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Republished here Sept 2018 with minor edits and following the new chaptering.
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Ch. 11.2
She was filled with so much resentment over this matter that she stubbornly refused to speak to Yi Liankai at all. At the same time, she had to go back to the Yi residence daily and help Eldest Mistress look after Yi Jipei who was still bedridden. Yi Jipei’s stroke had been a severe one and it was fortunate that Yi Lianshen had sent for German doctors there and then to operate on him. Although Yi Jipei had been confined to his bedroom right after that, it had helped his convalescence greatly and he had recovered quite a fair bit lately. Although still unable to talk, he had recovered consciousness and sometimes could open his eyes and recognise the faces he saw. Yi Liankai was busy with military affairs, so he hardly went home but did his filial duty by visiting Yi Jipei and even engaged a reputable Japanese physician to treat his father.
Qin Sang had been giving Yi Liankai the cold shoulder for many days but when she saw that he had engaged this Japanese physician, she couldn’t tolerate it any further. Her chance came when Yi Liankai came to visit Yi Jipei. Whilst he was still in the reception room, she walked in and said to him, ‘I have something to say to you.’
It had been days since she had spoken to him, let alone in front of other people. In response, Yi Liankai waved the servants out of the room. Pan Jianchi was the last to leave and tactfully closed the door on them, then led the rest of the guards far away so that the couple could talk in private.
Yi Liankai smiled and asked, ‘Well? Over your tantrum at last?’
‘Father has always hated the Japanese. He’s always said they are rapacious¹, so why are you letting a Japanese physician treat him?’
¹ 狼子野心 lángzǐ yěxīn ambition of wild wolves (idiom); rapacious designs. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Yi Liankai replied, ‘Father doesn’t know he’s Japanese and besides, he’s a very good physician. Any physician who can cure illnesses is a good one so why split hairs over whether he’s Japanese?’
Qin Sang asked, ‘Just now I heard you telling the physician in English that the naval port is going to be leased to Japan. Is it true?’
Yi Liankai had not been angry at first but the moment he heard this, his smile faded as he told her, ‘This is official business. Don’t ask so many questions.’
‘The naval port is national territory. As a citizen of this nation, why can’t I ask questions?’
Yi Liankai smiled grimly. ‘Getting all high and mighty, aren’t you? Who do you think you are? Just because I’ve been indulging you lately, you start being full of yourself. Since when do you have the right to question me about official business? Even if I were to lease the entire province south of the Yangtze² to the Japanese, you still wouldn’t have the right to question me…’
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Sang had already raised her hand and given him the hardest slap she could muster but he had taken an instinctive step back, so her slap only landed on his ear. Not having endured such treatment before though, he raised his hand to slap her back.
Qin Sang refused to duck and raised her chin defiantly instead. ‘Go ahead, slap me… You might as well kill me with one shot. Why did I marry someone like you…’ Sudden tears rolled down her face as she added, ‘It’s treason, don’t you know that?’
Yi Liankai, beside himself with rage, turned and stormed out of the room without another word. For her part, Qin Sang could only slump against the table and cry inconsolably. From the outset, she had resigned herself to this marriage. Yi Liankai was neither well-read nor talented so she had made more allowances, but never had she imagined that he would turn out to be so morally bankrupt. He had absolutely no regard for brotherly ties and had even forced his sister-in-law to commit suicide. Now, he was using the country for his own personal gain by leasing the naval port to foreign powers. To be married to such a man was really a fate worse than death.
As she sobbed, she only felt that never in all her life did she feel more hurt than at present. Even when she had initially been forced to marry him, she had not cried. Back then she had believed that she could endure no matter how bad it was but not having expected to feel so disheartened presently, could not help crying her heart out. Her sleeves were wet from her tears; the lacy fabric brushing against her face was cool to the touch, so cool that it hurt. She did not know how long she had been crying until someone behind her said softly, ‘Madam.’
When she turned round to look, it turned out to be Pan Jianchi. There seemed to be a hint of pity in his eyes as he gazed at her but also an unreadable expression, as though he wanted to say something but was holding back. Hating Yi Liankai with all her heart in the first place, she felt that Pan Jianchi was as bad as the former which was why they were birds of a feather³. It made her even more loath to talk to him so she wiped away her tears and asked coldly, ‘What is it?’
³ 臭味相投 chòuwèi xiāngtóu. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
‘Master said that you’re not feeling well, so he ordered me to escort you back to the headquarters first for a rest.’
‘I’m not going back. I’m staying put here.’
Pan Jianchi said, ‘Madam, please go back and rest first. Why make things difficult for your subordinate?’
Qin Sang burst out angrily, ‘Go ahead and tell that Master of yours that I cannot live under the same roof any longer with a traitor to the country. I want a divorce and if he doesn’t agree, I’ll go to the courts myself and ask them to annul our marriage⁴!’
Pan Jianchi seemed a little surprised but responded almost immediately, ‘Please calm down, Madam. Master’s conduct might leave something to be desired but Madam should understand how he feels about you. Besides, marriage is a serious matter so Madam shouldn’t act from pique. Surely there’s no need to quarrel until you both become laughingstocks locally and abroad? What’s more, Master usually has no real choice when it comes to military decisions.’
‘Even if he has a thousand or ten thousand justifications, I cannot blindly agree with him. Go and tell him that I cannot tolerate his conduct. He’s now in a position of power and has so much authority that divorcing me won’t hurt his standing in the least. Let him go find another beauty, another suitable alliance. He’ll have to excuse my not being able to stay married to him when he’s sunk to such depths.’
Pan Jianchi said, ‘Madam is just speaking in the heat of the moment. Master may be the chief commander in name, but the reality is that many of the soldiers in the Coalition Army are Li Chongnian’s men and trying to command such a mixed army is far from easy. Were it not for the sake of ending the war quickly, he wouldn’t have come up with this bad idea…’
Qin Sang interrupted him, ‘Stop making excuses for him. Whatever the case, my mind is made up and if he refuses, I’ll go to court myself.’
Pan Jianchi sighed a little and asked, ‘Madam, why fall out with Master over official business? Besides, it’s merely a matter of leasing the port. Why can’t you try and make allowances for him?’
Qin Sang said coldly, ‘Years ago, you and I took to the streets in protest against the government leasing Huidao to Germany. You once told me that the ambitions of the Great Powers5 are an open secret6. “Every inch of land is worth a drop of blood”7 and even if it meant spilling every drop of this patriotic blood, the country’s territory had to be protected at all costs. The man you were then was nothing like you now. Your stint in Japan has turned you into a traitor. I don’t blame you for wanting to get rich. I won’t blame you for following Yi Liankai. But I can never tolerate your helping him to become a traitor to China. He’s not fit to be my husband and as for you, I regret ever meeting you and our friendship. My advice to you: know your limits and stop aiding the devil in his work8.’
6 路人皆知 lùrénjiēzhī. Please consider reading from hiding in plain sight rather than from novelscraping sites.
Pan Jianchi was silent for a while before saying in a low voice, ‘Xiaosang, I have something to tell you.’
‘Xiaosang’ had been his pet name for her when they had been dating but hearing it now only made her feel aversion instead of a sense of familiar intimacy. She frowned in disgust and said, ‘We have nothing to talk about, so go away.’
Pan Jianchi saw that she was being obdurate and would not be so easily persuaded. He hesitated slightly, then turned around and walked to the window where he lifted a corner of the curtain and scanned the surroundings outside. There were no stragglers in the courtyard, except for a few sparrows pecking at the grass behind a holly tree. It was extremely quiet with only a few sentries on guard duty outside the moon gate, their guns occasionally glinting in the sunlight.
He walked back towards her and said quietly, ‘Xiaosang, I have a favour to ask. I wouldn’t ask it of you but I really have no other alternative. If you’re willing to help me, I would be grateful beyond words. If you aren’t, I won’t insist.’
Qin Sang’s curiosity was piqued by his words but her tone was still cold as she asked, ‘What favour?’
(Approx. 1645 words)
12’s notes:
² The Yangtze River
⁴ Probably based on ‘The second way (義绝) is through state-mandated annulment of marriage. This applies when one spouse commits a serious crime (variously defined, usually more broadly for the wife) against the other or his/her clan.’
5 the Great Powers: Historically a derogatory term referring to the Neo-Imperialist countries of Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan who carved out spheres of influence in China.
7 “Every inch of land is worth a drop of blood”. 一寸山河一寸血 yícùnshānhéyícùnxuè This was a little difficult to translate 😖. This phrase goes back a long way but gained wide traction as a political slogan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. It means that every inch of territory is extremely precious and should be protected at all costs.
8 ‘stop aiding the devil in his work’: 為虎作倀 wèi hǔ zuò chāng: to act as accomplice to the tiger — to help a villain do evil. Interestingly enough, the word 倀 chāng means the ghost of one devoured by a tiger, who helps the tiger to devour others.
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