Chapter 1: Gong Zhuoliang
So uncomfortable... I can't breathe... help...
"cough...cough...cough..."
Gong Zhuoliang knew that he was coughing so much to the point where his facial features distorted that he must be looking very ugly right now, but he only chose to ignore his image problem for now and kept coughing until his chest ached so much as he breathed heavily in order to absorb enough oxygen as possible for his own body.
Gong Zhuoliang cursed in his heart. What kind of lifeguard was that guy from the luxury cruise ship who really resembled a model and looked extremely useful! He fell into the sea for a long time and no one even came to save him! He just easily sinked just like that after such a long flop!
He wants to complain! He must really complain!
Gong Zhuoliang, who had finally regained his breath slowly returned to his consciousness. As his vision became clearer, he finally saw the women who exclaimed behind him. At this moment, Gong Zhuoliang was horrified—he didn't fell into the sea? What about the cruise ships? Who could let him know who these burly old aunts are?
"Just what is going on here? What are you all doing here, why don't you carry the eldest mistress back to the room?!"
Suddenly, a sharp and high-pitched female voice came up that made all the maids surrounding Gong Zhuoliang and carrying him in a hurry. Gong Zhuoliang almost couldn't help but groan in pain, but he didn't want to bother about the pain anymore. He just stared blankly at what was happening in front of him.
The courtyard, the pond, the maids in their ancient costumes, and a middle-aged beautiful woman with a voice comparable to He Dong Shi [1], and as well as the 'eldest young lady'…. Gong Zhuoliang only felt the darkness swarming before his eyes before he fell unconscious.
When he regained consciousness once again, Gong Zhuoliang was lying in the warm bed. He slowly opened his eyes, then stared at the wooden bed posts and bed curtains in his sight.
As a post-80s idol novelist , YY genres[2] is one of his commonly used themes. But the genre he is especially good at writing is 'Fantasy Magic', while he sucked at 'Martial Historical' , especially the historical harem style. But now, in front of Gong Zhuoliang, everything excites his whole being, especially when hearing the names of the servants who echoed in his mind…
He moved his sore arm. Gong Zhuoliang's whole body was soft as if it was not his own. Still not convinced of his state, he wanted to completely confirm the situation below him, but then he soon discovered that moving was impossible as he was actually tied into a long column with a wide cloth belt!
Gong Zhuoliang twisted and tried to get out of the quilt, but the sound he made only alarmed the people who were guarding him. Gong Zhuoliang heard heavy footsteps who quickly approached the bed. Then the pink bed curtain was raised. As he got up, a big round face comparable to a pancake came over to him.
"Hey, my eldest mistress, just save your energy and don't bother anymore. You really don't pity us for the embarrassment you caused for us servants. You should also think about your mother. If you hurt the old lord and the madam, it would be really a big matter, then how could Aunt Wu live in this house in the future?"
The fat maid looked down at Gong Zhuoliang, her voice was acerbic and her expression was full of disdain. This appearance completely made Gong Zhuoliang feel angry, but he cannot offend the behemoth in front of him so Gong Zhuoliang simply closed his eyes and ignored her rambling, only wondering in his mind how this all happened.
After the initial panic passed, Gong Zhuoliang's brain recovered. He remembered that he went to S City to do an autograph promotion for the publication of his new book. A sponsor gave him a ticket for a luxury cruise so he didn't have to take the plane and experience being alone. He didn't expected to be swayed into the sea as he was watching a scenery on the deck, and then only when he woke up, he was now a 'young miss' who jumped into a pond to commit suicide... Could it be that he really drowned like that?
"Miss Li-er, is the eldest mistress awake?"
A soft and somewhat immature female voice came. Gong Zhuoliang's heart trembled violently, but he also felt that the voice was quite familiar, however he's sure that there could be no such a little loli among the people he knew so Gong Zhuoliang couldn't help but be curious as open his eyes again to look at the person approaching his bed.
The slightly weak soft child's voice sounded within his ears and Gong Zhuoliang was once again terrified. Was this baby voice resembling the Jiangnan water actually from him? He honestly hadn't had a chance to see his own body and appearance right after falling unconscious then waking up twice, and he was only fully awake now. Could it be that he has actually become a child?
Wait, more importantly, why did he just suddenly call out the name of this beautiful young lady? Remembering that she was not only an experienced maid who always follows after the madam, but was only fourteen this year. This young lady was also one of the few people in this mansion who was kind to him.
"It's Miss Ruolan, ah! Wake up, wake up."
As soon as the fat woman looked at the person who came, she immediately stepped back a few steps to make way for her by the bed with a sudden warm smile on her face that was completely different from just now.
"The madam has something to tell me to tell the eldest lady. My sister-in-law must've been tired after being busy for a long time. Go back first. I will be watching over the eldest mistress."
Ruo Lan did not greet the servant girl, but only gave a light expression. After talking and the maid left the room, she carefully closed the door again and then walked to Gong Zhuoliang's bedside with a somewhat forlorn expression on her face.
"Second Young Master... Eldest Mistress, what is bothering you? Even if you had to neglect your own self, just please think about Concubine Wu[3]. Right after knowing that something happened to you, Concubine Wu weeped."
After solving the cloth straps tied on Gong Zhuoliang, Ruo Lan helped him sit against the pillow then sat on the edge of the bed and held Gong Zhuoliang's numb arm, kneading it gently for him.
Another word that he uttered out of nowhere. Gong Zhuoliang instantly pinched the center of his forehead with his other hand then both unfamiliar and familiar images gradually showed up in his mind. Although some memories are vague, it is enough for Gong Zhuoliang to sort out the life experience of this poor child that he's currently possessing... and it was really an old-fashioned, dog-blood plot.[4]
This child's name is magically exactly the same as his own. In view of what happened to him today, Gong Zhuoliang temporarily classified him as having his own providence.
According to this child's memory, Gong Zhuoliang knew that the current dynasty was called the Celestial Dynasty, and the reigning Emperor was Hongzheng Emperor who is now around 39 years old. Gong Zhuoliang determined that this did not belong to any period in his known history as a young man who's currently in the historical timeline. In general, he could only determine that he is in the ancient era!
Then there is the life experience of this child. Thank God, this child is a real male. His father is the richest man in this city. It is also said that his family is a Beijing official and his mother is a Qinyi who's from Jiangnan[5] but ended up marrying into a businessman. And there was also a jealous first wife in their family, anybody could already imagine how the life of this mother and son goes.*
(*TL/N: During historic times, as long as a man holds a very important position at the palace ((ex. Prime Minister, Ministers, General, Military Advisors, Marquis, etc.)), they're allowed to gather as many wives and concubines as they want, hence there are first wife, second wife, third wife... and so on.
The first wife has the highest position in the household after the husband, and is usually in-charge of managing some harem matters, whilst the concubine has the lowest... So in order for a concubine's position to rise, they must be able to satisfy the said-Husband and leave a good impression on them.
In a household containing lots of wives and concubines, hatred and jealousy is inevitable. The said-wives who had a high position usually loves to bully the concubine, and that goes the same with the children of the wives towards a concubine's child)
And if that's the case, Gong Zhuoliang who's now a concubine is one of the young master living in the palace family, and he could live a relaxed life even when he turned into an adult. However, in this era, the situation is exactly like the Ming Dynasty. It is also common for a man to marry another man to fill the house, and so Mrs. Gong [6] openly asked Gong Zhuoliang to be her "daughter" to support him. Her intentions are obvious, and in this era when the direct wife is very important, the family could also treat her as one of the head of the family other than their Father.[7] No one dared to oppose her decision. And about Gong Zhuoliang's meek father...don't count on him at all.
"Concubine Wu cried too sadly. She finally fell asleep in relief when she knew that you were fine. I went to see her before I came, I think she's fine by now"
Ruo Lan squeezed Gong Zhuoliang's arm up, her eyes fell on the young man's pale and thin face, her nose couldn't help but reddened. The poor second young master who's been suffering for so many years is now driven to a dead end.
Gong Zhuoliang looked down at his own fair little hands that completely resembled chicken claws. He didn't know what to say to the little girl in front of him. The memory of this child was vague without any comprehendible details at all. It is not coherent.
Gong Zhuoliang remembered that this child's first sister had just married the eldest son of the local prefect who used to have a fiancée that had been betrothed to him since childhood but died.
It was also said that the eldest son was also a sickly child who had been inseparable from medicine bottles since childhood. A few days ago, the eldest son's betrothed fiancée died and right now, he was also too ill to get married at this point, that's why their family decided to be married with a successful merchant family like the Gong household for the sake of good luck, but then just before the wedding could happen, the bride had already eloped with her servants.
The Gong family knew what they had done, and then they could only wait for the young man to die before they would take the chance to give 'justice' for him and placed his name at the top post as their way for absolving the crime they've done, announcing to everybody how this child had fought 'till the end, in order to leave a good impression to the young man's family, so even if their child that was married to their son had now became a widower, they could still use the prefect's name for any connections as their 'relatives' and as their 'in-law's…. They had really come up with such a good scheme, ah.
Gong Zhuoliang lowered his head to hide the coldness in his eyes. How could he let these bastards get their wish? The child in his memory was kind and filial, but he was forced to death by these relatives. Now he is somehow alive again and if he didn't teach them a lesson for the sake of this child, Gong Zhuoliang would despise himself.
"Eldest Miss... Second Master! My good Second Young Master, Madam, has already agreed to Ruo Lan's dowry. If Ruo Lan would be by your side in the future, she will definitely not let others bully you anymore. If she couldn't, I'll have to be punished to take ten thousand steps back. You'll just have to visit the old ancient Buddha to clarify... It will not be worse than it is now, please be sure to look at it."
Ruo Lan said and clenched Gong Zhuoliang's little hand, her eyes were red while she was speaking, but she kept her back straight, and her beautiful little face was full of stubbornness as if to support Gong Zhuoliang with her own strength.
Gong Zhuoliang's eyes turned red all of a sudden. He bit his lips and looked at Ruo Lan pitifully, trying hard to restrain his instinct of letting go of her hand. God knows where did the strength of this little girl come from, his hands hurt so much when she's squeezing it like that!
"Second Young Master... Well, this title can no longer be called that in the future… 'Mistress', in short, Ruo Lan will accompany you in the future, no matter where we go the two of us will live our lives well so please don't be afraid. And don't call me 'sister' anymore or else people will be laughing at you."
Seeing Gong Zhuoliang's tears, Ruo Lan released his hand and took out her handkerchief as she gently wiped the corners of Gong Zhuoliang's eyes, and then she wiped his eye sockets, put away the handkerchief and sat down again, holding Gong Zhuoliang's other arm she she slowly massaged it again.
"I see, Ruo Lan... I won't commit suicide again, don't worry."
It would be embarrassing for a 26-year-old Gong Zhuoliang to call a 14-year-old girl a 'big sister' [8] His affection for this little girl soared again. However when he thought that the actual age of this child was only around 12 years old at the moment, Gong Zhuoliang was distressed and realized that he really had to continue pretending to be 'tender' from now on.
In this era of feudal age, Gong Zhuoliang won't dare to show a trace of abnormality. Once he was regarded as a madman* he surely wouldn't be able to escape in this small body of his and he might have to be beaten and killed by those 'family members' with a stick and be buried behind the mountain.*
(*TL/N: It meant here that if anybody noticed Gong Zhuoliang acting unlike his usual self but rather a different person, everyone would grow suspicious towards him.
*TL/N²: This story isn't surely a cultivation one but it did mention he would be beaten with a stick. From what I knew, in cultivation novels, if a certain person is guessed as being possessed by other person or either evil spirit, it could be only determine by a spiritual stick by beating that person until the said 'person/evil spirit' who's possessing would come out of the victim's body)
"Thank goodness... it's good if you think about it."
With Gong Zhuoliang's assurance, Ruo Lan finally felt relieved. Although her second young master has a soft temper, he has always kept his promises. Now, everything should be really fine.
Infected by Ruo Lan's sincere smile, Gong Zhuoliang finally showed a smile on his face, but was interrupted by a rumbling sound. Gong Zhuoliang felt a little embarrassed as he touched his stomach. He's actually been feeling hungry and now it makes him uncomfortable. He surely hadn't eaten for a day.
"Madam told me not to deliver meals to you today… so I can only secretly bring this in. Let's put a pad on it first."
Ruo Lan took out a small oiled paper bag from her pocket as she carefully opened it and grabbed a piece of scallion oil pancake inside. Wiped it. After breaking the cake into small pieces, she feeds them to Gong Zhuoliang. After he finally finished eating it, she carefully wrapped the oiled paper and hid them in her arms, making sure that nothing was exposed and supported Gong Zhuoliang to lie down again before she finally left and changed her face with an indifferent expression.
Gong Zhuoliang sighed in his heart as he watched Ruo Lan leave. He then took a deep breath and felt with his hand between his legs. He let out a long sigh... It's okay, even though he's only a little boy with no leg hair, he's still a genuine man!*
(*TL/N: to clarify what he's been doing here, he actually touched his crotch and checked if he had a pillar or not XD )
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Phew.... so far so good...
As this is still the first chapter and also the first MTL that I edited, my grammar still looked a little awkward here. But hopefully I'll improve soon XD
Down here, I've inscribed some footnotes. Although I did say that I was merely editing the MTL, that doesn't mean I wouldn't know a few topics and I still did my brief research for the other parts for a better understanding. Normally, I should've ignore it but I'm sort of also having fun writing the footnotes so I still did :3
But it's up to you guys whether you'd be willing to read the footnotes. I, as a danmei reader too, am very lazy to read an entire essay of footnotes from the translator unless I read something vague and I really really wanted to know everything behind that vague part... But normally, I ignore the footnotes XD
Just why am I like this? I don't like reading footnotes yet I somehow enjoy writing one ahahaha XDDDD
So here's a long one for you ~<3
[1]- Based from the phrase "河东狮吼" or "Hé dōng shī hǒu" which meant: The lioness from Hedong roars.
This is actually an idiom that refers to a 'shrewish wife' or a 'henpecked husband'
The abbreviation of the 2 Chinese characters "意淫" or Yi Yin which is specifically translated as "Mental Masturbation". However, there's also derivative term for these two characters which is "to fantasize about, to have (sexual or other) fantasy about"
Basically any stories where the protagonist is invincible as heck while at the same time, it had an inhumane level of porn are referred to as YY novels XD
SVSSS readers should've already known about this certain abbreviation haha!
[3]- Concubine Wu. Gong Zhuoliang's birth mother.
If you have read quite a number of Chinese transmigration novels, you must've already encountered this word before? Or perhaps some of you already had some knowledge about this word.
To those who're not quite aware, the word 'Dog-blood' is a Chinese way of referring to a story or perhaps a plot that's either too cliché or predictable....
[5]- "A QinYi who's from Jiangnan", meaning the birth mom of Gong Zhuoliang must be a delicate beauty.
Jiangnan means "South of river", in which it refers to the Southern part of China. Any woman born in Jiangnan is mostly known as a person with a gentle and delicate temperament.
Another thing, this "QinYi" is actually a real person who's well-known as the most beautiful woman in China. So if a woman is called a "Qin Yi", it means that the woman is beautiful.
She must be the said first wife who's married into the Gong Family before Gong Zhuoliang's own mother joined the household as a concubine. And so this Mrs. Gong must not be his true blood-related mother, however, since she's also a wife of Gong Zhuoliang's father, she could be determine as his own 'mother' or rather his step-mother.
As I said from my first TL notes, when a man married a woman yet still gathered tons of women as his own concubines, that married woman would be called the first wife or 'direct wife'
Direct wife/ first wife had the strongest tyranny into the household as she's the only legal wife who married the head of the family. The direct wife/first wife is the one in-charge of managing the other women in the household; the leading-role of the wives; And could be also determined as the 'mother-figure' to all children born in the household whether they're illegitimate or not. In the household, she had the highest authority when it comes to making decisions.
[8]- Gong Zhuoliang had been calling Ruo Lan as "Jie" previously. "Jie" means "elder sister" or "big sister"
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