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Chapter 99
Chapter 99: People Left Behind by the World
Translator:TransNEditor:TransN
“Is the City of Wei very far away?”
“It’s close to Kaiping.”
“Where’s Kaiping?”
“It’s very close to the City of Wei.”
“I know it’s around the frontier fortress. But where were you before you went to the frontier fortress?”
“On the mountain.”
“Which mountain?”
“Min Mountain.”
“Is it a tall mountain?”
“Of course.”
“Where were you before you went to Min Mountain?”
“…”
“Where were you?”
“Well, I was too young to remember. I only know that I’m an orphan.”
…
…
Their conversation had to end here for Ning Que’s speech was increasingly inarticulate and his mindset was stubbornly persisting in the chaotic ages. Situ Yilan picked up a wet towel to wipe her forehead with force. She glared at the drunk young man sprawled across the table, wondering what this all meant.
Dewdrop returned just then, having left in the middle of their conversation to attend to something else. Her presence ended the awkward air. She frowned at Ning Que and couldn’t help shaking her head. She helped him up and placed a wet towel on his forehead. She smiled at Situ Yilan and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, “Miss Situ, he can’t hold his liquor well.”
Ning Que woke up muddle-headed before Situ Yilan could laugh at him. He could vaguely feel his face pressed against something cool, soft, and round. Following his instinct, he tightened his arms around the person’s waist and pressed his face even closer, even nudging his head into it.
His evil nudging squeezed Dewdrop’s plump breasts somewhat out of shape. Shyness suddenly came over her, and a rare hint of redness colored translucent jade-like face.
Situ Yilan watched as the closed-eyed Ning Que stretched his indecent hand into Dewdrop’s sleeves and inching toward a certain place. She couldn’t help her annoyance and looked away, covering her forehead and eyes with her hand. She was nevertheless an unmarried noble lady of the Yunhui General’s Residence in Chang’an. She treated fun-seeking in brothels as an elegant activity. Who dared to do something indecent in front of her?
Of course, she knew she was the one who got Ning Que this drunk, so drunk that he was close to losing his consciousness. Perhaps he didn’t even know if what he was hugging was a waist or a willow. Or that he was rubbing was a chest or a big piece of bread. But for an unmarried girl, even if she was known for her boldness in Chang’an, the scene unfolding before her was somewhat unbearable. In a fit of shame and anger, she stood up, dragged Ning Que to his feet, and continued to get him to drink.
Ning Que could vaguely feel someone trying to get him even drunker and resisted. He hung onto Dewdrop’s waist and refused to let go. His hands continued to slither into her sleeves, rubbing her soft and plump belly, and he kept muttering illegible nonsense like how this was better than wine or how he wanted to stop drinking.
Dewdrop giggled, tickled by his touch. She hastily lifted her sleeves to cover her lips and chuckled. “If you continue to touch, I’ll have to charge you.”
Enveloped in her embrace, Ning Que replied in confusion, “I’m now a person with the fortune of 2,000 silver taels. Do you think I’ll worry about that bit of money? If a monk can touch you, why can’t I? So what if we even sleep together?”
This annoyed Dewdrop but she became confused when she heard him mention a monk. She looked up at Situ Yilan who spread her hands and said irritably, “How would I know what is he talking about?”
Situ Yilan grabbed the lapels of Ning Que’s robes and dragged him to her face. She yelled, “Go home quickly, you drunkard! Isn’t someone waiting for you at home?”
Who knew if it was the night wind by the handrail, Situ Yilan’s ruthless shaking, or something in her words that seemed to alert Ning Que. His body stiffened and he gradually opened his listless eyes. He stared at the scenery outside the handrail at night and murmured, “Yeah. There’s someone waiting at home.”
The women exchanged a glance and heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. They didn’t care where Ning Que’s so-called fortune came from at all. They were feeling relief at finally being spared from the company of a poor young master who had suddenly become rich.
Contrary to their expectations, Ning Que swayed as he got to his feet and tore away from Situ Yilan’s hands and gently avoided Dewdrop who wanted to support him by the arm.
He staggered back inside the building. He entered the accounting office, grabbed a writing brush, and tore off a sheet of paper off the account book. He was partially leaning on the side of the table and wrote some illegible cursive figures on the paper. Drunk-eyed, he said, “Send this back to the Lin 47th Street for me.”
Dewdrop approached him to take a closer look, only to see some scrawled words on the paper. The words were written at a skewed angle and scattered everywhere. If she didn’t carefully distinguish each character, she wouldn’t know what he had written…
The note read: “Sangsang, your master is drunk today and won’t be home to sleep. Remember to drink the chicken soup left in the pot.”
…
…
Ning Que was a young man who appeared to be gentle but was a calm and collected person inside. Conscious of his low tolerance for alcohol, he typically only drank with Sangsang. He would rarely allow situations where he would drink excessively and result in situations out of his control. However, today was different. He was so happy that he would’ve felt lost if he didn’t have wine to celebrate.
The joy that came from the deepest corner of his heart had nothing to do with the merrymaking in the brothel or the party with his classmates from the Academy. It was purely because of the messages he had seen on that sheet of thin paper in the old library. In the warm afternoon sunshine, he vaguely found the direction of the door that opened to that wonderful world. He finally saw a glimmer of hope after desperately seeking for it for more than 10 years. Was there any other moment in this world that deserved a drunken celebration more than this one?
Dewdrop couldn’t help chuckling at the Ning Que’s adorable drunken antics. She helped him up by his arm and shook her head. “Don’t drink anymore. I’ll have our driver send you home by carriage later.”
Ning Que gently held her hand, only to find his palm was damp with sweat. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized the logic behind the saying that drunk people have the clearest minds. He squinted to cover up his nervousness and feigned calmness. “I won’t be going home tonight.”
“You’re having a drinking party with your classmates. This isn’t proper.” Dewdrop laughed. “Where’s your dignity?”
The drunk Ning Que replied, “I’m but a little soldier from the frontier fortress. What do I know about dignity? My dear sister, why don’t you let me have a go at it once tonight?”
“Don’t take advantage of your drunkenness to act up, only to regret when you sober up.” Dewdrop chuckled. “When you’re sober, never mind once, I’ll even let you go at it thrice.”
Ning Que squinted and waved repeatedly, laughing. “That won’t do. Then I’ll lose my dignity thrice.”
“I can’t continue listening to this nonsense.” Situ Yilan scowled. She held her forehead, trying to suppress the waves in her stomach that the wine she had consumed was causing. “Ning Que, can’t you pick another day to act up?”
Ning Que barely succeeded finding his footing. He bowed deeply and said, “Miss Situ, it’s you who chose this place. I really don’t have the courage to accompany a girl to a brothel.”
Situ Yilan was speechless for the moment. She glared at him, thinking that if he knew that he was accompanying her to the brothel, he should’ve just listened to songs, watched the Hu dance, and talked about life and art instead of behaving this way.
Fortunately, she didn’t say these words. Otherwise, she might provoke Ning Que’s complaint that the difference between a scholarly girl and an ordinary girl was only in the order of the things that they wanted.
Dewdrop smiled and looked at Ning Que sympathetically. “Ning Que, you seemed to have forgotten something. Mistress Jian had ordered everyone not to entertain you that day. Where can you go and have fun?”
Just then, a proud-looking little maidservant appeared with a bowl of zinnia sobering soup. She was Xiaocao, Mistress Jian’s maidservant. She stared at Ning Que coldly and said, “Mistress Jian said no one is allowed to let him drink anymore. As for you, Ning Que, drink this bowl of sobering soup and take a bath before going upstairs with me. Mistress Jian has something to ask you.”
In novels, a kind of sentence was often used to describe the working style of a master: ‘Quick as a wink, they saw…’ Xiaocao the maidservant was one such example. She spoke like a master and her word was enough to make the other courtesans encourage the Academy students to drink more instead. Ning Que put down his liquor jar dejectedly and fell into silence.
In the time that Ning Que drank the bowl of sobering soup and took a bath, the other students started talking about what had happened. Those who knew Mistress Jian’s identity, in particular, couldn’t help discussing a certain secret of the imperial court as well as a certain legend of the Tang Empire. This made everyone even more curious about what they had witnessed today.
It was still quiet beside the handrail. Situ Yilan and Jin Wucai shared a short conversation before returning to the place again. They stood next to Dewdrop and stared at the popular courtesan of the capital. “Even if Ning Que is lucky enough to impress Mistress Jian, you and Lu Xue don’t have to deliberately gain his favor with your current status. We’re curious why you would so anyway.”
“Ning Que being tricked into entering our brothel is an interesting incident in its own right. That night, Mistress Jian had made it clear that no one was supposed to entertain him. Never mind the ladies from other brothels, none of us would dare to violate her orders here. But he still comes here often. What does this prove?”
Something gleamed in Dewdrop’s eyes as she smiled softly. “This proves that this lad is only here to have an idle chat with us. People like us actually really like having a simple and innocent chat with others.”
Situ Yilan propped her chin up with her palm and leaned against the handrail as if she was deep in thought.
Dewdrop smiled and continued, “We like chatting with him because we can’t be ourselves in our usual conversations. We constantly have to think about trying to make our esteemed customers happy. Ning Que likes chatting with us because he has stress buried in him that can only be eased through these chats. It seems he can only relax in this kind of person and while chatting with our kind of people.”
Situ Yilan frowned, eyes full of curiosity. “What kind of stress can he have?”
“I don’t know what problems Ning Que is facing in his life, but I know there’s something wrong.” Dewdrop’s smile gradually faded and she said sadly, “In your eyes, he’s no more than a quiet and calm lad. It’s only worldly and miserable people like us who can see the melancholy that he hides inside.”
The popular courtesan in Chang’an gently said, “In addition, I’m also an orphan like him.”
Translator:TransNEditor:TransN
“Is the City of Wei very far away?”
“It’s close to Kaiping.”
“Where’s Kaiping?”
“It’s very close to the City of Wei.”
“I know it’s around the frontier fortress. But where were you before you went to the frontier fortress?”
“On the mountain.”
“Which mountain?”
“Min Mountain.”
“Is it a tall mountain?”
“Of course.”
“Where were you before you went to Min Mountain?”
“…”
“Where were you?”
“Well, I was too young to remember. I only know that I’m an orphan.”
…
…
Their conversation had to end here for Ning Que’s speech was increasingly inarticulate and his mindset was stubbornly persisting in the chaotic ages. Situ Yilan picked up a wet towel to wipe her forehead with force. She glared at the drunk young man sprawled across the table, wondering what this all meant.
Dewdrop returned just then, having left in the middle of their conversation to attend to something else. Her presence ended the awkward air. She frowned at Ning Que and couldn’t help shaking her head. She helped him up and placed a wet towel on his forehead. She smiled at Situ Yilan and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, “Miss Situ, he can’t hold his liquor well.”
Ning Que woke up muddle-headed before Situ Yilan could laugh at him. He could vaguely feel his face pressed against something cool, soft, and round. Following his instinct, he tightened his arms around the person’s waist and pressed his face even closer, even nudging his head into it.
His evil nudging squeezed Dewdrop’s plump breasts somewhat out of shape. Shyness suddenly came over her, and a rare hint of redness colored translucent jade-like face.
Situ Yilan watched as the closed-eyed Ning Que stretched his indecent hand into Dewdrop’s sleeves and inching toward a certain place. She couldn’t help her annoyance and looked away, covering her forehead and eyes with her hand. She was nevertheless an unmarried noble lady of the Yunhui General’s Residence in Chang’an. She treated fun-seeking in brothels as an elegant activity. Who dared to do something indecent in front of her?
Of course, she knew she was the one who got Ning Que this drunk, so drunk that he was close to losing his consciousness. Perhaps he didn’t even know if what he was hugging was a waist or a willow. Or that he was rubbing was a chest or a big piece of bread. But for an unmarried girl, even if she was known for her boldness in Chang’an, the scene unfolding before her was somewhat unbearable. In a fit of shame and anger, she stood up, dragged Ning Que to his feet, and continued to get him to drink.
Ning Que could vaguely feel someone trying to get him even drunker and resisted. He hung onto Dewdrop’s waist and refused to let go. His hands continued to slither into her sleeves, rubbing her soft and plump belly, and he kept muttering illegible nonsense like how this was better than wine or how he wanted to stop drinking.
Dewdrop giggled, tickled by his touch. She hastily lifted her sleeves to cover her lips and chuckled. “If you continue to touch, I’ll have to charge you.”
Enveloped in her embrace, Ning Que replied in confusion, “I’m now a person with the fortune of 2,000 silver taels. Do you think I’ll worry about that bit of money? If a monk can touch you, why can’t I? So what if we even sleep together?”
This annoyed Dewdrop but she became confused when she heard him mention a monk. She looked up at Situ Yilan who spread her hands and said irritably, “How would I know what is he talking about?”
Situ Yilan grabbed the lapels of Ning Que’s robes and dragged him to her face. She yelled, “Go home quickly, you drunkard! Isn’t someone waiting for you at home?”
Who knew if it was the night wind by the handrail, Situ Yilan’s ruthless shaking, or something in her words that seemed to alert Ning Que. His body stiffened and he gradually opened his listless eyes. He stared at the scenery outside the handrail at night and murmured, “Yeah. There’s someone waiting at home.”
The women exchanged a glance and heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. They didn’t care where Ning Que’s so-called fortune came from at all. They were feeling relief at finally being spared from the company of a poor young master who had suddenly become rich.
Contrary to their expectations, Ning Que swayed as he got to his feet and tore away from Situ Yilan’s hands and gently avoided Dewdrop who wanted to support him by the arm.
He staggered back inside the building. He entered the accounting office, grabbed a writing brush, and tore off a sheet of paper off the account book. He was partially leaning on the side of the table and wrote some illegible cursive figures on the paper. Drunk-eyed, he said, “Send this back to the Lin 47th Street for me.”
Dewdrop approached him to take a closer look, only to see some scrawled words on the paper. The words were written at a skewed angle and scattered everywhere. If she didn’t carefully distinguish each character, she wouldn’t know what he had written…
The note read: “Sangsang, your master is drunk today and won’t be home to sleep. Remember to drink the chicken soup left in the pot.”
…
…
Ning Que was a young man who appeared to be gentle but was a calm and collected person inside. Conscious of his low tolerance for alcohol, he typically only drank with Sangsang. He would rarely allow situations where he would drink excessively and result in situations out of his control. However, today was different. He was so happy that he would’ve felt lost if he didn’t have wine to celebrate.
The joy that came from the deepest corner of his heart had nothing to do with the merrymaking in the brothel or the party with his classmates from the Academy. It was purely because of the messages he had seen on that sheet of thin paper in the old library. In the warm afternoon sunshine, he vaguely found the direction of the door that opened to that wonderful world. He finally saw a glimmer of hope after desperately seeking for it for more than 10 years. Was there any other moment in this world that deserved a drunken celebration more than this one?
Dewdrop couldn’t help chuckling at the Ning Que’s adorable drunken antics. She helped him up by his arm and shook her head. “Don’t drink anymore. I’ll have our driver send you home by carriage later.”
Ning Que gently held her hand, only to find his palm was damp with sweat. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized the logic behind the saying that drunk people have the clearest minds. He squinted to cover up his nervousness and feigned calmness. “I won’t be going home tonight.”
“You’re having a drinking party with your classmates. This isn’t proper.” Dewdrop laughed. “Where’s your dignity?”
The drunk Ning Que replied, “I’m but a little soldier from the frontier fortress. What do I know about dignity? My dear sister, why don’t you let me have a go at it once tonight?”
“Don’t take advantage of your drunkenness to act up, only to regret when you sober up.” Dewdrop chuckled. “When you’re sober, never mind once, I’ll even let you go at it thrice.”
Ning Que squinted and waved repeatedly, laughing. “That won’t do. Then I’ll lose my dignity thrice.”
“I can’t continue listening to this nonsense.” Situ Yilan scowled. She held her forehead, trying to suppress the waves in her stomach that the wine she had consumed was causing. “Ning Que, can’t you pick another day to act up?”
Ning Que barely succeeded finding his footing. He bowed deeply and said, “Miss Situ, it’s you who chose this place. I really don’t have the courage to accompany a girl to a brothel.”
Situ Yilan was speechless for the moment. She glared at him, thinking that if he knew that he was accompanying her to the brothel, he should’ve just listened to songs, watched the Hu dance, and talked about life and art instead of behaving this way.
Fortunately, she didn’t say these words. Otherwise, she might provoke Ning Que’s complaint that the difference between a scholarly girl and an ordinary girl was only in the order of the things that they wanted.
Dewdrop smiled and looked at Ning Que sympathetically. “Ning Que, you seemed to have forgotten something. Mistress Jian had ordered everyone not to entertain you that day. Where can you go and have fun?”
Just then, a proud-looking little maidservant appeared with a bowl of zinnia sobering soup. She was Xiaocao, Mistress Jian’s maidservant. She stared at Ning Que coldly and said, “Mistress Jian said no one is allowed to let him drink anymore. As for you, Ning Que, drink this bowl of sobering soup and take a bath before going upstairs with me. Mistress Jian has something to ask you.”
In novels, a kind of sentence was often used to describe the working style of a master: ‘Quick as a wink, they saw…’ Xiaocao the maidservant was one such example. She spoke like a master and her word was enough to make the other courtesans encourage the Academy students to drink more instead. Ning Que put down his liquor jar dejectedly and fell into silence.
In the time that Ning Que drank the bowl of sobering soup and took a bath, the other students started talking about what had happened. Those who knew Mistress Jian’s identity, in particular, couldn’t help discussing a certain secret of the imperial court as well as a certain legend of the Tang Empire. This made everyone even more curious about what they had witnessed today.
It was still quiet beside the handrail. Situ Yilan and Jin Wucai shared a short conversation before returning to the place again. They stood next to Dewdrop and stared at the popular courtesan of the capital. “Even if Ning Que is lucky enough to impress Mistress Jian, you and Lu Xue don’t have to deliberately gain his favor with your current status. We’re curious why you would so anyway.”
“Ning Que being tricked into entering our brothel is an interesting incident in its own right. That night, Mistress Jian had made it clear that no one was supposed to entertain him. Never mind the ladies from other brothels, none of us would dare to violate her orders here. But he still comes here often. What does this prove?”
Something gleamed in Dewdrop’s eyes as she smiled softly. “This proves that this lad is only here to have an idle chat with us. People like us actually really like having a simple and innocent chat with others.”
Situ Yilan propped her chin up with her palm and leaned against the handrail as if she was deep in thought.
Dewdrop smiled and continued, “We like chatting with him because we can’t be ourselves in our usual conversations. We constantly have to think about trying to make our esteemed customers happy. Ning Que likes chatting with us because he has stress buried in him that can only be eased through these chats. It seems he can only relax in this kind of person and while chatting with our kind of people.”
Situ Yilan frowned, eyes full of curiosity. “What kind of stress can he have?”
“I don’t know what problems Ning Que is facing in his life, but I know there’s something wrong.” Dewdrop’s smile gradually faded and she said sadly, “In your eyes, he’s no more than a quiet and calm lad. It’s only worldly and miserable people like us who can see the melancholy that he hides inside.”
The popular courtesan in Chang’an gently said, “In addition, I’m also an orphan like him.”
Nightfall
Updated to Chapter 1099 - Eyes Red
100Chapter 100
101Chapter 101
102Chapter 102
103Chapter 103
104Chapter 104
105Chapter 105
106Chapter 106
107Chapter 107
108Chapter 108
109Chapter 109
110Chapter 110
111Chapter 111
112Chapter 112
113Chapter 113
114Chapter 114
115Chapter 115
116Chapter 116
117Chapter 117
118Chapter 118
119Chapter 119
120Chapter 120
121Chapter 121
122Chapter 122
123Chapter 123
124Chapter 124
125Chapter 125
126Chapter 126
127Chapter 127
128Chapter 128
129Chapter 129
130Chapter 130
131Chapter 131
132Chapter 132
133Chapter 133
134Chapter 134
135Chapter 135
136Chapter 136
137Chapter 137
138Chapter 138
139Chapter 139
140Chapter 140
141Chapter 141
142Chapter 142
143Chapter 143
144Chapter 144
145Chapter 145
146Chapter 146
147Chapter 147
148Chapter 148
149Chapter 149
150Chapter 150
151Chapter 151
152Chapter 152
153Chapter 153
154Chapter 154
155Chapter 155
156Chapter 156
157Chapter 157
158Chapter 158
159Chapter 159
160Chapter 160
161Chapter 161
162Chapter 162
163Chapter 163
164Chapter 164
165Chapter 165
166Chapter 166
167Chapter 167
168Chapter 168
169Chapter 169
170Chapter 170
171Chapter 171
172Chapter 172
173Chapter 173
174Chapter 174
175Chapter 175
176Chapter 176
177Chapter 177
178Chapter 178
179Chapter 179
180Chapter 180
181Chapter 181
182Chapter 182
183Chapter 183
184Chapter 184
185Chapter 185
186Chapter 186
187Chapter 187
188Chapter 188
189Chapter 189
190Chapter 190
191Chapter 191
192Chapter 192
193Chapter 193
194Chapter 194
195Chapter 195
196Chapter 196
197Chapter 197
198Chapter 198
199Chapter 199
200Chapter 200
201Chapter 201
202Chapter 202
203Chapter 203
204Chapter 204
205Chapter 205
206Chapter 206
207Chapter 207
208Chapter 208
209Chapter 209
210Chapter 210
211Chapter 211
212Chapter 212
213Chapter 213
214Chapter 214
215Chapter 215
216Chapter 216
217Chapter 217
218Chapter 218
219Chapter 219
220Chapter 220
221Chapter 221
222Chapter 222
223Chapter 223
224Chapter 224
225Chapter 225
226Chapter 226
227Chapter 227
228Chapter 228
229Chapter 229
230Chapter 230
231Chapter 231
232Chapter 232
233Chapter 233
234Chapter 234
235Chapter 235
236Chapter 236
237Chapter 237
238Chapter 238
239Chapter 239
240Chapter 240
241Chapter 241
242Chapter 242
243Chapter 243
244Chapter 244
245Chapter 245
246Chapter 246
247Chapter 247
248Chapter 248
249Chapter 249
250Chapter 250
251Chapter 251
252Chapter 252
253Chapter 253
254Chapter 254
255Chapter 255
256Chapter 256
257Chapter 257
258Chapter 258
259Chapter 259
260Chapter 260
261Chapter 261
262Chapter 262
263Chapter 263
264Chapter 264
265Chapter 265
266Chapter 266
267Chapter 267
268Chapter 268
269Chapter 269
270Chapter 270
271Chapter 271
272Chapter 272
273Chapter 273
274Chapter 274
275Chapter 275
276Chapter 276
277Chapter 277
278Chapter 278
279Chapter 279
280Chapter 280
281Chapter 281
282Chapter 282
283Chapter 283
284Chapter 284
285Chapter 285
286Chapter 286
287Chapter 287
288Chapter 288
289Chapter 289
290Chapter 290
291Chapter 291
292Chapter 292
293Chapter 293
294Chapter 294
295Chapter 295
296Chapter 296
297Chapter 297
298Chapter 298
299Chapter 299
300Chapter 300
301Chapter 301
302Chapter 302
363Chapter 363
374Chapter 374
375Chapter 375
376Chapter 376
452Chapter 452
485Chapter 485
487Chapter 487
489Chapter 489
499Chapter 499
500Chapter 500
526Chapter 526
528Chapter 528
529Chapter 529
535Chapter 535
552Chapter 552
558Chapter 558
559Chapter 559
563Chapter 563
578Chapter 578
596Chapter 596
598Chapter 598
606Chapter 606
611Chapter 611
622Chapter 622
623Chapter 623
635Chapter 635
642Chapter 642
643Chapter 643
664Chapter 664
712Chapter 712
763Chapter 763
764Chapter 764
881Chapter 881
921Chapter 921
929Chapter 929
1035Chapter 1034.1
1085Chapter 1084
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