The Abandoned Wife’s Rebirth - Chap 153
Danger was already right before his eyes, yet Wu Ruo stretched his hand out toward the beast spirit, neither rushed nor slowly, and he quietly said: “Be good, listen to me…”
The moment he made contact with the beast spirit, it was as though he possessed some kind of intimate, magical charm. Gradually, the fearsome beast spirit became obedient and docile. The other beast spirit circled around Wu Ruo, shaking its head and wagging its tail1, looking as though it was trying to its utmost ability to curry favour with Wu Ruo.
Wu Ruo smiled slightly, and everyone gazed upon the smile that could make the entire world lose colour, unwittingly losing focus.
The people who were closer in distance to Wu Ruo stared at him with besotted expressions: “I really wish I could become the beast spirit in his hands, be petted by him, to have him smile as he watches me, and to just be able to quietly look at him, I would already be content.”
“He’s mine! He can only smile while watching me, none of you can snatch him away!”
“I want to bring him home and marry2 him.”
Suddenly, a stern shout rang out: “You bunch of idiots! You’d better get back to your senses!”
In an instance, everyone came back to their senses, looking at each other with baffled expressions.
“What happened to me just now?”
“What am I doing here?”
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“Hey, where did the maiden I was admiring go?”
Someone rolled their eyes: “All of you fell for the Compulsion Technique3, the Wu family’s Compulsion Technique. It’s quite powerful too, it can even control spirits.”
On the platform, Wu Ruo’s hand gently rubbed a few circles on the beast spirit’s back. He looked up towards a sombre Wu Yu, his gaze sharpening, then he pointed at Wu Yu and said: “Go, kill him for me.”
Suddenly, the docile beast spirit turned incomparably fiendish. With a loud roar, it rushed toward Wu Yu.
Wu Yu hurriedly demanifested the beast spirit, glaring at Wu Ruo fiercely.
Damn it to hell, his beast spirit had actually gotten controlled by Wu Ruo.
Wu Ruo’s lips curled up. He rapidly wielded the jian in his hands, and closely after, three beast spirits that were even bigger and more fearsome than Wu Yu’s beast spirits appeared by his side, ferociously throwing themselves at Wu Yu.
Wu Yu hurriedly took out spirit talismans to get rid of them, but the beast spirits didn’t seem the slightest bit afraid of his spirit talismans and directly bit onto him. He was so frightened that he let out a scream. Following after, the three beast spirits passed right through his body, and the scenery around them also changed. A young Mo boy with a head full of small braids, wearing flamboyant red robes appeared.
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Wu Yu stared at the other party in surprise, a hint of guilt flashing across his eyes.
That wasn’t right, he had clearly been in the middle of the competition. How could this little Mo boy have appeared here?
An illusion?
It was probably an illusion.
The little Mo boy glared at him fiercely: “If you don’t want to die, then you had better return my Three-Seven Stone.”
Wu Yu looked in the other direction: “Wu Ruo, I know this is an illusion, I won’t fall for it!”
The little Mo boy snorted coldly, black qi gathering in his hand, then he sucked in the direction of Wu Yu’s waist pouch. A piece of stone that was as clean and white as the clouds in the heavens flew out from his waist pouch, falling into the hands of the little Mo boy.
“My stone! That’s my stone!” Wu Yu didn’t care whether he was currently in an illusion anymore. He agitatedly rushed in front of the little Mo boy: “Give it back to me! Give it back to me now!”
“What a shameless human. This is clearly the Three-Seven Stone that you stole from me, how did it become your stone?” The little Mo boy gripped tightly around Wu Yu’s throat: “Tell me, where did the human that helped me go?”
Wu Yu struggled to breathe: “I don’t know.”
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“You really don’t know?” The little Mo boy’s grip tightened.
“I r-really don’t know!” Wu Yu’s breaths became more and more laboured.
The little Mo boy sneered sinisterly: “Since you don’t know, then go to hell.”
“Ah!” Wu Yu felt a pain in his throat, and had a feeling that he was about to asphyxiate, so he hastily said: “I-I only know that he was captured by some Mo people!”
“Really?” The little Mo boy loosened his grip.
Wu Yu wheezed: “It’s true, it’s really true! I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Then do you know the name of the human that saved me?”
“His name is Wu Zhu, he’s my sange.”
The little Mo boy smiled coldly, letting go of Wu Yu’s throat, then the voice suddenly became Wu Ruo’s: “Wu Yu, you’ve lost.”
Wu Yu came back to his senses, the scenery around them had once more turned back into the competition grounds. The little Mo boy had also turned into Wu Ruo.
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With a heavy shove, Wu Ruo pushed him off the platform.
With a ‘pu‘ noise, Wu Yu spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
“Ah! Xiao-Yu! Xiao-Yu!” Ruan Lanru and Wu Qianli agitatedly pushed past the crowds of people, scooping Wu Yu up into their arms and feeding him a wound healing pill: “Xiao-Yu, Xiao-Yu, are you alright?”
“Qiang4——!” The judge announced: “Wu Ruo of the Wu family wins——!”
Everyone cheered their congratulations.
Ruan Lanru raised her head in fury, looking at Wu Ruo who was on the platform, and she shouted loudly: “Wu Ruo, you’re so merciless even to a relative! You’re inhumane!”
Her words immediately attracted the dissatisfaction of others: “People are bound to get injured during a competition, if you’re so afraid of getting hurt, then you shouldn’t have gone up to compete! Didn’t he just spit out a mouthful of blood? How serious can it be? A whole pile of people died in the previous few matches, what did you say then? Speaking of which, which match of the competition didn’t end with allies fighting against each other? Getting injured is also naturally unavoidable.”
Every match of the competition had been like this. At the end, after forcing the members of other family clans off the platform, the platform would be left with members of the same family clan, and they would have to fight for victory among each other. And for every match, no matter the winner or the loser, they would all have injuries. It was extremely normal, so, in their eyes, it was just spitting a mouthful of blood, it could already be considered a very light injury.
Ruan Lanru rebuked them furiously: “The one who’s been injured isn’t your child, of course none of you would care!”
Her words made those who had won their matches very angry: “The third rule of the competition very clearly states, if competitors are injured or die, no one is allowed to seek out the other party for responsibility or revenge. Are you trying to break the rules now by saying all of this?”
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If everyone threw a fuss like her, even if you won, you would just be looking for trouble.
Ruan Lanru was so angered that she spat blood out from her mouth.
Wu Yu discreetly touched his waist pouch. When he found that the item was still inside, in that instance, he let out a sigh of relief: “Mum, it’s very normal to get injured during the course of the competition. You shouldn’t argue with them anymore.”
“Alright, I won’t, I won’t argue with them.”
Wu Ruo swept a cold glance at them, then he got off the platform.
Wu Xi excitedly threw herself at him: “Erge, you won! You actually won!”
She had never thought that her erge could win.
Wu Ruo smiled.
Wu Qianqing walked over and snorted lightly.
Wu Ruo hurriedly explained: “Dad, I didn’t intentionally hide the truth about my spiritual energy.”
Wu Qianqing swept a glance at their surroundings: “This is not a place for talking. You can explain to me properly after we get back.”
“Alright.”
Wu Chenliu walked up to them and asked: “Xiao-Ruo, I’m really curious about how you were able to set up such a massive array under everyone’s noses in the midst of such chaotic fighting.”
When the people in the vicinity heard this, their ears all perked up one after another.
Wu Ruo smiled and replied: “Let’s talk about it when we get back.”
Wu Chenliu glanced at the people who also wanted to know, then he laughed heartily: “Alright, you must tell me after we get back.”
“I will.”
Everyone else was met with disappointment.
When Wu Chenzi saw that Wu Ruo had won the match, he was so angered that he forcefully swept the sleeves of his robes aside and left.
The lips of Ling Mohan, who was seated on the royal family’s viewing platform across from Wu Chenzi, were curled up in intense pleasure. It was as if he himself had emerged victorious, and he was especially happy.
Hei Xuantang, who was seated in the regular spectators’ seats, carried Dandan and whooped: “We won! We won!”
Dandan was so happy that his eyes had turned into thin crescents, giggling unstoppably, even the people sitting beside them were infected by the sound of his laughter.
Amusement appeared in Hei Xuanyi’s eyes.
Guan Tong let out a long sigh of relief, and smiled a little when she saw Dandan.
Nu Mu laughed as he said: “My disciple really is quite powerful.”
Hei Xuantang said: “It’s a pity we can’t enter the competition grounds and celebrate for dasao.”
If they had known this from the start, then they should’ve entered as Wu Ruo’s family members. However, if they had entered that way, then it wouldn’t have been convenient to place bets. Furthermore, it wouldn’t have been as comfortable as sitting in the spectator stands.
It was as if Wu Ruo, who was in the competition grounds, had felt that Hei Xuanyi and the others were looking at him. He turned to look in the direction that Hei Xuanyi was sitting in: “In two more matches, it’ll be Senior Liu’s match. Let’s go back to the sub-hall to rest, so that Senior Liu can preserve his energy.”
Wu Chenliu didn’t really mind. In any case, he didn’t have any intentions of winning, he was going to get off the platform after one joss stick’s time. However, Wu Ruo, who had just come off the platform, needed to rest. Moreover, the following two matches would be about the same as the previous matches5, so he followed Wu Ruo and the others back to the sub-hall.
Once they entered the sub-hall, one after another, the Gaoling City Wu family members looked over. In the instance that they saw Wu Ruo, their expressions were strange. They wanted to jibe at him sarcastically, but they also felt that they didn’t have the right to do so. After all, among all of them, only Wu Ruo had won a match, but they also didn’t want to insincerely congratulate Wu Ruo and the others. So they just suppressed their unhappiness and looked at Wu Ruo disgruntledly. They wanted to know how Wu Ruo was able to possess spiritual energy, but they knew in their hearts that Wu Ruo would not answer even if they asked.
Wu Bofang looked at Wu Qianqing awkwardly.
Wu Qianqing immediately took Wu Ruo and his family away from the Gaoling City Wu family members.
Wu Xi said quietly: “Grandfather and the rest seem to have lesser people on their side.”
Previously, the Gaoling City Wu entourage had more than a hundred people, but was now left with only eighty people.
Wu Qianqing’s face was severe, not saying a word.
Wu Ruo glanced over: “Besides those that have died in the competition and the ones remaining before us, the rest must have gone to collect the bodies.”
Wu Xi sighed softly.
No matter how dissatisfied she was with the Gaoling City Wu family members’ behaviour, she was still kind and naturally did not wish to see any of her family members passing away.
Wu Qianqing patted her shoulder.
Not long after, the Wu family’s clan leader returned with the name list and after checking it, took a quick glance at Wu Ruo and his family before leaving.
After roughly two shichen, it was finally Wu Chenliu’s turn.
On the stage, Wu Chenliu only defended and did not attack, and descended the platform as soon as a joss stick’s time was up. The Wu family’s clan leader was so angered that he huffed and glared6. In the end, because Wu Chenzi could not participate, Tutor Yan won unanimously.
The audience applauded and Tutor Yan beamed as he stood on the platform, celebrating with the crowd.
The competition ended and each spiritual level’s winner went towards the royal family’s viewing platform to receive their reward. Because the emperor was personally awarding the prizes, each individual had to go up onto the platform to receive it.
Wu Chenzi looked at Wu Ruo, smiling amiably: “Not bad, your performance.”
Wu Ruo smiled faintly, secretly impressed by Wu Chenzi’s tolerance. His eyes were clearly red with anger, yet he had to put on a smiling face while praising Wu Ruo.
Once everyone was on the stage, they lined up accordingly.
Wu Chenzi was the winner for the first level so he naturally stood first in line.
The emperor saw Wu Chenzi, saying loudly with a smile: “Lord State Tutor, you’ve shown us7 an interesting performance today.”
The corner of Wu Chenzi’s lips twitched: “It is this old subject’s honor to have made Your Majesty happy.”
The emperor said loudly again with a smile: “We heard that you have been at home resting these past two months, immensely carefree and idle, but don’t forget that you can return to your post after another three days. There is plenty of work at the Imperial Astronomers’ Office8 for you to handle; you shall be busy then.”
“To be able to relieve Your Majesty’s burden, there’s nothing this old subject wouldn’t do, no matter how busy or tiring the work.”
Wu Ruo pursed his lips: “What a kiss-ass.”
Ling Mohan smirked coldly.
These past two months, he has been constantly thinking about how to get Wu Chenzi in trouble with the emperor9, but who knew Wu Chenzi would not take a step out of his house. His subordinates could only do their duties gingerly, unable to find any fault nor an opportunity to frame him. In another three days, the position would be returned to Wu Chenzi, and it would be impossible to drag him off again in the future.
Ling Mohan exchanged a look with Tutor Yan , before turning towards Wu Ruo.
Wu Ruo looked at him, then turned his gaze away.
The emperor’s rewards were nothing more than resources, gold and treasures but the prizes would be accorded based on the level, with more gold awarded the higher one’s level. The resources likewise would be increasingly more expensive from one level to the next.
The previous five levels’ winners had gladly accepted the prizes bestowed by the emperor. When it was Wu Ruo’s turn, he did not receive the reward but said to the emperor: “Your Majesty, this commoner has something to say.”
Everyone looked at Wu Ruo.
The emperor looked at Wu Ruo, and immediately recognized him as the one who had broken the Crown Prince’s Nine Palace Dragon Jade at the Lord State Tutor’s birthday banquet, because Wu Ruo’s appearance was simply too outstanding.
“What do you have to say to us?”
Wu Ruo said respectfully: “Replying to Your Majesty, this commoner would like ask for a different reward.”
The emperor’s head eunuch immediately shouted: “How audacious, you wretch! To be able to receive the Emperor’s reward is already an honour for you, how can it be changed as and how you wish!”
The emperor raised his hand, indicating for the head eunuch to stop speaking.
He asked curiously: “What would you like to change the reward to?”
“Before I say it, pray Your Majesty pardon this commoner’s rudeness.”
“Alright, tell us.”
“Replying to Your Majesty, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when this commoner and his family were praying at Lianfo Temple, we heard that a celestial equipment was stored within the treasure pagoda at Lianfo Temple. My husband was very interested when he heard about this. Unfortunately, only Lianfo Temple’s elders, abbots, Your Majesty and Lord State Tutor can enter the treasure pagoda. Hence, I hope Your Majesty could issue an imperial edict to allow us to let us enter to have a look at the celestial equipment. Of course, if Your Majesty finds this troubling, Your Majesty can ignore this commoner’s unreasonable request.”
The head eunuch wanted to reprimand Wu Ruo, but was prevented by the emperor: “It’s only because your husband wants to see the celestial equipment, so you are willing to give up the precious resources, gold and treasures in exchange for an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the celestial equipment?”
“Yes.”
The emperor laughed: “The relationship between you and your husband is deep and profound, making others very envious. However, we heard that your marriage only came about because of certain reasons. Could it be that you do not have any complaints?”
“Before getting married, there was more or less some displeasure in my heart. However, after our marriage, I get along well with my husband, and both of us are absolutely in love. If we are apart for a moment, we would miss each other, so this commoner is extremely grateful toward the one who arranged this marriage.” As Wu Ruo said this, the expression on his face revealed a hint of shyness, making it obvious at a glance that he and his husband were extremely in love.
Wu Chenzi: “…”
Ling Mohan’s gaze darkened, and he suddenly felt envious and jealous of He Xuanyi.
The emperor smiled slightly, without agreeing nor disagreeing: “Accept these rewards first.”
“Thanking Your Majesty for the reward.” Wu Ruo accepted the rewards that the eunuch handed over.
Translator’s note: Sorry for the late upload! Chinese New Year prep has been killing me and the editor. Gentle reminder that updates be on Thursdays and Sundays, at the same time, from next week!
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1
摇头摆尾 (yao tou bai wei): literally means ‘to shake (one’s) head and wag (one’s) tail, as in translation text, but it’s actually an idiom meaning ‘to be complacent’. The actual meaning of the idiom seems a little out of place here, which is why I’ve opted for the literal translation.
2
娶 (qu): an old friend of ours, this is the term used by men who marry a wife into their families.
3
言灵之术 (yan ling zhi shu): previously mentioned in Chapter 144.
4
锵: this is the onomatopoeia for the sound of cymbals or a gong crashing.
5
And therefore have little spectating value.
6
Two notes in one: first of all, the Wu family’s clan leader’s action was to 吹胡子 (chui hu zi), which literally means ‘to blow at (his) moustache’. I leave this footnote because the mental image is hilariously petty and I thought everyone deserved to know. Secondly, a reminder that the clan leader privately spoke to Wu Chenliu during the competition registration and expected him to help the Wu clan obtain victory during the match.
7
Reminder: the emperor uses the royal ‘we/us’ pronoun (朕 zhen) that is exclusively used by the emperor.
8
司天监 (si tian jian): previously mentioned in Chapter 138.
9
参一本 (can yi ben): referring to submitting a report to the imperial censors, which is then forwarded to the emperor for their perusal. These reports usually involve write-ups about government affairs by officials to the emperor, which are usually not prompted by the emperor himself. It’s stuff that the officials want to bring up to the emperor’s attention, so it can also involve reporting bad behaviour of other officials.
