《一世真》中英翻译 CH. 17
今天天气超好，仿佛一下子就进入了春满花开的季节，阳光也终于有了温度！好激动啊终于要摆脱寒冬了！！这文要是我自己写的话肯定今天就很应景地给大家发颗大糖了，奈何译者再自由发挥也不可能篡改原著滴~ （摊手
不过今天这章又长又带感哦！其实文中有好多描述啊比喻啊啥的，真心考验了我的胡扯 翻译能力的，好几个地方和beta小天使反反复复斟酌了好久，最后觉得再修改就成了钻牛角尖了，所以见好就收啦~~ ^_^ 也深深体会到了中文的博大精深及简练精辟 请让我回去重新再学一次
希望大家看得开心~~ （反正我是翻得蛮开心的~~）
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The room still smells strongly of the medicated oil. Jingyan has one cape draped around his shoulders, and another one-- Lin Shu's-- covering his legs, Zhanying secretly thinks that His Highness looks like a wrapped up hamster. He suppresses the urge to laugh and says instead, “The imperial physicians did say that Your Highness should be using the medicated oil everyday, I apologize for our oversight and for having troubled the Vice Commander to do it personally.”
Although he is apologizing, there is a teasing element in his voice, but Jingyan does not seem to notice-- his eyes are fixed on the game of go and his face has lost the soft edge when Lin Shu was here.
Zhanying is not completely oblivious to the changes. Ever since the Prince took the order to investigate the Hua people, he's done far more than mere investigation. If it was the old Prince Jing, he would not have expelled every Hua person from the capital, at least he would've spared the married women and children. In the past few days, many Hua people have been exiled from their homes, yet Prince Jing is still sending out search parties around the city, as if looking for someone in particular.
When he is standing by the Prince's side, sometimes Zhanying can almost feel the animosity, the hatred materializing like a serpent coiling around the man. The prince himself is like a bow, drawn and taut, its arrow aiming straight for his enemies. Zhanying had thought that the arrival of Lin Shu would cheer Jingyan up, but now it looks like it was in vain.
“Your Highness……”
Jingyan is startled out of his trance by Zhanying's voice, the go piece he's been fiddling in his hand slips past his lax fingers and lands on the go board with a sharp click ! What’s left of the game is now irrevocably shuffled, that offending piece nowhere to be found. Jingyan stares at the disorganized board and suddenly a revelation hits him, like a man who has finally looked up from the night darkness and seen the bright moon above. So he has been circling around in his self-constructed maze this whole time. Since he has arrested all the Hua spies from noble homes, Jingyan was sure that Princess Xuanji would leave Xia Jiang's place in case someone ratted her out under duress. That's why he's been concentrating his efforts on finding her new hideout in the city, yet now it seems more likely that she's taken advantage of all the chaos to escape.
“Zhanying, have there been any Hua people leaving the capital lately?”
Since he is not personally responsible for the matter, Zhanying summons one of his subordinates. The man replies, “Your Highness, since it is still the New Year's, most of the exile groups are detained within the capital, set to depart after the fifteenth. There has only been one group that left since they needed to cross the river before it thaws; they left just after noon today.”
“Anyone suspicious in that group?” queries Jingyan.
“Suspicious…? I don't think so,” the man thinks hard for a moment, then says, “Yes! I ran into Vice Commander Lin Shu today and we traded greetings, just then the group of Hua people passed by, and the Vice Commander commented that a woman seemed odd.”
“What kind of woman?”
“She was dressed just like the others, and her fingers bore the signs of menial labor, honestly nothing out of place at first glance. Yet the Vice Commander said that she was only carrying light items like clothing, judging by the shape and size of her bag. Also, it was a rather large group and people walked in disarray, but she seemed to always have the same people flanking her. Vice Commander Lin said that was odd,” replies the man honestly.
“That would be her,” declares Jingyan as he grabs his sword and cape, “Gather the men and follow me, we have to catch her.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
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The sun is setting, its rays painting the city walls a blood red, blinding and cold. Today is particularly frigid, the howling winds are like knives cutting into the skin of the guards on the parapet, who are trying to retract their necks into their coats. There are only a couple of people hurriedly crossing the streets at this late hour, their collars tucked up tightly to ward off the cold. The guards are about to close the gates when a sudden group of soldiers rush towards the exit on their horses. Leading the group is Prince Jing dressed in white robes and black cape, the men behind him grave and alert; they surge through the still open gates with a trail of dust behind them.
“Princess, please get into the carriage. You escaped at a rest stop, tonight there will be a woman to take your place, please be assured that no one would notice your absence when they do the headcounts.”
The ordinary-looking woman nods in satisfaction. Their group was mostly composed of middle-aged women, so the security was quite lax. She's taken extra measures to disguise her facial features, and she's confident that even if a traitor sees her, they wouldn't be able to recognize her right away. Her only option now is to go towards the South and hide in one of her safe houses until things calm down. The howling wind outside the carriage sounds like the death cry of ravens, she lifts the curtain to have one last look at the capital. It is a city she hates with all of her being. She spent her entire life trying to destroy it, yet there it is, still standing.
Suddenly she sees a horseman advancing rapidly towards them.
“Go, go faster!!” She commands the driver, horrified. The darkness of the night should not have impaired her hearing, she should've still heard approaching sound of a horse mixed with the wind. Yet that person abandoned the major road and took the side streets where the surface is covered in thick dried grass, the galloping sound of horses completely masked. She did not notice him until it is too late.
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Even the fastest carriage cannot beat the speed of a seasoned war horse. Princess Xuanji orders the driver to stop and climbs out of the carriage. Since he has come alone, there must be something he wishes to say to her away from prying eyes. The person stops the horse directly in front of her, so close that its hot and wet breath only inches from her face.
The princess raises her head to look at the person on the horse, his face half obscured by the darkness yet his eyes shining, “I had wondered which friend came to send me off, I did not expect you, Prince Jing.” She secretly sighs in relief; Xiao Jingyan does not have any strong reason to kill her. There is only one person who wishes all the Hua people dead, and he would never divulge the secrets of how he gained the throne, not even to his own son. In this world, the most outwardly strong people usually have the most fatal weaknesses. Even if he finally won the throne using every mean possible, his reign would not last.
She is confident in her belief that Jingyan would not seriously harm her; as long as he still desires something in life, she can make a trade with him.
Her greeting is still lingering in the air when she hears the sharp rustle of a sword being drawn, its blade glistening in the cold moonlight. She does not move even an inch away from the menacing object. She is sure that the Prince merely wants to threaten her, his sword would surely stop before it reaches her chest. She has always had the world on a game board and everyone is a chess piece, including Xia Jiang, and at the moment, herself. She may be forced into a quandary as the manipulator of the game, but she still has many uses as a chess piece. If his aim is the throne, he must need a support system in the dark. Years ago, when her kingdom faced utter annihilation, she could still calmly make the most rational choice to save the most valuable chess piece. No predicament now could match the pain of losing her country.
So self-assured in her analysis that she hasn't even bothered to look at the prince in front of her. She knows that she understands his schemes and ambitions.
Her mind still swirling with possible bargaining options when the sword arrives at her chest with the same alarming force as before. She realizes with horrified shock that Xiao Jingyan wanted her dead from the very beginning.
She moves to evade the strike but is too slow. The sword pierces her flesh with a barely audible sound, and in the blink of an eye, the frozen grass below is splattered with crimson, warm blood.
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The most powerful victory is only achieved through the most relentless sacrifices.
Princess Xuanji knows this, but Xiao Jingyan understand it even more intimately. He has seen with his own eyes how that one person came back to the capital after rebirth and gave justice back to 70,000 Chiyan men, at the cost of his own life.
Many things are possible, as long as one lives.
As long as he lives.
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“It's a pity that I do not bargain with the devil,” says Jingyan in a cold voice.f
“You.......” She looks up at him with difficulty. People say that many things suddenly become more lucid at the brink of death, yet she sees nothing in those dark eyes.
“Whatever you wish to offer me, I cannot spare your life, nor send you to the Xuanjing bureau. I will not lie to you, and you won't believe me anyway, so let's not waste each other's time,” continues Jingyan, “You deserve death, though this strike came a bit late, I have not wronged you.”
Life is rapidly bleeding out of her from the wound, and she realizes with despair that even now Prince Jing is still alert, watching her for signs that she's left clues for her people. At this moment, she's completely given up hope. She's been playing the game of chess all of her life, yet now it ends in an utterly unexpected match, so unexpected that she doesn't even know where she went wrong.
One misstep and she loses the entire game.
“You...hate me...why?” she croaks out.
Because of Prince Qi, because of the Chiyan army, and because of Lin Shu.
Yet Jingyan says nothing. When he decided confront her alone tonight, he wanted to end things here. That does not mean he wants to tell her anything. Those years ago on Cliff Mei, Commander General Lin Xie and his 70,000 men also asked their murders “why,” and got no answer except death.
He would condemn her to the same fate.
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In her last moments, she sees a white figure on a horse standing on a nearby hill. For the sake of her people, if she can manage to muddy the water a bit more in the capital with her death, then.....
Lin Shu feels cold creep up his spine when he sees the dying woman turn her head in his direction. Her features are shrouded in the fading light of dusk, yet he knows with certainty that she is looking at him. The horror he feels is not due to those wide, unblinking eyes of a dead woman, but for the hand still holding the sword that pierced her body. The hand that belongs to Jingyan. He watches his friend, sword stained with blood, his lonely silhouette a singular shadow on the vast frozen plains.
Lin Shu feels chilled to his bones.
