Chapter 11
For several days on end, the battle between Xu Zhengtian and Tian Cheng circulated through the Xu family. Naturally, Xu Zhengtian was praised for his powerful cultivation base, and for suppressing Tian Cheng, while scolding Tian Cheng at the same time for his insolence and arrogance in the Xu family.
Xu Ziqing remained in Baicao Garden, but he heard a lot from people who came and went to take medicine.
Recently, Old Man He slowly entrusted him with some simple maintenance of the spiritual herbs, which was nothing more than sprinkling water, cultivating soil, and removing insects from fixed types of spiritual herbs, but it made Xu Ziqing very happy.
In the afternoon that day, Old Man He went to retire for the night and asked Xu Ziqing to see to the garden. Xu Ziqing, who didn’t have to recite the medicine book, went happily to patrol and inspect the garden.
Not long after, someone came into the garden with a spiritual tablet, a good few small and irregular noises coming from the distance.
“Ziluo-jiejie1, I heard you’ve already broken through the third layer of Qi Refinement! Won’t you be able to enter Feijiu Mountain soon? That’s really amazing!” A girl’s crisp voice came.
Xu Ziqing slightly tilted his head, feeling the voice sounded familiar but didn’t care too much. He just pulled out a kerchief and wiped the mud from his hands, so as to not be rude.
Another female voice came, “The elder in charge said that I’ll enter the ancestral hall in a few days. At that time, I’ll place my heart blood in the jade seal so when I go out in the future, I can get help from the clan at any time.” There was arrogance in her voice, “After I was introduced to Feijiu Mountain, I saw the pill resources were several times higher than those of the three courtyards. You are very attentive to me, so I will definitely not forget your share.”
The previous girl hurriedly said with joy: “Xiaomei2 thanks Ziluo-jiejie!”
The woman named Ziluo laughed a few times, seeming proud of herself.
Then the girl lowered her voice again and asked mysteriously, “Ziluo-jiejie, have you heard that the Patriarch of the Tian family confronted our Patriarch because of a marriage?”
Xu Ziluo’s voice raised a little higher, “Marriage? ”
The girl whispered, “Exactly. It’s said that the Patriarch of the Tian family proposed that his legitimate son3, Tian Liang, marry our Xu Zitang-jiejie on Feijiu Mountain. As a result, he was rebuffed by the Patrarich and flew into a rage.”
Hearing this Xu Ziluo seemed very displeased, “Even Young Master Tian dislikes it, what else does Xu Zitang want? What a pretense! A while ago, Young Master Tian accompanied her around and even gave her a magic tool, but she is so insatiable!”
The girl seemed a little frightened of Xu Ziluo’s fury, but after a pause, she smiled, “Ziluo-jiejie is right. The way Xiaomei sees it is that Young Master Tian is too good for Xu Zitang. The best match for Young Master Tian is still Ziluo-jiejie!”
Xu Ziluo seemed a bit pleased so her tone relaxed, “You could say.” She then sighed again, “But the Patriarch has torn faces with the Tian family because of Xu Zitang. I have no fate with Young Master Tian…”
When the girl heard Xu Ziluo’s words, she sighed a few times, then made a show of being indignant and said, “Xu Zitang just relied on her good brother. Ziluo-jiejie’s qualification is much higher than hers! Xiaomei believes that Ziluo-jiejie will soon be able to establish her foundation, then even the Patriarch can’t underestimate her! At that time, fate with Young Master Tian…”
Xu Ziluo said displeased, “Zishu-meimei1, you truly have a clever mouth.”
The two muttered to each other, but because they were already in Baicao Garden, their words all fell into Xu Ziqing’s ears. Xu Ziqing shook his head, looked upon himself, hung his eyes on the field, and pretended he hadn’t heard anything.
Xu Zishu and Xu Ziluo were talking about it when they suddenly noticed that they had already walked in and grew silent. When Xu Ziluo saw that Xu Ziqing was unfamiliar, she asked, “Are you a new worker?”
Xu Ziqing replied gently, “Yes, what type of spiritual herb would you two like?”
Xu Zishu quickly recognized Xu Ziqing, and as always thought he wasn’t pleasing to look at. Because of the existence of Xu Ziqing, their family didn’t seem so righteous. Especially after Xu Ziqing returned home and was given a small courtyard of his own. It made especially her, a legitimate daughter who had always been held by the palm of her hand, unhappy. But in any case, Xu Ziqing was also a legitimate son of her father’s branch of the family. She was a person of the second branch, as well as younger, and had to respect seniority, so she can only satirize him behind his back. Until she got to the main clan, where she was of the lower-middle qualification, and Xu Ziqing was of the lower-low. At just the starting point, she was already surpassing him, which made her mood suddenly relax a bit.
Now she, Xu Zishu, was already a distinguished person who could enter Feijiu Mountain, but Xu Ziqing could only be a pitiful worker in Baicao Garden, which made her even more pleased.
Xu Ziluo’s impression of Xu Ziqing was not bad. It was the same reason as to why, regardless of whether they were a cultivator or a vulgar person, those who were good-looking had the advantage against the opposite sex. Xu Ziqing was still a teenager, and he hadn’t grown yet, but his features were gentle, and he was neither arrogant nor impetuous. It was Tian Liang that Xu Ziluo was attracted to, but she did appreciate his appearance.
Xu Zishu also knew Xu Ziluo well, but she couldn’t let Xu Ziqing climb on her. Otherwise, if Xu Ziluo brings him away, won’t he become a sharp thorn choking her throat? So she stepped forward and said coldly, “What kind of person is Ziluo-jiejie? How can you be so indifferent?”
Xu Ziluo had a favorable impression of Xu Ziqing, but hearing Xu Zishu’s words, her arrogance was also aroused. She came to ask for spiritual herbs, but unexpectedly this young worker didn’t seem humble at all. Was it because he didn’t attach any importance to her?
Xu Ziqing was not a mediocre person either. He could feel Xu Zishu’s hostility towards him, and felt a jolt in his heart, remembering that there was such a female voice taunting him from outside when he was in Xu’s separate courtyard. Now it seemed that it was Xu Zishu. Originally, he merely thought this was a young girl, and he was a man of two worlds, so he shouldn’t lower himself to the same level as her. But now she was in the main clan, yet still didn’t forget to find trouble with him. Especially when he heard the conversation between the two women before, he knew that Xu Ziluo’s temperament was very bad. Xu Zishu was instigating disharmony in her presence, and it really couldn’t be said that ‘the little girl was ignorant’.
As expected, Xu Ziluo said angrily, “You odd-job worker, you dare to look down on me like this!”
Xu Ziqing sighed in his heart. He had come into contact with many people these days, and he had seen many unreasonable people. In this case, it was useless to argue and was best to keep silent. He took a step back and said, “Ziqing doesn’t dare.”
But what Xu Ziqing didn’t expect was that Xu Ziluo wasn’t so easy to take care of. The most of those he encountered before were just verbally offensive in order to vent their anger, none were hands-on. But this Xu Ziluo took Xu Ziqing’s concession as tacit consent to send a lightning-quick attack with her palm!
“You rude boy, I’ll give you a face to look at!” Xu Ziluo reprimanded angrily, putting forth three points of exertion. She didn’t want to kill anyone. She was actually somewhat afraid of Old Man He here, but she wanted Xu Ziqing to have a taste of suffering.
Xu Ziqing dodged sideways, but he was just a rookie who hadn’t even gotten his spirit source. How could he avoid Xu Ziluo’s thunderous blow? Immediately, he was hit on the shoulder.
A scorching force penetrated through his skin, painful to the bone. Xu Ziqing’s face turned white with pain, beads of sweat on his forehead rolling down. However, he really prided himself on being a man, and even if he was in severe pain, he had no intention of doubling over. He just supported himself strenuously.
Xu Zishu saw Xu Ziqing’s messy appearance and a light flashed in her eyes. Directly after, she held Xu Ziluo’s arm and said with a charming smile, “Ziluo-jiejie is so powerful! This use of spiritual power is truly very clever!”
Xu Ziluo was impulsive, and after hurting Xu Ziqing, it was not without any regrets, especially when she thought of the withdrawn and surly Old Man He, she couldn’t help but frown. But after hearing Xu Zishu’s compliment, she didn’t think it was anything. She was about to go to Feijiu Mountain anyway, even if Old Man He didn’t give her any good spiritual herbs, so what? There were plenty of resources on Feijiu Mountain, she didn’t need this!
Thinking to that point, her little regret also completely disappeared. She only let out a cold hum, “I’ll come here again in the future, and if I see you so sly like this again, watch your life carefully!”
Xu Ziluo’s temper was very strange. Previously, when she thought Xu Ziqing was pleasing to the eye, she felt that he was well-born, but now that he was not pleasing to the eye, he was sly.
Xu Ziqing grit his teeth, endured the pain very reluctantly, and did not answer. He was kind, but he would not allow people to bully and humiliate him. When Xu Ziluo spoke to this point, was it possible for him to yield and go along with it?!
Seeing that he was so unruly, Xu Ziluo’s fury burst out again, and she raised her palm to hit him again—at that moment, a man hurriedly rushed in from outside Baicao Garden and quickly blocked Xu Ziluo’s arm.
“Miss Ziluo, please don’t get angry.” The man’s appearance was not very outstanding, but his aura was peaceful, and he could make people feel at ease. He blocked Xu Ziluo’s attack this time, and continued to advise, “After all, this place is Baicao Garden, and the Patriarch also attaches great importance to it.”
Xu Ziluo was startled, then slowly put down her hand, and said, “I don’t need you to look after me.”
The man’s eyes dimmed, and he retracted his hand, then went to support Xu Ziqing, and injected a burst of spiritual power into his body. This time, it was to resolve the spiritual power that hurt him.
Xu Ziqing only felt a warm air current smooth out his meridians, causing the stabbing pain to disappear in an instant.
“…Thank you very much.” Taking a deep breath, Xu Ziqing smiled faintly at the man.
The man was taken aback for a moment, and then he also gave a light smile, with a somewhat honest look: “Don’t mention it, we were in the wrong originally. ”
Indeed in the wrong, not this man, but Xu Ziluo. Xu Ziqing’s heart was clear about that. But he could also see that the man was very concerned about Xu Ziluo, so he didn’t say much.
Xu Ziluo looked at the man’s actions with a trace of disdain in her eyes and did not look to Xu Ziqing to take any spiritual herbs, but instead turned and took Xu Zishu to leave. There was a smile on Xu Zishu’s lips. If there was an opportunity in the future, she would bring people around now and again to have another bout.
When the two women left, Xu Ziqing was supported by the man and stood firm. He dusted the dirt off his body and asked with a smile, “I’m Xu Ziqing, I don’t know your excellency’s4 name?”
When the man smiled, his ordinary appearance made people feel comfortable, “My name is Zhuang Wei. Ziqing-xiongdi5, nice to meet you.”
Footnotes
1, In this novel I’ll be using pinyin for certain terms of addresses, -jiejie, and -jie are the addresses for big sister; elder sister; older sister, and in some cases -dajie (meaning eldest big sister) will be used. A note to keep in mind is that addressing someone as sister, brother, uncle, aunt, etc., does not mean they are related. They can also be used for friends, neighbors, and even strangers. It’s possible that the speaker is just being polite or affectionate by using these terms.
Another off note is the usage of ‘Zi’ in many of these names. It is confusing sometimes if you don’t pay attention to the second character of the name because of this usage so far. First, I must make it clear that two different ‘Zi’s have been used. Xu Ziluo, Xu Zitang, and Xu Zifeng (Xu Zitang’s brother) ‘Zi’ character is ‘紫’ which stands for ‘purple’. Xu Ziqing (our MC) and Xu Zishu’s ‘Zi’ character is ‘子’ which stands for ‘son; child’. My assumption is the usage of generational names. A generational name is one of the characters in a traditional Chinese given name and is so-called because each member of a generation (i.e. siblings and paternal cousins of the same generation) share that character. To save another spiel, here is a LINK to more about generation names if you’re interested.
2, Xiaomei, again, is a term of address. -meimei, and -mei mean little sister; younger sister. In this case, Xiao is not her name, but another address that means ‘small/young’. It’s appended to a person’s given name to show familiarity & affection when calling them. Or in this case, is signifying that she is calling herself a ‘littlest little sister’, much like how -dajie is ‘eldest big sister’.
Second of all, yes, she is speaking in the third person. This is very common and you will continue to see it.
3, A legitimate son, the previous translator merely used its pinyin form ‘Di’. A Di son, is a son born of the first wife and is considered legitimate because of it. As for ‘Nie’ it means concubine-born son. A concubine-born son does not normally get the same privileges as a legitimate son. Instead of using, ‘Di’ and ‘Nie’ I will simply translate them as legitimate and concubine-born.
4, Your Excellency is the best way to translate it and is what the dictionary gave me. It’s also similar to saying ‘Your Lordship’. It’s basically just a respectful way to address someone.
5, -xiongdi, brother.