Chapter 250: Ship (Part 2)
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Heavily Edited by Gumihou – It had to be done. I’m sorry for those of you who felt I had ‘overwritten’ the author’s own words. But, she did it first by overwriting Fu Qiuning’s basic character design. The characters’ voices are lamenting at me and I could not ignore those countless voices begging to be heard.
Still, Jin Fengju was determined to score points, therefore he continued with his story and said, “The Crown Prince believed that Japanese pirates had infested the land and that rather than earning wealth, one would be glad not to lose their lives in those lands. Because of this, many officials were quite sympathetic to my plight and offered to help me get to my destination safely. After all, if I managed to survive, it is also possible that could take care of the Japanese pirates’ issue for them, or die trying. Everyone was quite happy with this decision.”
[5] “That is so clever, Father!” Jin Xiuzhen squealed, clapping her hands.
Fu Qiuning remained silent, was she supposed to be impressed by this very basic strategy? Anyone could just scream ‘down with the Japanese!’ to garner votes.
Still, Jin Fengju managed to retain his smile and turned his attention towards the children, thinking: That’s right, my Qiuning had no interest in politics. What was I thinking trying to regale her with courtroom tales? I should mention the children instead.
“I see that the children are well prepared. However, why aren’t they wearing their cotton clothes yet? I know you have prepared some considering that we are on our way to the south. Everyone would suffer less wearing cotton clothes.”
[1] “Lord Husband, it is too cold for cotton clothes now.”
“… …”
[4a] [5] Fortunately, before Jin Fengji could make himself look even more foolish, Jin Zhenyi yelled from the next carriage, “Hey! There are so many boats! Looks! Father, mother, come and look! There are so many boats!”
At that moment, Jin Fengju was infinitely glad to have such an impulsive character as his son. So what if he is a little foolish? That is part of his charm and Jin Fengju dared anyone to challenge him on this point. For the moment, Jin Zhenyi was his favourite son.
Because of this, Jin Fengju did not scold his son. Moreover, what kind of nobleman would stick their heads out of a carriage to yell at their children? Thankfully, there was no reason to engage in such uncouth behaviour as the carriage soon halted and the coachman said, “My Lord, Madam, we have arrived at the docks.”
Jin Fengju and Fu Qiuning got out of the carriage and looked at the very spacious dock. The labourers and boatmen on the dock, who had been blocked off by the guards, were craning their necks to stare at the people who had just arrived to board the canal ships. With so many people in the group, [4a] several ships had to be used to carry all four hundred guards and imperial guards as well as the assorted goods and people.
[1] It was clear that although Jin Fengju had been ‘demoted’, it was only from a premium position to a less premium status. What demoted person could actually claim 300 imperial guards to their name after all?
Speaking of imperial guards, Yu Jie’s husband was also among the 300. This meant that Yu Jie was there with her as her maid, while Aunt Yu remained in the Capital with her young child. [6]
As her mistress stepped out of the carriage, Yu Jie bounced over with bright eyes and claimed, “Looks like Madam can’t be rid of me so easily.” [6] Now that her slave status had been revoked, as the wife of an imperial guard, she could step out to society as Fu Qiuning’s friend. Ironically, her status now matches her cheeky attitude.
As the fleet of ships slowly approached from a distance, even Fu Qiuning, who had been on a ship in her previous life [7], could not help but be amazed by the sight of these large ships. She turned to Jin Fengju and said, “Didn’t you say that Jiangnan only started building their shipyards? They already have such large ships?”
Jin Fengju laughed and said, “That’s only in Jiangnan. The ship-building business had been around for a long time, with bigger and more magnificent ships than this already existed. These ships were made just outside the Capital. The previous emperor enjoyed travelling along the canal to Jiangnan and attached great importance to water transportation and shipbuilding for the development of the canal. That is why the ships are so impressive. The fleet you see here is the one that is specially commissioned by the court for imperial envoys to travel down south to Jiangnan. What do you think? Majestic, right?”
Each ship rose about two storeys tall from the water, and Fu Qiuning could not help but wonder just how deep the bottom must be. It reminded her of the large ship from the movie [8] <<Flying Swords of Dragon Gate>>. The ship had felt incredibly tall and majestic even through the movie screen, it was even more heart-shakingly impressive in person.
The children were, of course, the most excited of them all. If Jin Fengju had not glared at them sternly, [5] the two most boisterous ones would have jumped up and down in excitement. As for the rest, even the quietest and most sensible child had shining eyes as they stared up at the pinnacle of human marine technology.
In the meantime, [9] Jiang Wanying was busy directing the horses and carriages to board the ships on specially designed platforms and carriers. Seeing her so busy, Fu Qiuning wandered over to marvel at the way these ancient people managed without the aid of electricity, using only pulley systems and leverage to do everything. [9] At the centre of all the activities was Jiang Wanying, who was so efficient that it made it difficult for Fu Qiuning to see a way to help without causing trouble.
[9] Jiang Wanying may be so busy that her feet barely touched the ground, but even in the midst of her business, there was a certain dignity and grace to her movements. In short, Fu Qiuning realised she was watching someone who was clearly enjoying a work that she was very good at. It was a testimony to Jin Fengju’s blindness for not properly appreciating this wonderful wife who was already desperately in love with him.
[9a] [9b] In other words, Jiang Wanying was a lot like Wang Xifeng from <<A Dream of Red Chamber>>, a strong and capable woman whose ability was often compared to that of Cao Cao. It was too bad that Fu Qiuning was the only one around to admire her skills since Jin Fengju avoided even looking at Jiang Wanying whenever possible.
She was still pondering over this when Jin Fengju said, “Right, let us board the ship.”
Fu Qiuning blinked and looked around and it was only then [10] that she realised something, “Did Concubine Xu not come with us after all? I understand that she really wanted to come. She begged and pleaded with me, but I told her that it is ultimately your decision.”
[10] Jin Fengju’s face darkened and he said, “Qianzhou is not a peaceful place. The more people we bring, the more burdensome it would be.”
[10] Fu Qiuning gave him a strange look, “More burdensome than taking seven or eight-year-old children-”
[10] “Come now, Father will take you up the ship!” Jin Fengju hurriedly caught Jin Zhenyi and Jin Xiunan’s hands and rushed forward as Jin Zhenyi cheered. Jin Xiunan stumbled a little at the speed they were moving but rapidly picked up her pace. She was used to rushing after her brother to keep him out of trouble after all.
[10] Fu Qiuning privately wished her good luck before looking around at the other children. Since the rest all have their mothers with them, she eventually held out her hands to Jin Changfeng and Jin Changjiao and was gratified to find that they did not think themselves too adult to take her hand.
[5a] Jin Zhenxuan and Jin Xiuzhen held hands as they went up the ship at a sedate pace, they knew enough not to openly approach her with Jiang Wanying so close by, but there was no need to worry about them since the two knew how to behave in public. The only wild card here was Jin Zhenyi, and probably Jin Changjiao, but both were under close surveillance to make sure neither would get up to any mischief before the ship even set sail.
[Gumihou: This is an exhausting chapter…]
[5] Children being children according to their characteristics. Especially since you wanted them there and were the one who bestowed these characteristics on them.
[5a] Children were screaming and jumping around like headless chickens, likelihood of this? Less than 8%. The scene was created just to have JFJ cough and bring them back to order. Delete.
[6] Interaction with maid without excessive ‘teehee’ or ‘shaking of head’
[7] Some ‘Yay China!’ sentiments. Did not mitigate any of the information, but deleted some repetitions that were probably there to emphasise the greatness of China.
[8] Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
Trailer (Dubbed)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtWX2pVrXsg
Ship Fighting Scene (Dubbed) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBeiB25DLgY
The ‘2-storey tall ship’ was probably a Junk (Chinese sailing vessel) with a high prow and meant to sail the world. So it makes sense for the people to make it super large and sturdy.
Yes, I read up on Chinese Junk and looked up the dimensions of the Yangtze River to verify White Pear Flower’s claims.
[9] #SadforJiangWanying – Hey, so, Jiang Wanying is really good at directing and organising, can you please acknowledge this without snide remarks about how ‘she loves to show off her talents’?
So she stepped back, thinking that there really are such people in this world, who would rather suffer in order to be in the limelight.
Like, can you not?
[9a] AR Qiuning’s comparison of Jiang Wanying to Wang Xifeng was intended to slight her since, instead of mentioning the many other things Wang Xifeng excelled in, AR Qiuning specifically brought up how she ‘took over Qin Keqing’s funeral’ to ‘show off her talents.
Wang Xifeng is hailed as a capable and almost-venomous character who was eventually divorced and abandoned by her husband. It was possible that Jiang Wanying was modelled after Wang Xifeng, considering the parallel traits and fates.
When Wang Xifeng’s husband secretly married a concubine, he triggered her jealousy. Like Jiang Wanying, Wang Xifeng orchestrated schemes behind the scenes to make the concubine commit suicide, thus getting rid of her rival in secret and keeping her face.
The only difference here was that JFJ was considered a ‘peerless man’ and not a ‘notorious womaniser, a cad with a flawed character’ like Jia Lian. He only married multiple women as revenge against one woman whose family had wronged him, so not a bad person in contrast…
https://dream-of-the-red-chamber.fandom.com/wiki/Wang_Xifeng
https://chinaheritage.net/journal/wang-xi-fengs-guide-to-success-in-modern-china/
[9b] Instead of thinking about seagulls (or lack of thereof), think about [9a] instead
[10] In the original text, Concubine Xu was not with them because author wanted JFJ to ‘take Jin Zhenyi and Jin Xiunan’s hands’ and ‘take care of their emotions’. The excuse he gave was a stupid ‘Quanzhou was not peaceful’.
Gumihou: Dude… you have 7 kids with you…
Fu Qiuning: Wut…
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