Listen to this article27韦小宝回到宫里,康熙道:：小桂子,我去魑宁宫请安,你跟我来。”韦小宝应道:“是!”想到要见太后,不由得胆战心惊。
27 When Wei Xiaobao returned to the palace, Kangxi said, “Little Guizi, I’ll go to the Devil’s Palace to greet you. You come with me.” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Yes!” The thought of seeing the empress dowager made him shudder.
28太后微笑道:“小桂子,到天桥买冰糖葫芦吃没有?”韦小宝明白乐太后是在探问瑞栋回来没有,便道:“回太后,买冰糖葫芦的都改行了，有一个还说要到五台山、六台山去贩和尚吃的素馒头。”太后听罢,竖眉大怒。
28 The Empress Dowager smiled and said, “Xiao Guizi, do you want to buy Bingtanghulu at the overpass?” Wei Xiaobao understood that Empress Dowager Le was inquiring whether Ruidong had come back. He said, “Back to the Empress Dowager, those who bought Bingtanghulu have changed their careers. One of them said he would go to Mount Wutai and Mount Liutai to sell vegetarian Mantou for monks.” Hearing this, the Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows angrily.
29太后微微冷笑道:“小桂子很能干,我想留在身边,皇帝,你看怎样?康熙虽然含不得韦小宝,但也不敢违抛太后,怏怏地起身告辞。韦小宝怔怔地瞧着康熙背影出了慈宁宫,忍不住便想大哭。
29 The Empress Dowager sneered: “Little Guizi is very capable. I want to stay with you, Emperor. What do you think? Although Kangxi couldn’t contain Wei Xiaobao, he didn’t dare to leave the empress dowager. He stood up and said good-bye. Wei Xiaobao stared at Kangxi’s back out of the Palace of Mercy and could not help crying.
30太后双掌轻轻一拍,内室走出一名体态极肥、眼小嘴大、名唤柳燕的宫女。柳燕大脚一挥,重重踏在韦小宝胸膛之上,要取韦小宝性命。韦小宝忙叫道:“太后,我死了,瑞栋给我的那部《四十二章经》……”
30 The empress dowager clapped her palms gently, and a very fat maid with small eyes and big mouth, named Liu Yan, came out of the inner room. Liu Yan waved her big foot and stepped heavily on Wei Xiaobao’s chest to take his life. Wei Xiaobao hurriedly shouted, “Empress Dowager, I’m dead. The forty-two chapters sutra that Ruidong gave me…”
31太后吩咐柳燕随韦小宝去取《四十二章经》,韦小宝回到住处,故意将门锁弄得叮当直响,大叫大骂,好让房中的方沐二人知道来了凶恶敌人。
The Empress Dowager ordered Liu Yan to follow Wei Xiaobao to get the 42 Chapters Sutra. Wei Xiaobao went back to his residence, deliberately jingled the door lock and shouted and cursed, so that Fang Mu and the two in the room could know that there was a vicious enemy.
32进到房中,韦小宝一猫腰钻入床底,柳要抓韦小宝,也跟着往床下钻,她的上身刚钻入床底，躲在床上蚊帐中的方怡双手扶住长剑,从床上挺剑插落,直刺入柳燕背心。
32 When he entered the room, Wei Xiaobao crept into the bed with a cat’s waist. Liu wanted to catch Wei Xiaobao and followed him. Her upper body just penetrated into the bed. Fang Yi, hiding in the mosquito net on the bed, held the long sword with both hands, thrust the sword from the bed, and thrust it straight into Liu Yan’s vest.
33韦小宝道:“过一会,老婊子会再派人来,咱们快逃。”他在柳燕尸体上撤了化厂粉,将紧要东西扎在包袱里,让方怡和沐剑屏装扮成太监。沐剑屏断了腿,用门闩当拐杖,韦小宝扶着方怡,出得屋来。
Wei Xiaobao said, “Later, the old bitch will send someone again. Let’s run away.” He removed the chemical powder from Liu Yan’s body, wrapped the important things in a bundle, and let Fang Yi and Mu Jianping dress up as eunuchs. Mu Jianping broke his leg and used the latch as a crutch. Wei Xiaobao helped Fang Yi out of the room.
34走出不远,方怡发觉丢了根银钗。韦小宝便将她俩安置在一间僻静屋内,回去寻找。他拾了银钗正要离开，猛见柳燕的一对金绊绣鞋和鞋中双脚还未化去。韦小宝童心忽起,决定将双脚丢入太后屋中,吓她个半死。
Not far away, Fang Yi found that she had lost a silver hairpin. Wei Xiaobao placed them in a quiet room and went back to look for them. He picked up the silver hairpin and was about to leave when he saw that Liu Yan’s pair of golden embroidered shoes and feet in the shoes had not been melted. Wei Xiaobao’s childlike innocence suddenly arose and decided to throw his feet into the queen mother’s room, scaring her half to death.
35韦小宝用长衫裹了一双连鞋断脚,悄悄来到慈宁宫,从窗缝向内张去，见太后和一个灰衣宫女正在说话。太后掀开被褥,在床板上的机关中取出一柄短剑,和那个宫女走出寝殿,房中烛火也不吹熄。
35 Wei Xiaobao wrapped a pair of shoes in a long gown and broke his feet. He crept to the Palace of Mercy and Tranquility and opened his eyes through the window. He saw the empress dowager and a lady in grey were talking. The empress dowager opened the bedclothes, took out a dagger from the mechanism on the bedboard, and walked out of the bedroom with the maid. The candles in the room did not blow out.
36韦小宝闪身进屋,掀开被褥,见床板下有一个长方形暗格,放着三部《四十二章经》,两部是鳌拜府中所抄得,另部封皮为白绸子，曾听说是顺治帝送给董鄂妃的。韦小宝拿了经书,将柳燕双脚放入暗格。
36 Wei Xiaobao flashed into the room and opened the quilt. There was a rectangular dark grid under the bed board, and there were three copies of the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, two of which were copied from the Obai Palace, and the other was made of white silk. It was said that the Shunzhi Emperor had given it to Princess Dong. Wei Xiaobao took the scripture and put Liu Yan’s feet in the dark box.
