Your Ninth Royal Highness, Please Change Your Clothes

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Heavy snowfall at the end of the year covered the capital city and draped over the prosperous capital like a silver coat.

And on the distant horizon hung the afterglow of the setting sun, and the glittering rays of light that were casted upon the entire sky gave this cold winter a warm color.

Wen Chan sat inside the sedan with his eyes half-closed, wearing layers after layers of cotton-padded clothes along with a hot water bottle on hand and neck shrunk into his fox-fur robe.

When he came out of the palace hall the light rays were still there but it quickly became dark. As they reached midway through the journey, the sky in the cold winter time became dark as night reached.

Yellow lanterns were hung inside the palace illuminating everywhere, as far as the eyes could see. And each lantern looked like the stars in the sky.

The emperor is holding a banquet and he has invited the ministers of the capital city who are above the second rank to attend the banquet along with their families. Wen Chan is the ninth prince, so he naturally has to go too.

Actually, Wen Chan should have already been dead.

Before his death, his favorite person was there at his bedside, but he couldn’t see that person’s appearance even at his last moments as he was blinded in the dark area. He slowly slid into sleep as he listened to that person’s breathing.

But in that life, Wen Chan was an emperor and was on the peak of the Xi Liang kingdom.1 However, he spent every day in torment. The veil of hypocrisy was torn off by the fact that he lost things that belonged to them one by one.

He lived the first half of his life in a pile of dead bodies, and he lived the latter half in the ice-cold imperial palace. In this kind of life, he thought that there was nothing worth living for.

He thought that time would smoothen his twisted emotions and would heal his pains, but he still suffered until his death. Wen Chan wanted his next life to bring happiness and live the life he wants.

Without any worries about the basic needs, with a few siblings; and parents who love each other deeply. And it will be even better to have a childhood sweetheart with whom he will grow up together from childhood.

And of course, the most important part is to never fall in love with a guy.

He had obviously arranged everything for his next life, but when he opened his eyes he saw Ah Fu’s face floating above him. He subconsciously wanted to fling the former away but when he heard the wronged cry of Ah Fu and made him come back to reality.

Why does this place look familiar?

Wen Chan didn’t get any next life. He just went 30 years back to the capital city. It was the eve of the lunar new year when he was sixteen.

Everything that happened in the previous life was just like a dream.

At that time the capital city was still peaceful, the Zhong family still hadn’t rebelled yet, his father was not heavily sick and the Liang Heng who had been living in Wen Chan’s heart for twenty years came back to the capital too.

That year, Master Liang, who was so old, was called by the emperor to report back home. At the same time, the son of Master Liang arrived there to take up the post of assistant minister of rites. A few days before the lunar new year Liang Heng followed his father into the capital.

Liang’s family lived an extravagant life and was one of the richest families of Jin Ling and even the whole Xi Liang kingdom.2 From the army to government officials, you could find the members of the Liang Family everywhere.

Liang Heng obviously grew up in this wealthy environment. He was the eldest grandson of Master Liang and was a pampered little master. He was the main focus of everyone in his youth.

Wen Chan first met Liang Heng in the feast of that year’s Lunar new year’s eve. Liang Heng wore a silver Chang Pao3 with a flute in hand. The sound of the flute was soft and touching.

Currently, he was on his way to the emperor’s banquet.

When he twisted his body to find a comfortable sitting position, the sedan abruptly halted and his eunuch Ah Fu came in by the curtain and softly called, “Your Highness.“

He just responded lazily without even opening his eyes much, “What’s the matter ?”

“The road ahead is blocked. So your highness needs to come down and travel a bit by foot.“, Ah Fu replied.

Only after hearing this did he move his neck and open his eyes. He raised the sedan curtain while hugging the hot water bottle in his hands and grabbing the velvet cloth for warmth.

The youth had red lips, white teeth, and black eyebrows with a delicate and pretty appearance. Only the space between his eyebrows looked like a calm spring without any ripples.

Ah Fu was already prepared and when he saw him coming down he promptly reached out his hands to support him and helped Wen Chan to come down slowly.

After the snowfall passed many people went through the road forming a layer as thick as a block of ice. The road ahead was sloping downwards and it was impossible for them to carry the sedan in this path. So they had to walk on foot there.

Then Ah Fu saw that Wen Chan was not wearing an overcoat. He quickly got into the sedan and came back holding a dark yellow overcoat and repeated, “Your highness, how can you go out without wearing thick clothes?4This year’s end is as cold as ice and you should prevent getting a cold.“

“There you go again …. “. Wen Chan weakly said while wearing the coat, “Why are you getting more and more fixated on it?”

Before leaving the palace hall, Ah Fu had nagged him nonstop and requested him to wear a cotton-padded cloth for warmth. But in contrast to warmth, these many layers of cotton-padded clothes were more like a burden on his shoulders, making his footprints go deep in the ice-covered path.

“This slave is doing everything for the well-being of your highness.”Ah Fu was devoted to him and always thought about his health and this made it hard for Wen Chan to refuse him.

After draping the clothing on his shoulder he conveniently started walking downhill slowly with Ah fu closely following him behind. “Your highness, this road down is slippery. It would be better if you hold this slave’s hands while moving down.”

He glanced at the road underneath. And then thought that if he is to hold Ah Fu’s hands while going down then it will be frozen cold, after taking it out later his hands will freeze soon. So he righteously said to Ah Fu, “Ah Fu, do you think that your master is a person who will easily slip down?“

“Of course not, Your highness.“ Ah Fu said without any hesitation.

Wen Chan nodded in satisfaction. Even though he believed that it was unlikely for him to fall down there. He still slowed down and walked with very careful steps.

It’s just that accidents usually come unexpectedly. He just took a few steps, and somehow he suddenly slipped, and then his whole body lost its center of gravity making him fall on his butt on the solid ice.

He couldn’t believe what happened and a thought emerged in his mind, “Did I really slip?“

Soon after something unexpected happened again. His heavy body slipped again and started sliding down through the dirt.

Fortunately, his thick dressing protected him and his butt didn’t hurt much. But he still continued to slide down the hill with an increasing velocity.

Ah Fu was scared out of his mind and he shouted plaintively from far above, “Your highness!“

The palace servants were all scared, and the two guards who followed Wen Chan during the daytime reacted very quickly, and they chased him almost immediately after he fell.

Wen Chan could only look forward when suddenly his legs hit something and the sliding stopped. But even before he could react, almost half of his body was covered by ice and the bone-chilling coldness froze him and he immediately started shivering.

1

Xi Liang Kingdom: Western Liang Empire

2

Jin Ling: A commonplace name

3

An ancient Chinese robe

4

The respectful ” you “