bayedsolid Chapter 110 Entering the Palace
Chapter 110 Entering the Palace
"Steward Tang, have someone move the boxes out of the carriage. They contain fragile items, so tell them to be careful," Wen Yuxia said crisply as she jumped down from the carriage.
Before leaving, she placed two empty boxes on the carriage. When she got off, she sorted through the various sizes of glass cups in the carriage, placing some of the styles from that era into the wooden box.
There was also a box containing alcohol, ten jars in total, each jar containing about two jin (approximately 1 kg). Making the alcohol took Wen Yuxia a considerable amount of time and money.
The alcohol was one of the gifts she prepared for the Emperor. To surprise him, she didn't even tell Xia Yichen about it.
On the way to the capital, Xia Yichen had already tasted the fruit wine. He knew that the fruit wine was brought to the capital by Wen Yuxia as a gift, but he did not know that Wen Yuxia also brought alcohol and glass cups.
With Wen Yuxia's arrival, Wen Yunhong naturally had to go home to stay. That very evening, Wen Yunhong returned to the Princess's residence with three cartloads of luggage.
"Sister, you're finally here!" Wen Yunhong ran excitedly into Wen Yuxia's courtyard, while Xiao Tang followed behind him, calling out repeatedly, "Young Master, don't run away!"
Wen Yuxia looked at Wen Yunhong, who was half a head taller than her, and laughed, "You've grown taller again." Before coming to the capital, Wen Yunhong was a little shorter than her, but in less than half a year since arriving, he had grown half a head taller.
What exactly did the Crown Prince's Consort feed Wen Yunhong to make him grow so fast? Wen Yuxia, wanting to grow taller too, secretly plotted to go to Xia Yichen's house for a free meal.
Upon discovering he was taller than Wen Yuxia, Wen Yunhong smiled happily. His teacher hadn't lied to him after all; the teacher had said that picky eaters wouldn't grow tall, and since he ate everything, he was indeed taller than Wen Yuxia.
Height was the only thing he had surpassed Wen Yuxia in so far, and Wen Yunhong smiled brightly: "Sister, I'm finally taller than you!"
Wen Yuxia smiled faintly, "Not being a picky eater and eating more isn't the main reason you're taller than me. Girls' development period is shorter than boys'...that's why adult men are generally taller than adult women."
It had been a long time since Wen Yuxia had discussed this with Wen Yunhong, so she simply gave him a lesson on the physiology she had learned in the second half of her junior high school years in her previous life.
Hehe, don't get the wrong idea. This only covers information related to height; it doesn't cover gender or anything like that.
The terms puberty, bones, and hormones confused Wen Yunhong. He was a little bewildered; his teacher hadn't explained it that way. But why did Wen Yuxia's words seem more convincing?
"Height 1 meters, weight 90 jin (65 catties), how did you calculate that? Also, what does 'meter' mean?" Wen Yunhong was very inquisitive and asked questions whenever he didn't understand.
Wen Yuxia didn't say much. She opened the door, looked around, and seeing no one outside, she closed the door, pulled Wen Yunhong into the space, and took out the "height and weight scale" that her grandfather had used when he was young and running a stall.
"Here, this is the scale you use. Come up and try it," Wen Yuxia said, pointing to the scale.
Wen Yunhong carefully stepped on it, watching the pointer swing rapidly until it stopped. He asked uncertainly, "Is that all?"
"Hmm," Wen Yuxia patiently taught him, letting him count his weight himself. Wen Yunhong counted each number one by one, and finally, he exclaimed with surprise, "I also weigh 90 jin (1 catties), sister, we weigh the same!" Next, Wen Yuxia measured his height: 68 meters.
The siblings practiced their boxing techniques for a while before emerging from the space. Since Wen Yuxia didn't have the ability to make a "height and weight scale," she instructed Wen Yunhong not to tell outsiders about measuring their height.
The next morning, Wen Yunhong ran into Xia Yichen as soon as he left for school. "Greetings, Crown Prince," Wen Yunhong greeted him with a student's salute.
Xia Yichen offered a gesture of support and said with a smile, "No need for formalities. His Majesty instructed me to take your sister into the palace. I will go in first."
Upon encountering Wen Yunhong at the gate, Xia Yichen didn't need the gatekeeper to announce his arrival and went straight inside. Wen Yunhong hurriedly followed, instructing Xiao Tang to invite Wen Yuxia to the front yard to receive guests.
"Sister Yuxia, His Majesty has ordered me to bring you to the palace," Xia Yichen said, taking a sip of tea after sitting down. He then stated his purpose directly as Wen Yuxia entered.
Even though the Emperor didn't summon her to the palace today, she still wanted to go to express her gratitude. She had already prepared gifts for the Emperor, and gifts for the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and several high-ranking concubines were also ready.
Xia Yichen arrived on horseback without any guards, so Wen Yuxia only took Bei San with her. Bei San drove a carriage onto the street, attracting a crowd of onlookers.
"Look, a little girl driving a carriage,"
"Oh my, the girl driving the carriage is quite pretty. I wonder if she said anything about him."
……
Xia Yichen turned around and exclaimed, "What a mistake!" Wen Yuxia's carriage didn't have the insignia of a princess, and the driver, Bei San, was a woman. No wonder they were surrounded by onlookers.
He coldly ordered, "An Yi, go help the princess drive the carriage." Before he finished speaking, a dark shadow flew over the crowd and landed precisely on the carriage.
Bei San heard what Xia Yichen said. She obediently handed over the riding whip and stepped into the carriage. At that moment, Bei San suddenly felt a little sorry for the people who had gathered around her.
“Princess, the people of the capital are truly ignorant; they've never even seen a female coachman before.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Yuxia couldn't help but burst out laughing. Where did Bei San get the audacity to mock someone from the capital for being ignorant?
“Yes, they’re ignorant,” Wen Yuxia chimed in.
Xia Yichen's horse and Wen Yuxia's carriage were left at the palace gate. Xia Yichen and Wen Yuxia walked into the palace, with An Yi and An Er each carrying a box and Bei San carrying two jars of five-jin fruit wine following behind them.
Outside the Imperial Study, Eunuch Zhang called out in a shrill voice, "His Majesty summons the Crown Prince, Princess Muhua, to an audience!"
Wen Yuxia was slightly nervous as she was about to meet the ruler of the Great Xia Dynasty. She followed Xia Yichen into the imperial study with her head bowed and eyes lowered.
"Grandson greets His Majesty," Xia Yichen said respectfully, bowing with his hands clasped.
In my past life, I read many online novels. These novels described how one should bow their head when meeting the emperor to show respect, and never look up to meet his gaze, as that would easily anger him.
With a "better safe than sorry" attitude, Wen Yuxia squatted down and performed a standard curtsy, bowing her head and softly saying, "This humble woman greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
The Emperor's face revealed a cryptic smile. The rumors were wrong. Yichen had praised Wen Yuxia to the skies, but upon meeting her today, his first impression was that she was petty and unsophisticated.
"Raise your head," the Emperor thought to himself. I'm not a tiger, what am I afraid of? You've been keeping your head down since you came in, why don't you raise your head and let me see you?
Wen Yuxia was unaware that the Emperor disliked her. When she heard the Emperor tell her to raise her head, she was extremely excited. Haha, she was going to see the Emperor's face!