Chapter 269: CH 138.2

translator – xiao he lian

wednesday updates –> chapter 6/12

chapter 138.2

eunuch zhu started introducing these people to him: “this is young master zhang of the sixth prince, prince qi’s family and this is madam wen, the main wife of general yang…”

there were six people in total and they were introduced by eunuch zhu one by one. whenever eunuch zhu called out a person’s name, that person looked at wen chi excitedly and nervously like a student whose name was called by the teacher.

after the introduction, wen chi didn’t have a deep impression of the others but only young master zhang, whom eunuch zhu first introduced, attracted his attention.

he remembered that eunuch zhu said that young master zhang was a member of the sixth prince’s family, but this is not the point, the point is——

his gaze fell from young master zhang’s face to his abdomen.

young master zhang’s abdomen had the same obvious bulge as his but he deliberately wore extremely loose clothing that looked less obvious, whereas young master zhang looked like he was deliberately highlighting his pregnant belly. the clothes he wore were slightly tight and his big belly can be seen at a glance.

even though wen chi himself was also a pregnant man, he had to admit that it was a bit strange for a man with a pregnant belly to stand out.

maybe it’s because he has seen too many pregnant women but never a pregnant man, the stereotype has been deeply rooted in his heart.

young master zhang has a pretty girl-like face, with a bright red mole on the center of his brow. he followed wen chi’s gaze to look at his abdomen and touched his abdomen with a smile: “it’s been half a year. this child should come out at the end of spring.”

wen chi let out an oh and said, “it’s almost there.”

“what about you?” young master zhang asked, “how long have you been?”

wen chi counted the days on his fingers and replied, “i’m almost five and a half months.”

“really? that’s really a coincidence, our days are about the same.” young master zhang was surprised and delighted, his pretty face was filled with obvious joy. he clasped his hands together and said, “maybe we will give birth on the same day. if these two children are really born on the same month and the same day, we’ll just be able to betrothal them.”

having said that, he paused for a moment and then showed a hint of shyness, “it’s best to make a baby kiss 1(亲上加亲, actually baby kiss in not the correct translation for this but then there is no correct english translation for this, so i’ll go with the word baby kiss. it is a chinese idiom, the pinyin is qīn shàng jiā qīn, which means that the original relatives are married again or choose a bride or groom from relatives;   intermarry by several marriages between families).”

wen chi was startled. he looked at his stomach and then young master zhang’s stomach: “aren’t they relatives? how can they get married?”

young master zhang said with a smile: “wouldn’t it be better? that would be adding one relative to another.”

wen chi: “…”

oh, he almost forgot that the ancients did not have the concept that close relatives should not get married.

before wen chi could speak, a lady next to her covered her mouth and laughed: “young master zhang, his highness the crown prince is not even here and you’re settling the marriage of his highness the crown prince’s eldest son, it’s a bit too hasty.”

hearing this, young master zhang also realized that what he said just now was inappropriate. his cheeks flushed slightly and he hastily apologized to wen chi: “sorry, young master wen. i said it just on the spur of the moment and my words were really thoughtless…”

wen chi waved his hand: “it’s okay.”

the topic was thus dismissed, and a group of people sat down around wen chi.

young master. zhang, who was standing next to wen chi, took advantage of the opportunity to sit on wen chi’s right. he took the teacup in wen chi’s hand and put it back on the table. then he brought a plate of snacks and smiled with his eyes curved: “do you want to try it?”

it was a mung bean pastry2.

but it may be that the recipe for this plate of mung bean pastry is different from the usual ones and it looks different so it is more delicate and attractive.

wen chi took a bite and it was quite delicious. he has never had a good appetite, so he finished eating the piece of mung bean pastry.

“does the mung bean pastry suit young master wen’s taste?” young master zhang held the plate as if offering a treasure.

wen chi nodded: “it’s delicious.”

“really?” young master zhang asked wen chi to take another piece of mung bean pastry and he said, “i made this mung bean pastry with my own hands. only pregnant people can understand the feelings of other pregnant people. the pastries made by our cook are either too sweet or bland, or only i can make the parties i like.”

wen chi said: “it’s really easy to control the taste by making it yourself, but it’s a bit troublesome.”

young master zhang picked up a piece of mung bean pastry and took a bite. hearing this, he looked at wen chi in surprise: “can you also make pastries?”

wen chi thought of the cake 3(what wen chi makes is dangao 蛋糕 aka cake, the cake made after beating eggs and such but the pastries/ cake that young master zhang is talking about is 糕 gao, made using different beans of sort and not the cake. but both of them has the same character albeit cake has 蛋 in front. so what i mean is they have the same characters but they r different ) he once made to please shi ye but unfortunately he never made a pastry after that. shi ye liked sweets and he had no chance to make other desserts for shi ye.

he suddenly felt melancholic and also worried that young master zhang had never heard of cake4(ancient people don’t know about modern term cake/dan gao), so he shook his head and said, “i’m just interested but i haven’t done it myself.”

young master zhang immediately said: “if you want, i will teach you.”

wen chi was stunned, and his heart was a little moved. he hesitated and said, “will this be too troublesome for you?”

“no trouble at all. how can young master wen’s affairs be troublesome?” afraid that wen chi would reject his offer, he held wen chi’s hand enthusiastically, “as long as you are free, you can send someone to find me, or you can come to my place.”

young master zhang babbled on a lot, listing to wen chi all the snacks he knew how to make and even told wen chi about his novel ideas.

wen chi is not a fool, it is impossible not to feel young master zhang’s intention to please him. in fact, not only young master zhang, but all the men and women here are more or less flattering when facing him.

and wen chi also knows in his heart that he has benefited from shi ye’s favor, and if he didn’t have shi ye, he would be nothing.

wen chi didn’t refuse young master zhang’s initiative to throw an olive branch. he looked back at eunuch zhu who was standing behind him. seeing eunuch zhu nodded slightly calmly, he agreed:  “then, i will respectfully follow your order.”

young master zhang was very happy.

everyone was having small talks and it was inevitable that they would talk about some of the more sensitive topics.

don’t know who suddenly mentioned the dead emperor and couldn’t help lamenting: “if the emperor was still around, i’m sure he wouldn’t have wished for the current situation.”

“yes.” someone sighed, “concubine rong and prince xuan are too ignorant, no matter what, the hua family are outsiders. how can they plot against their own people together with outsiders?”

another person said: “speaking of which, prince xuan’s trip to the frontier is just a few days away, right?”

“it seems to be in two or three days.”

“ai, now that we have come to this point, things are really different.”

after listening to these people’s words, wen chi was a little confused and after they finished speaking, he asked, “how is prince xuan?”

“don’t you know yet?” young master zhang thought that wen chi, being the pillow person of his royal highness the crown prince, knew these things long ago, “prince xuan and concubine rong were arrested for treason and rebellion. in a few days, prince xuan will be dispatched to the frontier. the rest of the people involved will also be executed. as for consort rong and the eldest princess and the others, there’s no news for the time being.”

wen chi was stunned for a moment and asked, “what about the rest of the hua family?”

young master zhang said: “those who should be executed will be executed, those who should be dismissed will be dismissed and the rest will not be able to make any trouble.”

wen chi opened his mouth. he originally wanted to ask young master zhang about hua yin’s whereabouts, but then realized that what young master zhang must have had heard about was only the things from the mouth of the prince of qi, he closed his mouth.

at about shen shi5(the period of the day from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m), eunuch zhu whispered in wen chi’s ear and said it was time to go back.

this afternoon tea session was originally organized by shi ye specially for wen chi. since wen chi said he was going back, it would be meaningless for the others to stay here, so they all got up and said goodbye.

before parting, young master zhang repeatedly told wen chi to remember to chat with him and make pastries together.

wen chi complied.

the group of people walked out of the garden surrounded by court ladies and eunuchs. the maids and attendants of the young master and wives were waiting outside the garden. when they saw their figures from a distance, they hurriedly greeted them.

ruo fang was also among them.

the palace has clear regulations on the use of carriages and sedan chairs6. for example, outsiders such as young master zhang, if they want to enter the palace, they are naturally not allowed to use carriages and sedan chairs. even if young master zhang is pregnant, the carriage he rides can only wait outside the palace gate.

therefore, the carriage wen chi was riding was particularly conspicuous behind a group of maids and attendants.

wen chi was a little embarrassed.

on the contrary, eunuch zhu was used to it and walked to the carriage without changing his face. he extended his hand to wen chi, indicating that he would help wen chi to get on the carriage.

wen chi turned his head and saw those young masters and wives lined up behind him, staring at him eagerly.

“…” wen chi said hesitantly, “there is still some distance from here to the palace gate, why don’t i give you a ride?”

young master zhang and the others were horrified when they heard these words, and they shook their heads like rattles at the same time in a tacit understanding.

“we appreciate young master wen’s kindness, but it is really inconvenient.” young master zhang said politely. the envy in his eyes could not be faked. it was not easy to walk such a distance with a belly of more than six months, but he still declined wen chi’s kindness and made a gesture of invitation, “please, young master wen.”

seeing this, wen chi couldn’t say anything more. he said goodbye to them and got into the carriage with the support of eunuch zhu and ruo fang.

wen chi had been sitting in the carriage when entering the palace and did not see the scene outside the window. now that he was about to leave the palace, wen chi raised the curtains on a whim and when he looked outside, he saw many busy figures of the palace attendants.

the palace attendants were in a hurry, as if there was an emergency. they bowed their heads and retreated to the sides when they met the carriage that wen chi was riding in, and continued on their way after the carriage passed by.

wen chi had entered the palace many times before, but he had never seen so many people. the palace in his impression was empty and lonely with only a few palace people rushing by from time to time.

eunuch zhu seemed to see wen chi’s doubts and he said: “although his highness the crown prince needs to keep a filial piety for the emperor for half a year, a group of dragons cannot be without a leader. if the throne is empty for one day, the future of this country may be more turbulent. it is better for his highness the crown prince to succeed to the throne earlier.”

as things had developed to this point, wen chi felt a little unreal. shi ye’s transition from crown prince to emperor, the process was as if he was dreaming.

he turned to look at eunuch zhu: “when will shi ye succeed to the throne?”

“the planning for the succession ceremony has not yet begun, it will have to wait until after the emperor enters the tomb and various details also need to adopt the ideas of civil and military officials.” after he finished speaking, eunuch zhu smiled, “but there is no rush. it will be around this year. it’s better to wait for the people’s hearts to stabilize first.”

as they talked, the carriage slowly drove out of the palace gate.

wen chi was about to put down the curtains but suddenly he saw a figure standing outside the palace gate.

the man was dressed in plain gray clothes, with no accessories on his body or hair. at first glance he looked like a passer-by on the street but wen chi couldn’t help but take a second look at his back and saw that he was talking to the soldiers guarding the palace gate.

that person……

wen chi paused for a moment.

it seems to be wen liang.

it had been too long since wen chi had returned to the wen mansion and it had also been too long since he had seen wen liang. the slim silhouette not far away almost made him think that he had recognised the wrong person.

when the person turned his head sideways, he took a closer look-

it really was wen liang.

due to the distance between them, wen chi couldn’t really see wen liang’s expression, he only knew that he had been talking to the soldiers guarding the palace gate, as if begging them.

unfortunately, the soldiers were unmoved and looked straight ahead, as if there was no wen liang in front of him at all.

seeing this scene, it was absolutely impossible to say that wen chi was not surprised. he knew about the fall of the wen family but he never thought that wen liang would end up in this situation.

however, when he thought of what happened to shi jin, it was not a surprise to see wen liang in such a sorry state.

wen chi withdrew his gaze, lowered the curtains and met eunuch zhu’s eyes.

he seemed to feel something, and asked, “did you see it just now?”

eunuch zhu nodded: “this servant heard that he has been guarding outside the palace gate for several days.”

wen chi said: “he wants to intercede for the wen family?”

“not really.” eunuch zhu shook his head and smiled sarcastically, “he just wanted to meet prince xuan.”

wen chi was surprised: “meet prince xuan?”

“yes.” the ironic expression in eunuch zhu’s face became more and more intense, “prince xuan, a felon of the imperial court, is naturally imprisoned in the heavenly prison, so how can he just say he wants to see him? heh, overestimating one’s capabilities.”

wen chi pursed his lips and lowered his head silently.

after eunuch zhu finished speaking, he didn’t see any reaction from wen chi, so he couldn’t help but pause and asked softly, “does young master wen want to fulfill that person’s wish?”

it was inevitable that wen chi felt a little embarrassed when eunuch zhu directly pointed the finger at the center of the issue. he did have such a thought, but it was just fleeting.

shi ye finally got to this point, how could he be willing to tear down shi ye’s stage?

“i don’t think so.” wen chi rubbed his nose. he would always be very obvious when he lied, but he didn’t know it and was still using a dry laugh to cover up his embarrassment, “i’m thinking about going to prince qi’s mansion to find young master zhang in two days.”

eunuch zhu looked at wen chi indifferently and didn’t expose him. he only said: “if the young master decides on it, i’ll make the arrangements when i go back later.”