“What kind of fabric should I use for the baby’s diaper? Cotton? Would it be too hot?” Hua Qing shoots one question after another at Peony as she continuously caresses her stomach “Ah…he really is making a ruckus tonight.”
“Cotton is good, we are pretty simple here on the grassland…” Peony gently touches her stomach and asks with concern “Let’s summon the palace physician, ok? This kid, why won’t you let me get the physician…”
Sounds of footsteps can be heard coming from the corridor.
Peony’s hand falls away, Hua Qing sits straight up and says with a smile as she stretches “Summon what physician? I am good now.”
Her eyes bright as she limberly gets up and briskly walked a lap around the room. “Your words are more effective than the best medicine. I am full of energy right now!”
Looking up at the pregnant woman who was just languishing weakly a moment ago, Peony’s expression turned several shades of color.
“You are good?” Zhi Wei walks in, all smiles “We sure have troubled Peony. Nothing is unsolvable if Peony is around.”
“It should be nothing is unstoppable if Hua Qing shows up,” Peony grins as she scrambles off the bed “Alright, she is full of energy now, I have served my purpose, you are done taking a walk so I will go keep taking my walk.”
“Please.” Zhi Wei smilingly watches Grand Queen Peony make her escape and turns back to Hua Qing who is proudly caressing her stomach praising her son “One matter should not trouble more than two people. Tomorrow, we will still need to borrow your tummy.”
- Zhi Wei has Hua Qing tricked Nata (Hong Jile’s daughter who claimed that she is pregnant with Helian’s baby) into believing Hua Qing had obtained a special blessing spell from Saint Da Ma for her baby. Believing that the pouch contains the special spell that would ensure a glorious future for any baby whose birthdate is in the pouch, Nata steals the pouch from Hua Qing and puts her name and the month she expects the baby to be born. (Nata was convinced by Hua Qing that the spell would work if she just put the mother’s name and the baby’s expected birth month in since the baby wasn’t born yet.)
A smile slowly appears on Hua Qing’s lips as she stares at Nata’s fast retreating figure. Her smile looked exactly the same as the smile on Nata’s face when she was stealing the spell pouch.
It didn’t take long before Zhi Wei came back and ordered her people to increase security at the back palace. It could be said that not a single fly would have a hope of getting through. The explanation Zhi Wei gave Peony was that since Helian is wounded and tomorrow is the crowning ceremony, they can’t afford for anything to go wrong.
At dinner time, they all gathered together to eat together. Nata ate very little and seemed restless as she shifted in her seat. The moment they were done eating Zhi Wei immediately said “You all turn in early tonight. Nata, you don’t need to attend the ceremony tomorrow, stay in the palace to take care of the baby.”
Turning towards Helian, Zhi Wei then asks “Who should we have to tend to you tonight in the king’s tent?” (tend=sleep with him)
Helian has a few concubines in the palace. According to the tradition of the grassland, on the day Helian came of age, the concubines were gifted by the tribe leaders. In Zhi Wei’s opinion, those are spies, not concubines. But if King Helian is enjoying himself then she is too lazy to meddle in it. She has been busy ever since she arrived so she has yet to have the time to meet these few “subordinates.”
Looking a little embarrassed, Helian sneaks a glance at her and replies “Grand Queen, according to our rules, three days before and after the coronation, it’s you…ahem, tending.” (Again, tending= sleep with)
Someone coughed and someone seemed to accidentally crunched a piece of bone in half.
Taken aback momentarily, Zhi Wei says “Ah? Me? Oh.”
She just said those three words then continued on eating without saying anymore causing King Helian’s heart to jump up and down, unable to figure out what his honorable Grand Queen was thinking. Holding a small knife in hand and shifting in his seat as if he has a sore on his behind, Helian steals another glance but alas the Grand Queen seems to have totally forgotten the matter and is focused on eating her meat.
The king’s endless shifting never did result in more words from the Grand Queen. Seeing everyone scattering out and Zhi Wei heading towards the back palace, Helian quickly follows only to stop when he sees her leisurely walks into her room. Disappointed, Helian lets out a forlorn sigh and heads back into his own room.
While the king’s court is a palace, it still follows the traditions of the wild grassland. The king stays in his own palace room and all the women stay close by. The king will order whichever one of his women into his room according to his pleasure. Even the Grand Queen is no exception. Lying face down on his carpet in his room by his lonely self, Helian wonders if he should make some changes after he takes the throne. Perhaps he should learn from the Hans and live with his wife?
The door is suddenly pulled open. A bedding comforter is the first one to come, followed by a flying pillow before finally followed by Zhi Wei’s black silver skirt helm stepping over the threshold.
Helian’s mood instantly went from the valley of despair to the high heavens as he joyfully pushed himself up and yelled “Grand Queen, did you come to tend to me?”
“This Grand Queen came to sleep.” Zhi Wei wags her finger at him “You had added one too many word.”
(There is a little word play here. In Chinese, the word that I had translated into “tending” would actually be “tend sleep” in literal English. So what Helian asked was “Grand Queen, did you come to tend sleep?” To which Zhi Wei answers that she is there to sleep, without the tend part.)
Crushing back onto the carpet, Helian complains “This woman never allows others to rejoice a bit longer.”
Ignoring him, Zhi Wei lays out her own bedding and gets into it “Settle down, go to sleep, we still have things to do tomorrow.”
“Can we first do a bit of something tonight?” Helian asked eagerly “Do something that is pleasant and relaxing. Something wonderful that would make you and I both feel like it was worth being alive?”
Making his way closer, Helian grabs the corner of Zhi Wei’s comforter.
“We can.” Her hands crossed behind her head, Zhi Wei replies casually, “But I can’t promise that after the thing is done that you won’t feel very depressed and pained, wishing that you have never been born.”
Mournfully covering his face with the corner of her blanket, looking as if he wished he could just suffocate himself with it, Helian says after a long bit “Forget it, I knew there was no hope. It’s already good that you are willing to sleep here, at least that means you are worried about me.”
“Grand Queen likes a smart kid.” Zhi Wei says lazily before suddenly sniffing with her nose “Eh?”
“Eh what?” Helian secretly raises the blanket, hoping bit by bit he can roll himself into it.
Zhi Wei waits until he is about finished rolling himself before giving the blanket a few tugs so that the whole bedding is dragged over and ends up under her.
King Helian sorrowfully stares at the Feng Zhi Wei who had rolled herself into one long cylinder.
Looking as if she was completely unaware of his little attempts, Zhi Wei says with her eyes closed “I have held my breath for quite a while now. But just right now I accidentally took a breath, and it was strangely…”
“Strangely not stinky anymore right?” Helian says with sparkling eyes “Did you not know? Ever since I met you, I have been washing my feet every day!”
“Then how often did you wash before?”
“Let me think…” Helian pondered for a bit before answering somberly “I washed once in Gan Province.”
In other words, from Gan Province until he arrived at the Capital and met Feng Zhi Wei, in that long of a time he never washed his feet…
“Aye, in actuality, I think it could be considered a weapon. Gu Nan Yi almost fainted from the smell.” Zhi Wei flipped herself.
“I thought, perhaps there will be a day when you might end up sleeping beside me and that I would regret bitterly if I chased you away with the smell.” Laying by her, Helian explains slowly “To like someone, then one has to become the best one can be. A man who is not willing to change his shortcomings for a woman is not a true good man.”
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
Aww helian is a sweety.
I hope his book ending is better than the drama. The drama forced his character into this jagged U-turn as a very clunky plot device.
Of course in my opinion the last 20 episodes or so took a U-turn character/plot/writing wise. Suddenly Zhi Wei cried ALL the time and had to saved instead of being clever like she used to. Helian turned into a jealous butthead. Ning Ying lost all ambition or anything except saving Zhi Wei but was strangely stoic and chill about her end? ….,.
Yeah.. PLEASE say their endings are better in the book!
Thanks so much this week!
100% agree with your entire comment!
It should be fairly obvious by this point with all the foreshadowing that Helian will still die in the novel BUT the manner he dies is SO epic and awesome (kinda weird to use awesome here but can’t think of another word right now) that he has successfully become the most memorable male second lead I have ever read in a novel. It really is such a crime what the drama did to Helian’s character, especially how they made his death so meaningless and dumb.
As for the ending for our two leads… are you following the novel translation without knowing the novel ending?! If so, that’s true love for the drama indeed! By the way, I have actually translated the novel ending already. I posted the novel ending thinking it would satisfy most people’s craving for the show but alas, I was inundated with requests for the actual novel translation so that’s how this whole thing started. So, in short answer, the novel ending is WAY better. If you are the type who doesn’t mind spoilers then you are welcome to search my site for the ending translations.
Yeah I figured Helian was gonna die – I was just hoping like you said it would be a waaaay better in then the drama gave me. Drama ending for him was soooo stupid.
Yeah I’ve been following you since you posted the actual novel ending (searching for TROP closure is actually how I stumbled on your blog) so I vaguely remember the novel end. I know it’s better than the drama but I’m refraining from going back because reading it again at the actual end of all the translations you have done feels more… emotionally satisfying? to me.
Thanks!
Helian explains slowly “To like someone, then one has to become the best one can be. A man who is not willing to change his shortcomings for a woman is not a true good man.” O how I wish if every man, perhaps even every woman too, read this sentence and understand the meaning of love.
Thank you Ninja for the translation.
I LOVE HELIAN!
Yes love the statement he made about love, the drama really did not do him justice, he is beginning to grow on me more. I love how the book brings dept and insight into his character. Is ZW going to response to how he felts thought? When are we going to read about Ning Yi, I miss him?
Sinto muita falta de NING YI, mas acho que ausência de NING YI, faz o nosso querido HELLIAN crescer e ter grandes esperanças com ZW. Gostaria que tivesse duas ZW. RS,RS