DWGL _ Chapter - 01
西南王 (Xinan Wang): Xinan means southwest & Wang means King. Hereafter I will use the direct word Xinan Wang for the southwest border king.
王爺(Wang Ye): A term of address and title for a prince/King. Hereafter I will use Duan Wang Ye for Duan Bai Yue’s title.
The Murder of Wang Cheng (Royal City)
This is how the guestrooms of the Xinan Manor look like
There is a mountain in Xinan called Luo Xian.
'Luo Xian Mountain' sounds pleasing, and its scenery is also beautiful. During March and April, the mountain is entirely covered in vibrant green seedlings; after the mist-like rain falls, wildflowers will take just a night to bloom; with the plants swaying as the wind rushes by, it lends itself to a carefree and relaxed feeling; this is certainly an excellent place for outing and travelling.
It's a pity that when the people in the town under the mountain mentioned this place, nine out of ten shook their heads, and they would persuade travelers not to go, but they hesitated to say why. Only when he encounters the stunned green who is about to break in will he reveal one or two. It turns out that this Luo Xian mountain was robbed of its land a few years ago and claimed to be the king. The leader of the cottage is called Wang Dabao. He keeps a group of minions under him. They are all fierce and unreasonable. They shout and kill at every turn. With a knife in his hand, the big guy was bullied a few times, and nobody didn't dare to go into the mountain again. He only thought that the opponent was the plague god, and he could hide as far as he could, just to live a safe life.
Thanks to the many forests and mountains in Xinan, there is no shortage of this one.
It's just that the people want to live in peace, but Wang Dabao doesn't want to.
He was originally a bully in the Chu Kingdom, his family had land, a house and a martial arts school, so his life was prosperous. He was so accustomed to being a powerful man that he accidentally caused a murder in the street and alerted the emperor who was on tour. In order to save his life, he had to abscond overnight before he went all the way to the southwest border to become a bandit. He was used to living a life of great meat and fish, and when he suddenly came to this poor countryside, he was able to rest for a while at first, but as time went by, he inevitably began to have a vivid mind and wanted to find some opportunity to make a comeback.
At this moment, he was sitting in a sedan chair and was carried all the way to Xinan Manor-everyone knew that Duan Bai Yue, the king of Xinan, was a delicate and subtle presence in the Chu Kingdom.
At the time Chu Yuan ascended the throne, he was just 18 years old. At that time, a group of old ministers in the imperial court were ganging up on each other, and bandits were raging in all directions in the northwest, while only the southwest barely managed to calm down, and even helped to quell the chaos. In the course of a few years, most of the troublesome vassal kings were cut down to size, except for Duan Bai Yue, who not only did not suffer any damage but was even granted 16 states on the frontier, extending his control over all the way to the territory of Chu.
The ministers of the imperial court were quite critical of this, feeling that Duan Bai Yue was too aggressive and had a heavy army on his hands. There are also rumors among the people that Xinan Wang is ambitious and may one day send his troops northwards, and that the court will have a headache.
Wang Dabao also heard this rumor.
Since he is in the southwest, his biggest backer is naturally Xinan Wang. In order to get on his good side, the first thing he had to do was to throw himself at him. When the new residence of Xinan Wang was completed, it took Wang Dabao half a month to prepare a congratulatory gift, and after a month of burying it in the mountains, he couldn't wait to dig it up and carry it all the way to the mansion to present the treasure.
After getting off the sedan chair, Wang Dabao followed the butler inside. The building of Xinan Wang's residence is different from the ordinary white buildings of Dali, but more like the golden halls of the royal city. Even a fool would not believe it if he said that Xinan Wang had no ulterior motives.
In the garden in front, a girl in a pink and white dress was sitting at a stone table in a daze. The butler whispered: “It's the master, don't look around.”
Wang Dabao lowered his head when he heard the words, but the girl had already seen the two of them, so she stood up and asked crisply, "Is it a guest?"
"Yes." The butler replied, "They have come to pay their respects to Wang Ye."
The girl looked up and down, and Wang Dabao saw that she hadn't spoken for a long time, so he took the initiative to praise her: “The young lady is really like a flower and a jade, and she looks like a fairy.”
As soon as the voice fell, the butler's face turned pale, and the girl said angrily: “You can try it again!”
Wang Dabao was taken aback. Could it be that he thought these eight words were too vulgar, and he wanted to praise them in more elegant verses? God is pitiful, he is just a bandit leader, not very cultured.
"Xiao Wang Ye, forgive me, this guest is from the mountains and has never seen the world." The butler hurriedly rounded the circle.
“..." Xiao Wang Ye (Young Prince)? Wang Dabao was shocked.
"Huh!” The girl, or rather the teenager, stomped his feet and turned angrily back to the house.
“Nonsense!" The butler also glared at him, “Thanks to Xiao Wang Ye, he doesn't want to care about you. If you don't know how to behave like this again when you see Wang Ye, you'll lose your head!"
Wang Dabao had a bitterness in his heart that could not be explained. It was rumored that there was a young prince in Xinan King's mansion who had the same personality and temperament as Xinan King, but who would have known that he would appear in such a state? Don't say that Xinan King is also so elegant, and he likes to wander around the yard in a skirt.
With a hint of anxiety, Wang Dabao was led all the way to the front room, where he sat down for a while to drink tea.
An incense stick later, footsteps finally came from outside.
"Wang Ye!" The guards in the courtyard saluted in unison.
Wang Dabao also hurriedly stood up and bowed, "I am here to see Wang Ye."
"Are you the one who dug up the treasure?" Duan Bai Yue sat in the first place and casually asked a question.
"That's me, that's me." Wang Dabao was overjoyed and offered the gift box with both hands and peeked at the legendary Xinan King. The facial features are handsome and tall, the purple clothes are luxurious and elegant, and the whole body is extraordinary. At first glance, you can tell that he is a good backer.
Duan Bai Yue opened the box and then frowned: "A stone?"
"It's a stone, but it's not an ordinary stone either." Wang Dabao pretended to be mysterious and went forward to point it out to him.
The pattern was a faintly visible southwestern tiger with a golden dragon under its paw, the meaning of which was self-explanatory.
Xinan King raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
Wang Dabao was full of expectations.
"Very good." After a long time, Duan Bai Yue finally said something.
Wang Dabao's heart, which was hanging in his throat, finally fell back, as if he had already foreseen a glorious and prosperous future.
"What are your next thoughts?" Duan Bai Yue asked again.
"This is in accordance with the order of heaven." Wang Dabao moved closer, "If the people could also see this stone, it would be of great benefit to Wang Ye."
Duan Bai Yue listened without making a sound, allowing his head to get closer and closer to him, and finally almost pressed together.
"What do you think, Wang Ye?" Luckily, Wang Dabao closed in time to avoid the bad luck of being slapped away.
"Not bad, not bad for a guest from Great Chu." Duan Bai Yue nodded his head, "From now on, you can stay in this Xinan King's Mansion."
"Really?" Wang Dabao could hardly cope with such ecstasy and almost fainted.
"Naturally, it's true." Duan Bai Yue nodded his head and rushed outside, "Yaoer!"
"What is it?" The young man from the garden walked in.
"Take the guest to the guest room and rest." Duan Bai Yue said, " You don't have to go out without this King's permission."
“Let's go.” The young man didn't even look at him, "Hurry up, I'll have something else later."
“Yes, yes, thank you, Xinan Wang, thank you, Xiao Wang Ye.” Wang Dabao didn't care to think too much about what it meant to be ‘you don't have to go out without permission,’ so he hurriedly followed.
The young man looked thin, but he walked extremely fast. Wang Dabao started with a trot, but then it almost turned into a wild run, dizzy and panting, and almost fell.
“Here it is." The young man stopped and said impatiently, “Go in."
Wang Dabao looked at the gloomy prison in front of him, and his whole body was stunned.
If he remembers correctly, what Xinan Wang just said is...guest room?
“Is there any misunderstanding in this?" Wang Dabao asked with a smile.
“No misunderstanding, the guest rooms in Xinan Mansion look like this, believe it or not." The young man clapped his hands, turned around and walked out, “Stay at ease, you won't die of hunger."
"Xiao Wang Ye -" Wang Dabao wanted to hold him back to explain more, but several guards had already swarmed forward and locked him up in the prison.
"Wang Ye." In the front hall, the butler came in to report, "There's another letter from the royal city."
"Oh?" Xinan Wang looked interested and casually tossed the broken stone aside, got up and went to his study.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Chu Yuan, the current emperor, was not in a good mood.
"Your Majesty." Eunuch Si Xi, his personal attendant, whispered, "It's time to eat."
"I have no appetite, ask the Imperial Dining Room to withdraw." Chu Yuan was a little bored and put the tea caldron in his hand aside.
Eunuch Si Xi sighed inwardly, bowed and withdrew, then gently closed the door for him.
In the past two years since his accession to the throne, the emperor's life has not been easy ......
One incense stick later, Chu Yuan dropped his memorial and angrily called for a few guards to dig up a plum tree in the courtyard of the palace, as far as they could.
The men responded by methodically dividing up their work, you taking the shovel and I digging the hole, not only working quickly but also taking care to bring the soil with them and not to damage the roots of the plum tree - after all, in three days' time, the emperor would certainly order that it be picked up and planted back in its original position - in winter! We still need it to bloom. In the past seven or eight years, the plum tree has been planted and dug up and planted again and again, and there has been a lot of tossing and turning, so if it were a normal tree, it would have withered and dried up long ago. But this plum blossom can flourish year by year, which is a rare thing.
Although it was not winter, the nights were still chilly in the royal city. The doors of every house were closed and every family went to bed early in the day to warm their blankets. The night was a good time to sleep as the rain fell at midnight, but suddenly there was a howl in the city, and even more shit was flowing, and his throat was almost torn through the sky, "Oh no, someone's been killed!”
A few moments later, the guards on patrol arrived at the scene. There was blood everywhere in the alleyway, a man in a brocade robe was lying on the ground with a sharp knife in his back, and he looked like he had been dead for a long time.
The guards went up and turned him over, and when they saw him clearly, they were stunned, and only after confirming again did they come back and say, "I report to the Commander that the deceased appears to be the young prince of the Anu Kingdom."
—— ฅʕ•̫͡•ʔฅ ——ㄚ
Note:
- 王城 (Wang Cheng): Empire. The royal city where the emperor lives.
- 落仙 (Luo Xian): descending immortal.
- 小王爺 (Xiao Wang Ye): Young Prince.
- One incense stick later: thirty minutes later here is written as 'time is taken to burn an incense stick' as it is referred to in the past.
- 阿弩國 : Anu Kingdom. Nowadays Vietnam.
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