CH 10

Test

Liang Yanbei -who stood there as a spectator for the whole time- chuckled when he heard this. He calmly folded his hands in front of his chest and said, “Young Master Zhong is idler than I expected. He still has time to discuss the rumors about Brother Zifu and me.”

“Who talks about you?” Zhong Wenjin looked disgusted and just wanted to continue talking. However, a man suddenly broke in and interrupted him.

The man in the sackcloths saw Ding Ziyun sitting on the ground and called out, “Little girl.” He raised his head and saw the young master in brocade, standing beside. Unexpectedly, he suddenly bent down, carrying the girl up. Then, with quick movements, he leaped out of the crowd.

Zhong Wenjin saw this and hastily yelled, “Hurry up and bring back my beauty for me!”

The few strong young men behind him immediately set off, chasing after the man. He turned his head to glance at Wen Chen, Liang Yanbei, and Xie Zhaoxue. Then, he pointed at Wen Chen and said viciously, “This time, just consider yourself lucky!”

After saying that, he also went after Ding Ziyun, who was being taken away. Xie Zhaoxue couldn’t be rest assured and said to Liang Yanbei, “Brother Yanbei, I’m going to report to the officials to capture Zhong Wenjin, so I’ll leave first.”

Wen Chan thought that the Zhong family was very maverick in the capital. What could the authorities do to Zhong Wenjin? But soon after, he remembered that Xie Zhaoxue’s dad was a high official in the Ministry of Justice. He could also be considered Zhao Wenjin’s maternal uncle. If Xie Zhaoxue took people from the government, maybe he could really control Zhong Wenjin.

Liang Yanbei nodded slightly in response. Before he could speak, Xie Zhaoxue said, feeling a little embarrassed, “Brother Yanbei, please don’t take the nonsense spouted by Zhao Wenjin just now seriously.”

Liang Yanbei raised his lips to a smile, slightly exposing his white teeth while doing so, “Naturally.”

Xie Zhaoxue heaved a sigh of relief. Then, after bowing to Wen Chan, he left to go to the yamen1. The rest of the people saw that there was nothing worth seeing now, and along with Qin Qi and Ah Fu’s urging, they quickly dispersed.

Liang Yanbei lowered his head slightly and smiled at Wen Chan, “Your Ninth Highness, we are really connected by fate. I wonder if we can become friends this time?”

Wen Chan said in his heart that indeed, they were connected by fate. As long as he left the palace, he could bump into Liang Yanbei.

He calmed down his mind, and for the first time since he was reborn, he used an emotion close to calmness to talk to him, “Thank you, Young Master Liang, for your help. ”

Liang Yanbei’s charming face was languid and wanton, “Your Highness is too polite. This is what should be done. Besides, this is not the first time.”

Wen Chan’s mind went blank. Then, he stiffly changed the subject and said, “I have been out of the palace for a while now, so I should be going back to the palace. Do as you please, Young Master Liang.”

After speaking, he quickly turned around and left without waiting for Liang Yanbei to react. Seeing this, Qin Qi, Shu Hua, and Ah Fu quickly went to catch up with him.

Wen Chan walked away without turning back. After getting far away, he quietly stretched out his hand to touch his heart, only to feel that his heart was beating wildly. It was so close, so close.

After walking for a long time, he suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, “Where is my carriage? ”

Ah Fu answered, “In front of the He Yue House. ”

Wen Chen frowned, “Then why didn’t anyone remind me? I’ve already come this far. ”

Ah Fu felt wronged, “Young Master, this servant called out to you three times. But you didn’t heed to this servant’s words.”

“Okay, let’s walk back again.” He sighed, feeling exhausted. After rebirth, he left the palace three times. Each was unluckier than the other. When he returns, should really burn incense and immerse himself in water to wash off his rotten luck.

When they got back to He Yue House, Liang Yanbei had already left. Wen Chan got into the carriage and collapsed onto the ruanta.

The next morning, the sun only just exposed his head. The sky was still dim and gray. Wen Chan got up from his warm bed, and the palace servants dressed still sleepy Wen Chan. After rinsing his face, he became much more sober.

After breakfast, Wen Chan left for the Bo Xue palace2 in his carriage after Ah Fu urged him a few times. Only a few palace servants came and went on the palace road, and the cold current was reckless.

Wen Chan wrapped himself in a tight-fitting soft coat and took a nap in the carriage. When they arrived at the Bong Xue Palace, he reluctantly got out.

On the first day of the Kaitang3, the emperor would personally come to inspect. Therefore, Wen Chan didn’t wear his hat, fox fur, etc. He quickly entered the palace hall, shrinking his neck. Luckily, the palace hall’s internal heating stove was ignited. The temperature inside was much warmer than outside.

As soon as he entered the door, a young man walked up to him and happily yelled, “Ninth Royal Brother!”

Wen Chan was taken aback for a moment, and soon after, he gently touched his head, “Zhang’er, I haven’t seen you for a long time. It looks like you have grown taller again. ”

Wen Zhang was ranked thirteenth. In a year, he would turn ten years old. Among this huge group of siblings, Wen Zhang was the only one close to Wen Chan apart from a blood-related brother from his mother’s side. Later, when the Capital was in chaos, Wen Zhang died under the thieves’ hooves. Due to this, Wen Chan was heartbroken for a long time.

Thinking about this, he pinched Wen Zhang’s white and tender face, “It seems that you have eaten well. ”

Wen Zhang was very obedient. He raised his head and said, “I heard that Brother Huang suffered from a cold a few days ago. I wonder if your health is better now? ”

“It’s all fine,” Wen Chan replied.

“That’s great. If you miss this test because you aren’t in good health, you will really suffer to death. ” Wen Zhang muttered.

“What are you talking about? A test?” Hearing this, Wen Chan immediately felt like his head was about to explode. He asked, “What test?”

“It’s the Kaitang test4. Emperor Father said that the civil service examination is in two days. Even though we don’t need to take part in the imperial examination, Emperor Father wanted to check our literature level. So on today……”

Wen Chan couldn’t listen to what Wen Zhang said later, as his whole head became dizzy. For him, the entrance examination was the most annoying thing. Every time, he had to write a lot of nonsense, and then he had to be commented on in public.

If there was something beneficial to him after becoming an emperor, it was that no one dared to force him to participate in any exams. But since he has been reborn, he couldn’t avoid it.

He didn’t know if it was too late to say that he was ill.……

After Wen Zhang finished chattering to himself, he pulled Wen Chan to find seats for them. The palace hall’s inside was very vast. There were six rows, with ten seats in a row. Only Wen Chan and Wen Zhang were there, apart from the palace servants. They found seats that were neither at the front nor the back.

Maybe it was because he came too early that he had to wait in his seat for a long time. After waiting for a while, his mood inevitably became somewhat gloomy. He also felt like it was quite warm inside the palace hall. Since he got up early, he became sleepy. Becoming sleepier and sleepier, Wen Chan couldn’t help but lay on the table and dozed off.

Although Wen Zhang was only ten years old, he was wise and mature. On seeing Wen Chan was sleeping, he didn’t bother him. He took out the book he had brought and looked through it quietly.

The sun ascended high, and the sky’s color turned very bright. Gradually, more and more people started to come in. Wen Chan unexpectedly felt hot in his sleep. Maybe it was because more and more people started to come in. He unconsciously reached out to loosen his collar and then turned around to continue sleeping after gasping out hot air.

“Brother Wenjin! Come sit here!” Somebody suddenly shouted this, making Wen Chan wake up instantly. He blinked and sat up in confusion, finding that his surroundings were almost full.

The youngster who stood up to call Zhong Wenjin was so loud that he caught the attention of the people around him. Xie Zhaoxue happened to be sitting next to the boy. When he heard this, he glanced at Zhong Wenjin and said, “Noisy.”

The two of them seemed to be at odds by nature. Zhong Wenjin stopped walking there and coldly snorted, “Forget it. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to write anything if I sit next to him.”

“I don’t think you will be able to give some decent answers even if you choose a seat of your liking in this hall”, Xie Zhaoxue replied sarcastically.

Zhong Wenjin was also not ready to admit defeat. His mouth was ready to bite back at the other. When Wen Chan saw the situation getting tense, he coughed immediately and softly said, “Don’t make a racket in the Ming Rong palace hall.”

Only then did the two realize that this place was in the imperial palace and wasn’t the streets or alleys where they could have a row. So Zhong Wenjin flung his sleeves and left to find a remote location on his own.

At this time, the hall became extremely silent due to the two’s three or two sentences. No one continued their conversations. Wen Chan let out a sigh of relief and twisted his numb arms. The person in front suddenly turned his head and said to him with a face full of smiles, “Your Ninth Highness, we meet again. ”

Liang Yanbei in his brocade robe and a jade crown was brimming with a noble aura. It was similar to his rich attire on Lunar New Year’s eve. His body was almost twisted over, placing both his hands in front of Wen Chan’s table.

Wen Chan didn’t notice that it was Liang Yanbei sitting in front of him. So he was momentarily dazed and secretly swallowed his saliva, evoking a stiff smile, “Yeah, what a great coincidence.”

Seeing his response, Liang Yanbei smiled even more and said in a low voice, “It is not a coincidence. I got up early today, just to find a place next to His Ninth Royal Highness.”

A burst of heat rushed straight to the top of his head, and Wen Chan felt like his body was hot and tumbling. A conspicuous shade of red stained his ears. He tried hard to calm himself down and said softly, “Young Master Liang took a lot of trouble.”

Since meeting Liang Yanbei, Wen Chan’s expressions became very obvious. But Liang Yanbei didn’t pay attention to it at all. He pretended to sigh and said, “Yes, to make friends with Your Royal Highness, I racked my brain. ”

Make friends? Wen Chan’s hands under the table slowly tightened up. He was characteristically indolent, temperamentally tolerant. After he was reborn, he didn’t have the slightest arrogance. That was even if he was once an emperor that 10,000 people worshipped. He could be friends with anyone in Xi Liang. But he won’t be friends with Liang Yanbei. Wen Chan had been friends with him for decades in his previous life, and he was well aware of how unpleasant the feeling was.

Wen Chan lowered his eyelids slightly and fell into silence. When Liang Yanbei saw that Wen Chan was not talking to him, he turned back and chatted with Xie Zhaoxue.

When Wen Chan heard a peal of laughter, he subconsciously turned his head to look. But he saw several teenagers gathered together who were all looking at him, laughing. A young man in purple clothes and a black crown stood between the youngsters. His eyes were long and slender, his smile harboring malicious intentions.

It was crown prince Wen Yue.

A young man in orange clothes with a face six points similar to Wen Yue was beside Wen Yue. He was Wen Xiang, the blood-related younger brother of Wen Yue from his mother’s side.

The two brothers were really close. Both had the same broken mouth5. They usually liked to talk about the rights and wrongs of others the most. After all, Wen Xiang was young. Therefore, he didn’t dare to talk much. However, Wen Yue was honorable and relied on his identity to blabber. Even though Wen Chan was just a waste of a prince and wasn’t much appreciated, he made fun of him.

At this time, the target of the young men’s discussion was Wen Chan. When they saw him looking over, not only did they not restrain themselves, but they started laughing even more, causing Wen Chan to feel irritable in his heart. He then retracted his gaze and ignored them.

He glanced at the people in the hall. He found that all the people who came were the direct sons of the first wives of officials in the capital. Due to the long time gap, many people were fuzzy in his memory. Liang Shuhong, who was the only person he could talk with, was not there in the palace hall even though Liang Shuhong was the son of the first wife of Liang Mingyan. Liang Mingyan himself was related to the Liang family from a concubine. So Liang Shuhong was not eligible to participate in this test.

In the royal family, apart from Wen Chan, Wen Zhang, Crown Prince Wen Yue, and his younger brother Wen Xiang, the second prince Wen Zichuan was already beyond the age of adolescence, with a child old enough to walk and sprint. Therefore, he didn’t attend the test. There was an old monk who took away Wen Chan’s blood-related brother somewhere. The blood-related brother lived there while fasting and reciting Buddhist scriptures.

The emperor had sixteen children in total. Except for the eleventh princess and fourteenth prince who died young by drowning, eight of the remaining fourteen were princesses. After birthing a large number of them, there were only six princes who could truly inherit the throne.

Wen Chan thought that he had only given birth to nine in his previous life, of which six were sons. For some unknown reason, he felt a little proud in his heart.……

Translator’s corner

government office in feudal China/yamen

Study palace

Starting of a class

It is a test at the start of a class

loquacious; garrulous; be a regular chatterbox