Serving the Country

Chapter 1

Fragrant mist lingered tantalizingly in the inner hall of King Fu Ning’s mansion.

One person half laid, half sat on the recliner placed at the centre of the hall, his luxurious robes half open, and his hair untied.

The hall remained silent, and his mouth curved up into sneer. Sweeping his eyes across the newly selected zhuang-yuan (1) who’d been standing in place for a long time, he finally opened his mouth leisurely, speaking without a care, “As the champion of the imperial examinations, you are certainly selected by the emperor himself. You haven’t even met with the emperor, and yet you’re in such a hurry to come here and pay your respects to me. Are you trying to frame this King for conspiring against the emperor and bestow an unloyal, traitorous name upon me?”

After saying the wordy, political things that needed to be said, he couldn’t be bothered to wait for a response and suddenly stopped smiling, standing up. “The zhuang-yuan’s visit today, is it to try to sound out from ben-wang (2) if you’ll be conferred the rank of a third rank minister at tomorrow’s court session?”

“This lowly official doesn’t dare to overestimate himself.” The zhuang-yuan bowed and denied it, yet a fiery passion burned in his eyes, clearly showing his desires.

The wang-ye (3) was silent (4), smiling slightly before getting up and walking towards the zhuang-yuan.

The moment he stopped in front of the zhuang-yuan, the belt of his robes loosened and the originally loose silk robe gradually slid down his figure, revealing a large portion of his body.

The new zhuang-yuan was almost shocked to the point of calling out. Apart from this big robe, this Han Lang wang-ye was completely naked inside. He couldn’t possibly dress like this every time he met privately with an official right?

His heart beating rapidly like a rabbits’, the zhuang-yuan suddenly felt like his throat was scorching hot.

King Fu Ning (5), Han Lang (6), was indeed like how the rumours in court described him. The corner of his eyes and the shape of his brows were all crafted with an elegant, refined flair, emitting an indescribable sense of bewitchment that made people’s hearts itch to the extreme. And yet it also made them tremble with fear.

At this time, footsteps sounded outside in the corridor. Han Lang frowned. From the footsteps alone, he could already tell who the person coming was.

As expected, the wooden, carved door was abruptly pushed open by someone.

“Liu Nian, was all of the emperor’s medicine eaten?” (6) Han Lang give that stupid, good for nothing zhuang-yuan another glance, and merely directed a question towards the subordinate, Liu Nian, who had just entered the hall.

“Replying to wang-ye, His Majesty has been reviewing the official documents this entire time. I’ve reheated the medicine again and again, and pleaded with His Majesty to drink it, but he has yet to drink a single mouthful of it.”

Han Lang gave a light hum before leaning forward and clasping his chin, “I left you in the palace just for you to serve people like this?”

There was no need to look at anything else, you only had to look at Liu Nian’s face that was turning green to tell how much strength this wang-ye was using.

“This servant didn’t complete his duties properly, master, please punish this servant.”

Han Lang thought deeply for a moment before making his decision on the spot. “Nevermind! Liu Nian, help me change clothes in the inner chamber and accompany me to the Imperial Palace.”

“Then wang-ye, what about me?” Only now did the new zhuang-yuan suddenly recall that he hadn’t even managed to hand up his name card (6) on his trip here.

“What… Do you need me to ‘invite’ you to get out of the manor?”

“This student doesn’t dare, doesn’t dare…” After he bowed and took his leave, Han Lang expressionlessly fixed his robes and tied the golden belt around his waist. Then he angrily turned and left.

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You Zai Palace was filled with the faint scent of medicine.

In the entire palace, apart from the person who was seated right in the centre, at the emperor’s desk, everyone else had been kneeling for a long time, begging the emperor to drink his medicine.

Yet it was precisely that emperor who was currently carefully plodding on with his task of reviewing the official documents, refusing to make a single sound.

“Your Majesty (7), if you don’t drink the medicine now then it’ll go cold again. The wang-ye certainly won’t let us go easily (8).”

The pen that was making annotations on the documents paused for a moment before continuing again.

“Your Majesty!” The eunuch by his side suddenly called out in a low voice, “The wang-ye has arrived.”

Only then did the emperor lift his head, only to see the Fu Ping wang with his silver, purple phoenix crown, it’s wings spread in flight, his purple brocade robe that was draped over his body, and his messily tied waist belt, standing in an imposing manner as he looked at him with his signature slight smile. (9)

The pen tip quivered, and the emperor uneasily surveyed his surroundings.

“It’s me who forced my way in without waiting for you to call on me.” Han Lang gave a slight explanation before commanding everyone else to leave You Zai Palace. The emperor hesitated for a moment but didn’t rebut, continuing to review his documents.

In the end, only this pair of master and subordinate remained (10).

“Letting you live in You Zai Palace was meant for you to nurse your health.” A sigh came from above his head. Even before the sound faded, Han Lang had already picked the emperor up. Autumn had set in for a long time, there usually wasn’t any discomfort during the day, but once it got to night, the shivering coldness would wrap itself around your body.

He stroked and grasped onto the emperor’s finger. Indeed, his guess was correct. The emperor’s hands were freezing cold.

“You’re the emperor so of course you have a lot of responsibility. Even you need to look after your body.”

The emperor was quiet, letting Han Lang hug him as he wished, not moving a single fraction.

Han Lang glanced towards the table and saw that the bowl of medicine was still steaming, thus reaching out his hand and bringing the bowl up to the emperor’s mouth.

“It’s Autumn now, I should’ve reminded you to wear some overalls. It’s my foresight. Come, drink the medicine whilst it’s still hot.”

The emperor paused momentarily before finally opening his mouth and swallowing that black bowl of medicine scraps.

The bottom of the bowl was gradually seen and a thread of viciousness suddenly flashed through Han Lang’s eyes. He suddenly clasped onto the emperor’s cold lips with his mouth, his tongue plunging in and out, sharing the bitterness in the emperor’s mouth. Their breaths had been intertwined for who knew how long when the emperor suddenly twisted his head away in humiliation, leaning forward, trying to escape from his embrace. Yet in the end, he stopped his actions in a well behaved manner.

Han Lang smiled, his eyes bright under the night light. “I know you’re worried for that Qin General of yours, but he said the wrong words and gave everyone else the wrong idea, so he must be punished. The neighbouring Dong Yi is a peaceful nation, and 100 000 silver for the battalion stationed at the frontier there is more than enough, yet he just had to make it into 300 000. Even though it was a small mistake, but the imperial treasury is now missing 200 000. He ought to be punished in order to learn his lesson.”

The emperor seemed to still be angry, refusing to speak as he continued to bury his head in reviewing documents.

“If you really care about him that much, then I’ll just let him out in a moment then.” As he spoke, Han Lang pulled out the threads of wolf fur (11) used for reviewing the documents and threw them away carelessly. Smiling, he seized him into his embrace and once again kissed the young emperor’s lips, kissing his way along his slender neck, continuously moving down. His ten fingers loosened the bright yellow belt around his waist and found their way inside, rubbing between his two legs.

At first, the body that was being forced still had a bit of numbness and resistance against his actions, yet in the end, even it’s breathing had begun to speed up.

Han Lang gave a cold smirk, carrying him to the inner chambers.

The pleasure after the excitement made the emperor fall into a deep sleep, yet it made Han Lang’s mind even clearer than before.

Deep in the night, he got off the bed and helped the person beside him arrange his quilts. Then he turned and went back to the main hall of the palace and changed from the emperor’s red pen to the subordinate’s blue pen, continuing to review the documents. 

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A night with patrons. Hua Rong earnt 600 shillings and had to pay a small price in exchange for it.

The excitement of that military officer surnamed Hou could not be suppressed, and at the end, he had used a bit too much force, breaking Hua Rong’s right hand bone.

Yet Hua Rong was not disheartened, and merely brought his attendant with him to see the doctor the next day. Right after, he even specially went to the art pavilion, paying for someone to help him draw an orchid on his belt.

The orchid was extremely lifelike, making Hua Rong feel extremely content, therefore he then took his attendant with him to go shopping on the streets.

This attendant was particularly full of personality, not only giving himself the name Hua Gui (12), but also walking pridefully in front of his master, not giving his master a single glance.

Hua Rong hurriedly caught up to him and used his fan to knock on his shoulder, making a hand sign, “Since you look down on me, then you can certainly pat your butt and leave.”

Hua Gui stood at the centre of the street and replied to him in a voice louder than a gong, “Why should I leave? It’s not like you have any family, if one day you were accidentally f**ked to death by a man, then wouldn’t all of your silver belong to me?”
 

Hua Rong was angered to the point of falling, and hurriedly opened his fan to cool his head, posing a very chic look to the passerby who were looking at him with measured glances.

Yet Hua Gui was still very energetic. After standing there dazedly for a moment, he suddenly said, “Master, I want to buy a sword. I want to be a true man who has his own dreams and ambitions.”

No matter how it was phrased, in the end, his words were still ridiculing Hua Rong. But Hua Rong was too lazy to bother with him, and just gave a smile, as romantic as a blooming flower in Spring, accompanying him to choose swords all along the way.

What good swords could those people shouting “buy buy buy” on the streets have? Hua Rong curled his lips in contempt the entire way, only stopping when he saw a black sword (13).

Hua Gui knew that he was knowledgeable about what goods were valuable, therefore he immediately went up and pulled the sword out of its scabbard.

The sword was calm and tranquil, not at all like the imaginary treasure sword that emanated light in all four directions in his mind. It was only when it was drawn out of it’s scabbard that it made an extremely low whistle, and had an unspeakable chill to it, that made people’s hearts feel stuffy.

The sword seller bowed his head and only said one line, “200 shillings for this sword, no bargaining.”

Hua Gui was speechless for a moment and couldn’t help but turn around to look at Hua Rong.

Hua Rong motioned to him that the price was worth it and stretched out his neck. The other person was hiding his face, yet he had to see that person’s appearance.

Suddenly, that person lifted their head, icily meeting his gaze. They were the perfect example of being in desolate circumstances, yet still being magnanimous and open.

Hua Gui’s loud voice started again, “I’ll take this sword! Master, quickly pay the fee.”

Only to see his master avoid his gaze, his voice became even louder, “I don’t have money. You shouldn’t be so stingy either, after all, after you die, all your money will be mine anyways.”

Hua Rong didn’t avoid his gaze anymore. He looked at that person’s relaxed brows, and that smile that wasn’t quite a smile, before making another hand gesture.

“How much does it cost to buy the person as well?!” Hua Gui immediately jumped up high, “Master, do you think every man’s like you? That every one of them can be bought?”

“This one is Lin Luo Yin. This sword can be redeemed in the future.” The owner of the sword suddenly spoke up again at this point, reaching out to hug the sword with both fists.

As he spoke, his feet suddenly collapsed and his face turned deathly pale like snow. The moment he fell, a person's shadow flashed forward and came to support him.

Without exception, when he woke up, Lin Luo Yin was lying on a bed. Someone was sitting quietly by his bedside, when they saw that he was awake, they opened their mouth and smiled.

What a typical chapter of a beauty saving a hero. The only difference was that a “male” had to be added in front of the word beauty.

Hua Gui’s loud voice could be heard from outside the door, “Food’s ready. The doctor said that Lin da-xia (14) fainted because of his internal injuries added on to being too hungry. If it’s convenient for Lin da-xia to get up, then he should eat first ba.”

The food was extremely delectable and it was difficult for Lin Luo Yin to maintain his appearance when eating. On the other hand, Hua Rong maintained his liquid diet, drinking glutinous rice wine and eating watery porridge.

Elsewhere, Hua Gui acted of his own accord and brought over a bag of silver along with that black sword. He very heroically announced, “Da-xia has met with troubled times (15), you can take this little bit of silver to use, as well as this sword.”

Hua Rong stopped drinking his porridge, making a hand gesture, “I’m not dead yet.” Then he took out a ticket worth 200 shillings, and stuffed the bag of money and the sword into his own chest.

Even after doing all of this, he could still smile and hold up his cup of wine, swaying it and paying his respects to Lin Luo Yin.

Lin Luo Yi nodded in approval. In the end, this meal passed in a very comfortable manner.

From start to end, Hua Rong never displayed any curiosity about him, and even knew that his pride wouldn’t allow him to accept charity.

This kind of ostentatious youth actually seemed to be able to see through everything.

But in the end, the civilities were unavoidable. He inevitably had to cup his fists, “Thank you Young Master for your rescue. This Lin (16) will certainly pay you back for this deed.”

Hua Rong made a gesture, the overall meaning being that heroes understood heroes (17), da-xia didn’t need to take it to heart.

Yet the translator Hua Gui translated it as, “My family’s master is a treacherous, lil’ person. Even the doctor himself said that Lin da-xia’s inner qi is mighty and bountiful, rarely seen in the world. When Lin da-xia has achievements in the future, please don’t forget that my master’s name is Hua Rong.”

Lin Luo Yin gave a soft smile and patted his tattered, old clothes slightly, bidding goodbye in a natural, fluid motion. The fallen phoenix was still as calm and at ease as ever.

A servant suddenly came in from the door at this moment, his clothes clearly showing off who he’s master was. Holding a greeting card, he bowed, “My household’s Old Master Yu Shi Lang would like to ask if the gentleman has time to go to the manor tonight.”

Hua Rong made a hand sign, and Hua Gui embarrassedly translated in an annoying, sharp voice, “My master says that he’s willing to attend to Old Master Yu with his injury.”

The servant received an answer and left, yet Lin Luo Yin remained in place, looking back in disbelief.

Hua Gui’s voice turned increasingly sharp, “You don’t need to say anything. My family’s master will certainly reply back to you that every man has his own ambitions. He would even say that the least important thing in life is needing face.”

This time, Hua Rong nodded in agreement, extremely approving of Hua Gui’s words. His left hand opened up his signature fan, revealing the three words “Dian Qian Huan”.

It wasn’t convenient for Lin Luo Yin to say anything else, and he could only raise his eyes, once again bidding farewell.

This glance just happened to meet Hua Rong’s eyes. Lin Luo Yin was dumbfounded, being dazed for a moment.

No matter what kind of person he was, that pair of eyes were vast, like an endless body of water. When you stared into them, it was like they were utterly empty, yet at the same time, contained untouchable depths. 

Translator’s Notes

The name for the champion of the imperial examinations

The pinyin for “this King” (how they refer to themselves); sorry, I know I’ve been switching between King and wang, but I just feel like one sounds better here and the other sounds better there… I’ll try to keep it consistent ahaha

Once again, another variation of “King”

Ah… Once again, I don’t think this is a word ;-; (If anybody knows what 阖言 means, then pls leave a comment) Personally, my interpretation of it is either that he’s silent, or that he closed his eyes (in which case it would be a typo)

His title is Fu Ning, his name is Han Lang

I searched this up but didn’t manage to find anything so I’m sorry… Going to have to explain this purely based off my recollection of own knowledge… Basically, during the ancient times, before you met with someone in their residence, you had to hand over a scroll (your name card) that contained your name and some other details (like your purpose there, what you brought along??) Sorry… Do correct me if I’m wrong ahaha…

Note that the “Your Majesty” here is said in a more colloquial way. The direct translation would be Thousand Year Old Lord/Master (but to keep it more in context… welp, the humours kinda lost)

I feel like it makes a lot of sense colloquially, but maybe that’s just me. Basically, they’ll be heavily punished for not making the emperor drink his medicine on time

Sorryyy!! It sounds really scrambled QAQ

For those who don’t read a lot of historical novels, yes, they are still considered master (jun) and subordinate (chen) despite their relationship, or the fact that Hua Lang is a “King”. In the ancient times, everyone who has a rank is a subordinate of the Emperor~

You know how chinese calligraphy brushes are made out of several threads of different kinds of fur? Well… he’s now pulling them out (calligraphy brushes are so expensive nowadays T^T)

Lol, it literally means “extravagant” ahaha

Not just a sword, also includes the sword cover, uh… a scabbard? It usually comes as a set

How you address a martial artist (phew, I was scared I misplaced the wuxia tag before this ahaha)

Direct translation would be: Da-xia is a fallen phoenix ://

Lin-mou; a way to refer to yourself (surname, and then mou)

Basically think of it as like minded people understand like minded people, therefore each can understand the other’s difficulties. Therefore, there is no need to be sorry about not being able to stay (like Hua Rong wanted)

Note: This translation legit took a day ;-; (lemme see… I started at 1 and now it’s 6 -_- aiya…) Maybe I’ll split the next few translations for YSFJ into part 1 and 2? What do you guys think? Oh- also, I wasn’t bothered to go back and edit this, so Milk will be the one who edits this chapter hehe ^_^ Time to play yay :D