Chapter 1: First encounter with the arrogant Er Ye, Part 1 — Three Marriages by Ming Yue Ting Feng (三嫁, 明月听风)

April 25, 2015 by inno 14 Comments

Summary and review of the novel are found here. Same with AGMC and ROWG, I give no assurance of the accuracy of my translations. Enjoy reading anyway! 🙂

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Chapter 1: First encounter with the arrogant Er Ye (Second Master), Part 1 of 3

The Long family’s Second Master’s name is Long Yue. He is twenty-six years old this year. He is called rarely by his name as everybody just calls him Long Er Ye (Long Second Master).

Long Er is a prominent person in the capital. Not only he, but actually, the three sons of the Long family are all considered as heroes. The eldest son is a general who protects and defends the country; the third is a famous pugilist in the martial arts world, and the second master is an influential businessman in the kingdom.

That Long Er is well-known can be attributed not only to being a son of the Long family and that he manages the prosperous family business, but also because he is a bosom friend of the new emperor. The new emperor at that time was able to distinguish himself from the other aspiring princes and ascended to the throne with the support of the Long family, particularly with the assistance of Long Er Ye.

It follows then that Long Er’s support in the background is strong. Nobody talks about it upfront, but in fact, everyone is aware of it in his heart. Normally, having money and power will help anyone in any occupation, but Long Er is also smooth and slick in establishing social contacts. His method of handling business by currying favors is well known to everyone. Consequently because of this, as for official business dealings of the kingdom, everyone in the city gives him a piece of this and that business deal to save their faces.

Currently, the new emperor is reigning quietly on his second year. There has been peace and prosperity in the country, a favorable weather ensuring good harvest, and Long Er’s business is continuously thriving well.

Under these circumstances, Long Er should be expectedly feeling comfortable and relaxed. But, even he, also has his own worries.

And that worry is: marriage.

One should know that in the Xiao kingdom men may marry at age fifteen. Long Er, at his age at this time could be regarded pretty much an “old man”. Long Third Master had long been married, but Long Er continued to show a lack of interest in starting a family. He was not in a hurry, but the elders at home are getting anxious.

Although the Long family’s three brothers lost both of their parents early in life, there had been Yu Mama and Tie Zong Guan who looked after, reared and watched them grow up. Long Er, due to being still single, is sought by the two elders every now and then; the opportunity to nag him became more and more frequent as he gets older. Now when it concerns outsiders Long Er is very strict. But, towards his family, he’s very protective and considerate. The two elders are actually servants of the family, but they are treated instead more like family. They had been helping him all throughout these years. As he is not fond of seeing them with long, sad faces, the frequent encounters with them and discussions on this particular matter always left him with headaches.

Today, Long Er is visiting his family’s “Sheng Long Tea House”. Just as he enters the shop, he bumps into a young lady. The young lady in question is none other than the second daughter of Minister Ding of the Ministry of Justice, Ding Yan Shan.

Due to her father’s high position and reputation, Long Er could not risk being rude to Ding Yan Shan. Out of courtesy he accepted her invitation and had tea in the tea room with her.

Small talks bore Long Er; his mind wandered off as he was distractedly thinking of some jade business matters. Then, out of the blue, he heard a question popped up.

“Shan Er dares to ask Long Er Ye, why have you not married until now?”

Coming from a young lady, this question is way too brazen. Long Er who was surprised for a moment, thought “you are indeed different from the others Shan Er”. While still wearing a smile on his face, he poured himself a cup of tea and slowly replied: “because I do not want to pay reward money to the matchmaker.”

Practically embarrassed, Ding Yan Shan has a stiff smile on her face. He does not want to pay matchmaker’s reward money, this is his reason?

“If I, Long Er, want to get married, it will be on my own ability; not requiring the help of some matchmaker’s glib tongue to accomplish the matter. But, if it is otherwise, taking into account the money that I must fork out for the matchmaker, you tell me, isn’t this a money-losing business deal?”

Ding Yan Shan is not in any way amused now. Even taking a wife is considered a business transaction to haggle about. True to form, indeed he’s Long Er Ye. She tried to curb her temper, covered her mouth, pretended to laugh and said: “putting it that way Er Ye is really being funny.”

Long Er pursed his mouth and politely retorted, “not funny actually, more like stingy.” Hearing these words being said, isn’t it logical to leave now?

Ding Yan Shan, however, did not leave. She looked down to drink her tea, controlled her emotions and did not intend to fold up.

Taking advantage of Ding Yan Shan’s silence, Long Er with his head bent low, sneakily glanced at the sides observing the tea house servants. This tea house is one of the Long family’s businesses. He was here to inspect the shop when he was caught by Ding Yan Shan. He did not quite believe that this was a purely coincidental encounter. This tea house has people who could be bribed to disclose his whereabouts.

That he was tricked by a young lady is one trivial matter, but betrayal of the master is quite another. Long Er has pondered it over. This matter has to be investigated, the perpetrator shall be identified and severely punished. Ding Yan Shan had been quick to pull herself together. She continued to sip her tea and to chat with Long Er, but he was increasingly getting very impatient. Ordinarily this girl is a good catch. She belongs to an influential and powerful family. Needless to say, she is a beauty as well. In fact, she is a fine candidate for a wife. Long Er simply just doesn’t want to marry.

In his opinion, the more outstanding the woman is, the more trouble she brings because her needs and demands are more than that of the ordinary, average woman. More needs and demands means more trouble to deal with.

And, of all things, the most that Long Er isn’t fond of, is trouble.

That Long Er’s heart is not with her, Ding Yan Shan naturally knows. But at least, he is willing to stay and chat with her patiently which makes her a little bit proud of herself. Come to think of it, on a previous occasion when both daughters of the Liu family met Long Er in the park, he did not even utter more than a couple of sentences to them before sending them off away.

When Ding Yan Shan thought of this incident, she couldn’t help but smile as she poured Long Er a cup of tea.

Actually, the two couldn’t have known that Long Er was entertaining business guests in the park, how could he accompany young ladies to view flowers. She, Ding Yan Shan, however, is a lot smarter. She secretly inquired about Long Er’s schedule of the day. She knew that today he has no other encumbrances. On top of that, mentioning how she wanted to select good tea for her father, Long Er naturally had to patiently keep her company.

When Ding Yan Shan raised her cup of tea to sip, she covertly glanced at Long Er. His eyes are clear and bright, his nose straight, his thin lips are lightly pursed. His appearance is slightly tough, but this actually imparts him an imposing and distinctive aura of authority. She is aware that he has a difficult temperament. As a matter of fact, he is notorious for having a nasty temper. Nevertheless, she still wants to marry him. It is not just her father’s wish, but also hers.

Ding Yan Shan was just about to start another topic of conversation, when Long Er’s bodyguard, Li Ke, entered the room with a message. He said that outside there is a young lady seeking an audience with Long Er. She already has waited for a long time.