Chapter 34 – Changed Hua Chun (1)

“My gentleman!” The porter screamed out upon seeing her. The servants dispersed and scurried to inform others about her arrival. Hua Chun had no more strength to reprimand them, she only walked towards the yard with weak and painful steps. Before long, a throng gathered in the yard, curiosity seething in their eyes as they observed her.

“How did this happen again?” Wan-shi’s face was painted with worry. “Yesterday our sister said that you might have been asked by the Emperor to stay in the palace to discuss issues. We haven’t expected that you would come back so quickly and awkwardly.”

“Go and call the doctor to examine him,” the Third Lady ordered the servants outside and drew nearer to Hua Chun, examining her. “My old brother is tough. You have endured so much for our family.”

“But why did the Emperor scold you again? Would it have any influence on our family?” Aunt Zhao questioned as she suppressed a frown on her face. Another replied, “No. Although the Prime Minister is our family, we shouldn’t all be blamed for his own fault. My gentleman, what did the Emperor say?”

At their ceaseless murmurs, Hua Chun became disappointed. Worry laced their words, but it was not intended for her; it seemed nobody cared about what happened to Hua Jinghua. They had even thought about distancing themselves from the prime minister. It wasn’t long before her disappointment was overcome with annoyance. Hua Chun complained inwardly, but her grievances were interrupted by a loud roar.

“Get out of my way!”

The crowd encircling her turned their heads. Hua Chun lifted her gaze, and at the sight, she felt her heart was tugged. Wan-shi spoke loudly, peeling the peering people away from Hua Chun, and looked at her face, “What happened?”

Hua Chun smiled faintly, “It doesn’t matter, I accidentally rubbed some ash from the beam on my face.”

“Weren’t you in the palace?” Wan-shi bent down and took a handkerchief from her pocket, “Did the Emperor give you a hard time?”

“We can tell by his appearance, why do you keep asking?” Ren, the concubine, replied, “It’s time for him to have a rest.”

Looking up at her, Wan-shi said, “You are making trouble. My son works hard for the family and the government every day, but you aren’t grateful for him at all, what are you doing here?”

“Are you trying to argue again?” Ren laughed, “I don’t have any intentions, can’t I be concerned about the young master?”

“Do you care about him?” Wan-shi gritted her teeth, “You want my son to be punished by the emperor!”

“No,” Ren retorted, “How could I have such thoughts? What the Third Lady said is reasonable. If the eldest young master makes a mistake and offends the Emperor often, he will implicate the family. I am supported by the Hua family, so I should be more concerned.”

At her words, Wan-shi looked livid. Certainly, she wanted to speak more, but Hua Chun intervened, “Thank you for your concern.”

The crowd was startled and all eyes landed on her. With black ash on her nose, she was indeed in a terrible state, but she opened her mouth and said, “The Emperor did not punish me, there were assassins in the palace yesterday, I escorted the Emperor to hide, so I was in such a mess.”

“There were assassins?” Wan-shi gasped. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at her daughter from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Hua Chun simply smiled and said, “I just didn’t sleep much. And I had taken credit for the disaster relief yesterday, the Emperor has given the grace to allow the Hua family to continue repairing the backyard.”

The spectators now wore a different expression as they heard her words. Wan-shi was not an exception; stunned, she stared at her in disbelief, “The Emperor has allowed us to repair it again?”