C1 Part1

"There are assassins!

Protect His Highness, the Prince Regent! Protect His Highness, the Crown Prince!"

........

I don't know who it was that screamed at that time, but the birthday banquet of singing, dancing, toasting and clinking cups was suddenly turned into panic.

All the distinguished guests stood up in a panic. The cups and dishes on the banquet table were swept to the ground, clanging, accompanied by the exclamation of the distinguished guests. The sound was noisy, and the floor was messy.

I saw four glamorous dancers instantly turning into assassins, armed with soft swords, and aiming at today's birthday star, Murong Yu.

Their moves are sharp and fast. For normal people it would be hard to defend themselves from those attacks.

The prince regent, Murong Yu was originally sitting in the main seat and enjoying dancing and drinking.

When the four soft swords swam swiftly like poisonous snakes, he was still calm and relaxed, slowly holding up the sapphire wine glass and sending it into the entrance.

The sharp point of the sword was approaching, extremely critical.

At the time of danger, his black eyes slowly lifted up, and he jumped up violently.

The wine in the sapphire glass was poured out, turning into a sharp weapon and hitting the eyes of the four dancers assassins.

"What......"

The four assassins screamed fiercely, their eyes were hit by strong alcohol, and they couldn't be opened. They were red and swollen, and their injuries were exactly the same.

Those who came to celebrate the birthday of the regent of the court today were all members of the Supreme Court. Some distinguished guests fled in panic, some of them shivered in the corner, and several generals fought fiercely with the other assassins.

Prince Murong Ci stood in a safe corner, staring coldly at this thrilling assassination.

The four dancers assassins fell to the ground. Other four dancers stepped forward to try to assassinate Murong Yu, beckoning of killing.

"Protect His Highness, the Prince Regent!

Protect His Highness, the Crown Prince!"

Murong Ci's close servant Ruyi yelled in panic, stretching her arms to block the master.

Murong Ci's bright eyes burst out with a cold glow, stepping back, and finally quietly left the hall.

After walking forward for a while, he suddenly stopped, flashed into a room, and Ruyi quickly followed in.

Seeing His Royal Highness untie the golden robe, Ruyi was shocked, and said in a low voice,

"Your Highness, what are you doing?"

"This prince can't stay here doing nothing."

Murong Ci quickly took off his robe,

"Quickly loosen my hair."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Seeing that His Highness was so firm, Ruyi had to obey orders and untied the prince's golden crown-pin, holding her hair, and exchanged it with a green silky ribbon.

Then, Murong Ci took out something from his arms, pressed it to his face, and pressed it hard on the edge of his face a few times.

Suddenly, the heroic prince turned into a woman with a cold face.

"Find a place to hide, be smart."

Murong Ci looked at his transformation with satisfaction.

"This slave tells Your Highness...

she must be careful and not do anything dangerous..."

After her recommendations, Ruyi opened the door and looked out to observe the movement around her, and make sure that there was no one around to let His Highness out.

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※※(N.B.) I would like to do a "little" explanation of Names, First Person(I) & Second Person(You) Honorifics in this manhua and novel:

★★ Murong Ci, Murong Yu, and everyone refer to others in various ways (Second Person Honorifics). For example, Murong Ci calls him in various ways: Murong Yu, Prince Regent, Royal King, ...

-慕容彧 (Mùróng Yù - Murong Yu) - When she's angry or emotional in general, she'd call his full name "Murong Yu";

-王爷 (Wáng Yé - Prince Regent) - When she's talking about internal political matters, she'd call him with a general formal "Prince"(but since everyone in the Royal Palaces are princes in this story we translate this as "Regent") so "Prince Regent";

-御王 (Yù Wáng - Royal King) - When referring to him seen from the outside of the country point of view, and a little ironically, she'd call him like they call him "The Royal King".

-你(Nǐ - You) - In ancient China referring to Royalty with a direct "You" is very rude and impolite. So when Murong Ci uses it, it means she's either angry with him or speechless and goes "Y-Y-You!!!". However after referring to him with others words first, it's possible to use "You" in the middle of a sentence.

Murong Yu on the other hand, also calls her in various ways: Prince, Crown Prince, His Highness, His Royal Highness, Murong Ci, Ci'er, A'Ci, ...

-慕容辞 (Mùróng Cí - Murong Ci) - Her full name. He might be a bit ironic when he calls her full name I believe;

-太子殿下 (Tàizǐ Diànxià - His/Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince) - This is the full title, which if literally translated would be very long! So I put it usually as a shorter "His Royal Highness";

-殿下 (Diànxià - His Highness), a general "His Highness" which could be used referred to any Royal members other than His Majesty the Emperor or the Empress. In general all son Princes or Princesses are referred to as this both in Chinese and Japanese;

-太子 (Tàizǐ - Crown Prince or Prince) a shorter version for Crown Prince or simply Prince (but the Prince who will inherit the throne);

-辞儿 (Cí'er - Ci'er, Ci Lovely/Little/Dear/Darling m/Sweetheart) - A friendly, intimate and close way of calling a beloved one (especially used between family members to show bond and love). Very similar to the Japanese honorific for /-chan/;

-阿辞 (Ā'Cí - A'Ci - Darling/Honey/Sweetheart Ci), a very intimate way of calling your lover or fiancé or darling/honey. This will be the final way of how Murong Yu will call her in the future.

★★ As for first person honorifics when referring to themselves with "I":

-本王 (Běn Wáng - This King) - Literally translates in "My Honorable self" or "This Honorable King of mine". It's the first person honorific used by Murong Yu when referring to himself. It is a very domineering way of referring to himself, usually used by strong male characters belonging to the Royal Family.

It is very similar to the Japanese /Ore/ but in Royal version! In sentences it is translated and shortened to a simple "This King". It's funny because even if the character is not a king but a prince, they can still use it!

-本宮 (Běn Gōng - This Prince , This Princess, This Consort) - This honorific is used by both male and females of the Royal Family, especially by direct descendant of the Emperor and High rank Consorts/Concubines.

So this is used for example by Murong Ci as her main first person honorific, and I translate it in a simple "This Prince". The literal translation would be "This Palace" in which Palace refers to the Royal Palace, so literally "This Honorable Royal Palace member" or "My Honorable self".

The same goes for Princess Zhaohua that uses this honorific when referring to herself to others. I usually translate her honorific as "This Princess". However when talking to her dad she would say "This minister" or "This daughter (of yours)" instead.

Finally, Concubine Xiao also uses this honorific to refer to herself since she's the Highest rank Consort/Concubine in the Harem.

I usually translate her honorific as "This Consort/Concubine".

There are still many other honorifics, for the first person "I", which very rarely use the simple and plain 我(Wo - I) which is in modern China the plain "I" when referring to themselves.

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END of CHAPTER 1 PART 1

..........to be continued