I’ve already coaxed him, but he’s still unhappy.
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Dobhsh
The hunting ground was more than five kilometers away from the outer city, a relatively long way to travel.
Meng Huan didn’t know how to ride a horse, so he climbed into the carriage by himself. As soon as he sat down, he saw two fingers open the curtain. Lin Bozhou lowered his head, stepped on the side step, and entered the carriage.
Meng Huan looked at him and asked, “Your Royal Highness is not riding the horse?”
“I’ll ride when we reach the outer city. There are too many people watching; it’s not convenient.”
Shan Xing, who was outside the carriage, added, “Firstly, it is easy to encounter assassins, and secondly, it will startle the people. His Royal Highness mostly travels via carriage in the inner city.”
“Oh.” Meng Huan could only share half of his seat with the man.
After sitting down, the two stared at each other.
Perhaps because they were acting so intimate with each other when petting the horse earlier, Meng Huan found the current atmosphere very awkward. He unconsciously remembered that night’s inexplicable fantasy related to the interior of the carriage…
So weird. He thought about it again.
“…”
As he pondered and pondered, he turned his head in the other direction.
Darn it, it was really too shameful.
The horses and carriages headed for the hunting grounds outside the city. After they passed the bustling streets and reached the outer city, Lin Bozhou switched to riding his horse. Once he was done buckling the saddle, he climbed onto the horse nimbly and seized the reins, looking very magnificently handsome when doing so.
The scenery outside the city was beautiful. Meng Huan once studied a short essay called Journey to Manjing that went, ‘those drinking tea steeped in spring water, those holding wine cups while singing, those wearing bright clothing riding donkeys’. Outside the city, streams and forests could be seen everywhere, creating the lively atmosphere of a rest day outing under the rising sun.
“Your Royal Highness, this student just thought of a metrical poem to praise this landscape!”
“Your Royal Highness, this student thought of one as well!”
“…”
Meng Huan turned around and found that a few of the guest scholars had begun to compete for Lin Bozhou’s attention by composing poetry.
This was an elegant form of entertainment for people in the past: having an outing and composing poetry. Many scholars were fond of traveling with singers and dancers, but because Lin Bozhou didn’t like frivolous behavior, these scholars were typically rather serious and only composed poems.
The original Meng Huan was talented, able to write eight-legged essays as well as compose poetry, except all of his poems were about cursing out Lin Bozhou. Each time Lin Bozhou saw them, it would cause his anger to surge, making him engage in a more intense struggle with the original Meng Huan.
Along the way, the guest scholars composed poems one after another, which Meng Huan could barely understand, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying the cheerful atmosphere as he gazed towards the poets with his head resting against the window frame. From time to time, he nodded like a chick pecking rice.
Such great poetry!
Everyone is so cultured!
Meng Huan particularly liked well-educated people.
After hearing the youth’s applause, the guest scholars turned and began to fire off questions like, “Which does the Royal Consort like more, metrical or free-verse poetry?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“This student can compose a few for the Royal Consort.”
“Ktlr raevfca atbeuta bo jc bvf ab yfjeas ab mbwqifwfca atf Ebsji Jbcrbga’r jqqfjgjcmf!”
“……”
Vemt fcaterljrw wjvf Zfcu Lejc offi j ilaaif fwyjggjrrfv, jcv tf aegcfv ab ibbx ja Olc Dbhtbe.
—Lf tjv cb lvfj kts tf ibnfv ibbxlcu ecmbcrmlberis ja Olc Dbhtbe.
Olc Dbhtbe kjr jwerfv. “Lejc Lejc mjc ilrafc. Po atfgf’r bcf atja sbe ilxf, jrx rbwfbcf ab agjcrmglyf la.”
With Lin Bozhou’s assent, guest scholars immediately began to recite poems in a clear voice. They were all very simple poems, probably catering to Meng Huan’s educational level.
—Smart people could already see that pleasing the Royal Consort would make His Royal Highness happy!
The unwise ones were still racking their brains, composing poetry about the landscape!
Meng Huan was at a loss as to what to do, while Lin Bozhou, who had a smile on his lips and joy in his squinted eyes, lazily tightened the reins in his hands and informed them, “As long as the Royal Consort is happy.”
The atmosphere was harmonious throughout. There were not only those who read poems but also those who specifically told jokes. After understanding Lin Bozhou’s wishes, they all began to flock towards Meng Huan. They surrounded Meng Huan one after another, talking and singing, making Meng Huan laugh continuously.
When they arrived at a col, there was a faint disturbance in front of them.
Lin Bozhou halted his horse by pulling the reins, causing the horse to neigh.
“What’s wrong?”
The view from inside the carriage was limited, preventing Meng Huan from seeing anything. When he turned his head a little, he heard a slew of vitriol. “Lin Bozhou, so you still have the mood to go on an outing! Now that the earthen pots make more noise than classical bells in the imperial court, if the Zong Dynasty ends, the fault will be yours!”
An enraged male voice.
The crowd immediately descended into turmoil.
They exchanged looks with each other.
“This…”
“What is happening?”
“Who is this man?”
The man continued, “You slaughtered my father. Sooner or later, you won’t get a good death!”
“You deserve to have your eye illness! You deserve to go blind! It serves you right! You will get what you deserve!” The man obviously didn’t care for his life, cursing in the most vicious direction purely to vent his anger.
As the center of this topic, panicked and frightened eyes turned to Lin Bozhou. “Your Royal Highness…”
Lin Bozhou widened his eyes slightly and, with an unfocused gaze, looked calmly at the person who was making the racket.
The man, who was wearing mourning clothes, screamed after cursing his last sentence, as if he had been brought to the ground by ankle clamps and his mouth had bit the dirt.
Lin Bozhou clenched the reins in his hand and, with his other hand, tapped his whip against the side of his leg, looking completely unbothered. With an unperturbed voice, he ordered, “For humiliating the royal family in public, send him to the authorities for punishment.”
The imperial guards escorted this man, who had suddenly appeared on their journey, away.
The storm immediately subsided, as if that man had never appeared.
Lin Bozhou offended too many people, so it was not like he was inexperienced in facing this kind of situation, being stopped in the middle of the street just to hear verbal abuse. Thus, he said, “Continue composing poetry; don’t take it to heart.”
Since he had said that, the guest scholars stumbled on their words a couple times before continuing to read their poems.
—It was just… The atmosphere never became as lively as before.
Meng Huan held the carriage window’s curtain open. How could he not understand?
Lin Bozhou’s biggest sore spot was his eyes. Perhaps the only thing that could cause him some emotional turmoil were these eyes, which needed constant recuperation. When he fell off his horse at a young age, both of his eyes were bleeding, and he went blind for several months. For a long time, some thought he would never be able to see again. Later, light returned to his eyes, but no matter how deep the night was, Lin Bozhou always needed to light a lamp.
Although he never mentioned it, he cared a great deal about these eyes that could fail him at any time.
People in this world sure are wicked, often aiming for people’s sore spots when attacking.
In the original book, Lin Bozhou’s political opponents couldn’t beat him and failed to snatch the authority from his hands, so they resorted to giving him the nickname ‘Blind Royal Highness’, which was often used to disparage him.
The original shou also often ridiculed him as a blind man, causing Lin Bozhou to discard his noble and benevolent image, revealing the madness in his eyes. He clearly had feelings for the original host, yet could not resist continuing with their love-hate relationship.
…For real, though.
Cheerfully going out to play then suddenly getting verbally abused, which was unnecessary, almost to the point of being meaningless.
Meng Huan put down the curtain and returned to his seat in the carriage.
Even though Lin Bozhou gave them the green light to continue, the group knew that His Royal Highness was no longer in the mood, so the atmosphere became silent and awkward.
Meng Huan had nothing to do in this situation except zone out.
When they arrived at a courier station on the shaded bank of the lake, a momentary rest was ordered, and someone immediately set up a place to sit for Lin Bozhou, also bringing tea and refreshments.
“Does the Royal Consort want to come rest outside of the carriage?”
Hearing the servant’s inquiry, Meng Huan agreed and sat beside Lin Bozhou.
When he sat down, he took a closer peek at Lin Bozhou’s face.
Lin Bozhou’s gaze was down while drinking his tea, looking very calm, as if nothing had happened.
“…”
Meng Huan unconsciously flattened his lips as he sighed internally.
Sigh.
He couldn’t stand seeing people hide their grievances.
Although he had a different political view than the other person, even he felt that the attack on the man’s eyes was uncalled for. While sitting and thinking of ways to comfort him, Lin Bozhou asked first, “Do you want snacks?”
“What?” Meng Huan looked up.
“There are refreshments; bring them up.” Lin Bozhou looked at him with his dark eyes. “It’s cool here in the pavilion. We can sit here a while and leave once Huan Huan is done eating.”
After saying this, the servants served the refreshments on the stone table.
Meng Huan picked up a piece of sugar cake and took a bite, getting a few crumbs on his fingers. The flavor on his tongue was fresh and sweet
The gears in his head were moving very slowly, but he still decided to go for it. “Your Royal Highness, let me tell you a joke.”
“Mmm?” Lin Bozhou looked sideways at him.
Meng Huan felt so awkward and wondered why he had suddenly brought this up, but he gritted his teeth and actually stopped feeling embarrassed after saying the first sentence, “A man stood under a window singing to the girl he likes. In return, the girl threw down a flower, but the man got a head injury. Your Royal Highness, do you want to guess why that is?”
It was quiet for a moment.
It was a very childish question.
But Lin Bozhou didn’t ignore him. Instead, he seemed to think about the answer before saying, “Not sure. Huan Huan, tell me.”
Meng Huan was already giggling before he gave the answer, showing his pearly white teeth. “Because the girl forgot to pick the flower from the pot.”
“…”
Lin Bozhou raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Pfft—” Shan Xing, who was beside them, couldn’t stifle his laughter.
Lin Bozhou looked at him.
Shan Xing said between laughs, “Your Royal Highness, that was hilarious.”
“…”
Lin Bozhou’s lips twitched slightly as he lowered his gaze, then he looked back at Meng Huan.
Meng Huan realized that not only did the man not find it funny, but the awkwardness was back. He took another bite of the sugar cake and said, “Then I have another joke. A drunk man accidentally fell down from the third floor and attracted the police’s—Er, no, the constable’s—attention. They came to look and asked the man what happened. Your Royal Highness, do you know what the drunk man said?”
Being very patient, Lin Bozhou’s eyes darkened as he said, “Don’t know. Huan Huan, tell me again.”
Torn between embarrassment and amusement, Meng Huan revealed, “The drunk man said, I don’t know! I also just got here.”
“……”
Lin Bozhou parted his lips and uttered an incomprehensible hum.
Next to him, Shan Xing burst out laughing once more. “Your Royal Highness, this one is also very funny.”
“…”
Luo Juan furrowed his brow. First he looked at Shan Xing, then back at Lin Bozhou, who had a flat expression. The furrow in his brow deepened. Obviously, he was in the same mood as Lin Bozhou.
Once Meng Huan finally finished his joke, he giggled happily. But then he found Lin Bozhou had a flat look, as if his jokes were so lame and corny that they hadn’t improved his mood one bit.
“…”
Meng Huan forcibly stopped laughing. With slightly blushing ears, he lowered his head and stuffed the rest of the sugar cake into his mouth. While chewing, he looked at Lin Bozhou nervously.
It appeared that the man was indeed not in a good mood.
He even coaxed him, but the man was still unhappy.
Sinc that was the case… Meng Huan licked his lips and simply got straight to the point. “Your Royal Highness, you should smile.”
“Mmm?” Lin Bozhou lowered his gaze.
A few wisps of breeze entered the pavilion, blowing open Meng Huan’s bangs and revealing his white and smooth forehead. His eyes shone brightly as he looked at Lin Bozhou and said earnestly, “After smiling, you will forget what had happened earlier. Sometimes, it isn’t good to have too good a memory.”
It was as if something slowly relaxed.
Faced with those bright eyes, Lin Bozhou’s lips began to curve up slightly. “Is that so?”
Ahem, don’t worry I find your jokes funny, Meng Huan.🫣
I think I understood Meng Huan’s second joke!! Lin Bozhou, just give an obligatory laugh no matter how bad the joke is!
Comic relief… and comfort. Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️
Not hearing laughter from your jokes are one of the worst kinds of embarrassments. I laughed so hard when Huan Huan accidentally said police XD
Thanks for the chapter!
Huan Huan, your intentions were finally understood!!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME!!!
I took me a while to understand the second joke 🤣🤣 .. that’s right sometimes having too good of a memory is not really good too
Hehe that was a cute attempt to cheer hubby up! 🤭 My sense of humour is as broke as huanhuan’s and shan xing’s 😂 it made me laughed lmaoo
I was surprised Shan Xing laughed even though Lin Bozhou didn’t. I would have thought just seeing Meng Huan giggling at his own jokes would make him laugh a little (I did, picturing it). It’s really cute that the scholars entertained him. I was starting to think, from some other stories, that they might focus complicated poems to make Meng Huan feel stupid, so it was really refreshing.
So sweet
Thank you for your translation 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
Huanhuan is so cute! He cares about his hubby
Such a cute scene… Ah go awn… Smile at your hardworking hubby
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Nah, these jokes were quite funny dad’s jokes XD
Thank You for the new chapter(♡ ὅ ◡ ὅ )ʃ♡
Tbh, I found the second joke funny, Lin Bozhou needs to lighten up a bit 😶🌫️
I squealed a little.