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~Vanilla Muse
Chapter 166 – Historically Memorable Villainy Arc
As soon as Su Shi finished speaking to Song Rong, he turned around, walked out the palace door, and headed towards the imperial guards.
Yesterday’s incident of protecting the emperor was still vivid in everyone’s mind, so even though the imperial guards were ordered to arrest him, they still have respect for him. The leader of the imperial guards took a step forward; wanting to help Lu Li board the carriage, but Lu Li shook his head and declined him. Lu Li lifted the hem of his robes, got on the carriage, and sat down firmly.
The carriage left and the imperial guards retreated like a receding tide. Song Rong stood there in a daze. In his mind’s eye, he was still seeing the image of Lu Li’s clear eyes as he thanked him warmly.
Maybe it was because of his weak body, or because he was sincerely thanking him, but it was an extremely rare sight to not see an iota of coldness or apathy in those eyes. Lu Li looked at him calmly, but he seemed extraordinarily gentle and peaceful.
Lu Li looked so peaceful that it seemed like he had already predicted the ending of this journey.
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Biting coldness suddenly ran up his spine. Song Rong’s eyes turned cold. He turned around and said sharply, “Prepare my court attire and the horse!”
Song Rong originally thought that even if what he said last night could not change the young emperor’s mind, it would still help the emperor perceive the strangeness of the whole matter, but he didn’t expect that what he said would actually accelerate Song Zhilan’s determination to take Lu Li’s life.
It’s all come to this point. Everything was already said and done. The prime minister’s residence was ransacked in one night and Lu Li was declared a heinous criminal.
Song Zhilan was the one to give out the orders and condemnation. As the new emperor, he could not afford to be wrong before the imperial court.
Song Rong changed into the luxurious court attire of a regent, got on a black steed, and with a crack of the whip he sped off.
Su Shi leaned against the side of the carriage and closed his eyes to take a rest. He had a Renewing Life Pill prepared in advance.
The misunderstanding value went up and down like a rollercoaster all throughout the night. Su Shi got so annoyed that he turned off the warning sound for it. Right now, he urgently needed to take advantage of the situation and go to the imperial court to set the young emperor’s mind at ease.
Lu Li never thought of leaving a way out for himself. He antagonized many people with his ruthless tactics and walked alone this entire journey. He didn’t even have a single confidant.
But it was impossible to do everything seamlessly. Of course there was still evidence that would be unearthed sooner or later, but it was still very early in the plotline.
It would not be until after his death that the gaps in the imperial court were completely exposed, and the new ministers for the Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue would find out that the army’s provisions has always came from the right prime minister’s residence. When the exiled government officials got called back to the capital, they would seek out their benefactor and find to their astonishment that the property, money, and food they received all had vestiges of the right prime minister.
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All the things he did were true, and so were the crimes. As long as the imperial court convicted Lu Li, once the new emperor ascended the throne, Lu Li’s blood would become the best tool to startle all the government officials of the empire.
The beheading of the prime minister would definitely change the atmosphere of the court, sweep away the decline of the old dynasty, and deter all parties. No one would remember the oppressed and pissed off prince anymore, and in everyone’s eyes, only the decisive young emperor would remain.
This was the best ending.
The carriage stopped, and there was silence outside the carriage. Su Shi took a deep breath, folded his sleeves and got up calmly.
He needed to play the part of an arrogant and domineering prime minister once more to pave the last stage for the young emperor to reach the position of supremacy.
From then on, the ups and downs of the court and the changes in the world have nothing to do with Lu Li.
Dawn colors painted the early sky. There was a chilly nip in the air.
Su Shi lifted up the long hem of his robes with one hand and walked up the stairs one step at a time. The wind was biting cold and seeped through his clothes in the blink of an eye.
The forty-nine white marble steps used to be nothing more than a leisurely walk in the park for him, but walking up these stairs with his seriously injured and weak body was a heavy burden.
Su Shi’s chest rose and fell slightly. A layer of fine sweat was already beaded across his forehead. When the cold wind buffeted his sweat-soaked body, the chill spread through his entire body in an instant, taking away even the smallest traces of heat.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
He only managed to get halfway up the stairs so far. Would he even be able to make it into the court hall?
Su Shi gritted his teeth. He was prepared to climb up those stairs with all his might. All of a sudden he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Then a heavy cloak was draped over his shoulders.
His body, which was almost frozen and numb, warmed up instantly. Su Shi’s body wavered and in a flash a strong arm came up to support him.
Inexplicably, Su Shi did not feel surprised. He used the arm to steady himself and then looked at the other person. His tone was close to a sigh, “Wangye…”
“I’m not good at political affairs. I’m just going to listen from the sidelines and not say a word,” said Song Rong.
Song Rong helped Su Shi stay upright. He stuffed a small and intricate hand stove into Su Shi’s sleeve as he looked directly into Su Shi’s eyes. His voice became lower and softer.
“Prime Minister, don’t chase me away, okay?”
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Song Rong bore the reputation of the regent, but he was very aware of his importance. Even if he has made great contributions in protecting the emperor, he has never really regarded himself as the regent, and he avoided attending court whenever he could. Except for the day when it was bestowed on him, this was the first time he was wearing this extremely luxurious court attire.
The fierce aura he has honed from the iron and blood of the battlefield was suppressed by the thick and luxurious fabrics. Instead, he exuded an awe-inspiring and inviolable majesty. But he purposefully restrained all his rough edges with care, and only a clear and candid plea remained in his gaze.
Chapter 109 – Inspection Tour, Part 1
At the beginning of May, His Royal Highness took Lin-cejun with him to Luo City, Jiang Province, etc, for an inspection tour.
Xuan Yuan Han Cheng brought along Lin Jia Bao, Yuan Fu, Yuan Qing, Shu Qin, and Shu Ya. He was escorted by General Cao Yan and two thousand soldiers.
Their first destination was Luo City. From there they would travel by boat via the Luo River to go to Jiang Province.
Lin Jia Bao was excited the whole way. He leaned against the window to admire the scenery. He was beyond happy. Xuan Yuan Han Cheng looked at the joy on his darling’s face and thought that he must bring him out of the palace frequently in the future.
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
“When we arrive at Luo City, your husband, I, will take you out for stroll.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng embraced Lin Jia Bao and promised him. Luo City was a very prosperous city, so his darling should be able to have lots of fun.
Lin Jia Bao nodded happily. He was instantly filled with anticipation for Luo City.
After traveling for more than ten days and passing through several cities, their group finally reached the city gate of Luo City. The civil and military officials of Luo City and the surrounding provincial capitals were already awaiting their arrival.
Xuan Yuan Han Cheng got off the carriage, and Liu Ze Qi, the Minister of War, led the other officials to kneel down and greet him.
“We welcome Your Royal Highness.”
“Rise.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng looked at he officials who came to greet him and asked, “Is Dai Heng here?”
“Dai-daren is still inspecting the embankment in Jiang Province, so he was unable to come.” Liu Ze Qi replied.
The prefectural magistrate of Luo City, Zhong Ke Jie, stepped forward and saluted the crown prince. He said, “It’s been a tough journey for Your Royal Highness. This subject has already prepared a welcome banquet for Your Royal Highness. Please get settled at Your Royal Highness’s residence first.”
Xuan Yuan Han Cheng thought that his darling must be tired by now, so he turned around and mounted a horse. Behind him was an exquisite and luxurious horse carriage.
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All the officials have already found out that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would bring his most beloved Lin-cejun with him on this tour. They figured that this Lin-cejun must be on the horse carriage and wondered what kind of appearance did he have to make the crown prince so enamored with him. Liu Ze Qi was also very curious, and he stared at the horse carriage for a while.
That night, the Luo City official held a reception banquet for His Royal Highness. The banquet was divided into front and rear areas. The front area was for the crown prince and the officials. The back area was for the officials’ wives and Lin-cejun.
The prefectural magistrate’s wife saw that Lin-cejun was only fourteen or fifteen years old. He was kind and polite, and he didn’t put on airs. She secretly thought to herself, so the crown prince liked this type of ger…
At the banquet, the prefectural magistrate’s wife very cordially introduced Luo City’s local conditions and customs, and invited Lin-cejun to enjoy Luo City’s specialty foods.
Lin Jia Bao listened carefully to the prefectural magistrate’s wife’s introduction of Luo City and sincerely tasted the special dishes of Luo City.
Seeing that Lin-cejun was listening to her with great interest, the prefectural magistrate’s wife felt very proud and talked even more enthusiastically about the places of historical interest in Luo City. The wives of the other officials were not to be outdone, and hurriedly showed their courtesy in front of Lin-cejun. The atmosphere at the banquet was very lively.
Lin Jia Bao responded gracefully to each of them without any impatience. He was like a refreshing spring breeze and he left a good impression on all of the officials’ wives. The prefectural magistrate’s wife thought that it was no wonder His Royal Highness loved this Lin-cejun so much. How could the crown prince not feel comfortable and happy with such a person by his side?!
In the evening, Lin Jia Bao and Xuan Yuan Han Cheng returned to their residence, which a wealthy merchant of Luo City had offered up. Shu Ya and Shu Qin had already tidied up the bedroom. After the two washed up, Xuan Yuan Han Cheng lay on the bed with Jia Bao in his arms. The bed was huge and had carved jade railings.
“Darling, you did really well tonight!”
Lin Jia Bao was really happy to receive Xuan Yuan Han Cheng’s praise. “I learned from the empress. Whenever the empress summoned the court ladies for a gathering, I would often watch from the side. This time I am going on tour with my husband, of course I have to perform well so as to not embarrass my husband.”
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
Xuan Yuan Han Cheng put his arms around his darling and kissed his dimples. “Darling, you can do whatever you want, you don’t need to perform like this…”
“The prefectural magistrate’s wife was very cordial. She invited me to be a guest at the magistrate’s mansion. Can I go?” Lin Jia Bao asked expectantly.
“Of course. As long as it is what you want to do, but you need to bring more guards to accompany you. I have to deal with some official business for the next few days, and then I will take you for a stroll in Luo City… All right, darling. Let’s go to bed early…” As Xuan Yuan Han Cheng was talking, he had already untied Jia Bao’s inner garment and was reaching out to touch Jia Bao’s chest.
Lin Jia Bao hugged his husband’s shoulders and let his husband caress and kiss his body. Nowadays, his husband would strip him completely naked every single night. Even the way his husband looked at him was very hot, as if he were about to shoot fire out of his eyes at any moment.
Lin Jia Bao’s approaching birthday made him shy, but also filled him with anticipation…
Chapter 106 – Ahhhhhh
Xi Duan averted his eyes. “I want… to go back early.”
It was not because of work. It was just that it would be easier to get intimate in Shan Quan County.
“I’m okay with that too.” Duan Shu Tong agreed. Then he got ready to pull away his hand and get out of the car, but Xi Duan dragged him back.
Xi Duan pursed his lips and looked at Duan Shu Tong. The man didn’t say anything, but he didn’t let go either. He looked like he was expecting something, yet at the same time he did not dare to voice his desires. He could only beg Duan Shu Tong with pitiful eyes.
With a smile, Duan Shu Tong pulled the other man’s hand towards himself. Then he kissed the back of Xi Duan’s hand. He looked up and asked, “Is this good enough?”
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Unexpectedly, the man gripped him even tighter. Xi Duan leaned forward suddenly and brushed a kiss against Duan Shu Tong’s cheek. The touch was as light as a feather, tickling Duan Shu Tong’s heart.
After the kiss, he immediately let go of Duan Shu Tong. Looking at the windshield solemnly, he said, “All right.”
Little did he know his reddened ears gave away everything.
Duan Shu Tong mentally tsked. He stroked the place where Xi Duan had kissed. His heart seemed to be filled with viscous syrup, bubbling and sweet.
Xi Duan’s eyes followed Duan Shu Tong as the young man got out of the car and then walked away. He watched until he could no longer see the other anymore. Then he rubbed the back of his hand where Duan Shu Tong had kissed him and smiled happily.
Xi Duan said that he wanted to go back to Shan Quan County earlier. Thus, he came to pick up Duan Shu Tong the very following day.
Dong Han Yue was reluctant to let him go so soon, so Duan Shu Tong hugged her and said, “I have to go back to research and develop new products. After it is done, I’ll come back to see you again.”
At that, Ms. Dong had no choice but to wave goodbye.
Duan Shu Tong was not merely coaxing her. He was serious. After deciding to be with Xi Duan, he put even more pressure on himself.
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Xi Duan was already standing at the peak of his career. As Xi Duan’s partner, Duan Shu Tong felt that he could not be too far behind the other. You could also say that this was a man’s self-esteem acting up. He wanted to be successful and famous so that there would not be any pressures when he was with Xi Duan.
He was willing to work hard for it.
Back in Shan Quan County, the two of them did not have time to continue being cheesy with each other. Xi Duan had a backlog of work to deal with, and Duan Shu Tong also began to formulate new product development plans.
Drawing upon the buried memory of Grandpa Duan’s unexpected death, Duan Shu Tong then decided on the next course of action.
Back then, Grandpa Duan worked in the county hospital. He was trying his best to diagnose and treat a patient with kidney failure, but in the end he failed to save the patient’s life. The patient’s family members went mad with grief and pushed Grandpa Duan to the ground. Grandpa Duan hit the back of the head and the medical personnel could not save him.
Young Master Duan was still young back then. He witnessed this tragedy with his own eyes and it shook his belief in studying medicine.
Duan Shu Tong was well aware of the original’s reluctance towards medicine, so he decided to develop a drug that can effectively treat kidney failure, and resolve this knot in his heart.
The efficiency of NT was very high and the new laboratory was almost complete. He should be able to use it soon.
Just when he was looking forward to the new laboratory, Pei Ruo Wei, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, suddenly contacted him, and asked in a tearful voice, “Young Master Duan, can I borrow some money?”
Duan Shu Tong was surprised. He asked, “What for?”
Pei Ruo Wei calmed down a little, and explained: “The dean who took care of me when I was young is sick and needs a sum of money for treatment. Can I borrow the money from you first? I will definitely pay it back!”
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
Duan Shu Tong thought of the director of the orphanage who took care of him in his previous life, and couldn’t help but softly said: “What kind of illness is it? How much do you need?”
“The doctor said that there is a problem with the kidneys and that dialysis is needed. I- I don’t know how much it will cost.” She was at a loss.
If she had not gone to visit the dean, she would not have found out that they had such a serious illness. She was deeply bitter and regretful for not discovering this earlier.
Duan Shu Tong recalled that there was indeed such a plot point writtenin the original book. In the story, after Pei Ruo Wei gave birth, she went to Shan Quan County to visit the old dean, while accompanied by the second male lead, Young Master Duan. During the visit, she was told that the dean had died of a serious illness. She blamed herself and mourned bitterly.
It was precisely because of this event that caused her to value her child more and she became even stronger for it.
Of course Duan Shu Tong was not going to sit on his hands. “Which hospital are you in? I’ll go and take a look.”
“County Hospital. Thank you, Young Master Duan.”
After he hung up the phone on Pei Ruo Wei, he called the County Hospital. The pressure was building.
He must pick up his pace and develop that kidney medicine as soon as possible.
The author has something to say:
Things will get sweeter later on. I’m just afraid that it will be too sweet for you.
The female lead will make another appearance. It should be almost time.
Chapter 131 – Dog Man* Ji Shenxiao
Ji Shenxiao turned around slowly and said with a low voice, “I told you to call me by my name.”
“Ji, Ji Shenxiao,” Qiu Jin stammered, “Why are you staying?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was taken aback by Ji Shenxiao’s expression.
Wasn’t Ji Shenxiao being too outrageous?
He looked like a husband who had came back from his business trip only to find out that his wife was cheating on him. Was there a need to be so serious? Their actions toward each other were purely medical in nature. Was an alpha’s possessiveness really terrifying to such a degree?
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Ji Shenxiao’s gaze was simply so scary that Qiu Jin couldn’t help taking half a step back.
“Ji Shenxiao, calm down!”
The other party mistakenly thought that he was going to run away, and his complexion darkened a bit more.
At that moment, almost everyone in the hotel felt an inkling of fear well up from deep inside. They could all perceive to some degree that someone was emitting pheromones with an oppressive aura.
And those pheromones were coming from a first-rate alpha.
It was like a tsunami washing over their heads. It came without warning. It pressed down upon everyone indiscriminately and it made their legs tremble with the desire to fold and submit.
Qiu Jin was not much better off, but because of the oppressive pheromones, but because of Ji Shenxiao’s expression. He quickly took two steps back. His voice was trembling, “Comrade, let’s talk this out…”
Before he could finish speaking his heel knocked against something. He lost his balance and fell onto the bed.
Ji Shenxiao seized the opportunity to push him down. He held Qiu Jin by the nape of his neck and said in a hoarse voice, “But I prefer to take action.”
As soon as he finished talking, Ji Shenxiao flipped Qiu Jin over and bit down without any warning.
Stinging pain and numbness suffused his body at once. He trembled from the pain and couldn’t help grasping at the bed sheets with both hands.
Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com
However, with the fusion of pheromones, a strange feeling gradually gushed out of his body. For a moment, Qiu Jin was in a daze. He couldn’t tell if he was feeling more pain or more satisfaction from the act.
Ji Shenxiao bit him harder this time than he had ever bit him before. He even sucked on the back of his neck heavily before pulling away.
Qiu Jin: “!!!”
Did this man go mad? Did he want to leave a hickey on him or something?
Ji Shenxiao didn’t seem to realize what he had just done, and he even licked the tooth marks he left on Qiu Jin’s neck just now.
An alpha’s saliva has some healing capabilities, but because of this action, his originally crude way of marking Qiu Jin now seemed a bit ambiguous and infatuated.
This time the temporary mark had too many unnecessary small actions. Qiu Jin was stunned for a moment, and it took him a long time to regain his senses. Then he pushed the other person away with all his strength and said angrily, “Ji Shenxiao, what are you doing?!”
Ji Shenxiao was still a bit unsatisfied, but seeing Qiu Jin’s current condition he also could not bear to keep pushing.
Qiu Jin was laying stomach down on the bed. He craned his head back to look at Ji Shenxiao. His eyes were red-rimmed and wet, but his gaze was unyielding. This reminded Ji Shenxiao of the picture that has been widely circulated online. People were saying that Qiu Jin’s gaze was deadly. Looking at Qiu Jin now, Ji Shenxiao had to agree.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
Ji Shenxiao licked his molars and said in a low voice, “Aren’t we helping each other out?”
Qiu Jin supported his faintly aching neck and said huffily, “You look perfectly fine, what do you need my help for?”
Ji Shenxiao replied: “I’m in the susceptible period, and I need your pheromones to appease me.”
The influence of alpha and omega pheromones was mutual. Ji Shenxiao could appease Qiu Jin during the estrus period, so naturally, Qiu Jin could appease Ji Shenxiao during the susceptible period.
Hearing this, Qiu Jin deflated like a punctured balloon, and his anger dissipated little by little. But he was still a little unhappy, so he couldn’t help complaining, “It’s not that I won’t let you bite me, but can you tell me in advance next time?”
“Understood.” There was a glimmer of a smile in Ji Shenxiao’s eyes. He reached out and rubbed Qiu Jin’s head. “Have a good sleep. I won’t disturb you anymore.”
It wasn’t until Ji Shenxiao had left that Qiu Jin remembered. Didn’t that man have Pheromone Reception Disorder? He couldn’t even receive other people’s pheromones, so how could he enter a susceptible period?
F*ck. Ji Shenxiao, this dog man. He should just change his name to Dog Ji in the future.
The hosting service that I am using emailed me and said that it was going to migrate to a new location for “a more advanced infrastructure will ensure better performance and reliability for your hosted services.” I don’t understand the nitty gritty, but the server migration will start on October 10th 2024, at 5:00 PM CST (5:00 PM MST).
“Server migrations can take anywhere from a couple of hours to five days, depending on the number and size of the accounts on the server.”
Since they didn’t give me a more narrowed timeframe, I’m going to play it safe and assume that it will take the full five days. Which means during those five days I will not be able to update my website in any way, as any updates will be lost after the migration is complete.
“We ask that you don’t make major changes if possible while the server migration is taking place. It’s possible that your site may have already been migrated over and you are making changes to the old server, which would get lost once the server goes offline. Making changes during this period could lead to data loss or service disruption, so we kindly request your cooperation in this matter.”
I’m still hoping to post an average of four updates per week, but I will likely have to post several chapters in one or two day as opposed to spreading it out throughout the week as usual.
As selected by VIP Choice, today’s bonus update is TBL. This one is for you Paige33!
Chapter 150.1 – Two Elders and Opening a Business
March 1st, 28th year of Chong Ming, Main Street, West District, Jun Zi City
The sound of firecrackers, cymbals, and drums were deafening. Today was the grand opening day of the An Family Restaurant*. This restaurant was twice the size of the restaurant in An Yuan County. It immediately attracted the attention of many people, who all stopped to watch. A small number of them were literati who came from the teahouse on the other side of the street.
[*T/N: the restaurant doesn’t have a special name, it’s literally called 安家酒楼 “An Family Restaurant”]
Most literati loved to drink tea. Some of them actually liked drinking tea, while some of them drank tea to show off their elegance.
The sound of firecrackers attracted these people’s attention and many poked their heads out of the window to look. When they saw the restaurant’s name plaque, sincere admiration burst from the bottom of their hearts.
“Good calligraphy, such good calligraphy!”
An octogenarian who looked very old and wrinkly admired the four characters on the plaque. The calligraphy was lively and strong like dancing phoenixes and soaring dragons. He couldn’t help exclaiming out loud, “good,” and he looked like he could barely contain his excitement.
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Another elderly man also echoed in praise: “It is indeed good handwriting. This is the most imposing and sharpest handwriting I have ever seen. The person who wrote these four words must not be a simple person. It would be great if I could meet him!”
The people around who heard the conversation between the two couldn’t help looking at each other.
The two old men were regular customers of the teahouse across the street, and there was no one around who did not know of them, but that was not the reason why everyone knew them.
The old man who spoke second was Pang Zhong. He was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, which was one of the six departments of Da Ya. He was a literati himself, and he had quite a reputation. He was good at calligraphy and had made great achievements in this area.
As for the first old man, his name was Wan Xi Chuan. He had grizzled hair and looked very old on the outside, as if he was eighty years old, but in actuality he was only in his sixties. He was not a government official, but he was also a master in the literature world and was at the rank of a great master.
To be able to get a compliment from the two of them, this person must have some real skills.
A trace of jealousy appeared in many people’s hearts.
They knew the identities of the two old men from the very beginning, and many people wanted to curry favor with them, but the two old men didn’t like sycophantic people.
In their view, one must have the arrogance of a literati in their writing to be considered a literati, and this arrogance was not necessarily reflected in their character, rather, the most important thing was the issue of principles and integrity.
Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com
In order to have these two elders view them favorably, some literati would frequently go to the teahouse and stay there for some time.
Some people would find out in advance when the two elders would go to the teahouse, and then they would perform a good deed in front of them, such as helping the old, weak, female, or young, and some would pretend to compose a poem on the spot as soon as they spot the elders, etc. It was like a show of the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each showing his own special talent*.
[*T/N: idiom for “to show off the best of one’s abilities”]
But the two old men have lived through many years, so how could they fail to see through these people’s tricks? Up till now no one has been able to catch the eyes of the two old men.
Although everyone was frustrated, they were not discouraged.
As long as they could get one compliment from these two elders, then they would rapidly go up in the world. For this bright future, they were willing to even destroy their own image.
[T/N: Sounds counter intuitive to me…]
But now, the goal they worked so hard for was easily achieved by a person they had never met. Jealousy rushed up in their hearts.
Seeing that the two old men had got up and went downstairs, everyone followed suit. They also wanted to meet the person who wrote the plaque for the An Family Restaurant. They just wanted to find a little psychological balance; maybe that person was ugly.
A group of noisy people came to the restaurant, and when they walked in, everyone’s eyes lit up.
It’s not that they have never been to the predecessor of this restaurant before. During the opening of the Zhuo Family Teahouse, many people here have patronized the teahouse, and the number of times they came here was not low. This included the two elders, who were also regular customers of the teahouse. But later, the husband and wife pair used high quality tea to attract the two elders, and the rest of the literati followed. This then led to the Zhuo Family Teahouse going bankrupt.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
However, the interior of the current restaurant was completely different from what they have seen before. The decoration was more exquisite and luxurious. The waiters and shopkeeper were all in uniformed clothing. All the tables and chairs have been replaced with new ones. It looked more upscale than the teahouse. What was even more surprising was that there were rows of flowers and plants in every corner of the restaurant. Greenery dotted the interior of the restaurant, giving the place a fresh and clean flavor.
There was also a large furniture screen inside the restaurant. On the front of the screen was a landscape painting, which depicted the land of Da Ya. Judging from the painting, the artist’s painting skills were also very high, but what everyone cared about was the characters written on the back of the painting. This was clearly the same lively and strong calligraphy as the one on the restaurant’s plaque.
Appreciating the handwriting at close range, everyone was even more shocked.
As requested by VIP Choice, this bonus update goes to DLYE. This one is for you Quiet Mins! ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )
Chapter 108 – Inspection Tour, Part 1
In the end, both Zhang Chun Wei and Wen Wen Qian’s nameplates remained, while everyone else was eliminated.
When Wen Wen Qian returned home, her mother – Jing Xi Bo’s* wife – quickly asked: “How was life in the palace? Did you live well? Did the empress converse with you often? Have you met His Highness the crown prince?”
[*T/N: In the raws, his name was previously written as Xi Jing Bo, and now it’s changed to Jing Xi Bo. The characters are still the same, but the order of the first two characters is switched. (translator scratches head and shrugs)]
“No, the empress always conversed with several candidates at the same time. But the momos and eunuchs in the palace took extra care of me…” Wen Wen Qian replied.
“Rumor has it that His Highness will take a new crown princess this time. Since they kept your nameplate, perhaps…” Jing Xi Bo’s wife thought that her daughter was the best candidate for the crown princess regardless of her family background…
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
“Mother, let’s wait, we will know when the decree comes out.” Wen Wen Qian knew that her family had great expectations for this talent selection, but she didn’t feel like the empress treated her as special.
One day later, the imperial decree was issued. The Assistant Minister of Rite’s di daughter would become the crown prince’s imperial concubine, and the date was set for next month. As for Jing Xi Bo’s di daughter, she was appointed as the wife of the second prince, and the wedding would be held in February of the coming year.
Assistant Minister of Rite Zhang and his family were not surprised when they received the imperial decree. After receiving the decree, they thanked the emperor for his grace. Then Assistant Minister of Rite Zhang and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.
After receiving the imperial decree, Jing Xi Bo’s family was stunned for a while. How did it suddenly become the second crown princess? But when they recovered their senses, the Wen family was still very happy. To be the main wife of a prince was also a great grace.
In April, Zhang Chun Wei used all of her willpower to pretend that her sickly body was all right and entered the palace. That same evening, she was bedridden and comatose.
Xuan Yuan Han Cheng blocked the news and only told the public that Imperial Concubine Zhang was a little tired on the day she entered the palace and therefore she got sick.
The empress was secretly critical of this, and felt that this Zhang Chun Wei was too delicate. She never thought that Imperial Concubine Zhang would be sick for a long time and not get any better. Instead, she got more and more ill, and finally passed away one morning in late April.
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The news of Zhang Chun Wei’s death surprised everyone inside and outside of the harem. She clearly seemed well during the talent selection, but she died of a serious illness after marrying the crown prince. All of a sudden, the imperial court and the ordinary people could not help raising eyebrows at the situation. The previous rumors about His Royal Highness invoking the furies of the heavens spread again.
In Yong Shou Palace, the empress was in a terrible rage, “Is the imperial physician doing his job? How could she die?” The empress was very angry. She already told her son that Zhang Chun Wei was weak, but the crown prince still wanted to marry her. Now talk of the crown prince having a hard life would make a comeback.
“Imperial Mother, please calm down. Perhaps it’s because erchen killed too much in the past, so Imperial Concubine Zhang took the harm on my behalf.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng said weakly, trying to comfort the empress.
The empress heard the crown prince’s weak tone and immediately retorted, “Crown Prince, don’t listen to those things. It’s because that Zhang Chun Wei’s fortune is ill fated. How could it be your fault? Just look at Jia Bao, isn’t he perfectly well? And just a few days ago I saw that Jia Bao has grown a bit taller.”
“Jia Bao has Imperial Mother’s sincere love and protection, so naturally his fortune would be good.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng said to the empress.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
After hearing this, the empress’s mood also improved a little and she said to the crown prince, “You’re going on an inspection tour next month, how are the preparations? Jia Bao will also go with you, so you need to bring more people along to serve you.”
“Thank you for your concern, Imperial Mother. Everything is ready.” Xuan Yuan Han Cheng thought that since Jia Bao’s birthday was in June, he would prepare a surprise for him. His darling was finally going to turn sixteen. He really couldn’t wait to devour him.
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Chapter 149.3 – Beef Jerky
At Prince Fu’s Mansion, Chef Wang and Zhou Lan Han’s wife experimented for many days and finally figured out how to make the tastiest beef jerky.
Speaking of Zhou Lao Han’s wife, rumor has it that the reason why her food was so delicious was because it had something to do with a secret recipe passed down from her family’s ancestors.
Zhou Lao Han’s wife was called Jiang Yu. The ancestors from her maternal family once opened a restaurant. Rumor has it that business was booming and they even opened up a dozen restaurants. But later, they offended some big shot, and then the Jiang family began to decline. Fortunately, the unique secret recipe of the Jiang family has been handed down.
The so-called unique secret recipe was originally only passed down to males and not to females, but in Jiang Yu’s generation, she was the only descendant left in the Jiang family.
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Jiang Yu’s father didn’t want the unique secret recipe to be lost, so he passed it down to Jiang Yu, but there was one condition. If she got married in the future and gave birth to a son, then the son must be surnamed Jiang, and she must pass the recipe down to him. Only in this way was she allowed to use the secret recipe herself.
Fortunately, Jiang Yu gave birth to two sons.
Zhou Lao Han has always felt bad for Jiang Yu for marrying a [poor] man like him, so when he learned about her father’s condition, he agreed without hesitation. He was the oldest child in the Zhou family, and all the elders in his family have already passed away, so there was no one to object to his decision.
It was all thanks to Jiang Yu’s secret recipe that the An family’s restaurant was able to flourish.
When they experimented with making beef jerky this time, Jiang Yu added her secret recipe again. The resulting taste was much better than what was already being sold in the markets. Once they determined the best method of making tasty beef jerky, they started marinating beef jerky in large quantities. As for pork jerky, they only made a small portion of that.
The process for making beef jerky was not complicated and it did not take a lot of time.
However, there was simply too much raw meat to work with. It was impossible for Chef Wang and Jiang Yu to do it alone. So in the end, they hired some people and gave them hands-on instructions. Only the last step in the process – the flavoring of the jerky – was completed by the two of them.
The first completed batch of special beef jerky was sent to Prince Fu’s Mansion. Every servant at the mansion got a catty of beef jerky. They were so excited that they almost started snatching at the beef jerky.
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Beef itself was already a bit on the expensive side. Occasionally eating fresh beef was still affordable, but doing it everyday was impossible. Therefore the special beef jerky was even more expensive. Its market price could each forty copper coins per catty, with the most expensive kind reaching sixty copper coins. It was so expensive that most people could not afford to buy it.
The beef jerky distributed to the servants in Prince Fu’s Mansion was not only good in quality but also very tasty.
Some people were even more delighted to find that their catty of beef jerky contained many flavors. There was five-spice beef jerky, mala beef jerky, etc. If they didn’t like spicy flavors, they could replace it with non-spicy ones.
One of the servants made a rough calculation and determined that this one catty of beef jerky would be worth more than fifty copper coins on the market.
They already knew that the wangfei was very generous. During the Lunar New Year, the wangfei gave the servants many new years gifts and about five to ten taels of silver. Many servants were very grateful and they cherished this job even more.
Five days later, An Zi Ran sent most of the marinated beef jerky to Chang Province.
They were building a large-scale construction projection in Chang Province. The workers composed of local migrant workers and some of Fu Wu Tian’s soldiers. There were parts of the project that they did not want outsiders to know about (so they had to handled those parts themselves). Also, the soldiers have a bigger appetite than the migrant workers and An Zi Ran considered them his people too. He was never stingy towards people he considered his own.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
The beef jerky was expensive, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford to spend this money. Not to mention, once the project in Chang Province was complete and large amounts of cotton came pouring in, he would get even more money in return.
After another half a month, the An Family Restaurant finally opened.
The refurbished restaurant looked much better than before, especially the entrance of the restaurant.
First impressions were very important. In order to attract customers, An Zi Ran had people repair the threshold. Fu Wu Tian himself also nominated the plaque. His handwriting was majestic and discerning. Everyone could tell that the person who wrote it has profound skills. Literati who loved calligraphy would one hundred percent be attracted just by looking at it.
While they were busy serving customers on this side, the couple in the teahouse on the other side wanted to vomit blood. After waiting for more than twenty days, their competitors actually opened a restaurant?
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Chapter 130 – Dog Man* Ji Shenxiao (42.1)
[*T/N: Calling someone a 狗男人 dog man in Chinese is like calling them a douche bag]
Ji Shenxiao went on an overseas business trip for half a month, and he flew on a plane all night yesterday beto get back to his country. As soon as he came back, he saw the picture of Qiu Jin that was circulating all over the Internet. It was the one of him coming out of the water while in costume.
In the picture, the young man’s hair was partially dry and his lips were a warm red color. In the photo, he was looking up at the camera. His eyelashes were distinct and his gaze looked particularly deep. Under the bright moonlight, his fair neck and Adam’s apple glowed with glistening white light.
At that moment, Ji Shenxiao suddenly felt a tightness in his throat.
It’s been half a month.
They haven’t seen each other for half a month.
Perhaps it was the sequelae of multiple temporary markings, but he now yearned for the other person’s pheromones.
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
As the car drove out of the airport expressway, the driver asked him, “Back to the old residence or the apartment building?”
After pausing for a moment, Ji Shenxiao said, “Go to the studio.”
Since it’s about helping each other, Qiu Jin should also fulfill his obligations.
That was how he stumbled upon the scene in front of him in Qiu Jin’s hotel room.
It was an eyesore.
Qiu Jin thought that Ji Shenxiao would come over and scold him loudly, but what he didn’t expect was that the other party didn’t even look at him. Instead, he walked towards Jiang Ming.
Ji Shenxiao asked: “Why is Mr. Jiang here?”
“I came to discuss the plot with my fiancée Ji He,” Jiang Ming showed his impeccable smile and asked, “Why is President Ji here?”
At that moment, the expression on Ji Shenxiao’s face changed.
Qiu Jin: ???
What the f*ck! Was Jiang Ming trying to throw him under a truck?
Even if you’re just joking around, this was not the way to do it!
Ji Shenxiao smiled lightly, “I came to see if my mark has faded.”
This time is was Jiang Ming’s whose expression changed.
Qiu Jin: “…”
Even if it was true, he didn’t have to say it so bluntly, did he?
The two men were talking and making insinuations in front of Qiu Jin. Neither of them would back down, as if they were about to fight it out in the next second.
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Qiu Jin sat there with a dazed expression on his face. Wasn’t there something wrong with the way the plot was progressing?
What could there be to quibble about between these two men?
Could it be that alphas naturally repelled each other? Was that why they were having such a big reaction to each other?
Wait, wait, wait a minute. These two people in front of him were the first male lead and second male lead in the novel. Could it be that they’re just set up to dislike each other because of that reason and it actually had nothing to do with him?
That’s right. That made sense. Otherwise these two would have no reason to fight over him.
Phew. He was feeling a little guilty and uneasy just now, but after working through the knots in his head, he felt better.
Qiu Jin yawned and said slowly, “If you want to argue, please go out and argue, I’m going to sleep.”
As soon as he spoke, two pairs of eyes looked at him at the same time.
Qiu Jin was completely unaware of this and continued to shoo them away, “Please close the door for me.”
The two alphas looked at each other for a moment. As if they came to a silent agreement, Jiang Ming stepped out of the room first, and then Ji Shenxiao followed behind. The moment Jiang Ming walked out, Ji Shenxiao quickly closed the door behind him and locked it.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
Jiang Ming stood in front of the closed bedroom door with bulging veins on his neck, and he didn’t move for a long time.
Liu Wei hid behind the sofa after Ji Shenxiao came in. He was just a poor little beta. Beneath the pressure of the two alphas, he could hardly breathe.
He heard the bang of a door closing, and the sounds of dispute have stopped.
Was it over?
Liu Wei poked his head out from behind the sofa and saw Jiang Ming turn to look at him with a faint smile on his face.
So he wasn’t angry?
Liu Wei breathed a sigh of relief, “Jiang-laoshi? Are you leaving now?”
Jiang Ming replied, “En, tell Qiu Jin that I will come again.”
Liu Wei saw Jiang Ming out the door politely. In his heart he thought that this Film Emperor was really too kind, wu wu wu, such was the magnanimity of a big personage.
[T/N: wu wu wu – Chinese onomatopoeia for crying or whimpering]
Inside the bedroom, it was a completely different ambience.
When Qiu Jin heard the door closing, he thought everyone was gone, but when he turned around, he saw Ji Shenxiao’s tall and straight back.
“President Ji, you…”
The man turned around slowly and said with a low voice, “I told you to call me by my name.”