[TGCF Extra - Chapter 247]
The Curious Incident of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince's Memory Having Wandered Away 2 - Big Grey Wolf Hua Picks Up Little White Rabbit Lian and Coaxes Him into Turning in Circles
To think he had seated himself in front of him so casually as he pleased.
XIe Lian blinked, and only ascertained after a good while that the man was really talking to him.
He reacted immediately, telling himself that he should allow his shock at this person's manner to place him at a disadvantage. Maintaining his previous calm, he said courteously, "Alas, this lowly person will not be drinking, and I am afraid will not be able to treat you to this drink."
The man dressed in red gave a laugh, and his sitting posture became even more casual, as he said, "Really? Looking at this daozhang's appearance, I think he has something troubling him, and needs a drink to relieve him of his troubles ah."
Without changing his expression or inflection, Xie Lian said, "Then I'm afraid your excellency is mistaken."
Even though the greatest taboo had been committed, but this did not mean that he should adopt a
self-defeated attitude and be uncaring of the other smaller taboos.
Even though his manner continued to be mild and distant, the man did not show even a slightest intention of retreating, but instead, as though settling in for a while, said, "Since daozhang is not willing to treat me, then, how about I help myself?"
Xie Lian studied him, then studied his surroundings. Strange. It wasn't as though there weren't any empty spaces around them, so why did he have to sit here to drink wine? But as he also did not have a reason to reject him, Xie Lian said, "Please help yourself."
And so, the other party waved his hand lazily. Never before had the waiter seen such a stylish person, and not daring to show any annoyance, hurriedly served up a jar of wine and some wine cups, and diligently wiped down the tabletop, afraid of showing this person any disrespect.
Seeing how the man dressed in red was calm and at ease, helping himself to the wine, Xie Lian could no longer resist and said, "Could it be that your excellency, when meeting anyone for the first time, would ask that person to treat you to a drink?"
Beaming, the man said, "Hn? Of course not. To be frank with daozhang, the average person would not even get to see my face."
This tone of his, was quite arrogant. However, Xie Lian did not find himself put off.
The two people sat in their seats. During this time, Xie Lian continued to look somewhere else, projecting a manner as though he was very calm. After a while, it was still that man who first opened his mouth to speak.
Propping a hand beneath his chin, he said, "What is this daozhang's surname, that I may address
you?"
WIthout thinking, Xie Lian came up with a fake surname, "My surname is Hua." The man raised an eyebrow, and said, "Oh – Hua-daozhang."
Xie Lian said, "How should I address your excellency?"
That man said, "It's fine if daozhang calls me San-lang."
Xie Lian sensed that this person was not willing to reveal his true identity, and did not press. Having thought for a while, he was unable to think of what type of person would be arranged third in order, and so decided not to waste effort speculating. At this moment, he suddenly noticed that, on the side of one cheek of the man in red, a lock of crow-black hair had been plaited into a thin braid, with a red coral bead at the end of the braid.
The bead was lustrous and gleaming, and although small in size, one could tell from a look that it was incredibly expensive. But Xie Lian could not shake off the feeling that he had seen this bean before somewhere, perhaps in his palace chambers where jewels were strewn everywhere?
But he also could not be sure. Noticing his gaze, San-lang said, "Do you like this?"
As he said this, he lifted his long, pale and elegant fingers, lightly twisting that coral bead, pinching it.
For some unknown reason, as Xie Lian looked on, a flash of pain suddenly bolted across his chest, as though some part of his body was also being pinched, and he jerked back violently.
This action was too large, and a number of guests beside all turned to look this way. Casually and unconcerned, San Lang lifted his gaze, and said, surprised, "This daozhang, are you alright?"
He reached out a hand, as though intending to help Xie Lian up. Of course, Xie Lian did not want him to help him up, and hurriedly sat back properly, saying, "It's, it's nothing. That bead......"
"Oh." The hint of a smile at the corner of San-lang's lips did not lessen, and he said, "This bead?"
His hand playing even more with the brightly coloured and beautiful bead, he said with a slight smile, "This is a gift from my beloved wife. What does daozhang think of it?"
"......"
Xie Lian said, "Uh...... It's very good, very good."
In fact, he had no idea what he was saying, and his fingers gripped his thigh tightly. He felt restless, unable to sit still.
This unfamiliar man dressed in red was clearly playing with that cutely charming bead, an action that could not be simpler, but Xie Lian was seeing in it some hint of excessive lewdness.
It was as though the thing which was being twisted by those fingertips, slowly massaged and rubbed, kneaded and flattened, wasn't the red bead, but some part of his body that was sensitive. Xie Lian's
face inexplicably grew hot, and his breathing grew rapid, as he found it extremely hard to bear. This was not normal. This was definitely not normal.
This man dressed in red, who called himself "San-lang", was very handsome, but for an inexplicable reason, strongly gave off a fey, unearthly air, making one shiver and tremble. Xie Lian's internal alarm bells were ringing loudly, and he forcibly calmed himself down, his breaths evening out, as he fixed his gaze on him with hardly a hint of fear, and asked, "If I may ask, just why did your excellency decide on your own to approach this lowly person?"
San-lang gave a smile, and slowly said, "Why so suspicious? It was no big deal. I merely noticed daozhang's elegance and charm, and it touched my heart. I couldn't resist. If I have offended, please forgive me."
"......"
Xie Lian did not know whether he should believe him, and shifted away his gaze. He silently regretted in his heart, he should not have let this person sit across him, stirring up such messy and troubled thoughts and feelings now. Just at that moment, the song-girl wrapped up her shift, bowed to the crowd, and gave Xie Lian a sweet and charming smile, before drifting away. Now that she had left, Xie Lian had no reason to remain either, and he stood up, saying, "Farewell. Your excellency, please take your time to drink."
He had intended for this last sentence to carry a hint of challenge, but the moment the words
reached his mouth, they still left his lips courteously. Xie Lian did not dare look further at the man dressed in red, and practically flew downstairs, and after walking aimlessly for a while, this way and that, he determined that no one was following him, and finally released a breath.
But now that he had come to a standstill, he felt at a loss once again.
HIs clothes had disappeared, his money and possessions had disappeared, his sword had disappeared, his attendants had also disappeared, even his magic had disappeared.
In his seventeen years of living, never before had he encountered such an unsolvable situation. Xie Lian shook his head, and stopped a passer-by to ask where this place was. The passer-by answered with a place Xie Lian had never heard of, and he asked again, "Then how far is it to the imperial city? Which direction is the imperial city?"
He did not say that he was referring to the Xian Le imperial city. The passer-by said, "Imperial CIty? This place is to the south of the imperial city. The imperial city is very far away!"
As expected. The accents of the people here, as well as the architecture style, were all somewhat strange. They did not appear as though to be from somewhere near the imperial palace, and Xie Lian had guessed that he must be very far away. What the motives of the person who had brought him here were, he did not know.
After walking further for a while, Xie Lian encountered a new, difficult question.
He was hungry.
But, as said earlier, his money and possessions had all disappeared. The accessories which could
be used to verify his status as the crown prince had also disappeared, and he was unable to pull out anything just now when he had wanted to give the Ground a few pieces of gold leaves. Just sitting for a while in the tea house, that one place had already spent what little bit of coin he had managed to find after rummaging left and right, and furthermore, because he had been unable to tolerate the old tea stain, he did not even drink a mouthful of tea, and his stomach now continued to be empty.[1]
This was truly a case of being done in by a tiny problem.[2]
Just as he was frowning because of this difficulty, he suddenly discovered that just further ahead, beside one of the tiles on the ground, was something shiny, as though someone had dropped something there.
Xie Lian walked up, and crouched down, curious.
To think that, on the ground of this tumble-down alley, were a few pieces of gold leaves!
Besides the gold leaves, there were also silver leaves and a few bits of coin. To unexpectedly be able to pick up money from the ground in broad daylight, it was though food had fallen from the sky, and Xie Lian did not know whether he should consider his luck to be bad or good.
After Xie Lian had picked up the money, his first reaction was to wonder whether had dropped this money by accident, and so, he walked out of the alley, and rushed up to the passers-by, asking,
"Excuse me, did anyone drop some money here?"
Most of the people shook their heads. Some lazy louts shamelessly came over and said, "I dropped it! I dropped it!" to which Lian asked, "How much did you drop". But all of them were unable to give an answer, and ran away amidst surrounding laughter.
Xie Lian was out of ideas. And so, after waiting for the length of time of one incense stick, he walked by the roadside to buy a mantou.
Xie Lian had never eaten a mantou before, more so such a mantou made of coarse floor. It looked large and clumsy, white and bland. But he did not want to use any more of the money he had picked up. After all, it would be terrible if it was money which someone needed desperately, and so he only took out the least amount of money necessary.
It was the first time he held such a big mantou, and it held some novelty for him. He crossed the small street, and approaching a more deserted alley. Just as he was about to bring the mantou to his mouth, a hand suddenly reached out from beside him, and grabbed the mantou away.
This act was truly extraordinary. Xie Lian was startled, his hands already empty. He turned his head to look. Unexpectedly, standing beside him, was the man in red from the winehouse!
Xie Lian was shocked into stillness.
He did not think that this person would have unexpectedly followed him here. Even more, he did not think that he would have unexpectedly snatched his mantou!
After remaining stunned for a good while, he finally remembered that he wanted to take the mantou
back, and he jumped up, saying, "Give it back!"
His actions to retrieve the mantou were extremely quick, but the man's movements were even quicker. Plus the fact that he was taller, he dodged in a flash, saying, "Don't eat this."
Even though he said this, he himself took a bite of the mantou, leaving a mouthful missing. With this, XIe Lian was unable to bear the idea of eating it even if he had wanted to eat it. He was born as a crown prince, and it was simply impossible for him to bear eating a mantou which someone had taken a bite of. His eyes widened, as he said, "You!"
After a pause, he angrily said, "Why are you doing this?"
To think that when he first saw this person, he had thought that he was someone rare, and had wanted to befriend him. Never did he expect him to be a frivolous rogue!
Two silhouettes, one red and one white, moving so fast that they were blurs to the onlookers. No one would have dared to believe that such an exciting fight was over trying to snatch a mantou. Even though Xie Lian faintly felt that his own speed could be even faster, fast enough for him to be able to catch up with this San-lang's actions, but it also did not feel as though it was guaranteed, and his limbs did not seem quite willing to listen to his commands. Furthermore, he had spent the whole day feeling tired and frustrated and wary, and his hips and legs hurt. Amidst his fury, his leg unexpectedly twisted, and he fell to the ground. At that moment, a low yelp of pain escaped out from behind behind his gritted teeth.
Something hurt.
An indescribable pain, radiating from an indescribable place.
This pain had already been present; it was just that the wound had previously been tended to carefully, plus he had exerted extreme effort to ignore it deliberately, and so, it had not been obvious all this while. But with this fall, his expression changed in an instant. San-lang's expression changed too, and immediately bent over and caught hold of his arm in a swift movement, saying, "Ge......"
Then he immediately corrected his speech, saying, "Are you alright"
Xie Lian felt extremely embarrassed, and greatly wished that he could dig a whole in the ground to bury his face in it. He desperately tried to pull back his arm, and with his face a burning red, said, "Please don't address me as you wish, and please don't grab me like that!"
As expected, San-lang released his arm, but it was only symbolic, because he switched to grabbing Xie Lian's shoulder, saying, "What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"
His tone was extremely concerned, and it did not seem feigned. On the principle that one should not return politeness with rudeness,[3] Xie Lian should have reacted with courtesy. However, the moment he thought about where hurt, and why it hurt, he felt both ashamed and frustrated, and a whole day's worth of grievances surged up to the fore. In a single motion, he knocked away his hand, and got up on his own in a flash, saying, "...... I don't hurt anywhere, not at all!" Having thrown this line down, he turned and ran. But unexpectedly, the man behind him caught hold of his wrist, and no matter how he struggled, he was unable to struggle free. Unable to bear it any longer, Xie Lian
turned around violently, his eyes wide and round in his anger, to see that San-lang gazing at him, and saying softly with a sigh, "Ai, this daozhang, even if it is a thousand wrongs or ten thousand wrongs, it's all my fault, please don't be angry with me anymore.[4] How about this, let me take you out again for a drink, to make up for this."
For reasons he could not explain, each time Xie Lian looked at this person's face, his heart would beat erratically. He was very unused to this feeling, and thinking only of making a quick escape, said, "Who wants you to take them out,[5] I don't drink wine! Hurry up and let me go."
San-lang said, "Okay, alright, we won't drink wine Then let me take you out for a meal? You must be hungry."
Xie Lian was beside himself with anger. How dare this person use this sort of tone to speak to him! It was as though he was trying to coax Xie Lian like a child! Never before had he experienced this sort of humiliation, and he said, "I don't want you to take me out for a meal either. I'm not hungry. Show more respect!"
Embarrassingly, he had barely finished speaking, when his stomach made weak noises of protest.
Xie Lian's body stiffened. He grew angrier, his face turning red in his anger, and his voice began to stutter, "You...... You....... You, why are you bothering me? Stop bothering me anymore!"
But San-lang stared at him hard, saying, "Daozhang, could it be that you still haven't discovered it? Seeing that his expression had suddenly become serious, Xie Lian said, "Discovered what?"
San-lang said, "There is a cursed object on your body ah."
Xie Lian froze. Suddenly, something on his wrist loosened, and the bandage that had been wrapped around his wrist glided down like a white snake, rising up in front of him. The next moment, it dived straight towards him!
But before it could touch him, the man in red caught hold of it in a single motion, and said, "Look." "......"
That piece of white silk was like a poisonous snake of seven cubits length which had been caught, twisting continuously. The sight gave one goosebumps.
To think that such a creature was hiding on his body! At this, Xie Lian finally understood.
He blinked, and said, "So...... the reason why you approached me, was because you had discovered that this cursed object was hiding on my body?"
San-lang's expression grew more solemn, and he said, "Hn. This thing was rather peculiar, and so, I was slightly cautious. Fortunately, it did not hurt you."
The truth had been revealed. Thinking about how he had indeed been uncourteous to this gentleman previously, Xie Lian clutched at his face and wrung his hands. Now that the truth was out, that this person had approached him with good intentions, Xie Lian felt extremely embarrassed. To
him, he gave a sombre bow, and said, "Many thanks to your excellency. I was mistaken previously."
He waist had barely even vent when San-lang held him up, saying, "Not at all, not at all. It was hardly any effort.[6]"
Raising his head, Xie Lian felt slightly troubled. For some unknown reason, he kept feeling that, even though this man dressed in red had an appearance that was prim and proper, his brows and the corners of his eyes seemed to hold a hint of laughter. As expected, thinking about how the other party had had a full view of his messy and wretched behaviour, Xie Lian felt a bit awkward and embarrassed.
Strange as it might sound, amongst his peers, Xie Lian was already considered to be very mature. Who knew that he would be unable to stay calm the moment he looked at this man. This made him rather uneasy. However, San-lang did not seem to have noticed this, as he said, "Since this has been resolved, then, I'll head off. Daozhang, until we meet again?"
Instinctively, Xie Lian said, "Hn, until we meet again."
San-lang waved his hand, and turned and left. Unexpectedly, unable to help himself, Xie Lian followed a few steps after him.
Perhaps it was because he just didn't know where he should be going, or perhaps because he was still in a muddle. When San-lang looked back, Xie Lian startled, and only then did he come to his senses, hurriedly coming to a stop and pretending to look in another direction. However, it was
already too late.
Light laughter came from that direction, and Xie Lian could sense that even his earlobes had turned red.
Stubbornly looking in his direction, San-lang hugged his arms and laughed, saying, "Let's not wait for the next time we meet again. I feel that now is the right time. How about it? Is daozhang now willing to have a drink with me?"
*
They returned to that elegant tavern from before.
The man in red whom Xie Lian had only just become acquainted with was extremely generous, ordering a full table's worth of the best dishes and wine the tavern had to offer. Unexpectedly, not only were the dishes not inferior to those served in the royal palace, there were even many that had been prepared in a manner that was extremely novel, the likes of which Xie Lian had never seen before. Famished, he ate and ate, only belatedly realising that San-lang had been sitting across him all this while with his cheek propped on his hand, his gaze unwavering as he stared at him. That gaze, was as though he regarded Xie Lian as his meal.
"......"
As a result of being stared at by such a gaze, Xie Lian once again felt restless and unable to sit still. Convincing himself that he had not displayed poor mealtime etiquette just now as a result of his hunger, he put down his chopsticks, and coughed lightly, saying, "...... I let you see something embarrassing."
San-lang said, "Hn? What so embarrassing about this? Don't mind me. Please, please. Continue."
Following which, he took the mantou which the two of them had fought over briefly, and without a shift in his expression, bit into it. Seeing this, Xie Lian felt even more as though he was in a difficult position.
He smoothed his clothes and sat straighter, then looked at the strip of white silk, deciding to talk about this matter. He said, "Why would this cursed object hide on my body? To think that I
completely failed to discover its existence, it's simply as though......" It was simply as though it was something which he had worn on his person for a very long while, and had grown accustomed to it.
That white silk constantly kept swimming towards him, bobbing its head and tail. If not for the fact that San-lang was keeping a firm grip on it, it was likely that it would have long since wrapped him up like a rice dumpling.[7] Looking at it, it was as though...... it liked him very much.
San-lang used a chopstick to pin it down to stop it from diving towards Xie Lian, and said with a small smile, "It looks like this cursed object has some pretty bad habits, and is in need of a proper teaching."
Xie Lian said, "Rather than teaching it, it'd be better if we look into its origins first."
Both of them talked for a while about a great many topics. Xie Lian had grown up in the Xian Le
imperial palace since a young age, and afterwards cultivated in the royal temple. Until now, he never before met someone who was such an interesting conversationalist, someone who had seen and encountered such a rich number of experiences. As he listened to San-lang speak, his eyes grew bright, and he could not stop smiling. He even almost forgot all his cares. It was only after a long while that he suddenly remembered one of the weird mysteries before him[8], and said with a straight face, "San-lang, can I ask if you have heard of someone?"
San-lang tossed that piece of white silk to the floor, using some unknown method to ensure that it remained lying limply, unable to leap up. He said, "Who."
Xie Lian said, "It's like this. I'm looking for someone by the name of Hua Cheng." Hearing this name, San-lang's eyebrow rose.
He said, "Hn. If I may ask, by looking for this person, what do you plan on doing?" Xie Lian said with sincerity, "To be honest with you, I don't know."
Listening to San-lang's tone, Xie Lian guessed that San-lang definitely knew who Hua Cheng was, and so he said again, "Perhaps you may be thinking that I'm hiding something from you, but it's the truth, I too don't know what finding him would achieve. From the moment I woke up today, I discovered that I am in a very strange situation."
In a breath, he laid out everything, only omitting those things that were too embarrassing to be mentioned. At the end, Xie Lian said, "And so, I was thinking, this person must be very important. If San-lang knows who he is, is it convenient for you to tell me?"
San-lang smiled and said, "Ah, there's nothing inconvenient about it. With daozhang and I getting along so well on our first meeting, I naturally would want to help you. As for this person, Hua Cheng......"
Xie Lian listened with all his attention and said, "Well?" San-lang said, "Is a mad man."
Xie Lian said, "How is he mad?"
Hua Cheng poured out a cup of wine, and picked the cup in his hand, saying, "He is a disciple." "Whose disciple."
"The Xian Le Crown Prince's."
"Cough cough cough —"
Xie Lian hurriedly swallowed a mouthful of tea, before finally being able to cough it out. He said, "Wait, wait. I – our Xian Le Crown Prince Xie Lian, has yet to become a god, so how does he have a disciple?"
San-lang said, unconcerned, "He would ascend sooner or later. After all, gods are just like that. If you say someone is a god then he is a god, and if you say someone isn't a god then he isn't a god.
If he feels like it, then he is."
Xie Lian did know whether to laugh or cry. He said, "Surely this is too casual!"
After a pause, he added, "...... however, does he really believe that much, that the Crown Prince, HIs Royal HIghness, will definitely become a god?"
San-lang said slowly, "It's not belief."
Following that, he smiled. "It's conviction."[9]
Xie Lian smiled along too, as he thought, "Then I had best not let down this person's expectations."
He hugged his arms, saying, "So, where can I meet this Hua Cheng?"
San-lang said, "Daozhang, do you really wish to meet him?"
Xie Lian said, "Yes."
It seemed as though San-lang did not approve of this idea of his. He said, "But Hua Cheng is very bad."
Xie Lian frowned slightly, saying, "Very bad? How is he bad?"
He was not too willing to believe, that a disciple who was convinced that he would ascend, would be
a bad person. San-lang said, "About this......" Just at that moment, Xie Lian noticed something.
Up to now he had been very careful, and did not really look directly at San-lang. Now, after both of them had interacted for a while, and had warmed up to each other, he had finally started to relax, and to look directly as he pleased.
One of San-lang's hands had been resting all this while on a railing by the side, his finger tapping on the railing in a manner that was not too light and not too heavy. His five fingers were long and elegant, and on his third finger, was tied a thin red thread, like the bright edge of a knot.
Xie Lian immediately thought of the incident in the tea house, when the song-girl was singing, and a series of jumbled and messy images had flashed across his mind: beneath the gauzy bed curtains, two hands, ten fingers locked interlocked tightly.
The hand that had lain above, had such a red thread tied to it.
—–
Translator's notes:
[1} From the sound of it, customers in the teahouse paid an entrance fee for a seat. Their entrance /
seat also comes with a portion of tea. In Xie Lian's case, he could not bear to drink any of the tea he was entitled to, from the tea-stained cup.
[2] 一文钱难倒英雄汉 [yi wen qian nan dao ying xiong han] - A Chinese idiom, lit. a small bit of money being too difficult for a hero to overcome. It conveys the idea of a large undertaking or a very
talented person, being unable to proceed because of a small problem which cannot be solved.
[3] 伸手不打笑面人 [shen shou bu da xiao mian ren] - A Chinese idiom, lit. don't raise your hand to hit a smiling person. The idea is that if someone is polite, it is difficult or awkward to react rudely in
return.
[4] "千错万错，都是我的错，不要生我的气了。" Aaahhh this sounds so flirty and coy in Chinese, like a husband trying to placate his angry wife!
[5] If you speak Singlish, what Xie Lian literally says is, "I then don't want you to take me out" - like a sulky wife!
[6] "举手之劳罢了 。" - Lit. "It was no more effort than raising my hand."
[7] 粽子 [zong zi] - Glutinous rice and meat, packed in a pyramid shape, wrapped in leaves and cooked. Here's the wiki link.
[8] 眼下正处于一个诡异的漩涡之中 - lit. inside one of the mysterious / weird whirlpools that were before his eyes
[9] 不是相信。 / 是坚信。 - 相信 [xiang xin] is belief (n) or believe (v). 坚信 [jian xin] is a strong, unshakeable belief; conviction; certainty; faith.