CH 122.1

Translator – Xiao He Lian

Chapter 122.1

There was a tall and slender young man on the scroll. He was standing sideways, his gaze slightly downcast. Wen Chi didn’t know where he was looking, but his face——was clearly his face.

It is impossible for Wen Chi not to know what he looks like.

The person in this painting really looks exactly like Xiao Shuanzi said… Not only the face, but also the young man’s figure and clothing style are roughly the same as his, and even the age is not that much different.

How could this be?

Wen Chi was shocked beyond words, his mind went blank and he stared at the familiar face of the young man in the painting.

Could it be that there are really people in this world who look exactly like the original owner? But if there really was, how could that person never appear in the original text?

Unless the person Shi Ye drew was Wen Chi.

However, this conjecture was even more outrageous. Shi Ye had never met him before they got married, so how could he know his appearance? What’s more, looking at the appearance and clothing of the person in the painting, it is more like the current him.

Wen Chi’s head was in a mess, countless conjectures floated up in his mind, but he denied them all.

He felt that he was trapped in a huge fog and unable to see the exit or find his way.

It wasn’t until Wen Chi heard A’Gu humming and whimpering that he suddenly came back to his senses, only then did he hear the slight sound of footsteps from not far away—someone is coming!

Wen Chi hurriedly restored the scroll to its original state and put it under the pile of bamboo slips, which were already in a mess but Wen Chi couldn’t care less, he hastily carried A’Gu back to the couch.

Turning his head, he saw Xiao Shuanzi approaching cautiously.

Xiao Shuanzi kept his head down all the time, so he didn’t notice Wen Chi’s strange expression. He said respectfully: “Young Master Wen, this servant just got the news that His Royal Highness will be out of the palace for two or three days. So Young Master don’t have to wait for His Highness and have your meals.”

Wen Chi was still thinking about the picture scroll and didn’t listen carefully to Xiao Shuanzi’s words. When Xiao Shuanzi finished speaking, he picked up A’Gu and followed Xiao Shuanzi out of the study in a daze.

That night, Wen Chi was lying on the bed alone.

The bed chamber was completely lit with candles and there are many golden embellishments in the magnificent chambers, the faint golden light blending with the warm yellow light, which looks enough to be described as “dazzling”.

It’s just that without Shi Ye, even the gorgeous bedroom looks empty and it always feels like something is missing.

Wen Chi regretted not letting A’Gu sleep with him. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep and kept thinking about the painting scroll. He couldn’t come to a conclusion as if he had fallen into a dead end…..

At this moment, Xiao Shuanzi’s voice came from outside: “Young Master Wen? If you are hungry, I will ask the kitchen to make some pastries.”

Wen Chi said: “I’m not hungry.”

Xiao Shuanzi was silent for a moment, then asked again: “Is there something wrong with you, Young Master Wen?”

It was only then that Wen Chi realized that the sound of him tossing and turning on the bed might have been heard by Xiao Shuanzi, so he stopped moving and lay quietly on his back on the bed in a daze.

****

Three days later, Shi Ye returned to the palace.

The day when Shi Ye returned to the palace happened to be the day when Concubine Rong held the family banquet.

Wen Chi held back for three whole days, dreaming about the identity of that person that Shi Ye told him about.

But when he went to the study to find Shi Ye, he found that there was not only Shi Ye alone in the study, but there was also another familiar face  — General Lin.

Seeing Wen Chi barging in, General Lin hurriedly stopped the conversation and rose to salute to Wen Chi: “Young Master Wen.”

“General Lin?” Wen Chi suppressed the surprise in his heart and smiled, “It turns out that General Lin is also here.”

But wasn’t Lin Zhe one of Shi Jin’s men? Why did he appear in Shi Ye’s study?

Wen Chi was surprised and then heard Shi Ye ask: “What do you need from me?”

Wen Chi regained his senses and nodded. He subconsciously glanced at the pile of bamboo slips hiding the picture scroll and saw that the bamboo slips had been tidied up and stacked on the left side of the desk. Wen Chi didn’t know if the palace maids and eunuchs had tidied them up or if Shi Ye had done it himself.

As soon as he thought of that painting, Wen Chi’s mind began to become confused, and he said to Shi Ye, “I have something to ask you.”

Shi Ye didn’t seem to notice Wen Chi’s strangeness, he smiled gently and said, “But I have some important matters to discuss with General Lin right now, why don’t you go back and rest first and I’ll come find you when I’m done.”

But Wen Chi could no longer calm down. Without thinking about it, he walked towards the couch he often sat on and then sat down on it. He looked at Shi Ye calmly: “Can I sit here and wait for you ?”

Shi Ye didn’t say anything and just asked Eunuch Zhu to prepare some snacks.

General Lin who was sitting opposite Shi Ye was stunned.

General Lin and the Crown Prince had grown up together, and even though he and the Crown Prince were not as close as he and the Fourth Prince, he knew the Crown Prince’s character very well.

The crown prince had always been short-tempered, when had he become so tolerant of a person? Moreover, he saw that Wen Chi’s behavior just now was a bit unreasonable.

General Lin looked at Shi Ye with strange and unfamiliar eyes, as if seeing Shi Ye clearly for the first time.

Shi Ye didn’t pay attention to General Lin’s reaction and directly threw a piece of paper in his hand: “Everything you want to know is on here, you know what to do when the time comes.”

General Lin hurriedly threw away those messy thoughts. He took the paper, gave it a cursory glance, then nodded with a serious expression, “I have everything in mind, please rest assured, Your Highness.”

Wen Chi, who was sitting on the couch in the back, had nothing to do and when he heard the mysterious conversation between Shi Ye and General Lin, he suddenly became curious. He poked his head to read the contents of the paper in General Lin’s hand.

He vaguely saw crooked patterns drawn on it, which seemed to be a map.

Just when Wen Chi was about to stand up and take a closer look, General Lin, who noticed his gaze, frowned suddenly, as if he was afraid that Wen Chi would take another look and quickly wrapped it up.

Wen Chi: “…”

After such a long time, General Lin still  guarded him as a thief.

The person who should be guarded against should be him, Lin Zhe!

One minute he was close to Shi Jin, the next to Shi Ye, who knows if he was a spy!

Wen Chi was speechless, but he couldn’t say anything at this time, so he looked away in frustration.