Your Ninth Royal Highness, Please Change Your Clothes

Wen Chan stood on the side and looked on blankly without lifting a finger. She fell flat on her face onto the ground, completely destroying her image. The surrounding people saw her falling down and thought of leaving a space between for her. But unfortunately, the place was highly crowded. The people at the back didn’t know that someone had fallen down in the front. So, they jostled in, feet stepping on Jiang Yueying’s arms. She let out a miserable shriek, but it was instantly buried among the noise.

Wen Chan truly didn’t want to help Jiang Yueying up again. But he also didn’t want to see her being trampled to death by others. So he waved the broken sky lantern in his hand and yelled, “Don’t squeeze, don’t squeeze. Somebody has fallen down.”

But the people who were into picking up the silver coins didn’t hear his yelling. While the crowd pushed and shouted, a hand came to snatch his hand warmer. Before Wen Chan could have a good look at who it was, his head went cold. The hat on his head was taken off!

The top of his head became cold, and he retreated two steps in shock. A hand came out from the crowd again and grasped his cotton-padded clothes.

He could not allow this person to rob him again. Wen Chan hastily threw away his broken lantern. Wen Chan had one hand tugging at his cotton-padded clothes and the other hand harshly slapping the hand that was pulling at his cotton-padded clothes. The villainous hand didn’t back off even after getting hurt from being slapped but changed direction.

Wen Chan’s neck suddenly went cold, and a cold wind poured in. Again, he withdrew back some steps. He went back to the bridge’s spacious corner once more. His hands empty, his clothes wrinkled, and his entire body cut a sorry figure. He stood there, not daring to go forward again.

He wrapped his cotton coat a little tighter and inserted his ice-cold hands into his sleeves while he gasped again and again in his mind. These common people were terrible, so terrible!

It didn’t last much longer. Someone came to arrest the young master who was scattering the coins and beat him up, the turmoil quickly subsiding. Qinqi and Shu Hua soon came looking for Wen Chan, pushed aside the crowd. They found Wen Chan, who was leaning against the bridge’s corner, with his head shrunken.

When he saw his guards approach, he angrily said, “Someone took advantage of the chaos to steal my fox fur robe and my hat. You guys quickly go and catch that wicked person for me!” After he finished speaking, he realized that it was not the time to get back his hat. He then added, “Forget it. Just a while before, I saw the young lady of the Jiang family fall down and get squeezed in by the crowd. You guys quickly go get her up and save her.”

When he said this, he saw the dirty-bodied Jiang Yueying being helped up by Liang Yanbei. He glanced at Wen Chan through the crowd. He then turned around, carrying Jiang Yueyang, who had already fainted, and handed her over to the Jiang family’s underlings.

It was the third time that he saw Liang Yanbei this evening.

After he saw that Jiang Yueyang was saved, Wen Chan suddenly felt that his head and neck were cold. Also, he didn’t want to stay there any longer. He told Qinqi and Shu Hua to find Ah Fu, and the four went back in the carriage.

On the way back, Wen Chan touched his bare neck and sighed, really disappointing!

Wen Chan knew of his weak body. So right after returning to the palace, he asked Ah Fu to prepare ginger soup to warm up his body. But he didn’t expect that he would still suffer from the cold, giving out three earth-shaking sneezes in a row.

Ah Fu brought the imperial doctor who prescribed a small pill after taking Wen Chan’s pulse.

If you raise your head up in the big palace to look at the sky on the night of the lantern festival, you’ll see that the night’s sky was filled with lanterns that spread in the sky like specks of stars. The common people of the capital city would look up at the sky to see the lanterns that they released, wobbling and ascending, carrying their wishes and desires. The tiny specks converged to form a long river of lanterns that would disappear into the horizon in a steady stream.

After taking a bath and drinking the medicine, Wen Chan went to sleep under his warm blankets, perfectly missing out on the beautiful scenery outside.

The events on Yufu street couldn’t be suppressed for a long time, like the Ninth Prince’s sightseeing in the outfit of an ordinary man, [foonote]incognito mode was turned on[/footnote] and the Fu family’s young master scattering money on the ground, causing chaos in the capital city. Jiang Yueying was seriously injured due to that trampling event. So, the Jiang family stepped in, making the young master who scattered the coins get a full four years of imprisonment. When Ah Fu heard this news, he returned back to Wen Chan and lamented, “The Jiang family’s senior is so kind-hearted.”

That’s right. The punishment of imprisoning a person for just 4 years is considered to be really light. If it were some other official, they would have surely taken the young master’s life.

Zhao Pingshi insulted Wen Chan in the middle of the streets by calling him an untouchable. Even though Wen Chan didn’t intend to report her to the emperor, there were still many pairs of eyes that witnessed this. And somehow, the news got into the ears of the emperor. But also, the emperor didn’t blame her. It was Zhao Chengbo who went back and grounded Zhao Pingshi.

After the fifteenth, the days started passing by fast. In just a blink of an eye, it was already February. The severe winter left quietly, and the trees in the courtyard of Wen Chan’s palace started having shoots.

Wen Chan took a good nap on a sunny afternoon. His whole body was weak, and the light rays stopped right at his door, sprinkling warmth in the room.

After Wen Chan got up and walked out of the room while stretching his back, Ah Fu greeted him, “Your Highness, have you had enough rest?”

He yawned contentedly. His pretty eyes were clouded with watery mist, “What time is it?”

“It is Yin Shi[foonote]Yin Shi refers 3 to 5 a.m. upon the dawn moment.[/footnote].” Ah Fu then pondered for a moment and said, “Your Highness. Just now, news came through that Concubine Yi of Zhongxiu Palace gave birth to a little princess. It is indeed happy news!”

“Concubine Yi.” A puzzled expression floated over Wen Chan’s face. Even after thinking for a while, Wen Chan was not able to recall who she was. It was not that Wen Chan’s memory power is bad, but rather because the emperor had way too many harem members. Wen Chan was ninth in line. There were six younger siblings down the line, and now there was also one more.

On seeing that Wen Chan couldn’t remember her, Ah Fu reminded him, “It is the one from the Danhua Hall. The emperor bestowed the young princess the character Hei from the list of the names.”

Wen Hei. When this name was said out, Wen Chan actually remembered it. In his previous life, the struggle for getting the title of the emperor set off a bloody storm in the capital. Wen Hei died when she was just ten years old. Her stomach was pierced with a sword, and she was crying out in pain. She held Wen Chan’s boots and called out to her royal brother incessantly. And at last, she died at the feet of Wen Chan.

“Let’s go see her someday.” Wen Chan said.

Ah Fu was surprised but didn’t ask anything. He just said, “Then this servant will first report it to the Palace Hall.”

Wen Chan ordered the eunuchs to carry out the *ruanta and place it outside the door. He then comfortably laid on it to sunbathe. It was extremely cozy. Ah Fu stood next to him, and after hesitating for a long time, he said, “Your Highness, tomorrow is the fifth day of February.”

The rich and the noble families will hire private tutors to teach their children literature and martial arts, which usually started in March. The officials and eunuch families started earlier than them, by the middle of February. Only the imperial sons’ cases were special, as their classes would start in early February.

When Wen Chan heard the words “fifth of march,” his head started aching immediately. Just by thinking about those uninteresting four books1, the Five Classics of Confucianism2, and the energy-consuming sword works; made him feel tired.

Fortunately, the emperor had a lot of things to manage and also had a lot of sons. Plus, Wen Chan was a special case. The emperor was not really strict with him. But in any case, he was a prince too and cannot be that much different from the other princes. He could not miss out on the things that others were learning.

Wen Chan was very lazy in his previous life. Books were not so bad for him. What he didn’t have any interest in was martial arts. It was just that he was a jack of all trades and would show his true colors when facing any opponent. Later, the emperor arranged for him to study martial arts with Liang Yanbei, and since then, his martial arts improved.

He raised his hand and touched his abdomen. After practicing martial arts in his previous life, his body grew stronger and stronger. The muscles on his abdomen were visible. But now, he still has two rows of skinny bones. He sighed, he should indeed practice martial arts.

Wen Chan got up from the ruanta. He smoothed out the creases on his brocade robe and said to Ah Fu, “Change my clothes.”

Ah Fu hurriedly took care of it and asked, “Is Your Highness going somewhere?”

He thought for a while and then said, “Let’s go to the He Yue tower. I remember that the braised chicken with lotus leaf and golden dewdrop3 of the He Yue tower is pretty good.”

Wen Chan once again took his three little followers out of the palace and went straight to He Yue house4.

There are 3 floors in the He Yue house, with common tables and chairs on the first floor. Curtains served as divisions on the second floor. There were private rooms for the people on the third. This was one of the most luxurious places in the capital city, and the people who went there were either rich or noble. Even a small dish could cost one month of expenses for a normal family.

Wen Chan went directly to a private room on the third floor. He casually chose some of the dishes listed by the waiter. He wasn’t hungry. He was just craving that chicken stew.

Qinqi, Shu Hua, and Ah Fu were on guard.

He opened the window, and the noise from the bustling street outside came in. When Wen Chan heard this noise, he became indescribably happy. Qinqi, who stood by his side, asked him, “Young Master, the street is so noisy. Won’t it be annoying to listen to it while eating?”

“I don’t really think so.” Wen Chan sat down again on his seat. With a normal voice, he said, “It is pretty comfortable to listen to this noise.”

Qinqi had never heard of anyone who liked to eat amidst noise. But after thinking about his master’s lazy and strange nature, he didn’t continue asking.

After waiting for a short while, the dishes started coming up one by one. And after another while, everything was set up together. The braised chicken dish was placed originally in the center. But then, it was then placed in front of Wen Chan by himself. The fragrance went straight to his nose.

He picked up his chopsticks and rolled up his sleeves, getting ready for the battle. He started with a drumstick. Just when he was ready to take his bite, an abrupt sound of chinaware smashing onto the floor came from next door. He was so startled that his hands shook, and the drumstick in his hands fell on the table.

He blankly looked at the leg piece which had fallen on the table. But he didn’t get angry. He stretched out his chopsticks to find another drumstick. It was still steaming hot, but he couldn’t wait. So he simply took a bite, and he quickly swallowed it before chewing properly because it was scalding hot. As a result, the heat went straight for his stomach through his throat, making his whole stomach feel a bit uncomfortable. He rubbed his stomach and then blew on his chicken piece, ready to take the second bite.

Then the sound of a man howling came from next door, and Wen Chan was even more startled this time. The leg piece fell straight on his body and he quickly shook it down onto the ground. Luckily he wore a dark blue dress that day, so the stain could not be seen.

The leg piece stopped after rolling on the ground two times. The flavor of the first bite still remained in Wen Chan’s mouth.

“Pa!” He banged the chopsticks on the table and stood up angrily. “Let’s go see what’s going on next door!”

Wen Chan took the three people along with him and aggressively knocked on the private room next door. The one who opened the door was a strong young man. He fiercely glared at Wen Chan as if he was looking at his enemy. He gruffly said, “What do you want?!”

The youth was more than a head taller than Wen Chan, and when, “Tell your master to come and talk to me.”

“No time, get out!” The youth shouted viciously. When he flung his hand to close the door, Shu Hua quickly came in front of Wen Chan. He raised his foot and kicked the youth out, and the youth fell on a porcelain bottle, sending out a loud sound, the sound of it smashing into pieces.

With the youth out of his way, Wen Chan entered the private room unhindered to see a young son of an official. His hand was covering the left side of his neck, and his face was distorted by severe pain. He gritted his teeth and said, “Who are you? How dare you touch my people?”

Translator’s corner
Hi guys,
yeah, there is no need to check the calendar again. Cause it is actually not Sunday and yeah, I am late.
I am sowwy. It is the same reason as before.

 

 

If you found any mistakes please feel free to let me know in the comment section below.

Bye

1

namely: the Great Learning 大學｜大学, the Doctrine of the Mean 中庸, the Analects of Confucius 論語｜论语, and Mencius 孟子

2

namely: the Book of Songs 詩經｜诗经, the Book of History 書經｜书经, the Classic of Rites 禮記｜礼记, the Book of Changes 易經｜易经, and the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋

34

It is a restaurant. I hope you guys got it