“You should call me elder brother.”
The excitement did not die down as it was finally the fifteenth day of the first month. The liveliness of Lunar New Year has persisted to this day. Before the red silk decorations around the palace could be removed, people already started to beat the gong and drum outside of the palace as everyone flocked the streets to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
Soon after sunfall酉時 - between 5 to 7 pm., the sky still contained some blue. A young eunuch from the Yangxin Palace Hall entered Zhongling Palace. First he knelt down and saluted, then he got up and said, “Gongzi, his Majesty requested for you to change into commoner’s clothes and go to the Vermillion Bird Gate朱雀門 Because this gate is one of the four mythological creature and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. I decided to keep them as English. Vermillion Bird guards the West. . His Majesty will be waiting for you in the carriage.”
Wei Lian paused and said, “All right.”
The young eunuch bowed again, turned and dismissed himself.
Wei Lian indeed had to change his clothes. White was not an auspicious colour in the Qin Empire. He could not attract attention going onto the streets, especially with people flooding them in celebration.
But Wei Lian obviously overlooked one thing. This had nothing to do with the colour of his clothes. His face alone was enough to draw everyone’s attention.
He inspected the row of colourful and gorgeous palace clothes sent by the female minister and was trapped in a dilemma. “Chang Shou, which one do you think is the closest to commoner’s attire?”
Chang Shou uttered, “...Gongzi, this servant thinks any of these are nowhere near close to commoner’s attire.”
Chang Sheng beside suggested, “Gongzi, we have some plain clothes among the luggage we brought from the Chu Empire.”
“Oh, that’s right!” Chang Shou slapped his forehead. “I remember now. Gongzi, this servant will find the clothes out now.”
Chang Shou soon brought over a big box and took out all the clothes inside. Wei Lian glanced at them and picked up a light green cheongsam embroidered with bamboo in the colour of green jade. He went around the folding screen to change into it.
When he finished, he came out from behind the folding screen. Chang Shou’s eyes and as well as his mouth widened slightly.
Wei Lian had always dressed in white. He was as pure as an immortal, without any contact with human suffering. But he had descended into this mortal world as soon as he changed into the green outfit, like an elegant monk who came out of flourishing woods and tall bamboo, as well as a modest gentleman with skin as lustrous as jade and figure as slender as bamboo.
“Little fool, are you dumbstruck?” Wei Lian raised his eyebrows in amusement.
Chang Shou came back to his senses and murmured, “Gongzi is really…too good-looking.”
“I’m happy to know you think so highly of this Gongzi.” Wei Lian teased him, “Always surprising our little Chang Shou who could never gets accustomed to my appearance even after a decade.”
Chang Shou blushed. “Gongzi, please don’t make fun of this servant.”
“All right, I need to go now.” Wei Lian said, “Better not have a certain someone get any more anxious waiting for me.”
Chang Shou was stunned and hurriedly asked, “Is Gongzi not taking us?”
He and Chang Sheng were Gongzi’s close attendants. Wei Lian would always take them wherever he went.
Wei Lian replied, “Not this time.”
Without giving a reason, he left Zhongling Palace.
Chang Shou stayed where he was standing and watched Wei Lian’s departure. After a long time, he sighed, “Why do I get the feeling that Gongzi is in a hurry to meet up with a lover?”
Chang Sheng corrected with a cold face, “What lover? Gongzi is going to meet with the Qin Emperor.”
Chang Shou’s expression turned bitter instantly. “That’s right, Gongzi is going to meet the King of the Underworld.”
By the time Wei Lian reached the Vermillion Bird Gate on foot, the sky had become darker. A simple carriage was parked quietly at the palace gate.
Simple as in only relatively speaking. What all the emperors ride on are always an ostentatious display of luxury. This carriage was very low-key and unremarkable compared to the other imperial carriage in the palace. Outside the palace, it would only be seen as a carriage that only large and rich families could afford.
As a knowledgeable and sharp individual, Wei Lian could tell at a glance that the carriage was built from yellow rosewood, a material that could not be bought for even a thousand in gold. The curtain was made from expensive brocade, and even the horses were fine steeds with the purest breeding that were known to run for ten thousand li里 Unit of measurement and also known as Chinese mile. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about one third of an English mile, and now has a standardised length of half-kilometre (500m). .
On the surface, it was low-key, but he did not know how heavily and luxuriously the inside was decorated. The Qin Emperor would never cheap out on his own enjoyment.
“Why aren’t you coming in? How long are you going to make us wait for?” A deep voice came from behind the curtain.
Wei Lian collected his thoughts and stepped on the carriage. He was shocked when he opened the curtain.
The interior of the carriage was very spacious and comfy, more than enough room to accommodate two men. The beautiful man inside raised his eyes lazily with his pair of slender sharp eyes, charming enough to hook anyone’s soul.
…The other man was actually dressed in red.
The dignified black robe that symbolised the Emperor was replaced. The young man seemed to be just an unrestrained young master of some family, with a beautiful appearance and extraordinary presence.
Wei Lian really felt that if Ji Yue was not the Qin Emperor, he would certainly become the leading male courtesan in a small establishment, with guests visiting from all seven lands.
After a moment in a trance, Wei Lian quickly sat down like nothing was wrong and praised, “Your Majesty…dressed very festively today.”
This was the first thing he said after not having met the other man for more than half a month. A very normal sentence.
As if that day had never happened.
“It is natural to look the part when celebrating the Lantern Festival. We would never have a good time today if we went out wearing black.”
In the Qin Empire, black meant respect, and only the Emperor could wear black clothing. They did not plan to reveal their identities outside the palace today, if Ji Yue was to wear black, they would be met with kneeling people the whole way.
After Ji Yue finished, he studied Wei Lian and snorted lightly, “It’s decent.”
On the contrary, he was thinking about how beautiful Wei Lian was.
Ji Yue found that he was neither into men nor women. He just could not resist Wei Lian’s beauty.
The younger man was indeed the peerless beauty with no second one alive.
The carriage travelled out of the palace and to the city centre.
“Later, do not call us your Majesty or else you will expose our identity.” Ji Yue ordered.
Wei Lian asked, “Then how should this subject address you?”
Ji Yue made up a lie, “We are the son of an official family, and you are our servant.”
Wei Lian asked seriously, “Is there such a servant that is as good-looking as this subject?”
“...” Not really. With Wei Lian’s temperament, he could never be mistaken as a servant.
Ji Yue agreed as well. After pondering over it, he changed, “Then you are the youngest son in the family. We were the elder brother兄長 I usually would use the pinyin here, but the word, 兄長 or xiong zhang, is a very formal and ancient way of saying elder brother. So this word will be elder brother, as for the other addressing… who accompanied you out to play.”
Wei Lian nodded. “Yes, your Majesty.”
Ji Yue corrected, “You should call us elder brother.”
Wei Lian changed address, “Yes, elder brother.”
He brought up another question, “Should my elder brother also change his self-address?”
He changed how he addressed the other man. If the Qin Emperor continued to call himself using the ‘royal we’, wouldn’t that mean his efforts were useless?
“We…” Ji Yue coughed. “I take your point.”
When he used the word ‘I’, Ji Yue suddenly had this indescribable feeling.
He hadn’t said that word for a very long time.
As the Emperor, no one could be on equal footing with him, and no one could make him call himself with ‘I’.
How he addressed himself not only symbolised his identity but also doomed his solitude孤獨 So this is a big translation contradiction that I did. Gu (孤) is how Ji Yue address himself, which means lone or solitude. It’s an ‘I’ in big, fat, bold letters in a sense. But there is not a good way to translate the word unless Gu is included with every address or the word is stylized (which is pretty hard to spot a stylized I imo). I borrowed the ‘royal we’ from Europeans to make this translator’s life easier.
And this editor's!.
Wei Lian asked with a smile, “Elder brother, do you have enough silver for our outing this time?”
He added, “There are so many things that I want to buy.”
He had begun to play his role.
Entering into his character pretty quickly.
Ji Yue glanced at him, “What silver? What the commoner uses are copper coins.”
Ordinary folks spend only a few silver coins a year. How would the small street vendors do business with silver? Could they even give enough change?
Wei Lian was surprised. “Elder brother sure is very knowledgeable.”
The Chu Emperor was different. There was one time when he mingled with the people incognito. When he saw a roadside beggar picking up a cold steamed bun that even wild dogs refused from the ground, he was surprised and asked his attendant, “Why is he eating that? Why not eat other food?”
The attendant replied, “There is no other food.”
The Chu Emperor was even more surprised. “Then why doesn’t he eat meat?”
To be a sovereign emperor who could be so oblivious to other people’s plight and even ask such a question could only be labelled as an incapable ruler. In the Chu Emperor’s mind, there was only gold, while silver was worthless, don’t even mention copper, which he probably never seemed before.
“We are the Qin Emperor, as such we are the Empire. How could we not know the suffering of our people.” Ji Yue gave him a ‘you inexperienced and ignorant person’ look. “You underestimated us too much.”
“Yes, indeed, your Majesty is a wise ruler.” Wei Lian chuckled. “But your Majesty forgot again that you are not the Qin Emperor tonight.”
He blinked, “You’re my elder brother.”
Ji Yue’s heart skipped a beat and he quickly changed the topic, “What is your courtesy name?”
Wei Lian went quiet.
Ji Yue said, “I still don’t know what your courtesy name is.”
As the Qin Emperor, Ji Yue’s courtesy name was naturally known throughout the land—Yungui.
Wei Lian had no reputation. Of course very few people knew of his courtesy name.
Generally, men received their courtesy name at the age of twenty, but the imperial family had noble status, therefore, they were given their courtesy name at birth. If an emperor did not place value on his child, one of the twelve high ranked ministers would give one and be recorded in the imperial genealogy book.
One thing to mention here. Two hundred years ago, the world was not divided and it was unified and ruled by the Qi Dynasty. At the end of the previous dynasty, the Qi Imperial Household was incompetent and weak, and the disputes among the princes gradually led to the seven empires today.
At first, the strength between the seven empires were equal. No one was perfectly legitimate and did not dare to take the lead in claiming the Heavenly Emperor title帝 So what the other emperors had been addressing themselves as is wang (王) or king, which I translated into emperor. Di (帝) also means emperor as well as God of Heaven. So I added 'heavenly' to increase the hierarchy between wang and di., but become just emperor independently. The princes seem to have reached a consensus that whoever could unify the seven lands would become the next and real Heavenly Emperor.
But outside of their expectation, more than two centuries had passed, there were ambitions in each emperors’ hearts, but none of them had this ability to unify the lands. The Chu royal household changed their genealogical record to ‘imperial’ and not ‘royal王家 I was doing research and it sounded like the imperial title holds more power over royal title, same as emperor vs king. So I translated ‘princely’ into royal.’, which was self-evident.
Every emperor thought of themselves as the ruler of all lands. They dared not claim to be a Heavenly Emperor on the surface, but thought of themselves as the only Heavenly Emperor.
But no one could annihilate their other six enemies.
Until Ji Yue appeared one day and beat the six empires so hard that none of them could climb back up.
Although he never called himself the Heavenly Emperor, he had already obtained that powerful image.
Wei Lian’s private name to the other was ‘dog-of-an Emperor ', which was very much an insult, but he also recognized Ji Yue’s strength.
He admired the Qin Emperor’s ability.
But that did not stop him from cursing the other as a dog.
For example, like now, when the Qin Emperor asked about his courtesy name, Wei Lian cursed the other by that name again.
Mentioning the pot that does not boil. Why must the other touch on his sore spot?
Wei Lian said slowly, “There’s nothing special about my courtesy name.”
Yuzhi, Yuzhi, does this name sound any different from servant girls named Yuhuan or Yuzhu?
None!
He would not say it even if he was beaten to death.
Ji Yue raised his eyebrow. “But I really want to know.”
Wei Lian replied, “No, no you don’t.”
The more Wei Lian concealed, the more curious Ji Yue became. He leaned back leisurely and speculated, “If you are not willing to say it, then I will guess. What courtesy name is so embarrassing that you refuse to say it?”
Wei Lian: You are right about that.
Ji Yue really began to guess, “Could it be Cui Cui翠翠 Two of the same character, green jade colour. Readers will start to see a pattern.?”
Wei Lian: “???”
What kind of name is Cui Cui?
“No?” Ji Yue saw the question mark across the other’s face and pondered again. “Then Lan Lan藍藍 Two of the same character, green jade colour. ?”
Wei Lian: “...”
Was the Qin Emperor really using his brain to come out with these names?
“Still no?” Ji Yue thought more deeply this time, then his eyes lit up after a long time. “I know, Hong Hong紅紅 Two of the same character, red colour..”
Wei Lian: “...”
Gosh darn ancestor Hong Hong.
While the older man thought this was a great name and was very satisfied. “That’s final. You will be called Hong Hong from now on. Hong Hong, what do you think of your courtesy name?”
Wei Lian said expressionlessly, “My courtesy name is Yuzhi.”
After a pause, he added, “From the meaning of ‘orchids and jade trees’.”
Thanks to the Qin Emperor, Yuzhi sounded much more pleasing to his ears than Hong Hong.
Ji Yue was slightly surprised. “Zhi Zhi?”
Wei Lian stressed, “Yu, Zhi.”
Ji Yue followed suit and said, “All right, Zhi Zhi, we are here.”
Seeing Wei Lian at a loss for words, Ji Yue was very happy.
After suffering so many defeats, he finally won one round.
It was not clear when the carriage had stopped, but the noises outside vaguely entered into the carriage.
Wei Lian opened the window curtain for a glance and suddenly said, “Gege哥哥 Older brother. Yes, this address will be pinyin o(*°▽°*)o Ji Yue is a good gege.
Sahl - I love gege - it's so cute! uwu, let’s go.”
Ji Yue was completely dumbfounded.
Wha-what did he just call us?
The young man in red sat in the carriage in a daze.
Once he recollected his thoughts, Wei Lian had already gotten out of the carriage.
Gege~ hrhrhr. That was a crit hit, eh? xDD
What a nightmare if only one person out there is allowed to wear black! Most of my clothes are black or various shades of grey x’D
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)