"Turbulent seven eight messy"
Refers to something extremely disorderly or chaotic
Negative
你的卧室今天早上乱七八糟的 | Nǐ de wòshì jīntiān zǎoshang luànqībāzāo de
Your bedroom was messy this morning
[Source]
在孩子用西红柿酱把墙壁涂得乱七八糟之后，他把墙壁重新粉刷了一遍 | Zài háizi yòng xīhóngshì jiàng bǎ qiángbì tú dé luànqībāzāo zhīhòu, tā bǎ qiángbì chóngxīn fěnshuā le yībiàn
He repainted the wall after the child made a mess of it with ketchup
[Source]
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乱七八遭 (luàn qī bā zāo)
Both of the conflicts mentioned in the story are extremely convoluted, so I've only covered the bare minimum. I encourage you to find out more about them!
《孽海花》(Niè Hǎi Huā), a novel criticizing the Qīng government (清, 1644 - 1911) that was started by 金松岑 (Jīn Sōng Cén) and finished by 曾朴 (Zēng Pǔ). Its chapters were published throughout end of the Qīng and the early years of the Republic of China (民国, MínGuó, 1912-1949), and its title has many English names, including "Flower in a Sinful Sea" and "Flower in a Sea of Karma"
This chengyu is actually a reference to two turbulent periods of Chinese history: 七国之乱 (Qī Guó Zhī Luàn | the Rebellion of the Seven States) and 八王之乱 (Bā Wáng Zhī Luàn ｜the War of the Eight Princes). The 七 comes from 七国之乱, while the 八 comes from 八王之乱.
The 七国之乱 was a period in the eastern Hàn (汉, Dōng Hàn, 25 - 220) which saw the uprising of seven princes against the emperor. The princes ruled territories that were loyal to the Hàn emperor, but they took to arms when the emperor tried to rein in their growing power. Unfortunately for them, the Hàn successfully quashed their rebellion.
The 八王之乱 refers to several periods of power struggle near the end of the Jìn Dynasty (晋, 265 - 420). The struggles started when a mentally disabled Emperor Hui took the throne and members of the royal household began to use him as a pawn in their quest for power. The exceptionally violent conflicts ended up weakening the Jìn to the point of extinction: nomadic people to the north invaded and took the Chinese capital, and the land split into sixteen kingdoms that fought amongst each other for almost 140 years.