CH 118.1

Translator – Xiao He Lian

Chapter 118.1

By the time the carriage came to a halt, it was completely dark outside.

Wen Chi doesn’t know if it’s because the snow has stopped but the night sky was as bright and clear as if it had been washed with water, with a curved moon hanging in the sky and a few stars looming in the distance.

After returning to Bamboo Flute Residence, Wen Chi felt so tired after a long day on the carriage. He was so sleepy that he hastily took a bath and fell asleep.

Although it had stopped snowing for several days, the busy life in the palace had just begun as the New Year was approaching.

There were many rules in ancient times, especially in the palace. At and at the end of the year, there were many banquets and ceremonies, so not only did the royal family have to work hard but the palace maids and eunuchs were also very busy.

There are many kinds of banquets in the palace, which are generally divided into two categories: state banquets and family banquets. As the name suggests, the state banquet is to entertain the important officials of the court and their families, as well as the young talents who have emerged in the past two years, while the family banquet is to communicate with the relatives of the emperor and the concubines and sons of the harem behind closed doors.

But this family banquet sounded very nice to the ears but in fact, everyone knew that it was just a Hongmen banquet(a dinner party intended to kill the guests). There were all kinds of people at the banquet and they all had different thoughts.

Besides, now, almost everyone knows that the emperor is dying, he can’t even get out of bed, and there is no telling who will take over the reins after the emperor is gone ……

Of course, these things have nothing to do with Wen Chi, he just needs to stay in the Bamboo Flute Residence in peace.

Who would have thought that he had only been back to the palace for three days, yet he received an invitation sent by Concubine Rong, which clearly stated that he was to attend a family banquet with Shi Ye.

Wen Chi took the invitation and was at a loss, not knowing what to do, so he had to go to Shi Ye.

After returning from the outside, Eunuch Zhu arranged for more eunuchs and guards to stand guard outside the Bamboo Flute Residence. The security was so strict that not even a fly could get in. Six guards followed him, not to mention the four eunuch leading the way.

On the way to the Crown Prince’s study, Wen Chi was surrounded by a group of eunuchs and guards, like a prisoner being escorted to the execution ground. Wen Chi who was walking in the middle exudes a pitiful and helpless aura.

When passing the garden, Wen Chi accidentally saw two acquaintances.

It saw Yue Gui and Lin Yu wearing bright colored clothes, sitting opposite each other in a pavilion. Yue Gui was propping his chin up in boredom, Lin Yu was eating cakes in a casual manner with a chessboard full of white and black pieces on the stone table between them.

The two were playing Go1(weiqi, a game played with black and white pieces on a board of 361 crosses;   go;   Chinese draught), when they suddenly caught a glimpse of Wen Chi’s army from the corner of their eyes. So they turned their heads in unison, just in time to meet Wen Chi’s gaze.

Lin Yu was surprised and quickly rubbed his eyes. After making sure that he had seen correctly, he waved his hand at Wen Chi in surprise and joy: “Young Master Wen, long time no see.”

Although there were conflicts between Wen Chi and Lin Yu at the beginning, now that they were the only one left in the vast and empty Eastern Palace and since Lin Yu had not messed around anymore, Wen Chi still had a good impression of him, so he planned to go over and catch up.

But as soon as he took two steps, the large army around him followed suit.

Wen Chi stopped immediately and the large army around him also stopped.

“…” Wen Chi had no choice but to call out to Xiao Shuanzi who was leading the way, “I’ll go over and talk to them for a while. You just wait for me here, no need to follow me.”

Hearing this, Xiao Shuanzi showed a troubled expression: “Young Master Wen, His Highness has ordered that this servant must stay by your side at all times, otherwise His Royal Highness will blame me.”

Wen Chi asked, “Not even for a little while?”

Xiao Shuanzi’s face was almost wrinkled into a bitter gourd and he pleaded: “Ai yo! Young Master, please don’t make things difficult for this servant. This servant has to obey His Highness and His Highness is also doing this because he cares about you.”

Wen Chi couldn’t stand Xiao Shuanzi’s persuasion, he hesitated for a while and had to lead the group of people towards Lin Yu and Yue Gui in the pavilion.

The path leading to the pavilion was not spacious, it can only accommodate two people walking side by side. The eunuchs and guards squeezed in front and back of Wen Chi and they gave off the aura of a thousand troops.

Seeing this scene, Yue Gui and Lin Yu in the pavilion were stupefied.

It wasn’t until Wen Chi led the large army to them that they stood up from the stone bench in a hurry as if they had just woken up from a dream.

“Young Master Wen, it’s really not easy to meet you. Young Master Yue and I have visited your bamboo flute house many times, but we were rejected by your maids. I thought we had unknowingly made you unhappy.” After Lin Yu complained, he turned to look at Yue Gui, “Young Master Yue, don’t you think so?”

Yue Gui hummed like a mosquito and then  played dead with a wooden expression but his red cheeks had already betrayed the fact that he was embarrassed inside.

Wen Chi was also a little guilty.

After careful calculation, Lin Yu and Yue Gui had not seen each other for a long time, but he could never tell them that he had been hiding outside during this time and was taken back to the palace by Shi Ye a few days ago.

“I wasn’t feeling well so I’ve been recuperating these days. I hope Young Master  Lin and Young Master Yue will forgive me.” Wen Chi brought out the excuse he had often used before.

Although Lin Yu was not very smart, he was not without brains either. He could almost see through Wen Chi’s lies at a glance but instead of exposing Wen Chi, he waved his hand, “It’s hard for the three of us to meet each other so, let’s stay and have some tea before leaving.” Lin Yu made a gesture of invitation, “Sit down.”

Wen Chi was not polite and sat down generously.

Lin Yu and Yue Gui then sat down on the stone benches on the left and right sides of Wen Chi.

Immediately after the three of them sat down, Wen Chi’s large army gathered around and surrounded the three of them in a circle with tacit understanding.

The pavilion, which was originally ventilated on all sides, seems to have erected a human wall.

Wen Chi: “…”

Lin Yu: “…”

Yue Gui: “…”

Wen Chi looked at Lin Yu’s face and then at Yue Gui’s face, feeling extremely embarrassed. This made him feel like he was bringing a group of people here to show off his might, even though he didn’t mean it at all… …

After Wen Chi thought about it, he called Xiao Shuanzi again: “Can you people stand outside? You are blocking the sunlight.”

Xiao Shuanzi immediately turned his head and said, “Did you hear that? You are all blocking the light!”

The eunuchs and guards in a circle looked at each other, then they squatted down in a tacit understanding and put up a horse stance

Seeing this, Xiao Shuanzi nodded in satisfaction and smiled flatteringly at Wen Chi: “Young Master Wen, is this still blocking the light?”

Wen Chi: “…”