CH 56.1

Translator – Xiao He Lian

Chapter 56.1

Wen Chi had nothing to do, so he simply lay down on the chair to rest.

Although the carriage was large, only Wen Chi and Ruo Fang were in it and the rest of the people who served Wen Chi were arranged in another carriage.

Since getting into the carriage, Ruo Fang has been busy all the time.

When Wen Chi woke up after a nap, he turned around and saw Ruo Fang sorting out the things she brought, including small boxes that looked extraordinarily delicate.

“What’s this?” Wen Chi curiously picked up one of the small boxes, opened it, and found that it contained Ruo Tao’s pineapple cake1(Pineapple Cake is a traditional Taiwanese pastry. It originated from the custom of the sweet phoenix biscuit of Longfeng Pancake and the double-filled biscuit of Yuanyang Biscuit. Its main raw materials are flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and wax gourd sauce. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.).

“We’re going to stay in the carriage for a while. This servant was worried that the young master might not get used to the food on the road, so me and Ruo Tao made some snacks. Young Master can have some if you are craving to eat them,” Ruo Fang said.

Wen Chi understood, no wonder Ruo Fang and Ruo Tao were busy in the kitchen when he was making the cake in the morning, it turned out that they were making these.

“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Wen Chi picked up a piece of pineapple cake and stuffed it into his mouth, making both cheeks puff out like a hamster chewing food and he sighed sincerely, “It’s delicious.”

Hearing what Wen Chi said, Ruo Fang was also very happy: “If it’s delicious, eat more.”

Wen Chi ate four or five pineapple cakes in a row and his throat was a little dry, so he asked Ruo Fang to pour him a glass of water.

In this way, he didn’t feel sleepy anymore, so he just sat up, opened the curtain in front of the carriage window and looked out and found that they had already left the capital city and were walking on the desolate avenue.

Looking ahead, he could still see the hordes of men and horses.

The guards following the carriage noticed Wen Chi and hurried over: “What orders does Young Master Wen have?”

Seeing that it was getting late, Wen Chi asked, “Are we going to travel through the night?”

“We will not rush through the night, we will settle down and rest.” The guard said, “If we can find an inn, we will escort Young Master Wen to the inn to rest but if we cannot find an inn, Young Master Wen will have to spend the night in the carriage.”

Wen Chi said a few words to the guard before putting down the curtain.

He turned his head and saw that Ruo Fang had already sorted things out.

Not knowing what had occurred to her, a bit of worry surfaced in Ruo Fang’s face. She looked at Wen Chi who was ready to continue lying down again like nothing was wrong and after some thought still said, “Young Master, you left the East Palace without a word, in case His Highness the Crown Prince blames you later on …… “

Wen Chi waved his hand indifferently: “I have already informed His Royal Highness, didn’t I ask Ping An to send the cake?”

Hearing this, Ruo Fang was helpless: “But you didn’t send that cake yourself.”

Wen Chi paused and muttered: “Anyway, His Royal Highness doesn’t want to see me.”

No matter how dull Wen Chi was, he could still feel that the emperor and the fourth prince seemed to have approached him many times, but they were blocked by Shi Ye every time and Shi Ye seemed not to want him to participate in those political affairs.

However, this time, Shi Ye not only did not intervene but also handed over the choice to him.

Wen Chi thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out what Shi Ye was thinking.

In the end, he didn’t know whether he was comforting Ruo Fang or comforting himself: “It’s alright, since His Highness gave me the choice, he should have been ready to let me go, maybe he is rejoicing that I have replaced him to go on this journey.”

So Ruo Fang was easily persuaded by Wen Chi. She nodded and said, “Young Master is right.”

***

The main road from the imperial capital to Jinzhou was in the wilderness, and it was not an easy task to find an inn.

The whole team walked for two days and two nights and Wen Chi stayed in the carriage for those two days and two nights, barely getting out of the carriage except for convenience.

Until the evening of the third day, the team suddenly stopped.

After waiting for a while, the accompanying guards came over and told Wen Chi that the people ahead of them had found an inn to stay at.

Now they are only about ten kilometers away from the city gate of Jinzhou, it was not uncommon for an inn to appear, except that the accommodation at this inn was not as good as in the capital or within Jinzhou.

When Wen Chi and Ruo Fang were brought into the inn by the guards, they saw a few familiar figures standing in the lobby of the inn from a distance.

The guard walked over, cupped his fists to the leader and said, “Report to Prince Xuan, Young Master Wen has been brought in.”

Shi Jin turned his head, smiled and said, “Thank you for your hard work, you may leave.”

The guard said yes and walked away.

Seeing that there were several people standing around Shi Jin, Wen Chi did not have the heart to walk up to Shi Jin, so he stood in place and waited for them to make arrangements.

Shi Jin waited for a long time but did not see any movement from Wen Chi, so he had to take a step towards and say, “Young Master Wen.”

Wen Chi hurried up to meet him: “Yes.”

Shi Jin stopped half a meter away from Wen Chi. He always had a gentle smile on his face, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly and he said in a clear voice:  “We expect to arrive in Jinzhou tomorrow morning, I’m afraid we’ll have to rest here tonight, we’ll arrange a room for you later.”

“I have no problem with that.” Wen Chi said, “It’s all up to King Xuan’s arrangement.”

Shi Jin nodded and added, “I haven’t had time to introduce you to the others because of the tiring journey, so come with me.”

Wen Chi followed Shi Jin and walked over.

The few people who were talking to Shi Jin just stood still, looking in their direction eagerly. Seeing Shi Jin approaching with Wen Chi, they all cast appraising glances.

Shi Jin introduced those people one by one for Wen Chi, without exception, they were young talents from the capital with names and surnames in the memory of the original owner. This time they also responded to the emperor’s summon and came from the capital to Jinzhou to help.

After that, Shi Jin introduced Wen Chi to those people: “He is General Lin’s fourth younger brother Lin Yuan, his given name is Zi Wen, you can just call him Young Master Wen.”

When those people saw that Shi Jin valued Wen Chi so much, they thought he was some kind of famous person but they didn’t expect that he was just an unknown pawn, so they all lost interest in talking to Wen Chi at once and after greeting him, they took their attention away from him.

Someone asked, “Hasn’t General Lin arrived yet?”

Another person echoed, “Yes, and Young Master Hua hasn’t come either.”

When Shi Jin heard the word “General Lin”, his face immediately turned pale. He swallowed hard, turned to Wen Chi and said, “By the way, I have placed General Lin at the end of the group. When he comes, let’s have dinner together.”