Chapter 262: Eastern Barbarian Pirate Attack-Edited
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: Nearly half of the chapter is ‘sobs hubby~’ or ‘Eastern Barbarians!!!!’, so…
“A rebellion! This is a rebellion! How dare a mere cat oppose me!? To dare insult me without even knowing who is the master of this house!!?”
Fortunately, Jin Fengju had more than one pair of shoes. After changing into them, he glared at the remains in disgust, his mouth nearly twisted with anger. More shoes had to be ordered, to which Jiang Wanying deliberately made some disgusted ‘hmm’ sounds. There were many pairs of shoes in the house, but the cat only attacked Jin Fengju’s shoes. Fortunately, it was still summer and the simple cloth shoes were shallow. What if the wretched cat left a half-eaten snake inside his boots? Ugh.
Fu Qiuning looked away from the fuming Jin Fengju to the cat that was snoring under a chair. She smirked slightly as she thought: Good kitty.
“Qiuning, ah. I beg you, that beast cannot remain here. It is beastly and disrespectful, not to mention disgusting-”
“Do you know,” said Fu Qiuning, “that although dogs are often touted as loyal and cats condemned as cunning, this is not true. [1] In fact, I heard that cats leave gifts of small animals for their owners because they fear that their masters do not have enough to eat. Perhaps it was giving you those creatures as tribute.”
Jin Fengju rolled his eyes, “Fine, I shall admit that Qiuning’s brain works fast when it comes to making up nonsense to defend that beastly cat.”
[1a] “If you must know, I once heard a story where a woman fell sick one day when her cat, fearing that she would starve, brought a cockroach to feed her. It helpfully chewed up the morsel and even patted her lips to get her to open her mouth when-” [1b] The maids actually screamed while Jin Fengju turned green. He stared at the cat who yawned, stretched and rolled over with an even more disgusted look on his face.Before Jin Fengju managed to gather enough courage to order the cat to be taken away and chopped to pieces, Jin Ming’s voice called urgently from outside, “Master! A messenger from the Anti-Japanese Forces just arrived! A group of Eastern Barbarian invaders landed on the shores last night and completely plundered and burned a small village. Everyone in the village was killed-”
“Such arrogance!” Jin Fengju slammed a fist onto the table. “Jin Ming, prepare my horse. I must depart for the Quanhai Guard Station immediately. Not a single one of those Eastern Barbarians is allowed to escape!”
After that, he was striding heroically towards the door, as though he had never rolled around the couch, whining about a cat leaving rat guts in his shoes. Which side of him was real?
Jian Feng and Qiu Yu were born and raised in noble estates and had never been exposed to such cruel news before. Even the Northern Barbarians, who were said to be fierce and brutal, would only capture people to be their slaves. To think, that an entire village was burned…
After some hesitation, Qiu Yu said, “C-could the messenger be wrong? How can an entire village be killed? How is that possible? Even wolves would not be able to do something like this…”
[2] When the two maids stared at her with imploring eyes, Fu Qiuning shrugged, “Why are you looking at me like that? I have not seen them with my own eyes either.” [2a]There was silence again, followed by a whispered, “Will Young Master be in danger this time when he goes out?”
“Who knows? It is not like we can know the future.” [2b]
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Jin Fengju did not return to the yamen that day.
Jiang Wanying had dispatched two servants to find out if the officials had received any news. They returned with reports that after the small group of Eastern Barbarians had landed, several thousand more followed. Jin Fengju was fully occupied fighting against the Eastern Barbarians with the soldiers from Quanhai while the Quanzhou government office had descended into chaos.
Fu Qiuning thought: Is that why he brought 300 Imperial Guards to Quanzhou? What a pity, if the ships had been real Treasure Ships of ancient China, they could have easily transported 3000 imperial guards in one ship, let alone two…
[3] “What are you thinking, Elder Sister?” even Jiang Wanying sounded nervous as she fiddled with her sewing.Fu Qiuning studied her for a moment, before setting her own embroidery work down. “I am thinking about how good you are at running the household.”
“Hah!”
“And that I am grateful to have you here with me.”
[3] “Hmph, you sure know how to talk. I know that Cousin hates me.” Jiang Wanying’s smile was brittle. “He likely rejoicing now, knowing that my children have distanced themselves from me.”Fu Qiuning said nothing.
“Your silence is very telling, Elder Sister.”
“I am not one to hide the truth.”
“Will he die, Elder Sister?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. The likelihood is low.”
“Hahhh… I cannot believe I am reassured by that pointless remark,” she muttered.
Just then, Yu Jie entered to say, “The children have come to pay their respects.”
“Let them enter,” said Fu Qiuning.
[4] The children filed in, and some of them were surprised to see the two ladies sitting together. Jin Zhenyi looked comically aghast while Jin Zhenxuan looked blank. Jin Xiuzhen… looked defiant and frightened at the same time. In contrast, Jiang Wanying swept an uninterested glance over the children before looking out of the window, seemingly bored of their presence. [4] “Greetings, Honoured Mother, Second Mother,” said Jin Changjiao and Jin Changfeng together. The rest all echoed this greeting.“Good,” said Fu Qiuning when Jiang Wanying continued to look away. “As you may have heard, your father is out on a mission. Make sure to stay in the courtyard. Do not set foot out, not even to the estate. Understand?”
Fu Qiuning was staring at the servants behind the children even as she gave this instruction.
“Is something wrong, Mother?” Jin Zhenyi said. The rest of the children had obviously sensed that something was not right, but only Jin Zhenyi would be reckless enough to give voice to his thoughts. [4]
“Why do you ask that?” Fu Qiuning countered with another question. “Regardless of whether it is a problem or not, as children, your job is to study. So go and do that.”
“Honoured Mother, you said that a new teacher would be assigned to us,” said Jin Zhenxuan.
[4a] Look at this child ignoring his own mother. However, when Jiang Wanying did not say anything, she did not call attention to his behaviour either. “Hiring a teacher is your father’s job. For now, study with your elder brothers and sisters.” [2d]Before the children could comment on this remark, Jian Feng hurried in. She leaned over to stage whisper, “Madam, several ladies from other courtyards have arrived. They are waiting outside. Would Madam see them?”
Fu Qiuning glanced over at Jiang Wanying who smirked at her. Fu Qiuning thought: Look at this person enjoying my suffering.
“Go back to your rooms for now. Study the best you can. Feng’er, I shall entrust your brothers’ studies to you. As for the girls…”
“We’ll take care of it,” said Jin Changjiao casually as she grabbed Jin Xiunan and Jin Xiuzhen’s hands. “Come on, let’s dig Fifth Sister out of her room and get her to practice making dolls with us.”
“Why would I want to make dolls…” Jin Xiuzhen muttered sullenly.
[4] Jin Zhenxuan followed the rest of the children. However, he hung back and disappeared. Jin Changfeng noticed this, but when he saw that the servant following Jin Zhenxuan had also disappeared, he merely sighed and continued on. Jin Zhenyi sidled up to his side and said, “That brat ran off again, huh? Well, can’t blame him for not wanting to stick around.” [4] Jin Changfeng looked at his brother for a moment before turning to the servant following Jin Zhenyi. The young man chosen for this post was a sharp one, mostly because Jin Zhenyi would outwit whoever was too dull in the head. “Follow Third Brother, just keep an eye and make sure he’s not in danger. Otherwise, just leave him alone.” [4] “Oi, why are you ordering my servant?” [4] “What can I do? You have the sharpest servants because they have to be cleverer than all of us to look after you. The only other option is going by myself-” [4] “Hey, that’s a great idea-!” [4] “-but, I figure that letting someone else do the work is better.” [4] The servant had long since left them by the time Jin Zhenyi was done quarrelling with Jin Changfeng.
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Meanwhile, at the receiving room, a crowd of women stood in place, egging each other to ask the Marquis’s wife for news of their husbands. Fu Qiuning looked at them, sighed and said, “Sisters, you overestimate my reach. I only know as much as you do. Perhaps you are even more familiar as locals on the defences of Quanzhou.”
Bai-Zhang’shi sighed and said, “Madam, all I can say is, five years ago when the Eastern Barbarians plundered Quanzhou City, we had thousands of soldiers guarding the city gate. Yet, those wretched barbarians still managed to break through and sacked the city before living. At that time, my husband had only been transferred here for a few weeks. Although I did not witness the pirate attack myself, the sight of desolate streets and frightened people still haunts my mind. Now, five years later, with another impending large-scale invasion coming… how can we not worry?”
A loud and shockingly familiar shriek echoed through the room. It came from the fat woman who had made such a fuss at the side gate yesterday, the one who had deliberately misled people in order to move back into the yamen. As Fu Qiuning watched, the woman collapsed to her knees with hands clutching her hair as she screamed, “What’s that? W-we must flee! We must flee this city and escape! I don’t want to stay here and die! I-”
Clank.
All eyes landed on the cup. There was a fine crack on it, having been forcefully set on the table. Fu Qiuning said, “Little Sister, I would appreciate it if you could be kinder to my teacups.”
“Apologies, the squealing of pigs annoyed me to the point I lost my courtesy.”
Gumihou: Don’t you think having Jiang Wanying around gives the story more flavour?
Pill Bug: I must have missed something. I thought Jiang Wanying hated Fu Qiuning deeply? Has her hate for Jin Fengju made her ally with Fu Qiuning now?
Gumihou: She does hate Fu Qiuning, however, her hatred for FQN was due to jealousy. However, she is also two-faced enough to smile and simper in front of others whenever she needs to. Flouncing around and acting like a spoilt brat is a new development meant to give JFJ a nicely packaged reason to chuck her to the curb. It makes more sense for Jiang Wanying to give a brittle smile in the face of adversity and throw herself against jagged rocks in an attempt to hurt others
[1] Reduce blablabla I so kleber bla. Deleted 50 words [1a] Deleted weird ‘HAHAHA joke a la Old Madam’ [1b] Rather than HAHAHA, a cockroach joke would likely cause gagging and eww.
Seeing Jin Fengju’s gaze toward the old cat become “friendlier,” she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the old cat had escaped this calamity.
An unfunny joke is still unfunny, even if you forced the characters to HAHAHA it.
Deleted 200 related words.
[2] Hark! A propaganda!Fu Qiuning’s face turned cold, and she said in a low voice, “The Japanese invaders are a group of animals even more despicable, cunning, and vicious than wolves. If you haven’t seen them with your own eyes, you can’t imagine how cruel they are.”
Fu Qiuning: Personally, I’d be more interested in my own safety and happiness than be filled with negative sentiments against a bunch of people my government told me to hate.
Jiang Wanying: Also, shouldn’t that dialogue fit me better?
[2a] Delete some ‘ah, hubby~’ remarks [2b] A flippant remark in place of ‘ahh hubby~ ohh hubby~ sobs~’ thoughts. Deleted 50 disgusting words [2c] Have Jiang Wanying partly carry the ‘ooh hubby~’ weight. Because the majority of those sappy sobs sobs remarks are more in line with her dialogue style. [2d] Deleted Evil Japanese thought fart, because it’s obviously a lame ‘foreshadowing’ attempt [3] Add to Jiang Wanying’s role. Might as well since I’d already deleted so many things [4] Add more details regarding the children. With realistic reactions, of course. [4a] Awkward~!!
