YNRHPCYC Chapter 79

Wen Chan glanced at him and said seriously, “Not bad. After all, she is a woman. So her skin is naturally more tender than that of a man.”

Liang Yanbei’s eyebrows tightened all of a sudden, and he said, “Actually, my skin is quite tender too. My mother often praises mine for being like that of a little girl.”

Wen Chan felt an inexplicable feeling, “Aren’t you being a bit too proud?”

“Of course not.” Liang Yanbei blinked his eyes, looking expectant, “Your Highness didn’t even praise me for being as beautiful as a crabapple flower. Then how can I be proud?”

He pulled his lips and smiled, and walked straight past Liang Yanbei, “That’s something I need to think about.”

Liang Yanbei followed him and squeezed back Ah Fu by two steps, “Your Highness, you should think about it carefully. In fact, I am not picky either. Just a few compliments will do.”

Ah Fu joined in the fun from the back and said, “Young Master Liang, how about this slave praise you? I may not be good at anything else, but when it comes to giving compliments, this servant is quite skilled.”

After listening, Wen Chan said, “Indeed, I can vouch for that.”

Ah Fu was very good at flattering people. If he is flattering people, he can talk for an hour without stopping. If he praised Liang Yanbei, he might be able to praise Liang Yanbei to the point of him flying.

But Liang Yanbei shook his head, “I don’t want it. Ah Fu’s words are all false.”

“Hey! If this slave is praising Young Master Liang, it will really be a sincere compliment!” Ah Fu said hurriedly.

Liang Yanbei made a “tsk” sound and looked back at him, “Go away. Go away.”

Aren’t you rushing to make trouble?

Ah Fu pursed his lips, holding back a smile, and stepped aside.

Liang Yanbei turned his head and thought about saying a few more words to Wen Chan but found that he had already walked to the front of the hall. He looked at him in a somewhat depressed mood as he stepped into the hall.

However, the distance between them was too great. So Liang Yanbei could only admire from afar, unable to do anything more.

The soups that the palace servants had sent up before had already been placed, and everyone got it. Some people had already taken a few sips impatiently.

Wen Chan returned to his seat. He glanced at his soup, picked up the spoon with an unreadable expression, and brought two spoons to his mouth.

“Imperial brother, can I have your desserts?” There was a soft and weak voice next to him, and Wen Chan’s attention was attracted by it. He turned his head and saw that it was the eleventh princess from Concubine Mei, Wen Linglong.

Wen Linglong was now almost six years old. But because she had been frail since she was born, she rarely attended such occasions. The emperor also loved her very much. In addition to naming her personally, he had also given her a lot of concessions.

In his previous life, Wen Chan had no impression of this eleventh princess. Firstly, he never cared about these things, and secondly, she appeared in front of him very few times.

So much so that when Ah Fu mentioned her some time ago, Wen Chan could not find a trace of memory about Wen Linglong.

Wen Chan took a close look at the little princess, and his eyes suddenly stopped on her face, thinking that she looked very familiar.

He glanced at Zhong Wenting across, then turned his head and looked back at Wen Linglong carefully. He then found a small black mole at the end of her left eyebrow. Wen Chan was shocked all over, and suddenly the Wen Linglong in front of him coincided with a woman in his memory.

Zhong Wenting’s eldest daughter, Zhong Qianye.

They were so alike! Especially the mole at the end of the eyebrow, which Wen Chan remembered very clearly! After Zhong Guoyi became emperor in his previous life, Zhong Qianye was named the princess of Zangzhu. Later, Zhong Wenjin directly cut off her head and threw it in front of Wen Chan.

At that time, Wen Chan knew that Zhong Wenjin was a lunatic, but he didn’t expect him to treat a woman like this. Then he heard Zhong Wenjin say,

“It can be regarded as me indirectly doing a small revenge for your Wen family. When the Zhong family soldiers entered the palace, she took the people to kill the gatekeeper, and she acted together to welcome in the Zhong family.”

Wen Chan was both shocked and angry. And he was itching to resurrect her once to kill her himself. But in the end the person was already dead, and it was impossible to put her head back.

Wen Chan took a last look at her. Apart from the ferocious expression, only the mole at the end of her eyebrow remained fresh in his memory.

Now he stared at Wen Linglong, but the more he looked at her, the more alike she was. That soft and immature face vaguely resembled Qianye’s for a few minutes. Wen Chan’s breathing became rapid, and various possibilities unfolded in his mind and finally slowly gathered into one.

Princess of Zangzhu? What Princess of Zangzhu! It turned out that the Wens had raised a thankless wretch for so many years!

After listening to Wen Yue’s words, Wen Chan only suspected that Concubine Mei and Zhong Wenting had an improper relationship. Now it seemed that the two were much more courageous than he believed. They dared to raise this bastard child right under the emperor’s nose.

Wen Chan’s gaze was blazing hot. Wen Linglong seemed to notice it. She looked up and blinked her big round eyes, “Royal Brother, do you want to eat it too?”

She was holding two pieces of dessert that she had taken out of Wen Zhang’s plate in her hand.

Wen Chan realised his abnormality and closed his eyes to calm himself down, “I don’t want to eat it. You can eat it yourself.”

“Oh.” Wen Linglong nodded obediently, took the desserts to eat by herself, and took a sip of soup from time to time to accompany it.

Wen Chan retracted his gaze, no longer looking at her, and drank two mouthfuls of soup to calm down.

Wen Zhang was well-behaved, and the eighth princess ignored Wen Chan with disdain. So Wen Chan was in peace, which was out of tune with the bustle in the hall.

Fortunately, this situation did not last long. The second bell rang, and then a chant sounded from the entrance of the hall, “The emperor is here— —!”

Suddenly, the hall fell silent, and everyone got up at the same time, facing the door of the hall. As a touch of bright yellow appeared in everyone’s vision, the people in the hall knelt down and saluted, “Long live my emperor, long live forever!”

The emperor and the queen walked in slowly. He smiled and said, “My dear ministers, please stand up.”

He walked on the wide path in the middle to the golden seat in the centre and glanced down, “Today is my birthday. I asked the officials to come here just for having fun. Let us not be bound by such trivial constraints and ruin my mood.”

“This servant will obey the emperor’s decree.” “This son will obey the emperor’s decree.” “This concubine will obey the emperor’s decree.” Numerous voices were mixed together.

Since the emperor entered the hall, everyone had taken their seats, with the heir and concubines on the left of the emperor and the court officials on the right.

After everyone sat down, the emperor, as usual, first “visited” the favoured ministers, casually asked some questions about their day-to-day family life, and asked the princes some questions about their daily studies.

The eldest prince and the second princess were siblings born to the same parents. The two echoed one another, making the emperor smile in amusement, and soon they warmed up the atmosphere in the hall.

After chatting a few words, the third bell rang, and it was noon.

The emperor raised his hand slightly, and the chief eunuch beside him understood right away. He gave a quick gesture and ordered the sound of guqin music to be played.

As soon as the lingering notes of the guqin filled the air, everyone seemed to relax. Wine was poured, and after a couple of drinks, the banquet finally started to come alive.

Wen Chan was quiet from beginning to end. His fingers tapping gently on the table, his eyes misty, he seemed to be enjoying the wonderful guqin music.

When it came time to present birthday gifts to the emperor, the queen spoke, “Your Majesty, in the past two years, the ministers have always gone first, each offering treasures of the highest quality. By the time it reached us, Your Majesty was already weary of them all. The gifts we sisters have prepared with great care deserve a chance to truly catch your eye. This year, allow me to speak on behalf of my sisters—we humbly request that Your Majesty let us go first.”

The emperor smiled helplessly, “Okay, okay, I’ll let you all go first.”

The queen wrinkled her nose playfully, “Thank you, Your Majesty. Then this concubine will take her leave first.”

She raised her hand, and a palace maid immediately stepped forward, kneeling as she presented a brocade garment. The Empress then said, “This is something I stitched myself, Your Majesty. Though Your Majesty does not lack winter clothes, I still wanted to make one for you. It features Your Majesty’s favourite paulownia tree. I hope Your Majesty will not dislike my craftsmanship.”

With that being said, the palace maid displayed her brocade clothes, and the wutong tree in the lower left corner of the robe became clear to everyone, and she immediately received a lot of praise.

The emperor also liked it very much, and he held the queen’s hand, “Queen, you are too modest. I’m afraid your craftsmanship is hard to match in the whole of Xiliang. Reward her!”

The queen pursed her lips and smiled, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your appreciation.”

Although the things she presented were not treasures, they were very thoughtful. Although the next few concubines were all rewarded, they failed to make the emperor show a happy look until it was Concubine Mei’s turn.

Wen Chan had just learnt the big news and couldn’t help but pay a little more attention to this Concubine Mei.

Concubine Mei did have a bit of allure. Now that she was young, her every frown and smile was extremely eye-catching. No wonder she was unwaveringly favoured by the emperor.

There was a gentle smile on her face, and she walked slowly forward with her personal maid while swaying her slender waist.

Wen Chan glanced at her and felt a little weird.

Before she could even stand still, something unexpected happened that caught her off guard.

Somehow, the palace maid lost her footing and stumbled forward, falling straight onto Concubine Mei’s back. The impact wasn’t light, and she directly knocked down Concubine Mei.

Under the stunned gaze of everyone, and in the midst of exclamations, the two of them fell, and a small jade block with bluish-green and white colours rolled forward and stopped.

Concubine Mei, however, seemed to be struck by lightning. Regardless of how embarrassing her posture was, she suddenly crawled forward a few steps and reached out to grab the small piece of jade very quickly.

This series of actions was almost instinctive, and everyone in the hall was shocked.

Wen Chan was also very surprised. Looking at the accident in front of him, he suddenly raised his eyes and saw Zhong Wenting opposite him with a face that was as pale as snow, extremely terrified.

He thought in his heart: Didn’t your reaction come a bit too soon?

Concubine Mei and the palace maid quickly got up and knelt down. The birthday gift that was originally going to be given to the emperor was scattered all over the floor, which seemed to be some kind of tea.

“This concubine deserves to die. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me for committing the mistake of being discourteous in front of the palace hall.” Concubine Mei forced herself to calm down, and she opened her mouth, trying to make her mistakes as light as possible.

The palace was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone saw her abnormal behaviour just now, and they tactfully shut up and watched the show passively.

The queen looked at the emperor first and then asked with a worried expression, “Did sister fall? Was it a piece of jade that just fell out? Hurry up and see if it’s broken.”

Concubine Mei shuddered, “It’s just an ordinary piece of jade. It’s not worth being keyed up about.”

But the emperor’s face ashened, and he was not deceived by her at all. He said solemnly, “Bring up the thing and let me see!”

What Concubine Mei was so anxious to hide was obviously not as simple as an ordinary jade.

When she heard that the emperor wanted to take it up to have a look, Concubine Mei’s face turned grim, and she suddenly raised her hand and got ready to swallow the jade into her mouth. Her action was so fast that no one could react in time.

At this time, the palace maids kneeling beside her moved very quickly. One of them rushed forward and immediately hugged Concubine Mei’s arm, crying, “My queen, please don’t think about it!”

Concubine Mei’s power was obviously inferior to that of the palace girl. With just this pull, she directly pulled her hand away. Concubine Mei was going crazy and wanted to push the maid. During this gap, the emperor immediately sent someone to restrain Concubine Mei.

When she was held down, Concubine Mei was completely frightened and crumpled. She struggled madly and cried, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Don’t!”

The jade block held in her hand was forcibly pulled out, and the guards held it up and presented it to the emperor.

Everyone in the hall even held their breath, staring at the piece of jade.

Only Wen Chan quietly observed Zhong Wenting and saw that his fear had become more and more obvious, and his body trembled more and more obviously, which was very similar to that of Concubine Mei.

In an instant, Wen Chan seemed to understand something.

However, at the moment the emperor received the jade block, a scream suddenly sounded beside Wen Chan, shrill and abrupt.

At once, all eyes turned toward her. Wen Linglong suddenly knocked over the cakes and soup on the table with a loud crash, then collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach and rolling in agony, screaming non-stop as if in unbearable pain.

Wen Chan’s eyebrows moved. The time had come.

Wen Zhang was frightened and quickly got up to touch Wen Linglong’s body, “Imperial sister! What’s wrong with you?!”

Wen Chan stopped him and shouted, “Quickly call the imperial physician!”

The emperor held the jade in his hand, and when he saw Wen Linglong rolling on the ground in pain, he panicked and yelled, “Where is the imperial physician! Quickly send him!”

As soon as the voice fell, Wen Linglong vomited a large mouthful of blood, and the piercing red colour stained her clothes in an instant, and the smell of blood spread in the air, creating a ghastly sight.

Accidents happened one after another, and the people in the hall were dumbfounded, and they didn’t know how to react at all. However, when Concubine Mei saw her daughter like this, she got her strength from somewhere, and she overturned the guards who restrained her. She ran to Wen Linglong’s side, stumbling and crawling, and held her in her arms, crying, “Linglong! Linglong! Don’t scare this mother!”

Wen Linglong didn’t seem to be able to hear her at all. The severe pain caused her to lose her mind. She frantically thrashed in Concubine Mei’s arms and kicked Concubine Mei several times in a row.

“Help! Help!” Concubine Mei wiped the blood from Wen Linglong’s mouth and sought help from the surrounding people, trying anyone or anything in the crisis.

Wen Chan was the closest person to them. He pulled Wen Zhang back with a look of panic, “Concubine Mei, the imperial physician will be here soon. Don’t worry.”

Taking advantage of the panic, the emperor on the throne looked down at the jade in his hand, turned it slightly, and a clear word “Zhong” appeared in his eyes.

His eyes widened instantly, and he was furious. His teeth were clenched, and he tightened his grip on the jade, crushing it. He stared at Concubine Mei, who was crying bitterly, as if he wanted to tear her apart with his bare hands. After a long while, he finally squeezed out the words from his teeth.

“You are truly remarkable, Concubine Mei!”

Wen Chan took a few steps back in a row and looked up. Everyone stood up from their seats. Some were silent, while others stretched their necks to watch the fun, and small comments were heard.

He looked around in the crowd and suddenly met Liang Yanbei’s eyes.

There were several people between them, and he saw that pair of overly beautiful eyebrows and eyes were stained with a barely perceptible smile.

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