Author: Vanilla Muse

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Chapter 72.1 – Interrogation

Fu Wu Tian returned during the middle of the meal.
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He heard that his wang fei was already in the dining room. After returning to the bedroom to wash up a bit, he headed straight for the dining room. He had yet to get near the dining room, but he could already see Shao Fei standing by the door.

“Are you acting up with some disease?”

It was Ge Qian An who had spoke. This was the first time seeing him with such an impatient look.

Shao Fei originally wanted to give some witty retort to Ge Qian An, but he saw that wang ye had returned and rescinded his thoughts. “I don’t have any disease.” After that, he said to Fu Wu Tian, “Lord, wang fei is waiting for you to have dinner together.”

Fu Wu Tian gave him a glance of acknowledgement and then entered.

The so-called waiting for him to have dinner, but the table didn’t even have a single dish on it. Usually at this time the table would be set for dinner, there would be plates of food, and also fragrant bowls of white rice.

Fu Wu Tian sat down next to An Zi Ran and asked casually, “Wang fei, is there something special today?”

An Zi Ran took up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea. Originally, he wanted to tell him, but as he opened his mouth to answer the words changed into, “You will know in a minute.”

Wang fei was actually keeping him in suspense?

Fu Wu Tian was increasingly looking forward to today’s dinner, so he cooperatively did not ask and provoked another topic: “Any harvest* today when you went out?”

[*T/N: 收获 shou huo: depending on context could mean harvest, profit, gain, or reward.]

As soon as he said those words, Shao Fei looked over.

Did the lord have ESP? He casually asked a question and hit the nail on the head.

Fu Wu Tian naturally took note of his action. He looked at An Zi Ran and waited for him to answer.

An Zi Ran’s reaction was to give no reaction. He wasn’t like Shao Fei, who couldn’t hide anything at all. Fu Wu Tian was only making casual conversion, and Shao Fei fell right into the pit. His actions clearly told Fu Wu Tian that this sentence was related to their previous topic. With Fu Wu Tian’s intelligence, how could he not make the connection?

At this time, Chef Wang’s voice came from just outside the dining room.

After a while, Chef Wang’s figure appeared at the entrance of the dining hall, accompanied by two helper maids from the kitchen. One of them carried in the bowls and chopsticks, and the other brought in an aromatic soup. The main dish for dinner was in the hands of Chef Wang. It was covered with a large lid so the contents could not be discerned right away.

“Young Master, gu ye, dinner is served.”

Chef Wang placed the main dish on the table and removed the lid. The delicious aroma immediately rushed out.

The rice noodles made by Zhou Laohan’s wife lay inside.

After Chef Wang was done cooking the rice noodles, they turned into a very appetizing dish. Shao Fei, who had been looking forward to this dish, began to drool.

Even before the rice noodles were fried, Shao Fei knew that they would be delicious. After Chef Wang was done frying and seasoning the noodles, just the scent of the noodles alone was enough to make his mouth flood with saliva.

“This is the surprise that wang fei wants to give this prince? What is it?” Fu Wu Tian looked at the rice noodles in the bowl. It was indeed unexpected. He had never eaten this kind of ting.

An Zi Ran picked up a pair of chopsticks and said, “Rice noodles. Zhou Laohan’s wife gave it to me. The rest of you sit down and eat, too.” The last sentence was said to Shao Fei and Ge Qian An. Normally, whenever there was something good to eat he would share it with Steward Su, but this time he was not here.

Shao Fei hesitated.

Ge Qian An also did not move.

Fu Wu Tian glanced at them and said, “Wang fei told you to sit down, so sit down.”

Shao Fei sat down obediently. His actions were fast as if he were preparing to sit down all along. Ge Qian An gave him a disdainful look. Shao Fei clearly wanted to eat, but he put up a pretense of hesitation. Just whom was he acting for?

An Zi Ran had Chef Wang make a lot. He took into consideration the other two people. In order to feed four big men, the big bag of rice noodles that Zhou Laohan’s wife gave them was only enough for one meal.
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Shao Fei served himself a bowl. He had only taken a bite and was already exclaiming, “This is delicious, so tender, soft, and flexible. Is this really rice noodles?”

“Shut up. Don’t eat and talk at the same time. Don’t you understand that?” Ge Qian An looked at him warningly.

Shao Fei turned his head, but he did not dare to speak anymore.

An Zi Ran tasted the rice noodles in his bowl. The texture was really as good as Shao Fei had said. The noodles were bouncy. It was hard to believe that these noodles were really made with rice. Chef Wang’s culinary skills were good, but if the raw ingredients were no good, then no matter how superb the skills, the outcome still wouldn’t be very tasty.

“How is it?” An Zi Ran looked at Fu Wu Tian and asked.

Fu Wu Tian’s eating speed was faster than normal. An Zi Ran had only taken three bites, but the other man was already done with one bowl. He heard his question, but instead of answering directly, he said, “Another bowl.”

An Zi Ran personally served him up a second bowl of noodles.

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Chapter 71.2 – Honorarium (Gift as Thanks)

When Liu Fei Hong died, his seat as the prefectural magistrate of Hong Province was left empty. This was a very lucrative and cushy job. Every year, many subordinates would present gifts to him as a sign of respect. The combined wealth of the gifts was too high to count. When Liu Fei Hong was still the prefectural magistrate, he once took some of this wealth to honor Zhang Sun Cheng De. Because they* found out in time, they were able to destroy the evidence in advance.

[*T/N: the prime minister’s group]

Now that the position of prefectural magistrate was empty, there were at least eight or ten people with their eyes on the seat.
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The vast majority of Fu Wu Tian’s subordinates were military officials, only a few were civil servants. The remaining foundation was not strong enough. They were not qualified to take up the position of prefectural magistrate. He really had to stand his ground against the masses’ opinion and put someone up in that post. At that time, there would be a lot of accusations of misconduct, so he could only choose someone from Jun Zi City.

Fu Wu Tian originally wanted to have An Zi Ran come with him to the county office, but An Zi Ran refused on account of his own busy schedule.

He had no choice but to take Ge Qian An with him, and leave Shao Fei with An Zi Ran.

The An family’s construction project had only just begun.

But there were a dozen workers working together, so their speed was not slow.

When it was lunchtime, the workers all very conscientiously queued up for food. The meal provided by the An family was very sufficient. Everyone received two big steamed buns. They also got fragrant rice and two side dishes – a non-vegetarian dish paired with a vegetable soup. Although there wasn’t much variety, compared to the rest of the families in An Yuan County, this was already considered very plentiful.

Some of the workers were reluctant to eat. Furthermore, at 3 p.m. there was another bowl of soup for them to drink. So many of the workers would save the steamed buns for the children at home to eat. Just eating the rice was enough to fill them up.

In regard to this, An Zi Ran had no input.

Originally, the food was given to them for lunch. If they choose to save some of the food and not eat it, then that was their business. As long as they worked diligently and didn’t make any mishaps due to hunger, then he would not interfere.
Translations by Vanilla Muse
After patrolling the construction area, An Zi Ran went to the fields again.

Two days ago, the farmers had begun to harvest a portion of the matured rice from the fields. Because this year the men all went to work for the An family and only left the womenfolk at home, the harvest time was extended a bit.

Despite this, everyone was still in a good mood.

The amount of rice harvested was the same as before, but this year they got a bit of extra salary from the An family, so their days were getting better. There was even extra money for them to sell meat and buy new clothes.

“Young Landlord?”

A woman who was harvesting rice in the field looked up and saw them. She recognized An Zi Ran when he walked in front of her. Her expression of uncertainty suddenly became happy and she quickly came up from the field.

An Zi Ran looked at the woman. It took him a moment to recall that this was the young wife of Zhou Laohan. This eighteen-year-old woman married the thirty-year-old Zhou Laohan. She wasn’t very pretty, but she was very resilient to hardships. Some people said that their marriage was like sticking a fresh flower in a pile of cow dung*, but this woman had a very good reputation in An Yuan County, and she never felt wronged by her husband.

[*T/N: figurative speech for “a terrible shame (as when a lovely woman marries an odious man)”]

After she married Zhou Laohan, she soon gave birth to three children, two sons and one daughter. The sons were twins and just turned two years old this year. A family of five, the children didn’t have enough to eat, but other aspects of life also required quite a lot of money.

Zhou Laohan was working at the construction site that An Zi Ran had just visited. He worked eight hours a day and at noon took an hour off for lunch, giving him enough time to bring the steamed buns back for his children to eat.

His wife was very grateful to An Zi Ran.

If it weren’t for him, this year her children would have to go hungry.

The wife called to An Zi Ran. She asked him to wait as she had something she wanted to give him. Then she turned and ran home. She didn’t make them wait too long. After a short while, she brought back a big bag of things.

“Young Landlord, if it weren’t for you last time, our family’s baby would have to suffer this year. In order to repay you, this is my homemade rice noodles, please accept it. Our family doesn’t have anything good, only this, but all the neighbors say that it is delicious, so I hope the young landlord won’t mind.”

The woman held up the bag of rice noodles with hands rough from work. Her face, weathered by the wind and sun, held a sincere expression of expectation.

An Zi Ran was silent for a while. Then he reached for the bag of rice noodles. “Thank you.”

The woman beamed.

Then the two of them bid farewell to her.

Shao Fei took over the burden of carrying the bag. He hefted it in his hand. It was not light. When he opened the bag to take a look he saw that the rice noodles looked fresh and delicious. His mouth flooded with saliva. He quickly closed up the bag and asked, “Wang fei, just now, why didn’t you refuse?”

“Why should I refuse?” An Zi Ran asked.

Shao Fei went mute.

“All right, let’s go back and eat rice*.”

Shao Fei immediately followed.

[*T/N: AZR did indeed say “rice” 米饭 mi fan and not “rice noodles” 米粉 mi fen in the raw text, but I think it might be a typo.]

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Chapter 71.1 – Honorarium (Gift as Thanks)

As soon as An Ke Xin walked out of the great hall, her real nature revealed itself.
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Disregarding the servants’ looks, she hurriedly dragged Zheng Bi back to Jade Water Courtyard.

When Steward Su stepped over the threshold, he could just see the backs of the mother-daughter pair as they hurriedly left. He turned his head and said to An Zi Ran, who was standing in front of him, “Young Master, didn’t the Third Concubine said that she wouldn’t let the Second Miss marry into the Lin family no matter what? Why the sudden change of attitude?”

An Zi Ran glanced down the corridor at their disappearing backs. Instead of directly answering the question, he asked, “Under what circumstance did she change her attitude?”

Steward Su recalled for a bit. “Seems like it was just after Lin family’s gong zi sent over the betrothal gifts.”

“This is the answer.”

An Zi Ran turned and prepared to go back to the study. He had already thought about how to write An Ke Xin’s dowry list.

Steward Su realized that the Third Concubine has become interested in the Lin family’s property. He really didn’t know whether that was good or bad. But he didn’t have to face that mother and daughter pair again, so the old steward was still very happy. As for the Lin family, once the Second Miss marries into their family, it will be their family’s issue.

Let’s move the story back to Zheng Bi, who was dragged to the Jade Water Courtyard by An Ke Xin.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Zheng Bi flung off her daughter’s hand. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know you gripped your mother’s hand so hard that it hurts?”

After she said that, she rotated her wrist around.

An Ke Xin tried hard to calm the anger in her heart and repressed herself to say, “Mother, weren’t you very opposed to me marrying into the Lin family? Then why were you agreeing just now?”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Bi froze, but smiled soon after.

“And mother was wondering what you wanted to talk about. So it’s about this matter. What is the problem?”

An Ke Xin looked at her incredulously. “Could it be that you didn’t see how ugly Lin Xin is? Haven’t you always wanted me to marry someone with power and status? Why did you suddenly become like this?” She fired the questions one right after the other. Right now, her brain was full of ‘whys.’
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Zheng Bi smiled flirtatiously. The makeup on her face almost fell off. “You’re right, Mother used to hope that you could marry someone like the An family’s gu ye. Even if you couldn’t be the main wife, being a concubine was still good. But you can see our current situation. Unless you can marry the emperor, otherwise, what do we fight An Zi Ran with? It would be better to settle for the next best thing. It seems to me that Lin family’s gong zi is very infatuated with you. So why not make use of this opportunity?”

“Just because of this, you want me to marry Lin Xin?”

An Ke Xin was not comforted at all. Even if she were to settle for second best, she still wanted to marry someone handsome, and not that pig of a Lin gong zi.

Zheng Bi knew that her daughter just couldn’t accept the truth right away, so she wasn’t angry. She took hold of An Ke Xin’s hand and said lightly, “Ke Xin, Mother knows that this is very difficult for you, but Mother promises you, this is only a temporary stop-gap measure, nothing more…”

After that, Zheng Bi whispered her thoughts into An Ke Xin’s ear.

Don’t know what she said, but An Ke Xin was indeed placated. Her anger subsided and turned to hesitation. “Mother, are you sure this is possible?”

“You have your mother, so of course.” Zheng Bi said confidently.

An Ke Xin hesitated for a moment. “But, will An Zi Ran bring you to Jun Zi City?”

If An Zi Ran really took her mother with him, she would not be able to contact her mother in time. Then where would she find someone who would give her advice and help her plot?

Zheng Bi said, “Rest assured. All of An family’s industry is in An Yuan County. They won’t really move everything to Jun Zi City. There will definitely be a group of people left behind in An Yuan County. Furthermore, An Zi Ran can’t wait to get rid of the two of us. How could he possibly bring me with him?”

An Ke Xin also felt that what her mother said was reasonable. Before, An Zi Ran had already said that he wouldn’t bring them with him. If she weren’t certain about this point, she would not have agreed to the marriage. She was only asking for peace of mind.

“How about this? Mother will look for a chance to feel out An Zi Ran, and see what he is thinking.”

Zheng Bi thought about it, and felt that this plan had to be one hundred percent foolproof in order for them to feel at ease. Who knew if An Zi Ran would express a different view from them?

An Ke Xin nodded. “Okay. Mother, be careful not to let him discover us.”

“Don’t worry.”

The next day, An Zi Ran took Shao Fei to inspect the engineering project.

Early in the morning, Fu Wu Tian had gone to the county office to deal with the affairs of Hong Province.

The Chong Ming Emperor’s decree had also arrived in An Yuan County the day before yesterday. Although Fu Wu Tian didn’t need to ask for the emperor’s decree to execute a group of corrupt officials, the emperor still had to be mindful of his status and keep up appearances to prevent slanderous rumors.

As a petty revenge, the Chong Ming Emperor handed all of the unwanted errands of a newly appointed prefectural magistrate to Fu Wu Tian.

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Chapter 70.2 – Getting Married

Zheng Bi heard that her daughter was to marry the Lin family in Tong Tai County and she refused to feign madness anymore. She ran out of Jade Water Courtyard and made a big fuss. She resolutely disagreed with An Ke Xin’s marriage, but her opinion was not important, otherwise, An Ke Xin wouldn’t have purposely refrained from informing her.
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“An Zi Ran, you come out!”

Zheng Bi pushed away the maids that were holding her back. The maids were almost pushed down. She was already running in the direction of the study.

The maids hurried to catch up, but they were slower by a step.

Zheng Bi pushed open the door to the study room. The house rules were no longer in her mind. She rushed in, saw An Zi Ran, and started screaming, “Did you say something to Ke Xin? Why would she agree to marry to Tong Tai County?”

“Who let you in?” An Zi Ran’s face was cold.

Zheng Bi’s expression changed to a cold smile. She had nothing to fear now. Her daughter blamed her and wanted to leave her all alone. What was there left for her to feel attachment to? “Ke Xin haven’t wronged you in any way. If you have the ability then come at me. Why do you have to go and target her?”

An Zi Ran put down the brush in his hand and stared straight at her. “The marriage is of her own consent. I didn’t force her. If you don’t believe it you can go ask her.”

Zheng Bi’s heart was shocked and immediately she subconsciously denied. “Impossible. You must have forced her.”

She knew how much her daughter wished to marry someone of status. How could she agree to marry the into the Lin family of Tong Tai County? Although it was a big family in Tong Tai County, but the difference from their goal was too much. Marrying into the Lin family… how would they be able to strut around in front of An Zi Ran?

An Zi Ran did not respond to her this time.

If the upper bean is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked*. It was because the father and mother were irresponsible, so they turned an exquisite maiden into a brainless moron. And Zheng Bi, who was her mother, held the greatest responsibility of all.

[*T/N: subordinates follow their superior’s example]

“I don’t want to listen to your nonsense anymore. If you’re done talking then get out.”

An Zi Ran impolitely shooed her out. Right now, he had to draft up the dowry list. He had no time to play with her.

Zheng Bi did not plan to let this matter go just like that. She still wanted to say more. Steward Su suddenly rushed in. He saw Zheng Bi, paused, and frowned. Then he said to An Zi Ran, “Young Master, Lin family’s gong zi has come bearing betrothal gifts to propose marriage.”
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Although the marriage between the two families have already been determined, they still had to go through the customs, thus Lin Xin came with the betrothal gifts.

Zheng Bi was unable to speak. She rushed out of the study in a great hurry.

She almost knocked into Steward Su on the way out.

An Zi Ran put down the dowry list. Lin family’s betrothal gift came just in time. He was still worried about what to include in the dowry. He had never done this before. Now he could just refer to the Lin family’s betrothal gift.

When the two of them rushed to the courtyard, several mahogany boxes were already placed in the great hall. They were neatly arranged. In front of these boxes there was a figure. It was Zheng Bi who had ran ahead of them. Her eyes seemed to be shining with light as she stared at the things inside the boxes.

There was a large box filled with clothes for women, another box filled with silk and satin. They all looked very valuable and expensive. There was a second box filled with expensive bolts of cloth. Zheng Bi was eyeing it and unwilling to put it down. But her attention was quickly captured by the contents of another box. The betrothal gifts included other items such as gold and silver jewelry, rare antiques, the four treasures of study*, and so on.

[*T/N: writing brush, ink stick, paper, ink stone]

Zheng Bi had always thought that the Lin family was no big deal.

Although they were similarly rich, they were still lacking a little compared to the An family.

When she saw the betrothal gifts today, she found out that she was wrong.

“Young Landlord… uh no, I should change it to older brother*.” Lin Xin saw An Zi Ran coming in and hurried over to greet him. Although he was obese, his attitude was very modest.

[*T/N: more specifically “wife’s older brother” 大舅子]

An Zi Ran nodded and invited him to sit down.

After Lin Xin was seated, he took out a card from his sleeve and handed it to him. “Big brother, this is Lin family’s betrothal gift list. Please look over it.”

“Let me see.”

Zheng Bi, who was admiring all the treasures, heard this sentence and quickly came over. She tried to grab the card, but Steward Su was faster. He grabbed the card first and handed it over to An Zi Ran.

Zheng Bi glared at Steward Su. Now, even this housekeeper didn’t put her in his eyes.

An Zi Ran looked over the items on the list and clearly noted each one in his memory. The Lin family couldn’t be considered a very wealthy family, but they were able to come up with so many gifts. It could be seen that they were very sincere, and that they really wanted to take An Ke Xin as a wife into the Lin family.

A maid was sent to bring An Ke Xin, and after a while she came following the maid. Once he saw her, Lin Xin instantly stood up from his seat with excitement. He stepped forward, wanting to hold An Ke Xin’s hand, but the latter dodged his grasp.

An Ke Xin’s expression was stiff as she explained, “Lin gong zi, we are not married yet. Men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things*.”

[*T/N: 男女授受不亲 citation from Mencius]

Lin Xin patted his head. Once he saw the beauty his expression became stupid. “Right, right, right. Apologies. I was too happy, so I accidentally forgot.”

On the contrary, Zheng Bi, who saw this scene, showed a thoughtful expression.

Later, Lin Xin and An Zi Ran agreed on an auspicious date for the groom’s family to send a bridal sedan chair to fetch the bride. The date was set on May 15^th. Although there was only less than ten days left, that was still more time when compared to the time An Zi Ran got married. Besides, the An family would be moving to Jun Zi City soon, so there wasn’t much time left.

An Ke Xin was a bit dissatisfied at the rush. Although she agreed to marry Lin Xin, she still had some rejection in her heart. She thought that her mother was the one most against it, so she hoped that her mother would say something, but Zheng Bi’s reaction was unexpected to everyone.

“Then it is decided.” Zheng Bi’s smile was like a blooming flower. The gaze with which she looked upon Lin Xin was becoming more and more amiable.

An Zi Ran gave her a pensive look.

His mother-in-law agreed and his wife’s big brother had no objection. Lin Xin was extremely happy. The gifts were delivered, and he had seen the beauty. After sitting for a while, he got up and said goodbye.

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Chapter 70.1 – Getting Married

“What is this for?”
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Fu Wu Tian came up beside An Zi Ran and leaned one hand on the table.

Asides from the fine writing paper in front of him, there were two other pieces of paper above it. They were also filled with information on the industries. The writing was different. The ink had already dried up, so it was obviously not written recently.

As he spoke he picked up one of the papers and looked over it. The handwriting didn’t look as good as wang fei’s.

An Zi Ran looked up at him and said, “This is the dowry that my father prepared in advance for An Qiao E and An Ke Xin when he was alive. I was originally planning to wait for them to marry before bringing it out.”

“But unexpectedly they were unable to wait for their dowry. Fang Jun Ping ran off with her daughter. It seems that this dowry won’t be used,” Fu Wu Tian concluded his words.

An Zi Ran said, “This is the path that the mother and daughter chose. Even if we meet in the future I will not take out this dowry.” Only Steward Su and he knew about this dowry, so there was no need to think about the consequences. He was more than happy not to have to see them again. Although they were concubine-born daughters, for the sake of his face*, An Chang Fu still prepared a lot for their dowry. Indeed, it was a rich and imposing amount.

[*T/N: The concept of “face” in Chinese means reputation, honor, and/or self-respect.]

After he finished speaking, he took the paper from Fu Wu Tian’s hand, crumbled it into a ball, and threw it away.

“What about the other one?” Fu Wu Tian asked.
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An Zi Ran brought the other paper in front of him. With a brush he wrote a big X on the paper. “I will re-write a new one.”

Except for land property, the dowry list had everything else, including a dozen real estate properties. It was a very generous amount. But this was the list that An Chang Fu had drawn up when he was considering the prospect of marrying his daughter off to an official, which was why there were so many things.

An Zi Ran did not have such plans.

The most he could guarantee was to marry An Ke Xin off to a wealthy businessman, so that she would not have to be concerned over money for a lifetime. This was already the kind of marriage that many women dreamed of. For a concubine-born daughter like An Ke Xin, wanting to marry someone with status and rank was impossible. The other party may not even accept her as a concubine.

“Are you preparing to marry her off to the one surnamed Lin in Tong Tai County?” There was a flash of amusement in Fu Wu Tian’s eyes.

An Zi Ran did not deny it. He only said, “Although the Lin family is not as rich as the An family, but they are also one of the top wealthy businessmen in Tong Tai County. If An Ke Xin marries them, she will be the proper wife. Also Lin Xin is the Lin family’s only son. I have already investigated him. He has not married a wife yet. An Ke Xin will not be wronged. If she has brains and schemes, she will give birth to the Lin family’s first son. Then the entire Lin family will be hers.”

Fu Wu Tian gazed at An Zi Ran, who spoke frankly with assurance. “Wang fei, I couldn’t discern that you were thinking so much for her.”

“I wasn’t giving consideration for her, I was only declaring a fact.” An Zi Ran said unconcernedly. He was the type of person that reports when stared at. An Ke Xin should rejoice at her luck. If the Lin family’s son had not paid a visit that other day, he would definitely have found a random wealthy person and married her off.

Moreover, with his relationship, the Lin family would not dare to mistreat An Ke Xin. This was already the best outcome for her.

“Will she agree?”

“She doesn’t have a choice.”

An Ke Xin really did not have a choice anymore. If Zheng Bi had not put on such a grand play that day, then An Ke Xin would still have the right to choose her marriage partner. An Zi Ran would never let her marry at this troublesome critical juncture.

After making the decision, An Zi Ran summoned An Ke Xin before him.

When she heard that An Zi Ran wanted to marry her to the only son of the Lin family, An Ke Xin was stunned into silence. An Zi Ran did not speak again until she took the initiative to break the silence.

“I agree to marry Lin Xin.”

An Zi Ran arched an eyebrow.

An Ke Xin said with sarcasm, “Even if I don’t agree, you have already decided to marry me off at this time, correct?”

An Zi Ran generously admitted. “Yes.”

She said, “I know that you will not take me and my mother to Jun Zi City. You also won’t let me marry someone with status and position in Jun Zi City. That’s why you’re so eager to marry me off.”

He looked at her and replied, “Indeed. I won’t take you two with me. But there is one point you are incorrect about. Based on your birth, those people with status and position won’t marry you at all. Even if it’s a concubine, it must be the daughter of an official. Jun Zi City is beneath the foot of the emperor. An Yuan County cannot compare at all. Your desire to marry someone with status and power can only be a dream in your heart. If you say it out loud, you will only be laughed at and humiliated.”

Hearing him speak, An Ke Xin’s face turned blue and white.

She couldn’t be blamed for her way of thinking. It was all An Chang Fu and Zheng Bi’s fault for instilling the wrong ideas in her head. In addition, due to the An family’s high status in An Yuan County, An Ke Xin always thought that she was among the cream of the crop.

She had never been to the outside world, just like a frog at the bottom of a well. If she didn’t jump out she would never know how ridiculous her thoughts were.

“I agree to marry Lin Xin, but I have one demand.”

An Ke Xin said she would agree to the marriage, but it wasn’t because she came to understand her status in life, but because of Fu Wu Tian. After learning that he was a wang ye, she knew that she would never get out of her predicament. An Zi Ran would always be above her head.

Instead of living her days in fear, it was better to seize this opportunity. So even if An Zi Ran did not mention this matter today, she would go to him.

“What demand?”

An Ke Xin said, “Spare my mother.”

Although she blamed her mother for dragging her down into the water, they were still mother and daughter. This was the only thing she could do now. Consider it as her repayment to her mother for raising her.

“All right.” An Zi Ran did not hesitate.

Zheng Bi was nothing in his eyes. Even if he didn’t do anything, she would not be able to stir up any big waves. He was not interested in bickering with a married woman. As long as she didn’t bother him in the future then that was good. Later, he would find a courtyard for her to spend the rest of her life.

The two sides reached an agreement, and An Zi Ran ordered Steward Su to prepare for the Second Miss’s marriage. He had already contacted Lin Ji* of Tong Tai County. Lin Xin was very happy after knowing this and agreed to it without superfluous words.

[*T/N: Not a typo. Probably Lin Xin’s father.]

Knowing that the Second Miss was going to get married, everyone was very happy, because in the future there would be no need to see this savage Second Miss, and there would be one less disagreeable master to serve.

The festive atmosphere had somewhat diluted the blood of that day.

However, there were some obstacles in the arrangement.

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Thank you MiccieT for the coffee, but more importantly your very sweet comment. It made my day. 🍬🍭🍬🍭

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Chapter 69.2 – Feigning Madness

The servants of Jade Water Courtyard all asked Steward Su to reassign them to work elsewhere. Steward Su didn’t say much and quickly arranged it, but he did not add any more people to Jade Water Courtyard. An Ke Xin couldn’t find any servants so she could only go to the kitchen herself to get food.
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Chef Wang never liked this mother and daughter pair. After that incident, the master of the house ignored them, so when Chef Wang saw An Ke Xin, naturally he did not give her a good expression. Even the food he gave her was less than usual.

An Ke Xin’s face turned green. “How can this little amount of food be enough for us to eat? Chef Wang, don’t forget that you’re just a servant in the An family.”

Chef Wang smiled and said, “Second Miss, I, Chef Wang, is a servant of the family. I have not forgotten this point, but you also shouldn’t forget that the master of this house is the young master, not the two of you. Since Concubine Zheng is already mad, I think she won’t need to eat a lot, so why waste food.”

“You!”

An Ke Xin slammed the tray of food down on the stove. The force was too big and the dishes spilled over.

Chef Wang glanced at it, and then said in a pitying manner, “Second Miss, we only prepare just enough food for everyone in the family. Now that you’ve spilled your portion there is no more for you.”
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An Ke Xin sneered and said, “You think this lady cares about this pittance? You just wait, this lady will make you regret it one day.”

“Then I, Chef Wang, shall wait to see how Second Miss will make me regret.” Chef Wang was no longer afraid of her.

An Ke Xin turned and left.

Two maidservants saw her rushing over in a fit of rage. One of them immediately spoke loudly, “I heard Concubine Zheng colluded with that Prefectural Magistrate Jiang something or another to frame the young master. She did it right in front of the young master and gu ye. Since you dare to do it then you should have the guts to shoulder the consequences. What are you feigning madness to escape for? This kind of person deserves to be struck by lightning.”

“That’s right. This time, if it weren’t for gu ye, all of us would’ve been thrown into the dungeons.”

“Some people are still trying to throw their weight around as a lady. Why don’t they think about whether or not they are worthy of such status?”

An Ke Xin clenched her fists tightly. She vowed in her heart that someday she would make these people pay. Absolutely must!

She returned to Jade Water Courtyard.

Zheng Bi’s state was still the same.

An Ke Xin looked at her mother’s sloppy appearance. Her mother didn’t seem like an adult at all. She couldn’t help the anger that rose up within her. She rushed over and grabbed Zheng Bi by the shoulders. She shouted, “Mother, why? Why did you have to do such a thing that day? Do you know what kind of days your daughter is living? None of them are treating me like the Second Miss of this family. Every time they see me it’s frigid irony and scorching satire. They’re also saying that you’re faking your craziness. Is that really true? Is that true, ah!!!”

Zheng Bi’s spiritless eyes were instead looking outside.

An Ke Xin noticed. She abruptly released her hands and took a few steps back. She spoke sarcastically, “You don’t have to look. Right now, there is not a single servant in the Jade Water Courtyard. There is only you and I!”

Zheng Bi jumped up at once. She opened her mouth and said, “Food?”

She did not eat this morning and at noon. In order to continue her charade, she deliberately overturned the food. She only ate a bit of fruit for the time being, but she did not have enough food. Now she was waiting for the dinner meal.

“Mother, so you really were pretending.”

An Ke Xin looked at her mother. It was laughable. She was the last one to know. No wonder An Zi Ran wanted her to learn from her mother. It turned out that he had guessed that her mother was pretending.

Zheng Bi saw her daughter looking at her accusatorily and suddenly got mad. She said sharply, “Then you speak, if your mother doesn’t pretend then what should I do? Should I just wait for An Zi Ran to come knocking on my door to settle accounts with me? The one he married is a wang ye. If he bites down on me, then your mother’s small life will be gone!”

An Ke Xin shouted loudly, “But you also shouldn’t drag me down into the water with you, ah!”

Zheng Bi was stunned. When she regained her senses, she realized that her daughter was accusing her. She was even angrier. “What kind of words are these? How did mother drag you down into the water? That time I did that, wasn’t it for you? Otherwise, why would I have to take such a big risk and run out there? And now you dare to accuse your mother?”

An Ke Xin smiled coldly. “For me? Wasn’t it for your own sake?”

Zheng Bi took a breath. Her body swayed. She staggered towards a chair and fell onto it. She stared at her daughter with an incredulous expression.

An Ke Xin raised her head. She didn’t feel that she was wrong.

Zheng Bi found that she had raised a white-eyed wolf.

The Jade Water Courtyard happenings were passed onto An Zi Ran that night. Although the courtyard only had the mother and daughter, the sound of the two quarreling was loud. Zheng Bi was so angry that she couldn’t suppress her voice. As a result, when a servant passed by they heard everything.

An Zi Ran already knew that she was pretending, so he didn’t immediately go over to deal with them. He was busy enough with the preparations for moving the family to Jun Zi City.

However, he was not preparing to bring this mother and daughter pair to Jun Zi City with them.

These two were troublesome. He knew that An Ke Xin has been unrealistically thinking about marrying a powerful person without considering the fact that she was concubine-born. So before he moved, he must resolve the problem of An Ke Xin’s marriage first.

When Fu Wu Tian entered through the door, he saw his wang fei sitting and pondering the issue.

The youth had a very focused expression. At a glance nothing has changed, but Fu Wu Tian was keenly aware that his wang fei had lost weight. The excess meat on his face was gradually disappearing. His body was beginning to lengthen. The childishness was fading from his countenance. There was an alert light from his handsome face. More and more he was becoming too lovable to part with.

When he walked over he saw that the youth had written down all of the family’s industries on a piece of fine writing paper, and it was listed in great detail.

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Chapter 69.1 – Feigning Madness

Bi Shui Yuan (Jade Water Courtyard)
Translations by Vanilla Muse
Zheng Bi sat in a corner staring straight ahead of her with lifeless expression on her face. She kept muttering nonsense. Her hair was a scattered mess and there was not a trace of makeup on her face, which was ashen pale. Her whole person seemed to have aged twenty years.

There was not a hint of her previous beautiful appearance. She looked like a madwoman!

Zheng Bi was born with beautiful features. She used to rely on her face to charm An Chang Fu. Even after An Chang Fu’s death, she still paid attention to her appearance. For a woman well into her thirties she still had plenty of charm.

Everyone in the An manor knew that she was very conscious of beauty, just like the fourth concubine.

Seeing her tragic appearance, no one thought that she was acting. Furthermore, the situation at the time was indeed horrifying. Those servants who happened to witnessed the deaths of Guard Two and Jiang Zhong Ting still had nightmares every night. Whether it was day or night, they didn’t dare pass by that courtyard.

An Zi Ran stood in the hallway with a calm expression and looked into Zheng Bi’s room to see the woman giggling crazily to herself.

Fu Wu Tian was not by his side at the moment. Hong Province’s current state of affairs needed a person to be the decision maker. Since he was the one that caused the situation then naturally he should be responsible for his actions.

But he was still within the premise of An Yuan County, and the people of An Yuan County only knew that there was someone important in their county, but they did not know that he was a wang ye. All the things that happened within the An manor were also censored.

“An Zi Ran, what did you come here for?!”

There was a sudden roar from behind him.

An Zi Ran turned his head and saw An Ke Xin standing not too far away with a tray of food in her hands. Her pretty face was slightly distorted by anger and her eyes were full of hatred that could not be ignored.

“Haven’t you harmed my mother enough? Get lost! We don’t want to see you!”

Seeing that he was not speaking, An Ke Xin really wanted to take the tray of food in her hands and hurl it at his face, but she couldn’t, because if she wasted the food in her hands then she would have to go out and buy food with her money. The An family would not provide a second lunch. Moreover, after that incident, none of the servants wanted to see the mother and daughter pair.

All of this was An Zi Ran’s fault. If it weren’t for him then those things wouldn’t have happened, and her mother wouldn’t be reduced to this state of neither fully human nor fully ghost.

An Zi Ran looked at her indifferently.

An Ke Xin was flustered by him, but she stubbornly held her head up.

He spoke calmly, “An Ke Xin, aren’t you mistaken? This entire An family is mine, including this Jade Water Courtyard that you live in with your mother now. If I don’t want to let you live here anymore, I can justifiably chase both of you out. Do you believe it?”

An Ke Xin’s face turned white.

Of course she didn’t dare not believe. An Zi Ran definitely had this power and right.

What’s more, the words that her mother said in the courtyard that day was enough to have mother and daughter thrown into a cold cellar. If it weren’t for her mother suddenly going mad then An Zi Ran would’ve already settled accounts with them.

“Don’t let me hear you say another word of slander against me. Also, you should learn from your mother.”

An Zi Ran left behind this sentence, then he swept past her and left.

An Ke Xin dazedly entered the room and placed the food on the table. She looked at her mother who was still in the corner shaking her head and muttering to herself. She couldn’t help but mourn, how did things become like this for them? Ever since An Zi Ran changed, their days got worse and worse. She was fed up with living like this. In hindsight, she should’ve followed Fang Jun Ping and her daughter’s example and leave the An manor!

……

Steward Su was in the main hall commanding the servants to move things. When he saw the young master entering he immediately went over and asked, “Young Master, how is it?”

He knew that the young master had gone to see the third concubine Zheng Bi. Actually, he also suspected that Zheng Bi was feigning madness, but there was no evidence. Even a doctor couldn’t confirm or deny such a thing.

“What do you think?” An Zi Ran answered with a question.

Steward Su thought about it and said, “I think that she is likely pretending to be crazy.”

An Zi Ran said, “Reason?”

Steward Su explained, “Young Master, think about it, when that guard was killed by gu ye*, the third concubine was hiding and peeking in from the corridor. Then, when she heard that Prefectural Magistrate Jiang wanted to interrogate us, she came out to exculpate herself. At that time she spoke logically and her words were clear. Even the dead did not scare her. How could she be scared into madness after hearing that the gu ye is a wang ye? Therefore, I think she is definitely pretending to be crazy. Don’t you think so?”

[*T/N: 姑爷 gu ye: son-in-law (used by wife’s family)]

Seeing him speak in such a clear and logical manner, the corner of An Zi Ran’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up slightly. “You’ve said everything, so why are you still asking me?”

“So she really is feigning madness!”

Steward Su didn’t expect his conjecture to be correct, so his voice rose up in volume.

The great hall suddenly quieted down.

The servants glanced over. They all heard.

Steward Su’s old face twitched. “What are you looking at? Quickly get back to work!”

Everyone kept silent and resumed their work.

Henceforth, word started to circulate in the An family that the third concubine Zheng Bi was pretending to be crazy in order to avoid An Zi Ran settling accounts with her. The servants became even more disdainful of the third concubine. She dared to collude with outsiders to frame the young master, but she didn’t have the courage to bear the consequences of her actions. An Ke Xin quickly discovered this phenomenon.

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Chapter 68.2 – Coincidence

Fu Wu Tian would definitely investigate the matter with the ledger. At that time, many officials in Hong Province would be dragged down. He must make preparations so that he could deal with this matter at a moment’s notice. And right now, he must inform his grandfather.
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His movements did not go unnoticed.

Although they were a step slower, they soon discovered the situation in Hong Province.

Liu Fei Hong was captured. Hong Province lost its pillar. The army now controlled the prefectural magistrate’s huge mansion. News of such a big matter had already spread.

It didn’t take long for a memorial to be placed in front of the Chong Ming Emperor.

“Your Majesty, do you want to take a look at this memorial?” Eunuch Wang Ping lowered his head and did not look at the Chong Ming Emperor, who was flirting with an imperial concubine in his embrace.

This was the twenty-seventh year reign of the Chong Ming Emperor, who was now only forty-three-years-old, but looked to be over fifty-years-old. At this age, he was still addicted to wine, and nightly music entertainment. The noble ladies in the harem have changed from fighting for favor to supporting their sons in the struggle for the throne.

Only after a long while did the emperor respond.

“What kind of memorial? If it is not a big deal, just give it to the prime minister to deal with.”

Chong Ming Emperor had an expression of cold and indifference. Then he turned back around to flirt with the young and beautiful imperial concubine, making her giggle. The coquettish sound made the emperor’s bones go soft.
“The Big Landlord” translations are by Vanilla Muse
Wang Ping steadily replied, “In response to the emperor, it is a memorial to impeach the jun wang.”

With just one word, the Chong Ming Emperor’s attention was pulled back. The emperor pushed away the imperial concubine in his arms and she fell to the ground. She looked up, wanting to complain, but then she saw that his expression had suddenly became serious and majestic, thus she dared not speak. She got up, pulled on her transparent white robe, and left.

This was a rule that every smart woman in the harem must learn, otherwise they would be eliminated.

Chong Ming Emperor calmly read through the memorial. Then he closed it up and threw it to the ground. In a voice that caused others to tremble with fear he said, “Pass on our decree, to the person who wrote this memorial, strip him of his black cap. From now on, he may not be a government official anymore.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Wang Ping was not surprised at all. He left the study room and turned his head around to look at the closed door.

Those people only knew that the emperor wanted to take military command from the jun wang’s hands. So once the jun wang made some trouble they immediately thought to impeach him, thinking that this would make the emperor happy, but they did not know that this was the emperor’s real sore point.

Jun wang held the decree, the will, of the previous emperor. Even the current emperor, the noblest person in all of Da Ya, could not budge jun wang. To add oil to the fire at this point, that person was obviously seeking death!

Therefore, it did not take long.

The entire imperial court found out that the emperor had gotten rid of that official who wrote the memorial to impeach jun wang.

As a result, rumors sprung up everywhere.

Those who did not know the truth thought that the emperor was standing on the jun wang’s side. Others thought that the emperor did not actually want to seize the military power from the jun wang, and that he only deliberately created the false image to draw out those who were dissatisfied with the jun wang.

For a time, the imperial court was lively with rumors.

At the same time, due to Liu Fei Hong’s fall from power, there was unrest in Hong Province. Fu Wu Tian’s took quick action. The ledger’s contents were publicized the day after Jiang Zhong Ting’s death. Some officials who did not prepare in time followed Liu Fei Hong’s example and fell one after the other. They were detained, and their houses were searched and possessions confiscated.

In addition, some of Hong Province’s well-known businessmen also had their houses searched and possessions confiscated. Their generous family property was enough to make many people in Jun Zi City look on with great envy. This was an enormously lucrative job. They could fish up all the ill-gotten gains. This corruption and embezzlement have definitely been going on for more than a few years, perhaps even a few decades.

But who would think ahead of time and know that something like this would happen.

Word was that the ledger was inadvertently searched out, and by chance it happened to fall into the jun wang’s hands. This was making it too easy for the jun wang.

Everyone thought that the jun wang would take the confiscated money and transfer it to Da Ya’s treasury, but one thing that was spread later made everyone dumbfounded.

Don’t know when, but the jun wang took the initiative to ask the emperor for permission to take up the unwanted assignment of managing the disaster-stricken Chang Province.

Since ancient times, natural disasters have been a major sore point for every country.

Every year, the state treasury would send out a lot of money to deal with natural disasters, but corrupted officials often took out a big chuck of the money. By the time the money reached its destination there was not much left to spend on the common people.

It was like this every year. The treasury’s money flowed out like water from a stream. Chang Province was like a bottomless pit filled with resentment and dissatisfaction. In the end, those who were smart didn’t want to get involved. They would turn their backs and go to some place easier to manage. More and more it was heading towards the direction of an incapable ruler.

There were not many people who knew that Fu Wu Tian was managing this task. But those who knew were all watching the show.

Money was necessary for managing disasters. If you didn’t have money you couldn’t overturn the sky. Who knew there would be a case of corruption in Hong Province?

Just like that, there was money now.

The money that was confiscated from the corrupted rich families did not have to be handed over to the state treasury. It directly gave the jun wang a reason to use it in the disaster situation in Chang Province. Even the emperor could only support it.

An Zi Ran also did not expect this.

He expended so much effort storing up provisions, and in the end he ended up selling the food to Fu Wu Tian.

But these were all later matters. Right now the An family was getting ready to move.

The matter of people dying in the An manor courtyard left a shadow in many people’s hearts, for example, Zheng Bi and her daughter. An Zi Ran had yet to seek them out to settle their accounts, but Zheng Bi had already gone crazy.

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Chapter 68.1 – Coincidence

Jun Zi City, Wu Wang Palace
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Fu Yuan Wu was also very concerned about the ledger, particularly because there was information contained within that involved his maternal grandfather’s student. If someone with ulterior motives got a hold of that ledger then it could bring trouble to his maternal grandfather.

On the other hand, if they made use of this matter properly, then it could be very beneficial to them.

Hong Province’s moniker as the Hometown of Rice wasn’t just a random nickname. It was aptly deserved. Contained within Hong Province was an abundance of profit to be made. Therefore, there were quite a lot of people aiming for Hong Province. In addition to his maternal grandfather’s student, Liu Fei Hong, there was that group of people* with their sights set on Hong Province. If he could get the ledger and exploit it, then he had the confidence that he could bring those people down a few pegs. Even if he couldn’t uproot them completely, if he could break their wings then it would be very satisfactory.

[*T/N: 那些人 – literally “that group of people” or “those people.” Does not specify who, but I’m guessing it is his rivals for the throne.]

Fu Yuan Wu thought his calculations were very good. He even wanted to go to his imperial father and ask for an imperial decree.
Translations by Vanilla Muse
He never considered once that Jiang Zhong Ting would not be able to take down a small time landlord from the county, or the fact that Fu Wu Tian would be there.

But it didn’t take long for news of Jiang Zhong Ting’s death to arrive.

“What did you say? Jiang Zhong Ting is dead?”

Fu Yuan Wu stood up suddenly from his seat and glared at the person who came to give the report. He never thought that the plan could fail, let alone that Jiang Zhong Ting would die because of it.

The messenger hurried prostrated himself on the ground and did not dare to look directly at the angry prince.

[T/N: Don’t shoot the poor messenger, yo! >_<]

“First Prince, this subordinate received the news that Jiang Zhong Ting is indeed dead. Furthermore, he died within that landlord’s home. I heard that someone cut his arm off on the scene and then lopped off his head.”

Fu Yuan Wu’s eyes widened. His tightly clenched fist abruptly slammed down on the table. The loud sound scared the people outside the room into complete silence.

“Who is it? Who is so bold? They dare to kill Jinag Zhong Ting? Do they not know that Jiang Zhong Ting is this prince’s subordinate? Could it be the third prince’s faction?”

Only those people would not have any misgivings about killing his people.

That’s because they were all competitors for the throne.

“It… It isn’t…” The messenger stuttered.

“Then who is it?”

“It’s… It’s jun wang.”

Fu Yuan Wu strode forward. He grabbed the messenger by the collar and hauled him up. His face was twisted with anger. “What did you say? You are certain that it was jun wang?”

The messenger could not speak due to the tight grip around his collar. He could only nod frantically.

Fu Yuan Wu finally tossed him aside. His sleeves swayed vigorously and made a lot of noise. His chest heaved up and down violently. It was clear that he was angry to the point of being unable to think clearly. Compared to the death of Jiang Zhong Ting, Fu Wu Tian’s presence in the small An Yuan County surprised him even more.

He paced in place for a while but was still unable to puzzle it out. Fu Yuan Wu unexpectedly turned around. His sharp sight fell upon the messenger again. “Why did he appear there?”

The messenger had just crawled onto his hands and knees. He immediately replied, “In response to First Prince, do you still remember that in April there were news of jun wang suddenly getting married?”

Fu Yuan Wu turned again. “What is the relationship between these two matters?”

The messenger wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. “Of course there is a relationship, because the wang fei that jun wang married is that exact young landlord of An Yuan County. This time, jun wang showed up at that place, because he was accompanying his wang fei to visit the maternal home. It is just that they did not return immediately to Jun Zi City.”

There was such coincidence in this world?!

Fu Yuan Wu had no choice but to believe the facts. But this coincidence was a blow to him. When he thought of this, his anger rose again. “Then the ledger must have fallen into the jun wang’s hands?”

Hearing the man’s tone of voice, the messenger knew right away that the first prince was in a bad mood and thus he became even more cautious. “I heard that this is the case. Hong Province’s prefectural magistrate Liu Fei Hong has already been arrested by jun wang.”

Fu Yuan Wu’s temper actually wasn’t particularly explosive.

If it were the third prince instead, Fu Yuan Wu would have already picked up his sword and started killing people.

But thinking of how he and his maternal grandfather’s subordinate have fallen into Fu Wu Tian’s hands, he still had the urge to kill. Of all the people to come up against, why did it have to be Fu Wu Tian?

The messenger saw that the first prince’s expression was cloudy and uncertain. When he thought about it, he couldn’t help but say, “First Prince, this small person feels that Fu Wu Tian doesn’t look too highly upon you and the prime minister. He knew that Jiang da ren was your person yet he still dared to kill him…”

“Shut up!”

Fu Yuan Wu abruptly turned around and he bellowed at the messenger with a fierce expression.

The messenger was so scared that his entire body turned cold. He didn’t understand why the first prince was so angry. What he said was obviously true, was it not?

What the messenger said was indeed the truth, but what he did not know was that Fu Yuan Wu did not have the power to go up against Fu Wu Tian.

Fu Wu Tian had command of a massive military force. After he returned to Jun Zi City, all the princes were trying to rope him in to their side. But this wasn’t the most important point. The reason they all fell before Fu Wu Tian was because he held the previous emperor’s will. This was something that happened over ten years ago, so there were very few people in the know. Presently, no one dared to mention it, because they did not want to ruffle the Chong Ming Emperor’s scales.

“Immediately prepare a carriage for this prince. This prince wants to go to Zhang Sun Palace.”

[T/N: Zhang Sun is the surname of his mother, the empress]

Fu Yuan Wu did not hesitate anymore. He must report this matter to his maternal grandfather. He didn’t have many people in Hong Province. It would not be difficult to extricate himself. But Liu Fei Hong was indeed his maternal grandfather’s disciple.

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