Author: Vanilla Muse

Posted in The Big Landlord

The Big Landlord 79.1

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

Thank chuu~ to the mysterious reader who treated me to ko-fi. I will keep working hard! ☆(｡･ω･)ゞ

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Chapter 79.1 – Punishment

After Zhu Cheng Left, An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian took a turn around the An Palace.
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The An Palace was even bigger than imagined. Even if all the people from the An family settled in here, the place would still seem very spacious. After the two returned, Fu Wu Tian ordered some servants from his palace to go clean up the An Palace.

The An Palace was built six months ago, but it has been unoccupied ever since, so the tables and chairs all have a thick layer of dust on them. It took two days for the servants to clean everything up.

On the third day, the members of the An family moved into the An Palace.

“Madam, look. The An Palace is huge!”

Qi Qiao, who was standing behind Wang Qing Lan, saw the An Palace’s exterior and immediately exclaimed in admiration. The An manor simply could not be compared to this residence. Before she came to Jun Zi City, she thought that the An family was already big enough, because the An manor was the largest house in An Yuan County.
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Wang Qing Lan lifted her head and looked at the vast An Palace. Her eyes were filled with confidence and ambition.

She finally came to Jun Zi City, and was even living in a house presented by the emperor. Before she didn’t dare to entertain such thoughts, but since she came to the capital, she saw many spectacular sights that she never had the opportunity to see before. It was quite shocking, but deep inside she felt that this was the stage where she belonged.

Thinking of this, she increasingly rejoiced at the fact that she chose to forebear while she was in An Yuan County. Otherwise, she would be like An Ke Xin (and her mother) who was forced to married over to Tong Tai County. Then she would be stuck in a small county forever.

“Let’s go in.”

After An Zi Ran got the blueprint of the An Palace, he only had plans to live in a portion of the palace.

A lot of servants were left behind in An Yuan County, so there were fewer than fifty people who followed him to the capital. In such a spacious palace, it would be hard to get things done.

The front of the An Palace faced east, so he picked out the southern and northern rooms.

The servants will live in the northern rooms, and the masters of the house will live in the southern courtyard. Beyond the southern wall was the Imperial Fu Palace.

“Zi Ran, ah.” Wang Qing Lan hesitated for a bit, but still walked over to An Zi Ran. She feigned a gentle tone in order to sound him out. “Regarding the An Palace’s southern courtyard, Fourth Mother won’t be living in it alone, right?”

She mainly wanted to find out if the little bun was going to be brought to the An Palace to live with them. If they were at the courtyard that An Zi Ran had purchased previously, then she wouldn’t have asked this. But the two places were so close, so she couldn’t help but entertain certain thoughts. If the little bun lived in the An Palace she could use the excuse of visiting him and enhance feelings between them.

An Zi Ran glanced at her, “No.”

A spark of joy ignited in Wang Qing Lan’s heart, but she didn’t let it show on her face.

Thus, Wang Qing Lan began to wait for the arrival of the little bun. In order to perform better, she even asked Qi Qiao to find someone to teach her how to take care of children and how to please them to win their affection.

An Zi Ran did not say a word after knowing this.

She was certainly clever in some ways, but in some aspects she was still as dumb as Zheng Bi.

Speaking of the little bun, An Zi Ran realized that he had not seen him for two days. He only went to see him in the morning before. These past two days, he was busy with the new residence and also careful to be cautious of the Chong Ming Emperor. He was certain that Zhu Cheng must have already told the emperor that Fu Wu Tian did not attach any importance to them, but after waiting for two days, there was still no movement from the palace.

Gradually, he stopped paying attention.

At the Imperial Fu Palace

An Zi Ran changed his schedule to go visit the little bun. He had just entered the courtyard where the little bun was residing in when he became keenly aware that something was wrong. He raised his head and he saw Steward Li rushing over.

“Wang fei, how come you’re here?”

Steward Li was speaking rather loudly, as if he was deliberately saying it for someone else to hear.

Although he tried to hide the panic on his face, An Zi Ran still noticed that the door to the little bun’s room was opened and his gaze couldn’t help but became heavy. “What are you doing here? Who is in my brother’s room?”

A layer of cold sweat burst across Steward Li’s forehead.

An Zi Ran pushed him away and walked over.

Steward Li immediately went to block him. “Wang fei…”

“Waaa!!!”

A very loud baby’s cries interrupted his words. Then there was a creaking sound in the little bun’s room, as if someone had kicked over a chair.

An Zi Ran pushed him hard and quickly rushed toward the room.

Steward Li stumbled away a few steps and almost hit the pillar. He muttered a low “oh no,” and wished the person in the room luck.

An Zi Ran rushed into the room. The baby’s cries had disappeared. He could only see a few chairs lying in disarray on the floor. But the people who were supposed to be in the room could not be seen. His face was already as dark as the bottom of a pot.

“Come out!”

An Zi Ran swept through every corner of the room. He was certain that the people were still in the room. The windows of the room were all shut. If someone had tried to escape through the window they wouldn’t have time to turn around and close the window back up.

Steward Li ran in and saw the empty room. He became even more apprehensive. Over. It’s all over. The problem seemed to have escalated.

There was no response for a very long time.

An Zi Ran’s expression was getting increasingly grimmer. Then he turned sharply. There was a fat old man hiding behind the door and he was getting ready to sneak out of the room, but An Zi Ran caught him right away.

Cold sweat rained down the fat old man’s forehead.

An Zi Ran’s gaze turned to the man’s arms. The fat old man held a baby in his arms with one hand covering the baby’s mouth. The baby’s black grape-like eyes were filled with tears, his cheeks were red, and he looked up at him pitifully. An Zi Ran released a breath and took the baby into his arms.

As soon as the little baby returned to his brother’s arms, he started to cry. Sprawled within An Zi Ran’s embrace, his two small chubby hands clutched his brother’s clothes tightly. His sobs were very pitiful. Although he was only six or seven months old, the child had a heightened sense of awareness, and knew who was the person closest to him.

An Zi Ran held the little bun, his movements were practiced and not awkward at all. He stroked the baby’s back with one hand and listened to the baby’s cries gradually lessened. Only then did he turn his attention to the fat old man. The identity of the man was Fu lao wang ye. The old man straightened his back, but didn’t dare to look at him.

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Posted in Recommendation

The Strategy of Washing Clean a Slag Shou

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Psychological, Romance, Yaoi

Summary (from NU)

Su Yang was bound to a ‘Slag Cleansing’ System, each world he went as a slag Shou that was rejected by the Gong. In order to return home as soon as possible, he began to work hard by counter-attacking the people who rejected him.

Later he found that these people who were supposed to have normal attributes going by the script were all abnormal. In the face of this rabid animal, Su Yang was forced to abuse his heart again and again.

Personal Thoughts [spoiler free]

With two translated arcs so far (at the time of writing this), the MC, Su Yang, is really carrying the story right now. Although it’s hard to discern his true personality since he has to play a different role in each world, so far he seems like a genuinely good person who is simply stuck in a bad situation. Maybe it’s because of how he has to play his characters in order to achieve the objective of each world, but he comes across as a pure individual who’s also a bit naive, thus making him a likable person that I want to root for. And that’s important, because I have very mixed opinions about the ML.

In the original version of each world, the ML was definitely the victim and deserves the audience’s pity. But once Su Yang enters the scene, the ML becomes a foil in the MC’s quest for character redemption. Thus, the ML becomes cast in a negative light. There’s no doubt that the ML truly cares for the MC once he falls in love, but his questionable actions lead to his own tragic suffering.

As a tragedy, I give this story high marks (especially the second arc), because I think the story is beautifully tragic, full of karmic retribution and due consequences caused by character flaws. I normally avoid tragedies like the plague, because I prefer more uplifting stories, but fast transmigration is a genre in which I can enjoy a beautifully written tragedy, because I know that a tragic end is not the final end. The MC (and ML) is still alive and will go on to write more tragic (or happy) stories.

The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide is another fast transmigration story that has some really beautiful and dramatic tragedies. Readers might find the MC of that story to be not as likable as Su Yang, but I think he is a interesting fellow.

Posted in Recommendation

The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mature, Romance, Yaoi

Summary [from NU]

In the spirit of love and in order to help his ex-boyfriends walk out from the shadow of heartbreak, every time before Ye Ming leaves after successfully completing each world’s romance mission, he will ‘kindly’ (ruthlessly) break up with with his boyfriend.

After transmigrating to N different worlds he had finally gained enough experience. At this time the system informed him that because the accumulation of his ex-boyfriend’s grievances had exceeded critical levels, leading to the failure of all his missions…. So he needs to return to each world to eliminate their grievances if he wants to complete his missions!

Ye Ming: This is an outcome I didn’t predict.

System: I tried to tell you before that if you did this you won’t have a good end.

The ex-boyfriends all laughing coldly: He He. That despicable scum that ran away after deceiving my feelings is finally back. This time don’t even think about running away!

Ye Ming: ……

System: Since you “zuo” yourself to death, even if you kneel you have to go to the end!

Ye Ming: Luckily I have a special “scum cleaning” technique ^_^

Personal Thoughts [spoiler free]

Disregarding the overarching meta story, which is the fast transmigration part, each individual arc of this story is a great standalone tragic love story in its own right. (At the time of writing this, there are 3 translated arcs thus far.) Romeo and Juliet ain’t got nothing on this dog blood drama.

The MC, Ye Ming, is a real tool. After completing the romance mission of each world, he cruelly throws away the love interest. Karma comes biting him in the butt, but just when the audience thinks they can laugh at his comeuppance, he struts through his troubles with a calculative gleam in his eyes. Some people might find this type of character off-putting, while some, like me, find him interesting and want to see how he pulls off his reversal of fates. Ye Ming is not meant to be a likable character. He’s the type of character whose story you follow because you want to see how and what makes him tick, although there are hints that tie his callousness with events in his hidden past, much like the MC of A Wave of Exes Came Looking for Me. What to Do?! So I think we’ll get a justification for all his actions by the end.

Finally, another reason that you should read The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide is because the translation quality is superb. The first two arcs and a part of the third arc was translated by White Sky Translations, who is a super fast translator with a good grasp of both the Chinese and English languages, resulting in easy to read translations. After that, Syeki (Deep Dream Translations) took over translating the story. She’s a translator that I’ve worked with on Let Me Shoulder this Blame! and she’s also the translator of The Strategy of Washing Clean a Slag Shou (another story that I recommend). She has a fluid understanding of the translation material and her works are always so smooth, making them a joy to read and very easy to digest.

Posted in The Big Landlord

The Big Landlord 78.2

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

Apologies for being a little late. Crashed into bed as soon as I got home and just woke up now. It’s been a long day.

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Chapter 78.2 – An Palace

An Zi Ran did not expect that their relationship would be so tense.
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However, a further bit of thought and one would no longer be surprised by the state of affairs. There was no emperor in history that would be willing to subject himself to another. Even if the Chong Ming Emperor was a weak ruler, he would not want to have someone who was not under his control. Not to mention, this person held more than half of Da Ya’s military strength.

Fu Wu Tian came back for only a few months, but it was obvious that he did not place any importance on the emperor. It was no wonder that the emperor would be anxious to assign his people to their place.

“Wang ye, please forgive this servant for not being able to comply.”

Zhu Cheng heard Fu Wu Tian’s words, but he still held no fear. His expression was inflexible. He was the Chong Ming Emperor’s personal servant. Naturally, he heeded the emperor’s orders. Furthermore, he did not fear that the jun wang would harm him. Even if the jun wang had that power, he had the emperor to back him up, and he did not break any laws, so he presumed that the jun wang would not be able to do anything to him.

Fu Wu Tian listened to his response, and then slowly turned to look at him.

Zhu Cheng’s body was very straight, neither obsequious nor supercilious.
Translations by Vanilla Muse
His attitude seemed to be very principled and sturdy, but his eyes clearly revealed a faint scorn.

“So you’re saying you must remain here?”

Fu Wu Tian suddenly let out a bark of laughter, his voice becoming much milder.

Zhu Cheng’s body shook, and finally there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

This wasn’t his first time seeing Fu Wu tian. He was an old timer within the palace, and he was one of the people close to the emperor. Although he wasn’t comparable to the chief eunuch, Wang Ping, he was only second to Wang Ping.

On the day when Fu Wu Tian returned triumphant from the frontlines, the Chong Ming Emperor personally went to the city gate to meet him. At that time, Zhu Cheng also followed behind, and he was fortunate enough to see Fu Wu Tian in armor. The god of war was imperious and awe-inspiring. He also recalled the first time he saw this young wang ye, the wang ye’s eyes were cold and bloodthirsty. Even he, someone experienced and knowledgeable, and had a way with handling difficult matters, couldn’t help but shudder in the wang ye’s presence.

At that time, he heard that the wang ye was a man who was unsmiling and cold-blooded. To hear him laughing so suddenly, Zhu Cheng had a bad feeling.

Frightened, Zhu Cheng said quickly, “Wang ye, this servant is just acting on orders. Pray that wang ye won’t make things hard for this servant.”

In addition to showing weakness, this sentence also implied that there was the emperor behind him.

“Of course this prince knows that you are acting on orders…” Fu Wu Tian’s smile revealed a trace of cruelty, and his voice grew even lighter.

Zhu Cheng’s teeth rattled together. He finally could not go on acting calm.

Fu Wu Tian slowly raised his hand.

Just then, a hand grabbed onto his wrist…

Fu Wu Tian turned his head and saw his wang fei frowning at him. “What’s wrong?” The smile on his face weakened a bit, but it was as if he was bathed in the spring breeze, looking a lot warmer.

An Zi Ran said, “This is the An family’s new house.”

Fu Wu Tian instantly understood what he meant.

Last time, two people died in the An manor courtyard and the entire family had to move. Now that the emperor had given this An Palace to them, it would be more convenient to stay next to the Imperial Fu Palace. So An Zi Ran decided to bluntly accept the gift. Since he wanted to live in it, naturally he didn’t want blood to be spilled in it.

Fu Wu Tian’s eyebrows wrinkled imperceptibly. He looked at Zhu Cheng, whose eyes were trembling with extreme fear, and said unpleasantly, “Count yourself as lucky. Get lost.”

Zhu Cheng took those palace maids with him and they left the An Palace as if they were running for their lives.

Just now, he plainly saw that the jun wang was leaking killing intent. There was no way he could be wrong. Just the thought of the jun wang wanting to kill him made him quake in his boots, so he frantically escaped back to the imperial palace. Anyway, the emperor’s intentions have already been conveyed. If the emperor wanted to pass blame, he only needed to push the blame onto the jun wang and his wang fei. He didn’t need to pay up his own life for this task.

At the Forbidden City.

Zhu Cheng quickly reported this matter back to the emperor, all the while embellishing the story to make it more interesting.

He wasn’t someone who knew how to be grateful to others. Although he knew that it was probably the jun wang’s wang fei who saved his life, he did not think that the wang fei was a good person, so he also smeared An Zi Ran’s name.

“Garbage!”

The Chong Ming Emperor picked up a book and threw it at Zhu Cheng.

Zhu Cheng did not dare utter a single cry despite being badly bruised.

“Your Majesty, please quell your anger!”

A slender hand touched the emperor’s chest, and a delicate voice sounded softly in the royal study room. Anyone who heard that voice would have blood rushing to their lower abdomen.

The beauty had a flower-like appearance. She was different from the last concubine. This was the emperor’s most beloved concubine these past few days. She was great on the bed, and she knew how to weigh up people’s words and observe their facial expression. Her hands seemed to have magical powers. Every time she could appease the emperor’s anger. This time was no different.

The anger on the emperor’s face really did ease up a lot. With a flip of his hand he easily held onto that soft body. His gaze fell upon the white of her décolletage and he abruptly pulled the beauty into his arms. The beauty let out a startled sound.

“All of you get out.”

Zhu Cheng and them all let out a collective breath of relief. They withdrew from the royal study in fear and trepidation.

After a while, squeaking sounds came from the royal study.

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Posted in Recommendation

A Wave of Exes Came Looking for Me. What to Do?!

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Yaoi

Summary [from NU]

Bai Yue Sheng is a Transmigration System clerk, each of his tasks he completes to the 100%, for each one he has gotten the best scores, after he finally passed seven, eight, nine… okay, an unknown number of worlds, Lord God gave him an opportunity to be promoted; the requirement was only to live on an ordinary way for 20 years at his original world.

The requirement was easy, Bai Yue Sheng accepted the task, but he could have never imagined that, just after he settled on planet Earth, his “exes” would actually break through time and space to chase him down!

Bai Yue Sheng: As a 10/10 slag, how do I break away from the siege of this bunch of mental people… while also living 20 years of an ordinary life?

Author: hehe…

Personal Thoughts [spoiler free]

There are several mentions of the MC, Bai Yue Sheng, being a slag in the story (and in the summary), but due to his unique circumstances as a world hopper, I would argue that he is not a slag. Although he has several lovers in total, in each world that he goes to, he is dedicated and loyal to only one person. The story puts a magnifying glass on this topic and argues it from both perspectives, so I won’t go too in depth, but that is my opinion on the ‘slag’ issue, in case that’s a turn off for any reader, which I have to admit, originally it had put me off reading this story for a long time, so I wanted to clear the air a bit, because I think this is a story worth reading. I also binge read it in like three sittings once I got started.

This story is well paced, spacing out romance with mystery and a little bit of action. I never felt like the story got bogged down or boring. It kept me on the edge of my seat, giving me just enough romantic drama before dropping another piece of the puzzle to the overarching mystery of all the hijinks going on in the MC’s hectic life. 10/10 would recommend. At 64 total chapters it is neither too long nor too short.

Posted in Let Me Shoulder this Blame!

Let Me Shoulder this Blame! 12

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

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Chapter 12

Wayne’s eyes burned with a dark flame. His breathing was violent and heavy, but the kiss was very gentle and extremely careful. After a short moment, he withdrew from the kiss.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. If you find this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Right now, the injured Daniel wouldn’t be able to stand even the slightest force.

Maybe it was the fear and alarm he felt when he found out that the other party was kidnapped, or maybe it was in the moment when Daniel took the bullet for him, or maybe it was even earlier, when he saw the flash of warmth in the other’s eyes.

The guilt and remorse he felt when he suddenly realized the truth. Intense longing for the other party to survive. And that inexplicable pounding of his heart even he himself was hard pressed to explain. Don’t know when it had became implanted in his person, wanting to pull his heart out, it was a hurt drenched with blood.
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Perhaps he was scared by Wayne’s sudden action, the young man beneath him was looking up at him with wide eyes. With his heart pounding, he covered his mouth. Right now, there wasn’t even a hint of the cold, arrogant, and iron-blooded marshal.

Daniel’s lips were thin, and with a simple purse of his lips he could affect a cold and harsh aura at any time. But with his lips slightly parted like this, he looked increasingly soft and innocent.

More than a day without food and water, his lips were inevitably dry and peeling, and because he was very weak right now, he did have any color of life on his face. Even if it were carefully moistened, it would still make anyone looking at him feel stuffy in the chest.

Wayne lightly stroked his short hair and lowered his body again. His gentle and low voice reverberated against Su Shi’s ear, making Su Shi subconsciously hold his breath.

“I don’t want your apology, Daniel. I want you to keep on living.”

Su Shi’s eyes finally revealed some helplessness.

His eyes softened as he looked at Wayne’s taut profile. He used all his strength to raise his hand and gently pulled on the other’s sleeve. “Help me up. I want to sit for a bit.”

Wayne carefully lifted him up. He was afraid that Su Shi wouldn’t be comfortable and specially stuffed two pillows behind him. He worried that Su Shi would feel cold and pulled the quilt up.
Translations by vmnovels(.)com
No matter how Wayne fussed and adjusted, he still felt that it wasn’t enough. Su Shi also patiently let him do what he wanted. Su Shi wanted to show a more relaxed and calm expression, but the pain originating from his stomach was too much and he couldn’t help furrowing his brows.

Wayne’s held Su Shi’s hand, which had been unconsciously pressing against his stomach. Wayne placed his hand atop Su Shi’s stomach, raised his head, and stared at him. “Is the stress too much? Is it always like this?”

Stomach illness and mental factors were closely related. He remembered that back at the academy, Daniel had the strongest stomach of them all. No matter what kind of crazy army ration they got, Daniel was able to stuff it down his throat with some cold water.

In just five years, this guy had abused himself to the point of stomach bleeding, and he didn’t care if he rushed towards his death.

“It wasn’t so big at first. After you got captured, I couldn’t wait to hang my heart in my throat*.”

[*T/N: That’s literally what the raws say. 我恨不得把心吊在嗓子眼里 I guess it means he was really worried and thus stressed.]

Su Shi’s head hurt so much that he ended up complaining sincerely.

Although he didn’t know his true thoughts, Wayne’s lips still pulled taut with a guilty conscience. He lowered his head and fiddled with his pale, cold fingers, stubbornly trying to make them a little warmer.

Looking at his movements, Su Shi suddenly had no confidence in what he had to say.

“Wayne, if-”

“I won’t let you go back, Daniel. Don’t even think about it. We have a way to win, but victory is not to be built on your sacrifice alone.”

Before he even had time to say it, Wayne stopped him with his words, and even sealed off all his possible methods of arguing back.

Su Shi blinked, but he still held on to a small glimmer of hope. “What about Nathan, then? You didn’t leave him behind did you?”

Right now he couldn’t even stand up and walk two steps at a time. If he could find a lieutenant who was absolutely loyal to him, things could still turn around.

Wayne met his gaze. After a short pause of silence he answered, “I asked him to do something. There is no danger, you don’t have to worry.”

It would be strange not to worry. Nathan must have been sent to find evidence that could clear Daniel’s name.

Su Shi worried to the point of his stomach aching. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists.

“Wayne, this is your battlefield. My battlefield is in the presidential palace. From the day our teacher handed me this task, I was destined to live in the darkness. The glory that you guys get is enough. It never belonged to me…”

Wayne’s expression twitched slightly, but he merely lowered his line of sight without a word. He only helped Su Shi rub his stomach, his strength gentle and very careful.

He didn’t think that the other party would have such a willful attitude. Su Shi smiled helplessly. He looked at him patiently. His tone once again soft and gentle.

“There needs to be someone to do the dirty work. Since I have already reached this step, let me go. Before I die, I can still see you guys off, isn’t that very good already?”

Wayne abruptly looked up. The look of hurt in his eyes was so painful that it froze all of Su Shi’s thoughts.

Su Shi said quite a bit, but it was really the last resort. Fortunately, only Wayne heard them. Since the protagonist had already guessed what happened, even if he told him the truth, it would probably not cause much change in the experience value.

Su Shi thought he was lucky, although his eyes wavered with guilt. Then he heard Wayne’s low voice.

“Since you’ve all come, then come inside. All of you heard clearly, do you still need me to explain again?”

The door was carefully pushed open, and several youths with their heads hanging down slid into the room against the wall.

It was the high-ranking officers of the insurgent army that came in that day, and each and every one of them had a look of shame in their eyes.

Su Shi’s stomach hurt even more.

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Author’s Corner:

System: Personally admitting everything, deduct a thousand points. (-v-)

 

Posted in Recommendation

Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mecha, Romance, Sci-Fi, Yaoi

Summary [from NU]

A top hacker was chosen by the Lord God to be reborn into countless worlds, always as an expendable villain.

With no free will, every world became a dead end. Every one of his lives ended tragically.

Finally, after wresting control of the Villain System, this ace hacker decided to enact revenge. Even if his very bones were rotten, he’d choose to occupy the very heights of morality, if only on the surface.

Thus, he would change his fate as an abused slag.

 

Note: The main story of Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil has 16 arcs. It also has 4 bonus stories (or extras), as titled below. Click on the titles to read the translations.

  1. 薛子轩 (Xue Zi Xuan) – 15 chapters
  2. 魔教教主與聖僧 (Diabolist Leader and Holy Priest) – 26 chapters
  3. 妖狐與攝政王 (The Fox and the Regent) – 23 chapters
  4. 獸人星球蜜月 (Honeymoon on Beastman Planet) – 20 chapters

Personal Thoughts [spoiler free]

A monolith in the quick transmigration (or fast transmigration) genre, this story was the first quick transmigration story that introduced me to the entire concept of quick transmigration. It’s not the first quick transmigration story ever written, as It’s Actually Not Easy Wanting to be a Supporting Male Lead (another running favorite of mine) seems to date back even earlier than this story, but Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil (a.k.a. FOD) was the first one of its ilk that I found, hence it will always have a special place in my heart.

The wonderful Keztranslations did the translations for the main story of FOD. I’m not sure why the chapter links are not showing up on novelupdates at the moment, but you can go directly here for the full table of contents.

The first arc is not the most stand out, but I quite like the second arc, in which our main character, Zhou Yun Sheng, plays the part of an autistic teenager. I think arc nine is a popular fan favorite, and it’s one of my favorites too. Zhou Yun Sheng is super OP, and arc nine is where he hits a hiccup, so this is where we see his natural intelligence really shine. (But even his normal brain is too OP. Apparently his brain has the processing power of several computers… TAT… Ay, leave something for us mere mortals…) Arc ten was a weird one in my opinion. I mostly just remember the MC hypnotizing himself in the mirror. Arc fourteen is where we get the (in)famous Xue Zi Xuan, whose character became so popular that the author even wrote a complete AU (alternative universe) spin-off story for him. (Side note, I’m currently co-translating said spin-off story.) Arc fifteen was a fun one. It’s titled “Cuckold Emperor” and the MC is the emperor. Lol.

I find the male lead of FOD to be quite overbearing. Compared to all the other MLs from other BL stories that I’ve read, he ranks somewhere in the middle of my personal list. His loyalty and devotion to his shou is a huge plus, but his attitude is a minus. He’s mean even to people who are nice and helpful to the MC, simply because he is that possessive (and yandere). I got annoyed with his attitude in arc nine. Out of jealousy, the ML kept hitting the MC’s protector, Zhao Ling Feng, and plotting ways to get rid of him. And Zhao Ling Feng was such a loyal sweetie too. (Also, kudos to the protagonist shou of this world, who learned self-awareness, backed off, and even wished the MC and ML well.) I liked the ML in arc eight. Due to the setting and restrictions of his role, his character was more restraint and thus his interactions with the MC gave me more moe feels, and also more giggles.

I guess the important thing is that the MC really likes the ML. He gets exasperated with the ML’s actions sometimes, but he’s not really bothered by it. The MC is strong, both mentally and emotionally. He stands toe to toe with the ML, and in some arcs the MC is the one pursuing the ML, so it’s not a case of the ML dragging the MC around and the poor MC having to go along with the ML’s whims. I also detect hints of yandere-ness from the MC towards the ML, but he doesn’t get to show that side often, because the ML’s yandere tendencies overshadow the MC’s. All in all, they’re a good match for each other.

Posted in The Big Landlord

The Big Landlord 78.1

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

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Chapter 78.1 – An Palace

Chong Ming 27th year, May 29

Due to Fu Wu Tian’s merits in governing Chang Province, the Chong Ming Emperor was very happy. Hearing that his wang fei’s family was moving to Jun ZI City, the emperor gifted them a manor and personally named it An Palace.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. If you find this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
When the An family arrived at Jun Zi City, they immediately received the attention of the emperor, of course there would be people green with envy. To have married a wang ye, and not to mention that wang ye was Da Ya’s god of war, even an insignificant landlord could become relatives to the emperor. A lot of people envied his stroke of luck.

However, the person in question did not agree with this sentiment.

“Could the emperor be trying to cancel out your merits with a mansion?”
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When An Zi Ran learned of this matter, he instinctively turned to look at Fu Wu Tian. When the imperial edict came, he was still in the courtyard that he had previously purchased in Jun Zi City. Originally, he wanted to set up the servants here, especially Wang Qing Lan. Instead, he heard this news as soon as he returned to the courtyard.

Isn’t the emperor covertly saying that he wants everyone from the An family to live there?

But the most important thing was that the Chong Ming Emperor clearly ordered his imperial sons not to participate on the day of their wedding, and now he was gifting them this mansion with such great fanfare, it was hard not to suspect that he might have other purposes.

Fu Wu Tian said cheerfully, “No.”

An Zi Ran arched an eyebrow. “So sure?”

Fu Wu Tian replied, “Before he has recovered the military power from the hands of this prince, he will not make a move against this prince. What’s more, the things that happened in Chang Province are obvious to all. He can’t erase it. When the situation in Chang Province really improves, even if he wants to delay, he would not be able to.”

An Zi Ran went silent.

Fu Wu Tian then said, “If you don’t want your father’s fourth concubine to move in, then just continue to let her live in the other courtyard.”

“No, let her move in.”

An Zi Ran shook his head. Placing her right in his line of sight would make her easier to monitor.

The Chong Ming Emperor’s imperial edict was passed neither too early nor too late. It arrived right after the people from the An family moved into the courtyard, so now they have to move into the An Palace, but An Zi Ran had not seen the other place yet, so he did not intent to move in right away. He decided to go scope out the configuration of the palace first. Fu Wu Tian did not have other matters to attend to, so he accompanied An Zi Ran to the new palace. The An Palace was right next to the Imperial Fu Palace*. The two palaces were close together; only a few steps away.

[*T/N: I decided to go with the following translations for the names of their residences. 安府 an fu: An Palace 傅王府 fu wang fu: Imperial Fu Palace. If you have a better suggestion, feel free to comment.]

The An Palace was very big. Although it wasn’t as big as the Imperial Fu Palace, there would be no problems with housing a few hundred people.

As soon as An Zi Ran saw the main gate of the An Palace, he could tell that the place was just built, because the bricks and tiles were very new. It did not look like someone had lived in it before.
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Fu Wu Tian saw his doubts and said, “The Chong Ming Emperor originally built this palace for Princess Zhao Hua.”

An Zi Ran inadvertently arched an eyebrow. Gifting a princess’s palace to the An family? Was the Chong Ming Emperor trying to make Princess Zhao Hua hate the An family? This method was simply too sloppy.

The two of them approached the palace, but the gate was opened from the inside.

A middle-aged man with a serious face came out of the An Palace as if he had known that they would come over and said, “This servant, Zhu Cheng, greets wang ye and wang fei.”

An Zi Ran looked at Fu Wu Tian.

Fu Wu Tian led him up the steps.

Zhu Cheng turned his body, but he did not retreat.

Only after the two had walked up to the threshold did they see that there were a lot more people inside the palace. At a glace it could be discerned that these people all went through rigorous training. They stood inside in two orderly rows.

Fu Wu Tian said, “The An family doesn’t need this many people. Take them all away, ba.”

Zhu Cheng knew that this sentence was directed at him, so he replied, “In response to wang ye, it is the emperor who sent this servant. Wang fei’s people are all newcomers here. The emperor was afraid that they might not be accustomed to the new environment. Furthermore, the An Palace is very big, so the emperor sent this servant here to help manage matters, until wang fei’s people become more familiar with things.”

“This prince’s family, this prince will take care of. There is no need to bother the emperor. Just go back and report it like so to the emperor.”

As long as one was not a fool, they could easily see that the Chong Ming Emperor clearly sent these people to monitor the An family, and through the An family, they could even monitor the Imperial Fu Palace.

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Annielka *✲ﾟ*\(❁´▽`❁)/*✲ﾟ*

Posted in Recommendation

Didn’t Love You Enough

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

Genre: Historical, Mature, Romance, Slice of Life, Yaoi

Summary [from NU]

This is the story about the rebirth of a xiao gōng with a sweet steamed bun-like xiao shòu.
In the past life, xiao shòu, in order to help xiao gōng block a poisonous blade, ended up dying due to blood loss.
After the rebirth of xiao gōng, xiao shòu was loved till overflowing.
This is a cliche story which is warm, sweet, no abuse.

Personal Thoughts [no spoilers]

With only four translated chapters at the moment I can’t say that I am strongly recommending this story to others yet, but I’m putting it on my radar for the fluffy sweetness that it is promising. Sometimes, I just want to read a sweet, drama-free story set in historical times. Also, the translator (YHA Translations) did a wonderful job with the first four chapters. Historical, wuxia, xuanhuan, and xianxia are some of the hardest Chinese genres to translate imo, so major props to YHA Translations for making this story flow so well in English. (Sadly, they’re dropping the project due to RL circumstances, but I’m glad they introduced me to this story nonetheless.)

The premise of this story is similar to The Wife is First. A scum gong mistreats and/or neglects the virtuous shou in his first lifetime and then tries his utmost to make amends in his second lifetime. They’re also both set in ancient times.

Problematic Elements

A reviewer bought up some troubling points about this story based on the first 4 chapters. They bashed the gong for r*ping the shou and then “falling in love” with the shou after the show’s heroic sacrifice and subsequent death. I am in total agreement, but due to a similar conversation I had with another reader over a different story, I would just like to present a different perspective. Yes, the gong did r*pe the shou in the first lifetime. As a modern person, I am not excusing him for that. But in the setting of ancient China, especially within the palace, all the women (and gers) in the palace belong to the emperor, whether they’re a maid or a concubine. So technically the emperor is “entitled” to have anyone he wants in the palace. I don’t like it, but that is the dissonance in our values. To the people of that setting, it’s okay because those are the standards and morals that they’re raised on. As for the whole “falling in love” part, I’ll address that next.

Thoughts on the Romance

The gong was complete scum at the beginning. He took the shou out of lust and then just forgot about him, leaving him to suffer. But I think the gong’s current love for the shou is very realistic, in that it’s not a pure love, but more of an idealized love. Because the shou died for the gong, the shou will always remain noble and beautiful in the gong’s memory. On top of that, none of the women in the gong’s life is truly devoted to him, so when that’s the basis for comparison, the gong will elevate the shou in his mind even more. And then, before the gong’s rebirth, he had years to lament over the shou’s sacrifice and beautify him in memory, leading to an idealized version of love.

But I think this will work out even when they reunite in person, because the shou is genuinely a good person, and even if the shou doesn’t love the gong, he still holds the gong in high esteem simply because the gong taught him a few Chinese characters. Consequently, the shou will treat the gong with respect and kindness. So even if the shou is not perfect, as long as he never does anything bad, the gong will always see him through rose-tinted lenses, and either turn a blind eye to his faults or find them cute. Under those circumstances, over time, I think it’s possible for a truer form of love to grow. At the very least, they will be devoted to each other in the second lifetime. Whether or not it will be a healthy relationship remains to be seen, but at the very least, several reviewers who read the entire story promised a fluffy romance, so I’m looking forward to that.

Posted in The Big Landlord

The Big Landlord 77.2

Posted on by Vanilla Muse

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Chapter 77.2 – Judgment

“Unless what?” Zhang Wan Qin immediately took the bait.
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“Unless we go beg An Zi Ran. I heard that the An family’s gu ye is really fond of him. If it’s him, maybe Father can be released.”

“Okay. Then let’s quickly go beg him!”

Zhang Wan Qin turned on her heels, wanting to go out. Due to her concubine status, she only went to the An manor once or twice. But for Chang De’s sake she could only toughen her skin and go.

A pleased look of joy flashed in An Yao Zong’s eyes.

At this moment, An Ming Rui held back his mother just in time. “Mother, even if we go to the An manor, you do not have to be in such a hurry.”

An Yao Zong spoke coldly, “Ming Rui, what do you mean? Could it be that you want Father to suffer in prison? This matter must be solved today, because I heard that An Zi Ran will return to Jun Zi City with that wang ye tomorrow. At that time, it will be hard to see him again.”

“Ming Rui, Yao Zong is right.” Zhang Wan Qin also felt that his words made sense.

An Ming Rui looked at the other two with cold eyes. “Mother, I suspect that Father is not the only person in jail. The madam (Wu Zhi) must also be in prison, but some people are deliberately not saying it.”

An Yao Zong narrowed his eyes. “An Ming Rui, what do you mean by these words? Even if my mother is in prison, so what? Are you just going to watch without saving them and carry the sin of causing your father’s death?”

“You can stop trying to scare people with frightening words. If you really want to save Father and Madam, why don’t you go and beg An Zi Ran yourself? The two of you are their biological children. Wouldn’t it show more sincerity for the two of you to go?” Whether it was cleverness or eloquence, An Ming Rui would not lose to An Yao Zong, who often messed around in brothels.

An Yao Zong’s expression turned gloomy.

An Xue Yan sneered. “An Ming Rui, remember your own status. You are but a child born to a concubine, yet you dare speak to us like this?”

“Ming Rui…” Zhang Wan Qin grabbed her son by his sleeve and looked at him with pleading eyes.
Translations by vmnovels(.)com, if you find this anywhere else then it was stolen
The light in An Ming Rui’s eyes turned gloomy as he clenched his fists. One day, he will definitely make this family pay the price they deserve.

In the end, Zhang Wan Qin still decided to pay a visit to the An manor.

An Ming Rui couldn’t win in an argument against his mother, yet he couldn’t bear to watch her go alone and lower herself to beg others, so he decided to go with her.

An Yao Zong and An Xue Yan were happy at first, but not long after An Ming Rui and his mother returned.

The reason was that An Zi Ran refused to see them.

An Yao Zong and his sister naturally did not believe them. They were certain that the mother and son pair did not actually go to the An manor, but merely walked a circle outside and returned with a lie. In order to rescue his parents as soon as possible, An Yao Zong still had to go with them to the An manor to confirm the truth.

The result was the same as the first time. This time the three of them had the door slammed in their faces.

When they returned home, An Yao Zong was so angry that he smashed a vase in the great hall. What the f*ck did An Zi Ran think he was? He merely climbed into the bed of a wang ye. What kind of airs was he putting on? He dared to close the door in their faces?!

What they didn’t know was that the one who really rejected them was Fu Wu Tian.

An Zi Ran simply did not have the time to manage the situation with the An Chang De couple. He was going to return to Jun Zi City tomorrow so he had to hand over all the affairs in An Yuan County, big or small, to Steward Su. Only then could he leave feeling reassured.

A round trip between Jun Zi City and An Yuan County took a day. If something unexpected happened, he would not be notified in time, so he could only address all the problems beforehand and make prior arrangements just in case.

They already notified Zhou Laohan and his wife about the matter with the rice noodle shop.

Zhou Laohan and his wife readily agreed with the proposal. Preparations for the rice noodle shop were already in progress and the shop could be opened in a few days.

By the time he was done explaining everything, dinnertime was fast approaching.

Fu Wu Tian came to find him, and then the two of them went to the dining hall together.

“I heard that people from An Chang De’s family came over twice?” An Zi Ran remembered Steward Su mentioning this matter when he entered the study room, so he casually put forth the inquiry.

Fu Wu Tian said, “Could it be that wang fei wants to see them?”
Translations by Vanilla Muse
An Zi Ran replied, “No, I just want to know who came over both times.”

Fu Wu Tian guessed his thoughts right away and said in a concise manner: “The first time it was two people, the second time it was three people. What are wang fei’s thoughts?”

An Zi Ran was silent for a while. “Just let them suffer in prison, ba.”

One sentence immediately decided the second half of An Chang De and Wu Zhi’s life. At least they would not be released until County Magistrate Zhang transferred to another post.

The next morning, the fleet of carriages from the An family finally left An Yuan County.

At the same time, in the county government office…

An Chang De and Wu Zhi, who had been detained in jail for a night, knelt before the law court with dispirited appearances. Their experience in prison last night were still vividly imprinted in their minds. The two have led pampered lives, and they’ve never seen the inside of a prison before. Their nerves have been tortured enough. Right now they did not have the energy to yell like they did last night.

There was a large group of onlookers standing at the gate of the county government office. Everyone was waiting to watch a good show.

In only half a day, Zhang He had collected a lot of evidence against the An Chang De couple. Their crimes were read out loud one by one. Only now did the gathered crowd learn that this couple did this many bad things. This was certainly appropriate retribution. What goes around comes around.

“Da ren, we are wrongly accused. We really did not do these things. There is definitely someone deliberately framing us. We beg da ren to distinguish right from wrong with acuity!”

An Chang De and Wu Zhi listened to the list of crimes with growing fear. Cold sweat gathered on their foreheads. Although they never took a human life, the accumulation of all those crimes were enough for them to sit in prison for a lifetime. When they thought that they might spend the rest of their lives in prison, the two of them turned white as sheet.

Unfortunately, no one cared about their sophistry.

An Yao Zong and them had just squeezed into the crowd when Zhang He’s verdict was passed. Once the contents of the judgment were heard, several people’s expressions turned lifeless in a split second. An Chang De and Wu Zhi were sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment.

Zhang Wan Qin fainted then and there. An Ming Rui caught her just in time.

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