Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage: Chapter 44

April 14, 2017 By in CNovel, Translation Tags: , 76 Comments

1st additional chapter of the week. Thanks to donors!!

Edited by Tnyhy & Larkspur (Updated 30th May 2022)

Chapter 44: Dare to Kill

In the huge Yan Bei Tang, there was a moment of silence.

The young female’s back was straight. Even though her stature was petite, it was as if it contained an infinite amount of power. As for her gestures, it was as if everything was beneath her feet.

Cai Lin was speechless for a moment.

What Shen Miao said was not wrong. To shoot at each other like this, the one who would be in the most danger would be him. This was because of Shen Miao’s lack of archery skills and if it deviated by a little, perhaps that arrow would have pierced his skull. But how would Cai Lin think that much? He had thought of it very simply, as long as he chose archery, with Shen Miao’s temperament, she would definitely be so scared that her feet would feel weak and beg him for mercy as her tears flow. He would then play with her for a round and with that, her face would be lost and he could help Shen Yue vent her frustrations.

As for matters after that, Cai Lin had yet to think about them. In his mind, Shen Miao would naturally be scared off her wits, so how would she have the energy to shoot arrows at him? Moreover, for a female who has not even drawn a bow before, she would not even be able to draw the bow fully and would only make a fool of herself.

Cai Lin thought so, but he had missed out on Shen Miao’s reaction. She just looked at him quietly and that kind of calm was unlike her age, it infuriated him. Her eyes were as if she was watching a child performing an act, pitiful but ridiculous.

Since he was at the most impulsive age, Cai Ling spoke without a second thought, “What do I dare not do? Life and death agreement, then life and death agreement!”

“Ai!” Cai Daren who was at the male side of the banquet sighed. He hated that he could not rush and beat up this unfilial son. Previously, Cai Lin was only unruly, but Cai Daren did not think that his son would actually pick on Shen Miao. With regards to the life and death agreement, Cai Daren was not worried about his son’s safety but only feared that he would really make Shen Miao lose all face or cause an injury to her. Not everyone was able to oppose Shen Xin, that old roughneck.

Shen Yue anxiously said, “Why did Fifth Younger Sister set a life and death agreement? It is only an academy examination, why would one need to go to such an extent? This cannot do.”

“Yes. Why is Fifth Lady not sensible?” Ren Wan Yun frowned, “How can one speak such words at a spur of emotions. What if something goes wrong?”

She did mention that it was Cai Lin that forced Shen Miao to make this choice and only attributed it to Shen Miao’s rash actions due to her feeling wronged. Chen Rou Qiu shook her head and softly sighed, “In the end, her desire to win is stronger.”

For them to be this ‘caring’ and ‘anxious’ for Shen Miao, there naturally was no lack of interest on the male side of the banquet.

Prince Yu of the first rank kept staring straight at the purple clad young female as his muddy eyes exuded interest. It was as if a beast had found its prey, his gaze made one feel nauseous.

“This Young Lady Shen is truly foolhardy.” Prince Zhou pointedly said, “To even sign a life and death agreement. She does not know that when she does that, if anything goes wrong, Shen Xin would not be able to bring the matter up?”

“Most likely it was to maintain the Shen family’s reputation.” Fu Xiu Yi looked at Shen Miao on the stage and said, “After all, no one would be willing to listen to negative words about one’s own family.”

“Unfortunately, this would not change the facts at all.” Prince Jing shook his head, “She is too impulsive. No wonder she is called ignorant and stupid.”

Pei Lang picked up the tea on the table and took a sip. He also felt that Shen Miao’s action was just too impulsive. Although he knew that Prince Jing’s words were actually too much, if Shen Miao was thinking for the sake of the Shen family, she should have thought of a way to retreat without any harm done. Even though this would still be spoken about, it was still better than making a fool of herself in public.

“Father, she will definitely win.” Su Ming Lang made a little fist with his hands to represent his own position to his father.

Master Su looked at his younger son. He did not know why, but he felt that Su Ming Lang paid special attention to Shen Miao. He thought that it was most likely she had coincidentally entered Su Ming Lang’s eyes. Ever since the last time Su Ming Lang reminded him to withdraw from the strong currents, he treated his younger son more amiably. Today, he also did not want to sweep his younger son’s mood away, so he vaguely went along with his words, “Exactly, she will definitely win.”

Su Ming Feng did not know about Su Ming Lang’s and Master Su’s attitudes. If he did, he would definitely scoff at them because at this moment, he was sitting in the pavilion and could not help but speak as he looked towards the academy examination’s stage, “The Young Lady of the Shen family is really daring to even draw up the life and death agreement. Could it be that it is common for General Shen to talk about army matters to her and she thought that this was a competition in army? This is just too senseless.”

Su Ming Feng had never covered up his words while talking to his good friend, but this time he did not hear any response from his most discerning friend and thus could not help but look at the other person.

The purple clad youth picked up the begonia in his hand and contemplated. The sun shone just right, with the breeze blowing the tassel on his dagger and coupled with his handsome brows, his pensive visage made one sigh, he was a peerless gentleman.

“*Xie San (referring to Xie Jing Xing), what are you thinking about?” Su Ming Feng could not help but ask.

Xie Jing Xing placed the begonia in his clothes and suddenly stood up with a smile on his lips, “Interesting. How about we make a bet?”

“What kind of bet?”

“Let’s bet–“ Xie Jing Xing pointed at the stage and smiled breezily, “Who will win?”

“Naturally, it would be Cai Lin.” Su Ming Feng frowned, “Could it be that you think otherwise?”

“I bet Shen Miao will win.” he said.

Preparations started on the stage.

Archery, today’s military topic, was enough to capture everyone’s attention. But this was not a challenge in an academy examinations but clearly a gamble of one’s life.

Guang Wen Tang indeed let them sign the life and death agreement and the red words on the white cloth were exceptionally eye-catching. Shen Miao picked up the brush to pen her name and she wrote it in a naturally elegant way as if she did not care about the importance of this thing.

That was of course. She had written her name so many times. When Fu Xiu Yi wrote the letter of surrender to the Xiong Nu, when she became the hostage in Qin country, when Wan Yu was married, when the Crown Prince was abolished… The two words, Shen Miao, represented blood and tears. The suffering and difficulty in the two words was something that no one could understand.

In contrast, Cai Lin did not have it easy.

Although one would feel the strongest during their youth, but this was after all the first time he signed such a thing like the life and death agreement. Cai Lin was only a child that was very well protected by his family and had not matured enough. When Shen Miao was this calm, it made the fear in his heart grew.

Under the heavy weight of the brush, he wrote with difficulty and his name came out crooked, displaying the vast contrast as compared to Shen Miao’s name.

After writing, he could not help but ask, “Shen Miao, are you not afraid that I would shoot slanted during the first round? If I am afraid of you shooting me in the second round, I naturally can injure you in the first round.”

Shen Miao was about to pick the fruits when she heard the words. She turned around and stared at Cai Lin, “Does Gentleman Cai think this way? I, however, do not agree.”

She continued, “Everyone knows that Gentleman Cai’s archery skills are extraordinary and unless deliberate, it would never miss. That means Gentleman Cai had the intent to kill me, but for me, it is otherwise. Everyone knows that I am ignorant in archery and if the targets are not shot, it would be reasonable.”

Cai Lin was startled for a moment before he was dumbstruck and a wave of powerlessness surged in his heart.

That’s right. If he shot it skewed, it would be deliberate, but if Shen Miao shot it askew, it would be natural. He cannot even miss any of it because… Everyone would be able to see that it was intentional!

He made it so Shen Miao was stuck between two difficult situations, but she immediately gave one back to him.

No matter what, it would still be wrong.

“In order to avoid being shot by me in the second round, Gentleman Cai can kill me in a fit of rage in the first round. Since the life and death agreement has been signed, when you kill me, it would only signify the end of the challenge and other than the saliva of the whole world, there will not be any responsibility to be borne.”

“I am here. Do you dare to kill?”

Translator Notes:
* I have problems with Xie San (it would appear many times in the future). Xie is XJX surname and San means 3. Usually it meant the Xie family number 3 (rank of son or whatever)… But it does not make sense anywhere in terms of XJX ranking and the author did not explains why XJX has the nickname of 3rd Xie/ No. 3 Xie. So it is translated as it is pronounce.

76 responses

  4. Thanks for the chapter! Shen Miao is so eloquent. Turn those evil people and their face upside down (meaning beat those who dare to look down on our empress)!

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  6. Waaahhh ToT
    It’s so long!!!! When’s the competition gonna start? I wanna see the boy scared till he wet his pants !!! Now he’s stuck in a rut. Shen Miao always thinks ahead, so don’t judge the * cough* older *cough* woman if she’s acting way too laidback~

    Thanks for translating~

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  8. Ahhh, please author stop torturing us lol! I love how eloquent our lovely empress is, but it sucks that she has to constantly explain why she’s obviously not scared to this silly child, CL. And yikes, it seems only XJX has eyes lmao! (Other than the dumpling ofc!!) My heart fluttered when he bet on her, he just knows she has something up her sleeve~

    And honestly, those stupid princes and their arrogance. They can’t even tell when someone’s changed. Only PL and XJX take her seriously, altho XJX and the little dumpling are the only ones to truly believe in her, sigh….

    Ah well, Imma just sit back and relax as I watch our little empress crush this ant who thinks he’s a tiger and slap everyone in the face! I truly hope that after this challenge people will start seeing her differently and no longer call her an idiot….

    Thank you for your hard work!! 💖 And to the sponsors as well!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • When XJX bet on her, my heart fluttered too as it meant that XJX was very confident of her even though he did not know what she would be doing. He knows she can handle the situation herself and don’t need ‘rescuing’. Even though he only seen her for a few times, he was already so sure of her character…

      Thanks for supporting!!!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  10. Was it… SM who asked if he dared to kill?

    Or someone else who spoke up for her???

    —

    Woot!!! XJX made a bet on out little empress. He sees her! He sorta kinda knows her! He trusts she has skills!!! Is he changing his mind about someone pulling the strings on SM?

    Fufufufu… Oh how people would react if this bet was broadcasted! In fact, if the bet was made public, I think he’s be the only one betting on her… Ok… If SML is allowed, then he’s bet on her too… And for the benefit of a doubt, probably PL too… Or at least I think he would for some reason…

    And I was really enjoying all the things going on until I read the part about signing her name. Why the hell does she need to sign her name for surrender??? That’s the stupid emperor’s job, not the empress. Was he too ashamed to admit defeat that he made SM sign it for him? Idiot Prince Ding! Shameless! Soooo not worthy of the throne.

    It’s so sad to have to endure such. It’s heartbreaking reading that paragraph. It’s not stated but I could almost feel like she wants to change her name from Miao to anything else – not the Shen though, she’s obviously proud of her father’s name – like her name already means misery and misfortune. Like she’s looking at her own name with dead eyes while writing it down. Well… This might be just my own imagination runningoff with my own conjecture… But that’s how I thought of it when I read the paragraph concerning her signing her name out…

    This life… You won’t have to feel that way SM… Crush them all to smithereens!!!

    And since I’m not really the kindest person in the world, for your pain and suffering, I hope you don’t suddenly get a bout of kindness and decide that their suffering is enough and to just let them off… Evil people like that turn pitiful when you oppress them, but give them leaverage and you’d regret it.

    You miraculously had a do-over your life… I hope you won’t need another one again and be happy in this life until it ends well.

    —

    Thanks for the update!!!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Yes its SM!!! I can spoil that much 😛
      I had similar thoughts like you on her signing her name. Cause I felt that she felt that when she sign her name in the past lifetime, it was all associated to tragedies and bloodshed. How much pain and suffering she had to mentally get through all those times?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. She should just gather three arrows and point all of them to Cai Lin… *whistles*
    *kekeke* or okay, one arrow each round, slow torture *nishishi*

    Thank you for the chapter (｡◝‿◜｡) fufufu

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  15. i really cant tell who are more hypocrite and despicable… SM’s sisters and aunts or the so called gentlemen present in that banquet??? i want to go and slap each one of them…..

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  21. Thanks for the chapter. My mood totally soured when those royals and aristocrats who couldn’t think straight called her actions impulsive. Who’s the actual impulsive one here? Cai Lin. He can’t miss the fruit, or else everybody will know that he did that on purpose, regardless of whether he hits Shen Miao or avoids both the apple and her body completely. He should have picked up on the change in Shen Miao’s previous actions….but in the spur of the moment, with no thoughts toward the near future, he declared a disadvantageous game for himself. Although, that is understandable since he was on the stage in front of everyone and he thought Miao would plead in refusal out of fear. Still, I reallllly don’t like that guy. And the overwhelming majority of the people attending that Chrysanthemum event, including the princes (their “seeing” abilities are annoyingly lacking…).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I don’t like the imperial family… They just see the worst of the SM and her family. I understood all the fight for power and control of the country and stuff but this is just jealousy!!! Jealous that he had the military power and his good reputation in public’s eye. And now vent it on a 14 year old girl. Pick someone their own size (and power)!!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  23. Hmm.. is the author into some kind of end-the-chap-with-cliffhanger-quotes kind of fetish at this point of time?😑

    I wonder who said the last line? Could it be our Xie San?

    Thanks for the chap! Many thanks to the donors too!🎉🎉🎉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Nope… Its our Empress that said the last line. XJX is still at the pavilion watching the entire show 😛
      The author love to build it up and leave us hanging at the cliff till the next chapter… LOL

      Thanks for supporting!!!

      Like

      Reply

  24. Ugh the dialogues 😀 I could sum it up in one line, “shen Miao stupid girl, she not win!” Nevertheless, those words spoken derisively against her build up the tension and satisfaction for when she finally shows that boy her mettle. So thank you for the chapter 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  25. SOMEONE! OMG PLEASE UPDATE THIS!!! This is so interesting. I really have no words left to speak but some ramblings. Really, even my vocabulary is messsed up right now. Thank you thank you for this wonderful piece! I hope a next chap comes soon! The best-est of lucks to you and your team!!! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • Uwuuu~!! Thank you thank you thank you! I really like the story so far, and the characters! Of all vengeful plots, this one is one of the most ruthless, ruthless in a sense that like Princess Weiyang, her revenge does not take shape of MC being ridiculously OP overnight. Also, it isn’t like MGQ wherein MC here really plunge head-on with her revenge. She’s headstrong and does not stray from her goals (at least so far, with how I perceived it). MGQ already focused on romance early-on, and MC was a bit lenient. Plus, the recent update…….

        Anywaaaay, back to Rebirth, MC’s revenge definitely had basis — i.e. since this one is a do-over kinda plot, her revenge wasn’t born from a third-person perspective seeking justice in behalf of someone.

        Really! Though fortunately, I gotta say at least MC here is more fortunate. Princess Weiyang is also topnotch but contains more heartwrenching doki-doki-in-a-nervous-way moments. Sometimes, I can’t take it. uwuu :<> ❤

        Like

  27. This is torture. Reading this chapter-by-chapter really is. xD The author ups the anticipation so high, I hope she delivers. I wonder who said the last line, XJX or the prince? I’d prefer XJX, ofc. 😛

    Thank you for the translation! Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  28. It’s probably Xie San because in his group of friends he’s the 3rd one ( 3rd oldest ? )
    It’s often the case in chinese novel like ” Douluo Dalu ” ( where he’s little San which is also his name but because he’s also the 3rd oldest ) or “When a Snail Fall in Love”
    where the ML is also called San Ge ( now that I think about it they are all the 3rd one, is that a thing in chinese culture ? >< )
    Just my humble thoughts and thank you for the chapter

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  29. The competition is shaping up nicely. I don’t understand why so many people want to place the balme for this competition at Shen Miou’s feet when she was minding her own business when she was challenged, having done nothing to this Cai Lin and he is the one who came up with the fruit on the head target to add oil to the fire when still she had done nothing but accept him. If he had only left it as a competition facing a still target he would have won most likely–but where would the fun be for him there. Still, he is really learning his lesson, though his thinking wasn’t wrong to suppose she can’t use the bow. these long bows take enormous strength and even if she can pull it back the arrow is likely to fall short. Even if she has the wisdom of many years her body is still young and untrained. She cannot possibly have the strength developed when she has had no training physically. So I wonder about her plan. Most likely she can’t kill him but only humiliate him. Unless we have to suspend reason and her body grew strong overnight.

    Like

    Reply

  32. Pingback: Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage – Chapter 44 – Dramas On My Mind

Leave a comment