Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Transmigration with QQ Farm ch 2.2 - Farming Dimension

"Xiao Xiao, what's the matter?" Mrs. Cheng had noticed the sudden change in her daughter.

Her siblings who were just about to start eating looked at her after hearing what their mother had said. Cheng Xiao Xiao couldn't possibly explain to them, "Mom, you start eating, I will be back!"

She didn't wait for Mrs. Cheng's response before she went back inside her own house.

"What is up with her?" Mrs. Cheng was a bit worried, but looking at the three starving kids in front of her, she said to them, "Start eating, save a bun for your older sister!"

Black Belly Wife ch 27.2 - Robber's Bargain

The group arrived at the only motel inside Jingbian Town -- Xiao Yue Motel. Right when they stepped inside, they heard boisterous cheering from upstairs. Murong Yun Shu frowned. She walked upstairs reluctantly, hoping the noises would stop before she turn in.

The higher she went, the clearer the sound. Her eyes sparkled and she slowed her steps. After she reached the second floor, she paused for a bit before she walked towards an empty table closed to a window.

"Mistress! It's the grandfather / grandchild duo!" shouted Lu'er.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Transmigration with QQ Farm ch 2.1 - Farming Dimension

T/N: I hope y'all like this story. I know it doesn't have a lot of the common elements of a transmigration novel, but I think it's a cute story. :) It didn't have very high rating on Novelupdates.com. :'( But haters are always going to hate, hate, hate, hate. I still insist that it is a very cute story. It's a fast read and relatively easy to translate. :D

***

Why did dad got beaten up, the younger brothers and sister couldn't answer. Cheng Xiao Xiao was too scared to ask mom, who'd been crying all day long every day.

The most important beam of the house had collapsed, and Mrs. Cheng had been crying day in and day out. The four siblings had been doing everything that they could muster.

Black Belly Wife ch 27.1 - Robber's Bargain

The sky was clear, the sun was beating down high from the sky. It was already the beginning of fall but the weather was still hot, especially when you were sitting inside a horse-drawn carriage without much ventilation. It was stuffy. Murong Yun Shun pulled out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat off her forehand. Then lifted up her skirt, half crouching, she moved outside to sit next to the coachman.

"Eh, miss, how come you are out here?" The coachman had never sat next to the miss as though they were "equals" and were very flattered by this.

"It was hot inside. Need  breather."

Friday, October 26, 2018

Transmigration with QQ Farm ch 1.2 - Transmigration

"Xiao Xiao, are you okay? Don't scare your own mother. Tell me where are you not feeling well!"

Her worried expression, her concerned voice, she sounded very sincere. Cheng Xiao Xiao sillily called her, "Mom, I...."

"Big sister, how come you passed out all of a sudden? Mom and us were truly scared!" A little boy around the age of twelve said to her.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 26.2 - Soul Locker

Time flew and a month went by in the blink of an eye. During this month, Murong Yun Shu delegated all matters related to "currency reform" to Manager Qian and Nie Qing. She focused all her energy on medicine and had pretty much became Feng Cheng's last disciple. When she walked on the street with a medicine bag, she could almost pass as a doctor.

"You should just wear that jade pendant. Even though it couldn't cure you of the Soul Snatcher, but it could slow down it's effect."

"I've heard that the jade pendant has a ying counter piece, have you seen it before?" Murong Yun Shu put down the book in her hands and asked suddenly asked Feng Cheng a random question.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Transmigration with QQ Farm ch 1.1 - Transmigration

"Steal, steal, steal, stealable, very steal. He steals, you steal, I steal, steal steal steal, everybody steals. One, two, three, four, all steal. Steal in the day, steal at night, every moment steal steal steal. I am stealing, I enjoy stealing. Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk, nonsense!"

A young woman sitting in front of her PC humming a weird tune as she clicked her mouse with her right hand. Her large, round dark eyes stared intently at the farm on the computer screen.

Her slender finger continued to click around her best friends farms. Rows and rows of flying harvest brought a sweet smile to her pretty face.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 26.1 - Soul Locker

After arranging Feng Cheng to stay in the guest room, Murong Yun Shu returned to Qingfeng Pavillion in her private courtyard, waiting for the uninvited guests. Sure enough, they arrived before she could even warm her seat.

"Madam," East, South, West, North Guardians lined up outside her study respectfully and very gentleman-like, as though they would not enter unless she invite them.

"You need something?" She asked the obvious questions.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 25.2 - Storytellers

At that very moment, the grandfather and grandchild storyteller duo were dramatically describing the intricate relationships among the Murong House, Mingjian Manor, and Zhen Yuan Escort Agency. They had the attention of all the diners in the tea house, several kids even sat in a line in front of them, focusing their hardest. They didn't want to miss any of the details.

Suddenly, the old man with a full head of white head opened his eyes wide and asked, "And just what do you think the leader of the mojiao sect did when he found out Murong Yun Shu was poisoned?"

"What? Murong Yun Shu was poisoned? What kind of poison? Is she going to die? Grandpa, keep going. C'mon!" whined the granddaughter as she tucked on the old man's sleeve.

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 25.1 - Storytellers

Hi All my beloved readers. Thank you for your support all along, but I am sorry to announce that due my schedule and a lack of interest in this book, I will be dropping this project after the completion of chapter 27.

Until then, happy reading.

***

The first rain in June finally ended the drought in Jinling. Pouring rain continued on for an entire night and only stopped during day break the next day. The rain took the heat away, the breeze had finally turned from hot to cool, giving a very refreshing feel.

Even Murong Yun Shu who has always been a hermit had decided to get out of the house today. Taking Lu'er with her, the stepped on the slightly muddy path. Perhaps it was because the temperatue was finally cooling off, the streets were bustling with people.

"Miss, can we go to a tea house to listen to the storytellers?"

"Sure," replied Murong Yun Shu briskly and started strolling in the direction of the tea house.

Lu'er was pleasantly surprised, "Miss, you are finally interested in gossips?"

"I am interested in tea."

"...." She should have know, miss was never interested in earthly matters, let alone earthly gossips. Perhaps rumors from the other world, but where would they go to get those? Suddenly, Lu'er thought of something, with a naughty smile, she said, "Miss, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu are about to meet up.1"

"Okay," replied Murong Yun Shu.

Lu'er let out a deep, long sigh. Murong Yun Shu wasn't even interested in heavenly gossips, did she want gossips from the underground? Nah, that's not possible. If she didn't even care about gods, why would she care about ghosts.... Wow! It's broad daylight, what am I thinking about? Lu'er shook her head, and repeatedly told herself that there's no such thing as ghosts, but that only caused her to be more and more frightened. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of a very white face, she shrieked, "Ghost!"

Murong Yun Shu stopped after hearing that, frowned, and mildly said, "Today is the first day I found out that you have the potential to be a medium."

Lu'er did a double take on the white face and relaxed, "Mister Feng, did you leave Hua Tuo Mountain just to come to scare people in the middle of the streets?"

Feng Cheng was very confused at what she was trying to say, she mimicking her tone of voice, he said, "Miss Lu'er, did you leave the Murong House just to be scared in the middle of the street?"

Lu'er felt embarrassed so she stuck her tongue out quickly, then looked to Murong Yun Shu for help.

Murong Yun Shu gave Feng Cheng a smile, "Hello, Mister Feng, we met again."

Feng Cheng studied her for a bit and relieved, he said, "You look well."

Murong Yun Shu did not comment, "Would you like to have some tea?"

"I just finished mine."

"Then have another."

"Too much tea can be bad for your health, but you can offer me wine."

"I heard that tea house provides water for free."

Feng Cheng laughed, "I guess wine is too expensive for you?"

"Don't you worry, I have enough to cover your consultation fees." After she finished saying that, she slowed walked into the tea house, took a look at the lobby area, then headed toward second floor. She picked the empty seat next to the window and sat down. Across from them was a pair of grandfather and grandchild storytellers.

Feng Cheng leisurely sat down on her left, "How you know I'm here to treat your ailment?"

"It's poison."

Feng Cheng was amused, "Your assertiveness is pathologic." She was so controlling in every matter. even down to a minor word choice. She was so much like Xi Yue. Even though they were not the same person, but how lucky would one need to be to meet two person who were so similar.... unfortunately, his luck has been all used up years ago.

Fate, was never on his side.

A bitter smile crept onto Feng Cheng's face, all Murong Yun Shu saw was endless sorrow. Like an overcast over his eyes, smiles would not bring out the sunlight. She frowned a bit, took another look at him, then said, "You are not going to Shaolin Temple located in Xi Zhou during this time frame, but ended up in Jinling. I can't think of any reasons other than treating my poison." It was expected that Chu Changge should have heard of her condition from Chef Gao by now, and naturally, he would get Feng Cheng, the best doctor, to treat her. Of course, that was her main intention of having Chef Gao pass on her letter.

"Then you must know who sent me." Every time they talked about Chu Changge, Feng Cheng always wanted to ask why. Why was there Chu Changge when there's already Feng Cheng? Why did Chu Changge always managed to best him in every way...

Murong Yun Shu neither confirm nor deny. She quietly sipped her tea, the answer was apparent.


-----

1. Niu Lang (cow herder) And Zhi Nu (weaver) is an old Chinese story where the two lovers only get to meet once a year. To find out more about the story, visit here.















Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 24 - Dirty Deeds

Manage Qian couldn't be more familiar with that inscrutable smile, with a smile on his face, he asked, "What do you have in mind, miss?"

"Do you know which five paths the bands will be taking?" Murong Yun Shu answered his question with a question.

"Yes," Manager Qian then proceeded to giving her all the details.

Murong Yun Shu nodded when he was done. She looked down and was deep in thought for a while, then looked up and said, "Every since father passed away, we have not been keeping up our friendship with our underworld friends. That's not a good sign."

Manager Qian was a little shocked when he first heard that, then a look of understanding followed by a conniving smile, "You mean....."

"We should take this opportunity to keep in touch and further our relationship with our underworld friends," said Murong Yun Shu mildly.

"Yes! Great idea!" Manager Qian exclaimed, "That's a spectacular idea to get someone to do our dirty deeds for us, we can get our money back from Mingjian Manor effortlessly!"

Murong Yun Shu pursed her lips, then in her usual mild manner, "It takes a lot of energy to write letters...."

Manager Qian's white brows quivered, along with the corners of his mouth, but at the end only thought to himself, "Like father like daughter. None of the members of the Murong family were hard workers, but luckily they were all supremely intelligent and knew how to get around. They barely need to lift a finger to have matters settled for them. Perhaps, all smart people are just lazy."

The two of them when from a dialog to stopping in the middle of the conversation to reading each other's mind. Qie Ning was totally loss in the conversation, "What are you two talking about?" Even talking to her manager was so cryptic, were there any normal members among the Murong House?

Murong Yun Shu treated him as though he was not here, she told Lu'er to prepare the brush, ink, ink slap, and paper for her.

Manager Qian nicely explained, "What miss means is, we informed our friends on the path the date and time Zhen Yuan Escort Agency will be passing through their turfs. By friends we meant bandits, outlaws, robbers, etc., and use them to get the money back."

Nie Qing was shocked, "Using the bandits to rob for you?"

"Not helping us, just helping themselves, they keep the money."

".... what good will that do for the Murong House?" He couldn't think of how this will benefit Murong House, but from his limited experience, Murong Yun Shu never did anything if she didn't stand to get something back in return.

Manager Qian shook his head faintly and said earnestly, "Ay, a young man without a sense of business, definitely not as smart as our miss."

Nie Qing snorted with a displeased look, so you wanted to brown nose her, you needn't insult me also!

Manager Qian seemed to be quite used to his snorting already, unaffected, he shot him a look and continued, "There are honors among our bandit friends. Once they successfully robbed Zhen,  Yuan Escort Agency, they will remember the favor. Next time we escort our carts through their territory, they won't rob us. If we are lucky, we might even get some free booze. Back in the days...."

Nie Qing couldn't care to listen to his old day stories so he interrupted abruptly, "You guys have that kind of relationships with the bandits?"

"Why is that surprising? In our business, we have some sort of relationship with people from all walks of life." said Manager Qian proudly.

Nie Qing couldn't believe what he was hearing.

While the two were chittering, Murong Yun Shu had completed the five letters of intent and gave them to Manager Qian, "Send someone immediately."

"Yes," replied Manager Qian and left.

Murong Yun Shu rubbed her wrist and looked at the lingering Qie Ning, "You got other matters?"

Nie Qing looked straight at her wordlessly for a few seconds, then randomly blurted out, "Officials and bandits are never on the same side."

Murong Yun Shu paused for a second, "You want out?"

The corners of Nie Qing's mouth quivered, he barely stopped himself from blurting out "It's him or it's me," else there would be no turning back. "Murong House now represents the Court. Being in cohort with the bandits will hurt the national prestige."

"Which would you choose? The national prestige or national treasury?"

"Of course national prestige far outweigh the treasury!"

"But I'm a merchant." Profit always comes first.

"You are also an official of the Court." The Banking Regulatory Commission ranked the same as the Prime Minister, it was no small feat.

"Exactly why I want need to put the national treasury first." She paused, "Besides, according to my father's experience, befriending bandits can save us a lot of 'accidental expenditures' in the future."

Nie Qing was struck by anguish, my dad's experience... my dad.... that explained so much. Like father like daughter!


***

Within the next six months, words have spread that Zhen Yuan Escort Agency were robbed five times. That stirred up a lot of sensation as well as rumors, and the rumors continued to get more and  more ridiculous...

Words had it that Zhen Yuan Escort Agency offended some big players. They were marked and all their trips would be robbed.

Words had it that the big player was the leader of the mojiao sect.

Consequently, Zhen Yuan Escort Agency went downhill overnight, nobody dared to go into business with them.

And Mingjian Manor knew they were at fault first, so they dare not make a fuss. They had to eat the loss of the five thousand silvers.

"Oh poor and unfortunate Mingjian Manor and Zhen Yuan Escort Agency! HA HA HA HA HA!" laughed Lu'er.

As usual, Murong Yun Shu just ignored her silliness. She continued to read the old medical journal in her hand -- looking for any mention of the Soul Snatcher.

"Miss, why don't you have any reaction to this?" A dissatisfied Lu'er made a fuss, she fully intended to change her miss's distant demeanor.

Murong Yun Shu knew that Lu'er would not stop unless she say something. She looked up, gave it some thought, then said, "Why was it that they all thought the big player that they offended was the leader of majiao sect?"

"Because Lin Shui'er, the daughter of Zhen Yuan Escort Agency, stole majiao sect's leader's fiancee's ex-fiancee." said Lu'er in one breath.

Murong Yun Shu gave her a cool look, "Was that meant to be a tongue twister?"

".... not at all."

"Splitting up a couple but setting up two couples, what Lin Shui'er did was a good deed." After that, Murong Yun Shu turned her attention back to the medical journal. This was the 19th medical journal that she was going through, still no mention of the Soul Snatch. Was she fated to die a premature death?

Lu'er rolled her eyes and, with extreme disappointment in Murong Yun Shu, said, "Miss, she stole your fiancee from you."

Murong Yun Shu frowned and corrected her, "No, she picked up old shoes that I tossed away." It was her dad's biggest mistake in his life to have negotiated the wedding arrangement with Fang Hongfei, and the largest smudge in her life.

She never thought for a minute that she wanted to revenge Lin Shui'er1. What happened to Zhen Yuan Escort Agency had nothing to do with that at all. They colluded with Mingjian Manor knowing full well that those fifty million were dirty money. They brought their bad fate onto themselves and she didn't feel bad that they were now going out of business.


***

Translator's random remark: Her being married to that loser was punishment enough. LOL




Sunday, October 14, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 23 - It Was Time

Chu Changge didn't expect the only words on the entire sheet of paper were "Thank You". Even more surprising was the news from Chef Guo that Murong Yun Shu was poisoned by the Soul Snatcher.

Suddenly, he felt like the earth was shattering from underneath him. He stood like for a long while not know what to think. Then he crunched up the piece of paper inside his palm and burned it to dust. The dust scattered all over the ground. After that, a child-like innocent smile appeared on his face, slowly he started to laugh louder and louder, "HA HA... HA HA HA HA....."

The four guardians lower their heads and remained silent. When the laughter started, they knew their boss had another melt down, one that's worse than the one three years ago. Back then it was a howl, this time it was laughter that sounded even more desperate than howling.

Chef Guo lowered his head too, he was contemplating whether he should make the "Soup of Desperation" or the "Soup of Annihilation." Ay, regardless, boss's not looking good.

The laughter finally stopped after a long while. He frowned and looked at Chef Guo devilishly, his eyes stared at like cold, sharp daggers that could make anyone shuddered, "How did she get poisoned?" His deep and bellow-like voice sounded like it could slice though anything.

Chef Guo's knees weakened, he body shuddered and almost dropped on his knees. With quivering voice, he replied, "One of the survivor of House of Tang, Tan San Niang1, disguised as the bard at the brothel and poisoned madam under King Liang, Jr.'s order."

Chu Changge strike him hardly across his cheek, making a crisp slapping noise, angrily he said, "If you couldn't even take care of Tang San Niang, why do I want to keep you around?"

Chef Guo's face looked just like normal, no red mark or swelling, but blood ran down the corner of his mouth. He threw himself onto his knees, "Mercy, boss. That Tang San Niang was very good at disguising, I didn't learn about her true identity till I had took her down. By then, it was already too late...." Ay, I should made Soup of Mercy. The inner damage he sustained from sect leader's slap would take him about a month to recover.

East Guardian said, "Boss, perhaps we should have Chef Guo make up for his mistake by retrieving the antidote from King Liang Jr's residence in Shu Province."

"There's no antidote for the Soul Snatcher. What King Liang Jr. referred to as antidote was just another form of poison that could slow down the effect of the Soul Snatcher." Chu Changge secretly balled up his fist. After a few seconds, he added, "The four of you, go get Feng Cheng and take him to Jiang Ling House of Murong."

"Yes, Sir!" replied the four guardians solemnly.

"Chef Guo, accompany me to Shu Province."

"Thank you boss for showing me mercy! Even if I have to use mouse poison, I will poison all members and mice of King Liang Jr's residence."

***

Back to Jiang Ling, it's already June. Middle of the summer, the sun was beating down like a giant fireball. It was so hot that Murong Yun Shu wish she could walk around in bare shoulders and feet. She should have stayed longer in the North, or went into the cooler mountains. Practically anywhere was better than being in Jiang Ling, located south of Jian Zhou.

She already had four pieces of ice of human's height in her bedroom but she was still burning up. Murong Yun Shu laid on her green barley chair and stared at the book in her hand. She was thinking which mountain she could go to buy a piece of land and build a summer villa. Unfortunately Chu Changge burned down the entire peach forest in the City of Feng. Else she'd be very tempted to buy a hut from him.

In the midst of all her crazy thoughts, Lu'er entered her room, "Miss, Master Nie and Manager Qian2  are waiting at your study."

"Bring them in."

"But this is your bedroom, I don't think you should let Master Nie and Manager Qian come into your bedroom."

"Then send them away."

"Ugh... but they said they have matters to discuss with you."

Murong Yun Shu frowned, "I am not leaving my room today."

Lu'er gave up, at least this year miss didn't hide underground. Better to let them into her bedroom than having a discussion below ground.

After a while, Nie Qing and Manager Qian followed Lu'er into Murong Yun Shu's bedroom.

Murong Yun Shu wearily put down the book in her hand, "You guys are not getting along?"

Nie Qing snorted, then noticed that Manager Qian didn't say anything, so he continued, "The preparation for printing the silver dollars is more or less done. The Ministry of Revenue requested the total amount of the first badge of silver dollar to be printed."

"Same as what we do for banknotes, we print as much silver dollars as we have real silver."

"Problem is we don't know how much real silver does Huifeng Bank has currently," said Nie Qing snappily.

Murong Yun Shu frowned, "Manager Qian is right next to you." Ever since she had "assigned" Nie Qing to work in the bank, she has been quite removed from all the bank matters. She just checked the amounts coming in at the end of every month. She had no idea how much silver the bank currently has.

As soon as she brought up Manager Qian, Nie Qing was enraged.

Murong Yun Shu looked at Nie Qing, then at Master Qian. What was going go?

"This is confidential matter. I dare not disclose to others without miss's permission," said Manager Qian in a very business-like manner.

Murong Yun Shu nodded, "From now on, you can give him any information that he asks for." After all, the emperor sent him here to surveil Huifeng Bank; if he couldn't surveil anything, it'd just seem like they were hiding something.

"But he.... is not part of the Murong House," Manager Qian was very worried, this guy was the spy from the Court!

Murong Yun Shu smiled, casually she said, "That's okay. With Master Qie's business acumen, even if he has knowledge of confidential matter, he wouldn't be able to do any harm."

Her words made the corner of his eyes twitched, he gave her a murderous stare. Unfortunately, he caught sight of her ancient zither earring, the murderous chi froze in midair, then dispersed. Nie Qing saturninely turned his head to look at the beams in the room.

Manager Qian made an enlightened look, nodded repeatedly, and said, "Had I know that's Master Nie's level, I wouldn't have bothered keeping everything from him...."

Nie Qing was infuriated, but didn't have the guts to blow up, so all he did was snorted while looking at the beam.

Murong Yun Shu pretended she didn't hear anything and continued to ask Manager Qian, "Anything else?"

"One more thing....." he paused, looked at Nie Qing, then at Murong Yun Shu. Seeing her nod, he continued, "Mingjian Manor has started using the fifty million silver."

"What for?"

"Words have it that they are transporting them to King Liang's resident in Shu Province. A total of five separate bands, guarded by Zhen Yuan3 Escort Agency4."

Murong Yun Shu pursed her lips, her eyes and brows quivered slightly, an unfathomable smile radiated out of her eyes.

Finally, it was time...

_____

1. San = three, Niang = woman. Most likely the wife of the third Tang's child.
2. The author used the word "money" as the character's surname. This is a real surname.
3. Name of the Escort Agency means "far away town"
4. A protection agency for hire. They work as bodyguards for people and/or shipments of goods. Commonly seen in Wuxia novels. (Source: WuxiaWorld.com)

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 22.3 - Secret of the Earrings

Back inside the inn, three men in ornate clothing sat around a table in the middle of the dining hall. The one in the leader seat was a dignified looking man with a gold crown on his head and gold trim around his sleeves. His only flaw was a moderate size scar on his left cheek seemingly from a knife. It made his stern face looked frightening. This man was Hua Ye Li, son of King Liang1 of Su Province.

"Master indeed has excellent judgement of character. Murong Yun Shu was indeed brave and intelligent. If she could be a very help addition for our master."

Hua Ye Li stared intently at the directly the carriage headed off to, "A woman like her, even when she had no other option, will never submit and take orders."

"So what does master intend to do...?"

Hua Ye Li did not respond but looked on with a complicated expression.

"Master, you could consider marrying her. Once she became your wife, she will definitely be on your side."

"She won't even marry the crown prince, I doubt she'd marry me." The light in eyes darkened, "Besides, haven't you seen what happened when someone blatantly tried to compete for his woman? The crown prince is still suffering from his poison, not to mention he was under surveillance by members of the mojian sect day in and day out. It's almost impossible for him to get closed to Murong Yun Shu again."

"Chu Changge's action was certainly blatant, but also helped us a lot. The crown prince is now close to dying, many officials in the court were already submitting suggestions of the next crown prince to the emperor."

"The emperor only has one son, he will never name a different successor." Hua Ye Li put down his tea cup and stook up, "We are returning to Shu Province."

"We are not following Murong Yun Shu any more?"

"There will be mojian sect members in every town from this point forward. My dad's people will not be able to hurt her." said Hua Ye Li as he walked toward the exit, "Besides, the purpose of this trip was to confirm her value. If she couldn't even protect herself, she's not good enough to stand beside me."

*

At the very same time, in a tea stand somewhere in a desolate area of Xi Zhou, Chu Changge was enjoying a cup of tea while listening to East, South, West, North Guardians relaying reports that has came in.

"After the advertisement by Jiang Zhou Four Odds, the entire jianghu now knows that you will be saying at Jianghu Inn prior to August 15."

"So what?" asked Chu Changge undisturbed by the news.

"You have a lot of enemies," reminded East Guardian out of his kindness.

"But very few has the guts to check into Jianghu Inn."

"They can set traps outside of the inn."

"That's even better," he squinted, an extremely gentle smile appeared on his handsome face, "Saves me the trouble of digging graves for the corpses."

We are sure you will defer that task to us, was what was going through the mind of the four guardians.

Three seconds later, the East Guardian continued, "Don't you want to know where the information came from?" his tone full of malice.

Chu Changge picked up the tea cup and took a sip, a meaningful smile spread across his face, "Who else would do that other than her?"

"Boss is so observant of the details," East Guardian was disappointed that the sect leader was not bothered by that at all.

"We've also heard that madam wished the Jiang Zhou Four Odds good luck on their mission to kill you," North Guardian took another shot at him.

Suddenly, his handsome brows lowered, the intention to kill seeped out of his attractive black eyes but quickly dissipated. Chu Changge gently shook the tea cup in his hand, "She knew they were here to seek their own death. That's why she wished them luck."

"Boss is so smart! Madam even asked them to relay a message to you, she asked you to be extra ruthless!" North Guardian didn't want to be the one who had nothing to say, so he quickly added before West Guardian. The other three guardians stared at him, that's when he remembered that their purpose was only to relay the bad news to the sect leader, not the good ones....

Chu Changge gave out a happy smile on his thin lips, "They even advocated that?"

"No, we heard someone overheard it accidentally," said West Guardian, while giving North Guardian another stare, You messed everything up!

North Guardian lowered his head as though admitting to his guilt. That was just a slip, truly, it was.

Chu Changge couldn't care less about the politics among the four guardians. Rotating the tea cup slowly, he looked at a hill nearby and smiled.

"What's he smiling at?" asked North Guardian, elbowing West Guardian.

"How should I know?" West Guardian was still mad that not only did North Guardian cut him off while reporting to the sect leader, but also reporting the wrong things.

East Guardian felt that North and West Guardians were very childish so he simply ignored them and continued with his report, "Boss, I have also received a message from Chef Guo's message dove. He said he is bringing with him a letter from the madam from the capital and he has important items to report. Do you want to slow down on our travel to wait for him?"

With that, Chu Changge's smile broadened, he mood obviously elated, "Let's say for a while in the next town."

A letter from her.... he wondered what she had wrote to entertain him......












***

1. King Liang was an official title.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 22.2 - Secret of the Earrings

"MmHmm."

"How, how did you do that?" Lu'er felt that her mistress is so omnipotent, she could even control animals as scary as snakes. No wonder she's the head of the Murong House.

"Back when I lost my appetite for three days after seeing a snack, I started researching on how to summon them."

Lu'er suddenly recalled when her mistress was 10 year old, she'd bring a stack of strange books with her to the bamboo forest everyday and knocked and banged on things. She even spent a sizable amount of money to have someone build her an ancient zither that wouldn't produce any sound. Master Murong was so angry when he found out he almost fired the person who got this done, luckily mistress spoke in his favor....

Suddenly it all clicked, "That ancient zither.... earring.... it's just like the ancient zither that couldn't make any sound...." and it's all coming back to her, what mistress said back then wasn't that the zither "can't make any sound, it's just that dad can't hear the sound that it makes." So that was what she meant -- humans couldn't hear it, but snakes could!

Lu'er was getting more and more frightened, how... how could miss have turned something so deadly into earrings and wore them everyday...

"You are getting smarter," Murong Yun Shu was very happy that she didn't need to spent time and effort in explaining any further. Actually when she was researching for the method to tame the snakes she merely wanted to show off in front of the snakes, to avenge for "not being able to eat for three days." Later on she had someone make her this pair of earrings for self-defense purposes -- she didn't want to be bullied by snakes again. She didn't think it'd end up saving her like they did yesterday. Frankly speaking, if it wasn't the last resort, she would not have done it. Even with her eyes closed, just visualizing the scene with many snakes slivering at the same time was enough to make her loose her appetite in days to come.

"Then how did you know Feng Ling was in her room?" Nie Qing was going to ask about the snakes first, but once Lu'er brought up earrings, ancient zither, and it all made sense after looking at the earrings. His look turned into fear. From now on, no matter what happened, never offend the Murong woman...

Murong Yun Shu turned around, just in time to see Nie Qing shuddered. Baffled, she asked, "Master Nie is cold?"

Nie Qing gritted his teeth, "A little."

Murong Yun Shu's eyes flickered, pretending she had accepted Nie Qing's explanation. She continued, "If I was the intended target of Jiang Zhou Four Odds, they wouldn't be so stupid to kidnap Feng Ling ahead of time to alarm us....1" She noticed Nie Qing had shuddered again and realized why his look was so peculiar. She carried on, "Besides, one side of Feng Ling's room was connected to the cliff and the other side to the hallway. The kidnappers couldn't have escaped through the window, nor could they carry her out the front door, so she must be still inside the room."

"They have nothing to gain, why did they bother?"

"As I have said, to alert us......." and she saw Nie Qing shuddered again, finally she couldn't contain herself anymore, "If I'm not scare, why should a man like you be afraid of snake...."

And Nie Qing shuddered again.

Murong Yun Shu patiently cast him a very subtle supercilious look and continued on with what she was saying, "They purposefully kidnapped Feng Ling and took away my baggage, just to alert..... 2 us that we are in danger."

"So what you were saying was, these individuals are on our side?"

Murong Yun Shu seemingly mindlessly glanced over at a particular table in the inn and said, "Hard to say."

While they were chatting, Feng Ling had finished her breakfast and skipped outside with a bright smile, "Okay, I'm ready to go!"

Everybody piled into the carriage and slowly headed toward their next stop, the town of Qing Yuan.

Back in the inn, the table in the middle sat three

***

1. Took me a while to figure this one out. But the Chinese idiom "beat the grass and startle the snakes" means "accidentally alarming someone by some rash actions". In the story Nie Qing shuddered every time he heard the word "snake." :D
2. This time Murong Yun Shu purposefully omit the word "snake" in her conversation. ^__^


***
Next scheduled update: Tuesday, Oct 9 - Ch 22.3 - Secret of the Earrings

For advance chapter parts visit my Patreon site


Currently offering:

Egg tier - 2 advance chapter parts
ch 22.3 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 23 - It was time (complete chapter!)

Larva tier - 5 advance chapter parts
ch 22.3 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 23 - It was time (complete chapter!)
ch 24 - Dirty Deed (complete chapter!)
ch 25.1 - Storytellers
ch 25.2 - Storytellers









Sunday, October 7, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 22.1 - Secret of the Earrings

The next morning, when Murong Yun Shu woke up, the first thing she saw was a pair of saddened eyes.

"Miss, you finally woke up," said the feeble Lu'er.

"Mmm," Murong Yun Shu sat up. The next thing she saw was Nie Qing sitting not too far away staring at her with some sort of mystifying coldness as though she's an nemesis of his. Coolly she asked, "Is Master Nie hungry or just didn't sleep well?"

"What. Are. We. Going. To. Do. With. Feng. Ling?" asked Nie Qing one word at a time through his gritted teeth.

"You haven't gone to get her back yet?" Murong Yun Shu frowned. She seemed quite displeased at the way he was treating her fiance's "friend"'s sister.

"Didn't you say you are the one who's in charge?" growled Nie Qing.

Murong Yun Shu looked like she was finally following what he was saying, "She's still in the room."

"Which room?"

Murong Yun Shu cast him a look as though she didn't even want to bother answering his question. She tucked on the clothes that she was wearing then turned to Lu'er, "Get some hot water, I need to bathe and change."

Nie Qing was immediately embarrassed, he blushed and reluctantly got up and headed toward the door while mumbling something to the effect of "this woman is ridiculous."

Murong Yun Shu pretended she didn't hear anything, with a hair clasp she wrapped her hair up, looking like a married woman.

Lu'er looked at her wordlessly, there were towels that she could use, yet everytime when miss bathe she always wrap her hair up like a married woman.... maybe she's just dying to get married.

Nonetheless, there's a more serious problem right now.

"Miss, our baggage was gone and this town is so remote, what are you going to change into?"

"Go look under the bed."

Lu'er blinked cluelessly, but followed her words and looked under the bed. Shortly she exclaimed in excitement, "Miss! It's really under the bed!"

"Mmm, now go get hot water."

Lu'er held the baggage in her chest and looked at Murong Yun Shu hesitantly. Finally she swallowed all the questions that she has and left to get water.

*

An hour or so later, Murong Yun Shu finished bathing and changed into an outfit that's so white it made her seemed out of this world. A golden ornamental hairpin helped holding up her girly bun, her thick and water fall like black hair flawlessly flowing down her back; there were barely any make up on her oval-shaped face but her elegance came innately. Her look was peaceful and her pace flawless. She looked like a other worldly fairy.

She walked straight toward the table where Nie Qing and company were seated. None of the diners in the hall were able to take their eyes off of her.

"Murong, you are so pretty today!" praised Feng Ling.

Lu'er nodded vigorously in agreement. She has always said that white is the best color on miss.

Nie Qing just kept on drinking his tea without ever looking up.

"We leave in 15 minutes," said Murong and headed toward outside.

"Wait, miss, don't you want to have breakfast?"

Murong Yun Shu frowned lightly, and answered her question with another question, "You seriously have appetite?"

Lu'er blinked, why wouldn't I? Then she suddenly remembered all the snakes from yesterday, the content in her stomach started to roil, " I am done." Now even the steam buns looked like snakes....

Nie Qing abruptly stood up, indicating that he's done eating.

Feng Ling was clueless about what was going on. Her stomach was growling. She slept all night long under the bed and missed dinner. Now she's starving, "Wait! I haven't even started yet! We are going to be in the carriage for hours, what say we sit here for a little bit and let me finish my breakfast? Please, Murong?"

Murong Yun Shu cast her a glance, "I'll be waiting outside." Even the smell of food made her nauseated.

Lu'er and Nie Qing followed her out, leaving Feng Ling there stuffing her face with steam buns and porridge.

When the three of them stepped outside the inn, the coachman was already waiting outside with the carriage. Murong Yun Shu was just about to step onto the carriage when Lu'er asked, "Miss, did you really summon those snaked yesterday?"

***

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Thursday, October 4, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 21.2 - Debt and Injustice

Before her last word was finished, they heard urgent footsteps approaching them, barging into the room were three odd-looking men.

Would this ever end? Thought Murong Yun Shu, grudgingly she asked, "All three of you came to kill me too?"

The three men looked at each other, befuddled for a little bit, the short middle-aged man with what looked like a bull horn protruding near his right ear asked in a surprised tone, "How did you....?" Half way through his sentence he caught sight of his companion on the floor and shouted out, "Fourth sister!" The others also noticed the masked woman after his shouting, they all pulled out their weapon and ready to engage.

Nie Qing, who was in the middle of tying up the woman chucked aside the rope and wrapped his hands around her neck. He proceeded to looking at the intruders coldly as if to say "I will strangle her if you dare move."

Murong Yun Shu was relieved to see that, "I was worried that you also won't kill woman."

The veins on Nie Qing's forehead quivered, but he didn't say a word.

"Let her go, I, Old Tuo1 will let you live." The hunchback called out.

Murong Yun Shu smiled lightly. She was just about to say something when she felt woozy and wobbly.

"Miss, here," said Lu'er as she brought over a chair.

Murong Yun Shu was pleased Lu'er knew exactly what she needed. She slowly sat down as thought nothing was out of the ordinary, smiling, she said, "I am wondering what have I ever done to offend the four of you that warrant visits at this time of night to have me killed."

"Oh, you have done a lot more than 'offending' us," said the one-eyed man angrily.

"Is that so," Murong Yun Shu's smile was still amiable and innocent, "Well, I have too many enemies and can't think about it off the top of my head. When have we crossed path?"

Lu'er was sweating, did she not get that they hate her guts?

"Jiang Zhou2 Four Odds!"

Murong Yun Shu raised her brows and searched her memory, "Nope, never heard of it."

Her words angered one-eyed man and hunchback man, only bull horn man seemed unaffected. He blocked the others from attacking and said, "Miss Murong doesn't belong in jianghu, so it's not out of the ordinary that you have never heard of us."

Murong Yun Shu was alarmed that he referred to her as "Miss Murong". She quickly recovered from her bewilderment and laughed, "It seems the enmity wasn't implacable."

"That's right, we have no beef with you. Your fiancee, Chu Changge, on the other hand, is our mortal enemy! He was the one who lopped off this horn on my head!" said the horned man while angrily pointing at the symmetrical spot by his left ear.

Murong Yun Shu looked at him, then with greatest sincerity and humility, she asked, "You are mad at him for not lopping off the other one too?"

The horn man was about to blow when he heard her continued to say, "It really gives you more characters with just one horn." He was shocked beyond words, this crazy woman couldn't possibly be the leader of the Jinling Murong House who held control over all the banks in the country. Perhaps they had the wrong person......?

"But, needless to say, every injustice has it perpetrator and every debt its debtor. If Chu Changge was the one who lopped off your horn, you should take it up with him. Getting to me is not helping with your goal of avenging yourselves." Murong Yun Shu tried to talk some sense into them.

The horn man was still speechless from bewilderment. Yep, definitely got the wrong person....

"Chu Changge will be over at the Jianghu Inn at the foot of Mount Shaolin all the way up to August 15. You can find him there."

Is she giving them a roadmap to him.....?

"I do ask you to release Miss Feng Ling before you take off though."

Finally, the normal line from her brought the horn man back to normal, "What Miss Feng Ling?"

"The girl that you took from the room next earlier earlier in the day," said Nie Qing heavily.

Murong Yun Shu lowered her pretty face and pondered for a few seconds, then looked up and said, "Nie Qing, let her go."

"But Feng Ling...."

"They don't have Feng Ling."

Nie Qing wanted to disagree, but the determination in her eyes made him gave up. Grudgingly he returned the masked woman -- nicknamed Pockmark Woman -- to Jiang Zhou three odds.

"Miss Murong is ballsy!" Praised the horn man.

Murong Yun Shu nodded lightly, accepting his praise, then indifferently added, "Good luck with your endeavor."

"Miss Murong is not worried about becoming a widow?"

"You even said so yourself earlier, he is my 'future' husband. We are not wedded yet, I can always marry someone else if he's killed. I won't become widowed."

"HAHAHAHAHA.... Chu Changge, even your fiancee is not on your side. This is all your own doing!" He laughed maniacally.

"When you run into Chu Changge, can you relay a message for me?"

"Sure, what is it?" The horned man was very agreeable.

A smile appeared on Murong Yun Shu's pretty face, she looked at him for about three seconds, then slowly she said, "Ask him to.... be extra ruthless."

The horned man thought he had heard wrong. Her expression looked like she was the wife telling the husband to "don't stay out too late", instead what he heard was.....

*

Soon as Jiang Zhou Four Odds walked out of the inn, hunchback man grumbled immediately, "Older brother, why didn't we grab Murong Yun Shu as hostage for Chu Changge?"

The horned man replied, "Didn't you see what happened to fourth sister? And we were only a few minutes late. Obviously Murong Yun Shu wasn't ask weak as what others think of her. Did you remember how readily she was when she returned fourth sister back to us? She was so confident the entire time, clearly she wasn't afraid of us. Plus, she told us where to find Chu Changge. That was like doing us a favor and we should return the favor as well."

"Older brother is right."

*

After Jiang Zhou Four Odds took off, Murong Yun Shu walked wobbly into Lu'er's room across the hallway. She was just about to collapse on the bed to get some much needed sleep when she was "ambushed" by Nie Qing, "What's our plan about Feng Ling?"

"Play it by the ear," said Murong Yun Shu, then she closed her eyes and feel asleep immediately.

Miss, if you are sleeping in my bed, where am I going to sleep? Lu'er was crying inside. Miss's room has no bed sheet, Miss Feng Ling's room was..... bad luck. And Master Nie Qing.... never mind, she might as well just sleep on the floor.

Nie Qing just stood there, with his eyes he had killed Murong Yun Shu tore her up into pieces... for a long... long.... time....

***

Next scheduled update: Thursday, Oct 2 (Pacific Time) - Ch 22.1 - Secret of the Earrings

For advance chapter parts visit my Patreon site


Currently offering:

Egg tier - 2 advance chapter parts
ch 22.1 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 22.2 - Secret of the Earrings

Larva tier - 5 advance chapter parts
ch 22.1 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 22.2 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 22.3 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 23 - It was time (complete chapter!)
ch 24 - Dirty Deed (complete chapter!)


Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Black Belly Wife ch 21.1 - Debt and Injustice


Nightfall, the howling wind made the less than sturdy windows rattled, as though it would break the window anytime now. Murong Yun Shu could somewhat feel the greyish floorboard vibrating under her feet. She didn't even need to close her eyes to imagine a building like this sitting on top of a desolate cliff; it was quite a chilling thought.

Opening up the window, icy cold wind hit her face, Murong Yun Shu shuddered. May was always over, but it's still frigid in the mountains. Fog at the bottom, clear moon in the sky, sudden she felt that she was up on the top of the world and a sense of contentment washed over her.

Murong Yun Shu was startled by the sudden send of contentment. She laughed silently to herself; she wondered if she would feel even more contended if she just took a leap from here....

While random thoughts raced through her head, she smelled an ever so light hint of fragrance in the air, gone before one could catch it. Then the sound of the bolt on the door being juggled opened, Murong Yun shu frowned lightly, a ever so light smile spread from her brows.

A squeak, and the door was opened.

"Didn't your dad teach you that you should always knock before entering a room?" said Murong Yun Shu in a steady tone. She turned around slowly and looked at the intruder with her bright eyes and a barely detectable smile.

The intruder was quite surprised that she was still conscious after the fragrance, let alone her tone as though she has been expecting her. She was dumbfounded for a few seconds, then noticed the wide opened window behind her, "You lucked out."

"My luck has always been quite good," Murong Yun Shu stealthily moved her left hand behind her body steady herself on the window rim. The wind blew away most of the fragrance, but she did inhale a little after all. She felt a little dizzy, but luckily she was still conscious.

Murong Yun Shu shook her head, the moonlight allowed her to take a look at the intruder. Her body shape suggested that it's a female, with a limp, since he has a cane in one hand. Her face was masked, but from her eyes Murong Yun Shu determined that she was about 30 or 40 years old.

"So what's the purpose of your visit at this hour in the night?"

"Hrm, too kill you, of course," said the woman.

"Then do it."

The masked woman was surprised, then sneered, "Aren't you going to ask me why?"

"Would that change your mind if I ask?"

"No, still going to kill you!"

That made Murong Yun Shu laughed, "Then why would I want to bother?"

The masked woman was taken aback, "Aren't you afraid?"

Murong Yun Shu smiled and ignored her question. She was unruffled, her smile that of a tranquil lake, deep and bottomless.

The masked woman hesitated briefly before slowly approaching her with her cane. She stared at her intently, watching out for any tricks.

One step, two, three, four, five.... all of a sudden, her cane slipped and she took a nose dive down, a loud thud. She immediately tried to get back up, but slipped again and feel back onto the ground.

"You...." A strike to the head before she could finish her words, and she was out cold.

Light was restored in the room, Lu'er with a chair above her head was ever so proud of herself, "Miss, I wasn't half bad, right?" Lu'er was the one who delivered the fast, accurate, and ruthless strike.

"How come its you?" Asked Murong Yun Shu.

"Nie Qing said he refuses to hit women."

Murong Yun Shu raised her brows and looked at the masculine man holding the candle, "Good practice."

Nie Qing snickered and turned away coolly.

"Miss, what did you put on the bed sheet?" asked Lu'er, referring to the dusty bed sheet under the masked woman.

"Ice."

"Where did you get ice from in this season?" She didn't even know miss had left her room at all.

Nie Qing was quite curious how she accomplished that as well. When she asked him to grab a chair, hide in the corner, and "play it by the ear", he was expecting hand-to-hand combat. He didn't expect victory to come so easily.

Murong Yun Shu lowered her head and said feebly, "It's not strange to have ice when it's bone-chilling cold in the mountains." Not to mention the cliff outside the window, one could practically die from hypothermia. The fragrance was really getting to her now, she just wanted to lie down and sleep. As to her preparation for the night, she soaked the bed sheet in water, then dangled it out with a rope and a teapot at the end out into the fog. When she pulled it back up an hour ago it was already covered in ice. She laid it out onto the floor and covered it up with dirt so it looked like regular floor -- there was no need to explain this to anyone2.

"You two didn't inhale any poisonous fragrance?" She was feeling dizzier but the other two were unaffected. She wasn't happy about that.

"No," Lu'er shook her head. Qie Ning expressed that he had never heard of such a thing.

Seems she wasn't lucky enough after all, she shouldn't have stood in front of the window. She sighed and rubbed between her eyes. "Tie her up, then wake her up for interrogation," said Murong Yun Shu referring to the masked woman on the floor.

****

***
Next scheduled update: Tuesday, Oct 2 - Ch 21.1 - Debt and Injustice.

For advance chapter parts visit my Patreon site


Currently offering:

Egg tier - 2 advance chapter parts
ch 21.2 - Debt and Injustice
ch 22.1 - Secret of the Earrings

Larva tier - 5 advance chapter parts
ch 21.2 - Debt and Injustice
ch 22.1 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 22.2 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 22.3 - Secret of the Earrings
ch 23 - It was time (complete chapter!)