Category: The Big Landlord

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Chapter 97.1 – Casino Open for Business

Chong Ming Year 27, September 1^st

The Chong Ming Emperor has been in power for twenty-seven years. Although he was muddleheaded and incompetent, none of his ministers and princes was pushovers. Therefore, even if he often made some ridiculous decisions, the imperial city of Jun Zi City was still thriving as always.

The streets were crowded and bustling with noise and excitement. The sound of ringing gongs and drums along with the shouts of hawkers selling their wares mixed together into an irritating noise in one’s ears.

However, under this prosperity, there was a street filled to the very brim with people, and there was even a steady stream of people pouring into this street. That street was walled Xiao Jin Street*.

[*T/N: 销金街 – Money Squandering Street]

“Da Hei*.”

[*T/N: Literally “Big Black”]

By the side of the road, a well-dressed, handsome man suddenly called a name.

The guard in black clothes standing behind him immediately took a step forward. “Gong zi, what is your command?”

The handsome man looked at the crowd of people who kept rushing by them. Some people seemed to be pouring into the crowd as if they were in a hurry. If the man and his guard had not stepped back in time, then they would have been hit several times already. The man was puzzled. Looking at the situation, it seemed like something major happened.

“Go and see what happened.”

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“Yes, gong zi!”

The guard in black spoke and caught a young man who happened to run past them.

The young man who was waylaid for no reason turned around with dissatisfaction, wanting to toss out a few words of complaint, but then found that the person holding him was equipped with a weapon around his waist.

The handsome man walked in front of the young man and asked gently, “Young man, what is going on here? Why are so many people going to that street?”

The young man gave him a once over. The handsome man didn’t seem to be from foreign lands, but he didn’t even know about such a big thing? Still, the young man explained truthfully, “If gong zi is from the capital then you should have heard of Xiao Jin Street. There were originally ten big gambling houses, but there were only nine left a few months ago. A mysterious man bought up the gambling house that had gone bankrupt. He changed Feng Hua Gambling House into Tian Long Gambling House. Today is precisely the opening day of that Tian Long Gambling House.”

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The handsome man felt that something was odd. “What’s so strange about a casino opening?”

Of course he knew about Xiao Jin Street. There were countless casinos and brothels there. Precisely because there were so many, there was nothing strange about an old business falling and a new one rising to take its place.

“If it were just an ordinary casino then there is nothing strange, but this Tian Long Gambling House is different,” said the young man.

“How is it different?” The handsome man asked with interest.

“The predecessor of Tian Long Gambling House was destroyed by Bao Hua Gambling House. Bao Hua Gambling House has always regarded Feng Hua Gambling House as something already within their pocket, but then out comes a dark horse, stealing the wind from their sails. So everyone is curious about who is behind Tian Long Gambling House. Who would dare to oppose Bao Hua Gambling House?”

Hearing the name Bao Hua, a strange glimmer flashed through the eyes of the handsome man.

“Then, we have to go and see. But there should be other reasons, right?”

Bao Hua Gambling House was unlikely to give up. They would spare no effort to suppress Tian Long Gambling House, as usual. It should be impossible to attract so many curious people on Tian Long Gambling House’s opening day.

The young man said, “Gong zi, good guess. If Tian Long Gambling House was just like other casinos then it’s nothing strange, but these days many people have been saying that Tian Long Gambling House invented a new gambling game. Don’t know if it’s true or false, so everyone wants to see it.”

“A new gambling game?”

The handsome man’s expression suddenly brightened. He thought of various reasons, but he didn’t think of this one. It was indeed a good way to attract gamblers with a new gambling game. Customers liked fresh game play and were naturally interested. Once the curiosity struck, then like the young man said, they would all have the idea of going to see for themselves.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

The handsome man smiled at him and said, “Thank you, young man. Just then, we were rude.”

The young man was embarrassed to see him being so polite, and quickly waved his hand to say it was okay, and then ran away.

“Da Hei, let us go and see too.”

The handsome man retrieved a fan from within his sleeve and flipped it open with a popping sound. Then he strode in the direction of the largest flow of people.

A tangled expression flashed by the guard’s face, and then he reluctantly followed the man. He didn’t like the name Da Hei. It didn’t feel like a name for a person, but his many protests were all invalid, so he kept using it all this time.

Tian Long Gambling House’s opening day was even livelier than what the other nine big casinos had imagined.

However, the livelier that it was, the uglier the other nine casinos’ expressions became, especially that of Bao Hua Gambling House. They had already spread the word, and many old time gamblers promised to give them face and not go to Tian Long Gambling House. Everything went according to their plan.

But just three days ago, the wind changed directions completely.

Don’t know who transmitted it, but news of there being a new gambling game in Tian Long Gambling House spread around, arousing the gamblers’ interest.

Although they didn’t say it, their expressions said that they were looking forward to the day when Tianlong Casino opened.

The nine gambling houses had previously maliciously guessed that the so-called new gambling game was actually a gimmick spread by Tian Long Gambling House. How could a new gambling game be created so easily? So they were all waiting for the day when Tian Long Gambling House opened. If the news was false, then they had ways to make Tian Long Gambling House go out of business in a short time.

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Announcement \(^∀^)/

I picked up a new Chinese BL novel: Didn’t Love You Enough
This novel is also set in ancient China, but it’s not a transmigration story. Instead, the gong goes back in time to right the wrongs of his life, in particular showering the shou with more love, hence the title. Reviews promised me lots of fluff in this story, so I’m looking forward to it.

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Chapter 96.2 – Thousand Asteraceae

In the next few rounds, the lao wang ye did not get to shout peng anymore. Furthermore, what was strange was that it was actually quite common for players to shout peng while playing mahjong. But from the start of the game until now, asides from the lao wang ye, no one else has called peng, which was evident of how terrible everybody’s hand were.

This situation continued until nearly all the tiles had been drawn.
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Head Steward Fu touched a tile that was in front of the lao wang ye. At a glance, it matched up with some of the tiles in his hand, but it was not enough to complete a winning hand.

In order to prevent the lao wang ye from winning, the tiles were played very messily, so from the start there was no possibility of completing a winning hand. He did not intend to play the tile currently in his hand, so he carelessly picked a tile that the lao wang ye had played before and flung it onto the middle of the table.

The lao wang ye’s gaze abruptly deepened, looking like it did before he had amnesia, and his expression seemed to exude a cold aura.

After another round, it was An Zi Ran’s turn again. There were only three mahjong tiles left to draw on the table. That meant that after him, it would be Head Steward Fu and then the lao wang ye. Monopolizing the last tile, huh?

An Zi Ran couldn’t help but blink his eyes.

The atmosphere in the main hall suddenly became oppressive.

Not to mention the players already involved, but the two people watching, Chun Lan and Qiu Lan, had a layer of sweat on their foreheads. They never thought that playing mahjong could be like the battlefield.

The little bun, who was lying in Qiu Lan’s arms, looked over at his big brother’s tiles with his big round eyes. Out of the blue, he giggled and broke the tight atmosphere in the main hall, like a burst of energy popping a balloon.

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The lao wang ye, Fu Wu Tian, and Head Steward Fu’s eyes were all concentrated on him.

An Zi Ran paused. He placed the mahjong tile in his hand down into his lineup of tiles, hesitated for a moment, and as if making up his mind, he picked up a tile and threw it out onto the middle of the table. “Liu tong*.”

[*T/N: Name of a mahjong tile. Direct translation is “six cylinders”]

“I won!”

A sonorous voice rang out, shaking the ceiling of the palace and puncturing people’s eardrums. Then, the lao wang ye laughed smugly. He could finally raise his eyebrows and blow off steam.

What followed was a loud silence that blanketed the main hall.

The lao wang ye was finally done laughing. He looked at the three silent people and said proudly, “Want to compete with me? You guys are still far behind!”

Fu Wu Tian and Head Steward Fu looked at An Zi Ran with strange expressions on their faces.

An Zi Ran calmly said, “I spoke wrong. It is wu tong*.”

[*T/N: Name of a mahjong tile. Direct translation is “five cylinders”]

The lao wang ye’s laughter came to an abrupt end.

“Chi*!”

[*T/N: 哧 chi – (onom.) giggling / breathing / tearing of paper, ripping of fabric etc]

Head Steward Fu couldn’t contain himself and laughed out loud.

Fu Wu Tian added oil to the fire: “Grandfather, you bombed*.”

[*T/N: The Chinese used here is 诈胡 zha hu, with zha meaning “to cheat or to pretend” and hu meaning “to complete a winning hand at mahjong.”]

The lao wang ye looked sluggishly at the wu tong in front of An Zi Ran. No matter how he groaned, the wu tong would not become liu tong. A thousand calculations, but he did not calculate that his granddaughter-in-law would be the one to successfully dig a pit for him.

The fact that An Zi Ran was able to dupe him was actually due to his carelessness.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

It was very easy to become anxious or nervous while playing mahjong. When a person’s nerves were tight, they would lean towards subjective assumptions. For example, when An Zi Ran played the wu tong, he deliberately covered the face of the tile with his thumb, and then used a louder voice to alert the lao wang ye to the tile he wanted to play. Because the lao wang ye wanted to win so badly, he would always be thinking of the tile that he needed to complete his winning hand, which was liu tong. Thus, when he heard the words ‘liu tong’ his brain formed a conditioned response, causing his mouth to be faster than his eyes, and his hands quickly revealed his tiles. Only after showing his hand did his eyes finally land on the tile that An Zi Ran played.

But the premise of all this was that the lao wang ye did not cheat.

In his last life, An Zi Ran actually did not come into contact with mahjong much, but there were many people around him who liked to play mahjong. Those people were all masters at the games with plenty of crafty tricks up their sleeves. Even without playing, An Zi Ran was able to learn just by watching.

“Granddaughter-in-law, how can you dig a pit for your grandfather like this?”

The lao wang ye pulled a long face. He specially prepared for ten days for this game. In the end, he lost to the hand of his granddaughter-in-law at the final moment. Nothing changed. He returned back to the origin point.

Having heard what he said, An Zi Ran lifted his head and looked straight at him.

“If grandfather had played nicely, then granddaughter-in-law naturally would not dupe grandfather.”

The lao wang ye immediately turned his gaze away. “Grandfather suddenly remembered that there was something to do. I will take my leave first.” After that, he ran off without waiting for anyone to react.

Everyone laughed.

Just then, he was acting bold and confident as if justice was on his side, but now his heart knew guilt. At the beginning, no one pursued his cheating. That was already giving him face. Now that he was duped, he could only blame himself for the outcome.

Although he conned him, An Zi Ran actually admired the lao wang ye.

In just ten days, he had developed such a brilliant technique. He had to say, the lao wang ye was very qualified to be called a gambling god. If the players sitting in front of him were not the three of them, then they would not have detected his cheating.

Head Steward Fu stood up and praised An Zi Ran without hesitation. “Well done. For the short term, he should not be making a fuss anymore. I still have something to do, so I will be going out. I will not be coming back for dinner.”

As he predicted, in order to have them forget about this incident, the lao wang ye did not kick up a fuss for a while, and calm days returned to the prince’s palace.

A few days passed like the blink of an eye, and Tian Long Gambling House was finally officially opened.

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Chapter 96.1 – Thousand Asteraceae

In the Imperial Fu Palace there was a square table right in the middle.

The table was similar to the twenty-first century mahjong table. The only difference was that there was no layer of velvet mat on the table, so when the one hundred and thirty-six mahjong tiles were poured out, the sound was loud and many people could hear it.
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There was one person sitting on each of the four sides of the table.

Ai Zi Ran sat opposite the lao wang ye. To the left of the lao wang yei was Fu Wu Tian, and to the right was Head Steward Fu. Qiu Lan held on to the spirited little bun and stood with Chun Lan to one side watching the proceedings.

This time, the bet was thirteen years.

Since the lao wang ye moved on from playing Fight the Landlord and became addicted to playing mahjong, this was the first time he made such a huge bet.

All the servants of the palace thought that the lao wang ye must have gone stupid from losing so much. If he lost again, then his grounding time would be doubled. However, in the eyes of An Zi Ran and the other two, the lao wang ye was actually very smart.

The lao wang ye was not young anymore. To him, there was no difference between thirteen and twenty-six years. Since it was like this, then why not just go big in this gamble. If he won, then he would no longer be grounded, and if he lost, it wouldn’t make much difference.

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Lao wang ye too in a deep breath and his expression morphed into the serious look of one about to fight at close quarters on a battlefield. He scooped up the dice on the table and said to the other three, “Old rules. Whoever has the highest number is the banker*.”

[*T/N: 做庄 zuo zhuang: I think this means to be the banker (in a gambling game). I don’t know all the rules of mahjong, so I don’t even know if there’s a banker or not. Alternatively, it could mean who goes first…?]

The lao wang ye was becoming more and more of a gambling addict. This sentence was no different from what a seasoned gambler would say.

An Zi Ran did not say a word. It made no difference to him who was the banker.

Head Steward Fu said, “It doesn’t matter to me.”

Fu Wu Tian looked at the deadly serious lao wang ye and said, “If grandfather likes to be the banker, then let grandfather go first (and be the banker).”

The lao wang ye accepted this without hesitation. He did indeed like being the banker.

In order to roll a higher number, he deliberately stayed in his room for a long time to practice, and the results were… fruitless…

The lao wang ye rolled the two dices into the middle of the four stacks of mahjong tiles, and the numbers that came up were a six and a three.

Seeing these numbers, everyone’s expressions suddenly became subtle*.

[*T/N: This is legit what the raws says. “微妙起来” = “became subtle”]

An Zi Ran looked at the thirteen tiles he had and couldn’t help but wrinkle his eyebrows. It was a pretty crappy hand. He glanced at Fu Wu Tian and Head Steward Fu. Their expressions were inscrutable. It was hard to detect their thoughts. But his intuition told him that their hand weren’t that good either.

Was this a coincidence or was it deliberate?

An Zi Ran looked at the lao wang ye out of his peripheral vision, and couldn’t help staring blankly.

When the lao wang ye pretended to be deep, he still gave others a feeling of ridiculousness. No matter how much he tried, everyone could still see his innate character. Simply put, he lacked an imposing grandeur.

Right now, his serious face was pulled taut like usual, but he didn’t give off the same silly feeling as before. Instead, he seemed to exude a cold and harsh aura. He was like a sharpened knife hidden in the dark. He had a steady and imposing manner. Even without speaking, it was enough to deter other people.

This thought flashed through his mind in a quick nanosecond.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

When An Zi Ran’s eyes fell on the mahjong tiles in front of him, a strange feeling spread through his entire body. He felt that something was not right, but he couldn’t tell what it was.

Compared with the lao wang ye who was brimming with a battle aura, Fu Wu Tian and Head Steward Fu were very calm, a pair of indifferent parties, as if they had good tiles in their hands.

“Wang fei,” Fu Wu Tian looked at him abruptly.

An Zi Ran returned to the present and found that he had accidentally mired too deeply in his thoughts. This was a taboo for gambling. He adjusted his mindset and touched upon his first mahjong tile.

After a few turns, the lao wang ye did not touch a single tile.

He was playing his tiles so messily that one could not fathom what he was doing, but the lao wang ye did not seem anxious at all.

An Zi Ran had three yi wan* tiles in his hand. The remaining yi wan tile was in the middle of the table. Furthermore, it was a tile that the lao wang ye had slapped onto the table. If it weren’t for that, he would’ve thought that the lao wang ye was aiming for shi san yao**.

[*T/N: Name of one of the tiles in mahjong, kind of like a Jack or Queen.]

[** T/N: A type of hand in mahjong, kind of like Full House or Royal Flush.]

After thinking about it, he still decided to hold on to the yi wan tiles, and played a liu wan tile onto the table.

“Peng*!”

[*T/N: 碰 peng – kind of like shouting “uno” when you play the game Uno. You assimilate the mahjong tile that someone else just played into your own hand and you announce it, because you’re one step closer to winning the game, or something like that.]

The lao wang ye suddenly called out in a strong voice.

An Zi Ran found that Fu Wu Tian and Head Steward Fu’s eyes were concentrated on him. His expression remained very calm. Just as humans make mistakes, so can a horse stumble*. What the heck are you looking at?!

[*T/N: Idiom for “everyone makes mistakes” or “even the best fall down sometimes.”]

As for the matter of the lao wang ye’s confinement, An Zi Ran was the one that cared the least, because he felt that if the lao wang ye really wanted to go out and play, then no matter what, they wouldn’t be able to contain him. Most likely, the lao wang ye was so persistent in these bets was because he found it fun.

Lao wang ye slapped out a tile and immediately squinted his eyes at his grandson, who had not made a move. Such a rare occurrence of being able to declare ‘peng,’ but he did not show a look of joy. His expression was still very serious, and his eyes even revealed a hint of sorrow.

Fu Wu Tian ran a finger along his tiles. Without looking, he took a tile and flung it onto the middle of the table. He was even more practiced than a veteran gambler.

An Zi Ran followed and threw out a tile. He wasn’t trying particularly hard to assemble a winning hand. He just had to play an opposing tile to avoid someone getting one up on him.

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Chapter 95.2 – Carving Workshop

Since they came back from the suburbs, An Zi Ran became even busier. Before he had to pay attention to Tian Long Gambling House, but now he also had to concern himself with the engraving shop. The most important thing was that after he came back from the slaughter farm, he would hide in the room every day concocting some weird stuff. If it weren’t for Fu Wu Tian forcing him to the dining table, then he would most likely take his dinners in the room too.

“Wang fei, making money is important, but your health is even more important.”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Fu Wu Tian said to him with narrowed eyes.

Although he had no expression on his face, An Ziran knew that he was angry. The tiger’s beard… He didn’t want to pull on it, lest he should give him an excuse, so he obeyed.

Fu Wu Tian was disappointed.

An Zi Ran pretended not to see his expression.

The small farm in the suburbs has already been found, and it was naturally the credit of the ‘omnipotent assistant’ Ge Qian An.

Every year, people would start farms or slaughter fields in the suburbs, so the rise of their small farm did not attract much attention. The only person who knew the truth was Owner Niu, but he had his relationship with Fu Yi to consider, so he would not tell others.

A large number of cattle bones were transported to the small farm. The transporters were all soldiers under Fu Wu Tian. These soldiers were different from ordinary soldiers. They were all Fu Wu Tian’s trusted subordinates. Even if the military power were back in the emperor’s hands, they would only obey Fu Wu Tian.

After knowing this, An Zi Ran started having ideas about them*.

[*T/N: 打主意 – the connotation is that AZR is probably planning to implement them into his future plans or to use them as a labor force for his plans.]

The step of degreasing the bovine bones was not only important, but also confidential. He didn’t trust in normal run-of-the-mill workers. He could probably suppress them from spreading his secrets with the force of his status, but that would only increase the chances of violence.

There was Head Steward Fu to help with overseeing Tian Long Gambling House. An Zi Ran was very reassured, so he put all of his attention onto the matter of carving bovine bones. Everyday he headed to the outskirts with Fu Wu Tian. Today was the same. Early in the morning, the two of them rode off in a horse carriage.

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“Wang ye, wang fei!”

There were two soldiers conversing. When they saw the two of them approach, they immediately saluted them with a serious face. They were not deliberately putting on a serious act. They also had these expressions when they were chatting just now.

Like leader like soldiers!

This saying was really true.

The two of them entered the farm and passed through a line of guards to the place where the bovine bones were being cooked. Upon entering, they saw a few cauldrons in the middle with steam wafting from them. The cauldrons were more than a meter high with a big stove underneath. A couple of soldiers were adding firewood to the stove.

This was the first step in removing the fat from the beef bones.

Previously, he had used this method in the Imperial Fu Palace.

There were two methods for removing the fat from the bones. The first method had only two steps, namely degreasing and then bleaching white. Although the operation was simple and the time required was short, the results were so-so.

The other method was more troublesome. The tools and herbs they needed to use were many and the cycle was long. It was unsuitable for their current situation, so they could only use the first method.

The caustic soda produced by An Zi Ran was sent yesterday. Because the amount needed was quite substantial, he had to spend several days on it. After that, he had Fu Wu Tian specifically select a few patient and detail-orientated soldiers that were suitable for the job and taught them the method of producing caustic soda.

Ten days later, the first batch of bovine bones was transported to the carving workshop in Jun Zi City.

The carving workshop was An Zi Ran’s newly opened shop and the craftsmen were already in place. On this day, no one could have thought that this workshop would become a popular pioneer in Da Ya in the future.

……

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

The renovations for Tian Long Gambling House had entered the final stage and it could be opened in a few days. News was already spreading throughout the capital. Many people were taking note of this new casino, but most of them were waiting to watch a good show*.

[*T/N: Implying that they’re waiting to see the two gambling houses – Tian Long and Bao Hua – clash.]

Of the ten great casinos in the capital, only nine were left. It was equivalent to dividing the customer base into ten parts. So if there were one less gambling house then naturally the other gambling houses would be celebrating. When Bao Hua Gambling House shot down Feng Hua Gambling House, not a single casino stepped out to help. After the appearance of Tian Long Gambling House, the other nine gambling houses were plotting to suppress it from the shadows.

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Later, they found that they could not stop the opening of Tian Long Gambling House, so they deliberately spread unfavorable rumors about the new gambling house. The strange thing was that the people behind the scenes of Tian Long Gambling House still did not come forward, and the rumors were flying all over the place. So now the nine big casinos were waiting for Tian Long Gambling House to go down in history as the first casino to crash and burn on its opening day.

No matter how the outside world was churning, inside the Imperial Fu Palace was unaffected.

The lao wang ye who was grounded for three years was noisy again. He recently fell in love with the mahjong cards that An Zi Ran made. Every day, Fu Wu Tian, who did not have any governmental affairs to attend to, was dragged in to play. An Zi Ran was also implicated. Even if they did not have four people, they still continued to play*.

[*T/N: Traditionally, mahjong requires four players, but sometimes people play with less players.]

Lao wang ye was determined to turn three years into three days, but reversely, three years became a double digit number, and if things continued to develop like this, the number would only go higher, not lower.

Ah, the pitiful lao wang ye. Everyone in the Imperial Fu Palace shed tears of Schadenfreude for him. Only the lao wang ye himself did not realize that from start to finish, he was at the bottom of the pit with zero possibility of climbing out to see the sun.

Thus, the old grandfather straightforwardly threw away the broken pot!

“One game, thirteen years, do you dare to bet?” The lao wang ye stood on the steps and said this to An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian, who had just entered through the front doors. Right behind them was the returning Head Steward Fu who got caught up in this. Fu Yi touched his chin and smiled profoundly.

An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian faced each other. What had finally provoked the old man?

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Chapter 95.1 – Carving Workshop

The shop that Fu Wu Tian found was ready-made.

The shop originally sold herbs, but later, the competition was so great that the business became worse and worse. The owner of the shop finally decided to sell the shop, take the money, and go some place else to try his luck.

When people from the Imperial Fu Palace found him, the owner of the shop was anxious, because the selling price he set was not low. Most people could not afford it, and any interested buyers would try to haggle the price to as low as possible, so the owner never found a suitable buyer.
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An Zi Ran was very satisfied with the shop.

He had already went and looked over the shop. The shop had two facades. Because it was used to sell herbs, the place always carried a touch of herbal medicine smell, but it was not an unpleasant smell.

What An Zi Ran liked about this shop was the structure of the rooms in the back; they were practically arranged into a single line. It was perfect for having people work there. After a bit of development, they could open the door for business.

To this end, An Zi Ran deliberately spent a lot of money to buy a few of the rooms. Because they was located in the marketplace, the price was comparable to the courtyard that he had previously purchased (when he had first came to Jun Zi City).

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After that, it was time for interior decoration. Since the shop was ready-made, An Zi Ran only painted over the walls again, covering up the mottled traces left behind. Now it looked clean and neat.

The next day, he personally went on a trip to the market.

In addition to bovine bones and ivory, there were rhinoceros horns, whale bones, and the like that could be used for engraving, but not all materials were suitable. Some were expensive due to price problems, so it was not conducive for mass production. Only the lowest cost and most common bovine bones could be selected.

However, most of the cattle in Da Ya were used for farming. Very few people would purposely slaughter them just for meat, unless it was a very large and wealthy family.

Although there were many large families in the capital, it still wasn’t possible to find a large supply of cattle bones every day. Moreover, some people liked to use the bones for beef bone soup, so he could only go to specialty slaughterhouses to find what he wanted.

After knowing this, Fu Yi told An Zi Ran where he could find such a place and An Zi Ran went to contact them.

Next day

Accompanied by Fu Wu Tian, An Zi Ran took the carriage to the slaughter field on the outskirts of Jun Zi City.

The place was not small. It was located in the suburbs where there was a water source.

The owner of the field was surnamed Niu* and had been in contact with Fu Yi several times for business purposes. He knew that Fu Yi was the steward of the Imperial Fu Palace, but he didn’t know who the two of them were, only that they were introduced by Fu Yi. When he heard that they wanted to buy cattle bones, the owner revealed an expression of surprise.

[*T/N: Also means “cow”]

Bovine bones have only one use for them and that was as a soup base. People of this era still did not know that bovine bones could be used for decoration or in crafts, so the endless bovine bones were usually thrown away.

The things thrown away were naturally worthless things, even the owner of the field thought the same, so today there was someone who told him that they wanted to buy all the bones from his field, he was very surprised.

“These two sirs, are you certain that you want to buy all the bovine bones?” The owner asked very deliberately.

It was always a good thing to make money, but since these two were friends of Fu Yi, he was not willing to take advantage of them. He also wanted to maintain a long-term cooperation with Fu Yi.

An Zi Ran nodded. “Owner Niu, you don’t have to doubt, we really want to buy all the bones from your field. The more the better.”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Owner Niu had already asked for confirmation, so he did not say any more.

“In that case, please come with me, sirs.”

Owner Niu took them to see the bones from the slaughter field. There were bones from chicken, pig, sheep, etc, but this field had the most bovine bones.

This year, his field slaughtered hundreds of cows. Asides from some bones that were sold, many of them were piled up in the warehouse. Originally, he intended to have the workers transport them to nearby counties to see if they could be sold, if not, then they could only throw it away.

The amount of bovine bones accumulated was more than what An Zi Ran had imagined.

Because the scent of blood was too strong, they didn’t get too close, and they left after looking around for a bit.

Inside a little house, An Zi Ran talked with Owner Niu about the price.

On the market, ten coins could buy you one catty of beef bones, which was much cheaper than what it would be in later generations. But An Zi Ran wanted a great quantity of bones, so he offered the owner a price that was two coins less than the market price. The profit wasn’t high, but the slaughterhouse could produce several tons of beef bones every month, and it was impossible to sell all of them, so instead of losing out, the owner actually earned.

Later, the masses would discover that they could no longer buy cheap beef bones. When An Zi Ran’s shop first started, they couldn’t use up that much bones. But later on, when the shop expanded and the number of workers increased, the demand for bovine bones would also increase. Some far-seeing slaughter field owners would jack up their prices and take the opportunity to earn a high profit. But this was all stuff that happened afterward.

At present, An Zi Ran bought nearly a thousand kilograms of beef bones from Owner Niu, and spent less than ten silvers. Transporting more than a thousand kilograms of beef bones back to Jun Zi City would be very eye-catching. After considering the problem again and again, he and Fu Wu Tian decided to build a small farm in the suburbs. First, they would transport all the bones to the farm, pick out some that were suitable for carving, clean up the bones by removing the fat, and then transport them back to the capital.

Although An Zi Ran bought all of the cattle bones from Owner Niu, not all of the bones could be used for carving. There were four kinds of bones that could be used for engraving, namely the triangular bones, cylindrical bones, flat bones, and the hooves. But before the bones could be used for carving, they must be degreased, as mentioned before.

Removing the fat was a very important step. There were no bovine bone crafts in Da Ya, so this method of degreasing has not appeared yet.

If An Zi Ran were an ordinary person, then even if he wracked his brains until he had a migraine, he still would not be able to come up with the method of manufacturing caustic soda. Fortunately, he was not just an ordinary person, and in the past he had been exposed to this aspect of expertise. Although he could only create a small amount alone, it was enough to cope with the current demand. If there was something unsatisfactory about the situation, then it would be that Fu Wu Tian was very dissatisfied.

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Chapter 94.2 – Worker

The craftsman who took the lead said hesitantly, “Gong zi, you seem to have given too much.” It’s not that he did not want to get more money, but he would feel uneasy in his heart.

An Zi Ran explained, “You don’t have to doubt it. This pay is for your half month of work. About what you are doing here, I don’t want you to speak to anyone about it, including your family members.”
Translations are by www [dot] vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Once they heard that there was a reason for it, the five people were relieved.

“There is one more thing.”

The five of them immediately perked up their ears to listen.

“I want to ask you to continue carving these little things. I need a lot of them. If you agree I will pay each one of you four strings of coins monthly.”

The five of them looked at each other. They didn’t expect him to say this. The most important thing was that there were four strings of coins per month? This was more than their usual monthly salary by an entire string of coins. It was impossible to say that it was not tempting, but it was also impossible for them to agree immediately. This matter had to be discussed with family members first before they could make a decision.

An Zi Ran knew what they were thinking and did not force them to make a decision right away. He then asked Steward Zhou to send the five people out from the back door. In order to not let them know that this was the Imperial Fu Palace, he had Steward Zhou implement a few small measures.

When Fu Wu Tian came home, An Zi Ran discussed with him the matter about wanting to open up a little shop.

It was best do this kind of thing as fast as possible. If the news were to spread, it would be troublesome to think up of something new later. Some businessmen were very astute. They would make a move as long as there was a small business opportunity. At that time, the price for ivory and cattle bone would certainly rise.

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An Zi Ran intended to start the shop first, and then recruit a group of workers. He would not hand over the whole set of procedures to the same worker. At that time, it would be divided into multiple batches, like an assembly line. A group of workers would be responsible for polishing, another group would be in charge of carving, etc, etc. However, there must be a shop first, for all this to happen. It wasn’t feasible to bring all the workers to the Imperial Fu Palace after all.

“How big do you need it to be?” Fu Wu Tian asked after listening.

An Zi Ran summed it up. “It is better to have multiple compartments, and to hide a little. I plan to try a dozen workers first.”

Fu Wu Tian nodded his head to show comprehension. “How are the soaked seeds from yesterday coming along? Can they be planted?”

An Zi Ran replied, “General Guan preserved them well. There are very few bad species. However, it takes a large amount of land to expand the planting area. It is best not to be discovered.” He was going to look through the map of Da Ya today to see where the environment and conditions were best for planting.

Fu Wutian said: “What special requirements does this plant have for the growing environment?”

“The lighting conditions must be good, there must be sufficient water, and good soil is also required. All the requirements are relatively high.” An Ziran thought about it back and forth, but still felt that it wasn’t very possible to keep this a secret. A place with such a good environment must be a prosperous place with a high population count. Once the seeds grew, this never before seen crop would definitely draw attention from many people.

“Wang fei.”

Hearing Fu Wu Tian’s voice, which seemed to carry a hint of a smile, An Zi Ran looked up.

Fu Wu Tian said, “Don’t you think that Ali Xiang is suitable?”

An Zi Ran’s eyes widened slightly.

When the two returned to the study, An Ziran immediately took out a book with detailed information about the land of Da Ya from the shelf, and soon turned to the page related to Ali Xiang.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Whether it was the status of the place or the planting conditions, Ali Xiang was very suitable for growing cotton. The most important thing was that Ali Xiang was Fu Xiao’s land. After his death, that place was still under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Fu Palace. The Chong Ming Emperor could not withdraw this piece of property. In addition to this, Fu Wu Tian himself could still own another piece of land.

“Let’s try it out in Ali Xiang first.” Fu Wu Tian made a decision.

An Zi Ran had no objection. For the time being, he did not want to leave Jun Zi City, and it was also impossible for the emperor to bestow land to them right now.

Fu Wu Tian’s work efficiency was very high. Before the craftsmen responded back to An Zi Ran, Fu Wu Tian had already found a suitable place for the shop, and coincidentally, it was behind Tian Long Gambling House. The two places were separated by only one street.

Asides from the previous five artisans, the others were all new faces. They had all came for that promise of four strings of coins as monthly salary.

An Zi Ran did not have the five craftsmen keep secret in this regard, and told them to hit up some of their fellow peers. The other people only knew that they were here to carve, but were not sure about what. The shop was still incomplete. An Zi Ran had them register their names first. After the shop was finished, they would be told to come in to work.

On the other hand, Guan Su was assigned another task.

Ali Xiang was far away from Jun Zi City. After deciding to plant the seeds in Ali Xiang, Fu Wu Tian sent a letter to him and had him carefully preserve and send the cottonseeds to Ali Xiang.

An Zi Ran had asked for a lot of seeds at the beginning, so Guan Su had his men gather a lot, enough to fill several boxes to the brim. Although some of the seeds went bad during the transport, fortunately most of them were well preserved.

Guan Su had just returned to Jun Zi City not long ago, but now he had to leave again. Guan Su dragged Shao Fei away for grunt work and then swaggered off.

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I am now officially translating three projects on the regular.

The Big Landlord (TBL)
Let Me Shoulder this Blame (LMSTB)
Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil: Xue Zi Xuan (FOD: XZX)

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Chapters 001 – 099
Chapters 100 – 199
Chapters 200 – 299
Chapters 300 – 399
Chapters 400 – 435
Extras 1 – 9

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Chapters marked with ♡(灬º 艸º灬)♡ have nsfw dlc

Chapter 100.1 | 100.2 – Scholar
Chapter 101.1 | 101.2 – Showing Up at the Front Door
Chapter 102.1 | 102.2 – The Person Behind the Scenes ♡(灬º 艸º灬)♡
Chapter 103.1 | 103.2 – Deputy Commander Gong Yun
Chapter 104.1 | 104.2 – Gambler With Huge Debt
Chapter 105.1 | 105.2 – Cousin
Chapter 106.1 | 106.2 – Lantern Festival
Chapter 107.1 | 107.2 – Fishing for Lanterns
Chapter 108.1 | 108.2 – Lantern Festival Carnival
Chapter 109.1 | 109.2 – Brief Interlude
Chapter 110.1 | 110.2 – Second Prince
Chapter 111.1 | 111.2 – Number One Merchant
Chapter 112.1 | 112.2 – Before Departure
Chapter 113.1 | 113.2 | 113.3 – Lin Family Matters
Chapter 114.1 | 114.2 | 114.3 – Disfigure
Chapter 115.1 | 115.2 – Demanding Dowry
Chapter 116.1 | 116.2 | 116.3 – Inviting Disaster
Chapter 117.1 | 117.2 – Punishment and Coercion
Chapter 118.1 | 118.2 – Ali Xiang
Chapter 119.1 | 119.2 | 119.3 – Mayor Xu Wei Ye
Chapter 120.1 | 120.2 – Bring to Heel
Chapter 121.1 | 121.2 | 121.3 – Household Management
Chapter 122.1 | 122.2 – Calculation
Chapter 123.1 | 123.2 | 123.3 – Development
Chapter 124.1 | 124.2 – Big Landlord Zhou
Chapter 125.1 | 125.2 | 125.3 – Counterfeit Contracts ♡(灬º 艸º灬)♡
Chapter 126.1 | 126.2 – Zhou Ling Long
Chapter 127.1 | 127.2 | 127.3 – Finally?
Chapter 128.1 | 128.2 – To Shed All Pretenses
Chapter 129.1 | 129.2 | 129.3 – Conclusion
Chapter 130.1 | 130.2 – The New Mayor
Chapter 131.1 | 131.2 | 131.3 – Nomads
Chapter 132.1 | 132.2 – To Restore
Chapter 133.1 | 133.2 | 133.3 – Royal Banquet
Chapter 134.1 | 134.2 – A New Game
Chapter 135.1 | 135.2 | 135.3 – Zhang Sun Shao Qi
Chapter 136.1 | 136.2 – To Surge Like a Gathering Storm
Chapter 137.1 | 137.2 | 137.3 – I Have, You Don’t Have?
Chapter 138.1 | 138.2 | 138.3 – Consort Yan
Chapter 139.1 | 139.2 – State Preceptor Hao Ran
Chapter 140.1 | 140.2 – Adultery
Chapter 141.1 | 141.2 | 141.3 – To Incite Disharmony
Chapter 142.1 | 142.2 – Face Slapping
Chapter 143.1 | 143.2 | 143.3 – Pregnant
Chapter 144.1 | 144.2 | 144.3 – Zheng Family
Chapter 145.1 | 145.2 – Zheng Jun Qi
Chapter 146.1 | 146.2 – Teahouse
Chapter 147 – The Quick-Footed Climb Up First
Chapter 148.1 | 148.2 – Meeting
Chapter 149.1 | 149.2 | 149.3 – Beef Jerky
Chapter 150.1 | 150.2 – Two Elders and Opening a Business
Chapter 151.1 | 151.2 | 151.3 – Nitpicking
Chapter 152.1 | 152.2 – Punishment
Chapter 153.1 | 153.2 | 153.3 – To Make Amends
Chapter 154.1 | 154.2 – The Fourth Concubine’s Clandestine Love Affair
Chapter 155.1 | 155.2 – Emperor Chong Ming’s Inner Thoughts
Chapter 156.1 | 156.2 | 156.3 – Changeable Situation
Chapter 157.1 | 157.2 – Murderer
Chapter 158.1 | 158.2 | 158.3 – Goodbye Fang Jun Ping
Chapter 159.1 | 159.2 | 159.3 – In Love With
Chapter 160.1 | 160.2 | 160.3 – Heartless and Unjust

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Vanilla Muse: This chapter feels a bit shorter than usual, so there will be another update this week on Thursday. (^-^)

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Chapter 94.1 – Worker

Bao Hua Gambling House

Because they couldn’t find the mastermind that was obstructing them, Luo Yang’s temper was a bit violent these days. A few days ago his master had asked him about the situation and was very unsatisfied that he had yet to acquire Feng Hua Gambling House.
Translations are by www [dot] vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
Luo Yang was also anxious, but the investigation results have been unsatisfactory. He thought that the man behind the scenes would show up at least once. As long as he could see that person, he had the confidence that he could find that man in Jun Zi City. But that person was like evaporated smoke. Even the gambling house was handed over to Zhang Tian Zhong.

That person trusted Zhang Tian Zhong that much?

Luo Yang thought that the mastermind must be someone that Zhang Tian Zhong knew.

So he followed this hunch to investigate, unfortunately, he still guessed wrong. If Zhang Tian Zhong knew such a person, they would not have so easily defeated his Feng Hua Gambling House.

In the end, the problem returned to the original point.

“Mr. Luo, why don’t we send people to sneak into the gambling house? Maybe there will be clues inside.” Manager Li saw him walking around with a look of irritability on his face. This was the first time he saw Luo Yang with such an expression, so he proposed an idea.

“No!” Luo Yang thought about it and denied the proposal. “They must have precautions against that. If we rush to send in someone and get caught, it will cause trouble to the master. Then you and I will all be finished.”

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Once Manager Li imagined their master getting angry, he immediately dismissed the notion.

Luo Yang narrowed his long and slim eyes and stared into the corner for a long time. Out of the blue, he slammed his fist against the table, his eyes revealing a shadow of ruthlessness. “Since we cannot get any results from our investigations, then we also shouldn’t let them have it easy. Someone who dares to snatch something directly from Bao Hua Gambling House should also be aware of this.”

After Luo Yang said those words, on the evening of the same day, five sneaky figures appeared outside of Tian Long Gambling House. They held a bucket of diesel in their hands and waited until very late. When there was almost no more people on the streets, they went to pour the diesel on Tian Long Gambling House’s front door.

Before they could even complete the first step, four of them were knocked out cold by a black shadow.

The moonlight reflected off of an ordinary face with no expression. The moonlight was very pale and made the person seem like a ghost. The fifth person screamed and fell into a dead faint.

The next day, there was a fire in Bao Hua Gambling House’s back courtyard.

Fortunately, the fire was not very big and it was discovered early, so no one was hurt, but some things were damaged. The cause of the fire was not found.

After that, Bao Hua Gambling House no longer sought trouble with Tian Long Gambling House, but no one knew the reason why.

……

Imperial Fu Palace

An Zi Ran decided to open a shop that specialized in carving small playthings. He came to this decision after seeing the results of the five artisans.

The skills of these artisans that Ge Qian An had found were indeed good. Every piece was polished very smooth; both the edges and corners were very round. The patterns on the surfaces were all hand-cut. Although the cost was a bit high and the carving had to be discarded if there was a mistake, he was very satisfied overall.

“Gong zi, take a look and see if there’s anything else that needs to be adjusted.”

The middle-aged craftsman, who was pushed forward by the other four as their spokesperson, went to An Zi Ran and inquired carefully. They still didn’t know the true identity of An Zi Ran, and they didn’t know that the place they were standing in was the Imperial Fu Palace, because when Ge Qian An brought them in, they had went in through the back door.

An Zi Ran looked at their nervous expressions and said lightly, “You have done a good job. Except for some small errors, there are basically no big problems.”

The five craftsmen let out a sigh of relief.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

When they first saw this boy, they knew that he was definitely not an ordinary person, so the five of them did not dare to do a half-hearted job. During this time, they were very dedicated, and strove to make sure that there were no mistakes on the finished products.

It was a bit boring, but in their line of work, carving was a boring thing, so they were used to it, and boredom did not matter.

Steward Zhou, who was standing off to the side, handed over five heavy money bags as per An Zi Ran’s instructions.

The five people’s hands spasm, and a few of them nervously received the pouch of money. Some rich people were harsh, so they did not have any wild hopes of getting a lot of money.

With this thought in mind, the five of them opened the bags to see three strings of coins* within, and they were instantly stunned.

[*T/N: 贯 guan: string of 1000 cash]

Because Jun Zi City was an imperial city, the living standards of the people were better than other places, but no matter how good, their monthly salary was still only about three strings of coins. They only worked for half a month, but the youth gave them a month’s worth of salary. The five of them could not believe it.

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