MHNEB 32 (2/2)

Book 2: Generals die after a hundred battles; heroes return after ten years’ time.

Chapter 32: An Unexpected Guest [Part 2 of 2]

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Why does this kid show such expression like he is drooling? 

“What’s the matter?”

“Is this Pan Shi?” 

A-Dan Zhuo looked at the "Pan Shi" fanatically as if he had never seen such peerless beauty, and he could not help but stretch out his hand.

“Aunt Hua, could I hold it?” 

He Mulan chuckled and handed Pan Shi over.

"It's just a heavier sword……Be careful! "

A-Dan Zhuo seized the sword hilt. Even though he knew it was a heavy two-handed sword, his hands still sank down, almost smashing his feet because he did not catch it in time. 

“How heavy! What a good sword!” 

A-Dan Zhuo swept his gaze repeatedly over Pan Shi as if he’s doing it to carve every inch and every part of it into his memory. He did not spare a moment to gulp or pay heed to his wound. He stretched out his hand and touched his sword face, back and tip. His eyes were full of obsession. 

"It's really a good sword. Although I can't move it, I can make another one according to its model in the future easily…..." He mumbled to himself. "General Hua's sword is called Pan Shi. What should my sword be called? Wan Shi (0)?"

He Mulan watched A-Dan Zhuo holding her sword and repeatedly touching it. This scene that she saw was really indescribable. Plus, he intoxicatedly whispered something softly while stroking a sword, causing this dark-skinned youth to appear as a strange lad in her mind. 

He Mulan looked at A-Dan Zhuo's biceps and nodded.

He seemed to say yesterday that he often went to the blacksmith’s shop to earn some money. It was at that time that he had practised using his arm strength. 

She stepped forward a few steps, grabbed the tip of the sword and pulled Pan Shi back. She held Pan Shi upside down with one hand and lightly touched A-Dan Zhuo's nose with another hand.

"You should be careful. Although Pan Shi is not a sharp sword, it may cut off your nose at this distance.” 

"Aunt Hua!" A-Dan Zhuo's eyes were shining.

"Please use Pan Shi to have a match with me!” 

"Ah..." He Mulan placed her sword at the other hand and made a chopping gesture. She laughed heartily.

"Are you sure you wouldn’t be ‘beaten’ by me?”

A-Dan Zhuo raised his sword eagerly and held it with both hands.

"Eh, why do you only use one hand......"

He leapt forward and, with great force, hacked down diagonally from the top-right direction. 

"Because for me, this sword is a one-handed sword."

He Mulan picked up her sword to block the attack. 

After He Mulan pushed A-Dan Zhuo's blade with her blade, she made a stabbing motion immediately. However, A-Dan Zhuo stepped back and lifted his sword. Then, He Mulan quickly retreated, stood firmly, and confronted his moves again. 

A-Dan Zhuo continued to attack. He Mulan side dodged his attack and gasps in admiration. 

“You learnt your swordsmanship pretty well!” 

“Thank you, Aunt Hua, for your praise!” 

He grinned happily.

"Then, it’s my turn now…..." He Mulan raised her sword and exerted the advantage of a heavy sword’s might and pressed the sword down from the top of A-Dan Zhuo's head. A-Dan Zhuo immediately picked up his sword and blocked it. However, he regretted his move immediately. 

Everyone knows that "HuaiShuo Hua Mulan" is capable of carrying the country. (1) He even wants to compete with such an opponent like her with great strength. Is his brain-damaged? 

But he had already stabbed his sword out, and it's useless to regret now. He can only bite his teeth down and wait for the force that would knock his weapon out to arrive. 

Unexpectedly, the force that he imagined didn't spread from the body of his sword. She made a swinging motion from her lower arms and spread it into an arc. His opponent's sword was not for cutting after all. Instead, she used Pan Shi to onto the sword he had stabbed forward. She stepped her left foot forward and hit in with her left elbow. 

He Mulan's elbow stopped in front of A-Dan Zhuo's nose.

A-Dan Zhuo blinked and exclaimed.

"What kind of swordplay style is this? It’s so powerful!” 

"This is a move that was formed after countless battles with the enemies on the battlefield. It has no name."

He Mulan’s bodily memories came from Hua Mulan, so she answered casually.

The match between A-Dan Zhuo and He Mulan is still ongoing because He Mulan knows that she had too large of strength, so she tries to avoid confrontation with him directly in the battle, but demonstrates to him various special skills inherited from Hua Mulan.

When she used the heavy sword to make the chopping action that only a long sword can swing, A-Dan Zhuo was shocked. One is afraid that only Pan Shi made of such a hard material would be able to do this move without fear of damaging the blade. 

He drew back his sword and shook his body slightly. He Mulan turns around and makes a horizontal split. A-Dan Zhuo who had turned to the right was blocked by this move. 

He Mulan tapped A-Dan Zhuo's frozen right shoulder with the side of her blade, then smiled at the frightened A-Dan Zhuo and explained to him:

"You were hit again. When fighting with a right-hand swordsman, turning to the right is the natural response of the swordsman. But it would be a dangerous reaction if the swordsman does not change this.” 

"Hehe, I didn't expect that the just by turning to the back in the opposite direction would cause me to be hit.” 

“Alright!” 

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

At the front of the door, a teenager’s voice that sounded like he was in the middle of the puberty period and the sound of applause sounded. 

He Mulan and A-Dan Zhuo’s line of sight shifted to where the sound of the applause was. They saw several horses in front of the high wall of Hua Mulan’s big house. Besides these horses, You Ke and a skinny teenager were standing there.

You Ke only showed an expression of admiration, and he was not clapping. The sound of clapping came from the young man standing beside him. 

He is obviously the son of a noble family because He Mulan and A-Dan Zhuo can clearly see his gorgeous clothes. He was dressed in a long gown that Han-ren often wear, but he wore his hair up and folded his gown to the left. For a while, He Mulan felt that he didn’t even know what ethnicity this person was. 

The fair-skinned boy stood at the door and looked inside, almost as if he wanted to stretch his body in to view the interior. 

He Mulan snorted.

The youth looked as if he had seen two boars fighting in the wilderness.

Is it the first time he saw this kind of duel between heavy swords? It seemed the way he clapped his hand appeared to be like a hedonistic son of a rich family that was watching a sideshow.

"You are a very honoured guest, Magistrate You." He Mulan was very fond of the young magistrate, so he threw Pan Shi to A-Dan Zhuo and went out to meet him.

"I'm ashamed to say that I'm not a county magistrate now." You Ke embarrassedly gave a slight smile. He glanced at A-Dan Zhuo and nodded as if suddenly saw the light. 

"This is the kid who came to our Yu City County Yamen a few days ago to inquire about you. I can't imagine that his martial arts are so superb. "

"Thank you very much. This is the son of my former companion, who has come all the way to visit me from WuChuan. " He Mulan smiled gratefully. "You said you were not a county magistrate now……Oh, you see I'm used to calling you that……”

She tapped her forehead lightly.

"Come in first. This is not the place to talk."

He Mulan invited them into the room. A-Dan Zhuo and the young man were both of the younger generations. They looked at each other curiously.

What A-Dan Zhuo saw was that the youth was dressed in strange garbs of gorgeous materials. What the young man saw was that there were two big swords that A-Dan Zhuo held in his arms and he had muscles that seemed to burst out from his clothes. 

He Mulan did not care about the two children who had an awkward atmosphere of looking at one another. She first invited You Ke to take a seat. Then, she hurriedly and clumsily found a cup in the room. She subsequently became worried.

She is not used to the strange tea here. The Hua family members do not drink tea too. She had always drunk clear water. 

But since Fang-shi’s pregnancy, her house’s housekeeping has always been done by Hua younger brother. At this time now, Hua younger brother would probably have gone to bring the horses out for a stroll. She doesn't even know where the tea cakes (2) are.

"Wait a moment, I'll grab a pot of water from my father’s room." He Mulan looked at the teapot in the room awkwardly. She was really used to being served by Hua younger brother and Fang-shi. There was no hot water on the stove in her room.

"I'll go." A-Dan Zhuo placed the two swords back on the sword lattice in the corner of the room, went to He Mulan’s side and picked up the clay pot and went out.

He Mulan treated A-Dan Zhuo as her family member. Hence, she was not polite with him. When she saw him walk out, she looked at the youth beside her. 

"You just said that you are not a county magistrate now…..."

"Ah. It's a long story. " You Ke showed an expression of disregard. 

"Then, you can speak concisely." He Mulan is really curious.

Could it be that something happened to Cui Lin? Thus, his officialdom is revoked?

Is Cui Lin's grandfather such a chicken-guts (3) person? Isn’t it that Cui Lin and You Ke are such good friends? 

"To keep the long story short, it's because I allowed the Lushuihus in the Qiuyuan temple to escape, so this incident has subsequently involved some people in the capital. In addition, Huai Jin was in danger in my territory, and the Lushuihus had almost killed the villagers there as well. Some bigwigs in the capital have some opinions about me. " You Ke speaks in such a gentle voice as he did before, which puts He Mulan’s nervous mood at ease. 

"Fortunately, my paternal uncle mediated among them, so I was only temporarily dismissed from the post of county magistrate. I would need to go back to the capital with the emissary sent by the central government to meet with my superior to clarify the situation this time. Your majesty is a wise ruler. If Your Majesty knew what exactly had happened, he would likely send me back here. " He smiled. "General Hua doesn't have to worry about me."

"Oh……This is such a big incident, for the capital to be concerned about this is right. Fortunately, Gai Wu has vowed that he will not hurt the innocent in the future. I think when you leave Yu City, there will be no big problem. You are now dismissed from your official position. Who is the magistrate of Yu City county now?”

He Mulan asked with concern.

It's said that You Ke has been a county magistrate in Yu City for four or five years, and even all his family members are here now. He wasn’t born in nobility, his family background was not good, and his promotion was very slow. It was also heard that if one is an official without other means of income, their salary would not be high. If he was not a county magistrate, what should he do for a living?

"At present, the court has not yet appointed a new county magistrate of Yu City, and this position will be temporarily covered by This Magistrate.” 

"Ah, that's good news. Maybe you can come back to be my county’s official after your suspicion is cleared.”

"I dare not, I dare not. What General Hua said of “county official” is too heavy for me to bear." You Ke's expression was warm and waved a hand. "Speaking of which, I took the liberty to come here because I have a presumptuous request……”

He Mulan was slightly shocked and glanced towards the youth sitting beside You Ke.

You Ke brought a young man here and he also said that he needs to make a presumptuous request of her……

He couldn’t be here to entrust an orphan to her, right?

This youth looks to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. Is he You Ke's illegitimate son?

That’s not true too, a man aged 26 or 27 years old would not have such a grown son……

But not necessarily, the ancient people were precocious. Maybe at the age of 13, a family’s daughter would already be pregnant. It seemed just right that he had a son aged 13 or 14……

This county magistrate does not look like his private life is in such a mess.

But, one may know the other person for a long time without understanding their true nature……

He Mulan was confused. She looked at You Ke as if he were strange, and the staring from her had got You Ke’s hair on his back all standing up. He still has to bear his curiosity and not ask her why is she looking at him as if he were strange. He managed to use a gentle voice and said: 

"Well, not long ago, my maternal cousin ran away from home and came to my home for help because he was angry with his family. Although I have sent a letter to inform my aunt and cousin that he is here, their home is still in WuChuan in the north, so they will need quite a while in order for them to pick him up. And now I have to go to the capital to report on my dismissal……” 

He stood up and bowed down all the way till he reaches the ground to He Mulan.

"Brother Huai Jin has a nose injury now. He has been taken back to the capital by the Cui family. My parents are both dead. I cannot find more reliable relatives and friends here to entrust my cousin too. In addition, he used to be a dandy at home, and I have the intention to let him follow you to let him bear some hardships and whet his frivolity, so…... "

He raised his head and looked at He Mulan as if he was begging her. 

"I hope you can take care of my cousin for a while until his family comes here to pick him up."

He Mulan gazed at this handsome young man, and then back at You Ke. She found that she could find some resemblance in their eyebrows. But she didn’t see any other areas that were alike other than that.

"It's no trouble to take care of him for a while, but you know I'm not good at family affairs, and I'm not good at taking care of children……Besides, I'm used to plain tea and simple food. This young gentleman would probably have brocade garments and jade meals at home, I’m afraid that……”

"General Hua, you can take care of that little brother. Can't you take care of me too…..." The little youth blinked and used an extremely naïve tone. "I don't eat much…..."

"I can eat lesser in the future too."

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(0) Wan Shi: (lit. meaning) – Stone. A-Dan Zhuo tried to name his sword with a name similar to Mulan’s Pan Shi (rock). 

(1) Capable of carrying the country: the author is trying to express she has such great strength that she could probably carry the throne or the country.

(2) Tea cakes: click here to see image (Tea leaves made into a circular, flat shape) Usually good tea leaves are made into such shapes. Many Asian countries have produced such tea cakes. It’s usually a good souvenir to bring home when you visit China, Taiwan and some parts of Asia.

(3) Chicken-guts person: a narrow-minded person

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Mini Theatre: 

A-Dan Zhuo who took the clay pot and ran towards the door. 

“I don’t eat much and can eat lesser in the future……” 

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Fleur's Corner:

Next update: 1/5. 

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