CH 20.2

Translator – Xiao He Lian

Chapter 20.1

Wen Chi said: “Replying to Your Majesty, yes.”

The emperor said, “Come and sit down.”

The palace maid at the side immediately brought a stool and gently placed it next to Shi Ye’s wheelchair.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

After Wen Chi finished speaking, he walked over to sit down and raised his head slightly. Only then did he get a clear view of the situation in imperial study. It turned out that there was not only the Emperor alone but also a gorgeously dressed beautiful woman and a handsome young man.

That woman should be Concubine Rong.

As for the young man beside her…

If Wen Chi guessed correctly, that man should be the protagonist of the novel, Shi Jin, the fourth prince and also Concubine Rong’s son.

Wen Chi quietly glanced at the man’s mouth and sure enough, he saw a conspicuous little black mole under the man’s lips.

It’s really Shi Jin.

Shi Jin seemed to sense his gaze and suddenly turned to look.

Wen Chi quickly retracted his gaze. He was so frightened that his heart almost burst through his chest.

Just the next moment, he sensed something and tilted his head and saw Shi Ye resting his chin looking at him, as if he had just seen all the small movements.

Wen Chi: “…”

Why does he have the illusion of being caught in adultery…

Fortunately, the Emperor and Concubine Rong who were talking did not notice. After Concubine Rong finished speaking, the Emperor turned his attention to Wen Chi again: “I heard from Lord Yin that you came up with the way to deal with the locust plague in Jinzhou?”

Wen Chi hurriedly said, “This person1Wen Chi uses the word 小人 [xiǎo rén], which is a from of address for a person with a low position, since he is a male concubine so he doesn’t have a status just thought of one or two points.”

“Concubine Rong has just finished being modest and you are start again .” The Emperor’s face was more rounded, his smile was amiable giving off a feeling of a kind old father. He pointed to Wen Chi amusingly, “Lord Yin has told me everything, but it’s a pity that your method takes a long time and there is no short term solution. I need you to explain it in detail.”

Wen Chi said yes and explained it in detail.

No matter in which era, locust plagues are not something new. People who have worked hard for decades to prevent locust plagues have only reap the fruits in the 21st century.

In fact, Wen Chi didn’t specifically learn about the locust plague but he happened to see a summary from a blogger when he was browsing Weibo and he wrote down the methods that the people have used for decades.

Compared with trapping and killing by bonfire, ditching and catching them with tools, it is more effective to destroy the eggs. The locusts like to lay their eggs in slightly moist land, especially in drought and flood years, when there are no plants and the land is moistened with water, which is a breeding ground for locusts.

The best way to reduce this kind of soil is to build water conservancy and plant trees.

Wen Chi added his own opinions as he spoke and explained it more and more carefully, as if he was telling a story. In the end, not only the emperor and the fourth prince Shi Jin listened carefully but even Concubine Rong, who knew nothing about this, also listened with great interest.

After Wen Chi finished speaking, the Emperor and Shi Jin were silent at the same time, and there was something more in their eyes when they looked at Wen Chi.

After a long time, the emperor barely suppressed the excitement and ecstasy in his heart and asked calmly, “Where did you learn these methods?”

Wen Chi took out his prepared speech: “Replying to Your Majesty, This Person loves to read miscellaneous books, these ideas are all mentioned in those miscellaneous books and I just analyze and organize them and then use them.”

The emperor laughed from ear to ear.

“Okay, very good.” After thinking about it, he couldn’t hold back the surging in his heart and said to the eunuch beside him, “Call Yong Lin, Pan Wen Kang, and Yin Chong to me, the sooner the better. .” 

The eunuch responded in a hurry and quickly ran out of the imperial study with the whisk in his arms.

The emperor got up and paced back and forth a few times, then turned and pointed at Wen Chi: “You are really my savior, I want to reward you, what do you want? Just tell me.”

Wen Chi immediately knelt down: “Replying to Your Majesty, It’s This Person’s fortune to share the worries of the emperor and the people of the country. This Person did not think about asking for any reward for his efforts. I hope that Your Majesty can make a small atonement for the mistakes I once made.”

The emperor was stunned: “What is your crime?”

“This, This Person…” At this juncture, Wen Chi suddenly got stuck, he felt a panic for no reason, and subconsciously looked up at Shi Ye.

He saw that Shi Ye was still holding his chin with one hand and his posture hadn’t changed.

From the beginning to the end, he was like an outsider who had nothing to do with him. His indifferent eyes fixed on Wen Chi and he seemed to be looking at another person through Wen Chi.

Suddenly, Wen Chi remembered the enemy Shi Ye had mentioned, the enemy who looked exactly like him more than ten years ago.

He thought that Shi Ye might be looking at that enemy through him.

“Speak.” The emperor’s voice pulled back Wen Chi’s thoughts, “Maybe I can be of help.”

Wen Chi pressed his forehead to the floor and spoke bravely, “This Person is guilty, This Person is not Wen Liang, the first son of the Wen family. This Person  is called Wen Chi, a concubine born son of the Wen family. I took the place of my brother Wen Liang and married into the East Palace, I deserve to die!”

Hearing this, Concubine Rong and Shi Jin were both shocked and turned their heads to look at each other. 

The emperor’s eyes were also gloomy: “What did you say?”

Wen Chi was lying on the ground and dared not stand up: “This Person deserves death!”

At this moment, he no longer dared to look up to see Shi Ye’s expression, he could not even imagine what expression Shi Ye would use to look at him.

The author has something to say: 

The content related to the locust plague comes from the Weibo of “British Newspaper Sister”, which is quite interesting.

T/N – Do you think Shi Ye has known that Wen Chi was not Wen Liang all along??