The Rise of Phoenixes Novel Translation #149

Someone is sleeping in the lonely moonlight, and someone is enjoying the breeze on the highest point of an outlook post.

Feng Zhi Wei and Hua Qing lay side by side on a slope on a tall hill outside of the camp under a sky full of stars. 

Hua Qing gave birth to a son some time ago. After a short month of postpartum recovery, Hua Qing resolutely left her son at the royal court in Helian’s care and followed Feng Zhi Wei to the battlefield.   

She was born to a farming family in South Sea so her body is quite strong and agile because she has been doing farm work since she was a child. A strong agile body combined with talent in comprehending fighting techniques and personal training from Zong Chen on martial arts on horseback, Hua Qing is now one of the famed fighters in Feng Zhi Wei’s group. Supposedly, Da Yue has even given her the title of “Black Widow.” 

The reason they called her “Black Widow” is not because they guessed her gender but it was because it is the name of a poisonous insect in Da Yue that has a pair of sharp prongs like the double knives Hua Qing likes to use. 

Feng Zhi Wei too feels that the sight of Hua Qing rising her double knives racing towards the enemy line under the moonlight really does look like a ferocious black widow. 

“You are unhappy?” Hua Qing’s question wasn’t really a question but a statement. 

Biting a piece of grass root, Feng Zhi Wei smiles and is about to open her mouth when Hua Qing immediately adds “Hold it, your explanation must be that you are displeased because of the spy Prince Chu sent over. But Zhi Wei, if you are going to use such an excuse on me then you are not treating me like a true friend.” 

Feng Zhi Wei grinned, “I say, you are sure getting more fierce. I haven’t even said anything but you have blocked all my words….Ok, it’s not because of Wei Yu. What is that to me? I don’t know what Ning Yi is trying to do but he should know clearly that person won’t be of any use here.” 

“You…” Hua Qing sighed, “You are usually so clam and wise but whenever you are met with anything that is connected to Ning Yi then  you lose half of your usual clam.” 

Feng Zhi Wei remained silent. 

“How long are you going to keep hiding from him?”

“No need to hide.” Feng Zhi Wei replied lazily, “Winter is almost here. Either we will have a decisive battle or we must prepare to withdraw the troops. The weather of Northern Xinjian is severely cold. Da Yue is quite cold as well so their men are used to it. However, many of our frontline soldiers came from the South, they won’t be able to stand the cold. Even if we can hold on until spring then the spring rain would make the road difficult for the army to travel on. You just wait and see, if Da Yue doesn’t pull back then Ning Yi will be preparing for battle.” 

“Then you…”

“I want to take that battle reward from him.” Feng Zhi Wei sits up and looked at the Baitou Mountain in front of her. It was here, not long ago when Helian sent her a message saying that a herdsman knew there is a secret trail that go straight through to Jin Siyu’s camp.”

“Look.” She taps on her fingers to show Hua Qing the strength of Tian Sheng’s army, “Ning Yi’s camp has ten infantry battalions, four bow and crossbow battalions, one shield battalion, two logistics battalions. Over in Yuzhou province, they have about the same number of battalions. Since the defeat of Qiu Shangqi (her uncle), there have not been any wins for Tian Sheng army. All of Prince Chu’s close confidants he had placed in various military positions have not achieved any success yet either so they need a battle win desperately right now. As for us Shunyi Cavalry, we are really just a peripheral army. During this time we have gotten all the spotlights which caused great dissatisfaction among the Tian Sheng generals and soldiers. With all that in mind, the moment the battle starts, it is certain the Shunyi Calvary will be pushed to the outer rims. This is also the reason why I have kept us away from the main camp and fought the enemies on our own. At the main camp, there is no place for us.”

“But once the battle begins, you will have to obey the command of the main camp.”

“That’s why,” Feng Zhi Wei bit her lower lip, “I want them unable to start this battle to begin with. I want the battle win to fall into Shunyi Cavalry’s hand. Now that Chun Yu is here, plus Yang Yu and others, once Shunyi Cavalry wins the battle then in the future they will become the core strength of Tian Sheng army. This is a rare opportunity.” 

Hua Qing was silent for a moment before muttering “It’s too risky…”

“Great rewards come with great risk.” Feng Zhi Wei sneered. 

After thinking for a moment, Hua Qing let out a laugh “I always follow you.”

“You better not go.” Feng Zhi Wei said “The child is still young. Helian wrote in the letter the other day and said that he can smile now…”

Her eyes bright with a hint of the softness of motherhood once the topic turned to her son, Hua Qing smiles “I made him a shirt the other day and sent it back with the royal messenger. I wonder if he has worn it yet. I also made one for Zhi Xiao. I heard she is growing very quickly so I hope it won’t be too small.” 

“Don’t mention Zhi Xiao.” Zhi Wei quickly hurried over to cover her mouth before looking around fearfully, fearing that the invisible Master Gu would suddenly jump out, “Nan Yi can’t hear those two words the most. He might not say it but he is missing her terribly. I saw a milk battle Zhi Xiao had used before in his bag the other day. He actually kept it with him this whole time.” 

Hua Qing chuckled and says “Well, the jade man is starting to become more like a human. It’s not a bad thing for him to know the emotion of missing someone.” 

“Oh? Everyone knows the emotion of missing someone.” Feng Zhi Wei gives her a sideways glance, “Do you know it or not?”

“Me?” Hua Qing pretend ignorance and sniffled “I know it. I miss my Hua Chang Tian.” (Her son) 

Feng Zhi Wei’s smile turned strange and suggestive. 

“What are you smiling at?” Hua Qing looked at her with surprise. 

Pursing her lips, Zhi Wei doesn’t answer but begins to dig around her robe seemingly looking for something. After a bit, she finally pulled out a letter, pressed it to her heart and sighed with a pretend regret “Some people are so pitiful. They miss a certain someone day and night, tossing and turning unable to sleep, searched high and low but ended up meeting the most ruthless woman in the world who has not mentioned him at all but is still speaking about another man!” 

Hua Qing’s eyes lit up and reached out a hand to grab the letter, “Let me see!” 

Seeing her never pretentious expression, a rare brightness and joy filled Feng Zhi Wei’s heart.  Suddenly wanting to tease, Zhi Wei hid the letter behind her back and asked with a smile “Huh? Why? What has this to do with you? Go away, don’t disturb this general from pondering important military matters.” 

“What military matters!” Hua Qing jumps over to pinch her face, “You bad woman. You are actually hiding my letter and not letting me see it. I will tear you apart!” 

“What has it to do with you. What has it to do with you. You desperate woman.” Feng Zhi Wei grabbed the letter and ran away. Hua Qing grabbed her belt and threw her down with a yell. The two rolled into a ball on the grass, their crisp laughter peeled through the clouds, scaring the moon into brightening a few degrees as it peaked down at the peerless woman finally having a rare moment of pure joy. 

“You…shrew…” After tumbling around, a tired and panting Feng Zhi Wei slumped on the hill, waving the letter at Hua Qing, “…I should not…have told you…I should have let you wait anxiously…”

Hua Qing glared at her, snatched the letter, and went down the hill with a bright smile to go read her letter. Feng Zhi Wei sat up and rolled her eyes- this woman, she even has to find a hiding place to read a letter.

She lays down comfortably with her hands behind her head. Looking up at the moon with a smile, Zhi Wei feels the moon seemed extra bright tonight and the wind extra refreshing. 

She figures she can guess what’s in the letter. That smart young man had thought affection is not love. Because marriage came so naturally that he had forgotten to consider the emotions behind it. Yet, once she left him, he would’ve suddenly realized that there are some perfection that one does not regard as precious when it exists by one’s side but once lost, then the emptiness is startling. 

To be able to search for nearly a year, and to finally get the letter into her hands, one can imagine how many twists and turns Yan Huaishi had to go through. The twists and turns have already proved his sincerity. 

Sounds of rushing footsteps came from the bottom of the hill. Hua Qing runs up, her delicate face flushed, her eyes bright, the thin letter dancing between her fingers, like a pair of fluttering butterflies. 

She ran to Feng Zhi Wei, stood still, and looked at her while her chest is puffing up and down. Seemingly wanting to say something but unable to say it, Hua Qing turned abruptly around and ran down the hill again. 

Feng Zhi Wei sat up with a start, wanting to laugh but couldn’t. 

What kind of joy filled one’s bosom that makes it impossible to express in words. Words that threaten to burst one’s heart, sending one right into heaven. 

Feng Zhi Wei smiled, sincerely happy for that woman but didn’t realize a hint of sadness like a mist has covered her own eyes. 

More footsteps, Hua Qing ran up once again. Feng Zhi Wei couldn’t hold back this time and was about to tease her when Hua Qing suddenly put the letter carefully into her robe, put her hands on her hips and yelled towards the northern sky “Ah! I am so happy!”

“I am so happy I am so happy I am so happy I am so happy…” The distant mountains spread the joyful yell, ringing in everyone’s ear. 

The tears in Feng Zhi Wei’s eyes, rushed out. 

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

There were some questions last week about how and why our heroine went from Helian’s queen to Wei Zhi leading a calvary. If you guys remember back a few posts, Helian’s royal court had issued a declaration that his queen is pregnant but is feeling unwell so the royal court is rejecting all visitors. This of course, was just an excuse for Zhi Wei- the queen, to disappear. While the queen is resting for her “pregnancy”, Gu Nan Yi shows up at the training ground with a youth- that would be our heroine wearing Wei Zhi’s disguise.

Question 1: Why did our heroine not just lead the calvary as herself? 

One thing to clarify first is that our heroine is still wearing a disguise/mask even when she is Helian’s queen. So she is essentially just switching one mask for another. Becoming Helian’s queen has always been a temporary solution to get Zhi Wei out of the Capital. Zhi Wei had no intention of remaining as Helian’s queen and Helian is fully aware of that fact. If Zhi Wei had ended up leading the calvary as Helian’s queen then this would’ve just made her eventual exit as the queen that much more complicated. 

Question 2: Why did our heroine use her Wei Zhi disguise again? 

By this point in the drama, Zhi Wei was pretty helpless and tossed about by the different powers that be. That is not where our heroine is in the novel. While our heroine had guessed long ago of her real identity and the path Madam Qiu wants her to go on but she had always ignored it since her real dream is just to live a normal life with her mother and brother. The death of Madam Qiu changed everything and forced our grieving heroine to go onto the path Madam Qiu had chosen her – take Tian Sheng empire down and re-establish the previous empire of Da Cheng. So how can our heroine accomplish this? Well, our heroine’s identity as Wei Zhi pretty much gives her a free pass into the inner power circle of Tian Sheng empire. You can tell from our heroine’s conversation with Hua Qing that our heroine is planning exactly what Ning Yi is trying to do: 1. Do enough flashy accomplishments so the Emperor will have no choice but to reward them with more authority and power. 2. Use that authority and power to put their most trusted men in key positions… preferably in key military positions. 3. Well…once you have control of the military then the throne is not far away. In fact, Ning Yi as the Emperor’s son would still have to worry about obtaining the throne legitimately but Zhi Wei has no such worry. Once she gains enough control of the military, then she can move on to overthrowing the Tian Sheng empire.

The interesting question to me is why would Ning Yi allow the Wei Zhi alter-ego to exist. Ning Yi knows full well what Zhi Wei is intending to do now but not only did he not expose Wei Zhi’s true identity but he made sure to leave a way for our heroine to come back as Wei Zhi by making up a story about Official Wei disappearing.