Ten, of the Dragon’s Secret Guard, arrived tonight at the Luo estate with a few simple items packed for the trip.“Ten!” Luo Wei received Ten with a smile, “I didn’t think we’d see each other again!”

Ten smiled back. Luo Wei didn’t see him, that’s true, but he could always keep an eye on Luo Wei from the shadows of the Hall of Eternal Light.

“This is Ning Fei,” Luo Wei introduced Ning Fei, who stood next to him, then called out in the direction of the room near the left window of his study, “Lan! Ten’s here!”

Ten and Ning Fei both greeted each other respectfully before Wei Lan arrived as well.

“Wei Lan,” Ten checked him over, and found that his health had recovered to a fairly good state. His energy wasn’t waning as it had before, and his skin had gotten a little more flushed as well. All this made Ten very happy.

“Big brother Ning Fei,” Luo Wei called out to Ning Fei warmly, “You were going to go to Yun Guan all by yourself before, but now look at how many of us are going with you!”

Ning Fei was just about to answer when Xiao Xiao rushed in like a gust of wind, with Qi Zi following close behind.

“What’s wrong?” Luo Wei asked.

“Young master!” Xiao Xiao didn’t sound very happy as he asked Luo Wei, all accusatory, “Why are you not bringing me this time?!”

Luo Wei grinned, “You don’t know any martial arts, why would I bring you? If we’re in danger, I’d have to keep you safe!”

Xiao Xiao answered, “I don’t know any martial arts but I’d lay down my life for your safety!”

“Enough, enough,” Luo Wei pouted, “Last time when I was getting a beating, the first one to run away was you! You think you can protect me? Whatever, at least I can take a beating. Not only can you not fight, you can’t take a beating either, so tell me, why should I bring you along?”

Xiao Xiao yelled, “I wasn’t the first to run!”

Luo Wei rebutted, “If you weren’t the first then you were the second!”

“I’m not the second either!”

“Then the third!”

The four others in the courtyard were all chuckling at the scene. Somehow, watching this servant master pair fight was funnier than actually listening to a joke.

Luo Wei and Xiao Xiao hadn’t finished arguing when Luo Ze and Xie Yu came in. Of course, Luo Wei and Xie Yu spoke a few words to each other then started digging into each other sarcastically, tossing insults back and forth for fun.

Servants of the estate brought some fruits and dim sum, and Luo Ze ordered someone to go and grab some liquor and some snacks that’d go well with drinks. The group of them thus formed an impromptu gathering in the little courtyard outside Luo Wei’s study, drinking and eating, chatting with each other, trading jokes with laughter.

It was the beginning of June, just the right season for flowers to bloom. A few red lotuses stood elegantly in the little pond in the courtyard, the branches of the two magnolia trees(1) were dotted with flowers, and in the corner in which they stood, bushes of china roses bloomed without a care in the world. The tungoil(2) tree was at the end of its flowering season with its branches and leaves covering almost the entire courtyard, and as the wind blew, snowy white tungoil flowers fell with the wind as if real snowflakes were descending from the skies.

The perfume of flowers permeated the entire courtyard, and as Luo Wei watched the smiling faces in front of him, he returned it with a true, happy smile. In the past, he’d always only seen one person, only thought of one person, and thought because his feelings were reserved for a single person that they were somehow purer. Now, surrounded by people he cares about, seeing all of their happy faces, it somehow brought him more joy than he thought possible. It seems that feelings didn’t exist to be pure or not pure, it didn’t exist for having and have lost, it existed to just exist, and didn’t need to be made such a fuss over.

Luo Ze was happy, because he was a simple person, and this type of person just tended to lead happier lives than normal people.

Xie Yu was happy, because tomorrow he was heading to Yi Zhou, and once there, he’d be able to finally show off his talent and abilities.

Ten was happy, because the life of a Dragon’s Secret Guard was tense and stressful, but here at Luo Wei’s, he could truly relax.

Ning Fei was happy, because here, no one asked about where he came from, he could joke with them and not have to guard himself around them. Simply existing with people like this as himself was an experience Ning Fei had never had before.

Wei Lan was happy, because as long as he was spending his days with Luo Wei, he’d be happy.

Qi Zi and Xiao Xiao were also happy, because they liked Luo Wei better the way he is now, gentle and kind, but also fun to be around.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Magnolia trees – Yulan trees in the original text, otherwise known as Yu Lan Magnolia, lilytree, or literally, jade orchid/lily. A flower that’s regarded as a symbol of purity.

2. Tungoil tree – Known also as the tung tree or Tong, in Pin Yin. A large flowering tree whose nuts are used to press oil from. The flowers are white and in small clusters.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

every time there are flowers or foods or something that is specific to China, I get a little bit of a headache. A lot of them have more meanings in China, but sound less artful in English or are compared to something in English, ie. China roses as opposed to roses. It kind of takes some of the natural reading out of the text in english, but I can’t avoid it. :/

It’s a little sad though, with the tungoil tree, because the original character in Chinese looks fairly average, ie. not beautiful or ugly, but in English… tung feels like such an ugly word… so I opted for Tungoil because at least it’s a little easier on the eyes. it’s more sad when you consider that Luo Wei died in snow, but his yard is covered by a tungoil tree, so that even in summer, he’d see snowflakes fall from the sky… 🙁