Category: The Big Landlord

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Chapter 93.2 – Return

General Guan was Guan Su. When An Zi Ran asked Fu Wu Tian to help him look for cottonseeds, Guan Su was the one that Fu Wu Tian had assigned to the task. Although Guan Su had just sent out the subordinates below him to search for the seeds, the fact that he was back meant that there could be some news on the seeds.
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It wasn’t the first time that An Zi Ran was meeting Guan Su, but the first time they met was at night. The light from the candle was dim, so at that time he couldn’t see the other person very clearly. Looking at him now, Guan Su’s appearance when compared with Fu Wu Tian was at two extremes. He could be classified as a handsome beauty, confident, and unrestraint.

“Guan Su pays respects to wang ye, wang fei!”

He was robed in white and a slight smile curved the edges of his lips. He cupped his hands and bowed to the two people. His every move was free and at ease.

When An Zi Ran saw that Fu Wu Tian did not respond right away, he nodded and said, “General Guan, no need for formalities.”

“Let’s talk in the study.”

After a while, in the study room.

Guan Su had a servant carry in the box that he brought with him. The box wasn’t very big; it wasn’t even half the size of a cubic meter. The servant placed the box on the table, lowered his head, and then exited the room. Guan Su closed the door after the servant. Then he opened the box, took out a bag, and poured the seeds inside onto the table.

An Zi Ran was actually not that familiar with cottonseeds, so he looked at Guan Su.

Guan Su took out some more things from within the box.

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Seeing the things in his hands, An Zi Ran’s eyes flashed brightly. On a small branch, a few blades of yellow leaves were sandwiched under a group of white cotton wadding. This was the cottonseed that he was looking for. He could not be mistaken. He didn’t expect that it would really exist in this world!

When he first discovered that the most commonly used fabrics in Da Ya were only limited to a few types, such as linen and silk, his first thought turned to the most common cloth in his previous life: cotton.

Cotton was better than linen. Although the strength and breathability of linen was very good, linen was rough and hard. It was uncomfortable to wear and easily chaffed the skin. But because there were no better alternatives, the people who could not afford better types of cloths could only bear with it. Therefore, clothes in Da Ya were mainly made of linen, followed by silk.

Fu Wu Tian went to An Zi Ran’s side. “This is the hemp seed you are looking for?”

An Zi Ran did not correct Fu Wu Tian’s wrong word, nodded faintly, and then placed that branch of cotton on the table. He looked at Guan Su and said sincerely, “You can even find such a rare thing. General Guan really is extraordinarily capable.”

Guan Su smiled and replied, “Wang fei is exaggerating. This general merely moved his mouth a bit (to order his subordinates). The ones who really worked hard are those who went around searching. It is they who had to go through a lot of trouble.”

“Then please thank them for me, General Guan.” An Zi Ran knew that those people who went out to sea to search for the seeds must all be people that Fu Wu Tian trusted. He never thought of mistreating them. To have found the seeds within such a short span of time, they must have ran to a lot of places. The things that must be rewarded, he would not be stingy even if it were just one coin.

Guan Su replied, “Certainly.”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Guan Su didn’t stay for too long. After a short while, he got up and excused himself. An Zi Ran had Steward Zhou send him out.

In the study room, Fu Wu Tian helped him take out the seeds and the cotton in the box. There were not many varieties of seeds, but the quantity was high, and it was sorted by quality.

An Zi Ran had a servant bring in a few basins of hot water. Then he sprinkled the seeds in to soak.

In order to understand how to filter seeds, An Zi Ran deliberately learned about it, so right now he wasn’t confused about what to do. He had yet to find a suitable place to plant the cottonseeds, so he decided to give this a try.

Fu Wu Tian watched his series of actions. His movements were fluid. It was obvious that he had practiced before.

An Zi Ran noticed his gaze but didn’t pay much attention to it. Only after he finished did he say, “Help me put these basins in the corner.”

Fu Wu Tian carried one in each hand, placing them in the corner. Then he helped An Zi Ran put away the box. After finishing these tasks, he came over, and in passing, he picked up the cotton branch. It didn’t look like anything edible. Up till now, he still did not know what his wang fei had planned for these seeds. He looked at An Zi Ran, and waited for him to explain.

An Zi Ran took the branch from him. In a few moves he plucked the cotton from the branch. “This thing is not for eating, but its use is the same as other types of hemp plants, and it’s even better than those kinds.”

Fu Wu Tian’s pupils suddenly shrank.

He was clever. He didn’t need An Zi Ran to explain in detail what his words meant.

Although he was a child of royalty, he had stayed at the border for so many years, what has he not seen? Even though he wore precious silks, he knew that the linen the people wore was made of various hemp plants. If this thing was the same as linen, then the meaning was self-evident.

Fu Wu Tian finally understood that what his wang fei wanted to earn was not ordinary silver!

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Chapter 93.1 – Return

News soon spread all throughout the Imperial Fu Palace that the lao wang ye was grounded for three years.

The matter with the playing cards was temporarily being kept secret, so the servants were not sure why the lao wang ye was being grounded, and for three years at that.

The strangest thing of all was that the lao wang ye did not refute this, and only sighed every day, as if there was some pent-up frustration in his heart. The next day, he began to bother Head Steward Fu for a rematch in Fight the Landlord. He had to win back the three years of freedom that he’d lost. But Head Steward Fu was very busy, and even his shadow could hardly be seen.
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Unable to catch the one he wanted, the lao wang ye went to go find his grandson and granddaughter-in-law. The two heard news of him coming from a mile away, and disappeared without a trace. As a result, the lao wang ye was frustrated to death and returned back to his room to heave great sighs.

Every time a servant passed by his room, they could not help but giggle at him.

Speaking of Ye Yu.

An Zi Ran temporarily assigned him to work in Tian Long Gambling House.

The renovations for the gambling house were not done yet, because the amount of engineering was relatively large. As of now, not even a third of the renovations were complete yet. Furthermore, there was only Zhang Tian Zhong there to oversee everything. An Zi Ran was not at ease, so he sent Ye Yu to the gambling house to secretly supervise.

“Wasn’t wang fei unsure if he was reliable or not yet? But now you’re assigning him an important position?” Fu Wu Tian heard that he was going to employ Ye Yu, and he recalled what An Zi Ran said before.

An Zi Ran paused. “Don’t doubt the people that you employ, and don’t employ the people that you doubt.”

When he thought about it later, he felt that it was unnecessary. Ye Yu was in contact with him when he was in An Yuan County. At that time, he did not know Fu Wu Tian, furthermore, he had once received Steward Su’s kindness, and he promised to stay and help the An family. So the chances of him harboring evil intentions were low.

Unexpectedly, Fu Wu Tian suddenly put his hand on his shoulder.

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The height difference between the two was still very large. Although An Zi Ran was still in the middle of growing, no matter how fast he grew, there was still no way that he could be taller than Fu Wu Tian’s shoulders in such a short amount of time. [T/N: Or ever, to be honest. XD] It must be known that Fu Wu Tian was above one point nine meters tall. Even in the capital there was no one else that was taller than him.

An Zi Ran wanted to brush his hand away, but then suddenly remembered something. “What is up with Zhong Yue? You should already know that she likes you right?”

Fu Wu Tian’s steps faltered. He arched his eyebrows in surprise. “Why would wang fei suddenly bring this up? Could it be that Zhong Yue said something to you?” He knew that Zhong Yue had been to the Imperial Fu Palace, and that she would eventually bump into wang fei, but he never thought much about it.

“She didn’t say anything to me.” An Zi Ran pulled his hand off his shoulder. “But she is so obvious. Even if I wanted to pretend that I don’t know, it’s impossible.”

Fu Wu Tian simply put his hand on An Zi Ran’s waist. A pondering light flashed across Fu Wu Tian’s eyes as his hand landed on An Zi Ran’s supple waist. “Is wang fei jealous?”

He did not expect that his wang fei would take the initiative to mention this matter, but he was very happy, because this meant that wang fei attached great importance to whether there were other women around him, right?

Unexpectedly, An Zi Ran did not immediately refute.

Fu Wu Tian tilted his head down to look at him.

An Zi Ran raised his head and looked up at him. “Since we are already together, you should know my character. I will not tolerate my man having other women or men. Furthermore, your bloodline may even end with you.”

The last sentence was particularly serious.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Fu Wu Tian’s chest swelled with joy. “I have never considered having an heir. Besides, there’s Uncle Fu. He still hasn’t taken a wife. If the Imperial Fu Palace needs an heir, then let him have one.”

Fu Yi was already forty years old, but if he really wanted to have a child, it wasn’t impossible. When Fu Wu Tian realized that in this life he was only going to have his wang fei, this one person, in his life, he had already started to pay attention to Fu Yi in this matter. And he believed that if his grandfather’s illness were better, then he would agree with him too.

An Zi Ran refrained from commenting further on this topic. “How are you planning to handle the matter with Miss Zhong Yue?”

Fu Wu Tian said, “Let Qian An solve it himself.”

An Zi Ran reacted. On that day, he had felt that Ge Qian An’s attitude was a bit strange. He seemed to be trying very hard to protect Zhong Yue. At that time, An Zi Ran had thought that it was because the two were comrades. He did not think that there was more to their relationship.

“Can Deputy General Ge settle this?”

“That is his business.”

What an irresponsible answer!

The two walked as they talked, and unwittingly arrived at the main doors of the prince’s palace. The man standing watch by the door saw them coming and immediately showed an expression of pleasant surprise. He didn’t wait for them to get closer and was already waving his hand vigorously.

“Wang ye, wang fei, General Guan is back.”

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Chapter 92.2 – The Cheated Lao Wang Ye

Soon it was time for lunch.

The two went to the dining hall. Qiu Lan had already brought the little bun over.

The lao wang ye was also there. Although he was sitting properly in his chair, his eyes would dart over to the little bun from time to time. But it was just limited to this, because Head Steward Fu was also there today.
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Seeing that the two of them have arrived, Head Steward Fu ordered the kitchen to begin serving the food. This was the first time that he was eating at the same table as An Zi Ran. After learning his identity, An Zi Ran was not a bit surprised.

The little bun did not eat much. Being eight months old meant that he had already weaned off milk. Nowadays, what he ate was the rice paste made by grinding the best rice grains. The texture was very good and the little bun liked to eat it. Usually, it took some time for little babies to wean off milk, but the little bun didn’t need it at all, and was adapting very well.

There were more people than usual this afternoon. Qiu Lan was a bit nervous and made several mistakes while feeding the baby.

The little bun ate and ate and then refused to eat anymore. His watery eyes looked at the group of adults who were eating, looking very innocent and naïve.

Lao wang ye couldn’t help but look at the little bun a couple of times. He opened his mouth, wanting to talk, but then Head Steward Fu stared at him and he swallowed back his words. He looked really pitiful, but no one sympathized with him.

An Zi Ran couldn’t bear to watch any longer, and mercifully sent Qiu Lan away. Then he took the little bun into his arms and personally fed him the rice paste. When the little bun ate, he was very quiet. He didn’t cry, didn’t make trouble, and didn’t squirm about. When the rice paste was delivered to his little mouth, he automatically opened up and ate it.

“This little guy is so cute, just like Wu Tian when he was little.”

Fu Yi looked at them happily and suddenly recalled the time twenty years ago when he personally took care of Fu Wu Tian. At that time, Fu Wu Tian was also only a few months old. His parents were already not by his side. Babies usually cried and made a lot of noise, but he was not like that.

Lao wang ye echoed this sentiment right away. “Just like Wu Tian. They must be father and son.”

The people who heard this sentence didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

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But Fu Wu Tian smiled without a word.

The meal ended in this harmonious atmosphere and everyone moved into the main hall. An Zi Ran held on to the little bun, who suddenly became excited and lively after eating the rice paste. Originally, he wanted to coax the child to sleep, but those deep crow-black eyes were opened wider than anyone’s. There wasn’t even a bit of sleepiness in those eyes.

Not long after, two servants moved a set of table and chairs over.

An Zi Ran had Fu Wu Tian bring out a set of the playing cards from the wooden box that they had brought back from the engraving workshop that morning. The novelty immediately caught the lao wang ye and Head Steward Fu’s attention.

“What is this?” Head Steward Fu was flabbergasted as he looked at the paper with strange patterns printed on it. However, when he saw the two characters on the back of the card he guessed what it was for. He knew that An Zi Ran was getting ready to open up Tian Long Gambling House, but he didn’t know what An Zi Ran was planning to do with it. At first, he had thought it would be about the same as other casinos.

“Playing cards. You can play a lot of games with them. I intend to add these into the gambling house and promote them in order to attract gambling customers.” An ZI Ran explained.

Lao wang ye also became interested. “Granddaughter-in-law, how do you play with this?”

An Zi Ran placed the little bun atop the table. The little bun also seemed to be very curious. He braced himself with his arms, sitting right in the center of the group of adults, appearing both comical and cute.

An Zi Ran set out thirteen cards of the same color and suit, as well as the two jokers. For the convenience of the gambling customers, cards one through ten used Chinese characters in the upper and lower corners, as opposed to Arabic numerals. The only ones that did not change were the jack, queen, king, and two jokers – these five.

An Zi Ran first explained to them the meaning of each card, and then taught them the most popular game that would circulate in later generations, which was ‘Fight the Landlord!’

“Fight the Landlord?”

Upon hearing the name of this game, Fu Wu Tian’s smiling eyes fell on An Zi Ran. There was a hint of scrutiny in his gaze.

Fu Wu Tian smiled and said, “Very interesting name.”

An Zi Ran expected that there would be such a reaction, and then explained, “This is a two against one game. Two farmers form a coalition to go up against one landlord. You play until the landlord or one of the two farmers finishes putting down all the cards in their hand. Whoever finishes first is the winner. This is a relatively common form of game play. It’s not very fitting for the gambling table, but it is a suitable game for when a group of people have nothing to do.”

After listening to the explanation, they were eager to give the game a try.

Three generations of the same family, each holding a deck of cards.

An Zi Ran went beside the lao wang ye to give guidance. Head Steward Fu and Fu Wu Tian were smarter, they understood after listening to An Zi Ran’s instructions. Only the lao wang ye was still inadequate at grasping the game, but after a few rounds of playing, he also understood. He shouted “landlord, landlord” with such a loud and majestic voice, that unsuspecting people would think he was on the battlefield.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Only after looking at his cards did An Zi Ran know that he was shouting randomly. As a result, not long after he was slaughtered on the playing card table. Lao wang ye wailed in anger, demanding yet another game, but he was once again soundly thrashed and lost.

“One more time, this time I will definitely win.” Lao wang ye was unwilling to forgive (those who kicked his ass at cards).

An Zi Ran was worried that he would renege again, and warned him in advance, “When your cards are not good enough, don’t casually shout out ‘landlord,’ otherwise you will die very miserably.”

Lao wang ye nodded, but he only half-understood. He was not the banker, so he had to wait until Fu Wu Tian went before it was his turn. Lao wang ye saw that his grandson did not call, and so he glibly called out ‘landlord’ with vigor. Then he happily and smoothly picked up the three cards on the table and put them into his hand.

What he didn’t know was that Fu Wu Tian did this deliberately.

Because what they were betting was that every time the lao wang ye lost a round of cards, he would be grounded for a few days. Contrarily, if he won, they would cancel out a few days of grounding.

Head Steward Fu smiled very gently, because he liked this bet very much.

This kind of game play disadvantaged the lao wang ye the most, but the person in question was very excited. He did not notice the unfairness at all. By the time he realized it, he had accumulated three years worth of grounding.

Head Steward Fu stood up and straightened out the creases on his clothes. He turned to the lao wang ye who had a dull expression on his face, and said meaningful and heartfelt words: “Three years!” After saying this, he left the prince’s palace to attend to work. It was the first time he felt that it was worth it to squander an hour worth of time with the lao wang ye.

An Zi Ran left the main hall with the tired little bun.

Fu Wu Tian followed after him.

Lao wang ye was left all alone in the aftermath of his tragic lost.

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Lee (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

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Chapter 92.1 – The Cheated Lao Wang Ye

Because of An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian’s extraordinary identities, Li Zhen did not dare to neglect them and took the initiative to lead them to the reception room inside the workshop.

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A worker there recovered his senses and hurriedly picked up the wooden box to catch up to them. On the inside, he was very excited, because he was able to see the rumored God of War with his own eyes. For commoners like them, this was a very nice surprise!

Upon entering the reception room, Li Zhen politely invited them to sit down.

Li Zhen went to the door and took the wooden box from the worker who had just arrived. After sending the worker away, he went back into the room and took the wooden box to An Zi Ran.

“An gong zi, everything you want is done. There are twenty sets*. All in here.”

[*T/N: 副 fu – translation sites say this means “pair,” but from my understanding, it can also mean “set,” as in a set of cards, which makes more sense to me in this context]

An Zi Ran opened the box and took a glance to confirm that it was indeed twenty sets. Li Zhen had made twenty sets of paper boxes according to An Zi Ran’s specifications. All fifty-four cards were contained within the box. At a glance, they looked like modern poker playing cards.

Poker cards were rumored to have stemmed from ma diao*, and later generations generally believed that ma diao was very likely to be the prototype of modern playing cards. No one knew the specifics. However, it was necessary to use coated paper to make poker cards. Coated paper was a type of high-grade copy paper made by coating the original base paper in a layer of white paint.

[*T/N: ma diao – a late imperial Chinese trick-taking gambling card game according to wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madiao ]

In this time period, there was no such thing as coated paper yet.

Fortunately, he later found a type of paper material that could replace coated paper.

This kind of paper material was the most superior official card paper, mainly for the wealthy people to make business cards. It was also the type of paper used in making wedding invitations or for other joyous events. Because it was thickened with a thin sliver of bamboo material, the price was comparatively expensive.

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Li Zhen used up quite a bit of official card paper to make twenty sets of playing cards, but An Zi Ran gave him a lot of money, so he did not feel bad about it.

An Zi Ran opened up one of the decks and took out all fifty-four cards. One by one, he carefully looked over them. The patterns were basically the same as the drawings he gave as blueprints. Although it was incomparable to modern printing, he was already very satisfied with these results.

Li Zhen saw Fu wang fei nod his head with satisfaction and breathed out a sigh of relief.

It was quite difficult to print on official card paper. Because he couldn’t touch the pattern with his finger pad, he had to try many times before he succeeded.

At that time it was in order to fulfill the customer’s request. Now he was sincerely happy that he had done his best.

Fu Wu Tian picked up a card and turned it over to see that there was also a pattern on the back. The difference was that the backside was covered with dense colors. There were two characters encircled in an oval on the top and bottom. The two characters were tian meaning ‘sky or heaven’ and long meaning ‘dragon.’

“Wang fei, what does this mean?”

An Zi Ran saw that he noticed the back and replied, “This is the name of the gambling house.”

Fu Wu Tian rubbed his fingers over the tian character and suddenly said, “Wang fei, isn’t this one of the characters in this prince’s name? Could it be…”

An Zi Ran took the playing card from his hand. “Tian Long means flying dragon in the heavens. Don’t be smug.”

On the side, Li Zhen secretly wiped his sweat. He felt like he had heard some extreme secret, furthermore, it was more than one secret.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

An Zi Ran put the cards back into the paper box, placed it inside the wooden box, and then he looked at Li Zhen. “Boss Li, I have a business proposal for you, don’t know if you’re interested or not?”

Li Zhen was faintly startled.

An Zi Ran never thought that he could fool Li Zhen. Once news of Tian Long Gambling House spread, Li Zhen would be able to guess his identity sooner or later. Moreover, the amount of playing cards he wanted to make wasn’t just twenty sets. After the playing of poker cards become widely circulated, the production of poker cards would become a big business.

“Boss Li can think about it. There’s no need to rush. After the opening of Tian Long Gambling House, you can come find me anytime at the Imperial Fu Palace.”

After saying this, An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian left together.

Only then did Li Zhen come back to his senses. Fu wang fei wanted to do business with him. And what was this matter about Tian Long Gambling House? He has never heard of a place called Tian Long in Jun Zi City.

With his mind full of doubts, Li Zhen immediately found a worker to inquire about Tian Long Gambling House, as a result, the worker brought back shocking news. He had also heard about the matter with Feng Hua Gambling House, but he never expected that the bankroller was Fu wang fei.

Li Zhen shuddered and immediately had people seal things* up. He also ordered the workers under him not to tell anyone about the paper cards, not even to family members. He had a hunch that the business proposal that Fu wang fei spoke of will be a big business opportunity. When all was said and done, everything would become clear on the day that Tian Long Gambling House open for business.

[*T/N: 东西 dong xi – literally “things.” The text did not specify what.]

The two did not return directly to the prince’s palace.

An Zi Ran wanted to go to Tian Long Gambling House to take a look, not go inside and look around, but to see the outside.

Fu Wu Tian accompanied him to circle around the outside of Tian Long Gambling House. The renovations of the casino went smoothly. During this period, there were people who came to look for trouble, but they were all blocked.

Even before the renovations started, Fu Wu Tian had already premeditated this situation. He was the one who found all these construction workers, and they were not ordinary people. These people were all selected from his army. Each and every one of them was a skillful expert. Most importantly, very few people have seen them before, so there was no need to worry about someone recognizing them.

After looking over the place, the two of them returned to the Imperial Fu Palace.

Just as they arrived in front of the prince’s palace, the people guarding the doors told An Zi Ran that there’s someone looking for him. Because that person had a letter personally written by An Zi Ran, Steward Zhou didn’t dare to neglect him and invited him inside to wait. Right now, that guest was waiting in the main hall.

Once the letter was mention, An Zi Ran guessed who it was right away.

When the guest heard the approaching footsteps, he turned around immediately.

An Zi Ran was met with an ordinary face. It was different from what he had imagined. He thought that A Ye would be a suave and astute person. As they drew near, A Ye hurriedly stood up and raised his cupped hands respectfully.

“This little person pays respect to wang fei, wang ye.”

A Ye has never seen Fu Wu Tian before, but he was able to accurately address him. Moreover, he only seemed to be about twenty years old, give or take, and when he saw them, he was not as overcautious as Li Zhen.

An Zi Ran knew that he was very smart. “Rushing on the road for a day, you must be tired. If there’s anything to talk about, let’s save it for tomorrow. I’ll have Steward Zhou show you a place to rest.”

A Ye nodded and obediently followed Steward Zhou away.

“What is his full name?” Only after the person had left did Fu Wu Tian reveal his interest.

An Zi Ran thought about it for a while. It has been some time. “Steward Su seemed to have said that his name is Ye Yu. It’s a very nice sounding name, but it doesn’t feel very suitable for him.”

When one hears the name Ye Yu, meaning ‘night’ and ‘feather,’ most people would think of a man with a handsome face, not a young man with an ordinary face, and even one with a somewhat deadpan expression. But no matter what the reason, An Zi Ran would not ask him deliberately, because everyone deserved his or her own privacy.

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Chapter 91.2 – To Seize Military Power

Da Ya’s military power has been in the hands of the Fu father and son pair for thirty, forty years. If not ten out of ten, then at least eight out of ten soldiers were loyal to the father and son. Therefore, even if the emperor recovered the military power and Fu Wu Tian did not hold the seal of command, he was still the God of War of Da Ya.
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The Chong Ming Emperor merely took back the physical seal of command, but the hearts of the people could not be recovered.

“So that means you don’t have to go to war anymore,” An Zi Ran stated calmly. He had long since expected this kind of result. The emperor had his heart set on taking back Fu Wu Tian’s military power. Even if they could avoid him once or twice, they could not avoid him forever.

Fu Wu Tian picked up the little bun and put him into his arms. At the same time, his handsome face appeared directly in front of him. “Correct, therefore, wang fei, from now on we can be together every single day.”

An Zi Ran pushed his head away.

Fu Wu Tian countered by capturing his wrist. Then he bowed his head and planted a light kiss on the back of his hand.

“Ahwu?”

An Zi Ran looked down. The little bun sat within his arms and looked up. Those black eyes looked at him curiously. An Zi Ran’s expression immediately turned black.

Fu Wu Tian chuckled. “But following this, there is still a hard battle to fight. That old codger won’t let this prince stay peacefully in the capital. He will definitely find an excuse to make me leave here.”

An Zi Ran arched an eyebrow at him.

“There aren’t that many members in Da Ya’s royal family, especially in the previous generation. All together, there were only the previous emperor and my father, the two of them. The previous emperor was sympathetic to my father’s contributions to Da Ya, so when he was still on the throne, he bequeathed a piece of land with verdant hills and limpid waters to my father for a fiefdom. That place is called Ali Xiang. It is far away from the imperial city, and it is remote. Once there, a lot of things would be beyond one’s reach and influence.”
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An Zi Ran muttered to himself for a while. “The previous emperor’s intention should be to let your father live a happy and peaceful life away from the hustle and bustle in his retirement years.”

Fu Wu Tian nodded. “Correct. This prince is a member of the royal family. If he wants to make this prince leave, he only has to follow the example of the previous emperor.”

An Zi Ran looked up at him. “When do you think he will start to make a move?”

“Not in the short run.” Fu Wu Tian said with certainty.

The emperor definitely would not give him a good piece of land, but his military merits were outstanding. Right now, there were many people who paid attention to him. At this time, it was not good to make a move. Otherwise, the people would think that the emperor was suppressing the hero. So he will wait for a while. He will wait for the day when the people no longer mention him so frequently.

An Zi Ran’s brows relaxed. As long as it was not during this time period, it would have no effect on his plans.

Ge Qian An was very efficient. The following day he was able to find the people and things that he wanted.

There were a lot of skilled craftsmen in Jun Zi City. Ge Qian An specially invited five of the best craftsmen.

As for the bones and ivory, bovine bones were more common. Within one day, he managed to gather everything into a cart. The ratio of ivory to bones was not even one to two, but An Zi Ran was already very satisfied. He wouldn’t be using ivory for a while, so the collection of ivory could be done slowly. As for bovine bones, the amount that he wanted done was not a trifle.

An Zi Ran arranged the five craftsmen in a spacious yard.

The five craftsmen knew that they were going to be working for the Imperial Fu Palace. At first there was some trembling within their hearts, after all, everyone knew that it wasn’t easy to serve the royal family, but they did not expect that the person who would meet them was a handsome teenager, not only was he not arrogant, he also gave them a high wage, thus the five craftsmen were set at ease.
Translations by Vanilla Muse.
An Zi Ran passed an order that the craftsmen were not to be disturbed, so the servants of the palace only knew that there were five craftsmen knocking and beating inside, but they did not know what they were doing for several days.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

It was finally the agreed upon time between An Zi Ran and the owner of the engraving workshop, Li Zhen. This time, the one accompanying him was just the one Fu Wu Tian.

Li Zhen was already waiting for them.

Everything that An Zi Ran wanted him to do was already done, and it was not just one set. It was placed in the wooden box that was at his side.

When Li Zhen heard the workers announcing An Zi Ran’s arrival, he personally went out to greet him, but when he saw Fu Wu Tian, his expression became stunned, because he had previously seen with his own eyes the image of the God of War returning to the capital. He could still remember that scene to this day.

Li Zhen trembled and immediately knelt. “This little person* pays respects to wang ye.”

[*T/N: 小人 xiao ren – this is a humble first person pronoun. The literal meaning is “small or little person.” It can be translated as “person of low social status” which is most appropriate for this scenario, or used in a derogatory way to mean “villain” or “nasty person,” usually when one person is talking bad about another person.]

The workers who stood on the side were all scared silly by his actions, completely unable to react at all.

Fu Wu Tian didn’t think that this little workshop owner was a tactful person, able to recognize him at a glance. “Get up, Boss Li.”

Li Zhen stood up in a hurry. He had already guessed who An Zi Ran was. Not too long ago, the fact that the jun wang had taken a male wife was very sensational news. Even now, it was still a hot topic of discussion for many people, because very few people have seen the Fu wang fei’s true face, so occasionally there would be people discussing Fu wang fei’s appearance.

Because the rumors were that Fu wang fei was ugly.

The one who said this was supposedly someone from the Fu wang fei’s hometown. He said that Fu wang fei was the son of a landlord in a small county. His status was not high, and he was also a big ugly fat boy. After the rumor circled around a few times, everyone believed it to be true.

Li Zhen also believed it at the time. Now he knew how untrustworthy the rumors were. That rumor was simply a pit for people to fall into. If the rumored Fu wang fei was ugly, then there was no beauty under the sun.

The person standing in front of him was clearly a handsome and unparalleled youth. It was just that his indifferent temperament was enough to leave many people behind. How could such a person be a big ugly fat boy!

The person who said that Fu wang fei was ugly must have been jealous, or perhaps his brain was kicked in by a donkey.

Li Zhen could not have known that he had wrongly accused that person. The An Zi Ran that that person had seen was indeed a big ugly fat boy and not the An Zi Ran that had lost weight.

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Chapter 91.1 – To Seize Military Power

July was a hot month. Everybody’s thick clothes have already been changed into thin shirts. The sun was setting in the yard, but it did not bring the people within the room even a little bit of dryness and heat.

The eight-month-old little bun with pouty cheeks crawled into the room from the doorway. The floor was covered with a layer of carpet, so there was no need to worry about rubbing the child’s hands and knees raw. The little bun’s discerning eyes lit up with excitement when they landed on the person who was lying on the recliner with closed eyes. As the little bun got closer he began to crawl faster.

Just as he was about to touch the clothing hem of the person lying on the recliner, a pair of big hands suddenly came out from behind him and picked him up.

The little bun immediately waved his four limbs and started crying out, seeming very unwilling that he missed the opportunity to grab onto his big brother in that short distance.

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The person who picked him up turned him around.

One big, one small, two pairs of black eyes looked upon one another.

The little bun blinked his eyes, revealing a confused and ignorant expression.

Fu Wu Tian used one hand to hold the little bun. His palm was very big. It wasn’t a problem for the little bun to sit comfortably on it. “Hey little guy, don’t disturb your brother’s sleep.”

The little bun cocked his head to the side. He couldn’t understand!

Fu Wu Tian did not expect him to really understand, and reached out with his fingers as if to pinch his small mouth. Who knew that the little bun would unexpectedly open his mouth and clamp onto a finger to suck it. Before he could do anything, the little steamed bun was taken away. Fu Wu Tian looked up and saw his wang fei with furrowed brows.

“Don’t let him suck on fingers.”

An Zi Ran spoke while wiping off the saliva that dribbled out from the corners of the small bun’s mouth.

As soon as the little bun perceived the familiar arms around him, his little face became very excited. The two small paws immediately pulled on his brother’s clothes and he snuggled into his brother’s arms.

An Zi Ran was afraid that the child might fall, so he sat back down on the recliner. Just as he sat down, Fu Wu Tian took the squirming little bun away. An Zi Ran immediately said, “Be careful not to hurt him.”

Fu Wu Tian sat the little bun on his lap.

An Zi Ran saw that the little bun was not crying and let him do as he pleased. Furthermore, it was quite comical to watch a man so big hold onto a bun so small.

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“How did you get back so fast? What did the emperor call you for?”

“It was about the matter with Chang Province.”

It has been almost two months since the disaster in Chang Province broke out. In the past, the people would be in disarray with no means of getting by, but that was no longer the case now. The preparations for the counties in Chang Province were being carried out in an orderly manner under the leadership of Fu Wu Tian’s subordinates. There were even some projects already completed by now. All these credits naturally belonged to the person in charge, Fu Wu Tian.

As the people’s support of Fu Wu Tian grew higher and higher, even if the Chong Ming Emperor wanted to ignore it, he could not. So he summoned Fu Wu Tian this morning to talk about this matter.

An Zi Ran listened, unconcerned. “How is he going to reward you?”

“Reward?”

When An Zi Ran asked this, Fu Wu Tian returned with a word that carried a meaningful tone, as if something had changed.

An Zi Ran looked at him in confusion. “What?”

Fu Wu Tian lowered his head and pinched the pink cheek of the small bun. Before the little bun could cry out, he loosened up. Then he replied, “That old codger was surprisingly smart this time.”

When An Zi Ran heard this, he sat up straight at once.

The emperor summoned Fu Wu Tian to see him. On the surface it was to reward him for his merits in governing Chang Province, but in reality, he was still trying to take back the military power in his hands. And this time, his means were cleverer than before. Most likely, someone had given him advice.

Fu Wu Tian was already a member of royalty – moreover, he was a wang ye – so there was no higher position that could be awarded. Therefore, his merits could only be noted down and rewarded with some money.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

However–

The Chong Ming Emperor kept remembering the wealth that Fu Wu Tian confiscated from the corrupt officials in Hong Province. Although Fu Wu Tian spent most of his money on Chang Province, he always thought that his nephew had hidden more than half of it, so his so-called reward was that confiscated wealth.

In this way, the people would think that despite Fu Wu Tian spending so much money on them, there was actually still a lot left. Thus they would not be able to guess that the emperor was actually targeting Fu Wu Tian. However, in order to make the play more realistic, the emperor also drew up a decree.

The purpose of the decree was to say that Fu Wu tian has been guarding the empire of Da Ya for more than ten years, protecting the land from invasion by neighboring countries, and thus rewarded him some things, but this was only a gimmick. The real purpose came after.

The prestige of Fu Wu Tian’s moniker as the God of War had already spread to other countries, so there have been very few wars in recent years. The empire of Da Ya could be considered to be peaceful and prosperous.

In order to be ‘considerate’ towards him, the emperor decided to let Fu Wu Tian take a long vacation. He could stay in Jun Zi City and spend some happy times with his family. The implication was that Fu Wu Tian should hand over the military power.

“You handed it over?” An Zi Ran watched him fixedly.

Something flashed in Fu Wu Tian’s eyes. Then he said very simply, “Of course I have to hand it over. If I don’t, that old codger will keep thinking about this prince everyday.”

An Zi Ran figured out his intention with a single guess.

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Chapter 90.2 – In Love

Ge Qian An heard that wang fei was looking for him and went to the study room.

When he heard footsteps, An Zi Ran guessed who it was and did not raise his head. “Did Miss Zhong Yue leave already?”

Ge Qian An’s eyelid jumped. He kept feeling like there was some deep meaning in wang fei’s words. He thought about it and then replied, “She already left. Don’t know what wang fei is looking for this soldier for?”

An Zi Ran finally looked up and stared at him with a calm expression. He said, “Think of some ways to help me look for a few craftsmen with good hands. It would be best to find some craftsmen who are good at making small objects. Also, get some cattle bones or ivory. The more the better.”

Ge Qian An remembered the orders one by one. Just as he turned around and was preparing to leave, An Zi Ran’s words – which seemed to have a deep and rich meaning – entered his ears.

“When there’s free time, you can invite Miss Zhong Yue to the prince’s palace more often.”

Ge Qian An went stiff. If before he still had doubts, then now he was certain that wang fei knew about that matter. He just didn’t know what he was thinking. Could it be that wang fei is planning to do something to Zhong Yue?

Ge Qian An slowly turned around. “Wang fei, Zhong Yue is…”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

An Zi Ran laughed lightly, “Vice General Ge, don’t be nervous. I know that Miss Zhong Yue likes wang ye, but it is a one-sided love, right?”

Ge Qian An’s grim expression finally revealed a complicated look. “This subordinate can guarantee to wang fei that Zhong Yue will never hinder the relationship between you and wang ye. Wang ye will also never accept Zhong Yue’s feelings of love, so I ask that you let Zhong Yue go.”

An Zi Ran said, “What are you saying, Vice General Ge? Miss Zhong Yye is the wang ye’s capable subordinate, how could I make things difficult for him? If wang ye likes her, he would’ve accepted her long ago, and not wait until now. Except that, this kind of feeling should be resolved as soon as possible, so as to not waste her time.”

Ge Qian An hesitated a moment, cupped his hands in salute, and said, “Many thanks for wang fei’s concern. This subordinate will pass it on to her. If there is nothing else, then this subordinate will leave first.”

Very quickly, there was only one person left in the study room.

An Zi Ran leaned back in the chair, touched his nose, and let out a low and shallow laugh.

Steward Zhou, who had come to deliver a cup of hot tea, heard his laughter from outside the door. Don’t know why, but suddenly he couldn’t help but shiver.

……

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At the palace, Fu Wu Tian came out from the royal study.

Eunuch Wang Ping followed from behind. Fu Wu Tian was backlit by the setting sun, casting a long shadow. The eunuch squinted as he called, “Wang ye, take care*!”

[*T/N: 慢走 man zou: literal meaning is “go slowly” or “walk slowly.” Said to a departing guest as a courtesy phrase.]

Fu Wu Tian slightly turned his head and looked at him with a condescending eye.

When Wang Ping met his gaze, he couldn’t control the shiver of cold that went through his heart. When he looked over again, Fu Wu Tian had already stridden away. His black clothes embroidered with gold thread flapped in the wind; accompanied by an indifferent and low pressure. The head eunuch couldn’t help but tremble in fear.

What a pity! Ah, what a pity!

Wang Ping sighed in his heart. Then he turned and walked back.

“Whoa, isn’t this the jun wang?”

Fu Wu Tian passed through the corridor and was just about to step down the steps, when all of a sudden a voice of surprise came from the side. It seemed to carry a hint of schadenfreude. Every person could hear the ill will in that voice.

Fu Wu Tian turned his head and saw the first prince, Fu Yuan Wu. The person who had spoken was him. Next to him there was an old man with a quiet face, who exuded shrewdness inside and out. This person was the current prime minister, the head of a hundred officers, Zhang Sun Cheng De. At this moment, a pair of astute eyes landed on his person.

Speaking of it, there were some small grudges between them.

Since Fu Wu Tian killed Jiang Zhong Ting and Liu Fei Hong, Fu Yuan Wu gave up on the idea of pulling him to his side. Not to mention, his imperial father wanted to take away this person’s military power, so why should he throw himself in muddy waters?

Moreover, Fu Wu Tian had no intention of working with them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have not hesitated at all when killing the people working for him and his maternal grandfather. Their lost at Hong Province wasn’t just simply losing Jiang Zhong Ting and Liu Fei Hong. The gifts that they received from Hong Province accounted for a large portion every year.

Although Fu Wu Tian stopped, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking very cool, and he did not speak.

His gaze was very sharp. His features were also like a statue, sharp and clear cut. When he looked at other people calmly, that expression face could often give people goose bumps.

At this moment, this was the feeling that Fu Yuan Wu got, but he did not want to admit that he was scared by Fu Wu Tian’s imposing manner, so he refused to take a step back, until Zhang Sun Cheng De saw that his grandson was reaching the limit and took the initiative to break the silence.

“It’s been a long time, has jun wang been well?”

Fu Wu Tian spared a glance for Zhang Sun Cheng De, who looked similar to an old Buddhist monk. This man was exactly the definition of an old fox. Unfortunately, his grandson did not inherit his astuteness.

“Thank you for asking. All is well with this prince.”

Fu Yuan Wu snorted.

Fu Wu Tian looked at him for a moment, with eyes that seemed like they were smiling yet not smiling. “This prince still has important matters to attend to. Prime Minister, First Prince, farewell.”

Only after Fu Wu Tian was far away did Fu Yuan Wu curse out loud.

Zhang Sun Cheng De looked at his grandson and finally shook his head. If Yuan Wu could be half as good as Fu Wu Tian, he would not have to worry about him.

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🎊🏮 Happy Lunar New Year! 🏮🎊

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Chapter 90.1 – In Love

Without Ge Qian An around, Shao Fei’s personality came out.

An Zi Ran heard about him from Fu Wu Tian. Shao Fei was promoted from a civilian soldier. He spent a total of five years in the army. For the first two years he stayed in a fire leader army*, which did not have any prospects. Later he was discovered and then promoted to Fu Wu Tian’s side.

[*T/N: 火头军 literal translation. The second character can also be translated as “head.”]

He had a big personality, and he couldn’t hide his moods. These people were usually stubborn, and easy to understand.

Shao Fei just turned nineteen this year. Because he went directly from the countryside into the army, in the past five years, he has only been to the capital once, so his curiosity about Jun Zi City was stronger than An Zi Ran.

“Shao Fei.” An Zi Ran suddenly stopped him.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Shao Fei immediately turned back.

An Zi Ran asked, “About Miss Zhong Yue, how much do you know?”

Shao Fei wasn’t surprised. He counted on his fingers for a bit. “Zhong Yue has been by wang ye’s side for ten years longer than me. Sometimes she’s cold. She doesn’t like to talk. Our personalities don’t really get along, so I don’t know much about her, but…”

“But what?”

“I heard that wang ye saved her life. I think it was when she was five years old. A group of bandits rushed into the village where Zhong Yue lived. They not only stole the villagers’ food for the winter, but also killed the villagers there. They were very cruel. Wang ye happened to pass by and saved her. I recall that she seems to be the only one from her village that is still alive. From then on, Zhong Yue has been by the wang ye’s side. Furthermore, she only listens to wang ye’s orders, as if to repay him for saving her life.”

An Zi Ran looked calmly at the street ahead and did not answer.

Shao Fei seemed to have come to a topic of interest and he said with enthusiasm, “The day when wang fei and wang ye got married, Zhong Yue was also there, but it seems like she left later on, so wang fei didn’t get to see her.”

“That’s it?”

Shao Fei rubbed his head and nodded.

On the way, An Zi Ran asked about the other people. Shao Fei answered his questions one by one, unless it was something that he did not know.

An Zi Ran knew that for Fu Wu Tian to get to where he was, he must have quite a few high-ranking military officers that he trusted. Asides from the few loyal veterans that Fu Xiao left him; the ages of the other people were all similar to Fu Wu Tian. An Zi Ran thought that he had seen all of them on the day of the marriage, but unexpectedly there were still a few more staying at the border.

The two walked as they talked, and they soon arrived outside the engraving workshop. The engraving workshop was a place where they printed text. In the twenty-first century, it was called a printing factory (or a print shop). But according to his original timeline, the word ‘factory’ was something closer to modern times. The ancients did not have such things as factory yet, because in order for there to be a factory there would inevitably have to be machines.

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An Zi Ran did not use his identity as wang fei to meet the boss of the engraving workshop. The other party was also unaware that he was the wang fei of the Imperial Fu Palace. He only took him for the son of some noble.

The owner of the engraving workshop was a middle-aged man named Li Zhen. He had a grizzly beard and a gentle smile. He heard that An Zi Ran wanted to print some things so he asked a few pertinent questions. When An Zi Ran showed him the things in the box, the smile changed a little.

“What is this?” Li Zhen picked up the square piece of paper that was cut in the box and looked at An Zi Ran strangely.

An Zi Ran told him his request.

Li Zhen’s eyes widened. He had never seen such a strange thing. Not only did he have to make such a small one, but it also had various patterns on it. Although he did not understand it, it was still business. Businessmen would not push away such a good thing, especially since the other party was very generous.

Li Zhen mulled it over and then agreed.

Asides from a few pieces that were more troublesome, the others were very simple.

“Boss Li, according to the speed of your workshop, when do you think this will be done?” After negotiating the requirements and conditions, An Zi Ran asked for a concrete completion date. His hope was to have it as fast as possible.

Li Zhen stroked his beard as he considered. “To be frank, gong zi, the things you want done will need at least five days at the fastest.”

An Zi Ran nodded. Five days was not very long. The renovations for the gambling house wouldn’t be done so quickly either. He stood up. “Then I will have to trouble Boss Li with this.”

Li Zhen quickly stood up and smiled. “An gong zi is too polite.”

Then he personally saw him out.

An Zi Ran didn’t specifically tell Boss Li not to let things leak out. This kind of thing, the more you specified, the more mindful of it the other party would become. He believed that as long as he didn’t tell others how to use those things, even if Boss Li had the intention to leak it out, he still wouldn’t be able to do much. The other party should be confused right now, and have no idea what he wanted to make those things for.

Shao Fei saw that wang fei wasn’t speaking. He seemed to be thinking about something. So he didn’t talk to him either, but after a while he couldn’t help it anymore. “Wang fei, after those things are complete, can they really be used to play?”

He had never seen such strange patterns.

“Five days later, after I get those things in my hands I will teach you guys how to play. Don’t look at it as just a few dozen sheets of paper. You can play more games with it than with dices.” After An Zi Ran finished speaking, he thought of a question. “Do you know where they sell cattle bone or ivory?”

Shao Fei revealed a mocking smile. “This, I also do not know. We can return to the prince’s palace and ask Qian An. He knows more.”

Although he often ran around outside, dragging other people out with him to sightsee whenever he was free, there were still a lot of places that he has not been yet. It was even more impossible for him to pay attention to any shops selling cattle bones or ivory.

Thus, the two of them returned directly to the prince’s palace.

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Chapter 89.2 – Two Hearts

An Zi Ran deliberately gave him a psychological blow by saying, “Don’t be too happy, there are still two more. These two are much harder than the ones you just painted. You can’t draw with a straight line.”

Fu Wu Tian knew that wang fei would not let him go easily, so he guessed that the latter two would not be too simple, so he was not surprised.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

An Zi Ran then told him what he was thinking.

Although he said draw two, in fact it was only one, because the two patterns were the same, the only difference was that one should use red pigment, and one should use black pigment.

An Zi Ran was uncommonly considerate, and only had him draw one. Because he couldn’t simplify things like the previous three, so he painted slowly and two hours passed.

An Zi Ran was carrying an account book. It was the Imperial Fu Palace’s account book.

He could now be considered a master* in the Imperial Fu Palace. Trivial matters could be handed over to Steward Zhou, but he still had to personally look over the accounts. Fortunately, there was Steward Su over at An Yuan County to oversee things, so he was now more free than before.

[*T/N: 当家主母 “female master in charge of managing the household” or “mistress.”]

There were not many members in the prince’s palace. Fu Xiao never took any concubines, so the Imperial Fu Palace was much more peaceful than other rich, noble manors. There were no women striving for favor, and no fighting and scheming. The account books were even simpler than the one’s for the An family.

After reading the account book, An Zi Ran was just about to stand up. Suddenly a shadow appeared over his head. When he looked up he saw that it was Fu Wu Tian standing behind him. He held a piece of paper in front of him. A lively looking clown jumped out at him. Although this masked clown wore the clothes of the ancients, he had to say that it was really vivid.

“How is it?”

“Very good. It’s what I wanted.”

Fu Wu Tian leaned forward. Their faces were very close. They could each feel the other’s breathing. Fu Wu Tian then spoke leisurely, “Wang fei, this prince has helped you so much, is there any reward?”

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An Zi Ran didn’t even blink. “You took the reward ahead of time the night before, so no!”

When he finished speaking, he got up and took the paper from his hand.

Fu Wu Tian followed him, and An Zi Ran had him add a few more symbols on the paper because his painting skills were better.

“Draw two more hearts, one red and one black.”

Hearing this sentence, Fu Wu Tian’s movement’s stilled. “Two hearts?”

An Zi Ran nodded.

Fu Wu Tian did as he asked and drew two hearts that were close together. If he knew the story of Cupid then he would’ve strung the hearts through the center with a feathered arrow.

An Zi Ran smiled slightly. He took the paper out from under Fu Wu Tian’s brush, and then he added a little something under the black heart. Then he drew a plum blossom. Everything he wanted drawn was done.

An Zi Ran cut out the painted pattern with the tool that Steward Zhou got for him. Then he pressed it onto a red note card that he had prepared ahead of time. On the card were some requirements that he had written. He then placed that into a square box. Like this, it could be considered a job well done.

“Wang fei, you still have not told this prince yet, what are you doing with these drawings?” Fu Wu Tian observed his series of actions. An Zi Ran looked like he was getting ready to go out.

An Zi Ran also did not conceal it from him. “I want to make a new gambling game. These things are all materials. When it’s done, I will show you.”

Creating new gambling games was not an easy task.

Fu Wu Tian couldn’t help but have a sense of anticipation. He couldn’t wait to see what kind of interesting game these strange patterns would become!

The next day, An Zi Ran took the box and went to he engraving workshop. Originally, Fu Wu Tian wanted to go with him and what his wang fei was going to do, however, an abrupt decree destroyed his plans, because the Chong Ming Emperor had summoned him. So he could only send Shao Fei and Ge Qian An to accompany him.

Fu Wu Tian had to leave home earlier than An Zi Ran.

The three finished eating breakfast and prepared to go out, but when they got to the door they saw Zhong Yue coming in from outside.

“Zhong Yue pays respects to wang fei.”

After returning from Chang Province, Zhong Yue was completely idle. Seeing her appear here, no one felt surprised, but Ge Qian An’s eyebrows wrinkled slightly.

An Zi Ran nodded and asked casually, “Are you looking for the wang ye for something?”

This ordinary sentence actually caused Zhong Yue’s expression to change slightly, as if An Zi Ran had asked something desperately serious. Actually, he really did not have other thoughts. Zhong Yue was Fu Wu Tian’s subordinate, coming to the Imperial Fu Palace, eight to nine out of ten times must be to look for Fu Wu Tian. Although it was very subtle, the strangeness on her face did not escape the eyes of An Zi Ran.

Zhong Yue took a moment to steady her self, “Replying to wang fei, I came to look for Vice General Ge.”

An Zi Ran looked back and forth between the two of them. “In that case, Vice General Ge will stay here. I will go with Shao Fei.”

“Thanks, wang fei.” Ge Qian An saluted him.

Zhong Yue also thanked him.

Then the two of them left the prince’s palace.

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Chapter 89.1 – Two Hearts

On the third day, Fu Wu Tian fulfilled his promise to help him paint five drawings.

Although he had been staying at the border for more than a decade, he started learning these things ten years ago. Also, just because he stayed at the border didn’t mean that he had to fight a war every year.
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Other people thought that he was just an all-brawn-no-brains man, when in fact, the sons of high-ranking officials who stayed in the capital for many years did not have as much ink in their belly as he did*.

[*T/N: they are not as cultured as him]

After knowing that Fu Wu Tian could paint, An Zi Ran had no worries. He directly told him the pattern he wanted to paint. The patterns were complicated and needed to be drawn by talented people. In his previous life, he could draw simple sketches, but once a brush was in his hand he lost all rhyme and rhythm.

After listening to his description, Fu Wu Tian immediately got to work. He was silent for a while before asking, “Wang fei, can you say it again?”

An Zi Ran seemed to be expecting this. Unsurprised, he said, “I said I want to draw an old couple and their son. The size should not be too large. The length should not exceed eight centimeters, and the width should not exceed four centimeters.” After he said it, he was afraid that the other would not understand and even gave the dimensions.

“…Wang fei, are you retaliating against this prince for causing you to be unable to get out of bed yesterday?”

When Fu Wu Tian heard that he wanted to draw such a small image, he could only think that it was so.

An Zi Ran had no expression on his face. “Does it matter if that’s the case or not?”

“Of course.”

“What?”

Fu Wu Tian replied, “You obviously enjoyed it that night. You came four times, even more than this prince.”

A sharp gaze pierced him.

Translations by Vanilla Muse

An Zi Ran said in a monotonous tone, “You want to tell me now that you can’t actually draw it? It doesn’t matter, you can tell the truth, I won’t look down on you.”

“But you will discriminate against this prince.” Fu Wu Tian immediately answered.

“Yes!”

Fu Wu Tian clicked his tongue. “Really impolite, didn’t even hesitate for a bit. This prince didn’t say he couldn’t draw it.”

Fu Wu Tian has indeed never painted such a small image, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t draw it. However, looking across all of Da Ya, afraid that no one has ever painted such a small size, because with a few strokes of the brush, the dimensions that An Zi Ran gave would already be completely covered in black or red ink. Exactly like what happened to An Zi Ran the day before yesterday.

“Then go ahead and paint. Remember to make the clothes look better,” An Zi Ran added another request.

Fu Wu Tian said, “If you have any more requirements, say it all at once.”

This was the rhythm of a broken jar!*

[*T/N: literally 这是破罐子破摔的节奏！]
[Thanks to Syeki for explaining this phrase! “破罐子破摔” means a mistake occurred, and instead of rectifying it, you let it continue on and worsen. In this case, you can read it as FWT digging a pit for himself by asking AZR if he had any other requirements instead of asking him to be merciful.]

An Zi Ran really thought about it for a bit. It’s been a long time since he touched that kind of thing. He couldn’t think of the specific pattern. Finally, he took out a brush and dipped some ink to draw a picture on another piece of white paper. “This can be drawn in a straight line on the clothing. Simple is fine, it doesn’t need to be too complicated.”

Fu Wu Tian looked at the pattern An Zi Ran drew, and pictured the finished product in his mind. If it’s like this then it was much simpler. But… “Wang fei, what are you painting these pictures for?”

An Zi Ran answered, “I want to print these pictures on small pieces of hard paper that can be carried around, so the picture can’t be too big.”

After Fu Wu Tian understood, he finally started painting.

An Zi Ran figured that he would be painting for a while, so he left the study room while the other man painted. Before long, he returned with a pot of hot tea and some little snacks. Just as he placed the tray down on the table, he saw Fu Wu Tian stop painting. The brush was changed to a stiff bristle brush. The stiff bristles were relatively small, and the lines outlined were relatively thin.

An Zi Ran took a look at the table top and couldn’t help but blink once.

Ancient people probably didn’t look highly upon this type of character, but in his eyes it was already very shapely.

The three characters outlined with straight lines were obviously rigid, but they appear on the rice paper in a vivid way. It was no wonder that he dared to boast about his painting skills. It was indeed not bad. If other people heard his description, it was hard to imagine what they would draw.

An Zi Ran picked up a brush and drew a few patterns on another piece of paper. To Fu Wu Tian, these patterns seemed very strange. Then An Zi Ran pulled out a piece of paper with ten patterns that he had drawn before.

“According to this format, add these symbols on the upper left and lower right corners.”

Fu Wu Tian looked at his drawings and sketched a few strokes. The symbols he drew were even better than An Zi Ran’s. Furthermore, he drew everything in one stroke without lifting the brush.

“How is it?”

An Zi Ran praised, “It is much better than I imagined.”

Fu Wu Tian, who was praised, revealed a bit of happiness in his eyes.

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