Transmigrating into the Prince Regent’s Beloved Runaway Wife

unedited

Chen An was a Changshi of the prince’s residence, so he was considered a person of status, but the place he lived was simple and destitute. The room had old-fashioned, clean tables and chairs and new bedding, far less luxurious and soft than Lin Bozhou’s bed chamber but humble.

Chen An’s wife asked Meng Huan to have dinner in the evening. She knew Meng Huan’s status and smiled, calmly saying, “Nephew, eat more.”

Meng Huan picked up the bowl. The dishes were a pot of mushroom chicken stew and two plates of fried vegetables.

Meng Huan dutifully ate, and when he was done, he lay back in his chair to look at the ancient locust tree with its lush leaves.

This was his first day away from Lin Bozhou. Although he was only a few red walls away from the bed chamber in the front residence, a ten-minute round trip, he suddenly felt so far away from Lin Bozhou’s life.

After thinking about it carefully, he was still slightly bored.

The day was already approaching evening, and there were fewer people out at this time of day, so the likelihood of him being recognized was small. Meng Huan set off in the direction of the front residence.

The distance was not close and not far, twisting and turning. After walking around for a while, he finally saw a line of eunuchs and advisors surrounding Lin Bozhou, who was hurriedly passing through the white marble corridor from a distance.

From this distance, Lin Bozhou, who had just left the court, wore a scarlet, fiery mangpao and a leather hat engraved with gold and jade. His hair was tidy, his posture and bearing were a textbook version of etiquette, elegant and upright, and he walked smoothly in the direction of the bed chamber.

According to the rules, when the prince regent walked past, all the servants of the prince’s residence had to stand at the same place and hang their heads to hide.

Some distance away, Meng Huan also stood and could vaguely hear the sound of someone talking.

“Your Highness, calm your anger.”

“The capital army is tired and scattered, far from being able to train well overnight.”

“The establishment is in chaos in the Sanqian, Wujun, and Shenji Battalions. There are too many noblemen who are paid more than what they are entitled to! There are three hundred thousand names registered in the capital army, but in reality, it doesn’t even have more than two hundred thousand. Moving most of them to Liaodong now is not a good policy for the capital as the outside is heavy and the inside is light! We have to think carefully about this matter!”

Lin Bozhou’s subordinates discussed intensely, and the atmosphere was heated. Meng Huan could not understand much, but he was infected by the atmosphere and felt that the situation was not good.

Lin Bozhou listened with his eyes downcast, his face had no emotion, but he was obviously thinking too. His gaze unintentionally swept aside and saw a young man’s figure standing under the treetops a hundred paces away.

The young man’s figure was slim and somewhat indistinguishable in the evening.

Lin Bozhou’s footsteps lurched.

The advisors stopped in their tracks. “Your Highness?”

“……” Meng Huan hurriedly turned around.

This group of advisors had a terrifying ability to discern what somebody thought from their body language. After all, they made their living by pleasing Lin Bozhou, and when Lin Bozhou’s chopsticks paused when eating a meal, they all knew what Lin Bozhou did not like to eat. As Lin Bozhou looked at the young gentleman under the treetops, the advisors’ eyes turned to follow.

The waist was slender, and the face could not be seen but should look okay.

The princess had just left, but had the prince taken a fancy to this person?

But Lin Bozhou only paused briefly as if nothing had happened and withdrew his eyes as if he had merely seen a stranger.

He took a big step forward.

Maybe it was a misunderstanding.

The advisors’ attention returned to the business, and hurriedly walked away.

The sound of talking grew farther and farther from Meng Huan before he turned around, only to see the dignified back of the scarlet mangpao turn around the residence’s eaves and disappear.

“……”

Meng Huan pulled down his lips and lowered his eyebrows.

A sour feeling inevitably flooded his heart.

Although he knew it was all staged.

He stood momentarily, raised his eyes to look at the sun, and turned around to go back to Chen An’s courtyard.

When the lamp oil was lit, Chen An returned from outside with sweat. His wife handed him a cup of cold tea, and he approached Meng Huan.

“Nephew.”

Meng Huan sat up straight. “Uncle?”

Chen An took out an oil paper bag from his arms, and inside the bag were several pieces of pastries, looking pensive. “The prince rewarded this.”

They were discussing politics, but Lin Bozhou suddenly rewarded him with a plate of pastries. At a glance, it was the sweet cake the princess loved the most; the meaning was self-evident.

Meng Huan was quite embarrassed and took it with a red face. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Chen An, a graceful and simple middle-aged forty-year-old handsome man, sat down and said, “The prince went to the three major battalions in the capital today to review the capital army. The situation was not very satisfactory, and his mood was unhappy.”

Meng Huan stopped eating and turned his head to look at him.

“The war in Liaodong is becoming more urgent. The prince is now gathering forces, and there are seventy-two of them in the capital guard. But now the soldiers are scattered, and only half of them can actually make it out. They are not diligent in their regular drills, have no sense of crisis, and their discipline is scattered; they are truly and utterly routed and dispersed.”

Meng Huan carefully understood his meaning. “Why is he gathering forces? Could Mao Chengchang no longer defend?”

“An urgent letter came, saying they are retreating in defeat. We can’t really wait until he has been crushed before the capital army comes to support, right?” Chen An said with concern, “Nephew should prepare during these few days. Perhaps the order will be given soon, and we will go with the army.”

Meng Huan couldn’t eat any more pastries, so he put them back into the oil paper bag and nodded. “Okay.”

He watched Chen An return to the front yard and speak with his wife, Zhang-shi*.

*-Shi: A character placed after a married woman’s maiden name.

The couple stood together and talked as Zhang-shi gathered the quilts and cotton clothes that had been drying all day from the bamboo poles, folded them and packed them into a bag with some of Chen An’s favorite tea.

Zhang-shi repeatedly warned, “The arrows on the battlefield do not have eyes, so you should be careful and arrive home safely after the spring.”

Chen An smiled and responded, “Okay.”

“I don’t want you to achieve much military success. I just want you to come back sooner.”

“Okay.”

“……”

“……”

The couple exchanged some affectionate words.

Meng Huan felt that standing around was a bit of an eyesore and returned to his compartment, leaving room for the couple to talk.

He prepared to sleep.

It was only the first day of separation from Lin Bozhou. According to Lin Bozhou’s determination, he would not come to him, and if he could not sleep because of his thoughts, he would be more or less ashamed. Meng Huan tried to close his eyes, ready to fall asleep, when he heard the sound of walking outside the door.

Then, a eunuch’s sharp and thin voice sounded.

“Changshi Chen?”

The sound of Chen An pushing open the door was heard. “What is it?”

“Go to the prince’s residence’s prison. The prince has summoned you; it’s important.”

Chen An hurriedly walked out, and when he reached the door, the eunuch seemed to whisper something.

Chen An hurriedly walked back, went to Meng Huan’s door, and knocked gently. “Nephew?”

Meng Huan opened the door with the moonlight shining on his face, “What is it?”

Chen An looked a bit gloomy. “If you are not in a hurry to sleep, why don’t you also come over?”