Wen Chan subconsciously hid the academy card behind him.
He forced a smile and said, “I just didn’t perform to my full potential.”
“I can’t guess at all when Your Highness will exhibit your talents to your full potential.” Liang Yanbei took out the academy card from his sleeve and looked at the two letters “A1” engraved on it with a weird expression.
Wen Chan said in his heart: Am I not forced by the situation here?
He put away the academy card and said to Liang Yanbei, “Young Master Liang has great literary talent.”
Liang Yanbei did not enjoy this compliment very much1But that talent didn’t help him much in chasing his crush.. He said, “Your Highness is new here and may not know where to go. How about I take you to class A5?”
Wen Chan gladly accepted his kind intentions, “Well, then I’ll trouble Young Master Liang.”
After that trip to Wuyue Island, Wen Chan was already able to get along with Liang Yanbei very easily. He no longer panicked and became frustrated, and only thought about avoiding him like when they first met.
Liang Yanbei’s handsome face always had a smile on it, but Wen Chan could tell when his smile was gentle and when it was cold.
Just like now, his eyebrows were full of relaxation, and the more he looked at him, the more he liked him.
Wen Chan walked down the stairs in two or three steps and waited for Liang Yanbei to come down to him before he asked, “How is the matter with the Jiang family’s Young Lady?”
“Wu Qi was sentenced to be beheaded. His son is still young. So he rebelled and was exiled.” Liang Yanbei walked side by side with him, and the height difference between them was suddenly apparent.
“It’s just that Young Lady Jiang originally had a marriage arranged. But it was cancelled two months ago. I’m afraid that in the future……” He said sympathetically.
Sympathy? Why did Liang Yanbei sympathise with her?
Wen Chan suddenly remembered that on the night of the Lantern festival, Jiang Yueying was squeezed down by the crowd, and it was Liang Yanbei who helped her up from the crowd.
“Is Young Master Liang feeling sorry for her?” Wen Chan’s voice was neither salty nor bland2say something unemotionally.
“Indeed, a little.” Liang Yanbei said as if to himself, “Young Lady Jiang is as beautiful as a flower, and I heard that she is a talented woman. She shouldn’t have been ruined by rough people like Wu Qi for no reason.”
Unexpectedly, Wen Chan sneered when he heard it, “Yes, Miss Jiang is beautiful and talented. She shouldn’t have ended up like this. I remember that Young Master Liang seems to have not married yet. Why don’t you bring the betrothal money to her house? If she is not suitable to be a wife, it is still okay to take her in as a concubine. Then Young Master Liang’s pity will not be in vain3Not gonna lie, but I am kind of puzzled by the sudden shift in his mood..”
Liang Yanbei was stunned by these strange and peculiar words. He glanced at him unexpectedly and said, “…… This is not right.”
“Not right?” Wen Chan was angry in his heart and deliberately misinterpreted his meaning, “Young Master Liang thinks it is not enough? Why not send the betrothal money to the Qiao family too and marry her together with the other? I believe Young Lady Qiao will be happy with this.”
This was a jab to Liang Yanbei’s heart. He felt a headache when he thought of Qiao Yanci. At this time, he shook his head like a rattle, “I didn’t mean that!”
“Oh — —” Wen Chan continued on, “Then do you also want to welcome Zhu Xue from Yu Fu House into the household4to join one’s husband’s household upon marriage together with them? If you marry three people at once, are you not afraid of being criticised by others?”
Why did he bring up Yu Fu House too? Liang Yanbei was confused5It is not just you., “Who is Zhu Xue?”
Wen Chan glared at him angrily, “If you take a walk to Yu Fu House, you will know who Zhu Xue is.”
After saying that, he flung his sleeves and left. Liang Yanbei was mocked and ridiculed for no reason. So he naturally could not let him go. Thus, he quickly grabbed his wrist.
“What are you talking about? Why did you get angry all of a sudden?”
Wen Chan felt that he was being pulled and struggled.
This was not Wuyue Island. This was the capital. There were acquaintances everywhere. If people see him and Liang Yanbei take a hand or arm in a too familiar way, some kind of rumour will spread, and it would be a great trouble for Liang Yanbei.
Liang Yanbei didn’t want to let go at first. But he was frightened by his overreaction, so he did let go.
Unexpectedly, Wen Chan didn’t put away his strength on time and wasn’t able to stabilise his figure.
So Liang Yanbei watched him stumble back a few steps and fall on his butt.
He [WC] himself didn’t expect that he would fall, and he sat on the ground in a daze.
When Liang Yanbei thought about it, he found that his mood had only begun to change after he said that he felt sorry for Jiang Yueying. He must have been angry about what he said.
Although Liang Yanbei still couldn’t understand why he was angry, now that he has found out where the anger came from, things should be easier to manage.
He walked to Wen Chan, squatted down, and said directly, “I was wrong.”
Wen Chan stared at his calm face and kept silent.
“I shouldn’t have said I felt sorry for Young Lady Jiang before.” Liang Yanbei frowned slightly and said with a look of remorse, “Young Lady Jiang and I are not related to one another in any way, and I don’t have the slightest admiration for her. So I shouldn’t have said I felt sorry for her6It was actually not wrong for you to feel sorry, though..”
Wen Chan’s emotions faded quickly, and he gradually calmed down. He asked curiously, “If it’s not feeling sorry for her, then what is it?”
“Nothing. Whatever happened to her has nothing to do with me.” Liang Yanbei lifted up his hands, held his arms, and easily pulled him up. He picked up the academy card that had just fallen on the ground and gently put it into his hands.
“I only care about Your Highness’s affairs.” He said such corny words without batting an eyelid, and they were said in quite a natural way too.
On the contrary, Wen Chan’s ears became hot, and he held the academy card and stuffed it back into his sleeve. He realised belatedly that he was being unreasonable just then and exhaled a breath of hot air to explain reluctantly, “Jiang Yueying…… It is not worth feeling sorry for her.”
She was a ruthless woman who mercilessly betrayed Wen Chan. In his previous life, in order to save face, Wen Chan announced to the public that Queen Jiang had passed away due to illness and had raised a son for another person for more than 20 years.
His face became cold when he thought of this, “The cause is in the previous life, and the result is in the present life.”
Liang Yanbei felt that this Ninth Royal Highness’s words were getting more and more incomprehensible, “What cause? What result?”
“Don’t try to coax me. You are just blinded by lust. I won’t believe it.” Wen Chan snorted softly at him, turned around, and left.
Liang Yanbei regretted that he had praised Jiang Yueying with a loose mouth earlier.
He chased after him, trailing behind Wen Chan by half a step behind, “I just spoke from the bottom of my heart, and it was not to coax you at all.”
Wen Chan ignored him, but the corners of his mouth curled up quietly.
That smile was like that of a child who had secretly eaten candy, both pure and clean, and it was covered with a layer of golden light from the sun.
When Liang Yanbei caught a glimpse of this smile, his eyes also curled, and he also smiled unconsciously, following him.
“Hey — — Your Ninth Royal Highness!” The two were walking one after the other when suddenly a shout came.
Zhong Wenjin ran over happily, his eyes full of expectation, “How is it? Is it A5?”
Wen Chan stopped in his tracks and nodded slightly.
Zhong Wenjin laughed out loud, “Hahaha, I knew that His Ninth Royal Highness is mighty and heroic. He really lived up to the expectations!”
He lived up to the expectations and entered class A5? Wen Chan somewhat found it to be both funny and extremely embarrassing. And he didn’t know whether to say “I’m flattered”?
So, Liang Yanbei came out to uphold justice, saying, “Your Highness got in because of poor performance. Do you think all are like you, with a human body and a pig’s head?”
If it were someone else, Zhong Wenjin would have been furious. But since the target was Liang Yanbei, he had to swallow his breath and say angrily, “…… I also didn’t perform well!”
“If you performed normally, I’m afraid you wouldn’t even be able to get into A5.” He said.
“You!” Zhong Wenjin was so angry that his nostrils flared. But, thinking that he couldn’t beat him, he forcibly suppressed his anger, “I remember that Young Master Liang belongs to A1, right? What are you doing here then?”
“His Royal Highness came out here and didn’t know where to go. So I was sending him to class A5.”
“That’s not necessary now. I’ll take His Highness there.” Zhong Wenjin took Wen Chan’s arm and smiled brightly at Liang Yanbei. “Young Master Liang, who has a human head, please go ahead.”
Liang Yanbei held up the big stone of “upholding justice” and firmly smashed it onto his own feet. He looked on as Zhong Wenjin pulled the person away.
Standing in place for a while and thinking about it, he felt upset in his heart. He cursed Zhong Wenjin a little bastard in his heart and dashed in the direction of class A5 again.
Zhong Wenjin pulled Wen Chan for a while before letting go and say, “Your Highness, Liang Yanbei is very bad. Don’t be fooled by the fact that he has a kind and harmless smile on his face all day long. But he is actually quite unreasonable. He scolds when he doesn’t like something and uses fists when he can’t scold. He is just like a street ruffian!”
Wen Chan thought it was funny and thought to himself: That’s very true. In the previous life, he would beat you until your nose bled at any time.
“It is clear that he and Liang Shuhong are cousins. Then why are the two so different?” He muttered in a low voice.
Wen Chan felt that he could answer this question, “Young Master Xie and your mother are also even siblings. Do you think Young Master Xie looks like your mother?”
Zhong Wenjin’s face stiffened, and he blurted out, “How is this the same? Besides, my mother has no blood relation to Xie Zhaoxue. Of course, they are not alike.”
Wen Chan stared in amazement and couldn’t speak for a while. This was the first time he had heard of this!
The direct line of the Xie family had one son and one daughter. The eldest daughter, Xie Yilu, and the youngest son, Xie Zhaoxue.
Zhong Wenjin also knew that he had said the wrong thing in a hurry and shook his head hurriedly, “I’m talking nonsense, I’m talking nonsense! Don’t believe it!”
Judging from his appearance, it was most probably true.
Wen Chan was silent. Xie Shengran did not take any concubines, and he also did not have any maids who were sent as a part of the dowry. When he was 21, he had a daughter. In the next several years, Lady Xie’s belly didn’t move at all. It was not until more than ten years later that she got pregnant again and gave birth to Xie Zhaoxue.
Although rumours had spread that Xie Yilu was not the Xie family’s member, it was then heard that the dowry given by the Xie family when she got married almost emptied the Xie family’s properties at that time. The dazzling silks and satins could go around half of the capital, and there were thousands of people who showed up.
The ceremony was comparable to the marriage of a princess.
Since then, no one had said that Xie Yilu was not a member of the Xie family.
“Who told you this?” Wen Chan looked serious and solemn. His voice lowered, and he took a step closer to Zhong Wenjin.
Zhong Wenjin had never seen Wen Chan look like this before, and thinking about the big secret he had just revealed, the little bully who considered himself unexcelled in the world7to be insufferably arrogant became so scared that his hands were shaking, “I…… I……”
“Speak.” Wen Chan said coldly.
“I happened to hear it when I was a kid.” Zhong Wenjin murmured.
“Who did you listen to?” He got to the heart of the matter.
“When my grandmother was talking to my mother, I heard it. But I never said it to anyone.” Zhong Wenjin was at his wit’s end and begged Wen Chan, “My grandmother said that except for the different bloodlines, my mother is a real member of the Xie family. Please don’t tell anyone else, no matter what! I just slipped up……”
“Don’t worry.” Wen Chan saw that the little bully was frightened a lot and comforted him, “I will guard my mouth like a closed bottle8tight-lipped. But I want to know, does Xie Zhaoxue know about this?”
Zhong Wenjin hesitated for a moment, “He ought to not know.”
Looking at him like this, Wen Chan couldn’t say that he could keep this big secret for so long. It was that he could easily get it out, like today.
He said with a solemn face, “Zhong Wenjin, listen to me. You know this, and I know it. You must never let another person know it from your mouth again. Otherwise, your mother will be in danger. You understand?”
Zhong Wenjin was frightened and nodded quickly, “I know, I know. I will keep this to myself and will never mention it again.”
He made repeated assurances, which made Wen Chan feel a little at ease. He calmed down and said, “Let’s go to class A5 first.”
At first glance, the fact that Xie Yilu was not the Xie family’s member seemed to have nothing to do with him. But Wen Chan knew that Xie Yilu’s marriage to Zhong Guoyi was a marriage granted by the emperor. If the matter came out, it would be enough to accuse everyone in the Xie family of deceiving the emperor.
Nothing must happen to the Xie family. Wen Chan thought to himself: He had to think carefully about how to guard this secret.
Zhong Wenjin was not as strong as him in his heart. He took a few deep breaths to make his face look less unsightly, and he took Wen Chan to class A5.
As soon as they walked outside the hall, they heard a loud noise. Suddenly, a man was kicked out of the hall and fell straight to the ground, screaming.
The person fell in front of Wen Chen and Zhong Wenjin. And the two retreated at the same time.
Then a young man ran out of the hall, rolled up his sleeves, and rushed over with his fists raised and cursing, “I’ll beat you to death, you son of a b***!”
Translator’s corner
Please let me know if any part of the chapter is confusing.
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