diskusbooks Chapter 11 The Emperor, Has a Pen Pal
Chapter 11 The Emperor, Has a Pen Pal
It must be because he didn't cultivate a good relationship with Shen Zhiyi that she framed him like this.
[There are so many disaster victims and unwashed people in Jiangnan Province right now. It's perfect for someone like the Crown Prince who doesn't like to bathe. Others would definitely not be able to stand it there, but it's absolutely perfect for the Crown Prince.]
Upon hearing this, the crown prince's eyes lit up.
Besides, the emperor is far away; even if he doesn't bathe for a year, the emperor can't reach out and beat him.
The more the prince listened, the brighter his eyes became.
Shen Zhiyi, my soulmate.
The Crown Prince looked at Shen Zhiyi with emotion, thinking, "No one understands me better than Shen Zhiyi."
Shen Zhiyi: Is the Crown Prince out of his mind?
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go and will certainly live up to your trust."
The old emperor rolled his eyes in annoyance, but sending his own family members did make him feel much more at ease.
Seeing this, the Crown Prince pressed on with his efforts.
"Your Majesty, I have a request that I cannot make."
The old emperor knew exactly what his own son was going to say the moment he took his pants off.
Want to take Shen Zhiyi away?
What a joke!
"turn down."
The crown prince's eyes widened suddenly, revealing a complex light in them.
[The prince's gaze deserves to be included in a Chinese reading comprehension exercise; it conveys three parts foolishness, four parts shock, and three parts disbelief.]
[On the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), for reasons unknown, the Emperor inexplicably rejected the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince's expression is worth careful consideration.]
Everyone:...
Some old fogies wished they could impeach Shen Zhiyi on the spot.
What terrible writing! How could someone like this be appointed as a court historian? If future generations saw this, wouldn't they think that the Great Ye had no literary style whatsoever?
But no one dared to step forward and be the first to do so.
Shen Zhiyi got more and more excited as she wrote on it.
Hey, now that the crown prince is gone, the old emperor will probably be receiving a lot of letters from his dear pen pals again.
The old emperor's eyelids twitched.
What does his correspondence with his pen pal have to do with the Crown Prince?
The officials in the hall suppressed their restless hearts, one or two of them curiously glancing at Shen Zhiyi.
His Majesty actually has pen pals?
Shen Zhiyi, you big lisp, you only just told me now!
Explain the whole story clearly at once!
[It's unbelievable that the old emperor and his pen pal have been corresponding for a whole year.]
[What you probably don't know is that the old emperor had a good habit of secretly leaving the palace every month to check on the people's conditions. Okay, I'm putting it nicely; actually, he just secretly went out to eat some flatbread.]
[Being emperor really makes a difference. Before becoming emperor, I would eat even the dusty, unpalatable flatbreads that had fallen on the ground. Now, I go to fancy restaurants and eat the best flatbreads made from fine flour, and I even have to grumble about them. They just don't taste the same as before.]
[As people get older, they develop all sorts of problems. What were the sesame seed cakes we used to eat made of? What are they made of now? And they still have the nerve to complain that they don't taste the same as before.]
The old emperor was so angry that his face turned red.
Chen Decai felt very relieved to hear this; finally, someone had spoken his mind.
[However, a year ago, the old emperor tasted the long-lost flavor of sesame seed cakes. They weren't very tasty, and they were quite chewy, but they tasted just like they used to. The person who made these sesame seed cakes was his pen pal.]
Taking this opportunity, the two began corresponding for a year. During this time, the other expressed his admiration for him on several occasions. In the first month, their correspondence was very frequent, but after a month or two, the other began to correspond only once every few months, almost like he was constipated.
[Although the pen pal's writing style was not great, his viewpoints were sharp, and every sentence in his letters revealed his concern for the country and its people, which made the old emperor very eager to meet him, but the pen pal repeatedly declined.]
The old emperor might think that capable people are simply those with strong personalities, but actually, your pen pal is the Crown Prince's concubine.
Prince:? ? ?
Your Excellencies: !!!
What's this called? It's called the old emperor's son being born, either the son is cuckolding the old emperor, or the old emperor is cuckolding the son.
Old Emperor: Hmm? Absolutely impossible!
How could a woman confined to the inner quarters possibly write such an amazing article?
He didn't believe it. If she really was the Crown Prince's concubine, how could such a talented person be taken advantage of by his own pig?
[The old emperor certainly didn't know that Liangdi, as the daughter of a loyal and valiant general, could have easily married into a respectable family as a principal wife. The reason she married the crown prince and became Liangdi was because her idol was the old emperor!]
The Crown Prince should thank his father; without him, where would he have found such a fine concubine?
After all, our Crown Prince only bathes once a year, and there are very few people in the entire capital who can stand it.
Zhang Sheren hesitated for a moment, wanting to ask Shen Zhiyi a question.
The concubine admired the old emperor, but what did the crown princess want?
Everyone knows that the marriage between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess was actually arranged by the Crown Princess herself, which made the old emperor extremely happy at the time.
Zhang Sheren still remembers the old emperor looking exactly like someone who had finally sold his own rotten vegetable leaves.
【The villain succeeds! 】
Ah yes, yes, it's just a case of a petty person getting their way!
Zhang Sheren was so happy he almost slapped his thigh, but the thought of that sound nearly made him faint from fright.
Isn't that Shen Zhiyi's voice?
[Zhang Sheren is such a scoundrel! He actually won a free meal at Da Bao Lou! Ugh, so much delicious food, can you even finish it all by yourself? He doesn't even think to share it with your lovely, handsome, and kind-hearted colleague.]
[Oh dear, he ate himself to the point of being stuffed and had to be carried home by the servants! You little rascal! I want to experience what it feels like to be carried home after eating too much.]
Zhang Sheren was stunned for a moment.
Shouldn't we be discussing the old emperor now? Why did it all come down to him?
As expected, his colleagues around him turned their attention to him.
"I heard the other day that someone ate so much at Dabaolou that they filled two whole tables, and in the end, several people had to carry them back. I never expected it to be Zhang Sheren. My apologies for not recognizing him."
Zhang Sheren's face flushed red instantly.
He was thin and didn't look like someone who could eat two whole tables of food.
But Da Bao Lou is delicious.
Most importantly, it's expensive.
[I'm so happy! The two tables Zhang Sheren ate at would have cost me two months' worth of work, and you ate gold!]
Zhang Sheren: It's gold, isn't it? We've finally gotten lucky, so we have to eat more.
After feeling intense envy, jealousy, and resentment, Shen Zhiyi discovered something extraordinary.
【Huh? Why is the Crown Prince keeping backing away?】
The prince, who had almost retreated to the main gate, suddenly stopped.
The courtiers almost instinctively turned to look back at a 90-degree angle.
The old emperor said speechlessly, "What are you doing? How can a prince behave like this!"
The prince grinned.
[Holy crap, so the letters the concubine sent to the old emperor were actually written by the crown prince on her behalf!]
The prince took off running!