Hua: I will try to post every day hopefully
Chapter 12: Baiyou Mountain – Roasted Rabbit Champion’s Sixteenth Lady
Leaving the city from the east gate, they first took a section of the official road, and the carriage came to a stop where the road split.
The three got off the carriage, then Pei Jintang, who was familiar with the road, led the two of them to turn from the left fork and walk through a small path surrounded by small white flowers on both sides. There was an unnamed lake in front of them, and a stone bridge across the middle of the lake led to Baiyou Mountain.
The stone bridge was wide enough to accommodate four or five people side by side. There were several vendors on the bridge, selling some homely gadgets. Pei Xiting found that even though these sellers were dressed simply and smiled warmly, they still couldn’t cover up their bad temperament.
Coming down from the bridge, there was a cave gate[mfn]
[/mfn] without a plague, but only two giant peach wood statues on the left and right. The left statue held a war halberd, majestic and powerful; the right statue looked nonchalant, stroking the tiger beside him.
Zhao Yi saw Pei Xiting looking at the peach wood statue and said, “The ‘Hetu Expanded Geomancy[mfn]A real ancient book from the Han Dynasty that focuses on geography, but it also contains many myths and legends.[/mfn]’ says: ‘There is a big peach tree on Taodu Mountain, winding for 3,000 miles, with a golden rooster on it and two gods below, one named Yu and the other Lei, holding reed ropes, waiting for ominous ghosts and strange birds.’ The two statues in front of us are the two gods mentioned in the book, Shentu and Yulei.”
Pei Jintang said, “It is rumored that the two gods can slay evil spirits. Many people believe in them as door gods, praying for disaster relief, avoiding misfortune, and seeking good luck… Oh, this is not important, I’m starving, go in quickly!”
Pei Xiting was pushed into the cave gate by Pei Jintang, and after walking for dozens of steps, the road ahead suddenly opened up. Colorful ropes wove a colorful mesh screen in the sky, and various colored lights extended from the cave gate to the left and right, circling the winding mountain road all the way up to illuminate the second, third, and fourth floors.
There is a huge pit under the colorful rope net, and there are also groups of vendors below, with a bustling crowd. It is clearly the “underground floor” of this large shopping mall.
“The roasted rabbit champion is right below; come with me.” Pei Jintang waved and gestured for the two of them to follow. “It is said that when Baiyou Mountain first started doing business, someone got drunk at the top of the mountain and jumped down with a loud ‘whoosh’ and died on the spot. Therefore, later on, everyone assumed that they ate and drank on the bottom two floors.”
Pei Jintang led the two down the stone stairs in the corner and found a store in the left corner. There was a bamboo pole wine flag in front of the door, one side of which read “Hahahaha” and the other side read “Get lost”.
“We welcome customers with a smile, but if anyone is looking for trouble, I’m afraid we can’t avoid beating them up.” Pei Jintang explained to the two, “The boss is not easy to mess with.”
“What a straightforward shop owner.” Zhao Yi looked up at the tavern flag and sang praise while clapping his hands, “The words are clear, vigorous, and sharp, which shows the profound writing skills of the calligrapher.”
“Young master has good eyesight!”
The female voice came with a smile, and the three of them looked at the source at the same time, only to see a white hand lifting the bamboo curtain, revealing a beautiful face with willow eyebrows, an apricot face, and a peach cheek[mfn]杏脸桃腮, a Chinese idiom describing a woman’s beautiful appearance.[/mfn]. The woman was about twenty years old, wearing a yellow-colored chest-length dress, waving a fan and walking slowly, truly embodying the saying ‘light body, ready to fly, with multiple forms of demonic posture’.
“Oh, what handsome young men!” The woman’s eyes lit up, and she used her fan to pat Pei Jintang, a regular customer, with disdain, “Go in!”
“These two are both honest and refined gentlemen, sister; don’t scare them away.” Pei Jintang reminded with a smile and walked in alone through the curtain.
“Honest?” The woman laughed, “A man can only be an honest person when he is nailed in a coffin!”
She walked around the two of them, her beautiful eyes smiling with temptation. Zhao Yi tilted his head and dared not look directly at her, but his chin was lifted by the fan, and he saw the woman smiling at him mischievously, “Young Master, how old are you?”
Zhao Yi was different from his brother. He didn’t mess around outside, and there wasn’t even a close maid in his courtyard. The women he talked to on weekdays were either ladies from wealthy families or little girls of a few years old, except for his mother. Where had he seen such a charming woman? He stood stiffly in place, stretched out his hand to grab Pei Xiting’s sleeve as if seeking help, and said stiffly, “M-miss, I’m twenty years old this year.”
“So you are a younger brother, so innocent!” The woman raised her hips and bumped Zhao Yi’s butt, scaring the latter to jump up like a rabbit and jump directly behind Pei Xiting.
Pei Xiting: “…”
The woman covered her face and laughed, saying, “I’m the Sixteenth Lady, twenty-seven years old this year; you can call me ‘Sixteenth Sister’.”
After saying that, she threw a coquettish look at Zhao Yi, who had just tentatively poked his head from behind Pei Xiting’s back.
Seeing this, the woman finally felt guilty and stopped teasing him. She walked around Pei Xiting and looked at him several times. “Young master, have I seen you somewhere before?”
Pei Xiting said, “This is my first time here.”
The woman didn’t ask any more questions but patted Pei Xiting’s arm and said, “Come in and sit down.”
Pei Xiting nodded and pulled the cowardly fourth young master inside.
Pei Jintang sat at the wooden table in the corner and had already drunk the mulberry water. Seeing Zhao Yi’s shy posture, he couldn’t help but tease, “Sifan, is that sister beautiful?”
Zhao Yi sat down, scratched his head shyly, and said, “Yes.”
Pei Jintang laughed and pushed the menu over, saying, “I ordered a roasted rabbit and a plate of broad beans. You guys can take a look.”
Except for roasted rabbit, broad beans, melon seeds, and spicy radish, the rest of the menu was all drinks. Pei Xiting glanced at it and said, “Rose dew wine.”
Zhao Yi said, “Then I want mulberry wine.”
Pei Jintang looked up and saw the woman walking towards him, so he ordered some wine.
The woman asked the waiter to get some wine and sat down next to Pei Xiting, who was sitting with his back to the door. She waved her fan and said, “You three grown men only eat one roasted rabbit; can you be full? I’ll treat you to another one.”
“One is enough. My third brother doesn’t like rabbit meat very much. We will go eat something else later.” Pei Jintang said.
The woman raised her eyelids when she heard it and turned to look at Pei Xiting beside her, following Pei Jintang’s line of sight. “Oh, so this is your third brother?”
She seemed a little stunned, paused, and laughed again, “No wonder he looks familiar; he looks like you!”
“Really?” Pei Jintang glanced at Pei Xiting in confusion.
“No.” Zhao Yi disagreed.
“You two are brothers, so at first glance, you look a bit similar, but your temperaments are totally different.” The woman raised her arm and climbed onto Pei Xiting’s shoulder. With her other hand, she poured him a cup of mulberry water. Her gaze was like a fiery core thread, carefully caressing his face. “Young master, what’s your name?”
The hand with red nails held the wine glass to his lips. The woman’s breath was as fragrant as an orchid. Pei Xiting took a sip from the wine glass and said calmly, “Pei Xiting, no courtesy yet.”
“Jintang, Xiting, one has the meaning of a flourishing scene of prosperity (Jintang), and the other has the meaning of green hills and clear waters—picturesque scenery (Xiting). Both are good names.”
The woman turned the wine glass and gently put it on the table. Just as she was about to speak again, a rough voice suddenly sounded from upstairs: “Sixteenth Lady, come up and drink with us!”
“That’s right! What’s so fun about a few pretty boys? Come up and accompany us–”
“Accompany your uncle!” Sixteenth Lady slapped the table with one hand, causing Zhao Yi, who was completely unprepared, to shake his wrist in fright and be splashed with mulberry water from the glass in his hand.
Sixteenth Lady took out a towel and considerately wiped the burning face of the fourth young master. Then she stood up under the innocent young man’s confused eyes and walked away gracefully.
She walked to the stairs and stood still. The soft and gentle voice just now seemed to be gone, replaced by a fierce cursing voice, “Why should I accompany you pieces of sh*t?! Drink if you can; if you can’t, get out. If you dare to talk sh*t again, I will cut off your thing, soak it in wine, and pour it all over your head!”
“…” The store was as quiet as a chicken for a while.
Pei Xiting looked up and saw that Zhao Yi had petrified, obviously bombarded by the divine skill of the Sixteen Lady’s instant transformation.
Pei Jintang and Pei Xiting clinked their glasses, then the latter leaned forward and whispered, “That was something she had done before—four years ago, a flower thief[mfn]R*apist who went around stealing a girl’s virginity.[/mfn] came here to drink and had lustful thoughts about her and even stripped her clothes in public. Sixteenth Lady cut off his thing and threw it into the wine jar and then forced him to drink it all… ugh!”
He quickly took a sip of wine, suppressed his nausea, and continued, “In short, the flower thief bled to death on the spot. He had been wanted in many places for kidnapping women and r*ping virgins, so when the Longhe Division arrived, they did not punish Sixteenth Lady, but her reputation for being swift and decisive spread. Although there were occasional provocations over the years, no one really dared to do anything—Listen, the upstairs has gone quiet, hasn’t it?”
Pei Xiting said, “This place is a mixed bag of fish and dragons[mfn]good and bad mixed together[/mfn], lacking the ability and temperament, making it difficult to establish a career.”
Pei Jintang agreed, “So, don’t underestimate Sixteenth Lady.”
“I remember; I’ve heard about this too.” Zhao Yi had come back to his senses from Sixteenth Lady’s voice-changing skills and whispered, “I heard that at that time, the censor wrote a letter to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to order the Longhe Division to execute Sixteenth Lady, but was rejected by His Royal Highness. The censor wrote two more letters, citing classics and talking about a lot of things, but was still rejected. After the fourth letter, he was not only rejected but also demoted.”
The young man of twelve or thirteen years of age, with a clean-cut face, brought wine and peanuts, set the table, and then left in his wooden clogs.
Zhao Yi then continued to whisper, “I heard that this matter is actually quite profound. At that time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was ordered to supervise the country soon after he entered the Eastern Palace. He also established the Longhe Division, which caused the court officials to have different thoughts—the old officials who previously supported Prince Yuanhe naturally didn’t accept the new crown prince, and the unclean court officials naturally feared the Longhe Division. Compared with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, some court officials wanted the gentle and kind Prince Yuanhe to be the crown prince. Therefore, many people want to take this opportunity to test His Highness and even put pressure on the Eastern Palace. Some people encouraged the most outspoken censors to be the rafters who came forward.”
Prince Yuanhe–Pei Xiting had heard of this person. He was the first crown prince of Emperor Xining, the second prince in the imperial family, and the legitimate son of the first empress—Empress Wang, who had passed away many years ago.
In the winter of the 13th year of Xining, Crown Prince Yuanhe poisoned the emperor, plotted treason, was imprisoned, and died by self-immolation. The next day, the crown princess hanged herself, leaving only her four-year-old son. In the spring of the 14th year, Emperor Xining appointed the adopted son of Empress Qu, the Fifth Prince (Fuchuan), as the Crown Prince.
Compared to Crown Prince Yuanhe, the new Crown Prince is clearly an extremely difficult and deceitful heir, which immediately caused fear, panic, and even hatred among some courtiers. After all, Crown Prince Yuanhe has always been kind and benevolent and does not seem to be someone who would rebel or commit crimes. The new Crown Prince is also the ultimate beneficiary, and supporters of Crown Prince Yuanhe cannot help but speculate and feel uneasy.
Pei Xiting said calmly, “Third time’s the charm. The crown prince has already given him face. The censor and the crown prince had different ideas; that wasn’t the problem. It’s the censor’s duty to write a letter to advise the ruler. However, he was abandoned because he easily became a knife in the hands of someone with ulterior motives.”
Pei Jintang didn’t quite understand the scheme of the court officials, so he thought for a moment and said, “Is that so… it seems very sensible!”
He sighed again, shook his head, and said with emotion, “Some court officials, especially the older ones, really like to threaten people with their official positions and lives. It’s a pity, His Highness is not the former Crown Prince Yuanhe, so he won’t fall for it.”
“Anyone who dares to do such things as kneeling at the palace gate, banging his head against a pillar, or writing a joint petition to His Highness will never have a good ending.” Zhao Yi poured rose dew wine into Pei Xiting’s empty wine glass. “His Highness is strong-willed and always sticks to his word. How could he tolerate his subjects’ disobedience and coercion?”
Listening to the two people talking, Pei Xiting tried to imagine what Fuchuan, a calm and self-controlled man who never showed his emotions, would look like when he was angry. Would his mask finally crack, or would he become even calmer… In short, with such a face, it must have a great impact.
The waiter brought the roasted rabbit, which was fragrant and crispy. Pei Jintang couldn’t wait to stretch out his claws, but Zhao Yi was obviously much more gentle.
Pei Xiting slowly ate a rabbit leg and paired it with wine. The rose dew was quite refreshing but slightly sweeter.
Pei Jintang and Zhao Yi finished the rabbit all by themselves. Thinking about Pei Xiting, they didn’t continue to sit around. Zhao Yi was teased again when settling the bill and fled away with a red face.
“Come again next time!” Sixteenth Lady leaned against the counter, waved her fan twice, dropping her hand as the curtain fell, the smile slowly fading from her face.
“Which one do you like?” The waiter, who was keeping track of the income with an abacus, asked without raising his head.
Sixteenth Lady asked, “Which one do you think is better?”
“Fourth Zhao is too serious and can’t handle you. Third Pei is too cold, and you can’t handle him.” The waiter said, “Second Pei loves to laugh, is easy to get along with, and most importantly, he likes to eat our rabbits and has great taste.”
“I’m not interested in messing around with those young boys.” Sixteenth Lady retracted her gaze and said softly, “I just can’t believe a decade has flown by so fast.”
The waiter glanced at her inexplicably, was hit with a flirtatious look, and couldn’t help rolling his eyes, and went out to work again.
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