Volume I: The Moon over the Qin
“I won’t bear this pent-up frustration.”
Editor: Miiya and Avalie
The translator has something to interrupt:
Teo: This was originally chapter 0. It was repurposed to chapter 1. Read more in the endnote.
The twelfth year of King Chang of Qin’s reign.
Winter.
The snowflakes fluttered and fell outside the window.
The cold chill filled the air. The palace maids dressed in heavy winter clothes were sweeping the snow to clear the paths in the palace. Occasionally, they rubbed their palms together, huffing out a wave of visible breath.
The accumulated ice and snow lowered the branches of blossomed plum flowers, covering them in a layer of frost.
It wasn’t that much warmer inside the room as the charcoal fire in the stove had long burned out. There was a nip in the air that could seep through the joints between the bones, enough to make anyone’s four limbs rigidly cold.
A young man with a snow-white fox fur coat draped over his shoulders sat by the window, and the originally hot tea he was holding was cooled by the wind and snow pouring in from the window. The fingers around the cup were slender and smooth as jade with distinct bony joints, two features that made the hands very beautiful.
Chang Shou walked forward carefully. “Young Master, it’s cold outside. Please allow this servant to close the window.”
The young man turned his head upon hearing the request. His face was proper, elegant, and brilliantly gorgeous.
Even Chonghua, the Princess of Yan, who was known to be the number one beauty of the seven lands, would be outshone when greeted with the young man’s presence. Any attractive appearance would fall short to that of this young man’s visage.
Wei Lian smiled. “When the window is open, I can still see the wind and snow of my home country. When it’s closed, I won’t be able to see it anymore.”
His voice was soft and crystal clear as jade, and there was somewhat of a smile on his face. From any outsider’s point of view, he was just a simple young master spending his leisure time admiring the snow.
Yet, Chang Shou’s nose burned and he was on the verge of tears upon hearing this.
The country of Chu had abundant snow. The young master must be feeling homesick.
But as a hostage in the country of Qin, he feared that the young master could…never return home in this lifetime.
The young master was only nineteen this year, but had to waste the rest of his life in a foreign country.
Chang Shou used his finger to wipe the tears at the corners of his eyes, but the words that came out of his mouth were already choked with emotion. “Young Master needs to be mindful of your health. If you were to catch a cold from the weather, this servant would fear…”
…Fear that the people of Qin won’t even consider calling a physician for the young master.
The young master was a royal member from the country of Chu, but to fall to this degree…
_
Today, the world was separated into seven countries: Qin, Chu, Yan, Lu, Liang, Chen and Xiu. Each with their own independent regimes and ruled by their respective kings.
It had been twelve years since King Chang of Qin, Ji Yue, ascended the throne at the tender age of nine. He was a brave warrior and a resourceful strategist well-known for his ambition and cruelty. During the twelve years of his reign, he had declared nine wars, annexed countless cities, forced five out of six countries into submission, and received annual tribute from those countries.
The country of Xia, the weakest among the seven countries, was only one step away from total annihilation.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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On paper he was a hostage, but in reality, he was someone on death row. The Qin and Chu fought for many years, as their hatred for each other was bone-deep. When a royalty from the country of Chu arrived in the country of Qin, it was no different from a sheep being delivered into a tiger’s mouth. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had immediately been sentenced to death either by hanging or being shredded into pieces.
He was the country of Chu’s castaway prince.
Wei Lian’s birth mother was merely a palace maid who died in childbirth. Although he had the royalty status as the ruler’s son, he had experienced the fickleness of human nature for the majority of his life. As for his fate, he had long known of his so-called destiny.
When the envoys from the country of Chu entered the capital, the King of Qin didn’t receive them. Instead, a message was passed to them: Leave Young Master Lian behind, the rest can leave. Wedon’t want an audience.
The envoys departed just like that, leaving Wei Lian behind. Along with him were his two close attendants, Chang Sheng and Chang Shou.
After staying in the post station for two days, the summons Wei Lian had been waiting for didn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.
While he was calmly arranging flowers and making tea, his two attendants were worrying in circles. Chang Sheng even suggested, “Young Master, we should make our escape.”
Of these two trusted aides beside him, Chang Shou was skilled in tasks and was a pleasant conversationalist. He was usually responsible for preparing and serving tea, and the one who personally served him the most. Wei Lian often teased him, and they looked to have a closer relationship. While Chang Sheng had excellent martial arts, he was a reserved man who was respectful to Wei Lian. He rarely overstepped his boundaries, but he was the one who Wei Lian could trust with handling important tasks.
Perhaps Chang Sheng was the only one in this world who knew that his handsome and delicate Young Master Lian was actually more masterful in martial arts than he was. For him, it was not impossible to escape from the country of Qin.
“Escape?” Wei Lian unconcernedly trimmed the flower branches. “Where can I escape to?”
“With the world being so big, Young Master can be unfettered anywhere as long as you are out of Yongping! You would never be caught with the level of your skills!”
“Anything under heaven could be the King’s land.” Wei Lian fixed the flower branches into a nice-looking shape and put down the scissors in satisfaction. “Even if I can escape from Yongping, I can’t escape from the country of Qin. If I escaped this country, the King of Qin would only need to give an order for the other six countries to capture a criminal like me. That includes my home country. A solitary prince of the Chu or the King of Qin who commands over a million soldiers. Chang Sheng, they know who to please.”
After hearing this, Chang Sheng felt the dread of being powerless. “But Young Master… If you don’t escape, you’ll die… There has been no movement from the King of Qin for two days. Who can predict if the King will send a decree to kill you tomorrow to appease his people’s rage towards the Chu people.”
Wei Lian replied nonchalantly, like a cloud drifting in the light breeze, “Then die, I shall.”
Chang Sheng was startled. “How can you say that?”
“Whether it be death by a thousand cuts, dismemberment, or to be granted a merciful death with a cup of poisoned wine from the King of Qin,” Wei Lian raised his eyes and asked with a smile, “the results are all the same, so why fear the thought of death?”
Chang Sheng lowered his gaze. “Young Master is clearly…not someone who waits for death.”
“Chang Sheng.” Wei Lian kept smiling. “I can escape. But what would happen to the country of Chu once I do?”
Chang Sheng huffed in frustration. “The country of Chu has already abandoned you. Why must you honor this forsaken duty!?”
“I’m not being sentimental. To me, the country of Chu’s imperial palace is the same as the country of Qin, without any warmth.” Wei Lian shook his head gently. “The country of Chu sent me to stop the war. If I escape, the King of Qin would become furious and declare war once more. Tens of thousands of Chu soldiers and commoners will die. It’s worth exchanging my single life for their many lives.”
Chang Sheng was at a loss for words. After a long silence, he knelt on the ground on both knees and performed the country of Chu’s most solemn etiquette of bowing.
Wei Lian chuckled to himself. “I’m not dead yet. What’s with this parting routine? Things are still not as bad as they could be.”
—On the third day, they received news from the King of Qin. It wasn’t regarding an execution, but…to bestow on Wei Lian the position of shijun and have him serve the King in the palace.
What in the world was this…”shijun“?
At the age of twenty-one, the King of Qin had a harem that existed in name only. Because of the never ending cycle of wars and forever busying about with expanding territory, not only was there no queen, there was not even a concubine.
And when the king finally accepted his first beauty…the beauty was a man.
In the Qin’s back palace hierarchy, the queen was at the top, followed by four-ranking consorts and three-ranking madams, with countless concubines at the very bottom. Then what about a shijun? No different from being titleless, and sharing the same status as a concubine.
A concubine.
This was an absolute humiliation—even if Wei Lian was a son of royalty from the country of Chu, he only had the privilege of being a male pet in the country of Qin. A simple plaything.
The country of Qin’s cabinet ministers obviously all came to the same conclusion, so they had no objection to His Majesty’s decision to allow a man into the harem, and even applauded it. To vanquish someone by forcing him into a submissive role, an outcome more painful than death.
His Majesty was very wise.
When Chang Sheng and Chang Shou heard of this unexpected bad news, the corners of Chang Shou’s eyes immediately turned red. “Young Master, this is beyond bullying, how could the King of Qin humiliate you like this?!”
Wei Lian disagreed, “Isn’t this good? At least I get to keep my life.”
Chang Shou cried, “It’s better to die than to live on in degradation!”
“…Don’t be like that. I still want to live.”
Wei Lian entered the palace in the end.
Everyone in the palace knew that His Majesty made him a shijun, not out of generosity, but rather for humiliation. Naturally, the treatment towards the young man wasn’t very good. After His Majesty still hadn’t called for him to serve in the bedchamber after half a month’s time, everyone was more convinced that Wei Lian’s position was unstable.
Not being assigned with palace maids, Wei Lian and his two close attendants lived leisurely. The food that was sent to them was coarse and diluted. They could manage to swallow it as long as it didn’t go bad or get too cold. But eating like this made it difficult to get through the winter.
Entering into the bitter cold winter, the amount of charcoal fire in Wei Lian’s palace was less than that of palace maids. There wasn’t even thick bedding, only a thin quilt. If he wasn’t honed in the way of the martial arts, he really wouldn’t have survived the severe winter as an ordinary man.
Chang Shou went to the internal management and was ridiculed before being kicked out.
They lived a very challenging life.
“Young Master, when the tea gets cold, I’ll go change out the pot.” Chang Shou was only eighteen this year, but he was a nervous wreck. The tea sent to the Green Bamboo Pavilion was of inferior quality. However, it was not meant for consumption, but as a hand warmer.
Wei Lian glanced at him before narrowing his eyes. “What happened to your hands?”
Chang Shou quickly hid his hands within his sleeves, but Wei Lian restrained his movement and held his wrists.
Ten swollen fingertips from growing frostbite.
Wei Lian and Chang Sheng had durable bodies because of martial arts, so they weren’t afraid of the winter chill, but that wasn’t the case for Chang Shou.
Chang Shou said anxiously, “Young Master, this isn’t serious…”
“I have some ointment there.” Wei Lian lowered his eyes slightly. “The third shelf by the headboard, use it for now.”
Chang Shou shook his head over and over again. “No, Young Master, you should save the ointment for yourself. The people of the medical institute bureau don’t care about us. The ointment must not be wasted on this servant, not even just a little bit.”
“Enough words from you. This is a command.” Wei Lian’s words were incontestable. “Now hurry.”
Chang Shou covered his mouth and looked on the verge of crying. He bowed and went into the bedchamber to get the ointment.
Wei Lian zoned out, staring at the pot of cold tea for a while.
Then he got up to close the window.
Making the inside just slightly warmer.
Chang Shou came out and was greatly moved by the closed window.
Young Master cared about him, who couldn’t stand the cold very well.
Even if the degree of increase in temperature was negligible, as the cold inside the pavilion was still bone chilling.
Yet, Chang Shou could feel a comfortable warmth in his chest.
_
As usual, the three ate dinner together.
In a foreign country and a difficult situation, Wei Lian didn’t pay particular attention to the master and servant etiquette. He directly called them to eat at the table with him. At first, the two attendants ate rather reservedly, but they gradually opened up over time.
In their situation, there was obviously no way for them to have someone deliver meals especially to them, so they had to collect the food themselves. In the past, they would always receive steamed buns and cold noodles. Not being a picky eater, Wei Lian lived quite comfortably.
But it all changed when Chang Shou returned with reddened eyes today.
“What are you crying about this time?” Chang Sheng frowned. “Did the staff at the imperial kitchen make things difficult for you again?”
“They told me I arrived too late, and these are the only things left… But I was clearly one of the earliest there!” Chang Shou complained sadly. “How could I give these things to the young master to eat?”
When Chang Sheng opened the meal box, the thing that made him close the box immediately was the rancid smell.
…How many days ago were these foods cooked?
The Qin people were bullying the young master more and more aggressively, and even the food they received was increasingly perfunctory.
“How dare they?!” Chang Sheng gritted his teeth. “I’ll go find them—”
“Find who?” Wei Lian came out of the house and saw his two servants dawdling by the door.
The two choked for a moment.
Wei Lian looked at the meal box, and opened it. As soon as he did, what he met with was unsightly leftovers, as well as the foul odor.
He closed the meal box without changing his expression, but the tone he used was colder by a few degrees. “Not eating it.”
Chang Shou was close to tears from the sound of his voice. “But Young Master, if they continue to do this every day…we can’t just keep skipping meals.”
Wei Lian sighed. “They dare to act so disrespectfully because I’m unfavored by the king.”
“I have been living too docile and being too passive. I don’t even know what the King of Qin looks like after half a month in the palace. This won’t work if this continues,” Wei Lian mumbled. Then he suddenly asked, “Chang Shou, judging from how good-looking I am, what’re the chances of me obtaining the king’s favor?”
Chang Shou: “…”
He wailed, “Young Master, you can’t compromise and give your body to the King of Qin!”
Chang Sheng carried a posture of silent endurance as well.
A courageous spirit would rather sacrifice their life than be humiliated. Young Master, with his royal blood, how could he…
“I don’t feel any grievances.” Wei Lian turned around lazily. “Anyone would want to live a good life, even myself.”
“As humans, we have to die happily as well as live happily. I won’t accept this pent-up frustration.”
The translator has something to add:
Teo: Update on the move. Sadly, the owner of PBC ghosted me, so after over a year of radio silence, I asked the owner of Chrysanthemum Garden if I could move my projects despite being posted on another site, and I got the green light! After this mass release, I’ll be working on getting the NU link updated. Once NU approve my request, I’ll be doing the same for another project, so finger cross.
About the reason why I changed from emperor to king, and empire to land. Looking at individual character, king/ 王 is a rank lower than emperor/ 帝. Because there are many kings in this novel, they are more like sons/ descendants of the emperor, rather than emperor themselves. Because of that, it will be more accurate to translate 國 as country, because it is specially a piece of territory governed by the king/ 王. So yes, even the translated novel title is very wrong. But ‘A Country as a Betrothal Gift’ doesn’t sound as pleasing. I’m actually really digging the ‘Land of Promise’ (English title from Via Lactea—it’s Chinese license, but Via Lactea is known for creating an English title for their licenses).
So, that’s why a huge overhaul on this project was needed. I want to contribute this to Transmigrated as the Prince Regent’s Cherished Runaway Wife, because that project really shows the contrast between king/ 王 and emperor/ 帝.
In conclusion, this translator were too ‘second year’ to use the cool-sounding translation over the more accurate translation.
Housekeeping:
If possible, localize the translation and avoid the pain of building a glossary. If readers are against this, this translator is not forcing you to continue reading. It also decreases the chance of me making typos as well because I do not use and cannot read in pinyin (cries in ㄅㄆㄇㄈ).
Self-addressing titles/ normal titles will only appear the first time in a speech. For example, “This translator will only do self-addressing the first time before switching to using first-person pronunciation, the same when addressing the readers. My goal is to make the reading experience as smooth as possible for you guys and easier on my brain.”
Exception:
1) High-ranking titles like ‘Your Royal Highness’, ‘Your Majesty’, and ‘Your Highness’.
2) If the author did not use self-address and if the English Translation cannot work without a pronoun, it will be the character’s usual self-address.
3) Interaction between Wei Lian and Ji Yue, because it will make a change in their self address more apparent.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Important things need to be said thrice. I had read this and The Demon Venerable’s Wistful Desire on the other site (I forgot the name). It’s nice to be able to read it here as well (´,,•ω•,,)♡
I read both stories in Peach Blossom and I was hoping to continue reading these stories.
Thanks Very much
So do I. Both novels are really good ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
Is anyone else not able to access these files? Mine aren’t working 😭
Never mind, I figured out the problem. My own user error 🤦♀️
thank you for keeping translating this novel. to be honest, i keep checking out the other website for new chapter and just found out it’s already 100+ chapter translated(ノ▽〃). i really like the story and once again thank you for your hard work and time(✿◠‿◠)(*≧▽≦)
I am unable to access the Google docs chapters for some reason. It keeps showing no connection. Am I doing something wrong😭?
It works for me, this looks like a known Google Doc issue. See if the problem persist if you change devoice,
Thank you so much for this 🙏❤️