Category: The Big Landlord

As selected by Reader Vote, today’s bonus update goes to TBL. Enjoy!

---

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 156.3 – Changeable Situation

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

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

Fu Wu Tian pulled him onto his lap.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

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

Fu Yuan Cheng readily agreed.

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

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

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

“Do you know where you went wrong?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prev | Contents | Next

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 156.2 – Changeable Situation

The Pu family was not like the Zhang Sun family, who has blood relations with Fu Yuan Wu, but they did marry their daughter to Fu Yuan Wu and she even got pregnant. They had been supporting him all these years. Even if they did not achieve any meritorious service, they still put in a lot of hard work, but in the end, Fu Yuan Wu just dropped them whenever he wanted!

“You must save the Pu family. If you hadn’t asked me to approach Wang Qing Lan to investigate Prince Fu’s Mansion, how could I have ended up in this situation? The Pu family’s current fate definitely has something to do with you!”

Pu Song Yong slapped his hands heavily on the table and looked at Fu Yuan Wu aggressively.

Fu Yuan Wu’s eyes darkened, “Father-in-law, if you suffer from amnesia, I can help you restore your memory. You cheating on Mother-in-law is not what I asked you to do. I asked you to approach Wang Qing Lan half a month ago, and you started an affair with Wang Qing Lan two months ago.”

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

Pu Song Yong’s face flipped between blue and white as Fu Yuan Wu spoke. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down before speaking again: “Even so, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have gone to the An Mansion at all. If I didn’t go to the An Mansion, the affair would not have been found out, and news of it would not have spread. Furthermore, the emperor wanted to deal with the Pu family because of the relationship between the Pu family and you, but you refused to save the Pu family. If you treat the Pu family like this, aren’t you afraid that the other families that are attached to you will be bitterly disappointed in you?”

Fu Yuanwu’s face turned completely cold, “Pu Song Yong, you are not qualified to judge me now. If you are here just to say this, then this prince has already lost his patience. Steward, see the guest out!”

The steward who was guarding the door immediately walked in.

“Pu-daren, this way please.”

Pu Song Yong was so angry that he trembled, “You’re not afraid that I will tell everyone about you?”

Fu Yuan Wu sneered and said: “Father-in-law, if you want to say something, I won’t stop you, but you have to think about your daughter. She is my wangfei. If my life’s not good, then her life won’t be good either. By the way, I have some happy news to tell you, Father-in-law. Yesterday, the doctor confirmed that wangfei is pregnant.”

Pu Song Yong’s face suddenly twisted. Fu Yuan Wu was actually using his daughter to threaten him?

“Fu Yuan Wu, you definitely won’t have a good ending!”

The steward quickly ordered some servants to drag him out.

Pu Song Yong’s abusive words got quieter and quieter as he was dragged away and calm returned to the area once again. Fu Yuan Wu’s body was hidden in the shadows, and half of his face showed a trace of cruelty. With a ‘kacha‘, the brush in his hand was suddenly split into two sections.

If the Pu family decided not to be tactful, then he wouldn’t hold back either.

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

Not long after Pu Song Yong left, the steward suddenly knocked on the door hurriedly, and the first words he said when he came in were: “Wangye, not good, wangfei has had a miscarriage.”

Fu Yuan Wu frowned. Displeased.

“She was fine yesterday, why did she suddenly have a miscarriage?”

Instead of responding right away, the steward hesitated.

“Speak!”

“It was Yang-cefei who pushed wangfei. When wangfei fell to the ground, she accidentally hit her stomach and she bled a lot. I have already sent someone to go get the doctor.”

Fu Yuan Wu’s expression was calm, “Wangfei has had a miscarriage and will definitely need to recuperate for a period of time. She won’t be able to manage the harem’s affairs. You go and pass on my orders, from now on, all trivial matters in the mansion will be up to Yang-cefei to handle. Also, this prince does not want too many people to know about this matter. Make sure all the servants keep their mouths shut.”

“Understood, wangye.”

After hearing this, the steward was a little frightened. Wangye really was a heartless and unrighteous person. The Pu family was already in dire straits. Not only did he not punish Yang-cefei, he even gave Yang-cefei the right to manage the harem. Was he really not afraid of negative repercussions if the Pu family found out?”

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

The steward didn’t dare to think about it anymore, he could only sympathize with wangfei in his heart.

But there was no airtight wall in the world.

A lot of servants were present when Yang-cefei pushed wangfei. No matter how many times the servants were warned to not talk about the incident, the news would inevitably spread.

Originally, Pu Song Yong was somewhat afraid of consequences because he had his daughter to think about, but upon learning about what had happened, he went crazy. Fu Yuan Wu was heartless and unrighteous, so he would not have any more misgivings.The Pu family’s relationship with Fu Yuan Wu was not as close as that of the Zhang Sun family, but they have learned a lot of his secrets over the years. He would reveal all of those things to Fu Yuan Wu’s enemies!

A trace of crazy and determined bitter resentment flashed in Pu Song Yong’s eyes. He would drag Fu Yuan Wu into the murky waters even if he had to forfeit his life to do so.

…

Prev | Contents | Next

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 156.1 – Changeable Situation

Three days after the incident happened, an official immediately wrote a petition to impeach the Pu family.

The impeachment memorial did not mention adultery at all. Instead, it targeted the Pu family for accepting bribes and forming cliques for personal gain over the years.

It was impossible for any big family, especially a famous family like the Pu family, to be completely clean. Therefore, under the instruction of Emperor Chong Ming, the officials wrote up to five memorials to impeach the Pu family. Emperor Chong Ming was determined to deal with the Pu family. Even Zhang Sun Cheng De did not dare to plea leniency for the Pu family in the imperial court.

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

In the end, Pu Song Yong and his father were dismissed from their government posts. Originally, Pu Zhen Cheng just wanted to return home to recuperate, but in the end, this temporary rest became an eternal vacation.

But the Pu family was still considered lucky.

In situations like this, the family would usually have their house searched and possessions confiscated. But Emperor Chong Ming decided to let the Pu family go for the sake of his imperial aunt. However, the Pu family would not be allowed to serve as officials in the imperial court from now on.

Although he was spared from a complete disaster, this result still made Pu Zhen Cheng’s* head turn gray overnight. They were not allowed to serve as officials in the imperial court. This meant that the Pu family would only gradually decline in the future.

[*T/N: Based on the context of the following paragraph, I think the author meant to say Pu Song Yong (the son) here instead of Pu Zhen Cheng (the father)…]

Despite this, he did not dare to tell his old father – who was living a leisurely life away from the imperial court while he recuperated – about this matter. His father was already very old. If he found out about this matter, who knew what would happen to his health?

On the fifth day, Pu Song Yong went to Prince Wu’s Mansion to discuss the matter with the eldest prince, Fu Yuan Wu. He really didn’t expect that the matter would become so serious.

Now that the Pu family was in decline, his wife’s maternal family decided to cut ties with them. His only son no longer recognized him as a father. The only person he could go to for help was his son-in-law.

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

The steward of Prince Wu’s Mansion came out. Pu Song Yong went up to greet him, but the steward said, “Pu-daren, please leave. Wangye said he is really busy and does not have time to see you.”

Pu Song Yong’s entire body immediately turned cold and his eyes widened in disbelief.

As soon as the Pu family fell into decline, his son-in-law actually burned the bridge after crossing the river*.

[*T/N: “to burn the bridge after crossing the river” is a figurative speech meaning “to abandon one’s benefactor upon achieving one’s goal”]

His daughter was still that man’s wangfei!

“No, I must see my son-in-law today. I have very important things to discuss with him.” Pu Song Yong yelled, wanting to rush inside.

The steward had already guessed that this would be the case and immediately ordered two servants to stop him. Pu Song Yong had been living in a position of dignity for many years and had no physical strength at all, so he was easily stopped by the two servants.

“Pu-daren, this insignificant one is just conveying wangye’s words. Please don’t make things hard for me.”

The steward did not dare to let the servants hurt Pu Song Yong. The Pu family might have lost power, but Pu Song Yong’s daughter was still the mistress of Prince Wu’s Mansion. Unless she commits some terrible mistake in the future, she would always be their wangfei. And if she found out that they treated her father horribly, she would not let them get off easy.

Pu Song Yong stopped struggling.

The steward thought that he had been convinced and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But Pu Song Yong just knew that a head-on confrontation would do no good to him. After calming down, he said to the steward: “Steward, go and tell your wangye that if he does not see me, then I might not keep mum about a certain matter.”

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

For his son-in-law, he not only sacrificed his official career, but also the Pu family. Since his son-in-law was being heartless, he would just have to return tit-for-tat.

The steward saw that Pu Song Yong was serious. After hesitating for a bit, he agreed.

He conveyed Pu Song Yong’s words verbatim to the wangye and saw the wangye’s expression change.

“Let him in.”

The steward didn’t dare to think too much and immediately went out to bring Pu Song Yong inside.

As soon as Pu Song Yong saw the heartless Fu Yuan Wu, he couldn’t help letting out a sarcastic sneer.

“My good son-in-law, as your father-in-law, it’s really hard to see you!”

It was all thanks to him that Fu Yuan Wu got to where he was today. Before, he had extravagant expectations that Fu Yuan Wu would help the Pu family. He didn’t think that the man would be such a thankless wretch.

“If you have anything to say, just say it.”

Fu Yuan Wu’s face was full of impatience. He had been very close to the Pu family before, but since the Pu family was no longer useful, there was no need for him to be nice to the Pu family anymore. This was the kind of man that he was. It’s not like this was the first time the Pu family saw him acting like this. When it came to useless chess pieces, he got rid of them without batting an eye!

Of course Pu Song Yong knew, but he never thought that the Pu family would be one of those chess pieces.

Prev | Contents | Next

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 155.2 – Emperor Chong Ming’s Inner Thoughts

An Zi Ran could actually understand why Wang Qing Lan had an affair.

An Chang Fu passed away, and Wang Qing Lan became a widow, but she was still very young. Women have needs just like men, especially for a young widow, whose sexual desire might sometimes be very strong.

However, if Wang Qing Lan needed it, she could do whatever she wanted as long as she left the An family. Even if she wanted to get remarry, he wouldn’t care and he would gladly let her leave. But she didn’t do that. In a nutshell, she was unwilling to let go of the generous lifestyle that the An family provided.

Fu Wu Tian glanced at the ashen-faced Wang Qing Lan and was the first to break the silence.

“What does wangfei plan to do with her?”

After hearing these words, Wang Qing Lan’s body suddenly stiffened, and she felt very uneasy. She knew that things would not end well for her, but she still couldn’t help looking at An Zi Ran with some expectant hope.

An Zi Ran pondered and said: “From now on, Wang Qing Lan is no longer a member of the An family and will be sent back to An Yuan County. From now on, her life or death has nothing to do with the An family.”

Upon hearing this verdict, Wang Qing Lan fell to the floor in despair.

Fu Wu Tian had the servants bring her away. In the end, only the two of them, Ge Qian An and Zhong Yue, were left in the main hall. The other servants were also dismissed.

“Wangye, there might be more to this situation than meets the eye. Pu Song Yong probably has an ulterior motive for approaching Wang Qing Lan.” An Zi Ran thought of Wang Qing Lan’s previous assertions. She had emphasized twice that it was Pu Song Yong who wanted to come to the An Mansion to seek her out. An Zi Ran’s intuition told him that there was something fishy. Pu Song Yong’s official position was not high, but in a prestigious family like the Pu family, how could one not understand whether something was slight or serious? It was one thing to have an affair, but to carry out such acts under the An Mansion roof? Unless the man wanted to die, there must be something else.

Fu Wu Tian refilled his tea for him. “Pu Song Yong is part of the eldest prince’s faction. If he has an ulterior motive, then chances are high that it has something to do with the eldest prince.”

“But why did he send Pu Song Yong to get close to Wang Qing Lan? Did he hope to learn something about Prince Fu’s Mansion through Wang Qing Lan?” An Zi Ran felt that this reasoning was too improbable. Wang Qing Lan was just a woman, and her relationship with him was not good. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Wang Qing Lan would not be privy to any of An Zi Ran’s secrets.

Fu Wu Tian smiled, “Maybe that’s exactly it.”

Sometimes the more improbable the reason was, the more likely it was to be the truth.

It was just a bad move. That’s all.

An Zi Ran also knew that this was the only explanation, but he didn’t expect that the eldest prince, who was surrounded by enemies, would still have the free time to pay attention to Prince Fu’s Mansion. Perhaps he had been in and out of Prince Fu’s Mansion too many times during this recent period, which probably aroused the eldest prince’s suspicion. Fortunately, there was a buffering period coming up next.

“Wangye, what do you think about spreading this news?” An Zi Ran suddenly suggested.

A hint of surprise seemed to flash in Fu Wu Tian’s eyes, “Why?”

Even Ge Qian An and Zhong Yue looked at him in surprise. The matter of adultery could be a big deal or just small potatoes. Although it would have a great impact on the Pu family, it would also be the same for the An family.

“Wangye, I remember that you said that the emperor never established a crown prince because he didn’t want people to think that he was old and incapable. And naturally, he did not like it when other people coveted his throne, even if it’s his own son.” An Zi Ran said as he looked at Fu Wu Tian.

Fu Wu Tian nodded.

“I have always been curious about why the emperor would praise the second prince so highly even though he does not have any support from the maternal side of his family. That is until today. It is because there are too many people supporting the eldest prince. He has both the Zhang Sun family and the Pu family in his pocket. Even the third prince, who has the support of the Yu family, does not measure up to the eldest prince. The emperor does not want to see the eldest prince’s faction grow bigger, so he deliberately supported the second prince’s faction in order to form a balanced distribution of power. However, even with the emperor’s support, the advantage gap between the two is still too large, so if the emperor is given a chance to punish the eldest prince’s faction, he will most likely do it. “

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

Whenever An Zi Ran talked about conspiracies and plots, his eyes would always shine. He seemed like a wise and farsighted sage, and his body seemed to be emitting a layer of light.

It was precisely his wisdom and his frank yet assured way of speaking that Fu Wu Tian liked.

“Wangfei’s conjecture is correct. The emperor does want to attack the eldest prince’s faction. However, due to the status of the Zhang Sun family in the imperial court, he has never been able to find a suitable opportunity. However, if this matter is made public, Wang Qing Lan cannot be sent back to An Yuan County.”

An Zi Ran frowned.

He had already said that he would send her back to An Yuan County.

But what they didn’t expect was that before they could spread the news, the story of Pu Song Yong’s adultery with a widow had already spread throughout the capital. Especially since the widow was a concubine of the junwangfei’s father, it became an explosion point of gossip. Within a few days, everyone knew of the affair.

By the time the Zhang Sun family and the Pu family wanted to remedy the situation, it was already too late.

When news of this incident reached the palace, Emperor Chong Ming was furious.

Prev | Contents | Next

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 155.1 – Emperor Chong Ming’s Inner Thoughts

A servant from Prince Fu’s Mansion quickly went to informed the Pu family of the matter. The Pu family did not believe that Pu Song Yong would do such a thing at first, but the visitor wasn’t some Tom, Dick, or Harry that could be casually driven away. In the end, the Pu family decided to go to Prince Fu’s Mansion to take a look at the situation.

The group that went included Pu Song Yong’s wife, Yun-shi, and his son Pu Hui, who had just turned eleven. There was also an important figure, which was Pu Song Yong’s father, Pu Zhen Cheng, who normally stayed at home due to illness.

When they arrived at Prince Fu’s Mansion, the three of them immediately saw Pu Song Yong kneeling in the center of the main hall.

Pu Song Yong had cut a sorry figure when Fu Wu Tian came over, but he had since recovered and was now putting on airs. If they didn’t know what he had already done, few people would believe that he would be involved with a widow.

Pu Song Yong’s eyes lit up upon seeing his father, but they immediately filled with guilt upon seeing his wife and son following his father. He could dress up the situation as nicely as he wanted with words, but he knew in his heart that he had indeed betrayed his wife.

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

Yun-shi knew her husband well. As soon as she saw his expression, the trace of hope and expectation in her heart was instantly wiped out. Her face turned pale, and her body swayed for a moment before her son supported her.

When Pu Hui looked at Pu Song Yong, his face no longer held the usual respect. Only deep disgust remained. Although he was young, he was not stupid. When he saw his father, he knew that there was a ninety percent chance that the purported affair was true. In any case, the Pu family were blue bloods. For such a disgrace to come out of their family, such a person was not worthy of being his father.

“You unfilial son!”

Pu Zhen Cheng was so angry that his beard trembled.

Upon seeing this scene, he understood everything. Even if Wang Qing Lan was just a concubine of the An family, how could Prince Fu’s Mansion deliberately create such a scandal to frame him? Moreover, he knew his son well. He nearly rushed over to beat him up.

“Dad, I was wrongly accused!”

Pu Song Yong quickly threw himself at his father feet and began to scream about injustice. Just like when he put the blame on Wang Qing Lan before, it didn’t matter if outsiders didn’t believe him. As long as family believed in him, he knew that nothing would happen to him.

The expressions on the three Pu family members were still ugly, but they actually preferred to believe in Pu Song Yong, because this matter was related to the Pu family’s reputation and honor. If word spreads, it would have a great impact on the Pu family.

At that moment, Wang Qing Lan coldly poured a metaphorical basin of ice water over.

“Pu Song Yong, keep farting out of your ass. The facts are laid out in front of you.

Everyone knows that we’ve been having an affair for more than two months. Let’s see who will believe your words. You say I seduced you? If you don’t have that intention, would you be seduced by me so easily? Don’t be ridiculous.”

[T/N: I have to agree with Wang Qing Lan here. It takes two to tango after all.]

The expressions on the three Pu family members suddenly became ugly again.

Pu Song Yong glared at Wang Qing Lan. “What do you mean?”

What did she mean by everyone knew? He didn’t believe that Prince Fu’s Mansion would let this matter spread and become known to everyone. This incident would indeed cause the Pu family to lose face, but it was impossible for Prince Fu’s Mansion to have no impact at all.

“What do I mean?” Wang Qing Lan sneered. “You really think that no one knows about our affair in the two months that we have been together? Just go to the restaurants we have been to and ask around. They will definitely recognize us. If you think that one restaurant is not enough and that it is just a coincidence, I can name a few more restaurants.”

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

Pu Song Yong’s face turned red, then white, and then blue at her words. Only now did he realized that all the excitement and fun he had with her in the past had become a fatal weapon for Wang Qing Lan to threaten him with. If he had known this would happen back then… he already regretted it every much.

Pu Zhen Cheng stopped looking at his son and turned to look at An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian instead. The two were sitting in the seats of honor in the main hall with placid expressions on their faces.

He cupped his hands and said, “Thank you, junwang, junwangfei, for informing us about this matter. I know that both of them are wrong in this matter. I will bring this unfilial son back home and discipline him. We will take our leave now.”

Pu Zhen Cheng dian’t want to stay and make an embarrassment of himself, and he didn’t want to pursue the matter to find out who was responsible, so he left in a hurry after saying that.

Yun-shi, supported by Pu Hui, also left with her father-in-law. Neither of them looked at Pu Song Yong again.

Pu Song Yong quickly stood up and stumbled before chasing after his family anxiously.

Neither An Zi Ran nor Fu Wu Tian stopped Pu Song Yong from leaving.

In this feudal time and place, when a man cheated, it could be tolerated, and their treatment was many times better than that of a woman. But when a woman had an affair, they would be blamed much more than the man. They will think that this woman is dirty and look at her in a strange way. But for a man, they would just regard his dissolute ways as natural.

Prev | Contents | Next

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 154.2 – The Fourth Concubine’s Clandestine Love Affair

If nothing unexpected happened, then Zhuo Gao Yan was actually the unofficial heir and future head of the Zhuo family.

Fu Yuan Jian had realized this long ago. He has had several interactions with Zhuo Gao Yan and knew that such a person could only be made a partner and not an opponent.

Fu Yuan Jian was different from Emperor Chong Ming. He was very aware of the influence that businessmen could have on a country. When their wealth and industries spread all across Da Ya, it would become easy for them to shake the foundations of the country, which was why Fu Yuan Jian aspired to become the top businessman in Da Ya.

“Luo Yang, go to the Zhuo family and send an invitation to Zhuo Gao Yan.”

Thinking these thoughts, Fu Yuan Jian finally made a decision. He didn’t want to worry about the gambling house for the time being. The more entangled he was in the matter, the more worried he would be, therefore, he decided to use other things to keep himself busy so that he would not have time to think about it.

“Understood!”

Luo Yang was very happy when he saw that the prince had figured it out.

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

At Prince Fu’s Mansion

An Zi Ran was very pleased by the daily profits of the two restaurants, but he did not even get to enjoy that happy feeling for two days when something happened that caused his expression to darken and his good mood to evaporate.

This morning, An Zi Ran suddenly remembered that he hadn’t gone back to An Mansion for a long time to take a look. Because he was busy, and Wang Qing Lan didn’t do anything extraordinary during this time in Jun Zi City, he didn’t pay much attention to Wang Qing Lan.

The two mansions were merely a few steps away.

An Zi Ran went to the An Mansion without taking any servants with him.

The servants of the An Mansion were all very dutiful. They were not shocked when the long absent young master suddenly showed up out of the blue, and very quickly they had a cup of tea brewed and ready for him.

“Where is Wang Qing Lan? How come I don’t see her?”

An Zi Ran picked up the tea cup and took a sip. He was a little surprised that Wang Qing Lan didn’t show up.

In the past, whenever he appeared, Wang Qing Lan would definitely receive the news and rush over immediately, but not this time, so he was curious.

The servants looked at each other.

The maid who used to take care of An Zi Ming, Yue Ju, stepped forward and said, “Responding to the young master, an hour ago, a man came to look for Concubine Wang, but the two only talked for a while in the main hall After the man left, Concubine Wang said she felt unwell and went back to her room. She has not shown her face since then.”

“Why would a man come looking for her?” An Zi Ran raised his eyebrows slightly.

Yue Ju shook her head. “This is the first time we have seen that man. He may be someone that Concubine Wang knows from outside. Concubine Wang often goes out and sometimes she doesn’t come back until the sun goes down. Except for Qi Qiao, no one knows what Concubine Wang does when she is outside.”

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

An Zi Ran didn’t ask any more questions. He had every one else disperse. Then he had Yue Ju and Cat Ju follow him to Wang Qing Lan’s courtyard.

Wang Qing Lan lived in the courtyard of the south wing. For convenience, An Zi Ran did not choose the far west wing as the main residence because the south wing was closer.

The three of them quickly arrived outside the courtyard.

There was no one outside in the courtyard, including Wang Qing Lan’s personal maid, Qi Qiao. However, the three of them assumed that Qi Qiao was looking after Wang Qing Lan, who was unwell, in the room, so they did not suspect anything until the three of them were about to reach Wang Qing Lan’s room. An Zi Ran’s steps suddenly stopped.

Yue Ju and Cai Ju looked at the eldest young master in confusion.

An Zi Ran narrowed his eyes dangerously.

The courtyard was a little quiet, but if one listened carefully, one could still hear some small sounds… This sound was very strange, a bit like…

An Zi Ran suddenly quickened his pace and came to the door of Wang Qing Lan’s room. Just as he was about to push the door open, a scream suddenly sounded from inside the door, startling the two maids who ran behind him. They thought something had happened to Concubine Wang. But what she said next made the both of them blush with embarrassment.

Prev | Contents | Next

As selected by VIP Choice, today’s bonus update goes to TBL. This one is for you Ashura Kuxio. Enjoy! ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates! ♡

---

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 154.1 – The Fourth Concubine’s Clandestine Love Affair

Luo Yang and Jiang Sheng did not directly investigate the An Family Restaurant, instead they investigated the An family.

They already knew what kind of industries Prince Fu’s Mansion had a hand in and the industries that Fu Yi managed had nothing to do with catering. They also did not hear any news of him going into the catering industry recently, so they could basically rule him out.

Then that only left An Zi Ran.

An Zi Ran was the eldest son of the An family, and with the An family’s financial resources, he should have more than enough to help the cattle farm owner get through his difficulties.

They specially sent people to An Yuan County to investigate and found that An Zi Ran was involved in the grain business, but there were only a few restaurants when it came to the catering business. The meat used and sold by those restaurants every day was estimated to be less than three hundred kilograms.

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

As for the two restaurants in Jun Zi City, even if they sold two hundred kilograms of meat a day, ten thousand kilograms would last for nearly two months. By that time, the meat would have spoiled, not to mention the cattle rancher had actually slaughtered more than ten thousand kilograms worth of meat, because he had not anticipate his long time customers returning the meat that’s already been sold. Regardless of how much beef the restaurants could sell in a day, they would not be able to sell everything before the meat spoiled.

And the last point, if An Zi Ran really was the man behind Tian Long Gambling House, then where did he get so much money? The money that the An family earned every year would not have been enough to cover all his expenses in the early days [of business].

So the conclusion was that the possibility of that person being An Zi Ran was less than five percent.

The two told Fu Yuan Jian this conclusion, but Fu Yuan Jian did not say anything. In fact, he had already thought that it could not be An Zi Ran.

“Some time ago, the matter that Zhuo Gao Sheng spoke about, reject him.”

Fu Yuan Jian was silent for a while before raising this issue.

Zhuo Gao Sheng was Elder Zhuo’s oldest son. He was a money-grubbing and snobbish person. He was slightly more talented than Zhuo Gao Ming, but he was not a talent for accomplishing big things. He was the type of person who would become timid in his decisions when he encountered something important. He lacked the courage and resolution that a real businessman should have.

Luo Yang was not surprised at all. In fact, he did not recommend cooperating with Zhuo Gao Sheng.

“Wangye, then what about Zhuo Gao Yan?”

Zhuo Gao Yan was Elder Zhuo’s youngest son. There was a relatively large age gap between him and his three elder brothers. He was already twenty-four years old this year, but he was not yet married and he did not have any children, whereas Zhuo Gao Qian – Elder Zhuo’s third son – had a son that was already eleven years old.

Many people knew that Elder Zhuo’s favorite son was Zhuo Gao Yan. Not only because he was the youngest son, but also because Zhuo Gao Yan inherited Elder Zhuo’s appearance and personality. He was just like Elder Zhuo when he was young. The elder has praised his more than once; so many people believe that Elder Zhuo would pass the Zhuo family to him.

Because of this, Zhuo Gao Yan’s three older brothers did not like him.

Human beings will die for riches, just as birds will for food!*

[*T/N: Chinese idiom that means “man will do anything in his means to become rich”]

In the face of personal interests, even family affection would turn into a ruthless blade.

Fu Yuan Jian said, “Zhuo Gao Yan is a talented person. Last year, I heard that Elder Zhuo had handed over all of the textile business to him to manage.”

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

“Elder Zhuo gave him control over the textile business in September of last year, and he has indeed done a good job. I heard that during the time he managed the textile business, he increased the textile business’s turnover by ten percent.”

Ten percent did not sound like a lot, but one must understand that the Zhuo family’s textile business was different from the small clothing store under Fu Yi’s management. The Zhuo family’s textile business was a chicken that could lay golden eggs.

The fabrics produced by the Zhuo family’s textile business have always occupied a large share of the market in Da Ya. However, because they were already the lead in the textile industry, it was difficult to take the textile business to a higher level. Therefore, the fact that Zhuo Gao Yan could increase the textile business’s turnover by another ten percent was proof that his ability could not be underestimated.

Elder Zhuo was very proud of his younger son and often praised him for having the same demeanor as when he was young.

His words drew the envy and hatred of the other three sons towards Zhuo Gao Yan, but those three really did not have the ability to be Zhuo Gao Yan’s opponents.

Prev | Contents | Next

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 153.3 – To Make Amends

Two days later, the Zhuo family indeed handed over the promised restaurant. The restaurant was located behind Xiao Jin Street. This street has one of the greatest foot traffic, which meant this restaurant was located in a popular place. For Elder Zhuo to be willing to give this restaurant to An Zi Ran spoke of his sincerity to make amends.

An Zi Ran also had no intention of getting into a dispute with the Zhuo family. Their two families did not have much dealings with each other, so there was no need to start a feud. But if An Zi Ran wanted to expand into the restaurant business, that might not be the status quo in the future.

An Zi Ran was quite satisfied with the Zhuo family restaurant, but in order to differentiate it from other Zhuo family restaurants, he still had people renovate it and slightly change the layout inside. However, the overall layout remained the same. Five days later, the restaurant was full revamped.

His restaurant in the West District has already gained a reputation. Even the people in the East District have already heard about his restaurant, and they were also very interested in the so-called hamburgers. When they heard that Prince Fu’s Mansion was planning to open a restaurant in the East District, many of them looked forward to the restaurant’s opening, especially those who have already eaten in the An Family Restaurant in the West District.

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

If it weren’t for the distance between the two areas, they would definitely go there every day to satisfy their cravings. Some relatively wealthy families were very interested in the convenient hamburger food.

On the day when the restaurant opened, it almost resembled the scene on the day when Tian Long Gambling House opened.

The crowds for the grand opening was even worse than that of the grand opening for the restaurant in the West District. An Zi Ran hired twice as many waiters and Zhuo Hai Tang was also summoned to the new restaurant.

Chef Wang and Jiang Yu also came over to help. Holding down the fort on the other side were the two apprentices that Chef Wang had taken on from An Yuan County.

To some extent, this situation also had an affect on the other surrounding restaurants.

When they saw that the hamburger – which was basically a piece of meat wrapped in two slices of steamed buns – was so popular among the people, they began to get ready to take action.

The next day, another restaurant shamelessly launched the same type of hamburger food. They also used beef, but the quality of the meat was not as good as that of the An Family Restaurant, so the price was slightly cheaper by two or three copper coins.

Some people were stingy and liked the cheaper price. Moreover, the hamburgers at the An Family Restaurant were so popular and there were countless people queuing up, so they didn’t know when it would be their turn to eat. Thinking so, they went to the other restaurant to buy their hamburgers for twelve copper coins. The hamburger was of a similar size to the one from the An Family Restaurant, but after taking just one bite, the taste was so bad that they spit it out.

After eating the seasonings used by the An Family Restaurant, the food prepared by the other restaurant was bland and flavorless in comparison.

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

In the end, those customers eagerly ran back to line up.

The other restaurant tried to draw a tiger but ended up with the likeness of a dog*. Their attempt fell flat on its face and they even lost money. They made a lot of hamburgers but were unable to sell them, so they had to force their employees to buy the hamburgers, which caused a lot of complaints.

[*T/N: “tried to draw a tiger but ended up with the likeness of a dog” – idiom meaning “to try to do something overambitious and end up botching it”]

Other restaurants treated it as a comedy show to watch.

They had all eaten the hamburgers from the An Family Restaurant, and the taste was unforgettable. They had tried to recreate the hamburger themselves before, but they couldn’t get it to taste the same, so they knew it had something to do with the seasonings. Therefore, they were not in a hurry to sell hamburgers in their own restaurants.

The An Family Restaurant was bustling with business for several days, but the people who were the most jealous were none other than the Zhuo family.

From the start, the eldest son and the third son were against the idea of their father giving one of their family’s restaurants over to Prince Fu’s Mansion. Not only would their Zhuo family’s restaurant business be affected, but also the second son was the one who caused this mess, so why should the whole family have to suffer for it? But they did not dare to say such thoughts out loud; otherwise their father would say they lack brotherly love.

On the other side, Luo Yang and Jiang Sheng were almost finished with their investigations.

Prev | Contents | Next

As selected by VIP Choice, this bonus update goes to TBL. This one is for you Gabanna3! Happy Reading!

---

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 153.2 – To Make Amends

An Zi Ran got a ready-made restaurant from Elder Zhuo, and he was very happy about it, because right now, he was really short on money. The revenue from Tian Long Gambling House was no longer enough to meet his needs, so now he urgently needed to earn even more money.

At the end of every month, An Ziran, in addition to looking at several profitable properties under his control, also has three ledgers that continuously exported large amounts of money.

The three ledgers were An Yuan County, Chang Province, and Ali Xiang.

An Yuan County was not bad. The An family owned an industry in An Yuan County. The money earned every month could supplement the wages of the workers and still have surplus leftover. Some time ago, An Zi Ran implemented the same plan as Ali Xiang in An Yuan County. That was, those who have worked for three years could get a piece of land.

But Chang Province and Ali Xiang were different.

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

The project in Chang Province required repeat investments of funds. It was impossible to recover these funds until the following year.

As for Ali Xiang, there was income from agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry, but Ali Xiang was located in a remote area. This was especially so after Fu Wu Tian blocked the secret passage to and from Gaoze Country. They needed to find a new buyer. As a result, the income from Ali Xiang was not as high as when Xu Wei Ye was around.

Because of these reason, An Zi Ran didn’t have much money in his pocket yet. The only industry that could really make money was Tian Long Gambling House. The others could only be regarded as small projects for the time being. It was going to take some time before those projects would produce any substantial results.

A month ago, An Zi Ran had also opened another Tian Long Gambling House in Feng City*.

[*T/N: Here the author wrote 凤城 fèngchéng, which would translate into “Phoenix City.” But previously the author wrote this as 枫城 fēngchéng, which would translate into “Maple City” instead, and that’s what I had previously translated it as. I’m not sure if the author made a typo here or previously, but I’ll just call it “Feng City” from now on for simplicity’s sake.]

The population flow of Feng City was not as high as that of Jun Zi City, but it was still a big city and the income coming from Feng City was not a small amount. However, the two gambling houses could not meet his current demand for money.

Yesterday, Zhuo Hai Tang showed him the restaurant’s ledger, which recorded the restaurant’s income for that day.

Although Zhuo Hai Tang’s surname was Zhuo, he had nothing to do with the Zhuo family. He was originally a painter for the gambling house, but there was not enough manpower [in the restaurant], and there were not as many people applying for gold cards [in the gambling house] now, so An Zi Ran temporarily transferred him to the restaurant to manage the accounts.

Support the translator. Read this on: vmnovels.com

An Zi Ran had already looked through the ledger, and the profit of the restaurant was more than he had imagined, so he came up with the idea of opening a restaurant. He already had plans to open a third gambling house in another city. So if he opened a few more restaurants, he should be able to make enough money from all the new establishments to temporarily meet his urgent need for money.

The next day, Elder Zhuo brought Zhuo Gao Ming and his wife, Bao Xin Chun, out of the ancestral hall.

The two of them felt deeply ashamed and resentful, but they still had to publicly apologize to An Zi Ran, according to An Zi Ran’s demand, for the sake of the future.

The Zhuo family was a reputable family. As soon as this incident happened, the news immediately spread far and wide.

With the spread of this news, the An Family Restaurant became famous. People also found out that the owner of the restaurant was the wangfei of Prince Fu’s Mansion. Many people were talking about this matter, including several of Emperor Chong Ming’s sons, especially the fifth prince, Fu Yuan Jian, who had always suspected that the person behind Tian Long Gambling House was a member of the imperial family. And now, such news was spreading.

The An Family Restaurant’s reputation became very famous after this drama.

But asides from the restaurant, there was also this novel food item called hamburger, and what made Fu Yuan Jian concerned was that the meat used in these hamburgers was beef.

Just a while ago, they were wondering who was helping the cattle farmer with the surplus fresh meat, so they have been paying particular attention to any information about beef. With the appearance of this hamburger, Fu Yuan Jian could not help but wonder if the helper was Prince Fu’s Mansion.

“Do you guys think it could be Prince Fu’s Mansion?”

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

Fu Yuan Jian looked at his two confidants.

Luo Yang was deep in thought and did not say anything.

Jiang Sheng thought for a while and replied, “Wangye, there was tens of thousands of kilograms of fresh meat returned to the cattle farmer’s slaughterhouse. This is a lot of meat. There is only one An Family Restaurant. Even if they bought everything, in such a short amount of time, it is impossible to make food out of such a big quantity of beef and sell it all.”

“What you said does make sense.” Fu Yuan Jian nodded. He thought so too. Then he turned to Luo Yang and asked, “What do you think?”

Luo Yang replied, “Wangye, this subordinate thinks that it would be better to kill a thousand people by mistake than to let go of the one right one. We can look into Prince Fu’s Mansion. Even if it’s not them, it will have no impact on us.”

Fu Yuan Jian made an immediate decision, “Then let’s do this. I’ll leave this matter to you and Jiang Sheng. Remember, I want a definite answer.”

“Understood!”

Jiang Sheng and Luo Yang responded at the same time.

Prev | Contents | Next

As requested by VIP Choice, this bonus update goes to TBL. This one is for you Montanna! Enjoy ^-^

---

Prev | Contents | Next

Chapter 153.1 – To Make Amends

An Zi Ran had foreseen that Elder Zhuo would come to visit.

If the person that Zhuo Gao Ming and his wife had tried to frame was just an ordinary restaurant owner, then it would not be a big problem for the Zhuo family, but since it was the powerful and influential Prince Fu’s Mansion they could not just sweep this matter under the rug.

If Prince Fu’s Mansion became angry and retaliated against the Zhuo family, the Zhuo family might not be completely destroyed, but their strength would still be severely damaged. Elder Zhuo did not dare to take such a risk. For the Zhuo family to become the head of the Chamber of Commerce, he had to experience many things that others could not imagine and suffer through many frustrations, so he would definitely pay Prince Fu’s Mansion a visit.

An Zi Ran did not deliberately put on airs. Instead, he went out to greet Elder Zhuo.

For the sake of the Zhuo family, the great and mighty Elder Zhuo bent his waist and made concessions. Without An Zi Ran saying a single word, Elder Zhuo offered up one of his family’s large restaurants located in the Eastern District as compensation.

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

Out of the all the businesses that the Zhuo family had a hand in, the restaurant business was one of their main ones. Their restaurants paid attention to excellence and improvement, so each restaurant was carefully managed. Moreover, due to their established fame, each restaurant brought in a hefty income.

For Elder Zhuo to give over a restaurant like that without the slightest hesitation was equivalent to cutting off a small piece of flesh from his body.

An Zi Ran was a little surprised by Elder Zhuo’s offer, but after thinking about the rumors he had heard about Elder Zhuo he felt relieved. For someone to become the leader of the Chamber of Commerce, it was not strange for him to have this type of thinking.

“Since Elder Zhuo shows such sincerity, I will not pursue the matter regarding Zhuo Gao Ming and Bao Xin Chun, but…”

An Zi Ran did not open a restaurant in the Eastern District, because he could not find a suitable place. The powerful businessmen in Junzi City have already taken all the popular and conspicuous places. He came too late. Now that Elder Zhuo was personally offering up a restaurant, there was no reason why he should not accept it.

Elder Zhou could tell that An Zi Ran was trying to hint at something. He frowned slightly and said, “Junwangfei, please tell me.”

An Zi Ran said, “I want Zhuo Gao Ming and Bao Xin Chun to publicly apologize and explain to everyone that they were the ones who planted the cockroaches in the food to deliberately frame my restaurant.”

Although the incident has subsided, there were still some jealous people who were using this incident to purposely spread rumors in other places about An Zi Ran’s restaurant. Many people who were not present in the Western District to witness the event were grossed out by the rumors. Sooner or later, the truth of the matter would be made clear, but now that Elder Zhuo was presenting him with a ready-made restaurant, An Zi Ran hoped to completely resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Elder Zhuo hesitated for a while before agreeing.

Once this kind of stain is on someone’s reputation, it will be difficult to remove it in the future.

But that’s okay. Elder Zhuo knew long ago that his second son was not suited for doing business. Zhuo Gao Ming and his wife didn’t make much in terms of profits, and the methods that they thought were clever were actually deficits to the business, just like the teahouse they ran.

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

Elder Zhuo had long noticed this and he was disappointed in them. He’ll just treat this as a heavy lesson for them. If they could change their behavior in the future, as a father, he would not let them go cold and hungry.

Elder Zhuo promised An Zi Ran that he would hand over the title deed to the restaurant to him in two days. After that, he left not long after.

The descendants of the Zhuo family soon learned about this.

The restaurant business was one of the most profitable businesses of the Zhuo family. They were all dissatisfied that the Zhuo family lost a restaurant just like that. More and more they felt like the second son was born under an unlucky star.

Zhuo Gao Ming and his wife did not know about this exchange, and they were still expecting their father to calm down and let them out as soon as possible. They never thought that this incident would become a knot in Elder Zhuo’s heart, causing him to recall this event every time he thought of his second son. The original plan was to release them after one or two months, but it turned into three months. By the time they came out, everything would already be said and done.

Prev | Contents | Next