章 147: Grown Up Overnight

The world wasn't fair. That Xiao Ma had understood this as early as he'd learnt to walk was a testament to the fact. Born as a nobody, raised as a nobody, and single-handedly forced to ruin one of the few moments of solace in his life, Xiao Ma had always believed that there was nothing more tragic than being trapped within the tall walls of the Wu Household.

But today, the world taught him a new lesson. It was Qixi, the day of lovers. What his new young mistress was up to was a far cry from the festivities that the young, carefree men and women roaming the street stalls of the capital were enjoying.

クリエイターの想い
Queeniecat

(1) A line from Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi’s poem. The original line was “she blocked half her face with the pipa that she held in her arms”, used to describe a shy maiden responding to many calls for her to make her entrance. Also used to describe the advent of something that was anticipated for a long time.

(2) A saying that means in order to achieve a particular goal, you have to give up something in return, such as take a big risk.

(3) Scent of coppers: referring to the stench of money, a metaphor for being filthy rich and only interested in profiting (used derogatorily)

(4) A long night is fraught with dreams: an idiom that means a long delay leads to trouble.

(5) I was unable to find exactly how long each dynasty’s emperor had leave from work after his wedding but this would be the only period of time in which his empress would be allowed to stay with him nightly. In the Qing Dynasty, the emperor would stay with the empress in a section of her palace for one month before they could both return to their original sleeping places. This was to show her respect (he did not have a month off work though!) Sadly, however, only one emperor was noted to actually follow the custom. The rest went back to their concubines ):

(6) Good fortune not to disgrace the mission: a literal translation for “thankfully I fulfilled my task”. A literary way of saying the above.

(7) Lonely Gardens: A very poetic name for state-controlled orphanages and first noted in the Southern Song Dynasty.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading, and all the gifts, comments, reviews, golden tickets, and powerstones! <3

Apologies for vanishing (yet again), due to ongoing family issues, I spent Christmas and the last couple of weeks searching for a new place, moving, and helping an elderly relative move and settle in so that I could take on a carer role. Fingers crossed this time that everything has finally fallen into place once and for all, 2023 please!!!