CH 5

T/N 1: Hello, this is Vanilla Muse, here with another new project. I’ve bookmarked this story for a long time now, hoping that someone would pick it up eventually, but since no one has, I decided to try my hand at it, but I’m a bit apprehensive. The setting is similar to my other project The Big Landlord, but while that one is focused on business, which is more straightforward imo, this one seems to be more heavily invested in palace intrigue, which is something I find convoluted and confusing. Palace intrigue is hard for me to follow even in English, so I hope I don’t get utterly lost in Chinese. Fingers crossed. >_<

T/N 2: There won’t be a set updating schedule for this yet, not until I get a feel for the story. And to make sure I get all the details accurate, I will have to translate this story slower than my other projects, and go through the raws with a fine-tooth comb. So please be patient with me.

T/N 3: Chapters are split into parts.

Standard Info: Abbreviation for “Didn’t Love You Enough” is DLYE. Go to the translations page for the updating schedule (which might be subject to change). Go to the title page for info on the story along with a Character List, the Table of Contents, and a list of Notable Locations.

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Chapter 5 – Entering the Palace

Leaving Pei County and watching their hometown gradually getting further and further away, suppressed sobs sounded in the carriage.

After more than a day of traveling, the group arrived at the relay station in the provincial capital of Xu Zhou. Here, people from several countries were gathered together one after another.

They waited for a day before the entire assembly was finally completed. With government workmen clearing the way, a total of ten horse-drawn carriages headed for the capital.

The carriage, which was still somewhat spacious when holding ten people, was now crowded with twenty people.

Translations are by www [dot] vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Each carriage had a eunuch managing it. The eunuch in charge of Lin Jia Bao’s carriage was surnamed Zhao. He was about thirty-five years old. His expression was very serious and he was very harsh on them. Everyone was afraid of him.

On the journey to the capital, everyone in the carriage slowly became familiar with each other, particularly the people who came from the same place; most of them formed small groups. From Pei County, only Lin Jia Bao was a ger child, so the others faintly excluded him. Lin Jia Bao also did not take the initiative to step forward, and obediently listened to the managing eunuch’s orders. Zhao gong gong* saw him dutifully following orders and his attitude towards Lin Jia Bao was considered amicable.

[*T/N: 公公 gong gong – eunuch]

After traveling on the road for nearly half a month, they finally arrived at the post on the outskirts of the capital.

This station was very large and there were already many carriages in the stable. Here were people from all over the country.

“All of you get out of the carriage. Take your things with you. Don’t talk. Don’t look around. Follow me, all of you,” Zhao gong gong said.

Everyone got off the horse carriage. None of them dared to talk. They all lowered their heads and followed the eunuch’s lead. Zhao gong gong brought them to a large dormitory to settle in. There were a few basins of water in the room for them to clean their faces and wash their hands.

After that he brought them to the dining area for dinner. Everyone was given a bowl of corn porridge and a coarse mianwo*. It was a simple and crude meal, but compared to the dry grain bread that they had on their journey, this was a lot better. After the entire day, they were all hungry and everyone wolfed down their food.

[*T/N: mianwo 面窝 is a deep-fried, donut-shaped snack made from soy milk, rice milk, flour, sesame, and chopped Chinese scallion]

Zhao gong gong had them go to the toilet. Then he took them back to the dorm room and locked the door.

When everyone entered the room, they all rushed to get a good spot. Those in the same village helped each other to occupy a favorable position. Lin Jia Bao’s physique was small and he did not have much strength. In an instant, he was squeezed to be beside the door.

“Hey, scoot over a bit more. Don’t lean against me!” The girl sleeping next to Lin Jao Bao said to him fiercely.

This girl also came from Lin Jia Village, and to Lin Jia Bao she was very malicious and unpleasant. She looked at him as if he were some dirty thing.

Lin Jia Bao did not speak. He only moved his body closer to the door.

After a day of exhaustion, Lin Jia Bao soon went to sleep.

The next day, the sky had yet to brighten when Zhao gong gong came to wake them up. After the morning meal, everyone got on the horse carriage again.

The carriage entered the capital and stopped at the imperial city. Everyone got off the horse carriage and was shocked by the towering city wall.

Lin Jia Bao looked at the vermilion city wall. It was very high and the wall was endless. Under the morning light, the palace with its red walls and yellow tiles looked particularly solemn. Today was the day that they would enter the palace. The great doors were opened.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

First, they were taken to the Wai Wu Suo* to go through the first round of filtering.

[*T/N: Wai Wu Suo 外五所 – I don’t know the translation for this. My best guess is that it’s a preliminary sorting office, and that it is one of five.]

The first round of screening was very simple. It was mainly to see if their appearance was neat, if they could speak clearly, if there was any disability, odor, and etcetera on the body.

Although the process was simple, there were nearly a thousand people entering the palace this time, so the wait was long.

Lin Jia Bao was assigned to a group where all the children were gers. He passed the first round of screening very smoothly. After the screening of the people in his group, it was already noon.

Then their group was taken away for lunch. It was food in the palace after all, so it was still better than what they’ve eaten before. Every person received a bowl of vegetable congee and white steamed buns to eat their fill. The vegetable congee not only had vegetables, but also a bit of minced pork. During their journey to the capital, all of them only had dried food rations along the way. It has been a long time since they’ve had any meat or fish to eat. Just smelling the fragrance caused them to drool.