t allow him to be cast out of the manor because he can’t protect himself, once something happens then no one could die in my place. Mother. You are using these two bodies of my only family to tell me that time cannot be reversed, no amount of regret can fix the wrong I have committed in the past. Even if I put myself into this coffin, it will never bring back your smile as you split a steamed bun with me. It will not bring back young brother sitting at the other end of the table enjoying his own bowl of soup.
This year I lived in luxury and experienced all the world’s finest offerings but I finally realized today what I really want is still the three of us sitting around a table, with our heads together, slurping down a bowl of soup.
Nothing can be brought back, only sorrow is left in this world for her. The light in the lantern slowly goes out.
The snow came fast and furious in the middle of the night, the ground soon has a thick covering. In silence, Zhi Wei walks in the ankle deep snow slowly. Only wearing clothing made of thin fabric, the frigid cold wind chilled Zhi Wei to the bone but she doesn’t feel it…from today on, there is nothing else that could make her cold. Beginning from today, she is already slumbering in the deep snow, completely alone.
“Zhi Wei, wait for me.”
“I want to personally listen to that reed field with its wave like sound or perhaps a bird feather would fall on me as well. Hmm…are you willing to listen to it one more time?”
We will not be listening to the sound of the reed field anymore.
When the Gold Feather Guard controlled by Xin Ziyan broke through Qiu Manor then that reed field was destined to forever wither away on the road to South Sea. Ning Yi, the Gold Feather Guard is yours, right? The investigation on Feng family started right after we met, right? The interest in Feng Hao came from your suspicion towards his and my birth, right? So I had been your goal all along– not for love but for the survival of the royal power. It turns out that you and I have always stood on opposite sides. Not because of fate but because of the dictates of our blood. Ha…how foolish, how foolish. In the end, my life is destined to not be my own. Whenever I want to follow my heart, then fate would jerk me back and give me the most painful punch. In the end, all my hopes were just dreams floating in the sky that looked beautiful but in reality could be blown to pieces at any time by lighting or a gust of wind. In the end, what I thought was within my reach was impossibly far away. The snow continues to fall mercilessly, uncaring that there is someone who is standing alone in the dark frosty night. Feng Zhi Wei slowly lowers herself to the ground by a squatty tree. Using her finger she ever so slowly writes a name. In the light reflection from the snow, she stares at the name blankly before finally covering it with her hand that has turned red from the cold. That particular snowy ground is warmed by her hand, until all the thoughts and loneliness gradually turn to water, flowing away, like in life, some things cannot be recovered, such as life, such as the love of family.
When the sun rose, she left the palace with the two coffins. The name that turned to water under her palm has been left behind by her. The snow keeps on falling until that area is completely buried, never to be found again.
The 13th Year of Da Cheng, there was an orphan girl who was thrown out of her home, there was a guard at the brothel, there was the rising star of the nation’s scholar and there was the fast promotion of the young royal envoy. In the 13th year of Da Cheng, there was the handsome playboy prince, there was the callous Emperor, there was the legendary female general and there was the clueless youth waiting to die. In the 13th year of Da Cheng Capital, there were the brightest memories of a person’s life but on the night the snow fell, they were all buried in silence.
Yeah! We finished the first scroll! In case you were wondering…there are a total of four scrolls. Before you guys all give up and run away, it might be comforting to know that the first scroll is by far the longest scroll out of the four. I am a little torn on how to proceed from this point. Different from the drama, Zhi Wei is the uncontested protagonist and the focus of the story so there are going to be big stretches of time where she goes through the refiner’s fire without our hero by her side. If we just want the stuff focused on our two leads’ romance then this will go extremely fast but that wouldn’t really give you a good flavor of the novel and we will miss some awesome characters. However, I am not sure how interested you guys are if our hero is not around. The second scroll is mostly on our heroine’s experience in the Wildgrassland with Helian. There is some great stuff in there so I do want to translate parts of it but I will most likely skip over the clan political stuff…at least that’s my current plan. Do give me feedback as we go along in the second scroll so I know if I need to skip over more stuff or you guys are good with the pace I have set.
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Woww thank you so much!!! It’s been 2 years since I started subscribing for the novel translations and I can’t describe how much I appreciate your hard work dedication and persistence with the translations. Personally I’d love to know the plot in summary as I’m sure they’re important to character development but still want to focus more on Ning Yi parts 🥺
Thanks so much!!!
Thanks for this!! I would really love as much detail as possible cause I want to see her growth throughout the novel, so I’ll take as much plot as possible! Though I’m always going to love the couple scenes the most, I feel like they are sweeter when you get a sense of how much both of them have been through.
Wonderful Ninja Reflection! I am not running anywhere 🙂 I am starting to learn mandarin due to my love of culture and art and hope to be able to read these on my own one day.
Definitely want to hear about Zhi Wei and Helians adventures. I don’t know if he chooses to die to try to make her hate Ning Yi in the novel but if so, their relationship will help to make things be more meaningful.
Hi! Thank you so much for the effort you have put in thus far. I like the focus to be on our main leads and add whatever you think will give us a well rounded story in terms of Zhi Wei’s growth. I have enjoyed this journey since you began. Looking forward to whatever you choose to share with us!
I defer to your instincts, you have already done a heroic job of storytelling!
I am definitely interested in ‘the flavor of the novel’. The drama grabbed me as deeply as only a few stories have in my lifetime. I went searching for the book as the book is often better than the drama and thus found your site where you eased the pain in my heart caused by the drama’s ending. I have read every entry since and have no plans to stop until you do. [and then will probably reread everything.]
I especially appreciate the cultural explanations. The book and the drama have encouraged me to expand my horizons, learn more about Asian culture and watch more C/drama and K/drama.
Thank you
The politics of interesting too. I think it would be nice to get a complete translation. As a book it might even sell in the U.S.
A cada dia ,me sinto muito presa a tudo isso ,portanto deixo ao seu dispor o que mais for interessante para todos afinal e um imenso prazer está em sua companhia todas as semana. muito grata
I am in agreement with everyone else. I like like to see the character development of ZW and her relationship with Helian. I found it interesting that the Emperor should suggest that he marry her? Also the name she wrote in the snow is it Ning Yi.? Also where is he? Does the book has the drama part where he comes to the capital.? We trust that you will show us and guide in the developing of the heroes ( my main desire) but we have to see and understand everything. I still wish for complete English translation of the entire book. Thanks for your hard work.
What a milestone! Thank you for you hard work and dedication to this proyect, it’s a great relief for all of us that can’t read the original novel and had a broken heart due to the drama. I agree with the other readers, we trust your way to tell the story and I definitely wanna see how Zhi Wei keeps evolving and how her relationship with Helian Zheng in the book works (I can remember that you once said the drama gave a poor image of him and that he was definitely better in the novel!)
Again, thank you very much for your hard work, see you next monday! <3
Hi Ninja, thank you once again for the wonderful translation!! My vote goes to focussing on the leads. I’m a romance buff, not that the political and lead’s wit intrigue me any less. Just want to thank you so much for all the effort.
You’ve done a great job so far in translating so I’m good with whatever you decide to do. I am especially partial to Ning Yi scenes and Gu Nan Yi but as you said the drama didn’t do justice to Helian so I would absolutely love to see him come to light. I’m not going anywhere so do what you think is best!
Thank you!!!
Thanks so much for these translations. I’m fine either way. You know best! I’m not going anywhere.
I personally want to know as much as possible. The plot and the story behind the romance is important to me. I love Gu Nan Yi and to me, he is the hero. And of course I want to hear about a better Helian. Your knowledgeable comments add so much to a story set in the Chinese culture allowing me to understand the actions and the dialog of the characters. As a true TROP addict, I am grateful for any story line you choose to translate. If it weren’t for you, my exposure would be limited to the TV show and I would be going through withdrawal all alone. Thank you so much Ninja, for your hard work and dedication!
I’ve seen Fuyao drama and finished reading the novel translation (though I skipped most of volume 7), and I love them both. From the novel, I could say that I truly appreciate your work. This author has a poetic writing style, full of idioms, and tends to write super long story. It must be hard and tiring to translate her book. The translators of Fuyao’s webnovel didn’t complete their work (they stopped at volume 6, so I read the rest in raw translation. It really gave me a headache), and so did the translators of TROP webnovel (they stopped at chapter 5).
So Ninja, huge thanks for doing this translation, and please please please keep your spirit untill the end 🤗
Btw, IMHO, FZW and Fuyao have almost similar characteristics (though Fuyao is more spunky, while FZW is more sophisticated). But Ning Yi and Wuji are different. Ning Yi is more ruthless and cold, while Wuji is more gentle and patient. What do you think, Ninja?
Btw, for the second scroll, please just keep whatever you think is interesting. I don:t mind skip the intrics in grassland palace, though.
It’s been a long time since I read Fuyao so I will have to go by what I remember. I feel that Zhi Wei is much more guarded in love than Fuyao ever was and that makes sense given their very different background. Zhi Wei grew up in a society where your status determines everything. Zhi Wei has never let herself forget that Ning Yi will most likely become the next emperor and the life Ning Yi is meant to live is completely different from the life she wants. Both Zhi Wei and Ning Yi have a lot of burdens on their shoulders that force them to act a certain way. Fuyao, on the other hand, is someone from the modern world and they are also immortal so she really doesn’t have any hang ups when it comes to status differences. Zhi Wei usually has to rely a lot on her intelligence since she is mired in political conspiracies but Fuyao is in a world where at the end of the day, the might of the fist speaks the loudest.
As for our two heroes, I feel that Ning Yi and Wuji are equally ruthless and cold. I would actually personally peg Wuji as the colder one out of the two male leads. No matter how you play it, Ning Yi, at the end of the day is still a human prince who is playing the age old game of trying to survive the fight for the throne so he still has a lot of human emotions and burdens. Wuji, on the other hand, is an immortal that is destined to rule not just one nation but the world so his kindness is more like general benevolence that really has no emotional ties to himself. Fuyao being the one and the only exception, everything else in the world seems to be a game and something that can be easily controlled to Wuji.
If I allow myself to think too deeply about the creation of the Bloody Pagoda, then it actually seems kinda cruel. I mean we all love Zhi Wei, but is it really worth it to ask generations and generations of one group of people to devote themselves to save her? Granted, I think the only reason that members of Bloody Pagoda are the best in their respective fields is due to the things their ancestors were given by Wuji so I guess it might be a fair trade. By the way, after reading Fuyao you might recognize some people in Bloody Pagoda. For example, I think the mysterious physician who saved Zhi Wei is probably the descendent of the male second lead in Fuyao (the doctor).
Thank you for your hard work , it is really appreciate it . I would love the whole translation, but it your choice. Thank you again.
In the chapter 577 of the raw translation, the physician Zong Ceng said that he is the descendant of the emperor of Xianyuan (Zong Yue). The emperor died early, and despite he was a sage doctor, he chose to didn’t heal himself. Gu Nan Yi’s adoptive father is Zhan Xuyao, a descendant of the emperor Zhan Beiye. While Yan Thian Si’s ancestor is Yun Heng/Yan Heng (different from the Fuyao drama, in the novel Yun Heng is not Zong Yue’s brother, but Yan Jingchen’s brother. Yan Heng became the emperor of Taiyuan). The Xianyuan, Taiyuan, and Dahan/Tianshan kingdoms were annexed by Dacheng. The ancestors of the four kingdom have pledged to help each other. That’s why Zong Ceng and Zhan Xuyao enter the Blood Pagoda. While the Yan family chose to retreat from politics and focus on business.
sorry, I mistook the reply location. My comment above is an answer for Ninja’s reply in my previous comment.
I am so selfish…I want to hear it all! I know I’ve said it before, but thank you again for all your hard work. It is SOOO appreciated. I am enjoying every bit of this story. I would love to hear about Helian and Zhi Wei. I don’t want you to skip a thing! But that’s asking a lot. Do what makes the story flow the best, Love it all and love your translation.
You’re the Boss. Wow! I can vividly see that scene either the two coffins.
Proceed as you see fit with the translation.
Every week is anticipated with expectation of what follows.
Thanks,
I just finished the tv series. I am really thankful for what you are doing here. it needs a lot of effort and consistancy. really amazing.
I would love to read the whole second scroll, but I uderstand how hard and tiring translating can be so it is really your choice and I appreciate it.
Thank you once again. This chapter is so heartbreaking. Thank you again for doing these translations. My week is never complete without them. I would love whatever you are up to translate. No matter how little, it is still more than I would ever get. Really wish I had been taught Chinese growing up. So many good books, but no way to read them!!
I feel the same- it’s hard to know that there are so many poetic elements in the story and I cant appreciate half of the dimensions or subtlety.
I’m always so fascinated when Ninja writes cultural and translation notes that give us more insight
Congratulations on being able to restore your site Ninja! And Congratulations and thank you for finishing your translation of the first scroll 🙂
I would love to read scenes that show Feng Zhi Wei’s relationship dynamics with Helian, Gu Nan Yi, and Hua Qiong, as well as the babies in tow. Since you’ve filled us in on the backstories for the others, Helian is the most interesting to me because you’ve said he was like a best friend to FZW and was poorly treated by the drama.
I also really enjoy your plot summaries and would love it if you kept them when you start posting scroll 2.
Regardless, whatever you find fun or rewarding to translate, I’m going to enjoy for sure!
Thank you again and I hope you are healthy and safe.