Don’t Be a Kept Man

e out of your prison uniforms.
You can all leave.”

Xiao Feng Wu’s pupils dilated, and he unconsciously lifted his head at that.
All his brothers beside him had the same reaction, all shocked beyond belief, unable to believe their own ears.
Their minds had gone blank, completely surprised as they asked, 

“What?! We can leave?!”

The guards laughed, 

“Of course.
Apparently it was the Emperor’s own decree, and His Majesty even gifted the nameplate of “Physicians Who Save Lives” to your Xiao family.
Your second uncle, he had been the one to save the Empress’ life, hoh……”

Xiao Feng Wu’s brain had blanked out, and he didn’t even know how he changed his clothes nor walked out of the jail.
There was a person on a horse waiting for him right outside, and Xiao Feng Wu squinted, wanting to see who it was, but the moment he lifted his head, he couldn’t open his eyes against the bright sting of the sun.

That person seemed to have sighed and then came down from the horse.
He had a head full of white hair, and who could it be but Xiao Lin Ru?

Xiao Feng Wu squinted his eyes, 

“Second Uncle.”

Xiao Lin Ru seemed to have aged in the short time he was away, and he slightly shook his head, 

“It was me who harmed you all…..
If it were not for you entrusting someone to bring me the papers, I would not have danced on the line of danger, and chosen to open up the Empress’s stomach.
But thankfully we have saved one life…… Now I have already resigned and retired.”

Xiao Feng Wu’s eyes slightly lifted up, a bit dazzled, 

“I…… had sent someone to bring you papers?”

“This was quite a big issue, and each movement could put a life on the line.
No one dared to tread these troubled waters, but thanks to your good friend who had knelt in front of the general’s estate for a day and a night.
Because of this, he was able to get the chance to beg General Huai Hua to think of a way to bring the papers into the Imperial Palace.
Otherwise, the entire Xiao family would have perished.”

The moment the last syllables left his mouth, his hands were emptied and he could only see Xiao Feng Wu steal his horse whip and flip onto the horse.
In a cloud of dust, he was gone.

Qin Ming Yue……

Qin Ming Yue……

All around his ears was the sound of wind, and the surrounding scenery was changing quickly, yet the only thing Xiao Feng Wu could feel was his heart about to jump out, a feeling he had never felt in his entire life.
Quickened steps ran and ran, and when he passed by Sheng De Lou, there was already a new singer being pushed to fame, but his voice was not like the one before that had such soul in it.

 

Xiao Feng Wu turned his head to the side, taking a quick look before retracting his gaze, as he heard the play slowly fade into the distance.
Even so, he could still tell that it was << Wenzhao Pass >> 1.

“The shine from the clear moon to the window, is like an arrow that hits our hearts with worry.

Who could have known that Wenzhao Pass would have such a barricade, when we wish to head to Wu to turn our situation around.

Thankfully that Dong Gao Gong has ease of access, that he could hide me here in the back of his garden…”

Quickened horse steps stopped in front of a small courtyard where the crabapple tree inside had just reached full bloom, looking the liveliest it has ever been.
Xiao Feng Wu flipped off the horse and was just about to push the door open when Zhong Bo coincidentally just came out.
The two of them looked at each other and before Xiao Feng Wu even opened his mouth, Zhong Bo happily exclaimed, 

“Physician Xiao, you have finally come back.
I had really thought that you were dead.”

With huffing breaths, Xiao Feng Wu said quietly, 

“I was dead, but I came back alive…… Where’s Ming Yue?”

Zhong Bo said, 

“Did you not know? Xian-sheng has already packed up and left.
I heard he was going to Tong Cheng.”

Xiao Feng Wu’s pupils dilated and his fingers tightly grabbed on the door frame at his reply, 

“How long ago has it been since he left?”

Zhong Bo thought about it, 

“He went north.
Past the mountain to the harbour for a ship ride.”

Xiao Feng Wu came in a haste and left in a haste.
The moment he heard, he immediately flipped back up onto his horse and disappeared without a trace in a gust of wind. 

In his youth he had followed his family’s merchant caravan, and he knew that there was a small shortcut road nearby.
He quickly hastened his steed, and when he was at the bottom of the mountain, he could see a carriage in the distance.
Quickly putting on even more speed, he blocked the carriage right in the middle of the road.

The coachman thought it was bandits and got frightened, immediately grabbing a stool from his side.
He jumped off the carriage and said, 

“Gah! Where has this horse come from! If you dare to fool around then you can eat a piece of this stool from your grandfather!”

Xiao Feng Wu’s gaze however was focused on the curtain doorway instead.
He got off his horse, wanting to step forward, but he was blocked by the coachman who had immediately flew forward the moment with his stool when he moved.
The coachman was kicked aside by Xiao Feng Wu and his cold face, 

“Get out! Keep messing with my business and I’ll take off your tongue!”

Kicked and now rolling on the ground, the coachman lay where the momentum left him, motionless and pretending to be dead.

Xiao Feng Wu’s gaze returned to the back of that deep blue curtain and he moved his lips, but the only words that could come out in the end was, 

“Ming Yue……”

He tightly held on to the carriage, lightly asking, 

“Why must you leave?”

The person inside the carriage did not make a sound and a breeze passed through, lifting up the corner of the curtain before letting it fall back down.
Still, silence.

Xiao Feng Wu couldn’t hear a reply and his straight back bent down, lowering his head as he slowly closed his eyes.
He looked a bit disheveled, a bit pitiful, and as his voice transmitted out, it trapped the slight sound of the trees shuffling from the wind, making it hard to tell what his emotions were.

“I, Xiao Feng Wu, have been mischievous since youth, living so falsely and uselessly all these years, never having a moment to grow up.
Others have scolded me, hated me, and this is what I deserve.
On these roads of Yan Cheng, find any ten people to ask, and all ten would say I am a fucking bastard, but you said, why…….why……”

The hand on the carriage was clenched so tightly that his hand was white.
Xiao Feng Wu’s throat felt as if it was caught with something, and after a while he was able to speak out the words.
It was as if he was asking others yet it felt more as if he was asking himself, 

“Why would there be people…… who would be willing to give up their life, for this kind of fucking loser bastard?

“I was held in prison for six days, yet it felt as if six years had passed.
I kept thinking about the past, all my numerous mistakes that were not only limited to the hundreds.
The thing that I have regretted the most in my life was two years ago……

“Did you know, two years ago I had kicked someone out.
I had put him on a pedestal, and pushed him higher and higher, yet when he fell, I had not cared nor asked.
When he was starving and suffering under the harsh cold winter days, I was not by his side.
When his fingers got slammed into and broken off, I was not by his side.
When he was eating leftovers tossed onto the side of the road, I was not by his side…..
When he suffered the most, I was not there……

“When he became famous, I appeared again.
He was the best singer in all of Yan Cheng.
The moment he stepped on stage, who knows how many people were willing to toss him gold and silver, yet he was still willing to follow me.
Follow this penniless, status-less bastard, me.

“I had fallen down into prison, yet he flew across many miles towards the capital, knelt on the ground outside the general’s estate for the entire night, to save the entire family of Xiao from their death…… He knelt for the entire night and yet I was still not by his side.
Xiao Feng Wu is of this year, 25, yet in these twenty five years, I had lived like a dog—–“

Xiao Feng Wu’s head was lowered, his eyes red.
A teardrop did not even have time to slide down his face and instead immediately dropped onto the back of his hand.
The veins of his forehead suddenly popped as he slammed a fist onto the carriage, and the iron nails pierced his skin, causing a deep maroon red to flow out.

With a trembling voice he said, 

“Now that I’ve come out, he has left.
Would you say that he hates me to death, that he wouldn’t be willing to even see me once more?”

“Xiao Feng Wu died in jail, but he lived again.
This Xiao Feng Wu who survived wants to fight again, fight to lay riches and wealth for that person, boosting him up and up, never letting him fall ever again in this lifetime, but he left……

“I have so many words that I want to say to him, and I have so many words that I have not told him.
I have never seen him as a thing to be played with, I have also never felt that he was someone worthless, someone lower……”

The back of Xiao Feng Wu’s hand was overflowing with fresh blood yet it was as if he did not feel any pain.
He grabbed the curtain on the carriage tightly, leaving behind trails of blood on the deep blue fabric.
With a low voice narrowing on begging without any hint of pride, almost giving up for any shred to be given, 

“Ming Yue, don’t go.”

“If you leave, Xiao Feng Wu would truly die…..”

The deep blue curtain doorway slowly lifted, revealing a pale colored robe, but no familiar face as expected could be seen.
Instead, a weak and skinny little lady was shrunken in the corner as she cried.
Xiao Feng Wu’s pupils immediately shrunk, his face frozen, feeling as if he was hit on the head and his mind went blank, turning him completely mindless.

He then came back to his senses and realized he got the wrong person.
Immediately, hastily, he went to grab his horse to chase off again.
Yet the moment he turned, he found that behind the carriage on the mountain road was the shadow of someone wearing a veil on a horse.
That person had held the reins taut, the pinky of his hand could be seen to be missing a section, and as he slightly lifted up his head, the shadows revealed a skinny chin.

Xiao Feng Wu froze, eyes not even moving as he stared at the other man.

The horse was uncomfortably moving around, but the person on it stayed his hand, and after looking at Xiao Feng Wu for a while, he flipped off the horse.
The moment he landed, his footsteps looked a bit strange, as if one was limping.

“Ming Yue……?”

Xiao Feng Wu was having trouble breathing.
He took one step at a time slowly, slowly and carefully reaching out his hand, as if facing towards the most precious treasure in this world.
The veil was slowly lifted, revealing a pale white face with a pair of phoenix eyes that still held so many emotions like before, so beautiful he was out of this world.

Xiao Feng Wu tightened his hand slowly and then slammed the other tightly into his embrace, his strength so suffocating and overpowering.
Qin Ming Yue turned his head slightly, a playful glint to his eyes,

“Sixteen Master, your eyes have some problems and you should take some time to heal them.”

The most expensive thing in the world was, undoubtedly, the opportunity to retry after losing.

Xiao Feng Wu tightly hugged him, 

“My eyes cannot recognize treasure when I see it.
It definitely needs to be looked at.”

Wind slowly shook the trees, swirling silently in the air.
After a long while, Qin Ming Yue pushed him, 

“Let’s go back.”

Xiao Feng Wu was not willing to let go, but Qin Ming Yue shoved at him again, his patience finally all used up, 

“You haven’t showered for so long, your body smells so bad!”

TL Tidbits:

It’s been a while since I’ve drafted a chapter haha : ) Plum’s currently on their vacation, so the task has fallen back onto my hands for this week, and I hope I didn’t miss anything! Please let me know if something is not working, as I’m a bit dusty at this (▔﹏▔)/

Since I am here and since it’s been a while, I wanted to give a warm thank you to all the Galactic Judges out there who is still on the journey with us (even if you’ve just started!).
It’s really encouraging to see that there are people who (still) enjoy this translation (and I’m really glad that you all enjoy the novel as I have especially since I feel like I’m discovering new easter eggs like the footnote below), and I really do thank you all for your continual support, from the commenters, likers and silent readers ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•ू❁)

There is currently only one chapter left to this volume, and then we will bid farewell to our couple here! Next volume is an interesting one, as it is actually the most memorable out of all the volumes for me (though I’ll have to compare my feelings for volume 4 now that I’ve gone reading it more in depth…) but we’ll see what you all think (a little bit of a spoiler that you may or may not already know, it’s apocalyptic! …(；′⌒`) which does give me some apprehension over the new terms that I will probably be struggling over lol).

In any case, let me know what you think of Xiao Feng Wu and Qin Ming Yue as we wrap up this volume! I will say Plum dislikes Xiao Feng Wu the most out of all the volumes because they don’t really feel like he’s really changed nor made up for the fact of what he did to Qin Ming Yue.
I do agree with that it feels like more should have been done for Qin Ming Yue, but I do feel that Xiao Feng Wu has changed, especially given his attitude from the very beginning to the point where he showed that he can take responsibility for himself when he opened up to Qin Ming Yue in the prison ( ｡_｡)

But anyway, I hope you all Galactic Judges are safe and see you next next Saturday for the finale of volume 6! ヾ(｡･ω･｡)

(Side note: …… has anyone seen the BL drama collections (HIStory 1/2/3/4)? Plum’s very tired of my commentary haha, but I’d be interested if anyone has any thoughts on it… especially that ending for HIStory3: Make Our Days Count | ू•ૅω•́))

 

Notes:

*1 Wenzhao Pass is an opera piece based on the “Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms” by Feng Menglong which is a historical novel about the late Ming Dynasty.
This particular part is about King Ping of Chu and his wrongful pursuit of the Wu family.
As the remaining Wu family members were trying to run away, they were in danger of getting caught when they had to pass through Wenzhao Pass to get to where they wanted to go but of course, it’s tightly guarded.
They then happen to be saved by Dong Gao Gong, a disciple of Bian Que who is a well known Chinese physician, and he devises a way for them to get out. 

The Wu family members were able to escape because of him and when the Wu family members come back into the state for revenge, they find that the place where Dong Gao Gong resides was all empty and not lived in for a long time, so it ends with the commentary that Dong Gao Gong was a great man for giving his grace but not expecting anything in return (and the Wu family members go on to give him a grand bow and say they will repay him much more than he gave if he ever returns to Wenzhao Pass).
(TL sidenote: it feels quite symbolic if you compare it to Xiao Feng Wu’s situation with Qin Ming Yue which was perhaps the intention of the author : ) )

Note that the “Wu” mentioned in the opera piece is not the Wu family (as “伍”)  but the state of Wu (as “吳國”), and also note that I did a very very rough literal translation of the opera piece since there’s not really a english version I could find, so please bare with my terrible literary skills again lol.
If you are interested, here’s a version in chinese opera style (headphone/volume warning!) and the verse to be sung is from the beginning to around 3:40ish – Wenzhao Pass (Youtube)