QT: Heroine Arrives, Woman Rapidly Retreats! (continuation of Arc 8)

Arc: Cross-dressing Female General vs Alluring Malicious Beauty (4)

He looked over from the sedan chair. The youthful General was clad in silver armor, standing in the light, his blood-red cloak giving his eyes and brows a uniquely cold yet exquisite air.

This General Fu of the TianYun Dynasty, who was famous for his military achievements, was not as tall and burly as he had imagined. In comparison to the average man, his body stature was rather thin and weak.

The curtain fell, and he lost sight of the young general.

For some reason, Jiang Huan's heart filled with some disappointment. His thoughts drifted out of his control.......if, this General changed his outfit, and walked amongst a crowd, wouldn't people think he was the pampered young master of an aristocratic family with silver brocade and jade foods?

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Rong wang entered the palace to meet the Emperor.

The Emperor, who was experienced in the vicissitudes of fate, treated this brother who was younger than him by two turns of the zodiac cycle with utter tolerance and affection. He personally got up and lifted Jiang Huan out of his bow.

The two were simply chatting, when Jiang Huan suddenly brought up Gu Shengyin.

"When this Subject-Brother just entered the palace, I happened to see General Fu."

The emperor's impression of Fu Yunzhen had always been positive, and hearing such drew his interest: "This was probably Shi'an's first time seeing Yunzhen ba? What do you think?"

Shi'an, was Rong wang Jiang Huan's informal name, and was personally bestowed upon him by the late Empress Dowager herself.

Jiang Huan said with humor on his face: "Subject-brother had simply taken a glance, and simply feels that General Fu is like a jade tree within the front courtyard, with a beautiful appearance. If it were not for the military uniform he was wearing, he would not look like a general who has gone through bloody battlefields, but rather the precious son of a wealthy family."

The emperor laughed loudly: "No matter what, Shi'an you must never say these words to Yunzhen. He really hates when others gossip about his appearance."

Jiang Huan still smiled lightly: "One's appearance is gifted by one's parents. Shi'an believes that beauty is something that can bring others happiness. General Fu fits this perfectly."

The emperor glared at him helplessly: "You ah, you have been cultivating in the temple for so many years, now even when you speak, you give off such an air of an ascetic."

Jiang Huan laughed wordlessly.

–

After Gu Shengyin left the palace, she returned to the Fu Family residence.

She didn't even change her clothes, and went straight to greet her father, the old General Fu, who had retired and spent his time at the residence.

"This child greets Father." Gu Shengyin solemnly gave a simple salute.

Old General Fu looked at his expressionless daughter in silence. After a long while, he opened his mouth: "You can get up."

The hands that had stretched out from his sleeves were pulled back without a trace.

After Gu Shengyin straightened, she silently stood to the side, and a long silence stretched between the father and daughter pair.

After who knows how long, Gu Shengyin felt that the atmosphere was really too awkward, and finally said: "Does Father have any orders to give me; if not, then this child will leave first."

Old General Fu faced his utterly businesslike daughter, and couldn't suppress the depression in his heart: This child, in the end, she really has become indifferent towards me.

Gu Shengyin saw that he didn't respond, and thought it was silent acquiescence. She bowed towards her father and headed outside.

It was not until after Gu Shengyin left that Old General Fu spoke to the old steward that had been standing beside him: "Changfu, do you think she hates me?

The old housekeeper didn't know what to say: "General, you are worrying too much." The relationship between the father and daughter, as an insider, the old steward had been watching for so many years.

Sometimes, even he felt that the General had really done too much harm towards the young lady. However, he was just a servant, how could he comment on the master's matters?

Ari's Corner:

translating ancient setting arcs is always annoying, bc Chinese doesn't require 'I' to be in the second part of the sentence as well as all the different titles n stuff ugh

if anyone wants to do some sort of research or project related to ancient chinese texts, i'd definitely recommend

this idiom has been used before in this webnovel and i'm too lazy to go back and find the explanation i had typed out for it;; iirc, it should be the arc where GSY was a junzhu, or 'county mistress'

the phrase used here is 年逾知天命, which means that he is at the age, or over the age of understanding fate and heaven's will; the phrase 知天命 is part of a line from the Politics chapter of "The Analects of Confucius":
子曰："吾十有五，而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。"
The Master said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."
tl;dr – the reference to this line is saying the Emperor is in his fifties

if you've read other stories set in ancient China, you should know that there are SO many names; your official given name, your title name (if you have one), and this one is your informal name; it's given by your family's elders and can be something with well-wishes; in this case, 世安 Shì'ān, roughly translates to peaceful life/existence
if you want a more detailed history for the tradition, and are interested, I recommend reading , it explains it pretty well

庭前玉树 – a jade tree of the front court; I'm not too sure what the exact meaning is, but I researched it a bit and it's definitely a reference to at least one poem; from the context, I'd infer that it's praising GSY's beauty as a treasure