MDD, Novels

MDD Chapter 72 Part 9

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Marriage of the Di Daughter

Chapter 72 Part 9: Stunning

I want to cry… ( no, not due to the song, maybe I’m not sensitive enough but I don’t find any sorrow in the music? Have you guys heard? ) but because this is the last part of this chapter!!! Wohoooo!!!!! *pat self on the back* The beats drove me crazy to translate… thankfully it’s over.
This is just pieces of the full poem, I can’t find the English translation, but if you’d like to see the full poem, here it is: https://so.gushiwen.cn/mingju/juv_a3d7c1e91e6f.aspx

Jinghong fairy was also astonished. She had long since conducted herself as a wife and mother, no longer caring about fame and profit. Thus, she didn’t feel unbalanced with the younger generation exceeding herself. She was merely feeling very apprehensive, how could a 14 years old young girl understand 《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》’s mournful complain in such a penetrating way? Even though Jiang Li lost her mother since young and was sent to the nunnery when she was only seven years old, even though she passed her life in destitute on the mountain for eight years, these sufferings, compared to the guqin tone of “mournful complaint” was not completely the same ah.

Please, read this at BloomingTranslation blog. We spend a lot of time and effort to bring you the best quality translations we can provide, so please show us respect by reading from our site instead of aggregators that steal our work.

This was simply unbelievable.

Mian Ju was the happiest, both his eyes were bright. The gaze he looked at Jiang Li was like a miser who unexpectedly discovered a huge lump of gold, drooling over and hated moving his sight away. He even so much as to mutter: “This is a naturally talented musician!” 

Shi Yan was better than Mian Ju, but upon hearing Jiang Li’s guqin tone, his previous arrogant look changed and gradually became somewhat emotional. He was the music official, unlike Mian Ju who had no worries. But as long as it was good music, the heart would appreciate. 

At the edge of these four people was Ji Heng. 

The people in the venue were all enticed by Jiang Li’s guqin sound. That tone seemed to have the effect of confusing the people’s heart, making the heart of each person feel sorrowful, seemingly seeing the burnt yellow soil where not even a blade of grass grew. Then followed with recalling their own tragic matter, difficult to control themselves. 

The qin sound had such magic power. In the legend, a guqin playing demon could use the sound of the qin to bring humans into a fantasy land they created, making one lose their bearing. There was probably no guqin playing demon on earth, but there were superior musicians, able to use the guqin tone to transmit the heart and convey their feelings.

When everyone was all captured by the sound, only one person was actually not moved by this sound.

He wasn’t like Jiang You Yao or Meng Hong Jin who were jealous because of the guqin tone. Also unlike Xiao Deyin who was frightened by the guqin skill. He was also unlike other people who were engrossed. He only looked at Jiang Li and the smile at the corner of his mouth didn’t change in the slightest. 

Ji Heng just watched Jiang Li. 

His long eyelashes lining his eyes were moving, as if intoxicated. But with careful look, it could be seen that he was completely clear-headed. He was isolating himself with the guqin sound, also as if isolating himself from the rest of the crowd.

He watched Jiang Li play the guqin as if he was looking at the drama troupe he invited into his residence. Looking at the engrossed crowd in the examination venue watching Jiang Li was like watching a play.

All living things on and off the stage, the world bustling with activity, but he resembled a fickle beauty, standing outside the play with a detached point of view, being a good audience. 

He was soberly disengaged. 

Some people stepped away from involvement, some people were absorbed, then how about Jiang Li, the person playing the guqin?

Her entire being was enveloped in immense sadness. The grief in the tune and the pain in her heart seemed to increasingly reflect and pull each other, striving to be first. She was seemingly split in two, one side was the frantic Xue Fang Fei mournfully recounting her own sorrow through the qin tone while the other side was Jiang Li, calmly looking at everyone’s reaction below the stage. 

17th beat, the heart was stifled, the road home was long and arduous, difficult to travel. When leaving, the mind was clueless, coming back without children, the thought was boundless.   

18th beat, though the song ended, the sound lingered, the thought endless. It’s knowing silk and bamboo, all the result of nature. Each happiness and sorrow can change following people’s hearts. Hu and Han, different land, different customs, heaven and earth separated, child in the West, mother in the East. I felt bitter and resentment, oh the vast sky, though the six directions were wide, yet it’s intolerable.  

There would inevitably be a limit to sorrow, the qin sound in any case and came to an end. 

Jiang Li finally plucked the last tune. After the huge noise sounded, there was an empty quiet. 

Not a person spoke, all things under heaven and earth seemed to be silent due to this qin sound. 

Liu Xu, who was off the stage, only felt a slight coolness on her face. Unaware since when, her face was dripping wet with tears. Looking at the surroundings, there wasn’t a small number of people who shed tears after listening to the tune. Each and everyone seemed frustratingly lost. 

《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》, at last someone played this song in the examination field. And that folk song before the 18 beats increased the grieving feelings in this sorrowful music. 

Everyone couldn’t help looking at Jiang Li on the stage. Were it not for seeing with one’s own eyes, no matter what, nobody would believe that the one who could soulfully play this song was a mere 15 years old girl. 

The girl was standing on the examination stage, a breeze blew on her hair, making a fluttering sound. She hung her head slightly, causing people unable to see her expression clearly, yet feeling that this girl was also completely calm.

Jiang Li sighed deeply inside. As she raised her head, she was stunned.

She met a pair of long and beautiful phoenix eyes which were full of thoughts.

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8 thoughts on “MDD Chapter 72 Part 9”

  1. Congratulations on conquering this mammoth of a chapter! 🎆🎉🎊
    I must confess I don’t have an ear for traditional Chinese music – it seldom evokes strong feelings or any vivid images at all from me. That’s probably why I wasn’t able to feel the grief and desperation of the “Eighteen Songs”, though I’d say this piece has a sort of combative energy to it 😂 Maybe you have to grow up in Chinese culture to properly appreciate such music.
    Thank you for the translation 💕

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  2. Thanks for the chapter ❣️

    I’m wondering.. Would the other two exams be this long..? 😅😅

    As for the Guqin.. I couldn’t sit still and listen to it properly and patiently 🤭 I’d rather listen to some plays of guzheng or the flute… I still enjoyed them, even if I didn’t understand what’s the music about 😋

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  3. Hmmm, I personally do find the piece grief-stricken and sorrowful, though not quite desperate. Just, there’s a bit of discrepancy with the textual description and what a layman would feel after listening to the music.

    Disclaimer: I know nothing about guqin playing, but there might be some complex fingering going on based on the sounds? This might be a bit more of a performance piece? At least, if there’s that sort of ‘repressed and low-key’ energy going on, it should fit the prose of the scene better.

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  6. Thanks for translation! Regarding the song, I felt it was complicated during some notes, quite slow-paced and somewhat draggy. I didn’t feel any sorrow to be honest. There’s more like this feeling as if the performer was complaining instead of mourning. They felt a bit annoyed at times. It makes you wonder if they’re playing it due to being forced. However, listening to some parts of the song, it’s probably a difficult song to play technically hence why it’s rare.

    But at the same time, I thought it’s probably because it’s a slow song with lots of ’empty’ space that makes it difficult, because if there’s not enough expressive and immersive emotion, it became a boring performance. So it’s possible that it’s the guqin player who lacks feeling while performing it. Maybe there are better examples of the song? I’m not knowledgeable though, so I don’t know.

    There’s an easy way to enjoy the novel description though, since I remind myself many times that Jiang Li must have played it with better emotion. Not easy, but doable 😅😅

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