《一世真》中英翻译 CH. 24
说好的日更估计明天就要掉落。。呵呵（捂脸逃跑
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After a half-hearted hunt around the perimeters of the forest, in which they caught a couple of hares, Lin Shu trots back to the camp with Yujin and others. He had hoped that some fresh air would dissipate his foul mood, but every inch of grass on this mountain reminds him of his days spent with Jingyan here, riding horses and discovering hidden paths, no secret or resentment between them. His mind was so far away that he shot three arrows in succession straight into trees, causing the poor Yujin to suppress his laughter furiously, his face red from the effort.
When they return to the camp, the lights in the imperial tent have already been doused, its occupants asleep.
Wei Zheng finds Lin Shu and says, “Vice Commander, the young Prince Qi came looking for you several times.”
“Where is he now?”
“His Majesty took him back to the imperial tent to sleep. I think he just wanted to ask you to teach him horseback riding.”
Lin Shu nods in understanding and enters his own tent, asking as an afterthought, “What did he say to you?”
“He said that His Majesty wanted Prince Jing to teach him how to ride, but Prince Jing is not back yet. He also said that his three guards never came back after they went to hunt for some hares…”
Lin Shu's heart lurches, his hand pausing at undoing the cape clasp, “Jingyan is not back yet?”
Wei Zheng glances at the expanding darkness outside and replies, “Yes. He should have been back already from the patrol duty.”
“...Get me Zhen Ping.”
Zhen Ping enters the tent shortly and reports, “Vice Commander, I checked the tent of Prince Qi's three guards, it was empty except for the bows and arrows.”
Wei Zheng exchanges an alarmed glance with Li Gang, who also happens to be in the tent.
Lin Shu orders without a second of hesitation, “Keep it quiet. Zhen Ping, take fifteen men with me. Split into groups of three, search along the sentry stations. Alert me with signal of the Chiyu division.”
“Yes, sir!”
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When they failed to deliver a fatal strike to Jingyan, the three assassins move to kill his entire group. Unfortunately, their skills are no match for the desperate defense put up by Jingyan's guards, and they make a hurried escape at the next available chance.
Zhanying keeps his hand pressed firmly against Jingyan's wound, which has already been hastily covered with a layer of powdered medicine, yet warm blood continues to seep out from between Zhanying's fingers, Jingyan's face rapidly losing color. He was lucky that the sword did not impale him completely, thanks to the armor he is wearing, but the assassin's sword was a bizarre pugilist variety, making a long and wide gash on his chest.
“I'm going to get Vice Commander Lin Shu!” Panics one of the guards.
“What good will Lin Shu do?!” Zhanying stops him with a hoarse shout.
“Then what should we do? His Highness cannot be moved now, we'd be waiting here for...for…”
Zhanying clenches his teeth and decides, “Get the imperial physicians! I will take full responsibility for disobeying His Highness' orders later!”
“...Don't you dare…!” Jingyan rasps out with his remaining strength, Zhanying's words barely registering in his foggy consciousness. He wants to grab Zhanying's arm to stop him but cannot even lift his own.
A chuckle sounds from behind them in the forest, as a man dressed in pale blue robes strides towards them unhurriedly, his arms folded lightly in their sleeves.
All three guards takes a step forward to shield Jingyan behind them, demanding, “Who are you?”
“It doesn't matter who I am, only if your Prince knows who I am.”
“That's absurd! Who are you? Why would His Highness know you?” The guards have unsheathed their swords, when Jingyan's feeble voice sounds.
“Lin Chen…?”
“See? Told you he knows me,” the man takes off his hat and crouches down to face Jingyan with a teasing smile, “It's been a long time, Xiao Jingyan, how did you manage to get yourself so beat up?”
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Lin Shu and his two companions gallop along the perimeters of the forest in a frantic search, and before long he hears the telltale whistle of the Chiyu signal coming from the southeast. They swiftly turn around towards the sound.
Li Gang's group has found the three assassins, who are bound and kneeling on the ground, their weapons confiscated. When Lin Shu arrives, Li Gang hands him one of the swords from the assassins, face grim as he says, “Vice Commander, there is...blood on the blade.”
Lin Shu's hand gives a sudden twitch around the hilt. The leader of the three assassins recognizes Lin Shu as a frequent visitor to Prince Qi's manor, and believes him to be the prince's close confidant. He opens his mouth to beg for mercy, only to be cut off by Lin Shu's cold demand, his voice firm and unwavering, “Where is Prince Jing?”
The three assassins heave an internal sigh of relief, the leader shouts with renewed courage, “Prince Jing is a selfish ingrate! He has relentlessly hindered our Lord's proposal to abolish the Xuanjing Bureau, and now has gone too far!”
The one who stabbed Prince Jing adds indignantly, “Our hometowns are all the Qishui region, repairing the embankment is a top priority! Yet Prince Jing is firmly against it! The three of us were thinking that if we kill him, the reconstruction will happen…”
‘Kill him’, two words that are the worst scenario imaginable of everyone gathered there.
Zhen Ping watches as Lin Shu's eyes darken with uncontrollable rage and his lips tremble violently without forming a word. Zhen Ping sees the barely restrained turmoil and hurries to demand sharply, “Where is Prince Jing now?”
The three assassins had already prepared themselves for death; they could not bare to watch their hometown be submerged in flood, but when they were at their wit’s end, someone came to them and provided them with one last chance for a desperate gamble.
Once they kill Prince Jing, no one else would oppose the reconstruction of the embankments. It would be for the greater good. With so many lives are at stake, Prince Qi would surely understand their reasons. They also believed that he would spare them out of consideration of their loyal services and genuine motivations. As for Lin Shu, he is so closely aligned with Prince Qi that he would also spare them.
Now, however, when he hears Zhen Ping's voice laced with obvious concern, the leader raises his surprised eyes and looks at Lin Shu. The latter's eyes are flaming red, yet those icy orbs have no warmth in them.
In just a brief peek, the assassin feels his knees go weak with trepidation. Lin Shu has the tip of his sword pointed at the man's neck in an blink of an eye.
“What did you just say?”
“I...I stabbed Prince Jing.”
“Where is Jingyan now?”
“The...the forest.”
“Which direction?”
“In the direction of the hunting palace...about twenty miles away,” stammers the assassin. Before he finishes the last word, he feels a sharp coldness slice through his neck, and his eyes fall onto Lin Shu's silvery sword, glinting with crimson blood. Then he feels warmth, the kind of warmth so unfamiliar and scalding that it rapidly seeps through his entire body. The man looks down and sees his indigo-colored robes saturated in a deep black.
The remaining two assassins watch horrified as their companion's neck is so swiftly severed, scrambling to plead, “We...we didn't do anything!” “We'll surrender ourselves to Prince Jing!”
Lin Shu walks towards them, sword in hand, and without a moment of pause, swings the blade again. His men from the Chiyu division stand by the side as the two heads roll unceremoniously onto the dirty ground, no one utters a word.
Zhen Ping thought Lin Shu was frantic with worry, but hears his frighteningly calm voice say, “Li Gang, come with me. The rest of you stay here to bury them. Zhen Ping, you go back to the camp. If anyone asks, we are out hunting in the forest. Have Wei Zheng bring the best medicine to meet us.”
Li Gang is about to speak when Zhen Ping tugs his arm to stop him. He knows what the other man wants to ask. Lin Shu's plan so far is all built on the assumption that Prince Jing is still alive.
If Prince Jing is already dead, how would this all end? Lin Shu just killed those three men, how would he manage to acquit himself?
Yet Zhen Ping dares not to verbalize any of these questions, because he does not know what would become of Lin Shu if Xiao Jingyan dies.
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About twenty miles from the hunting palace, there is a dilapidated hut that used to belong to the patrol soldiers. Lin Shu and Jingyan used to take shelter there when they were hunting at night.
Lin Shu is racing in its direction, Li Gang a few paces behind him. The horses are sweating profusely from exertion, their heavy sneezes forming huffs of moist air in the chilly night. Within an hour, they see a flickering light in the near distance.
Lin Shu reins in the horse and jumps off in a hurry, his legs unsteady as he trips slightly. A guard outside the hut startles at the noise, shouting, “Who's there?” Seeing Lin Shu's face does nothing to assuage his apprehension; those three assassins were definitely Prince Qi's men, who knows what kind of intentions Lin Shu might be harboring towards Prince Jing, after six years of separation?
The guard keeps his hand on the hilt of his sword, as Lin Shu impatiently throws down his own and rushes into the hut.
A coppery, nauseating smell hits Lin Shu straight in the face.
A roomful of people turn their heads at his entrance, but he has eyes only for the person on the bed. Jingyan's face is white as a sheet, an alarming shadow of red clearly visible even through the layers and layers of bandages around his chest. The chest is still rising and falling softly.
Lin Shu stands like a statue, his eyes fixed on Jingyan with a burning intensity. After an indeterminable moment, his finger gives a twitch and his entire body come back to its senses. Lin Shu opens his mouth to suck in huge gulps of air, his breaths hitching with what seem like desperate sobs.
