Chapter 191: Asking for Wanwan’s Hand
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Originally, the Minister of Rites did not intend to pay attention to Yan Jiuchao’s shoes. However, after being wronged by Yan Jiuchao a few times, the Minister of Rites decided to see how beautiful the shoes that had been worn by the Young Master of Yan City were. He swore that he had really only taken a look, but in the end, he was almost blinded by a pair of shoes!
What kind of damn shoes?! They were too f*cking ugly! Who put in such thick soles… It was as if they had stepped on two large pine cakes and left the house. Moreover, it was a pine cake of different sizes!
(Yu Wan was halfway through putting together the soles of the shoe and forgot how many layers she had put in. In the end, she put in two more layers for the second shoe.)
The courtiers were also the same as the Minister of Rites. They only looked at Yan Jiuchao’s shoes after hearing his words. In the end, they were also shocked. What were the eunuchs doing when such ugly shoes were placed in the hall?
The Emperor could not bear to look at him anymore. This kid broke into the throne room just to show off a pair of shoes?!!
The Emperor covered his eyes with his hand. “Cong’er, your shoes…”
Yan Jiuchao interrupted him righteously. “Even if you’re my uncle, you can’t have designs on my shoes!” Why would I f*cking has designs on your shoes!
The Emperor was about to cry from the ugliness of this ancient pair of pine cake shoes. He no longer wanted to discuss the important matters that he was originally discussing. He waved his hand like he was chasing away a mosquito. “…End, end court!”
The eunuch sang, “Kneel—”
The ministers knelt.
Yan Jiuchao stood out from the crowd.
The Emperor could not be bothered with this kid. He wanted to return to the harem and wash his eyes with three thousand beauties.
Until the Emperor left the throne room, the ministers also swarmed out and went home to wash their eyes.
Yan Jiuchao raised his eyebrows and strolled out of the throne room.
Yan Huaijing looked at his back and subconsciously frowned.
“Second Brother.” The Fourth Prince came over and asked with a strange expression, “What game is he playing?”
Yan Huaijing shook his head with a complicated expression. “I’m not sure.”
“Is he sick!” The Fourth Prince muttered.
Yan Huaijing looked at him coldly. “Fourth Brother, be careful with your words. This is the throne room.”
The Fourth Prince stuck out his tongue and thought to himself, You hate him much more than me. Why pretend to be fair and just? Father has already left. Who are you pretending for?
“Fifth Brother, let’s go!” The Fourth Prince pulled the Fifth Prince’s wrist and left coldly.
… .
A certain young master, who had successfully shown off his shoes, got into the carriage in a good mood. He was inside, but his feet were outside.
Shadow Thirteen regretted letting Shadow Six go to Gong City, leaving him alone to suffer this aesthetic pain that he shouldn’t have.
“Give me something to eat… I haven’t eaten for three days…” When they passed by the most prosperous Chang’an Street in the Capital, a blind beggar held a walking stick and fumbled out of an alley.
This was not the first time he had encountered such a thing. Shadow Thirteen did not even lift his eyelids and continued to drive the horse forward. However, Yan Jiuchao suddenly spoke and stopped the carriage.
Yan Jiuchao alighted.
The blind man seemed to have heard the commotion beside him and turned around stiffly.
Yan Jiuchao walked up to him and stretched his feet. “Do my shoes look good?”
The blind man was stunned for a moment before he nodded in a daze. “Yes, especially good!”
Yan Jiuchao threw a gold ingot into his broken bowl and got into the carriage. “Even a blind person said that it looks good!”
Shadow Thirteen roared in his heart: Why else would they say that he’s blind!
The little munchkins were also very happy after receiving the new shoes from Wanwan, but they could not leave the manor, so they could only put on the beautiful (ugly) cloth shoes and call everyone in the manor over to take a look.
Yu Shaoqing did not know that his “birthday surprise” was already on another man’s feet. He was so happy that his chopping skills were flying.
On the other hand, after Yan Huaijing ended the court, he did not return to the manor immediately. Instead, he went to the Dali Temple to continue investigating Yu Shaoqing’s case. Since he was certain that Yu Wan was the woman he had been looking for for two years, he had no choice but to put in a lot of effort into Yu Shaoqing’s case.
Jun Chang’an sat on the windowsill in boredom. Suddenly, a secret guard walked in and handed a note with the news to Yan Huaijing.
Jun Chang’an craned his neck to take a look. “The news from Lotus Flower Village… You sent someone to monitor that girl?”
Yan Huaijing placed the note on the oil lamp and burned it. He gestured for the secret guards to leave with his eyes and said to Jun Chang’an, “I’m not monitoring her. I’m just paying attention to her movements and to see if Zhou Huai will contact her father.”
Jun Chang’an shrugged, with an expression that said you can say whatever you want.
Yan Huaijing’s fingers moved. “…Prepare the carriage and go to Lotus Flower Village.”
“You still say it’s not surveillance,” Jun Chang’an muttered. He jumped off the windowsill and went to instruct someone to prepare the carriage.
Yan Huaijing also knew that his words were not convincing. Since Zhou Huai had decided to go far away, he would definitely not contact Yu Shaoqing. He was just using this as an excuse to pay attention to her movements at all times.
After the carriage was prepared, Yan Huaijing and Jun Chang’an headed to Lotus Flower Village without any obstructions. At this time, it was just past lunchtime, and the dishes on the table had already been removed. They were replaced by tea, braised peanuts, and candy. The villagers sat together and chatted, while Shopkeeper Cui and Master Qin played in the room.
They played a card game. There were a total of four types of cards: tens, hundreds, ten thousands, and a hundred thousands. The playing style was somewhat similar to modern mahjong. In the Great Zhou, the card game was something that city people played. Country people were busy working and did not have the time or money to play it.
Qin Zixu was busy eating and didn’t want to play with Shopkeeper Cui and his uncle. Yu Wan felt that if it was the same as mahjong, she should know how to play. However, she had to prepare for dinner, so she couldn’t.
Fortunately, Brother Shuanzi had played in the military camp before. He pulled Yu Feng along and taught him on the spot, which made up the numbers.
No one noticed Madam Jiang in the central room.
The water in the water jar was gone. Yu Wan carried the wooden bucket with a pole and went to the ancient well at the village entrance to carry the water.
She hung the wooden bucket on a hook and threw it down the well. After the wooden bucket was filled with water, she turned the handle on the ancient well and fetched it up. She was about to lift the wooden bucket when a well-defined hand suddenly reached out and lifted the wooden bucket up before her.
Yu Wan turned her head and looked at the other party. A trace of surprise flashed across her eyes. “Young… Your Highness?” She had almost forgotten that this was no longer Young Master Xu, but the most noble prince.
Yan Huaijing glanced at the other empty wooden bucket and reached out again, but Yu Wan stopped him.
Yu Wan blocked his hand and said politely and distantly, “There’s no need. I’ll do it myself. Your Highness is noble and mighty. It’s better not to do such manual work.”
Yan Huaijing frowned and said, “Then you should do such manual labor as a girl? Don’t you have a brother at home?”
If his information was correct, she had more than one brother.
Why did these words sound like he was blaming her two brothers for not helping her work? Yu Wan was unhappy that others said this about Yu Feng and Yu Song. Usually, her two brothers treated her very well. If it wasn’t for the fact that they couldn’t leave today, it really wouldn’t be her turn to fetch water.
Besides, she could fetch water faster than her two brothers!
However, Yu Wan did not have the personality to compete with others. She only said indifferently, “My brothers have something on,” and ignored him.
Yu Wan placed the second wooden bucket in the well.
In the carriage not far away, Jun Chang’an watched this scene calmly. The charming prince was actually ignored by a village girl? This was really interesting.
Yan Huaijing had silently met with a soft nail and felt a little embarrassed. He was the prince of a country and had always been fawned over. This was the first time he had been ignored openly. However, when he thought of who the other party was, he could not complain. After all, if not for her, he would have died on that cold rainy night.
“Are you angry at me for hiding my identity from you before?” Yan Huaijing said. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t know you long ago, so…”
Yu Wan smiled faintly. “You make it sound like you know me from the beginning. Why? Have I met Your Highness before Lotus Flower Village?”
He had almost forgotten that she had forgotten about the past. Although he was sure that Yan Ruyu had given birth and Yan Jiuchao’s children were most likely Yan Ruyu’s children, Yan Huaijing did not want her to remember anything related to the past when he thought about how she had once had an affair with another man.
He did not know who that man was, but she did not look like she had been forced by anyone with her pregnant belly. She… also had feelings for that man, right? If she remembered all of this, she would go back to that man without hesitation, right?
“Your Highness, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first.”
While Yan Huaijing was distracted, Yu Wan had already fetched the second bucket of water.
Yan Huaijing really couldn’t stand a girl like her carrying two buckets of water back. “Chang’an!”
Jun Chang’an stood up.
Yu Wan sighed. “There’s no need, Your Highness. I’m used to doing this kind of work every day.”
Jun Chang’an did not wait for Yan Huaijing’s instructions and went back to the carriage.
Yu Wan carried the pole.
Yan Huaijing’s heart tightened and he stopped her. “I came today to look for you.”
Yu Wan turned around. “Is the little fat ball sick again?”
Yan Huaijing’s eyes darkened. “Can’t I have any other reason to look for you?”
Yu Wan blinked in confusion. Could it be that there was? She was just a village girl. How could she be worthy of His Highness looking for her? She was not the silly girl who knew nothing when she had just transmigrated. He was Worthy Consort Xu’s son. Worthy Consort Xu had more power in the harem than the Empress. Perhaps, this person was the future Crown Prince.
“Does Yan Jiuchao need a reason to look for you?” Yan Huaijing was a little dissatisfied with her lukewarm attitude.
Yu Wan’s expression did not change as she said, “He’s him, and Your Highness is Your Highness. Why are you looking for me? There’s no harm in being straightforward. Although Your Highness is the one who’s doing big things, and Your Highness is busy every day, and I’m just a commoner who’s working hard for a bucket of rice, I also have my own matters.”
Was she complaining that he was wasting her time? Yan Huaijing’s expression changed.
Jun Chang’an, who was at the side, was holding back his laughter until his stomach hurt. It was rare to see the Second Prince so embarrassed. This trip was not in vain.
Yu Wan really did not deliberately neglect him. It was just that she was too busy today. There were more customers at night than at noon, and the dishes were not ready yet!
“Are you willing to be my secondary consort?” Just as Yu Wan was walking back with the pole, Yan Huaijing clenched his fists and said.
Yu Wan staggered and almost fell!
What did this prince say? Secondary Consort? Her?
Yu Wan never expected to hear such words from a man she had only met a few times. If she understood correctly, he seemed to be proposing to her? But he was not asking to be her wife, but a mistress?
“Your Highness…” Yu Wan was so angry that she laughed. She put down the bucket and pole and turned to look at Yan Huaijing.” Why are you suddenly saying this to me? Is there anything I did to make Your Highness misunderstand? ”
The prince’s secondary consort was not an ordinary concubine. If Yan Huaijing became the Emperor one day, the son of the secondary consort would be a prince. A prince… had a chance to be appointed as the crown prince.
With Yu Wan’s background, not to mention a secondary consort, she was not even qualified to be a maidservant in the Prince Manor. Yan Huaijing was already taking the risk of angering Worthy Consort Xu and the Emperor by allowing her to be a secondary consort.
Yu Wan did not want to accept his favor. What was wrong with her being a little village girl? Why did she have to squeeze into a big house and be jealous of a bunch of women for a public cucumber?
Her cucumber could only be hers!
“I appreciate Your Highness’s kindness, but I’m not interested in the position of secondary consort.” Who knew why His Highness liked her? He clearly despised her a few times before.
“Do you look down on the position of a secondary consort? Don’t tell me you still want to be the princess consort?” Yan Huaijing frowned. Even if her biological father cleared his name and became a marquis and minister, she would never be the main consort.
What was this? Yu Wan held her forehead speechlessly.
When Yan Huaijing saw that she was silent, he thought that she had other thoughts. He speculated and said, “If you’re worried that life in the manor won’t be easy, you can rest assured that I’ll take good care of you. I’ll also choose a talented and tolerant main consort who won’t let you suffer at all.”