Three Lives Three Worlds
Wherever Step Goes, Lotus Blooms:
三生三世 步生莲之化茧
It was midsummer in the Fourth Year of Jing Yuan. Princess Red Jade of Jing An Mansion had returned to the imperial capital, Ping An City from Li Chuan’s Wan Ying Villa.
She was summoned to the capital immediately after the Grand Empress Dowager decreed that she was to be betrothed to a general who had been victorious in the recent war.
Princess Red Jade, Cheng Yu was orphaned in childhood. At six, she lost her father, Lord Jing An to a battlefield. Following his death, her mother, Lady Jing An, fell ill from grief and became bedridden.
After battling for half a year, her mother followed her father to the grave when the Princess was seven. From then on, the only child of the Prince grew up alone in the large Jing An Mansion.
Losing both parents early compelled Princess Red Jade to become sensible from a young age. She was unlike the other princesses who would look into the suitability of their prospective husbands after receiving the imperial edict.
If the prospects were not to their liking, the princesses who were not favoured would cry, and after crying would still grudgingly get married. As for the princesses who were favoured, they would cry their hearts out, refuse the marriage and kick up a big ruckus in the palace.
Princess Red Jade, Cheng Yu, was not the type to cause others to worry.
Firstly, she did not investigate whether her legendary husband-to-be would suit her taste.
Secondly, she did not cry. She got into the horse carriage without uttering a word and calmly embroidered a wedding dress for herself while planning out the timing for her journey so that she would reach Jin An City exactly on time.
It was only on reaching the capital that she was informed that the marriage had been called off. A messenger was despatched but had most probably missed them along the way.
According to news from the palace, the marriage was called off as the General, her betrothed, was of one heart and mind that the Northern Wei had to be exterminated, or he would be too ashamed to settle down.
The general’s patriotism of putting his country first by sacrificing his needs for the good of all moved the Empress Dowager, so she acceded to the General’s wishes and agreed to rescind her order.
Cheng Yu’s maid, Li Xiang, was anxious after learning that this was the reason, and furiously exclaimed, “He felt too ashamed to settle down as Northern Wei had not been decimated? Wu Yong said that in recent years, the troops from Northern Wei have become stronger. During the various confrontations we had with them, both countries experienced their share of victory and defeat. Even at their weakest, which was during the Tai Zong era, the furthest we could place our Da Xi battle flag was at their Yu Du River. Hmph, he is obviously using this as an excuse to avoid marrying Her Highness!”.
With hot tears in her eyes, Li Xiang sighed, “Her Highness has locked herself up in the attic* for two days and nights, she must have felt humiliated and heartbroken. I am so worried about her.”
The Head Steward, Zhu Jin impassively examined the medical herbs in his hand, “There is no need to worry, she finished the three meals that were sent to her during the day. She even rang the bell for an extra meal in the middle of the night.”
Li Xiang became even more tearful, “As we all know, heartaches can be extremely mentally and physically exhausting, eating more probably means that Her Highness has consumed all her energy on this matter. Her Highness must have been too heartbroken, my poor princess huhuhuhu~~~~”
Zhu Jin paused and took a long look at her, his voice full of disbelief, “With this logic of yours, you’ve unexpectedly managed to distort things to make sense of it...”
The attic Li Xiang mentioned, referred to Princess Red Jade’s embroidered floor on the top level of her Ten Flower Tower.
Ten Flower Tower was the tallest tower in the Capital.
The ten-storey tower was one storey taller than the Buddhist Pagoda inside the Jing Jiao National Temple. Doors to the Ten Flower Tower were perpetually closed, and no one knew why it had been built. As time went by, more and more legends surrounded it.
The most famous legend among others speaks of, “The Crown of all flowers is found within the Ten Flower. Hidden there are the most unusual plants and grasses, with treasures and beauties stored within.”
This legend literally elevated the Ten Flower Tower to a piece of heaven on earth.
However, to consider the Ten Flower Tower as a piece of heaven would be undeserving, but it was indeed home to quite a number of rare flowers and plants, treasures and beautiful women.
It was rumoured that Princess Red Jade had been stricken with a strange illness when she was a year old, and every highly skilled physician had been unable to cure her.
As the little princess was about to succumb to her illness, Lord Jing An was left with no other choice but to seek help from the Councillor.
The Councillor had responded with a seventeen-word prescription, “Build a tall tower, collect a hundred species of flowers, raise the princess with tender care until she is fifteen, and her calamity with the illness will be resolved”.
After obtaining the prescription, Lord Jin An had quickly obtained an imperial edict from the Emperor, and within three months, the ten-storey tower was built and a hundred species of flowers were collected. This was the story behind the legendary rare and unusual flowers found within the tower.
As for the origin of the treasures, at the time when Lord Jing An searched and gathered the one hundred unique species of flowers and plants found throughout Da Xi, there were two bulbs among them that had cultivated to the point where they had achieved human forms.
Such rare plants could not even be found in the Royal Palace, and as such, were naturally considered priceless treasures.
Of the two flower monsters, one was a pear tree who became Cheng Yu’s personal maid, Li Xiang, and the other, a hibiscus flower, was none other than Head Steward, Zhu Jin, an extreme multitasker who ran the entire Ten Flower Tower like clockwork, both inside and out.
Lastly, we come to the legend of beautiful women. The only thing that could be counted as human within the Ten Flower Tower was Princess Red Jade, Cheng Yu. But the Princess’ beauty was so unparalleled that it put the plants to shame - her beauty was comparable to a hundred beautiful flowers.
Hence, everyone within the Ten Flower Tower earnestly felt that the rumours about untold beautiful women residing in the tower were not entirely false.
On the morning of the third day, the beauty of a hundred flowers, Princess Red Jade, emerged from her room with an unsteady gait, bearing dark circles beneath her eyes.
Li Xiang, who was standing guard by the door, hurried towards her in welcome.
While she was lovingly expressing her concern for the Princess’ well-being, she couldn’t stop herself from reproaching the General at the same time, “That nuisance of a General must be blind, he lacks the good fortune to marry your Highness. It is his loss. No matter what, the one having to contend with a broken heart and looking haggard should not be your Highness. Princess, what are we going to do if you were to fall ill because of him!”
Cheng Yu paid her no heed. Looking like she was sleeping on her feet, she gave her a green bundle, and yawned as she said, “Send this to Jing Xiu Workshop, they need this urgently.”
Li Xiang made a small opening in the bundle, peered inside and had a shock, “This is your wed...”
Cheng Yu covered her mouth as she yawned. With teary eyes, she said, “I’ve spent the last two days altering this dress to fit the measurements of the 11th Princess, ensuring it is a design that she would like.”
Looking at Li Xiang’s confused face, she endured the sleepiness and explained, “The 11th Princess is getting married next month, and her needlework is barely good enough to embroider her own bridal veil, and she has always looked down on the palace’s needlework. I heard she went to Jing Xiu Workshop to have her wedding robes custom made and insisted on Tailor Su. But Tailor Su has recently been suffering from an eye disorder. So Jing Xiu Workshop is now in a fix.”
Reaching out to pat the bundle in Li Xiang’s hands, Cheng Yu’s eyes flashed with delight, “They wanted this urgently, so we can hike up our price. It wouldn’t be hard to swindle them out of five hundred gold pieces.”
Li Xiang silently understood, “If this was the case… Your Highness was not heartbroken about the marriage rejection over the past few days?”
Cheng Yu stopped yawning, and stared blankly for a second before immediately leaning her head against the door frame, “Heartbroken, of course, I’m heartbroken, how can I not be heartbroken, that General… yes... that… uhmm… General….”
In an indifferent tone, Li Xiang reminded her, “The surname of that General is Lian, General Lian.”
Cheng Yu was caught for a second, “Hhm, yes, General Lian.”
She continued, “General Lian is indeed an iron-blooded true man, swearing not to settle down until the Northern territories have been destroyed. He is a man with lofty ambition and foresight. It’s a lifelong regret that I have missed out on marrying such a worthy person. It’s just my own misfortune.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she made every effort to heave a realistic sigh of regret, but could not contain her incoming yawn.
Li Xiang was rendered speechless.
“I really shouldn’t bring this up,” continued Her Highness who was cleverly trying to cover up her untimely yawn, “You see, the mere mention of this sad matter has once again invoked my unbearable feelings of regret.”
Taking advantage of her favourable position to find an exceptionally good excuse to take a day nap, she added, “You don't have to send lunch over in the afternoon. Once I wake up, erm, after I’ve sorted out all of my regrets, I’ll come out for some cakes and snacks.”
As she finished speaking, she took one step into her room, but seemingly pondered for a while, then turned around and stepped out again.
Forcing herself to stay awake, she pointed at Li Xiang and reminded her, “About that matter, don’t disappoint me, five hundred gold pieces, nothing lower than that, all right?”
Li Xiang “...”
Mulling over the matter for a long time, Li Xiang humbly asked Zhu Jin for advice during lunch, “Is Her Highness so upset that she has become muddle-headed or is she absolutely not heartbroken at all?”
At that moment, Zhu Jin was peering into his radish soup, trying to pick out a coriander leaf. Rolling his eyes, he asked, "What do you think?”
Propping her cheek up, Li Xiang pondered, “It seemed like she isn’t sad at all. She did not even get General Lian’s surname right. But on the way back, she looked so ecstatic while embroidering her wedding robes…”
Zhu Jin continued to pick out coriander from his soup, “As long as she does not have to go to that barbaric Northern Wei for a marriage alliance, she is very happy to marry anyone.”
It has been more than two hundred years since the Da Xi Dynasty was established and about half a dozen princesses have been sent to the Northern Territories. All of them died young, their lost souls unable to return.
Considering this, Li Xiang sighed and joined Zhu Jin in picking out coriander, “But she said herself that missing out on marrying such a worthy husband is possibly a lifelong regret. I don't know if she was being flippant about it or whether she genuinely felt that way, so I was just mulling over it…”
Zhu Jin looked at Li Xiang solemnly, “If anyone from the palace makes enquiries about Her Highness’ condition, describe her pain as devastatingly as possible. As the Grand Empress Dowager tends to dote on Her Highness, making the old dowager feel some guilt will reduce the risk of sending her to that barbaric nation in the future… Take your paws away, that is not coriander but scallions, and I love scallions very much.”
Towards the end of every month, Cheng Yu felt like a miserable princess. The monthly allowance Zhu Jin gave her was always insufficient to support her till the very last day of the month.
When her parents were still living, she had naturally led a worry-free life. Up until her parents’ demise, as Cheng Yu vaguely recalled, she was leading a long period of an easy life without having to fret about money.
The problem with placing too much money in her hands was the fact that she would easily be swindled into buying items that would incite Zhu Jin’s fury.
For example, when she was twelve, she happily spent five thousand taels on a unicorn, but halfway home, the unicorn’s horn caught onto a roadside bush, and just like that, the horn fell off.
Then again at thirteen, she spent seven thousand taels on a thousand-year-old lotus seed alleged to originate from Lord Buddha’s legendary lotus seat. The lotus seed germinated on her writing desk the next day, and Li Xiang transferred the germinated seed to a pot. After waiting in excitement for two months, a peanut plant flourished in that pot.
There were numerous other scattered incidents where she had been swindled. For a period of time, the hand that Zhu Jin used on the abacus would shake uncontrollably as soon as he saw her.
Later… but that later never came. Zhu Jin felt that he could no longer suffer this kind of torture from her and withdrew her financial authority.
As a consequence, by the end of her thirteenth year of life, Cheng Yu began to ponder very seriously about making money. After deliberating for two months, she realised that the best way for her to profit was from her fellow princesses. From then on, she worked very hard at her prosperity..
Those who work hard tend to be rewarded.
A year passed by.
Through her outstanding talents, Princess Red Jade had become extremely proficient in embroidering and imitating handwriting. Cheng Yu gained fame in the Capital, becoming the top embroiderer at the Jin Xiu Workshop, and the most capable writer at Wan Yan Zhai, the first-generation illegal organisation specialising in ghostwriting school work.
As Cheng Yu had tasted the bitterness of life, she could no longer be swindled by others. Instead, her ability to swindle money out of others had increased dramatically.
The next afternoon, Li Xiang returned as expected from the Jin Xiu Workshop with 500 gold pieces, and placed all that shiny gold right in front of her. Cheng Yu happily began counting them from one to five hundred, and then recounted them, from five hundred to one.
When she finished counting, she took out her purse, filled it up, stored the remaining gold into a shabby-looking wooden box, and stuffed it under the bed, covering it with two tattered blankets.
After securing the money in its hiding place, Cheng Yu quickly dressed herself up as a young master, then calmly placed the pot of yellow peonies on the table into a sack, and happily headed out of the tower.
It was the day Zhu Jin went out to check the accounts at over 20 stores, while Li Xiang had been tasked to buy cakes at a shop located in the far western-most part of the city. With these two out of her way, Cheng Yu slipped out of the Ten Flower Tower easily.
When she arrived at Lin Lang Court, she ran into Madam Xu who was leading a delicately beautiful young lady and two pretty maids out of the entrance to send a young man out of the Court.
The young man and the delicate beauty were so into each other as if they could not bear to be apart, that they were oblivious to her presence. But Madam Xu’s discerning eyes immediately spotted Cheng Yu who was standing beneath the old willow tree.
Madam Xu’s age-worn face showed a mixture of shock and happiness on recognising her. Without waiting for anyone to react, she walked breezily towards her and greeted her very warmly as Young Master Yu. As if she was afraid that Cheng Yu would change her mind and slip off, Madam Xu held onto her arm firmly and escorted her into the building.
While following Madam Xu into the building, Cheng Yu recalled how she had used the money to smash out a legendary saga in this house of pleasures.
Young Master Yu was a legend among the brothels in the Capital. Anyone who frequented such establishments would have heard of him before.
It was the year she was twelve when she had used nine thousand taels to buy the first night of Lin Lang Court’s famous courtesan, Hui Fei Wu, which was something unprecedented. Before this incident, the rate for the first night of a courtesan in Ping An City’s brothels had remained steady at 500 taels for many years.
This affair became Young Master Yu’s one-shot to fame. Although she did not frequent the brothel as often compared with the other rich playboys, Young Master Yu was very generous - even a maid who served food would easily be rewarded with at least seven to eight taels of silver.
She was adored for her prodigal ways.
Madam Xu’s only regret was that she had no courtesan on hand who could entice Young Master Yu to Lin Xiang Court so often that the Young Master would fritter away her wealth there.
Just the mere thought of it was enough to make her feel agitated, so much so that she wished she had been born forty years later, allowing her to handle this personally.
After catching up with Madam Xu, she evaded a few courtesans who were trying to throw themselves at her, having heard of her prodigal ways. Cheng Yu easily found her way to the second floor and entered Hua Fei Wu’s room.
Hua Fei Wu’s two handmaidens were keeping watch outside the room.
Cheng Yu raised her eyes to the handmaid: "Didn't Madam Xu send someone to notify you? Why is your lady not here to greet me?“
The two handmaids stammered, “Our lady, she…”
On the square table was a red noon flower in full bloom. It continued, “Shao Yao had no idea that the Flower Master had arrived. When the two handmaids went in to report to her just now, they were chased out with a flying slab of ink - Shao Yao** has been in a bad mood recently.
Cheng Yu sent the two babbling handmaids out of the room and took Yao Huang out of the sack. She then placed it on the square table, poured herself a cup of tea, pulled out a stool and sat down to gossip with the noon flower, “Let me see, who has she fallen for that has made her experience unrequited love again?”
Noon flower elegantly shook its luscious body of green leaves, “Flower Master, you are wise.”
Hua Fei Wu is a Chinese peony, and just like Zhu Jin and Li Xiang, they are flower monsters who can take on a human form.
She had come to the capital four years ago in the hopes of finding true love in the mortal world. After asking around, a mortal told her that a girl who wished to meet many men in an open and honourable manner could do so in a brothel.
Hua Fei Wu was a flower monster from an old mountainous forest. At that point in time, she had not known what a brothel was. Along the way, she inquired with a vegetable seller who had looked her over up and down at least twenty times, before pointing her to Lin Xiang Court.
She headed there to have a look and saw many fancy ladies inside, all of them considered beautiful, and thought that the place complemented her well.
That was how she ended up accidentally selling herself to the brothel for thirty taels of silver.
Having set foot into Lin Lang Court, the top brothel in the Capital, Hua Fei Wu thought that she had found a place to call home.
It was customary for newcomers in her hometown who had just settled down in the mountains to pay respects to the Chieftain, so Hua Fei Wu assumed that this practice might also apply in the Capital.
After exerting a lot of effort wondering where to find out who that person might be, word on the street was that the flowers and trees in the Capital fell under the leadership of Ten Flower Tower, located in the city’s north.
On a windy, moonless night, Hua Fei Wu animatedly brought along the 30 taels she had sold herself for to the Ten Flower Tower to pay her respects.
At that moment, the Flower Emperor, Yao Huang had just awakened from his decade long slumber after saving Cheng Yu ten years ago. Hua Fei Wu’s silly antics had amazed Yao Huang, and for some inexplicable, dissonated reason, became captivated with her.
So he requested Cheng Yu to redeem the foolish country girl from Lin Lang Court in her spare time.
Perhaps Yao Huang was still not very sober since his recent awakening when he decided to entrust this matter to Cheng Yu, a mere twelve-year-old at the time.
Twelve-year-old Cheng Yu only had one understanding of brothels - it was a place which did not entertain female guests.
Fortunately, she had always had a love of riding horses, archery and soccer. To facilitate her pursuit of these hobbies, Li Xiang had provided her with many noble male outfits.
She randomly picked out an outfit to her liking, dressed and headed out to Lin Lang Court. On entering the Court, she noticed the lingering scent of fragrance and the beautifully lit lanterns - it appeared as if some kind of grand festivity was going on.
Awash with curiosity, she asked for a room, planning to observe the excitement before helping Yao Huang redeem Hua Fei Wu.
Just as she finished drinking half a cup of tea, music floated in melodiously as Cheng Yu saw Hua Fei Wu decked in red from head to toe, stepping onto the stage below and beginning her dance.
After completing one dance, the hall roared to life as the crowd began eagerly shouting their bids. Not long after, the starting bid of one hundred silver taels had risen to three hundred and fifty-two silver taels.
Cheng Yu thought to herself, “Oh, this is how a person is redeemed from a brothel.”
At that time, Cheng Yu was still a prodigal child whose access to money had not been severed by Zhu Jin. This same prodigal child had previously spent five thousand taels on an old horse with a rolling pin glued onto its head.
She felt that Hua Fei Wu was a beautiful flower monster. Besides, this beautiful flower monster caught the fancy of the Ten Flower Tower’s Flower Emperor, Yao Huang. So, how could she be worth only three hundred and fifty-two silver taels?
In one breath, she called out a bid for seven thousand taels, a bid that was twenty times higher than the previous one.
As soon as the bid of seven thousand taels left her lips, there was dead silence on and off the stage. Everyone directed their gaze at her. Feeling confused, Cheng Yu took a long moment before asking with uncertainty, "How about… how about eight thousand?
In fact, Hua Fei Wu did not understand the concept of money. All she saw was Cheng Yu mentioning eight thousand taels, and everyone becoming deathly silent, throwing Cheng Yu piercing glances. Feeling the need to say something to relieve Cheng Yu’s awkward situation, she raised her head and idly asked, "How much silver did you bring?"
Cheng Yu took out her banknotes, counted them and replied, “Nine thousand.”
Hua Fei Wu nodded: "Um, well… let’s seal the deal for nine thousand silver taels, then, hehe.”
This was how muddleheaded Cheng Yu handed over her money and ended up buying Hua Fei Wu’s first night.
The nine thousand silver taels incident gained notoriety in one hit. Basking in its aftermath, Lin Xiang Court surpassed Meng Xian Lou as the true number one brothel in Ping An City, a spot that both had been deadlocked as equal for many years.
Madam Xu was so overjoyed that she fainted on the spot, her long-cherished dream of defeating her competition and elevating Lin Xiang Court to the true number one brothel in the capital had instantly been fulfilled.
In the eight hours that Madam Xu was unconscious, Cheng Yu finally understood that her nine thousand silver taels only bought her a night with Hua Fei Wu and not the entire person.
As she had always been a spendthrift, she didn't feel any guilt about spending the money. Instead, she felt somewhat gratified. Hua Fei Wu was a monster that the Flower Emperor, Yao Huang fancied, so she should be worth this much.
After asking how much money would be needed to redeem Hua Fei Wu, Madam Xu who had just awakened from being unconscious the entire night realised the one enquiring was the same foolish spendthrift of last evening’s infamy.
Feeling harsh and unreasonable, Madam Xu quoted the price of one hundred thousand silver taels. Cheng Yu regretfully felt that though the price was highly justified, she just did not have so much money, and left after breakfast.
Despite failing to handle this matter successfully, Cheng Yu felt no guilt when she met Yao Huang. She explained the situation to him with a clear conscience, “You have too good a judgement. This monster you have taken a fancy to is excessively valuable, so I bought a night with her, and had a mutton hot pot together. But I didn't have any more money for a second night.”
Yao Huang remained perplexed despite much thought, “She is so foolish, yet her value is so high? She sold herself to the brothel for only thirty taels.”
Cheng Yu sighed, “After you took a fancy to her, she suddenly became much more precious.” Showing eight of her fingers, she continued, “Now the rate for spending a night with her is at nine thousand silver taels. In attempting to buy her, I didn't even have money for a hot pot.”
Zhu Jin and Li Xiang who had both just returned from the country estate overheard her conversation. Li Xiang instantly saw Zhu Jin's hands shaking with fury on the spot.
After that, Zhu Jin confined Cheng Yu to the Ten Flower Tower for ten days.
And this was how Cheng Yu and Hua Fei Wu, and Hua Fei Wu and Yao Huang’s ill-fated relationship came to be.
Notes
1. In Zhang Gu Ying Cun of China, the top floor of each family is connected so that in ancient times, the girls could visit each other. The attic is also called the ‘embroidered floor’.
2. 芍药 (Shao Yao) is a chinese peony and 姚黄 (Yao Huang), is one of the four famous kind of peony).
Credits
Header Pictures: Tencent, Eternal Love of Dream
Story: 唐七 | Tang Qi
Book Title: 三生三世 步生莲之化茧 | Wherever Step Goes, Lotus Blooms: Metamorphosis
Copyright Statement
The above translation is completed by our translation team from Chinese author, Tang Qi’s original work, Three Lives Three Worlds, Wherever Steps Go, Lotus Bloom: Vol 1, Metamorphosis, Chapter 1. All copyright belongs to Tang Qi.
以上的英语翻译都是本翻译组从唐七原作， 三生三世步生莲之化茧， 第一章所翻译的。版权都是作者唐七所拥有。
Do you have a translated chapters of this from chapter 25 onwards? I want to finish this book in English translation since I'm from the Philippines. Thank you.
Now I kind of understand her character in pillow book
We have taken a bit of a break from posting translated chapters of this story so that we can finish off the Back to Chaos in a Dream, Novella outtake of the Pillow Book. We have resumed work on the remaining chapters of Vol 1 of Lotus Step so hang in there for some updates soon!
Will more chapters come out? I really want to read the rest of it 😭
Hey! Somebody knows when will come out the book???