T/N: Surprise~~~ an extra chapter for you today. I know my translations can be quite...confusing(?), some bits are really hard to translate as there isn't an exact English translation especially if they're old Chinese words no longer in use.

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There were

spikes on the long whip, the small needles even more s.h.i.+ny on the sandalwood

table, making the people looking feel intimidated.

Liu Ling Mo

kept quiet as he sat behind the Zhao Princess, serving as a military adviser. 

w.a.n.g Yun Feng calm as a wind raising his hem and arranging it to sit town, a

pair of unfeeling eyes swept to Gu Lang with treacherous thoughts. He didn’t

worry at all about losing, it must be known these years he had been amusing

himself, his skill in playing mah-jong actually got better little by little,

even better than his chess skills. Following this reasoning, even the usually

grim faced w.a.n.g Yun Feng could not help look like he could cry, sighing as if

he could write the history of the blood and tears of the long seven years.

Because, the

old matriarch of the Xia family loved to play mah-jong. Subordinates following

the example of their superiors, sons and daughters, daughter-in-law, son-in-law

and so on, when they had a break would gather around the old matriarch to play

a few rounds, using various kinds of reasons to `offer tribute` to the old matriarch.

Even on a normal day, occasionally when free the younger generations also would

accompany each of their mothers to play mah-jong with the old matriarch to

maintain good relations. These years, 

w.a.n.g Yun Feng in order to gain the Xia

family’s favourable impression, squandered a lot of his available time at the

mah-jong table. It has to be said, the Xia family were very cunning, must seek

repercussions, loves getting someone else to do their own dirty work. Xia Ling 

Mei grievance, the Xia family wouldn’t make it openly public, the majority of

them would choose to defeat w.a.n.g Yun Feng on the mah-jong table, make him join

in with an estimation of several thousand silver, losing and leaving several

thousand silver on returning home.

In the

first year, w.a.n.g Yun Feng would lose under the sugar-coated artillery sh.e.l.ls of

the younger generations of the Xia family with an ashen-face. Let alone money,

even the hat on his head, jade ornaments on his body, jade beads on his shoes

were torn out by the young wolves of the Xia family as money to gamble with.

Anything went with the younger generations, making you lose your money as well

as your self-respect, making you lose your self-respect and stil thought about

your appearance. Sometimes, when they were tipsy and merry w.a.n.g Yun Feng, would

even have his underwear swindled, if it wasn’t for the old housekeeper always

loyal and devoted in protecting him, Lord w.a.n.g’s remaining chast.i.ty may not

have been kept.

This made

w.a.n.g Yun Feng experience extraordinary shame and humiliation, if you want your

enemy to respect you, first you needed to understand how to protect yourself.

He had

suffered in silence, suffering patiently, but firmly resolved on revenge, he’d

kill a deity if he met one and kill a devil if he met one, winning from his

underwear up, on the way he killed the younger generation leaving not even a

toe nail, energetically killing until he reached the elders of the Xia family’s

table. He felt guilty about Xia Ling Mei, so in the face of laughter and

destruction from the people of his parents’ generation he practically did not

in the least have the power to rebel. Those as clean as jade and loose yet

firm, virtuous and prestigious, fair and reasonable, people for the safety of

the country, wholeheartedly loyal parents’ generation, when they were smiling

he felt he was being slapped in the face, when they were angry it felt like he

was being lashed, when it was serene perhaps it was a little bit like a knife

sc.r.a.ping at your bones, w.a.n.g Yun Feng had arrived smug, and left dying.

By the time

he had he had trained himself to become invulnerable and hard-hearted with

great difficulty, he had already been training at the Xia family’s mah-jong

table for six years. 

On the seventh year, he finally climbed up to the old matriarch’s

mah-jong table.

The old matriarch

was extremely old, ears a little deaf, throat a wide, squinting with a pair of

muddy eyes, asking him loudly: “You say you are my Xia family’s son-in-law?”

Turning her head to ask the head of the Xia family, “Our Ling An when did we

find such a radish head to be a husband? So small, can he take care of our Ling

An?”

w.a.n.g Yun

Feng talked and laughed as though nothing had happened: “It’s not Ling An, it’s

Ling Mei.”

The old matriarch

slapped the mah-jong table a few times: “Ling Mei is too young, she hasn’t

reached the marriageable age, you are too old.” Shaking her head about, “It

won’t do, it won’t do.”

The corner

of w.a.n.g Yun Feng’s mouth twitched: “Old matriarch, Ling Mei has long ago 

married into my w.a.n.g family, she is my w.a.n.g Yun Feng’s official wife.”

The old

matriarch glanced at him, taking a `bei feng` and hitting her own son’s

forehead: 

“You scoundrel who sell your own daughter for glory, you actually gave

my little Ling Mei to the w.a.n.g family to be defiled by those old sinners. My

Ling Mei, why were you born under an ill star! Why aren’t you hurrying to bring

back Ling Mei. Even though I may be old, but I still have some right social

connections, I want to bring back my Ling Mei to marry…”

“Old

matriarch, Ling Mei has married me, not my father…”

“Ai `seven

tiao`, peng! What, you haven’t married Ling Mei? Fine, you are a good child. My

Ling Mei won’t marry you.”

“Old

matriarch…”

“Who’s old,

I’m not old. I will not allow Ling Mei marry you dotard, my Ling Mei is Hua

Mulan, afterwards she’s going to be a female general, how can she marry a

dest.i.tute scholar without the strength to truss a chicken. Don’t move, hu!

Quickly hand over your money, no one is allowed to renege on their debt,

otherwise this old woman will make him come in immaculately dressed, leave

without a strand of clothes. Money, money… w.a.n.g family’s old man, do you

actually have any money? Oh, oh, you have money. Right, what did you just say?”

“…” w.a.n.g

Yun Feng was itching to scratch the walls. He wasn’t afraid of a fox like

adversary, he was afraid he would make a blunder and reincarnate as a loach.

This was an

extremely suffering history filled with sadness and distress, in the short

s.p.a.ce of seven years from a small, weak, upright and plainspoken Brother w.a.n.g polished

into a person people are scared of, ghosts are vexed by, a cold-blooded

mah-jong small deity. 

Wordlessly giving a Liu Ling Mo a meaningful glance, a

mah-jong road like an undercurrent surging up violently, a foul wind and a rain

of blood, colours of spring, filled the courtyard.

On the

first round, Gu Lang who was still not clear of the situation was set up by

w.a.n.g Yun Feng, with a `seven xiao dui`, wolf Gu Lang took off his outer

garment.

Second

round, the Zhao Princess as she gave directions on the little princess’

studies, she `peng, peng, hu`, wolf Gu Lang was a little dazzled, losing his thin

inner layer of clothing.

Third

round, Xia Ling Mei stroking the kitten in her arms, calm and collected reached

a `da si xi`, Gu Lang in his very white middle layer, with a red face he took

of his trousers, shaking his head and gesturing with his hand he left the

table, letting Zhuang Sheng up.

Zhuang

Sheng was crafty-looking, eyes whirling around on everyone’s faces and

gesturing to rotate, demanding to split up the three people’s secret signals.

How did he

know, the Zhao Princess has been in Beiding for many years, the people she

often faced were the Imperial Consort and the Zhao Prince, and rarely actually

saw the old matriarch, let alone w.a.n.g Yun Feng.

w.a.n.g Yun

Feng became seasoned in this at the Xia family, he had the least confidence in

the moral characters of the Xia family at the mah-jong table, naturally he also

did not talk in riddles with Liu Ling Mo.

Xia Ling

Mei method of playing was the same as her personality, she especially didn’t

like rules, tyrannical, rude and unreasonable, unconventionally gambit, it was

simply very hard for her to follow someone for mutual benefit.

After a few

rounds Zhuang Sheng, had taken off his clothes and put them on again, taking

them off and putting them on again, struggling to maintain his self-respect.

The

drunkard…lost even his underwear, whimpering he sat in meditation, on his knees

a blanket covered up his embarra.s.sment. He still didn’t admit defeat, he must

make a comeback, slapping the mah-jong onto the table like a plank, with his

entire ears red getting into the zone.

Xia Ling

Mei was calm, secretly cursing w.a.n.g Yun Feng’s gamble luck, while uttering to

Liu Ling Mo who was not having a good time: “I heard the old matriarch wants to

find you a good wife on behalf of you, do you have a woman you like?”

Right now

Gu Lang who was fighting over clothes with Xiao Bai was stumped for words: 

“Lord Liu is still a bachelor?”

Liu Ling Mo

bashfully scratched the back of his head: “I just turned twenty this year, getting

married is something the old matriarch mentioned last year, a.s.suming a

candidate should be decide.”

Xia Ling

Mei said: “You yourself, how could you have met peaceful and harmonious women

while at the academy of cla.s.sical learning? If you have, can you tell the old

matriarch in advance, even though you have an outsider’s surname, in the end

you are still a child of the Xia family, you cannot be wronged.”

Liu Ling Mo

was as shy as before, wanting to nod and shake his head: “It will be fine for

everything to be decided by the old matriarch.”

Xia Ling

Mei looked at the Zhao Princess, coldly saying: “Has he always been like this?

Without the slightest viewpoint, overcautious about everything, afraid of

getting into trouble? No matter what he is still the master of the Liu family,

marriage is a big thing and if you can’t make a decision, what would you

accomplish?”

The Zhao

Princess knew she was not happy, but did not bicker, only saying: “Those in our

kind of influential family, it might not be smooth sailing for those who can

make decisions, everything might as well follow fate. Some people when they’re

young are affectionate and true, after marriage it isn’t definite; some people

are timid and overcautious when young, after marriage on the contrary am

capable to develop everlasting feelings. Some married couples are harmonious,

two string instruments that play in perfect harmony that everyone envy; some

married couple are close when young, but cannot last to old age. Going so far

to say, even if it’s an influential family, at the forefront its packed with

descendants, in an instant maybe the population will fade.” She turned her back

slightly to the table, as if to point out: “Talking about something closer, some

people might be the patriarch the year before, but after a year of complete

harmony, they are without company, locked in stalemate, in a solitary

marriage.”

w.a.n.g Yun

Feng kneaded the mah-jong tightly with his fingers; Zhuang Sheng sharp eyes

glided along the faces of all the Xia family, noiselessly switching the

mah-jong tile in his hand; Gu Lang, he was still tussling with Xiao Bai, he

didn’t understand anything, why can’t he put on his clothes even though he’s

left the mah-jong table. Being slightly naked, would have a serious impact on

his brilliant image in the eyes of so many beautiful women.

“All along

Ling Mo is my younger brother, no matter what happens he always has a home to

return to, at home there will be brothers and sisters with open arms welcoming

all his weaknesses. He’s not like some people, having lost both their parents,

and have no brothers from the same family to lean on, cousins are ruthless,

there are clearly no one in the residence who cares for him. No one to enquire

about his well-being, no one to worry about his hards.h.i.+ps and distress at

court, no one to care about whether or not he’s been betrayed by his close

relatives, denounced by his family, framed by common people.”

“That’s

right, even being childless, this personal matter, has been made as a reason to

attack him. Everyone is saying he is overanxious about fame and profit, and has

made many chancellors be dismissed from their offices, people curse him, the

Heavens reproach him. Childless, the wrath of Heaven, it’s his suffering decreed

by fate.”

Fei Dao’s

flapping sound came closer from afar, the Zhao Princess cold sarcasm also

gradually ended.

Xia Ling

Mei blinked, finding it hard to wake herself from that baseless dispute in the

daytime. She never thought after she left the w.a.n.g family, w.a.n.g Yun Feng would

live such a life, she subconsciously suggested to herself, without her w.a.n.g Yun

Feng would be even better.

Without her

monopolising and intense desires, he could go and find his beloved Xia Ling Wo

anytime, anywhere; without her shadowing him incessantly, he could boundlessly

long for their past youth during the endless nights, long for the girl he

secretly liked; without her persistent hope for her husband to be something

he’s not, he could proudly face his colleagues, not submitted to humiliation

with her scheming behind his back.

Fei Dao finally

landed on the window ledge, pecking the back of her hand, lifting up its claw, getting

Xia Ling Mei to untie the message.

Today the

secret message was not the usual blue colour, rather it was a slightly grey

green. 

Opening up the paper, the tender but reserved calligraphic style jumped

into her eyes.

Childless.

Xia Ling

Mei laughed bitterly, how can the great Senior imperial censor be childless

because of people’s cursing!

Candle

fire, the paper in the flame gradually turned into ash, that truth followed the

owner’s mind, it would never be known by others.

Xia Ling

Mei knew, in this world, someone who hated w.a.n.g Yun Feng even more than her.

Hate him,

some people need a target in order to get strong.