MHNEB 9 (1/2)

Book 1: Now we don’t hear the loom shuttle; we only hear our daughter sighing

第9章 磨刀小弟

Chapter 9: Little Bro Sharpens His Knife [Part 1 of 2]

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DuGu Nuo noted that Hua Mulan supported him with her hand. But he did not act in normal circumstances, where he would stand up after seeing her hand. To one’s surprise, he raised his hands to cover his face. It rendered He Mulan motionless, seeing that she handed out a helping hand.

What’s happening?

She merely wanted to extend a helping hand to support him (to stand up) ah.

Behind DuGu Nuo, chuckling sounds could be heard. The horsemen who were laughing were mostly Xianbei soldiers who had donned on their amours. DuGu Nuo probably felt that he had lost face. He placed both hands down, as he adjusted his facial complexion.

 “General Hua, this lowly general sincerely came to seek for your hand in marriage!”

DuGu Nuo and Hua Mulan were not comrades from the same troops, but at the time when the Xianbei emperor, Tuoba Tao, made a military expedition to usurp the unrest due to Rourans, he had fought alongside with her before. Probably they had some connections in the past, but He Mulan could not find it in her memories.

Hua Mulan probably did not put him in her heart, that was why they weren’t any memorable memories about him.

But this DuGu Nuo looked around 27 to 28 years old. At this age, there were very little people who were unmarried at this age. Xianbei-ren had more men than women, and more Xianbei-ren got married much later than Han-ren. However, it was not to the extent where they reached the age of 27 to 28 years old and were not married. That was why she asked him softly: “What would happen to your wife then?”

Hearing this, DuGu Nuo immediately nodded his head joyfully. 

 “General Hua, this lowly general’s wife found this lowly one boring. Last year, she decided to return back to her tribe on her own accord!”

Uh……Xianbei-ren were really open-minded, women’s status was also very high. 

They allowed a wife to leave the marriage, to return home and to abandon her husband.

But why would he be so elated after being dumped by his wife? 

Perhaps, his wife looked very ugly? 

“Alright, stop joking. Where did you hear that news that made you come here to seek my hand for marriage? You…. You also managed to spare so many weapons here……” As He Mulan saw that the crowd of bystanders were growing larger, she can’t help but feel her scalp going numb by the sight.

 “The bunch of you can also stop kneeling. We can discuss later after the bunch of you follow me back.” 

 “Yes!”

As if the crowd was not being stimulated enough, the horse carriage that was brought over by DuGu Nuo and the 13 horsemen that was led by him was carried towards Hua family’s doorsteps by a group of Zahu (1) strong men. A box of bright thin silk gauze was in the horse carriage, a beautiful piece of full-length fur, a tapestry that reflected the cloud’s radiance, and several boxes of the like were in it as well. 

Throughout the whole year, the best these villagers saw were just mostly linen cloth. Some people who can see a thread of silk will be itching to announce it to their family.  Now that they saw so many pieces of precious coated cloth that were treated as if it was rotten being pushed by the carriage, they suddenly felt that collectively, their heart was unable to take this. 

Behind the horse carriage, four deity-like white spirited horses followed. All over their body, even a strand of miscellaneous fur strand was found. Xianbei-ren treats white horses as an auspicious animal. When the four white horses were moving, it was as if the horses were glittering. When the horses moved nearer, the villagers can take a closer look at the horses. But what they saw was that each horse’s hoof was a gold hoof. All of them suddenly marvelled. They can’t help but wished that their family had a daughter like Hua Mulan who is able to get married in this manner. 

Zahu were people of different tribes that conquered after the battle in the Northern Wei dynasty. Most of them became strong servants and slaves. Some of these Hu-ren (2) were born in the northern side in, where it was akin to a world of snow and ice. They were strong, tall and stout, and their body was filled with inexhaustible strength. 

The Zahu strong servants who had a tall build rushed the horse carriage into Hua family’s courtyard. They stare blankly as the courtyard that was big enough for horses to run was now filled up so much that it became squeezy to move around. Hua father saw that it was like what he gauged; the horse carriage that was supposed to transport impedimenta was brought over. At once, he felt pleased yet annoyed. 

He was annoyed with how they used the military’s carriage illicitly, while he was pleased by the fact that the “Carriage General”, who is supposed to handle the transportation of impedimenta through carriages, had a high rank in the military. If they wanted to use the horse carriage, they must have the permission of the carriage general. The identity of his family’s daughter is prestigious enough to be able to allow the general to make an exception for her.  This shows that she had a certain level of fame in the military. 

For an old soldier, other than Hua Mulan not being a male was a pity, she had already fulfilled Hua Gu’s (3) highest expectations towards his future generations of children and grandchildren.

With the tall and huge DuGu Nuo heading the group, 14 men walked in a single file. Hua family house’s main hall is not small. But once the group of men headed in, they actually did not have any places to sit down. 

Because they were all gathered in one room, He Mulan felt that the pressing aura of these men was even stronger now.  

She had worked in the police force for very long. In the past, she had to be in contact with strong police officers and armed officers often. But, currently, amongst the people standing in front of her, many of them were Xianbei males. The people of Xianbei had a diverse community. The pure-blooded Xianbei pedigree had already been mixed with people of diverse populations. Amongst the males in this room, there are those of that had looks of Central Asia with high nose and deep-set eyes, there were those with Gaoche ancestry-wth golden hair, fair-skinned and a pair of green eyes, and there were a few of the males with malt colour skin with an upright appearance.

Currently, in a room full of exotic handsome men, the elegant-type of handsome Han men and the tough-type of handsome men in the army stood together. It was so dazzling that He Mulan felt that she could hardly open her eyes. She opened her mouth a few times, but she actually did not know what she should say.

How did Hua Mulan spend the 12 years in the army?

Or it could be that she’s just unlucky, the comrades she met are all crooked and dishonest chaps, that was why she wasn’t moved by them?

Hua father and Hua mother did not know how to stand or sit in their presence. Fang-shi’s daughter was so scared that she was weeping loudly. She shocked the Fang-shi that wanted to come out to check out the commotion. She could only leave the hall with her daughter in her embrace, and head to the room next to the hall to console her child. 

For friends that come from afar, what kind of meals should she serve them with?

Hua younger brother had a lackluster face as he walked to the house. In his heart, he was thinking about how many pigs and goats the 14 muscular men and the Zahu strong servants would consume. 

The crops they grew needs to be passed to the military ah!

How should he prepare meals for these 20 over people ah!

When they came down to seek marriage, they didn’t know that they would give others a lot of trouble!

Why would they grow up to be so tall if they had nothing to do, what they ate are more than what ordinary people ate!

Hua younger brother whose height was just seven feet tall muttered while he was sharpening his knife. 

DuGu Nuo listened to the crushing sound that the action of sharpening the knife emitted while feeling a toothache and his chrysanthemum tightening. (4)

No one in the Brave Tiger corps and Courageous Eagle corps would not know the armed might of Hua Mulan. That year when she presided over the training of the military troops, countless good men were beaten till they were crying for their father and yelling for their mother……

Seeing her relatives in Hua house, each and every one of her relatives were simple and kind. He was just praising General Hua who was a mutation in her family. So, it was not that her whole family was killing machines. This Hua family’s thin and weak little bro who appeared the most unremarkable went to sharpen his knife. 

Is he giving a head-on blow at the first encounter?

Is he telling them that if they wanted to marry his sister they should be prepared to get their heads cut off?

He Mulan had goosebumps due to the crushing sound made by the sharpening of the knife. She was not able to properly talk due to it. 

When one takes another glance, Hua father had already endured enough. He held Yulin’s lad hand and asked him which clan did he originated from, which superior is he working under, how many years had he enlisted, whether he went to the frontlines or not, and he even began to calculate and estimate whether their superior was someone who was in the army together with him or not. He Mulan used her hand to support her head, as she was rendered completely speechless.

Hey, hey, hey, he’s not trying to seek to marry with an old man like you alright, why are you still reminiscing on the past (with him)!

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(1) & (2): Zahu/Hu people: People belonging to tribes where Northern Wei War campaign has conquered. They are a bunch of people with mixed ancestry. Usually, those people would be collectively be known as a single race, despite being from different tribes. Men are used as labourers and women as servants. The Hu-ren were simply part of the tribesmen that were 'collected' by them. 

(3) Hua Gu: the name of Mulan’s father

(4) chrysanthemum: slang for someone's asshole. (Those who read the BL/Danmei novels should be very familiar with this, am I right ^_~)

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Fleur's corner:

Part 2 will be up by Friday.

Chapter 10 will be translated by xiazixin. :) She will be joining me in bringing all of you more of Mulan's adventures. 

For these few months till late Jul/Start of Aug, there will not be more chapters. Instead, chapters will be uploaded on a weekly basis. (Hopefully not biweekly) Probably after July will be a period where there will be more releases. 

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