Chapter 67: CH 33.1

Ping An had just finished weeding the grass and was so tired that he was out of breath. His face and neck were covered in sweat. With a reluctant smile on his face, he said to Wen Chi quite earnestly, “This servant has already fulfilled Young Master Wen’s orders.”

Wen Chi was confused for a moment and then said, “What order?”

“Didn’t Young Master Wen instruct this servants to pluck up all the weeds in the courtyard a few days ago?” Ping An said happily, “This servant has pulled them all, does Young Master Wen want to check them?”

Wen Chi waved his hand perfunctorily: “No, it’s fine if it’s done.”

After saying that, Wen Chi prepared to go inside.

After tossing around since last night and this morning, he was really tired and now he just wanted to find a chair to lie down for a while and sort out his thoughts.

Too many things were crammed in his mind that he felt like his head was about to  explode.

So Wen Chi walked ahead when Ping An jogged up from behind.

“Young Master Wen, where did you go yesterday?”

Wen Chi kept walking while glancing at Ping Ping suspiciously.

He saw Ping An’s eyes widened and he said cautiously, “Yesterday this servant heard from Ruo Fang that Young Master Wen was leaving the palace with His Royal Highness. This servant thought that Young Master Wen was coming back at night, so I waited all night but Young Master Wen didn’t come back.”

Wen Chi was really curious: “Why were you waiting for me? Were you looking for me for something?”

“That’s not…” Seeing Wen Chi asking like this, Ping An seemed to think that Wen Chi was suspicious of him. His face blushed and he hurriedly explained, “These days, in order to fulfill Young Master Wen orders, this servant had been pulling weeds in the courtyard day and night. Since I didn’t see Young Master Wen come back yesterday, I was just a little worried.”

Hearing this, Wen Chi suddenly stopped.

Ping An, who was following Wen Chi, almost bumped into Wen Chi but he turned on his toes and pulled himself back, standing firmly in place.

“Young Master Wen?”

Wen Chi calmly glanced at Ping An’s feet and then turned his gaze to Ping An’s face.

Ping An was puzzled by his look and couldn’t help but touch his face: “Is there something dirty on this servant’s face?”

Wen Chi said, “No.”

Ping An retracted his hand and asked nervously, “Why does Young Master Wen looking at this slave like that?”

Wen Chi was silent for a moment but did not answer Ping An’s question. Instead, he said, “You have finished pulling the weeds in the courtyard right? I see you seem to be quite idle, how about this, you trim the branches and leaves of those small trees again, otherwise they will grow too messy and affect the scenery.”

Ping An let out a long sigh: “…”

Wen Chi noticed Ping An’s difficult expression: “Not willing?”

“This servant is willing.” Ping An lowered his head and said, “This servant will do his best to fulfill Young Master Wen’s instructions.”

Wen Chi smiled, beckoned to call Ruo Tao, who was passing by and instructed: “You go and check the results of Ping An’s weeding. If there is something that is not right, let him pull it out again.”

Hearing this, Ping An’s face went pale but he didn’t dare to say a word.

Ruo Tao also seemed to think Wen Chi’s attitude was a bit strange, she quietly glanced at Ping An and replied softly before walking away.

Wen Chi saw that Ping An was still standing in the same place and said, “Go and do it. After you finish this work, I still have some things for you to complete here. You will have to make up for the things you missed before.”

Ping An’s eyes were red and he didn’t know if it was because he was angry or aggrieved. He raised his head and looked at Wen Chi with meaningful eyes.

Wen Chi looked back at him calmly.

Ping An didn’t expect that his gaze would be caught by Wen Chi and he quickly retracted his gaze as if a mouse seeing a cat, then turned around and walked into the yard without saying a word.

Wenchi looked at his back and pondered for a while before continuing to walk into the house

*

Although pulling weeds and pruning branches were both physical tasks, in comparison, pruning branches is much harder than weeding.

There were palace maids and eunuchs who specialize in this kind of errands in the palace but they don’t come to the Bamboo Flute Residence to do it.

Ping An, who had no one to guide him and had never done this work before, was stumped at first. He found a small pair of shears from somewhere and struggled to trim the messy branches and leaves on the tree.

Ping An’s movements are not skilled, and even accidentally poked the small scissors into his hand and bright red blood immediately emerged along the wound.

However, Ping An looked like he was used to it and calmly found gauze to bandage the injured finger.

If you look closely, you can also find that there are large and small wounds on Ping An’s hands, which should have been made during weeding.

Wen Chi sat on the stone bench and watched all this with his chin propped up.

At this time, Ruo Fang came over and put a few letters on the stone table in front of Wen Chi: “Young Master Wen, the Wen residence has sent someone to deliver a letter again.”

Wen Chi glanced at it, his expression unchanged: “Just put it away.”

Ruo Fang said hesitantly, “Young Master Wen, the person who delivered the letter said it was an emergency. Please open the letter and take a look at it.”

Wen Chi thought it was funny and snorted: “Which time did that person not say that?”

“…” Only then did Ruo Fang react, her cheeks were hot and she reached out to pick up the letters, “Yes.”

Now that the reputation of the Wen family has fallen to a low point, Wen Changqing and the Xu family will naturally try their best to contact Wen Chi in the palace, not to mention sending letters twice in three days, they even came to visit personally several times, only to be blocked by the guards outside the palace every time – without the permission of the crown prince, they cannot enter the East Palace at will.

This was just as Wen Chi intended.

He didn’t want to be confronted by that family and it was a good choice to use the crown prince as a shield.

Before leaving, Ruo Fang was still a little worried and asked in a low voice, “Young Master Wen, are you in a bad mood?”