CH 97.2

Translator – Xiao He Lian

Chapter 97.2

Wen Chi had expected this answer from the emperor since a long time and he was not surprised. They all said that entering the palace was difficult and leaving the palace was even more difficult. 

But before Wen Chi finished his thoughts, he heard the emperor say: “When the crown prince succeeds me, if he lets you go, it will not be too late for you to leave.”

Wen Chi lowered his eyes to avoid the emperor’s gaze and whispered: “This subject doesn’t understand…”

The emperor smiled lightly: “Although I don’t know the reason, I know that you are a special existence to the crown prince… In the past two years, the prince has often visited you in Jinzhou.”

Wen Chi said in surprise: “Your Majesty, this subject has never seen His Highness the Crown Prince in the past two years.”

“It seems that he is hiding and dare not see you anymore.” A trace of helplessness flashed in the emperor’s eyes, “The crown prince is like that, he keeps everything in his heart  and there is nothing I can do about him.”

Wen Chi’s eyes flickered and he opened his mouth, but no word could come out of his parched throat.

During the last two years in Jinzhou, he did not see Shi Ye again. He thought that Shi Ye had been staying in the capital obediently, or was trapped by something, but he didn’t expect…

“So, you can’t leave yet.” The emperor seemed to gain some strength and even spoke coherently, “Consider this a task that I have assigned to you, if the crown prince lets you go in the future, my people will find you and give you certain compensation, so that you can live the rest of your life with no worries about food and clothing.”

Wen Chi was shocked, unable to make a sound for a long time.

After Wen Chi left, the eunuch beside him stroking the emperor frowned worriedly and said, “Your Majesty, according to this servant, Young Master Wen may not be able to stabilize His Highness the Crown Prince.”

After the emperor coughed, he said in a weak voice: “It’s up to them whether they can stabilize themselves. I just did what I should do… I hope the crown prince can see my good intentions and let his brothers and sisters live…”

After speaking, the emperor had no more strength, so he just closed his eyes and rested.

Looking at the emperor’s withered face, the eunuch sighed in his heart many times.

When the ancestors used their blood and sweat to win this kingdom, I am afraid that until their death, they would never have imagined that their descendants would hand over this kingdom to another one day.

That’s right, the power of the Hua family has grown stronger and longer in the past few decades. If the emperor insists on abolishing the crown prince and appointing another prince as crown prince, there will probably be a bloody storm.

Although the emperor’s decision seems cowardly and timid, it is also the most safest way.

****

Wen Chi returned to the Bamboo Flute Residence in a state of disarray and then began his days as a salted fish.

The weather in the capital is probably better than the weather in Jinzhou. Even if it snows heavily, as long as you wear thick clothes, you will not be cold enough to shiver and most of Wen Chi does is sit indoors next to the charcoal fire, so he can’t feel the cold even more.

The snow continued to fall for half a month and Wen Chi also stayed in the house for half a month.

Originally, Wen Chi wanted to meet Lord Yin, and thank him for speaking for him in front of the emperor that day. But now that he has recovered his identity, he has to avoid suspicion even when writing to Lord Yin and if he meets him, he is afraid he will get into trouble.

As time passed, Wen Chi had no choice but to give up this idea and stayed peacefully in the Bamboo Flute Residence.

Seeing that the new year was approaching, the palace should have been lively, but now the disputes in the court involved the harem, so that everyone in the harem was in danger and was racking their brains to find ways to protect themselves. So the atmosphere in the palace was extremely tense for a while.

Of course, Wen Chi stayed at home, so these things have nothing to do with him.

That afternoon, Wen Chi was drowsing on the recliner next to the charcoal fire, when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps, accompanied by Ruo Fang’s shrill voice: “It’s not good! Young Master, something is not right!”

Ruo Tao was squatting on the ground, fiddling with the charcoal fire with a stick, turned her head when she heard the sound, frowned and said, “Ruo Fang, keep your voice down, the young master is resting.”

Only then did Ruo Fang realize that her voice was too loud. She quickly covered her mouth in panic, looked left and right with her round eyes and finally landed on Wen Chi: “Young Master…”

Seeing Ruo Fang’s guilty look, Wen Chi thought it was funny. He waved at Ruo Fang, and waited for Ruo Fang to run over, then asked, “What’s going on?”

Ruo Fang was still a bit out of breath after running so fast, her face was red and she stammered, “His Highness is sending a letter of divorce.”

“Divorce letter?” Ruo Tao got up awkwardly, “What divorce letter?”

It was the first time Ruo Fang had seen such a cold look in Ruo Tao’s eyes, and she was immediately frightened.

After a while, under Ruo Tao’s urging, Ruo Fang regained her voice: “What other kind of divorce letter could there be? Naturally, it is the kind of divorce letter that you know and I know.”

Wen Chi also stood up from the recliner and said solemnly, “Who did he send a divorce letter to? And Why?”

So Ruo Fang told in detail the news she had inquired from other court ladies not long ago.

It turned out that it was not His Royal Highness who was sending the letter of divorce, but Eunuch Zhu who was sending the letter of divorce. Naturally, what he sent was the letter of divorce to dissolve the marriage relationship and asked the eunuchs to take the rewards and send those people out of the Eastern Palace safely- and Eunuch Zhu’s intention was also His Highness’ intention.

In short, His Royal Highness is cleaning his harem.

Speaking of this, Ruo Fang looked bewildered and scratched her head irritably: “I also heard that since the emperor was seriously ill, the concubines in the harem have not stopped making small moves, everyone wants to pave the way for their own future but what does this have to do with His Highness writing a letter of divorce? Is it because His Highness suddenly feels that there are too many women, so he wanted to clean up the harem before succeeding to the throne?”

Ruo Tao knocked Ruo Fang on the head: “His Royal Highness has his own plan to do this, and it is not for us palace maids to deliberate.”

Ruo Fang also felt aggrieved when she saw that Ruo Tao was still defending His Highness the Crown Prince until this condition. She pitifully covered her head and said angrily, “I’m just worried about our Young Master, in case Eunuch Zhu sends that letter of divorce to our bamboo flute residence ……”

Before the words were finished, they turned into a sound of “uh-huh”.

Ruo Tao covered Ruo Fang’s open mouth with her hands and she glared at Ruo Fang with a stern face: “Don’t talk nonsense, it is absolutely impossible for Eunuch Zhu to send the letter of divorce here. “

The farce was soon over.

Originally, Ruo Fang was still worried but after listening to Ruo Tao’s words, she suddenly felt that what Ruo Tao said had some truth.

After all, their young master is the only one in the harem who has served His Highness closely. Even if His Highness wants to clean the entire harem, they would be the last to take their turn.

Thinking of this, Ruo Fang felt relieved.

The two little girls didn’t take this matter seriously at all. After muttering together for a while, they went off to do their own work.

Only after Wen Chi stood there for a long time did he seem to slowly regain his senses. He turned around and sat back down on the chair.

In the afternoon, when Ruo Fang was tidying up the house, she picked up something, and she took it to find Wen Chi excitedly.

“Young Master, look!” Ruo Fang raised the mask in her hand, her face filled with a joyful smile, “Where do you think this servant found this mask?”

Wen Chi sat up a little bit, stared at the mask for a while, before realizing that this mask he had given to Ping An earlier?

After Ping’an was beaten to death by those eunuchs, his clothes and clothes were taken away by those eunuchs, so it was logical that this mask should not have been left behind.

Soon, Ruo Fang gave him the answer: “The servant found this mask in the storeroom. That Ping An really has no heart. The young master treats him so well. In the end, he stole Young Master’s golden melon seeds.” 

Ruo Fang became angrier as she spoke, raised her small fist and hit the mask several times.

The mask was strong and durable, and Ruo Fang’s strength was weak, so the mask didn’t get damaged in the slightest.

On the contrary, Wen Chi, who was said to be very kind to Ping An, looked embarrassed and let out a few dry laughs.

At that time, he threw a lot of heavy work to Ping An, which made Ping An exhausted every day. Ping An probably hated him to death. Only Ruo Fang, who had a thick filter for him, felt that he was very good to Ping An.

Looking at the mask, Wen Chi felt inexplicably guilty: “Throw it away,  there is no use for it anymore.”

Ruo Fang touched the mask: “It’s a pity to throw it away. It just so happens that Ruo Tao said that she likes this mask, why don’t I take this mask and give it to Ruo Tao?”

Wen Chi had no objection.

Ruo Fang got Wen Chi’s consent, turned around and happily ran out to find Ruo Tao.

But just as she ran out the door, she suddenly bumped into a little eunuch who ran in from outside in a hurry.

The little eunuch was dizzy from being bumped into and when he regained his composure, he realized that the person he bumped into was Ruo Fang and he was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a thud: “Sister Ruo Fang, someone is coming from outside!”

Ruo Fang held onto the door frame in time to avoid falling and before she could recover, her mouth asked,, “Who is it?”

The little eunuch kneeling on the ground was trembling: “It’s Eunuch Zhu, Eunuch  Zhu is here,”

Ruo Fang was taken aback and subconsciously turned her head to look at Wen Chi.

Wen Chi reacted quickly and immediately called Ruo Tao, who was still busy in the inner room.

Today’s Bamboo Flute Residence is much larger than the previous one and it took a short walk from the main hall to the front courtyard alone. Wen Chi walked fast and soon saw a small team headed by Eunuch Zhu standing in front of the gate of the Bamboo Flute Residence.

Eunuch Zhu was holding a whisk in his arms and was calmly watching Wen Chi as he approached. He nodded his head and said, “Young Master Wen, I have been ordered by His Highness the Crown Prince to deliver you this…”

As he spoke, Eunuch Zhu winked at the little eunuch beside him.

The little eunuch understood, immediately took out a letter, held it in both hands, bowed his waist and carefully handed it to Wen Chi.

Wen Chi looked down, only to see two words written on the envelope – Letter of Divorce.