YNRHPCYC Chapter 78

The eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month was the emperor’s birthday.

Wen Chan got up early in the morning. When he looked out the window, yawning drowsily, he immediately saw white snow fluttering about the willow catkin.

He was a little surprised and asked Ah Fu, who was standing next to him, “It is snowing today?”

Ah Fu replied, “Answering Your Highness. I heard from the palace servants who were on all-night duty that it started to snow at midnight, and now the snow outside is as thick as the sole of a shoe.”

Wen Chan didn’t ask anymore and looked out the window again. The assigned palace servants dressed him neatly, and he walked out of the hall with hand warmers in his hands.

The sky was grey and bright at this time, and light snow was floating all over the sky, mixed with a chill. The palace walls, roofs, steps, and floors were covered with a layer of white snow, clean and neat.

He raised his head slightly, exhaled a white mist, and stood quietly under the eaves.

Ah Fu, who was waiting respectfully by the side, waved his hand to let the palace servants retreat one by one.

It was unknown how long he stood there. And when Wen Chan’s whole face was cold, he moved his feet and said, “Let’s go.”

The emperor always liked to entertain the hundreds of officials in the capital on his birthday. For this reason, a palace hall was specially built for banquets and was called the “Longevity Celebration Hall”.

Wen Chan felt that a part of the reason he liked to join in the fun so much was that he was influenced by the emperor. After he became the emperor, he also held small banquets for three days and big banquets for five days. It was for nothing else but to have a great time.

Anyway, today was also a big day. No one among the hundred officials dared to neglect it, and they hurried to the palace in their own carriages. The endless stream of troops opened up a conspicuous road in the snowy path.

Wen Chan’s carriage travelled extremely slowly, and it took more than half an hour to reach the Longevity Celebration Hall. When he entered, many people were already sitting in the main hall.

The Zhong and the Xie families, who held power in the capital; the Zhao and the Qiao families, who were famous; and the He and the Lu families, who were loved and respected by the common folks, made up most of them.

He subconsciously glanced around the hall and found that the person he was thinking of was not there. So he retracted his gaze and walked slowly towards his position.

“Your Ninth Royal Highness.” One person came over to stop him from going.

Wen Chan turned his head to see Liang Shuhong, whom he had not seen for a long time, and he raised a gentle smile, “Young Master Liang, I haven’t seen you for a long time. How are you doing lately?”

“I have to ask Your Highness about this. I heard that Your Highness has not been having a very peaceful and safe time these days.” Liang Shuhong frowned slightly. When he heard this news earlier, he was still doing official business with his father elsewhere. Although he also wanted to return to the capital to ask about the situation carefully, it was difficult to get away.

Later, when he came back, he wanted to go into the palace to have a look. However, the guards of Xiyang Palace were too strict and did not allow visits at all. So he gave up.

Today, he had the chance to ask a few questions. But since there were so many people here, he wouldn’t be able to ask in detail.

Wen Chan’s smile remained the same, “I’m all right. There have been some unforeseen events in the past few days. But it’s okay.”

Liang Shuhong wanted to ask more, but from the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of many people looking over there rejoicing in his misfortune. So he nodded and said, “I, your servant, will pay Your Highness a visit again in a few days.”

The rumour of the news that a few days ago, the ninth prince got so scared that he cried, was still hot now. When some officials’ children looked at him, their eyes showed a little bit of ridicule.

But Wen Chan didn’t mind it either. He calmly walked to his place and took a seat. The tenth prince, Wen Zhang, leaned over, “Ninth Royal Brother, have you recovered?”

He found it funny, “Why do you have to ask this every time you meet me?”

Wen Zhang scratched his head, “Ninth Royal Brother seems to always sustain injuries. I’m worried about your body……”

“I’m not that weak.” Wen Chan said with a smile, “In any case, it’s Zhang Er’s royal brother, right?”

Wen Zhang nodded, “Naturally, my royal brother will not be easily knocked down by those bad guys.”

Wen Zhang’s concubine mother was a pure and kind-hearted person. She didn’t like to strive for favour, but she was very smart. She knew that her son was close to Wen Chan, but she never forced him to stay away from this unlucky ninth prince like the other concubines.

Before the birthday banquet, she specifically warned Wen Zhang not to ask the ninth prince anything about the assassination and poisoning and to just show concern for his health, and that would be enough.

Wen Zhang remembered it firmly. So even though he was curious, he held back and didn’t ask.

Wen Chan looked at the plates of pastries on the table in front of him, picked up one, and ate it slowly. His eyes wandered around the hall casually and finally stopped at the middle-aged man sitting diagonally opposite.

The man had a thin frame and pale skin, with a beard about half a finger long on his chin. Even when he sat quietly, there was an unsettling aura about him.

This person was Zhong Guoyi, the prime minister of the dynasty.

Wen Chan looked at him with an imperceptible sneer at the corner of his mouth.

Zhong Guoyi, in your previous life, you hurt my Wen family and the people of the entire capital so badly. In this life, it’s time for you to pay for all those things.

Maybe he felt Wen Chan’s gaze, but Zhong Guoyi suddenly raised his eyelids to look at him. Wen Chan was composed and deepened his smile, showing him a pure and kindhearted look.

But Zhong Guoyi couldn’t even be bothered with such superficial niceties and looked away with a cold face.

Wen Chan also turned his head sideways and looked towards the main hall. At this moment, Liang Yanbei, who was dressed in brocade, came in under the cold snow.

As soon as he came in, he immediately caused a lot of discussions. He was clearly following Liang Jun, but the thousands of eyes were fixed on him.

It’s no wonder. He had only been in the capital for a year, and he didn’t even have an official position. But he had done a big thing and had made great contributions that even Liang Jun’s official position had been promoted.

He had the true nature of a young man, full of vigour and vitality.

In just one year, Liang Yanbei had become a representative of the youth in the capital. Together with Xie Zhaoxue, who was “good at martial arts”; Liang Shuhong, who was “good at literature”; and Zhong Wenjin, who was “good at differentiating good from evil”, they became the four young masters of the capital.

Naturally, the “good” in “good and evil” here simply meant being especially adept at committing evil deeds.

Liang Yanbei’s eyes briefly swept around and immediately met Wen Chan’s. Finally, he saw the person he had been thinking about for half a month. Liang Yanbei did not hide his emotions at all, and his eyebrows and eyes were stained with a smile.

It was like it could melt the cold snow in an instant. It was warm.

Wen Chan’s heart jumped when he saw it. So he quickly turned his gaze away, lowered his head indifferently, and did not respond to the puzzled glances cast by the surrounding officials.

Also, during the Lantern Festival this year, everyone was able to see that the ninth prince and Liang Yanbei did not get along well. Liang Yanbei invited the ninth prince to travel with him several times but was ruthlessly rejected. People in the capital said that the ninth prince preferred the older Young Master Liang.

However, no one expected Liang Yanbei, who was of a more noble status, to not retreat and continue to always show his fondness for the ninth prince.

Wasn’t the look of the ninth prince at the moment just the look of not wanting to see him?

Everyone was secretly cursing him and making guesses. And each of them was different. But Liang Yanbei himself didn’t have so many thoughts. He still smiled, briefly greeted his usual friends, and sat down at his seat.

Everyone took their seats according to their identities. After Liang Yanbei sat down, he found that there was still a row of people sitting in front of him, and it was a bit strenuous to see Wen Chan sitting in front.

Besides, Wen Chan was quite reserved and didn’t want to look over there at all.

Liang Yanbei propped his chin on his hands, his eyes motionless, and stared at Wen Chan confidently without moving his eyes, ignoring the same looks from the people around him. In the end, Liang Jun couldn’t watch it anymore. He turned his head and lowered his voice to ask, wondering, “Why do you always stare at His Ninth Royal Highness?”

“Father, His Ninth Royal Highness and I are good friends. He has had such a big incident. So I should in any case care about him.” Liang Yanbei said naturally.

“Are you caring for him with your eyes?” Liang Jun was between laughter and tears, “Then what this friend of yours did is really in place.”

“I would like to care for him in other ways too. But I am not getting the chance.” Liang Yanbei shrugged.

“It’s all just excuses. I think you clearly have dirty intentions.” Liang Jun leaned closer and joked in a very low voice, “Do you keep staring at His Ninth Royal Highness because he looks good?”

Liang Yanbei first raised his eyebrows, feeling surprised, and then firmly denied, “Dad, you think too shallowly of me.”

Liang Jun smacked his mouth and turned his head again. He glanced at Wen Chan and emphasised in his heart that His Ninth Royal Highness really looked good.

Soon after, Xie Zhaoxue also entered the hall. But this time he did not bring Zhong Wenjin with him and just followed Xie Shengran.

Xie Zhaoxue’s connections were beyond words. As soon as he entered the door, many young men rushed to greet him. Xie Zhaoxue responded to them one by one with a gentle smile, without the slightest impatience, and the hall became lively for a while.

Wen Chan ate half a plate of snacks by himself and looked outside the palace.

He watched for a while, then slowly got up and walked outside the hall. And Ah Fu hurriedly followed him out.

He walked out of the palace door, looked left and right, and chose to go right. Walking down the stairs, he left a row of clear footprints along the path.

The snow fell on his hair and melted in an instant, leaving small liquid beads. Some of them fell on his face, dispelling the warmth on his body in a moment and covering him with a layer of coldness.

After going around the path a few times, the bells in the palace rang, stretching for miles, and Wen Chan turned around to walk back after hearing it. He changed direction and walked to the small path by the side door of the Heshou Hall. When he looked up, he saw a line of palace servants coming towards him.

Each palace servant carried a tray in their hands, and there were bowls containing soup on the trays.

Wen Chan’s eyes were filled with the coldness of snow, and his pace was still steady. He walked towards the line of palace servants, and all the palace servants stood aside, bowed their heads, and gave way.

He walked to the centre, but suddenly his feet slipped, and his body tilted to the side. Fortunately, Ah Fu helped him from the back and stabilised him in time. But then in a hurry, he accidentally hit a palace servant’s tray with his hand. The lid of the dish was lifted a little, and it fell on the tray.

The palace maid was so frightened that she knelt down hurriedly, “Your Highness, spare my life!”

After Wen Chan stood still, he brushed Ah Fu away, lowered his hand to close the lid again, and raised the maid’s chin with his index finger, making the maid look over.

He smiled brightly and said, “Bengong believes I’ve mentioned before that your eyes are beautiful, like crabapple blossoms in autumn.”

The palace maid’s face turned red, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

“It was just that this bengong just now couldn’t stand still and scared you for no reason. You get up quickly.” Wen Chan retracted his hand and said to them, “You guys go in; don’t waste time.”

“Yes.” The palace servants responded in unison, and when the palace maid got up, they went to the Hall of Heshou together.

Wen Chan continued to walk forward but then stopped slowly after a few steps, spread out his right palm to pick up a few snowflakes, and said lightly, “I wonder who will be the unlucky one today?”

“This slave thinks that it’s fine as long as it’s not His Royal Highness.” Ah Fu agreed submissively.

Wen Chan smiled, “I don’t think it will be me either.”

He stopped for a while and was about to go back. But when he turned around, he saw Liang Yanbei standing not far away, looking at him through the thin snow.

Wen Chan’s originally calm heart was shaken in an instant. He saw that Liang Yanbei’s expression was strange. He first looked at his face, then moved his gaze down, and then it finally stopped at his hand.

Then a questioning voice came, “I wonder how Your Highness felt when you touched someone else’s chin just now?”

Translator’s corner

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