Midnight Translations

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 18, Pt 1 - Making Money One day in the afternoon, Yuan Luo went to find Empress Wei. When she entered the main hall, she immediately saw her leaning on a table and reading a book. The rims of her eyes were deep red and she hadn’t even noticed when Yuan Luo arrived. It wasn’t until Yuan Luo walked closer that she hurriedly stuffed the book under the table in agitation. She resembled a primary school student who quickly hid an extracurricular book after realizing the teacher was coming. "Why wasn’t I informed that you were here? They must all be dead people outside." Empress Wei grunted coldly. "This palace was in a hurry." Yuan Luo wouldn't let her fool around so easily. "What is the Empress looking at?" "Nothing." Empress Wei turned her face away full of resentment. This unruly woman! Someone should know a little about etiquette. They should pretend that they didn’t see it, change ...

There has apparently been a misconception concerning my reasons for posting this translation. Therefore, while I'm not expecting many people to read this particular post, I'm going to elaborate and clear up a few problems. First, this translation is being posted for strictly selfish reasons. I prefer reading novels in English. I prefer translations that are not MTL derived. Reading a novel without having to reinterpret it in my head as I read is more comfortable, go figure. Also, if I do read a novel electronically, I prefer doing so on my phone, which is also more comfortable. So while I could be translating a novel and leaving it on one of my desktop or laptop computers, I would need to do more work if I want to read it on my phone. Posting it online makes it always available when I want to read it on my phone and I have read enough of this particular novel to know that I will read it more than once. Regardless, these posts were for my own benefit. The only reason they are cu...

A technical issue was brought to my attention concerning the posts starting in November.  They were not directing properly to the posts either before or after them. This has now been rectified.

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 17, Pt 2 - Talent "The Emperor is wise." Yuan Luo smiled kindly at Sikong Lin. "Therefore, this palace drew this snow disaster house painting to advocate that the sisters of the harem and other ladies present, who may have an abundance of money, would find no harm in donating it toward a worthy cause. This palace wants to set up a special fund for the common people affected by the blizzards. The fund would help build homes and buy food and clothing so that they can survive this winter safely." Everyone, including Empress Wei, was stunned. How did a perfectly good banquet suddenly become a government fundraising meeting. "Since this palace initiated this plan, I will be the first to donate." The imperial chief Liu Xiu Chun personally brought forward a little court eunuch, holding a large copper tray, and knelt in front of Yuan Luo. Yuan Luo pulled a golden phoenix hairpin with a string of rubies ...

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 17, Pt 1 - Talent In Zichen Palace Si Xi held a bowl of warm ginger soup and asked cautiously, "How could the Empress catch a could? Is the charcoal stove in the east palace hall too inferior?" Yuan Luo took the ginger soup and drank it all all at once. She put aside the jade bowl. "It’s simply that this palace was not careful enough, so there’s no need to mention it again." Si Xi, her close personal maid, could definitely tell that she had fallen into the water and had changed her entire outfit. Si Xi did not dare to ask more. After drinking the cold medicine decoction, Yuan Luo became very busy the next day. The New Year festival was going to begin very soon. There would be grand banquets held in the palace which would go on continuously for several consecutive days all to entertain hundreds of civil and military officials and their spouses. There would also be continuous celebrating in the harem. That ...

 The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 16, Pt 2 - Shortcut After a few turns down the winding corridor, Yuan Luo turned her head and looked behind her. She was no longer within sight range of Gu Yi and the fire at his feet. She completely relaxed and returned toward Zichen Palace as quickly as possible. Once she left the winding corridor, a dark shadow suddenly swooped down. Before Yuan Luo even had time to cry out in fear, she felt her body lose balance unexpectedly. At the same time, a hand covered her mouth and dragged her bodily to the water's edge. Yuan Luo screamed as she was thrown into the lake. The nightmare from her original crossing over reappeared for a split second again. A pair of big hands clutched at her throat Her whole body was ice-cold and the pain of suffocation rushed at her. She thrashed desperately in the water. Was it Gu Yi? That bastard! Sure enough, he still was going to kill her! Just as she was about to suffocate and die, she hear...

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 16, Pt 1 - Shortcuts The two looked at each other for a moment. Making sure that she was no longer screeching, Gu Yi released her. Yuan Luo saw the visible teeth marks on his fingers with traces of blood in the indentations and was somewhat embarrassed by her actions. Yuan Luo broke the strange silence which had fallen between them. "Why are you here?" Gu Yi looked at her sharply. "Do you know me?" He didn’t recognize her! Weren’t the eyes of the male protagonist from the original story supposed to be so lightning sharp as to see even the finest of details? Perhaps her appearance had simply changed too much. After all, imperial concubines were all golden hairpins and magnificent clothing with conspicuous amounts of makeup. Now that she was impersonating Li Jie Yu, her face was presented without obvious artifice and was covered in various scars. Secretly delighted, Yuan Luo suppressed those thoughts and no...

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 15, Pt 2 - Yuxiu Palace Even if she can’t kill Sikong Yan, she should at least try to ruin his reputation as much as possible. She needed to think carefully about how to do it. Yuan Luo walked slowly. Two small palace maids from the middle imperial kitchen brought her evening meal and a female officer of Shouxian Palace brought a message from Concubine Shu. Wanting to take advantage of the tranquil evening, she was preparing a plum blossom lantern feast at Shouxian Palace. She was inviting the entire harem to enjoy the feast together as sisters. Neither group recognized Li Jie Yu as anyone different from themselves. Concubine Shu’s female officer also spoke a few kind words to the amiable Concubine Jie Yu. In the empty hall, Yuan Luo sat on a chair, feeling the tranquility around her. She quite enjoyed this stated of affairs. It was a rare opportunity to relax and shed the imperial concubine identity which made her so tense....

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 15, Pt 1 - Yuxiu Palace Early that morning, Lian Yan Qiu returned and gave a report about the circumstances behind the fire which had happened at Chongwen Pavilion. The efficiency of this guy was really amazing. "You’re saying that Li Jie Yu set off the fire?" Yuan Luo asked in some surprise. Lian Yan Qiu nodded. Yesterday evening while he was directing the people fighting the fire, he found something suspicious.  He had assigned a person to surreptitiously watch Yuxiu Palace and this morning a pair of women returned to the palace from outside the city, namely, Li Jie Yu’s personal maids. Immediately, they were apprehended and incarcerated, then strictly questioned and tortured. "The two personal maids of Yuxiu Palace confessed. Although they didn't see Li Jie Yu setting the fire with their own eyes, however, Li Jie Yu refused to take anyone with her when she went out on the night of the incident. They sai...

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 14, Pt 2 - Out of Town On the vast expanse of white ground, Yuan Luo flew with the troops like a sharp arrow. The bitter cold wind blew on her face as extremely painful as a knife. Yuan Luo throat felt dry, but her body was not exhausted. She had thought that the original owner was good before, but she didn't expect her to be this good. She was worthy to have grown up deep in the mountains. Several guards who were proficient in tracking led large dogs, who were half the size of a human. They determined the direction in which the East China Sea king and his party had fled. They rushed out in the middle of the night and finally intercepted the person at a turn in the road by a range of hills. From a distance, dozens of guards from the prince’s mansion were crowding around a small tent, which was exceptionally obvious in the white snow.  Miao Zi Fang had taken the advance guards with him and had already struck the opponent....

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 14, Pt 1 - Out of Town Yuan Luo stood up and rushed out the door. The imperial guard on duty was confounded by her actions. Miao Zi Fang had been commanding his guards to fight the fire, but had just now returned. He met Yuan Luo and, before he even had the time to salute, the other person cut him off and urgently said, "Immediately mobilize military forces and go to the East China Sea king’s mansion. The East China Sea king is wanting to escape!" Miao Zi Fang stared at her blankly. Previously, Yuan Luo had already ordered for them to keep a close eye on the East China Sea king’s mansion. "I haven’t heard of the East China Sea king going out today." "There’s no time to lose. Send someone at once to check on him. Forget it. This palace will personally go over there!" Yuan Luo was burning with impatience. Once the East China Sea king returned to his fief, the fish would swim out to sea. If that ha...

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 13, Pt 2 - Thunder Strikes Sikong Yan nodded, then turned to look at Han Chang Wen. "Mister Han must be inconvenience to cooperate with this matter." Han Chang Wen bowed and saluted. In response to this matter, he reminded the prince in passing, "Prince, those few artisans responsible for making the fire, thunder powder must be dealt with cleanly." Du Wang nodded repeatedly. "Leave this trivial matter to a lower official." Several people discussed their next move and respectively bustled away. Sikong Yan returned to his chair and sat on it. His expression was dejected and cold. Soon, a maid wearing a dark red dress entered serving tea. Recently, she had been a very doted upon maid. Even though she had not officially been taken as a concubine, she was already treated as a concubine inside the prince’s mansion. Seeing that the prince was in a bad mood today, she gingerly put down the tray, picked ...

The Treacherous Concubine's Guide to Whitewashing Chapter 13, Pt 1 - Thunder Strikes At the foot of the altar. Civil and military officials and members of the noble imperial clan had long been assembled forming a dense mass of people as far as the eye could see. The crowd stood in the cold wind attired in court dress. Inevitably, the weaker of them were shivering. The East China Sea king stood in the front row, looking at Sikong Lin’s figure from behind as he knelt together with civil and military officials and nobles of the imperial clan. The sacrificial ceremony procedures are all of ancient origin and even Sikong Lin, who was stupid, knew that this occasion should not be taken lightly. He obediently stood in the center of the altar according to the guidance of the courtesy officer. The entire altar was decorated with silver paint and golden dragon patterns were carved into the sides. The ceremony kept with the traditional order step by step. Empress Wei stood on the side of the ...