Chapter 137:Highness Cheng is Leaving

After Ji Cheng Kang paid a visit to Highness Cheng and delivered all those letters, he waited patiently for another few days. However, Highness Cheng prince seemed to have completely forgotten about the letters, he still showed no sign of leaving.

The Imperial Consort was getting more impatient than Ji Cheng Kang, not only did she write another letter to Highness Cheng, but she also wrote a letter to Ji Cheng Kang.

She asked Ji Cheng Kan that why Highness Cheng was still in Sha County, what had kept Highness Cheng from coming back.

Ji Cheng Kang made a face and murmured, ‘Food, Your Highness, food is keeping His Highness from going back to the capital city.’

Even the Emperor had written a letter urging Highness Cheng to go back, even though he knew his Uncle Cheng was just trying his best to stay away from his new wife and concubine.

Chances were the Emperor felt sorry for his uncle’s marriage, he didn’t use any harsh words in the letter, he just expressed that he appreciated Highness Cheng’s hard work and couldn’t wait to see him when he came back.

“Have you talked to Highness Cheng lately? Did he show any sigh of leaving?” Ji Cheng Kang glanced at Lu Lin and said.

Lu Lin pouted, “This is the fifth time that you asked me this question today, I haven’t talked to him in the past thirty seconds, no.”

Although Highness Cheng kept saying he felt reluctant to say goodbye to all the delicious food, they all knew the underlying reason was he was hen-pecked.

“Did the Imperial Consort send another letter?” asked Lu Lin.

Ji Cheng Kang nodded, “Yeah! The third letter.”

Lu Lin squinted, ‘So that’s like 300 missed calls.’

“Honestly, General Ji, my hands are tied. Highness Cheng just keeps using the food as an excuse.”

Ji Cheng Kang let out a sigh and lowered his head.

Lu Lin couldn’t help but think how much money he was going to make if he opened the restaurant in the capital city, too bad he didn’t have time to go there now.

Lu Lin looked at Ji Cheng Kang and said, “General Ji, do you really want Highness Cheng to go back?”

Ji Cheng Kang smiled bitterly and said, “The prince’s mission is over and it’s time for him to go back.”

Ji Cheng Kang had a hard time discipling Highness Cheng’s guards, he didn’t want to step on any toes considering all the guards were from influential and privileged families in the capital city, but he didn’t like to feed so many extra mouths!

Lu Lin then promised Ji Cheng Kang that he would do whatever he could to help him.

He handed the recipe of the hotpot soup base to Highness Cheng, Highness Cheng accepted the recipe with satisfaction and this time this prince quitted playing dumb, he told everyone that he was leaving soon.

Highness Cheng packed so many boxes full of food before he left, the way this prince loved food remined Lu Lin of Chen Xiao Mai.

……

As soon as the prince left, Lu Lin let out a sigh of relief. Although it was his honor that a prince appreciated him so much, Lu Lin always felt very reserved in his own house when a prince was living under the same roof with him.

“Finally!” Chen Xiao Mi slumped down on the bed with a sigh, feeling like he had put down a heavy burden.

“Are you that tired?” Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi and asked.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, “A bit.” When Highness Cheng was there, he had to watch Das, Yuan Bao and Mai’s mouths, especially Mai’s.

“Mai seems to have received a lot of presents from Highness Cheng,” said Lu Lin.

Mai was very good at cooking. Every now and then, Highness Cheng would exchange presents for food.

The presents were mainly ornament like jade pendants, little curios, calligraphies and paintings.

The things that the prince used were naturally the best. Lu Lin thought all those presents were worth at least a thousand taels of silver.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, “Highness Cheng really gets along well with Mai.”

At first, Chen Xiao Mi was worried that Mai might accidentally offend Highness Cheng, and he was surprised how much Highness Cheng adored Mai, the two of them always chatted and laughed together, Mai would even call Highness Cheng Uncle Chubby, and Highness Cheng would just give Mai a smile.

Lu Lin nodded, “Yeah! Everyone loves Mai.”

Back then, when he and Chen Xiao Mi first started doing business, they sold gloves on the market. It was Mai who modelled the gloves and greeted the customers.

……

Lu Lin got a promotion not long after Highness Cheng left. Lu Lin now was a sixth-ranking magistrate.

Lu Lin and Ji Cheng Kang discussed this and they both agreed it was Highness Cheng who had helped him behind the scenes.

Lu Lin and Ji Cheng Kang were right, Highness Cheng wrote the Emperor a letter and mentioned it was Lu Lin who had invented the Curved Iron Plough three years ago, and there were significant improvements on the living standards of Sha County. The Emperor was surprised, because Highness Cheng seldom vouched for anyone, so he promoted Lu Lin. He meant to make Lu Lin a fifth-ranking magistrate, but other officials raised objection saying that Lu Lin bought his official title and he didn’t deserve such a big promotion.

Lu Lin was very excited when he found he just got a promotion. Although Lu Lin did not have any lofty ideals and high aspirations, he was still happy when he heard the great news.

“We should thank Highness Cheng!”

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, “Yeah!”

Lu Lin got the promotion a few days after Highness Cheng left. Highness Cheng must have written the letter to the Emperor a long time ago.

“I wonder where Highness Cheng is now.”

Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, “I doubt he will travel fast, he doesn’t want to go back in the first place, I think he will take many detours.”

Lu Lin scratched his head and said, “Who would expect a princewould be so hen-pecked!”

Chen Xiao Mi nodded.

……

“Your Highness, we have arrived Wind Town,” a guard reported to Highness Cheng.

“Wind Town, good name, this town seems to be much more prosperous than Sha County. Let’s stay here for a few days and try the specialty dishes here.”

When Highness Cheng was in Sha County, he had eaten a lot of food that he had never eaten before. He was very happy about that experience, and he had raised expectations about the street food.

Highness Cheng would stop at every town and try their specialties, however, he was greatly disappointed.

He wasn’t impressed by any dishes they had had so far, he even wanted to go back to Sha County.

Fortunately, his guards had convinced him to resume the journey otherwise it would cause a great disturbance.

“The dishes are very ordinary!” Highness Cheng put down his chopsticks with disappointment.

Highness Cheng now needed new stuff to keep him interested.

“Your Highness, how can restaurants in such a small place compare to the ones in the capital city.” The head of the guard said helplessly.

Highness Cheng frowned and thought about it for a while. ‘Yeah, what the guard said was right. It’s abnormal that Lu Lin has created so much new and interesting stuff, I should lower my expectations now.’

“The capital city may not as much delicious food as the Sha County,” Highness Cheng shook his head.

The guards gazed at each other in speechless despair.

……

Lu Lin received a letter from Wind Town this day.

“Who is this letter from?” Chen Xiao Mi asked.

Lu Lin said helplessly, “It’s from Highness Cheng’s chef. They made hotpot for Highness Cheng, but the taste is not quite right even though they have followed the recipe step by step. So, they are asking me what I can do.”

“What do you think?”

Lu Lin shook his head, “If they have followed the recipes, then I think it’s all in Highness Cheng’s heart, or maybe just his mood.”

“Highness Cheng even said that he wanted to come back to Sha County!”

Chen Xiao Mi’s eyes twitched, “Amida Buddha! Will His Highness will come back for some food?”

Lu Lin shook his head, “No, fortunately, the guards have convinced him to resume his journey.”

Chen Xiao Mi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Exactly, I’m afraid His Highness’s new wife and concubine will hate us if they find out His Highness has come back to us for some food! ” Lu Lin shook his head.

Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, “Yeah! Let’s pray, pray Highness Cheng will take no detours on the journey!”

……

After Highness Cheng left, Chen Xiao Cai also sighed in relief.

Chen Xiao Cai was afraid that the staff in the restaurant would accidentally offend this distinguished guest, so he had warned the staff, but he couldn’t tell the staff who that chubby old man really was, Chen Xiao Cai found that very hard to do.

Chen Xiao Cai rewarded the staff after Highness Cheng left Sha County.

Lu Lin rubbed his chin and said, “Cai and Shen Chi are going back to Big Stone Village soon.”

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, “Yeah! They have been planning for this trip for a long time, they have postponed it due to Highness Cheng’s visit.”

Lu Lin touched his chin. The people in this time and space valued paying respects to graves.

Granny Shen passed away several years ago. Shen Chi didn’t go back even once since he left hometown with them, it was indeed time he should visit his grandmother’s grave.

“Xiao Mi, do you want to go back?” Lu Lin asked.

Chen Xiao Mi shook his head and said, “No, Cai can visit our parents’ grave for me. What about you?”

Lu Lin shook his head, “No.”

Lu Lin thought to himself, ‘The host’s parents have already died when I transmigrated over, I’m not attached to them.’

Lu Lin thought for a while and said, “I will ask Cai to visit my parent’s grave and burn incense for me.”

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, “That sounds good, I’m sure Cai is more than happy to do that.”

Lu Lin had occupied the host’s body anyways, he felt he should do something for the host’s parents.

……

The next day.

Chen Xiao Mi prepared two horse carriages for Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi. Chen Xiao Cai hired several veterans as their guards.

“Big Brother, we’re leaving.”

Chen Xiao Mi looked at the little baby in Shen Chi’s arms and said, “Take care of yourselves.”

Shen Chi nodded and said, “Don’t worry about us.”

“Don’t get involved with the villagers who like to cause drama,” Chen Xiao Mi said.

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, “I understand.”

Shen Chi waved at Chen Xiao Mi and the others before he got into the carriage.

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Chen Xiao Cai and said, “Bye, Cai, take care.”

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, “Bye, Big Brother.”

Chen Xiao Cai then jumped on the carriage and signaled to the guards to leave.

Lu Lin watched Chen Xiao Cai leave and smiled. “Look at our Cai, he is a grownup now, he is now going back to our hometown paying respects to our parents’ and his partner’s family’s grave.”

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and thought to himself, ‘Our parents would be so proud of Cai if they were still alive!’

Shen Nian clenched his small fists and fell asleep in Shen Chi’s arms.

Shen Chi looked at Nian and smiled.

Shen Chi sighed and thought to himself, “Grandmother died too early. If Grandmother were still alive, I don’t know how much she would adore Lei and Nian.”

Chen Xiao Cai sat in the carriage, looking at the scenery outside the window curtain and all sorts of feelings welled up in his mind.

Shen Chi said excitedly, “We haven’t gone back for so many years!”

Chen Xiao Cai nodded, “Yeah! I wonder what Forest Town and Big Stone Village are like now.”

Back then, after Lu Lin was framed by the county magistrate, they came to Sha County and never went back to Forest Town. Most of the news about Forest Town was from Zhang Rui. However, Zhang Rui had rarely gone back in the past few years and they didn’t know much about Forest Town anymore.

Shen Chi looked at Chen Xiao Cai and said, “The Chen family might start trouble when they see us.”

Chen Xiao Cai said lightly, “I don’t care about them. We have signed the Renouncement Letter with them years ago, so legally we have nothing to do with them, Big Brother has given me the letter in case they start trouble. Don’t worry, there’s nothing they can do about us.”