Chapter 44: CH 23.4

After hearing this Eunuch Zhu didn’t hide anything and explained what he knew: “Not long after the death of Empress hua, the crown prince who was only two years old was kidnapped one day. He was taken out of the palace and he disappeared. He was sent back to the palace by the Hua family only when His highness was sixteen years old after being found by the Hua family.”

The more Wen Chi listened, the more surprised he became. The novel didn’t mention about it at all. To be precise, the novel only wrote about the protagonist’s life experience and the entanglement between them. As for the villains and cannon fodder, they were all used as tools and no one cared about the struggles they went through.

But Wen Chi didn’t expect that Shi Ye’s experience was so different from what was described in the novel.

Eunuch Zhu seemed to have expected this reaction from Wen Chi and he wasn’t surprised at all. He continued to recall: “Today is the day when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince entered the palace for the second time but unfortunately, after more than a decade of separation, waiting for His Highness was only the memorial tablet of Empress Hua. So His Highness takes today as the death anniversary of Empress Hua”

Wen Chi said, “So that’s how it is…”

Even though he said that, he always felt that something was wrong but he couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong.

This strange feeling continued until he returned to the Bamboo flute residence.

After bidding farewell to Eunuch Zhu, Wen Chi just stepped in and saw that the courtyard was filled with people and huge wooden boxes.

Wen Chi immediately put the matter about Empress Hua to the back of his mind. He stepped in and quickly found Ruo Fang and Ruo Tao, the two little girls standing side by side, with a surprised and happy expression on their faces.

“Ruo Tao.” Wen Chi handed over the food box in his hand and asked, “What’s going on?”

Ruo Tao took the food box with both hands and explained in a low voice, “Young Master Wen, someone from the Emperor’s side is here.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the eunuch standing behind Wen Chi said in a shrill voice: “The imperial decree has arrived. Wen Chi receive the decree.”

Wen Chi was startled and subconsciously knelt on the ground: “This person is here.”

Ruo Fang and Ruo Tao in the back were also taken aback by Wen Chi’s sudden behavior and they hurriedly knelt down. But then they realized that the eunuch said Wen Chi and not Wen Liang and they couldn’t help but look at each other, their eyes full of surprise.

The eunuch opened the imperial decree solemnly and said in cadence: “In the name of heaven, the Emperor decree, Wen Chi, the second son of the Wen family, for his great contributions to solve the locust plague in Jinzhou, I will reward…”

What followed was a long list of things that Wen Chi had never heard of.

Wen Chi buried his head and listened quietly. After the eunuch finished reading the long list, he carefully got up from the ground and stretched out his hands: “This Person will receive the decree.”

The eunuch put the imperial decree on Wen Chi’s hand and said with a smile, “I heard that Young Master Wen Chi has an excellent mind but I never thought that you would be able to solve the Emperor’s worries so soon.”

Although Wen Chi didn’t know where the eunuch heard about this, he still said modestly, “Your Excellency is too praiseworthy.”

The eunuch said, “You don’t be modest, Young Master Wen Chi. We will see each other a lot more in the future so we have to take care of each other.”

Wen Chi was busy saying yes., yes, yes..

After sending the group away,  Wen Chi looked at the courtyard full of rewards. For a moment, everything seemed like a dream, until Ruo Fang and Ruo Tao came and he woke up in a daze.

“Young Master Wen.” Ruo Fang wondered, “When did you change your name?”

Wen Chi said: “I never changed my name, my name is Wen Chi.”

Ruo Fang said, “Then Wen Liang ……”

Wen Chi said, “That’s my brother’s name.”

Ruo Fang was confused: “Then, why did Young Master Wen use the name Wen Liang when he first came to the East Palace?”

Wen Chi smiled and explained: “The person who was supposed to come to the East Palace was Wen Liang but they replaced Wen Liang with me that day, so I could only use Wen Liang’s name before.”

Ruo Fang was silent for a while, then suddenly remembered something and said shiveringly, “Young Master Wen, does His Royal Highness know about this?”

Wen Chi said, “Even the emperor knows about it, how could the Crown Prince not know?”

After saying that, he took the decree and went back to the house.

For a while, there were only two people left in the courtyard, a dumbfounded Ruo Fang and a calm and composed Ruo Tao.

Ruo Fang thought about it for a long time but still couldn’t understand it. She turned her head with a frightened gaze at Ruo Tao: “Ruo Tao, Isn’t this the crime of deceiving the Emperor ah, but the Crown Prince didn’t punish Young Master Wen.”

Ruo Tao patted Ruo Fang on the shoulder comfortingly: “His Royal Highness is not as cruel as you think.”

Ruo Fang: “…”

She wanted Ruo Tao to count the number of people who died in the East Palace these days but after thinking about it, she still didn’t say it. She didn’t know if she was thinking too much but Ruo Tao and Ping An were really weird, one weirder than the other. Young Master Wen is the most normal in the Bamboo Flute Residence.

*

This was the first time that Wen Chi touched an imperial edict. It was a very rare opportunity, so he hung it on the shelf at the head of the bed. As for the things that the Emperor gave, they cannot be sold or given away. There seemed to be no use of them other than taking them out to brag.

After thinking about it, he instructed Ruo Fang and Ruo Tao to move all those rewards into an empty room.

Ruo Fang and Ruo Tao responded and began to move the rewards.

Wen Chi was about to go back to the room to rest for a while, when he suddenly remembered the tea party that Zhang Cai Hui said and he was suddenly enlightened. He turned around and said, “Don’t tidy up, see if there are any rewards such as calligraphy and painting in it.”

Ruo Tao asked, “Why does Young Master Wen want calligraphy and painting for?”

Wen Chi answered confidently: “Of course, it is to show off.”

Ruo Tao: “…”