Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan
/ Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan Volume 1 Chapter 7 part1
Book 1 Chapter 7 - Jade Annulus of the He Clan
Song Shidao prepared a banquet in the dining cabin, simple yet impressive. There was another couple in attendance. The man was around forty, but the hair on his entire head was white; he also wore a long silvery color beautiful beard, but oddly he did not look old at all. His bearing was elegant, bold and heroic, like an important character of a sect or a prominent family, yet his manner was very modest and polite.
The woman looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six, rather flirtatious. Her attitude toward the man was very intimate, plus both her countenance and her physique were extremely titillating, giving other people a rather uneasy feeling. She reminded Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling of the ladies of the Spring Breeze Courtyard, but naturally her beauty was far superior to some Auntie Hong of the Courtyard.
According to Song Shidao's introduction, turned out the man was a well-known martial art expert of the Song Clan, the Silver Beard Song Lu, whose creation, the set of ‘Silver Dragon Cane Techniques' was famous throughout Jiangnan [area south of Yangtze River]. He was Song Shidao's [younger] uncle, one of the core-leaders of the Song Clan.
The woman was called Liu Jing, the new mistress of Song Lu, but nothing was mentioned about her background.
By the time Song Shidao wanted to introduce the three people, he suddenly realized that he did not even know these three's surnames and given names. While he was stuck in embarrassing situation, Fu Junchuo indifferently introduced themselves, without concealing anything.
Song Lu laughed and said, "The person who imparted Miss' internal skill obviously has first-class martial art skill; your sword style is brimming with exoticism. I wonder which superior master instructed such a brilliant character like Miss?”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were secretly speechless; this man's fame was definitely no fluke. Although they had never heard Song Lu's name before, they knew that he must be a prominent figure; hence his eyesight was very sharp, his manner of speaking was very fitting. They could not help but admiring him, and it showed. Their gaze was actually more effective than any flattery, so that Song Lu immediately had a favorable impression toward them.
Fu Junchuo calmly replied, "Mr. Song, please forgive me. Junchuo received a strict order not to disclose my background.”
Liu Jing cast a sidelong glance toward the two boys with her as-clear-as-shallow-autumn-creek eyes; she smiled and said, "Two Xiao Xiongdi look imposingly big and tall, why haven't you practice Miss Fu's martial art skill? I wonder what is your relation to Miss Fu?”
Kou Zhong stuck his chest out and clearing his throat he said, "We two brothers are ready to train our Niang's first-class martial art skill. Thank you very much for Mrs. Song's compliment.”
Hearing him saying ‘our Niang', Song Shidao's eyes fell on Fu Junchuo's infinitely beautiful and tender body; with a changed countenance he asked, "Your Niang?”
Fu Junchuo's charming eyes blushed slightly; after shooting an angry stare at Kou Zhong, she said in embarrassment, "Don't listen to these two little demons' crazy nonsense; they adamantly wanted to call me ‘Niang'.”
Xu Ziling rubbed his stomach theatrically and blurted, "Niang! Child is hungry.”
Liu Jing could not help laughing so hard that her body shook continuously. But Song Shidao and Song Lu, uncle and nephew, were baffled. They could not figure out the real relationship between this stunning beauty and the two little demons.
Noticing the two boys were staring at Liu Jing like a lecher, Fu Junchuo felt a strange jealousy creeping into her heart. With a cold snort she said, "If you dare to babble nonsense again, let's see if I … if I …”
Casting his doubt aside, Song Shidao said, "Miss Fu and Xiao Xiongdi, please come into our dining room, we can continue our chat while we eat.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were youngsters after all; seeing Song Shidao treated them with respect, their jealousy diminished considerably. Plus they saw on the table was a sumptuous spread of food delicacies [orig. ‘rarities from the mountain and the sea'], hurriedly they entered the dining room and sat down in total ignorance of Jianghu etiquette.
By this time Song Shidao was already able to more or less see the two boys' real background; hence he did not mind them too much. He politely invited Fu Junchuo to take a seat, and then Song Shidao and Song Lu took their seat as the host on either side of her. Liu Jing sat next to Song Lu, followed by Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling.
Two attendants immediately rushed forward to fill everybody's cup with wine. Fu Junchuo said, "I have never moisten my lips with wine, and these two are underage, they ought not to drink wine as well. So gentlemen and lady, please enjoy yourselves.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were dying to have a taste of fine wine; hearing her, naturally they were quite disappointed, and it showed clearly on their faces.
Fu Junchuo was inwardly very pleased; she was finally able to put these two lecherous little demons back in check.
Song Lu laughed, "In that case, let's everybody not drink wine. Xiao Jing [little Jing], do you have any problem?”
Liu Jing also laughed tenderly, "How can qie [I, your servant; deprecatory self-reference for women] have any problem? I am afraid the ones with the problem are these two Xiao Xiongdi.”
Kou Zhong stuck his chest out, "A leader can submit or can stand tall as required. We can drink, we can not drink. How can there be any problem?”
The three Song family people were accustomed to spend their time at the docks; they have seen all kinds of situation, big and small. Looking at the two boys, they knew that they were trying to make do in spite of adversity, yet they did not wish to expose them. Thereupon they changed the subject.
Apparently Song Lu was a food connoisseur; he casually introduced each dish on the table, and talked about the art of cooking. Listening to him, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, whose tummy always alternated between full and hungry, were stupefied. Their hands, however, did not stay idle; they attacked the vegetable and meat dishes systematically in a sweep-clean operation.
Fu Junchuo was not interested in the food, she only ate two strips of Chinese cabbage, and already put her chopsticks down. Her jade countenance was still as calm as the water, her beauty really looked like Guanyin Bodhisattva descending to earth.
The more Song Shidao looked at her, the more he fell in love. But because Song Lu indicated that she may have come from outside the Central Earth, he felt like his heart was pierced by a sharp thorn, because their Song Clan had a strict rule against intermarriage with different tribe. If this stunning beauty was really of a different tribe, unless he was willing to abandon his family, the two of them would never be brought together by fate.
Liu Jing did not dare to either compliment or criticize Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, two boys' table manner, but she found them to be extremely amusing. With a smile on her face she watched them sweeping the dishes clean like the wind sweeping the clouds. From time to time she even picked the dish for them and served them attentively.
After the attendants took away the bowls and the dishes, Song Lu personally served everybody tea.
Noticing that Fu Junchuo was not interested in talking about food, Song Lu changed the subject, "Miss Fu, I wonder if you have deep understanding of our Central Earth's matters?”
Song Shidao immediately looked nervous; he knew that Song Lu was able to see his infatuation toward Fu Junchuo, hence he tried to test her to verify whether she was indeed of a different tribe, while at the same time telling Song Shidao to kill his heart.
Fu Junchuo responded emotionlessly, "How can Mr. Song judge from my sword style that Junchuo is of foreign origin?”
Song Shidao's handsome eyes immediately lit up.
Song Lu apologetically said, "Please forgive the Ol' Song for being rude and impetuous. I was just wondering if Miss has ever heard about the matter concerning the He Clan's jade annulus?” In the end he was still an old fox; in a roundabout way he was still testing where Fu Junchuo came from.
Like a school children, Kou Zhong raised his hand and said, "I heard about it. King Zhaoxiang of Qin exchanged fifteen cities for King Huiwen of Zhao's ‘subduing the nation' treasure, the He Clan's jade annulus. The Zhao King sent Lin Xiangru [c. 3rd century BC, a famous statesman of Zhao] to escort the He Clan's jade annulus to see the Qin King. The Ol' Lin handled the jade annulus belonging to other people in a stupid way. Fortunately the Qin King was more stupid than he was, he let him bring the He Clan's jade annulus back to Zhao. This is called some his mother's ‘returning the jade annulus to Zhao'.” [Chinese idiom, meaning ‘to return something intact to its rightful owner'.]
Everybody was laughing. Liu Jing laughed the hardest. Pointing to Kou Zhong, she asked, "So what happened to the He Clan's jade annulus afterwards?”
Fu Junchuo was grateful in her heart; she knew that Kou Zhong was afraid she could not answer the question, hence he rushed in to answer it for her, while at the same time she was startled by this ‘son's quick wit.
It was only because he had heard Bai Lao Fuzi [See Chapter 1] telling the story of ‘returning the jade annulus to Zhao' that he had something to say. As for how it returned to Zhao and what happened afterwards, he had no idea. "I am afraid only Laotianye [God/Heaven] knows,” he said in embarrassment.
Liu Jing laughed even harder that her body shook all over as she leaned toward Song Lu; her seductive appearance grew without restraint.
Seeing the kid was able to make his beloved concubine roaring in laughter and looked so carefree, Song Lu was happy. Momentarily he forgot to continue his probing on Fu Junchuo's background. He patiently explained, "Later on this He Clan's jade annulus ended in Qin Shihuang's[1] hand. He ordered Li Si[2] to compose a couplet ‘shou ming yu tian, ji shou yong chang' [lit. to become Emperor by the grace of Heaven, (enjoy) both long life and eternal well-being. Wikipedia translation: ‘Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may (the emperor) lead a long and prosperous life'], eight characters in seal script that look like birds and bugs, and have jade and stone craftsmen to engrave the jade annulus. Thereupon the He Clan's jade annulus has become the Emperor's seal.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling showed an ‘oh, so that's how it is' look on their faces.
Song Shidao was afraid Song Lu might continue interrogating Fu Junchuo, he continued, "After Han founder Liu Bang[3] overthrew the Great Qin Dynasty [221-207BC], Qin King, Ziying offered the He Clan's jade annulus to Liu Bang. Liu Bang called it the Imperial Seal [orig. chuan guo xi, seal of state that was passed on]. Henceforth the He Clan's jade annulus became a symbol of rise and fall of the nation. Later on Wang Mang[4] intended to seize the throne, he sent his younger brother Wang Shun to Changle Palace to demand the jade annulus from Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan, making Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan angry and threw it to the floor; as a result the corner broke. Wang Mang ordered a goldsmith to fill the broken corner with gold. Henceforth He Clan's jade annulus also had another elegant name, ‘jade body gold corner'.”
[1] Qin Shihuang, first emperor of China, 259-210BC.
[2] Li Si, (c. 280-208 BC), Legalist philosopher, calligrapher and Prime minister of Qin kingdom and Qin dynasty from 246 to 208 BC.
[3] Han Gaozu Liu Bang (256 or 247-195 BC), bandit leader who became the first Han emperor, reigned 207-195 BC.
[4] Wang Mang (45 BC-23 AD), usurped power and reigned 9-23 between the former and later Han.
Chapter end
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