《一世真》中英翻译 CH. 23
出去玩了长长的一个周末以后我回归啦！已经没力气说废话了，看文直接看下面！ >.<
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Today, Prince Yu comes home from the court in an extraordinarily good mood. Banruo takes his outer cape which is slightly damp from the rain and hangs it to dry near the brazier, an expectant smile on her face. Too eager to wait for her question, Prince Yu offers cheerfully, “As I predicted, Prince Jing and Prince Qi would clash with each other sooner or later, even without us interfering! I was right!”
“Your Highness means that they were arguing over the issue of the Qishui embankment?” Asks Banruo.
“Today, Prince Qi requested once again to take some of the capital troops to repair the embankments, backed by a dozen officials from all three ministries involved. He insisted that restoration must be completed within the month to avoid a major disaster. Of course he didn't get his way even after a heated argument with Prince Jing, and received a severe tongue-lashing from His Majesty. You should have seen Prince Qi's face at the end of the session-- he was white with anger!” Says Prince Yu, unable to suppress his mirth at this turn of events.
"That's odd,” Banruo replies, her mind barely pausing at the lives at stake in Qishui, “Prince Jing has supervised water and utility projects on more than one occasion before, how would he not know the dangers of a compromised embankment?”
“He knows for sure; he is against it only because he knows that His Majesty would never allow the capital troops to be moved,” Prince Yu takes a sip of his warm tea and continues, “The farmlands downstream of the Qishui river are the major producer of crops for the capital. The farmers are still diligently working now despite the threat of a flood for the sole purpose of supplying us with food for the next year.”
He scoffs, “Jingyan, on the other hand, insisted that ‘Judging by the weather now, we should have a dry summer.’ I even asked the palace astrologists and they confirmed that we are in the year of the water and we will surely have plenty of rain. I don't even know how Jingyan was so convinced. Well, we shall see how he justifies himself when the river floods in the summer.”
“Prince Jing is taking the emperor's side on this matter. He would receive a few harsh reprimands at most, surely nothing serious,” Banruo muses.
“That's why Prince Qi was so indignant today, saying quite clearly that 'Whether you are the royalty or a high-ranking official, your privileged position above hundreds of thousands of people obligates you to safeguard their lives, in whatever scenario with whatever means necessary! No one can accurately predict whether we will have a wet or dry summer, how could you gamble with this many lives?’”
Banruo concedes, “Prince Jing was practically raised by Prince Qi, now they differ so much in opinion, Prince Qi must be understandably upset and disappointed.”
“I hear that last night Prince Qi called Jingyan to his manor and chastised him, yet today Jingyan still spoke his mind, not a sign of backing down,”adds Prince Yu.
“I never knew that Prince Jing was so well-versed in the art of argument, I'd like to witness it for myself someday.”
“Eloquence only gets you so far. Those uptight and righteous officials can only be won over by true virtues. With this incident, some of Jingyan's supporters are already displeased with him. It seems that only Shen Zhui is still composed, many others in the Ministries of Works and Justice were quite upset.”
“Then this might be a chance for Your Highness to entice a few into our fold. Perhaps we will even discover Prince Jing's secret. We used to have Hua spies in every noble's manor, with the exception of Prince Jing. He moved into his manor rather late, and all the servants were hand-picked by Consort Jing. Now his manor is like an impenetrable iron fortress, we have no way of getting any information on him,” Banruo suggests.
“We should have used this opportunity to cut down Prince Jing,” says Prince Yu, rubbing his hands together with mild regret, “I don't understand it, Xia Jiang's beloved mistress was killed by Prince Jing, why was he so bent on eliminating Prince Qi instead?”
Banruo sighs softly, her voice gaining a cold quality as she says, “Why else? Prince Qi is loudly calling for the abolition of the Xuanjing Bureau, while Prince Jing opposes his proposal. In the end, Xia Jiang values power and position over my Princess' life.”
“Anyway, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Let's use Xia Jiang's hand to rid ourselves of Prince Qi first. Jingxuan is not a threat, his mother the Noble Consort Yue could be potentially troublesome...As for Jingyan, if I can have Lin Shu's support, then I can send a dagger to his heart with Lin Shu's hand,” Prince Yu contemplates his plans with gleeful confidence.
“The Spring Hunt begins in ten days. Perhaps Your Highness could have a talk with Lin Shu, while he is still in the capital.”
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Lin Shu has not seen Jingyan since that day with the Grand Empress. He knows that everyone changes, just as the leaves change color and flowers wither with time, yet he cannot understand how someone could have changed so irrevocably. He could understand forming factions in court and contending for the supreme power, but he cannot imagine how Jingyan could have used the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people as a bargaining chip only to gratify the emperor. It goes far beyond what is right or wrong.
Many officials have gone to Prince Qi's manor to complain about Prince Jing, their relentless accusations all directed at Jingyan. If this was before, Brother Qi would have rebuked them and defended Jingyan, but this time, he stays completely silent, a storm gathering on his face.
Lin Shu is also beyond frustrated; he wishes they could resolve this with a fist fight, just like when they were younger. He wishes to beat Jingyan into a pulp, lock him up in a place without Mei Changsu and force him to learn the morals of being a man.
Yet when he fell to his knees in front of Jingyan that one time, an ocean of separation has already formed between them. For the past few days, Lin Shu finds himself staring at his hands in deep thought. It feels as if it was yesterday that he thought those hands could wield an arrow and a spear, becoming a formidable force against enemy invasions and the umbrella that shields his loved ones from harm. And now? He can only watch as Jingyan walks further and further along this wrong path, a path with a dead end, and he does not even have the right to reach out a hand to stop him.
His eyes following the figure on a horse not too far from him, Lin Shu realizes suddenly that Jingyan has lost so much weight in these past three years.
If it is so torturous a path to walk on, why does he insist on keep going?
Lin Shu is almost sure that Jingyan's changes are all due to Mei Changsu. When they were younger, his Jingyan was never the perceptive one-- a trait that often annoyed the emperor-- and would certainly never base his argument on an excuse as absurd as the weather predictions. The one who analyzes the emperor's thought process to him and the one who feeds him those warped logic must be Mei Changsu.
A thought suddenly occurs to Lin Shu-- something that he has pushed to the back of his mind since he has been so frustrated with the embankment issue-- that day in front of the Grand Empress, Jingyan had mentioned a person who used to like him.
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It is Tingsheng's first time to go to the Spring Hunt. He rides in the same carriage as the emperor, who still adores this grandson of his, despite the recent disagreements he has had with Prince Qi.
Tingsheng has obediently kept the emperor company, chatting and peeling oranges for him. Sensing that the emperor is becoming fatigued, he pleads with childish innocence, “Granddaddy, I want to go horseback riding!”
“Horseback riding? No, you are too young,” he refuses with a stern expression, which immediately thaws into an amused smile when he sees the disappointment on Tingsheng's chubby face, “Fine fine, but your Father isn't here, who will you ride with?” Prince Qi took off after participating in the ceremonies for the Spring Hunt that morning, and went to inspect the embankment situation at Qishui. Tingsheng is left by himself, so the emperor took the lonely child into his own carriage. His annoyance rising at the thought, the emperor says, “What a heartless Father you have, abandoning you here all by yourself.”
“I like Uncle Jingyan's horse.”
The emperor looks in Jingyan's direction and nods in appreciation of the dark ebony horse. He teases the child good-naturedly, “Not afraid of your Uncle Jingyan anymore?”
The boy shakes his head.
The emperor remembers that Jingyan had saved Tingsheng three years ago, and nods in understanding, “You may go once we get to the hunting grounds. Right now the roads are uneven, we wouldn't want an accident to happen.”
The emperor has no idea that the child in front of him was once a distinguished general whose sheer strength and devious strategies made their enemies quiver at his name. He practically lived on horseback, and riding was as easy as walking to him.
He is only anxious to finally meet his Father again after those long days of separation.
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It is already afternoon when they arrive at the foot of Jiu-An Mountain. Once the campsite is settled, all the younger men head to the forest with their bows and arrows for a brief sport. Before they left for the hunt, the emperor, whose mind is still clouded with doubt regarding Prince Qi, ordered Commander Meng Zhi to remain in the capital to control the troops. No one could dispatch a single soldier without the emperor's written decree. Instead, Jingyan is charge of leading the protection guards for the Spring Hunt. The emperor has commanded him to patrol the perimeters with the guards.
When he steps out of his tent, Jingyan sees Jingrui, Yujin and Lin Shu in a commotion of sorts. Lin Shu seems to be in a foul mood, apparently incited by something Yujin said, so he is currently chasing a frantic Yujin all around the grounds. The younger boy yells desperately, “Jingrui, help me!! Don't come any closer, Lin Shu-gege, otherwise I'll climb onto a tree!”
Jingrui laughs at his friend's antics, then immediately straightens when he catches sight of Jingyan, dipping his head in a polite greeting towards the prince. Jingyan pauses in his steps towards them and turns in the other direction with his guards.
The hunting grounds are vast. Jingyan and his ten men have split into two teams, and by the time they finish making the rounds, the sun has already set, the bonfires too far to provide any illumination. They make their way slowly along the perimeter of the forest, making use of the trees to orient themselves.
Zhanying says casually, “Normally during the Spring Hunt, Your Highness and Vice Commander Lin Shu would always fight for the first place.” He realizes belatedly that Lin Shu has not returned to the capital in six years, “normally” seems like a distant memory.
Jingyan falls into a long silence at those words.
At that moment, a small group of horsemen is advancing towards them, apparently sent from the camp to look for them. Zhanying recognizes them as pugilist friends of Prince Qi who have been his followers for the past few years. Since Prince Qi is not in the Hunt, they are probably here to protect Tingsheng.
“Your Highness,” one of the men trots closer on his horse.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be protecting the young prince?” Asks Jingyan.
“Actually we are here for Your Highness--” the man's face twists in a malicious snarl, pulling a wide sword from his sheath and rapidly plunging it at Jingyan.
His movement so sudden and swift, and there is but a short gap between the two horses, Jingyan can only watch as the sharp blade pierces his chest. The sound of metal parting flesh is particularly grating in the dark silence.
Jingyan looks down at the rapidly expanding pool of crimson on his chest. Zhanying's panicked voice reaches his ears as if obstructed by a layer of fuzzy consciousness. He has died once before, he knows perfectly well those moments as death steadily advances upon him.
He is not afraid of death.
He knows that those three assassins were not sent by Prince Qi. No matter what happens, his brother would never harm him. He needs to let someone know...if the emperor thinks that he was assassinated by Prince Qi's men, then Brother Qi and Xiaoshu…
“I forbid you to tell anyone...Brother Qi...His Majesty...no one,” he wheezes out each word with difficulty, clutching onto Zhanying's hand desperately, “Do not tell Lin Shu…”
