Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chap. 3, Part 2

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 3, Part 2.
from Wang Dulu's Baojian Jinchai.

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On the road, Xi Zhongxiao was very happy, saying, “I went to Liang Wenjin’s house yesterday. I told him that you were going to meet the young lady Yu, and he seemed a mite jealous. He said that when you find the Yu father and daughter, you should help him take vengeance. If you end up getting married to the young lady Yu, he will forget you ever existed.” Li Mubai smiled grimly, “That’s ridiculous! I’m not going over there to get married to the young lady Yu, but even if it did really happen, what business is it of Liang Wenjin’s?” When he said this, he became angry, thinking, If Yu Xiulian’s appearance and martial arts are truly as Xi Zhongxiao says, then I must make her my wife so I can rub it in the face of ordinary people like Liang Wenjin.

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chap. 3, Part 1

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 3, Part 1.
from Wang Dulu's Baojian Jinchai.

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CHAPTER THREE

Li Mubai was a xiucai of twenty-some years from Nangong, built sturdy and tall with an easy disposition. He was currently living in Five Mile village just outside the town of Nangong and relied on his uncle to live, as both his parents had long been deceased. All said, his father had been quite a peculiar man. His father was named Li Fengjie and was an unconventional fellow, accompanying some general or other and serving as his military aide, traveling to many places and making many friends. Later on, he encountered a xia in Jiangnan called the Southern Crane and the two became brothers from different families. The Southern Crane passed his martial arts onto Li Fengjie and the two accomplished many awe-inspiring feats in Jiangnan. Afterward, Li Fengjie married in Jiangnan and had a child. That child was Li Mubai.

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chap. 2, Part 2

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 2, Part 2.
from Wang Dulu's Baojian Jinchai.

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It was now evening and Sun Zhengli was polishing his saber under lamplight. Third Cui had drank until he was half-drunk and was now dozing on the kang. Before long, old escort Yu came into the room and chatted a bit with Sun Zhengli.

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chap. 2, Part 1

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 2, Part 1.
from Wang Dulu's Baojian Jinchai.

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CHAPTER TWO

The story of the young lady Yu Xiulian single-handedly saving her father outside the city, seizing a saber unarmed and holding her own against those four fools, had become a legend in Julu before the next day. People all discussed it with astonishment, saying, “Oh my! It turns out the young lady of the Yu family has much stronger martial arts than her father!” When those young men whose hearts are filled with an ambition for remarkable beauties heard about this, they couldn’t help but become despondent. It’s all over. If the young miss were a gentler person, we might still have hope of getting closer to her. But now that she’s so powerful, able to beat back four armed men by herself, who would dare flirt with her going forward! We might lose our lives at a poke of her finger! Thus not only did the average man of Julu continue to marvel at the young lady Yu’s grace, but they also carried some wariness of her martial ability, sincerely afraid that if their looks lingered on her too long, they would incur a beating from her.

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 1

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 1.
from Wang Dulu's Baojian Jinchai.

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CHAPTER ONE

With a silver beard and iron arms, an old escort lives in seclusion.
Amid the beauty of a fragrant spring, a young valiant rescues her father.

Hebei Province (once called Zhili) is cradled on the south by the Yellow River and couched against the Yan Mountains to the north. To the east is the vast Bo Sea, to the west stretched the Taihang Mountains unbroken for hundreds of miles, upon which rested the massive historical remains of the Great Wall, and in the center there lay an expansive plain. The rivers Sha, Hutuo, Yongding and the like flowed through the heart of this expansive plain. Owing to the geographic terrain, it is no wonder that the states of Yan, Zhao and others vied for dominance here, and that Beijing was able to serve as the capital for so many hundreds of years. The people here were of a rustic disposition. They spoke of loyalty and piety, esteemed valiant righteousness, valued words of promise, and treasured martial skill. Hence spoke the Tang Dynasty's Han Wengong, "Yan and Zhao were called in times past the lands of much bravery and valor." Even among the common people, there were high praises of absolute sincerity. These were the customs created wholly by the historical traditions and geographic environment here.