Author: Vanilla Muse

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Chapter 158.2 – Goodbye Fang Jun Ping

Fang Jun Ping knew what the man was thinking and she couldn’t help but sneered.

“You think that I won’t find out just because you don’t tell me? But you don’t have to worry. I know about this because I accidentally heard some people passing by outside the courtyard talking about this matter, it wasn’t your people that revealed it to me.”

There was only a wall between where she was standing and the alley, and the two people talking happened to have loud voices.

Consort Yan’s pregnancy caused quite a stir int he palace, and the South District was the center of rumors. It was not an accident that this matter would spread.

The gloomy look on the man’s face did not disappear because of her words.

Although he was still very skeptical, it was true that Fan Jun Ping did not have the ability to sneak out under his watch. Maybe it was just an accident as she said.

“Regardless, before Consort Yan gives brith to a child, you can’t go outside without careful consideration. This is for your daughter’s benefit. There are many people in the palace who want to target your daughter. If these people find out about your existence, your daughter will be put in a dangerous position.”

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Fan Jun Ping hesitated. She didn’t really understand all this, but what the man said seemed to make sense. In the end, she had to compromise. From the day they fled An Yuan Country, her future could only depend on her daughter.

The man watched Fan Jun Ping retreat into the house with a dark look in his eyes. It would be best if this woman would know her place and lay low, if not, he might have to ask the state preceptor for the next part of his plan.

The courtyard was quiet again.

The man cleaned a spot on the steps in front of the door and sat down. This was the only exit from the house. With Fan Jun Ping’s ability, she could only leave the house through the door.

The hardworking sun quickly passed its highest point and then fell towards the west. Dusk came quietly, and the sky slowly darkened. When night fell, the surroundings became silent…

Under the cover of night, a ghostly black shadow quickly flashed into the yard and landed on the ground without a sound. None of the people on guard duty noticed, and not even the man directly supervising Fang Jun Ping noticed. At this moment, the man was leaning against a pillar and taking a nap.

The shadowy figure bent down and picked up a stone from the ground. He flicked the stone out with a sharp move of his fingertips. The stone whistled through the air and smacked against the man’s temple. The pain was so severe that the man fell to the ground before he could resist.

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The shadowy figure walked into the room. His eyes swept across the room and landed on Fang Jun Ping, who was sleeping soundly on the bed. After knocking her out, the shadowy figure wrapped her up in a quilt, hefted her over his shoulder, and left.

No one noticed that Fan Jun Ping was missing.

It wasn’t until dawn did the people on watch duty noticed that the courtyard was quiet. They went in to check and found the man collapsed on the ground. They couldn’t help but gasp.

When the man woke, his complexion was stormy.

“The person who took Fang Jun Ping away is definitely not an ordinary person.”

A person who could knock him out silently must be much better than him at martial arts, otherwise he would have noticed the stone coming towards him.

“Notify the state preceptor immediately.”

“Understood!”

In Prince Fu’s Mansion, Fang Jun Ping slowly woke up. For a moment, she did not know where she was. When she became more awake, she realized that she was not looking at the top of the bed that she usually saw. She instantly became alert. Looking around, she realized that she was in a woodshed. There were a lot of firewood piled neatly around the room.

What on earth was this place?

Why did she wake up in a place like this?

Could it be that the man held a grudge against her because of what happened yesterday, so he knocked her out while she was sleeping in order to cut off the connection between her and her daughter?

Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com

A conspiracy theory popped into her head, and she could only think of this reason.

The sound of her waking up alerted the people on guard outside. The door creaked open and a head poked its way in. Before Fang Jun Ping could speak, the head withdrew again.

Fan Jun Ping rushed over, wanting to get out, but she discovered that the door was locked from the outside with a chain. Through the gap, she saw a person standing outside, and another figure running off into the distance.

“Who are you and why are you locking me up? Let me go now. I’m telling you, my daughter is the emperor’s favorite concubine…” Fang Jun Ping yelled at the people outside the door, feeling very panicked. The door rattled as she pounded against it.

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As selected by VIP Choice, today’s bonus update goes to TBL. This one is for you xxhertzxx! Happy reading!

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Chapter 158.1 – Goodbye* Fang Jun Ping

[*T/N: The word “再见 zàijiàn” used here in the title literally means “see you again later,” but it is often used as a parting phrase, hence it would be translated as “goodbye.” The nuance of the phrase is “goodbye (with the intention of seeing you again later).” If you want to say “goodbye forever,” it would be 永别 yǒngbié.]

The South District was the area where those who have no money gather in Jun Zi City. It could also be called the slums. There were people from all trades here, so it was also the most chaotic place in the capital.

It should be impossible for a place like this to exist in the imperial capital, but because Emperor Chong Ming was not interested in political affairs, this kind of place formed over time. Fortunately, despite the chaotic nature of this place, this area was still under the control of the imperial guards, so as long as the people didn’t stir up too much trouble, the imperial guards would not intervene. Therefore, it made the chaotic South District a good place to hide.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

And Fang Jun Ping was hiding here.

Some people would think that she might be here, but in truth, it was not easy to find her.

So Wei Shun Qing was relieved to have her confined in the South District.

Early this morning, Fang Jun Ping dressed herself up and prepared to go out.

The man who followed her under Wei Shun Qing’s order in the name of protection, but was actually watching her, immediately stopped her and said, “Fang Jun Ping, have you forgotten what the state preceptor told you? Go out less often to avoid being recognized.”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten, but Jun Zi City is not my hometown. How many people here know me? Isn’t your state preceptor being too careful?”

Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com

Fang Jun Ping only felt that these people were making too much of a fuss about the situation. She knew that An Zi Ran was also in Jun Zi City, but how could he possibly come to the South District with his identity? So she thought that the chance of them encountering him was very low.

The man said expressionlessly, “If you’re careful with the ship, you can sail it for ten thousand years*.”

[*T/N: 小心驶得万年船 – this is a figure of speech which cautions the listener to always think carefully and account for both negative and positive factors in everything that one does]

When he said this, a hint of impatience quickly flashed across his face. From the start, he had been impatient with this woman. He thought her greedy and vain. If it weren’t for the fact that they needed to use her to control her daughter, he would have killed this annoying woman long ago.

“You say this every day, and I’m tired of hearing it even if you’re not tired.”

Fang Jun Ping felt like her ears were going to get calluses from all his nagging. Although she was very satisfied with her current life, it did not mean that she was willing to be restricted in her freedom. Ever since her daughter reached an agreement with the state preceptor to cooperate together, she has been restrained to this small courtyard everyday. There was always someone supervising her and she wasn’t even allowed to go out.

She had never been so constrained when living in the An family residence before. She could occasionally go out to go shopping and buy things or do other activities.

The man was unmoved. He said, “If you don’t cause trouble for me, then I wouldn’t have to say it.”

Fang Jun Ping turned around and went back into the house. After a while, she came out with a gauze hat and said, “If you are worried that someone will recognize me, I can always wear this.”

The gauze cloth hanging down from the edge of the gauze hat completely covered her face. No one would recognize her as long as she didn’t lift the gauze cloth.

The man frowned, and just when Fang Jun Ping thought that he would agree, the man’s expression suddenly became determined again, and he threw out two words without any doubt.

“No good!”

Right now was an important and sensitive time period [for their plans]. If it was a month or two ago, then there was a still a possibility [that she could go out], but right now it was an extremely important period for the state preceptor and Consort Yan. They absolutely could not let anyone get any leverage over them.

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Fang Jun Ping’s expression changed slightly, and she suddenly pulled off her gauze hat and threw it to the ground.

“This won’t work, that won’t work either. What do you want? I see that you clearly don’t want me to go out. Let me tell you, my daughter is currently pregnant with the emperor’s imperial child. Her status is very noble. You should know the consequences for offending me.”

Ever since she learned that the emperor doted on her daughter and even got pregnant, Fang Jun Ping, who used to be dull in the past, gradually became more arrogant in her behavior.

The man’s gaze suddenly became sharp, “How do you know about this?”

He didn’t let anyone tell her about Consort Yan’s pregnancy, and he also told other people not to mention it in front of her. So how did she find out? Did she also know that the child inside Consort Yan’s belly was not Emperor Chong Ming’s child? Could Consort Yan secretly be communicating with her? But that shouldn’t be possible. They didn’t have the means to do such a thing.

Multiple possibilities immediately flashed through the man’s mind, but he still couldn’t figure out which one was more likely.

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Chapter 157.2 – Murderer

When Qi Qiao heard the news that the eldest young master was found frozen int he sound, she had a vague guess. She told Wang Qing Lan about her conjecture, but Wang Qing Lan told her not to tell anyone. If they made use of this piece of information properly, it would become a favorable leverage in their hands in the future.

Right now, that information really came in handy. Wang Qing Lan has never been so lucky.

“So it turned out to be her.”

It’s not that An Zi Ran did not suspect them of making this up, but he had investigated the issue and knew that Qi Qiao did in fact pass by the original An Zi Ran’s courtyard. Another maid had seen her, so he knew about this very early on. But because she did not linger, he concluded that there was no time for her to commit a crime, so she was not a suspect.

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Seeing that he was thoughtful, Wang Qing Lan asked hesitantly: “I’ve told you everything, when are you going to fulfill your promise?” All she cared about was her life right now.

An Zi Ran glanced at her and said, “I will arrange for you to leave tomorrow.” Then he left, leaving Wang Qing Lan with a happy expression.

The scandal about her was widely known in the capital, but as long as she went to An Yuan County, there would be very few people who knew about it. She could still live a leisurely life with the money she had saved up over the years.

At this time, Wang Qing Lan did not know that when she went to An Yuan County, her days would definitely be extremely uncomfortable. Country folk were not like city folk. They were extremely strict about things like a widow carrying on a clandestine love affair.

When An Zi Ran returned to Prince Fu’s Mansion, Fu Wu Tian was already waiting for him.

An Zi Ran told him what he had learned from Qi Qiao. He had told Fu Wu Tian a long time ago that he was found in the snow and almost died in the first month of the previous year, but he did not say that the original An Zi Ran really died.

“Is it definitely her?”

An Zi Ran nodded and said, “I’m 90% sure, but she’s in the palace now, so it’s difficult to settle the score with her.”

The person Qi Qiao was talking about was An Qiao E.

No one thought that this woman who always wore a sour expression on her face would actually kill someone. When he lived with her in the An family manor, he did not discern any weak point in her facade. This mean that her mental strength was not bad. This also explained why her character could have such a big change.

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There were some people who usually looked inconspicuous, but once given the chance, they could transform from a chicken in to a phoenix. An Qiao E, who possessed excellent mental strength, could achieve this even more easily.

“Don’t worry, wangfei, An Qiao E won’t be able to live for much longer.”

Fu Wu Tian’s voice had a hint of meaning.

An Zi Ran’s eyes narrowed, “Wangye, are you talking about the eldest prince and the second prince?”

He had also heard what was going on in the palace. Since Consort Yan became pregnant, Emperor Chong Ming loved her more deeply than before. He sent nearly all the good things to Zhao Zi Palace. Moreover, he assigned fifty palace maids and fifty eunuchs to her palace, and there were five imperial physicians on call at all times.

This kind of situation never happened when Zhang Sun Tian Feng was pregnant with his legitimate son. At that time, Emperor Chong Ming still doted on the beautiful Zhang Sun Tian Feng. And because she was the empress, he was very fond of her and meticulous with her care, but no matter how fond of the empress he was, it could not compare to his affections for Consort Yan.

However, the more Emperor Chong Ming loved Consort Yan, the stronger the sense of crisis got for those women in the harem.

The respectable imperial concubines in the harem were all well-known figures who rose above the others and distinguished themselves from three thousand beauties. Each one of them was a woman who could not be underestimated. With their all-pervasive methods, An Qiao E’s life would definitely be very difficult in the next half month.

Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com

An Qiao E has been pregnant for two and half months now. Pregnant women were prone to miscarriage in the first three months of pregnancy, so if they wanted to take action, they must take advantage of this opportunity.

“By the way, wangye, how is the search into Fang Jun Ping going?”

Fu Wu Tian smiled, “I was just about to tell you about this. Fang Jun Ping has been found, but she is protected by someone, and there are people nearby who are monitoring her. Those people are probably Wei Shun Qing’s people.”

“It seems that the cooperation between An Qiao E and Wei Shun Qing is not one of complete trust. Fang Jun Ping’s stay in Jun Zi City is actually a leverage that Wei Shun Qing is using to control An Qiao E.” An Zi Ran spoke his thoughts out loud, “Wangye, why don’t we catch Fang Jun Ping?”

“This prince was also considering the same thing.”

Once Fang Jun Ping disappeared, Wei Shun Qing would definitely know about it. This act would inadvertently alert the enemy, but the other party would never guess that Prince Fu’s Mansion was behind it. That’s because An Qiao E still did not know that An Zi Ran was the wangfei of Prince Fu’s Mansion. Moreover, Fu Wu Tian and Wei Shun Qing did not have any prior grudges. Wei Shun Qing would only suspect that it was done by one of the princes or their maternal families.

Prince Fu’s Mansion only needed to watch them fight and reap the benefits.

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Chapter 157.1 – Murderer

Things did not end just because the Pu family have collapsed.

It was only the prologue to the upcoming foul wind and bloody rain.

During this time, at Prince Fu’s Mansion…

Recently, An Zi Ran has been idling away in the mansion. The results from the two restaurants has been very good, so he intended to open a restaurant in the South District and the North Districts. Just the day before, he had Ge Qian An and Zhong Yue research the best district for opening a restaurant.

His opinion of Zhong Yue was actually not bad.

There was no rule stipulating that she could not like Fu Wu Tian, to say nothing of the fact that he was the man who had saved her life. For a woman that sincerely liked a man, it must be difficult for her to learn that he has gotten married. Most people would find it difficult to congratulate their crush. Zhong Yue’s performance was actually pretty good in that regard.

Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com

That being said, An Zi Ran didn’t want to always have a woman who liked his man by his side.

Therefore, ever since he found out that Ge Qian An had feelings for Zhong Yue, he would bring the two of them together whenever he had the chance. It would be best if romantic sparks could develop between the two of them.

“Wangfei, there is a maid named Qi Qiao outside who wants to see you.”

Steward Zhou came in from outside.

An Zi Ran raised his head, “Qi Qiao? Did she say why she’s looking for me?”

Steward Zhou replied, “She said that Concubine Wang has something very important to tell you, so she must see you.”

“You, come along with me.”

An Zi Ran didn’t hesitate for too long. In fact, he also had something to ask Wang Qing Lan.

Wang Qing Lan was not waiting for him in the main hall. Since she has been found guilty, An Zi Ran would not give her a chance to escape. So during this period, people were sent to guard her and she was strictly prohibited from leaving her courtyard. Fortunately, Qi Qiao did not have the same restrictions. That’s why she was able to send Qi Qiao to Prince Fu’s Mansion to help her deliver a message to An Zi Ran.

“I heard that you have something important to tell me. What is it?”

Walking into the courtyard, An Zi Ran came to Wang Qing Lan who was standing at the door of her room with a worried look on her face.

Wang Qing Lan glanced at Steward Zhou who was following behind An Zi Ran, took a deep breath, and said, “It’s a very important matter. I believe you won’t want others to hear it. You don’t have to worry that I will lie to you. I don’t have the guts.”

An Zi Ran also felt that she would not dare to play any tricks, so he had Steward Zhou and the other servants stay outside. When they entered the room, Qi Qiao also followed them inside.

An Zi Ran turned around and glanced at her.

Wang Qing Lan explained: “Qi Qiao is also related to what I want to say.”

An Zi Ran refused to comment.

The door was not closed, but as long as they kept their voices down, the servants guarding outside the courtyard would not hear them.

“Tell me what it is.”

An Zi Ran turned to look at Wang Qing Lan who looked hesitant.

Wang Qing Lan hesitated and said: “What I want to say is related to what happened when you fell in the snow last year, but before that, I hope you can guarantee my life.”

Emperor Chong Ming’s imperial edict had been issued and the Pu family was severely punished, but he had to do a full show, so he reprimanded the two of them for committing adultery in the imperial edict, saying that they had lost their morals and needed to be severely punished.

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Wang Qing Lan learned about this from Qi Qiao. She was worried that An Zi Ran would change his mind and not send her back to An Yuan County. Because there had been no sign of activity for several days, she felt very uneasy, so she wanted to propose this condition to protect her life.

An Zi Ran had already had a premonition, so he was not surprised when he heard her words now.

In fact, he had already guessed that the murderer might not be her, but he didn’t expect that Wang Qing Lan would know about it, and might even know who the real murderer was.

“As long as you stay within the bounds of your role, I can guarantee your life.”

Emperor Chong Ming only paid attention to this matter to deal with the Pu family. Wang Qing Lan was just a nobody. After that imperial edict, he had obviously forgotten her already.

Wang Qing Lan breathed a sigh of relief.

“So now you can say it.”

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Wang Qing Lan said: “Let Qi Qiao tell you about this matter, because she was the one who saw it.”

An Zi Ran immediately looked at Qi Qiao.

After receiving the go ahead, Qi Qiao immediately told him what she had seen last year.

In the previous year, during the first month of the lunar year, on the day when news of the master and madam’s deaths reached the An family mansion, the eldest son of the An family was found lying in the snow. At that time, his body was already frozen stiff. In fact, this was a deliberate murder. Someone took advantage of the timing and opportunity, ran into the original An Zi Ran’s yard, and used some means to bait him out.

Qi Qiao did not know the specifics, but she saw a person leaving An Zi Ran’s courtyard with her own eyes. At that time, her expression was a little panicked and her behavior was suspicious, so it attracted Qi Qiao’s attention, but at that time, Qi Qiao was preoccupied with the news of the master’s death, so she didn’t go over to look, and thus she missed it.

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Chapter 156.3 – Changeable Situation

“Up next, there will be a messy change in power in the capital,” Fu Wu Tian, who personally directed this event, sat back and watched the show from his mansion.

An Zi Ran heard him say this as soon as he came in, and he asked, “When did you plant people in Prince Wu’s Mansion? Did you plant people in other mansions too?”

Fu Wu Tian pulled him onto his lap.

An Zi Ran struggled for a while before he successfully sat on the chair next to him.

Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com

“Although I have been at the border for a long time, I also know that Emperor Chong Ming regards me as a thorn in his side. If I don’t make preparations as soon as possible, it will be too late when I come back.”

This made sense. Moreover, Fu Wu Tian was not in Jun Zi City at the time, so no one would suspect him.

An Zi Ran couldn’t help being surprised. In fact, he didn’t think the matter would become such a big thing. He just wanted to teach Fu Yuan Wu a lesson. He was a very narrow-minded person. Fu Yuan Wu made him unhappy before, so when he got a chance to get back at the other person, of course he would make good use of it.

It’s just that Fu Yuan Wu was so impulsive and arrogant that he personally pushed away the Pu family. Not many families would be willing to rely on him in the future now that they’ve seen what he had done. He had the best chance of inheriting the throne, but he was no longer in the dominant position.

Pu Song Yong was not a very smart person, but his father Pu Zhen Cheng was.

After the collapse of the Pu family, he had been bedridden, but that didn’t mean he was blind to what was going on outside the window. He also knew how ruthless and unrighteous Fu Yuan Wu was, so it was impossible not to be angry.

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Pu Zhen Cheng did not tell Pu Song Yong to immediately go and gather Fu Yuan Wu’s secrets. Instead, he too him to go seek out Fu Yuan Cheng and asked him to protect them in exchange for Fu Yuan Wu’s secrets, because with Fu Yuan Wu’s ruthlessness, he would definitely send people to kill them to silence them.

Fu Yuan Cheng readily agreed.

He had been waiting for this pair of father and son to come to him for a long time now, and he knew that they would definitely seek him out.

He was undoubtedly a better choice than Fu Yuan Yang, who has an irritable personality, was unstable and might go back on his word at any time.

Zhang Sun Cheng De soon learned the news that the two had taken refuge with Fu Yuan Cheng. When Fu Yuan Wu visited him, he immediately summoned him to the study. Facing this impulsive grandson, the prime minister felt that his actions were getting more and more ridiculous. He knew that this was because the second prince and third prince brought him a lot of pressure, but he was still getting more and more disappointed in him.

“Do you know where you went wrong?”

Fu Yuan Wu said arrogantly: “Grandfather wants to say that I shouldn’t push back when the Pu family is in decline, right? Then you can rest assured that the Pu family is of no use anymore. Even if they turn to Fu Yuancheng, so what? They’re just two people who think they’ve got information that they can use against me, but I’ve never told them my real secrets.”

Confidence was a good thing, but Zhang Sun Cheng De did not feel any relief.

The Pu family was in decline, but the two forebears of the Pu family were not dead yet. They were both long-lived people. It’s just that they’ve retired to live in seclusion. So as long as Pu Zhen Cheng’s princess mother was still alive, the Pu family could still make a comeback.

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But Fu Yuan Wu did not know what Zhang Sun Cheng De was thinking. He only felt that his grandfather was unreasonable. It was just a down and out Pu family. What could those few people do to him? He was the legitimate son of an imperial family, the son of the Empress of Da Ya, and the grandson of the leader of hundreds of officials. So what if he didn’t have one measly Pu family on his side? As long as he married a few more daughters of powerful officials in court, he could easily make up for the loss, right?

The overconfident Fu Yuan Wu did not foresee the future at all.

By chance, Pu Song Yong had learned about one of Fu Yuan Wu’s big secrets a year ago. At that time, his daughter was already married to Fu Yuan Wu, so there was no way he could blurt out the secret. Thus, after discussing it with his father, he decided to keep the secret buried deep in his heart, and except for his father, he did not tell his wife or daughter about the secret.

Now they no longer have any misgivings, and this secret was the greatest thing they could rely on.

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