Category: The Big Landlord

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Chapter 115.2 – Demanding Dowry

After wasting so much saliva talking, Zheng Bi finally got An Zi Ran’s promise and she immediately rejoiced. “Then Ke Xin and I will wait for your good news.”

An Ke Xin was dissatisfied with this result. The dowry must be retrieved, but she did not want Lin Xin and his concubines to get off easy. She wanted to see them live so miserably that they would rather be dead!

An Ke Xin opened her mouth, wanting to spit out the word ‘no,’ but Zheng Bi pulled her out right away.

After the mother and daughter left the study, An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian could still hear them disputing.

“Wang fei is going to stand up for them?”

Fu Wu Tian hugged both arms and looked at An Zi Ran who had a contemplative expression on his face. He didn’t think that wang fei would really stand up for Zheng Bi and her daughter.

An Zi Ran scoffed. “How is that possible!”

This was Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin’s choice. At first, he really wanted to marry An Ke Xin off and get rid of her, but he did not insist that An Ke Xin must marry Lin Xin. If she persisted in not wanting to marry Lin Xin, he would have just helped her search for another rich household. It was just that Lin Xin showed up at the right time and displayed an infatuated mask towards An Ke Xin.

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

He had given them a chance, but the two of them took a fancy towards the Lin family’s property. In the end, An Ke Xin changed her mind and agreed to marry into the Lin family.

An Zi Ran did not think that he needed to take any responsibility for An Ke Xin’s marriage. Moreover, he did not feel even the slightest guilt. You could say that he was cold-hearted and pitiless, or you could say that he didn’t have any sibling camaraderie, either way he was precisely such a person. If it weren’t because he didn’t want to split hairs with a bunch of women, he would be even more heartless.

Right now, except for the little bun, An Zi Ran did not have any affection whatsoever for any of his so-called relatives, including his younger sister An Yu Zhi.

An Zi Ran did not intend to stay in An Yuan County for too long.

The next day, they went to the Lin family.

Because the Lin family lived in Tong Tai County, the news of An Zi Ran’s return did not immediately reach them. The Lin family did not react until they came knocking on their door.

Lin Xin panicked, thinking that An Zi Ran came to the Lin family to get revenge. He knew that he had reason on his side, but if An Zi Ran was unwilling to talk reason, then the entire affair would become a lot more troublesome.

“Lord Husband, don’t worry. An Ke Xin that vicious woman. Even if her brother wants to stand up for her, he does not have reason on his side. If news spread, it would not be good for them.”

The second concubine pressed her face to Lin Xin’s chest and breathed into his ear with her unique doll-like voice and orchid fragrance. Lin Xin liked her like this very much, so she knew how to exploit her advantageous points.

Lin Xin hugged her waist. His shrewd eyes narrowed.

Indeed, he deliberately plotted against An Ke Xin, all for this one word: “reason.” With reason on his side, even if the Lin family caused An Ke Xin’s face to be ruined, they could still say she was reaping what she sowed, and could not blame others. What’s more… he had long made preparations in anticipation of any eventualities.

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Lin Xin held her soft body. “Good Lian Xin, you just wait for my good news.”

Lian Xin nodded her head and waited for him to leave the room. In a split second, her face turned gloomy and a bone deep hatred slowly permeated her eyes.

Her background was not good. The word prostitute doomed her to a life without true love. But precisely because she stayed in that scene for close to ten years, she was smarter and more scheming than most ordinary women. She saw through certain matters clearer than anyone else.

Lin Family Main Hall

Lin Xin’s father and mother also came out with him in a hurry to greet the guests.

These two people were of the type that took advantage of the soft and feared the hard. Before, they kept worrying that the An family would come to take revenge, and they sat on pins and needles for half a month, but the An family did not make a move, so they thought that the An family knew that they were in the wrong and did not dare to come to their door. Thus, they slowly became at ease.

They never thought that they would enjoy less than two days of peace of mind before the An family came to their door. The two elders had a fright. They only calmed down after Lin Xin analyzed the pros and cons for them.

“What did you come here for? Did you not harm our Lin family enough already?”

As soon as Lin Xin’s mother laid eyes on An Zi Ran, she spat this out with a solemn countenance. Lin Xin had taught her this. The Lin family had reason on their side, so it was only right and expected that they should be angry and indignant. But their opponent was no ordinary schmuck, so they had to strike first and seize the initiative. Then the subsequent conversation would be much more beneficial to them.

But just as they had thought, An Zi Ran was no ordinary person.

Lin Xin’s mother’s anger did not move him. After listening to her, An Zi Ran just looked at them indifferently until the three of them became uncomfortable. After just a short while, Lin Xin’s parent’s imposing manner weakened.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lin Xin braced him himself and put on an unyielding expression, saying, “I have already divorced An Ke Xin. If you came to seek justice for her, the Lin family will never give in. I respect An gong zi’s personal character, but An Ke Xin, that poisonous woman, killed two of my unborn children. I will never welcome her through the door again.”

Lin Xin spoke as if his family were the victims.

“Who said I came here to get justice for An Ke Xin? Concerning that matter, it was indeed her wrong. It was not wrong for gong zi to divorce her. This time, I came here to take back An Ke Xin’s dowry.” An Zi Ran said unhurriedly.

Lin Xin stuttered. When he heard that last sentence, his entire face changed in a split second.

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Chapter 115.1 – Demanding Dowry

Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin came in with tumultuous momentum. If people didn’t know, they would think that the mother and daughter were coming to interrogate An Zi Ran.

However, before they could break in, Zhong Yue, who was standing guard at the door, stopped the two. Ge Qian An stayed behind in Jun Zi City, so Zhong Yue accompanied them this time.

Zhong Yue was expressionless and looked at them with extreme coldness.

Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin were just about to tell her to scram, but shivered when they were met with her cold stare. They had never seen this woman before. She was probably Fu Wu Tian’s subordinate. In a split second, their tension calmed down.

“Let them come in.”

Fu Wu Tian’s voice came from the study room.

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

Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin recognized this voice. They looked at Zhong Yue, suddenly feeling uppity. Their expressions were saying: Your master is letting us in, a slave-servant like you still dare to block us? Why don’t you reflect on your status?

Zhong Yue frowned in disgust and stepped aside to let them in.

Back in Jun Zi City, she heard Ge Qian An mention before that there were two reckless women in the An family. Even when death was breathing down their necks they would still be unaware. This type of people did not deserve any sympathy!

Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin swaggered into the study, but when they saw An Zi Ran, their prideful faces immediately changed into one of pity and misery, their expressions sour, as if they were the actual victims of the entire affair. But they were just trying to win An Zi Ran’s sympathy.

“Big Brother, you must give me justice on my behalf.”

As soon as An Ke Xin walked in, she rushed in front of An Zi Ran, addressing him in a super intimate manner, as if her tit-for-tat with An Zi Ran before her marriage had never happened.

An Zi Ran remembered that An Ke Xin had never called him Big Brother before. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would directly call him by name. When had she ever called him Big Brother before?

He glanced at An Ke Xin who was standing in front of him. It was only half a year since their last meeting, and she had already made herself into something not human but not ghost either. The scar on her forehead was really big and ugly. Don’t how she knocked her head against the table at that time, but nearly half of her forehead was scarred. There was a scar on her face too. It looked just like someone had struck her with a sharp weapon. An Ke Xin would never harm herself, so it was very likely that someone from the Lin family did it.

The former beautiful girl has now become an ugly young woman. She was still sixteen years old. There were still a few more months before she turned seventeen. She was in the prime of her life, but now she looked like someone in her twenties or thirties.

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For An Ke Xin to turn herself into this ghastly figure, An Zi Ran really did not expect this. He only knew that An Ke Xin and Zheng Bi took a tumble in the Lin family, but he never imagined that it would be such a big deal.

“Oh, you want me to give you justice?” An Zi Ran asked insouciantly.

When An Ke Xin saw his expression, her heart could not help but beat like a drum, but in order to retaliate against the Lin family, she could only lower her voice and calm her temper.

“Big Brother, the Lins are intolerable bullies. They not only caused me to knock my forehead on the corner of a table, but they also cut up my face while I was passed out. Now I’ve been completely disfigured. I will not be reconciled until I am avenged!”

As An Ke Xin spoke, she became more and more agitated. Her hands slammed against the table. Because of the unrest in her heart, her ten fingers subconsciously curled into claws. Due to her constant scratching at the walls, her fingernails were practically ruptured, nearly hurting herself. Zheng bi ended up trimming down her nails.

Seeing An Zi Ran’s indifferent expression, Zheng Bi quickly pulled An Ke Xin to her side.

“Mother, what are you doing?” An Ke Xin shouted at her impatiently.

Zheng bi ignored her and looked at An Zi Ran with a simpering expression. “Zi Ran, I know that Ke Xin did wrong. She shouldn’t have killed Lin Xin’s child, but this isn’t entirely Ke Xin’s fault. If it weren’t because Lin Xin refused to touch Ke Xin, and also took a prostitute into the family to humiliate Ke Xin, she would not have done such a radical thing. Besides, even if Ke Xin was really in the wrong, the Lin family shouldn’t have ruined her looks. The most important thing to a girl is her face. If it’s ruined, which man would still want her in the future?”

An Ke Xin covered her ruined face. There was a hint of resentment in her eyes. Lin Xin, and those three cheap women, she would never let them go!

An Zi Ran glanced at Zheng Bi indifferently. At least she had a bit more brains than An Ke Xin. If she had blindly avoided all blame, he definitely would not help them.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Right now, An Ke Xin and her mother had notorious reputations in the outside world. If he interfered in this affair without reason, it would adversely affect his reputation instead.

“Zi Ran, I know that this matter puts you in a difficult position, but no matter what, Ke Xin is still your younger sister. Even if you don’t stand up for her, we should at least take back Ke Xin’s dowry. That goddamn Lin family, they still have not returned Ke Xin’s dowry!”

Zheng Bi saw that An Zi Ran was unconcerned, so she could only settle for the next best thing.

But her words really did touch upon the important point.

Although An Ke Xin’s dowry was hers, it was still taken out from the An family’s assets. No matter how wrong An Ke Xin was, according to reason and logic, the Lin family still could not swallow her dowry. Therefore, her dowry must be recovered.

An Zi Ran raised his gaze. “I will handle this matter.”

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Chapter 114.3 – Disfigure

Steward Su finally felt at ease. Towards An Zi Ran, he had nearly blind faith. He felt that as long as An Zi Ran was there, no matter what kind of difficulties arise, they could all be easily solved.

After Steward Su’s departure, Fu Wu Tian, who had not spoken, suddenly said something.

“That Lin Xin was intentional, right?”

An Zi Ran said lightly, “One hundred percent.”

Perhaps other people could not tell, but there was no way to pull the wool over the eyes of these two. If Lin Xin really valued his children, he should’ve sent someone to protect the third and fourth concubine, and not just verbally warn An Ke Xin.

An Ke Xin had an extreme personality. Since she dared to use abortion medicine to kill the second concubine’s unborn fetus, then she would definitely do similar things again.

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

But Lin Xin did not take special precautions. He even went out to work every day during the first three months of the third and fourth concubines’ pregnancies. It was obvious that he did not place great importance on his concubines’ babies. Rather, it should be said that he was giving An Ke Xin a chance to get close to the third and fourth concubines.

Lin Xin loathed An Ke Xin. Since An Ke Xin could not bring him any benefits, then he didn’t have to keep her around anymore. But because this concerned the An family, he needed a justifiable excuse to divorce An Ke Xin, so that the An family would not be able to go to them looking for trouble. This also ensured that the Lin family’s reputation would not suffer any damage.

Originally, Lin Xin had planned to use the second concubine’s child to divorce An Ke Xin, but who knew that she would have such a thick-skinned face and she refused to leave the Lin family house. That’s why he then got a third and fourth concubine.

An Ke Xin was too vicious. She killed two unformed fetuses and even wanted to target the third one. When this kind of news spread, everyone would sympathize with the Lin family and verbally abuse the malicious An Ke Xin. At that time, Lin Xin would seem like the true victim.

This move of Lin Xin’s was very clever.

An Ke Xin was the An family’s second young miss. If it were not for An Zi Ran’s famous reputation outside, other people would definitely think that a family that produced such a daughter could not be much better.

This really was killing two birds with one stone. If the An family tried to bother the Lin family, it would only cause others to gossip about the An family.

“What are you planning to do next?” Fu Wu Tian asked.

An Zi Ran pondered. “This matter is not easy to resolve. The Lin family must have already made preparations. If they knew that I have already returned to An Yuan County, Lin Xin might flip it around and take a bite out of the An family.”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Fu Wu Tian leaned over, half pulling An Zi Ran into his arms. He murmured, “Three men talking makes a tiger*. Rumors are a good thing.”

[*T/N: 三人成虎 – idiom for repeated rumor becomes a fact]

An Zi Ran lowered his eyes.

If Lin Xin knew to stop when the going was good, then he would not pursue this matter deliberately, but if he had some scheme in mind, An Zi Ran wasn’t someone that was easy to mess with.

The news that An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian came back soon spread within the An family.

In the afternoon, An Zi Ran went over the ledgers that Steward Su brought him in the study. During his six months in the capital, Steward Su took good care of the An family and its businesses, especially the rice noodle shop that was in cooperation with Zhou Lao Han’s family.

The rice noodle shop has become a restaurant, and there was even more than one restaurant. The restaurants served all the dishes that Zhou Lao Han’s wife and the An family’s chef had experimented and developed together. They were as popular as the rice noodles and have become signature dishes.

Steward Su later felt that the restaurant could be expanded and thus opened another one in a nearby county.

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The restaurant was named after the An family. This was what Zhou Lao Han and his wife had insisted on. The fact that they could live like this today was all thanks to the An family, so they didn’t mind putting the An family’s name on the restaurant.

If things continued to develop like this with no accidents, then the An family restaurants would eventually take a place in the restaurant industry of Da Ya within a few years.

An Zi Ran was a very principled and generous person. He rewarded people for their merits and punished them for their mistakes. After going over the ledgers of the restaurant, he learned that Zhou Lao Han and his wife were still living in their old dilapidated house, so he had Steward Su find a spacious house within the county and close to the restaurant for them.

Steward Su also had this intention and left right away to do as bid.

An Zi Ran leaned back against the chair. Fu Wu Tian walked behind him and gently touched his temples. A warm and peaceful silence descended over the study room.

It was just that it didn’t take long for this peace to be broken.

Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin finally could not bear to endure and took the initiative to make an appearance.

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Chapter 114.2 – Disfigure

Steward Su was busy with the An family’s businesses. He did not have the time to manage that mother and daughter pair at all, and he also did not want to bother with them. When the young master left An Yuan County, he said that An Ke Xin married into the Lin family and was therefore a part of the Lin family.

Let their family members solve their own family’s affairs. Don’t interfere no matter what happens. Even if something really were to happen, then An Ke Xin was just reaping what she sowed.

Thus, when the news of the Lin family’s affairs reached An Yuan County, Steward Su just pretended not to know. He was just a servant. He could not make decisions for his master.

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

Steward Su’s attitude angered Zheng Bi and An Ke Xin, but if he didn’t tell An Zi Ran, then they also had no other alternative. It was not like they could run to Jun Zi City. An Zi Ran didn’t like them very much, so he would definitely not rush over for them.

In early August and late August, Lin Xin married two concubines in succession. Furthermore, he slept in the concubines’ rooms every night. Empathetically not going to An Ke Xin’s room.

In September, news of pregnancy simultaneously came from the third and fourth concubines’ quarters.

This time, they learned their lesson from what happened to the second concubine and did not allow An Ke Xin to take a single step into their courtyards. Who knew what crazy things this woman would do again?

Lin Xin even warned her that if she dared to murder his sons again, he would definitely take her up to the authorities and bring her to court. It seemed like An Ke Xin was scared by him and did not make any moves afterwards.

But they had underestimated An Ke Xin’s determination.

Once this woman acted up, she could do anything. Last time, she didn’t know she had to do it surreptitiously. This time, she did not have any misgivings.

[T/N: What do you mean she didn’t know she had to do these kinds of things secretly?! What was she high on?]

After enduring silently for a month, An Ke Xin first targeted the fourth concubine who had lowered her vigilance. She pushed the fourth concubine into the pond. The fetus was not very stable in the first three months of pregnancy, so this shock caused a miscarriage.

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However, she did not stop there. She immediately ran to the third concubine’s courtyard. Taking advantage of when the serving maid went out, she rushed in. But who would have thought that the third concubine was no ordinary woman. She was born stronger than most women, whereas An Ke Xin was spoiled and pampered since childhood. How could she possibly take on the third concubine? As a result, she was overthrown, and her forehead smacked heavily into the corner of a table. Just like that, her exquisite face was ruined.

An Ke Xin almost went crazy, but no one from the Lin family sympathized with her.

Lin Xin did not want to let her off with just this. Not only did he not get a doctor to treat her, instead, he locked her up in the firewood storage shed. She was given only one meal a day, and she was locked up for one month. She was starved until her skin turned sallow and her body became emaciated, her appearance sickly and malnourished.

It wasn’t until Zheng Bi brought people with her to forcefully barge in, did An Ke Xin get released. Then a divorce paper was flung in her face.

For the sake of the An family, Lin Xin would not sue An Ke Xin, but he told the mother and daughter to get out of his sight.

Seeing that her daughter’s appearance was ruined, how could Zheng Bi be willing to give up just like that? But with her daughter’s condition, she could no longer stay at the Lin family, so she had to take her back to the new An family house.

They’ve been staying at the An family house for half a month so far.

The wound on An Ke Xin’s face was not treated in time, resulting in an obvious and sinister wound that could not be covered with bangs. Since then, she hid in her room everyday, flinging things around. When she ran out of things to throw she resorted to using her fingernails to scratch at the walls. None of the servants dared to get close to the courtyard where the mother and daughter were staying.

Whether it was Lin Xin or An Ke Xin and Zheng Bi, both sides were wrong.

If Lin Xin did not covet the An family’s lands and took An Ke Xin as his wife, then this would not have happened. That was the start of it all. But what happened after was directly related to An Ke Xin and Zheng Bi’s greed.

If An Ke Xin and Zheng Bi did not conspire to get the Lin family’s property, perhaps Lin Xin would have provided for her at home. Even if he didn’t like her, he would not directly fall out with her.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

After listening to Steward Su, An Zi Ran felt like the previous wave had yet to settle, but another wave had already risen*.

[*T/N: the previous wave had yet to settle, but another wave had already risen = problems following one after another]

To sum up the situation in one sentence, An Ke Xin was reaping what she sowed. A vicious and merciless woman like her who consecutively murdered the unborn fetuses of Lin Xin’s two concubines, killing two human lives, the fact that Lin Xin didn’t take her up to court was really giving the An family face.

“Steward, I will take care of this problem. You don’t have to worry about it.” An Zi Ran said to Steward Su.

Recounting the story from start to finish, Steward Su had a frown between his brows the entire time. An Zi Ran knew that Steward Su was not concerned about An Ke Xin and Zheng Bi, but concerned that it would affected the An family’s reputation.

“Yes, Young Master. Then, I will go and tend to other matters now.”

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Chapter 114.1 – Disfigure

Lin Xin was not a simple hedonistic son of rich parents. He was lecherous by nature, frequently loitering around brothels, but he was someone with capabilities and ambition.

The Lin family was not the same as the An family. They did not make a fortune by being landlords. They were real businessmen. They started their enterprise by selling sackcloth. Their main business was selling sackcloth, supplemented by selling silk. But their business was not very big. Not until Lin Xin took over the Lin family did their business vitality gradually improved.

In recent years, the Lin family’s sackcloth became famous, and even their silk business was gaining more traction.

How could a man like Lin Xin, who was business-minded and very savvy, fail to see what An Ke Xin and Zheng Bi were thinking?

At first, he did not want to fall out with An Ke Xin and her mother, because he knew that the status of the young master of the An family had changed (to a wang fei), so he did not dare to offend An Zi Ran. At the start he was somewhat exercising forbearance.

But his forbearance was taken as weakness by An Ke Xin and her mother.

So the two became more and more arrogant. Even that b*tch, Zheng Bi, would often go to the Lin family to strut around. Furthermore, she acted like she was the master of the house, always bossing around the servants of the Lin family.

If it were just this, then whatever.

The most unbearable thing for Lin Xin was that An Ke Xin would go to the accounts office everyday and forcefully take away a large sum of money. In less than half a month, she spent nearly five thousand silvers. His father and mother had tried to dissuade her, but An Ke Xin vituperated them instead. Such an unfilial b*tch. If he were not worried about the An family, then he would’ve divorced her long ago.

Lin Xin was not a good person. He has done a lot of bad things. He had also came in contact with all sorts of people before. To deal with such a cheap woman like An Ke Xin, he had plenty of methods to bring her to heel.

As for the An family’s young master, Lin Xin still had misgivings, but he knew that An Ke Xin and her mother were not close with An Zi Ran. He had this investigated prior. An Zi Ran did not like this mother and daughter pair at all, so the probability of him standing up for them was not high. And this was why the thing that happened after came to be.

Lin Xin deliberately married a prostitute to humiliate An Ke Xin.

Not only that, he also spent every night at the concubine’s room. Ever since then, he never took a single step into An Ke Xin’s room. A month later, the concubine became pregnant.

An Ke Xin went crazy as he expected.

There was no movement in the belly of the main wife yet, but the concubine was pregnant first, and the other party was also a prostitute. What kind of place was Lin Xin putting her in?

How could the arrogant An Ke Xin swallow this insult? So she did something radical.

An Ke Xin took advantage of the time when Lin Xin was not around to put the abortion drug that Zheng Bi had secretly procured into the concubine’s food. The concubine was very cautious, but she never expected that An Ke Xin would be so vicious, that she would openly and without fear poison the fetus in her stomach. The concubine ended up miscarrying.

Lin Xin was furious when he knew about this incident. He didn’t need to think too much to know who was the culprit. He immediately ran to An Ke Xin and threatened to divorce her on the grounds that she had committed two of the seven divorce clauses, which was ‘unfilial to parents’ and ‘jealousy.’ Any one of the two was enough to give him reason to divorce her.

How could An Ke Xin be willing? She gave up all her future prospects to marry Lin Xin, this damn fatty. Not only did she get nothing, but she also gained a bad reputation. If she did not dig up a large sum of money from the Lin family, she would never give up.

Thus the two sides came to a head.

An Ke Xin tore up the divorce paper that Lin Xin gave her right on the spot, and she refused to leave the Lin family.

When Zheng Bi found out about the matter, she went over to make a ruckus everyday. But Lin Xin’s father and mother weren’t doormats either, particularly Lin Xin’s mother, she was not someone easy to deal with. In Tong Tai County, she was a renowned shrewd with a poisonous tongue. So whenever someone passed by the Lin family’s front door they would hear the sound of quarreling coming from inside.

At first it was just quarreling with words, later on it evolved into physical tiffs. But how could An Ke Xin and her mother be opponents for the entire Lin family? As a result of the physical fights, both body and face sustained wounds.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!!! ｡ﾟ.(*♡´◡` 人´◡` ♡*)ﾟ °・

I hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved one(s), be that romantic, familial, or platonic. 💖 🍫 🍰 🌹 💕

Thank you so much for all the love and support on my Patreon and Ko-Fi during these trying times:
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Mary: I will do my best to be careful with my health. If the caretaker gets sick then there’s no one to care for the patients. Also, I don’t want to get sick either, because that will set me back a lot. o(>_<)o 💦 Thank you again for your lovely comments. I really appreciate your care and concern. 🥰

Please take care of yourselves and stay safe everyone!

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Chapter 113.3 – Lin Family Matters

Steward Su went over to the horse carriage at once. When he saw the young master whom he had not seen for the past few months, his smile suddenly faltered. The handsome youth in front of him… was this really his young master?

Dong Lan and Xia Lan also froze.

The young master seemed to be the same as before, but also felt a bit different. The last time Steward Su saw him, the young master still had a relatively round face with a bit of baby fat to his cheeks. He not only grew in stature, but his appearance was even more mild and elegant. Right now, he was really a graceful youth.

“Young Master… you…” Steward Su’s tongue seemed to have been caught by a cat.

An Zi Ran did not know what they were thinking. He only thought that their attitude was a little strange, it did not seem like they were welcoming him back.

“Did something happen during my absence?”

Hearing this cool voice, it was indeed the young master. Steward Su finally recovered his senses, only to shake his head subconsciously, but then he nodded immediately after that reaction, which was extremely contradictory.

“Is it a yes or a no?” An Zi Ran was confused by him.

“Yes.” Steward Su replied firmly.

An Zi Ran frowned, “Does it have to do with Third Concubine and her daughter?”

Steward Su did not think that the young master’s intuition would be this accurate. He nodded. “It is indeed them. I was just planning to write to you, Young Master, to tell you about it when I received the news that you and gu ye were coming over.”

“Go in and then talk.”

“Yes.”

Although the new An family house was smaller than the old one, the layout inside was not much different from that of the old one. After moving in, Steward Su decided to arrange a new study room for An Zi Ran, and it was practically in the same location of the house as before. Even the things inside were arranged in much the same manner.

Nothing felt unfamiliar to An Zi Ran, but he also did not have the inclination to praise Steward Su’s meticulousness. After dismissing Dong Lan and Xiao Lan, only the three of them were left in the study room.

“Speak. Exactly what happened?”

As soon as Steward Su closed the door, An Zi Ran cut straight to the topic.

Steward Su considered the language a bit and then said, “Young Master, the matter is like this, ever since the second young miss married into the Lin family, there has not been a single peaceful day…”

The reason by Zheng Bi agreed to have her daughter marry into the Lin family was because of the family property. She realized that letting her daughter marry some influential official could garner a higher status and position, but at best she would merely be a concubine. The identity of a concubine was very awkward and embarrassing, this she understood deeply.

That day, when she saw the betrothal gifts from the Lin family, Zheng Bi had these thoughts. Which one was better, money or power? The average person would definitely think that power was better. In fact, she also thought so, but the premise was having the status of main wife. If it was being a concubine for life, then money was the better option.

So Zheng Bi thought of a plan.

She persuaded An Ke Xin to marry Lin Xin, and then conspired with her daughter to prepare to take the Lin family property.

As the saying went, mothers relied on their children for wealth.

The two women’s plan was to first have An Ke Xin give birth to a son for the Lin family, this way her position in the Lin family would raise a lot, and she would even have absolute say in the family. So after An Ke Xin married into the Lin family, Zheng Bi went around looking for some folk remedies that would help a woman conceive rapidly. But their plan could not trump change.

They never imagined that Lin Xin turned out to be a person with different appearances. Within half a month after the two got married, he showed his true face.

Lin Xin was an ambitious person. The reason he took An Ke Xin as a wife was not because he had fallen in love at first sight. He conspired to obtain the An family lands. Just as Zheng Bi had said, when An Chang Fu was still alive, he had said that he would include some real estate as a part of An Ke Xin’s dowry. But no one knew how Lin Xin had gotten a hold of this information.

It was a pity for him that the one he met was An Zi Ran. On the dowry list that An Zi Ran provided for An Ke Xin, there was no real estate listed, not even one acre.

The Lin family was greatly disappointed. But because of the An family, they did not dare to mistreat An Ke Xin.

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Happy 2021! May this year bring positive changes to all!

I really wanted to get this up on January 1st so that I could wish everyone a proper Happy New Years, but I haven’t had a day off since New Years Eve, so I simply didn’t have the time or energy to translate. Today is finally my day off, so I’m getting this update out to you now. My workplace is severely overworked and understaffed at the moment. One third of the people in my department are out sick. So please excuse the sparse updates as of late.

I’m also updating Let Me Shoulder this Blame! today, so readers of that story can go check it out.

Stay safe everyone, and happy reading!

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Chapter 113.2 – Lin Family Matters

Mei Yu Palace (Beautiful Jade Palace)

When she heard the news, Mei zhao yi’s stunningly beautiful face twisted in a split second. Right in front of the eunuch and the servant girl who were trembling with fear and trepidation, Mei zhao yi angrily swept the tea set on the table to the floor. The tea set broke into many fragments upon the floor.

“The emperor really conferred the title of Yan fei upon that cheap slut*?”

[*T/N: 贱人 jian ren – slut, cheap person, or b*tch]

Mei zhao yi tried hard to make her face look less fierce, but still failed. The formerly gorgeous face was flickering with malicious color. She looked just like a female ghost that had crawled out of the underworld.

The maidservant, Ning Liu, nodded hesitantly, “It’s true. The emperor has already passed the decree this morning and bestowed Zhao Zi Palace (Bright Purple Palace) to Yan fei niang niang*.”

[*T/N: 娘娘 niang niang – a respectful suffix for the empress or imperial concubines.]

Mei zhao yi’s face became more and more distorted. The emperor not only made that cheap slut Yan fei, but also gave her Zhao Zi Palace. This showed how much he valued that slut.

Obviously the title Yan fei and Zhao Zi Palace should be hers!

Mei zhao yi had always thought that both would be in her pocket, but this decree shattered her ambitions.

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

It was not only her was shocked. Those most respected noble ladies were also alarmed. If it were just the title Yan fei then that would be fine, but Zhao Zi Palace had a great meaning in the harem, and the specific meaning could be seen just from the name of the palace.

Zhao Zi was a homonym for zhao zi*.

[*T/N: 招 zhao – to beckon; 子 zi – son, child]

This decree of the emperor’s clearly showed his extreme favoritism for this Yan fei niang niang. He liked her to the point that he wished for her to give the imperial family a son, an heir. This was an unprecedented favor. What virtues and capabilities did this Yan fei have to actually make the emperor favor her this much?

The whole harem was turbulent because of this decree.

Chong Ming Emperor was unlikely to have any peace in the upcoming period of time because of this, and would not have the time to pay attention to Fu Wu Tian’s whereabouts.

Imperial Cheng Palace

The news that Fu Wu Tian and An Zi Ran left Jun Zi City soon reached Fu Yuan Cheng’s ears. His first impression of An Zi Ran was good, although An Zi Ran was very estranged that day.

“Where are you going?”

The person who told him the news was Zhao Yi. He came to the main door of the Imperial Cheng Palace early in the morning. These two grew up together. After Fu Yuan Cheng’s palace was built, Zhao Yi would come over every so often. His visits were more diligent than anyone else’s.

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Zhao Yi replied, “I heard that they’re going back to An Yuan County. An Yuan County is the hometown of Fu wang fei, and the An family business is there.”

Fu Yuan Cheng had also heard of this. Although he did not attend Fu Wu Tian’s wedding reception, he still paid attention to Fu Wu Tian for a period of time because of the military power that he held. He also knew a little about the An family. He, like other people, thought that An Zi Ran was as fat and ugly as rumors said.

Fu Yuan Cheng had sent someone to inquire about An Zi Ran, but at that time, the person that he had sent went directly to An Yuan County to poke around. At that time, An Zi Ran had lost weight, but he was definitely not as slender and handsome as now. This was the real reason for his interest in An Zi Ran.

However, unlike the emperor, he always felt that things could not be so simple. His impression of An Zi Ran was not only that of a fat and ugly person, but also those things he did in An Yuan County, which also impressed him.

Zhao Yi seemed to know what he was thinking, so he stepped forward and whispered something in his ear.

Fu Yuan Cheng smiled suddenly, “Are you sure?”

Zhao Yi nodded. “I also found out that that person is already relying on the first prince’s help.”

“A pity. What a pity!” Fu Yuan Cheng suddenly shook his head and sighed. His tone and voice seemed to have a touch of regret.

Zhao Yi knew what Fu Yuan Cheng felt was a pity. He also felt that it was a waste of opportunity.

……

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

After a day and a half, An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian finally reached An Yuan County. In order to get to Ali Xiang, they must pass through An Yuan County, but in order to pull the wool over other people’s eyes, they decided to stay in An Yuan County for two days.

The horse carriage stopped in front of the An family’s new house. Steward Su, who had received the news of their return, took Dong Lan and Xia Lan, who were left here by An Zi Ran, to wait by the main door of the new house early in the morning.

Fu Wu Tian lifted the curtain of the horse carriage. He held the two hands that stretched out from the interior of the carriage, and helped the person get off the carriage.

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Chapter 113.1 – Lin Family Matters

The 27^th year of Chong Ming Emperor’s reign, November 15^th, clear skies.

An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian finally set off for Ali Xiang. They left quietly. There were people keeping tabs on them in secret, but they would only think that Fu Wu Tian was accompanying An Zi Ran back home to An Yuan County.

After all, An Zi Ran had a family business in An Yuan County. Last time he went back, they stayed in An Yuan County for a long time. Even if they stayed pass the new year in An Yuan County, no one would find that suspicious, furthermore, they needed to pass through An Yuan County to get to Ali Xiang.

This time when they passed by the tea shed again, they no longer saw a large number of stick-thin farmers migrating to Maple City.

Along the way, they would occasionally hear people talking about Fu Wu Tian.

The contents of their dialogue focused around the biggest corruption case in Hong Province’s history and the disaster in Chang Province. Most of them were praising Fu Wu Tian.

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

To the common people, they worshipped whoever could allow them to have food to eat and clothes to wear. So after the two incidences in Hong Province and Chang Province, Fu Wu Tian’s reputation in these two places surpassed the emperor.

This incident spread to the ears of the Chong Ming Emperor.

The emperor was very angry, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Chong Ming Emperor had thought of sending officials to take the credit for Fu Wu Tian’s work, but Fu Wu Tian did a terrific job. Starting from the corruption case in Hong Province, he acted with great fanfare. At that time, many people had focused their attention on him, including those from several neighboring provinces.

Then later, Fu Wu Tian used all the money that he confiscated from the corrupt officials to mitigate the disaster in Chang Province, which helped him gain a very good reputation.

At that time, the Chong Ming Emperor already knew that it was impossible to send someone else to intervene in this matter. Fortunately for the emperor, he found an excuse to take back Fu Wu Tian’s military power. At long last, resolving one of the worries in his mind.

Hearing these rumors again, he did not get angry like before when he heard Fu Wu Tian’s name. He thought that Fu Wu Tian had no military power, so even if the people supported him, he could not make any big waves, thus he went back to indulging in the beauties within the harem everyday.

In the last talent selection, the harem count increased by dozens more beauties.

Chong Ming Emperor remembered that there was a beauty that was particularly special, always making him unable to stop himself. For one month straight, he showed special favor towards that beauty.

This was unprecedented.

The emperor was very lecherous, and he had never favored any beauty for more than a month, including Mei zhao yi*, who possessed remarkable beauty. She was the one who calmed his temper in the Imperial Study Room. At that time, the emperor gave her special favor for half a month. Just that half a month’s time was enough to make many concubines in the harem incessantly jealous.

[*T/N: 美昭仪 Mei zhao yi – this is her concubine title, not her name. ‘Mei’ means beauty and ‘zhao yi’ is the concubine rank.]

However, it was only half a month. In the end, she only got raised to the main second-level zhao yi*. She couldn’t even advance to one of the si fei*. This led to a lot of other concubines rejoicing in her misfortune.

[*T/N: Her rank is 正二品的昭仪 zheng er pin de zhao yi. According to baidu, 昭仪 zhao yi is a type of concubine placed in the Western Han Dynasty during the Yuan Emperor period. Apparently, at that time, it was second only to the empress. I’m guessing the author is using a mishmash of concubine rankings from different time periods, or perhaps she’s using a ranking system from a time period that I’m unfamiliar with (which is highly likely), because the text then goes on to mention 四妃 si fei (four concubines), which sounds like it’s higher than zhao yi based on context, but clashes with the baidu definition. However, I am aware that in certain dynasties the top three concubine ranks are: 皇后 empress, 皇贵妃 huang gui fei, and then 贵妃 gui fei. In this ranking system, there can only be 1 empress, 1 huang gui fei, and 4 gui fei. The huang gui fei is practically equal to the empress, so most of the time a gui fei would get the title posthumously.]

This was all until that particular beauty appeared.

At first, no one thought that she would be favored for a longer period of time than Mei zhao yi, but as it happened the results were contrary to their expectations.

Countless concubines in the harem nearly grinded their teeth into powder. They were confident that their appearance was not worse than that beauty, but why did the emperor favor her?

No one could figure it out, including some of the most respected noble ladies in the harem.

Then a subsequent decree astounded them all. Chong Ming Emperor went as far as to skip over discussion with Zhang Sun Empress. Without even saying a word to her, the emperor conferred the title of Yan fei upon that beauty, and she became the last fei among the si fei.

Although it was only one level away from Mei zhao yi, it was like a chasm that could not be bridged. In an instance, the identity gap between the two people widened. This kind of difference was not something that could be measured between a main second-level concubine and a side second-level concubine.

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T/N: Double update for TBL today. Running late, but this is for the last week of Nov and the first week of Dec. Hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 112.2 – Before Departure

Yu Bo Fei laughed loudly, “No need to be humble. If you can inflict a serious blow on the second prince and his party, then this is a credit to you and the brothers under your command. When the time comes I will evaluate the merit of your actions and reward accordingly.”

Gong Yun no longer declined. He saluted and said, “I thank the commander on behalf of my brothers.”

Yu Bo Fei waved his hand.

……

At the Imperial Fu Palace, An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian had already finished up preparations for their trip to Ali Xiang. The departure date has also been set, and it just so happened to be on the fifteenth of November. But An Zi Ran could not feel at ease leaving the little bun behind.

Their destination, Ali Xiang, was far away, and they might be delayed along the road for ten to fifteen days. The little bun was too young. It was not suitable for him to go on this trip with them. But once An Zi Ran thought of the little bun ‘living alone’ with the lao wang ye under one roof, he worried that what happened before would occur again.

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

“Go at ease. I will watch over the lao wang ye strictly.”

Fu Yi stepped forward to assure him. The smile on his face was more horrifying than usual. Last time, he also promised An Zi Ran the same thing, but the lao wang ye still slipped in through a gap. His illustrious reputation… this time, if he committed the same fault as last time, then he could just fire himself. He was as good as his word.

This was the first time that An Zi Ran saw such an expression on the head steward’s face, and he immediately felt relieved.

In the afternoon, Wang Qing Lan’s servant girl, Qi Qiao, came over. It was as if she caught wind of some news.

“Fourth Concubine wants to see me?” An Zi Ran looked at Qi Qiao unexpectedly. Because Wang Qing Lan’s status was merely that of a concubine, so she couldn’t go to other people’s houses willy-nilly, not even if it was the house of An Zi Ran’s husband, so she could only send Qi Qiao over to look for him.

Qi Qiao lowered her head. “Yes, Young Master.”

An Zi Ran remembered that he hadn’t seen Wang Qing Lan for a while. He was very busy, so he didn’t have time to pay attention to her. But since coming to the capital, the number of times that she left the An Palace was low. She seemed to be living quietly and not causing trouble, so he thought that she had finally settled down.

“You go back first. I’ll head over in a moment.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

A little while later, An Zi Ran returned to the An Palace alone. An Palace was nominally also his home, but he had only been there two or three times.

Wang Qing Lan and her personal maid, Qi Qiao, were already waiting for him in the main hall of the Palace. As soon as she saw An Zi Ran, a flash of joy flickered in Wang Qing Lan’s eyes. Although she quickly smothered the joy, it was still detected by An Zi Ran.

“I heard from Qi Qiao that Fourth Concubine was looking for me. What’s the matter?”

As soon as An Zi Ran walked in, he questioned her straightforwardly before he even sat down.

The smile on Wang Qing Lan’s face went stiff. Originally, she had wanted to reminisce with him about old times, but she could only explain, “It’s like this, I heard that you and Fu wang ye are preparing to leave Jun Zi City, is that true?”

An Zi Ran furrowed his brows. “Where did you hear that?”

Wang Qing Lan perceived that he was not happy, so she explained again, “Don’t misunderstand me, I didn’t inquire about your and Fu wang ye’s matters. It’s just that, coincidentally, one day I heard the servants from the Imperial Fu Palace shouting through the wall, so I guessed that perhaps you were planning to go out. I definitely did not intentionally inquire about it.”

An Zi Ran’s serious expression eased a little. The movements of the past few days were indeed quite large. If she had stood by the wall, it was not impossible for her to overhear.

“You had me come over here just to say this?”

Wang Qing Lan said, “I’m just afraid that if for some reason I wanted to consult with you over something, I would not be able to find you. That’s why I want to discuss it with you, if such a time were to occur whom should I look for then?”

An Zi Ran said, “I didn’t know that Fourth Concubine had the ability to prophesize the future without being a clairvoyant.”

Wang Qing Lan heard the sarcasm in his words, and a trance of stiffness flashed across her face. “Fourth Concubine just wants to take precautions against any contingencies, nothing more.”

An Zi Ran knew that she must have another purpose, otherwise she would not specifically ask him to come over and ask about it. But she did remind him that Wang Qing Lan has been acting too peacefully during this time. The more peaceful she was, the more problematic it was, like the calm before the storm.

It was just that he would not be in Jun Zi City for the new two or three months. If something did indeed crop up, he would be too far away to act. It seemed that he had to find someone to keep an eye her.

“I understand. If there is a problem that cannot be solved, you can go look for the head steward in the Imperial Fu Palace. He will help you solve it.”

Wang Qing Lan said with a happy face, “Okay. Fourth Concubine understands.”

An Zi Ran gave her a deep look before leaving.

Wang Qing Lan watched his departing back, and finally she could not contain the growing joy on her face. An Zi Ran though that she had some objective, and she did indeed, but it wasn’t some conspiracy. She just wanted to borrow the reputation of the Imperial Fu Palace, and make those people who looked down on her think that her relationship with the Imperial Fu Palace was very good, that’s all.

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Chapter 112.1 – Before Departure

The Yu Manor was about the same size as the Imperial Fu Palace, but Yu gui fei’s* father, Yu Zheng, as an important minister for two imperial dynasties, and a high official of the Ministry of War, the amount of effort that he invested into Da Ya was almost equally matched to Zhang Sun Cheng De.

[*T/N: Different from the Yu huang gui fei mentioned before. Huang gui fei is a higher rank than gui fei.]

Thus, due to all the work that he contributed for the sake of Da Ya, the previous emperor bestowed this mansion house to Yu Zheng. At the time of construction, it was built according to the specifications of a prince’s palace, so it was a bit more majestic than other government houses.

Gong Yun looked up to see a plaque with the words Fu Manor directly above the front door. His astute eyes than darted back down and he strode inside.

The doorkeepers of the Yu Manor have seen him before and knew that he was the master’s trusted aide. Last year, he rose to serve as the deputy commander of the imperial guards. Therefore the doorkeepers were very respectful. They diligently invited him inside, not daring to neglect him.

Gong Yun didn’t dare to ignore the rules of the Yu Manor even if he had been there a few times before. He respectfully followed the Yu Manor steward to Yu Bo Fei’s study room.

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Yu Bo Fei was Yu huang gui fei’s older brother. He was already forty-five years old this year. He had one son and one daughter. The older son was already twenty-three years old. From childhood, he was the third prince’s study partner. Compared to the third prince, Fu Yuan Yang, whose temperament was not that good, disagreeable and irascible; his son, on the contrary, was thoughtful and meticulous. The two complemented each other very well.

“Come in!”

Yu Bo Fei’s customary awe-inspiring voice rang out from within the study.

Gong Yun steadied his nerves, pushed open the door, and walked in. However, the steward did not leave, but kept watch at the door of the study, seeming to be there to prevent anyone from overhearing.

“Commander, what did you summon me for?” Gong Yun asked, with his expression the same as ever. He walked in front of Yu Bo Fei, who was buried under legal files, and had yet to lift his head.

Yu Bo Fei finally lifted his head and showed a resolute expression. Already forty-five years old, but he looked like he was only in his thirties. His face was not angry as his eyes fell on Gong Yun. Only after a while did he open his mouth.

“Gong Yun, I remember that you have always been a person with propriety. You should know that the person behind Bao Hua Gambling House is the fifth prince. He has the Zhao family’s support, and behind him there is the second prince backing him in court. This time, why did you not tell me first before openly confronting them?”

Gong Yun raised his eyes and said, “Commander, you should have already heard about Tian Long Gambling House.”

Yu Bo Fei nodded. “This matter was such a tumultuous event, that it would be hard not to hear about it. I know what you mean, but what does this have to do with you?”

“It has nothing to do with me, “ Gong Yun said, “but it does have something to do with the Yu family.”

Yu Bo Fei looked at him. “Why do you say so?”

Gong Yun said, “Bao Hua Gambling House is the most profitable industry under the fifth prince’s name. These years, the circulation of his funds all depends on this casino to operate. Also, all of his dirty money goes through Bao Hua Gambling House to become clean money. If Bao Hua Gambling House collapses or there is some problem, wouldn’t it be a big hit for the second prince and his faction?”

With this in mind, he took the risk and brought twenty brothers under his lead to intervene in the matter. Even if the second prince’s faction bore a grudge against them because of this, it did not matter. They were hostile towards each other to begin with.

In recent years, the second prince has become so popular that even the Chong Ming Emperor has praised him many times at court in front of the civil and military officials. There has even been word that the throne might be passed to him. How could the Yu family not be alert!

Yu Bo Fei was a smart man, and soon came to think of this too.

It was no secret that Bao Hua Gambling House and Tian Long Gambling House were in dispute with each other, but since the opening of Tian Long Gambling House, Bao Hua Gambling House has never benefited from the confrontation between the two, and each time they lost miserably.

Although it was a matter between the two gambling houses, there were many people in Jun Zi City who were paying attention to this matter, including Yu Bo Fei, but the focus of his attention was not on Bao Hua Gambling House, rather, it was on Tian Long Gambling House.

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

From the appearance of this mysterious gambling house to the present, no one knew who the mastermind behind it was. At the beginning, no one particularly cared about it. There were many gambling houses within the capital. It was common to see gambling houses rise and fall. When there was competition, naturally there would be failure.

Everyone was calm until the emergence of mahjong and playing card games.

The emergence of the new gambling games meant reform. Many people immediately thought of the benefits. They all thought of sticking their noses in and harshly barring the other’s path, but Tian Long Gambling House protected these two kinds of gambling games very closely, especially mahjong. Its production method was a mystery till this day.

Yu Bo Fei was not a businessman, but even he was envious of the development prospects of these two types of gambling games. If Tian Long Gambling House were to truly develop, then the nine major gambling houses, such as Bao Hua Gambling House were likely to suffer indelible damage.

Yu Bo Fei said, “You did very well. It is I who blamed you wrongly.”

Gong Yun said, “I don’t deserve your praise. This subordinate is merely doing what he should do.”

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