The Big Landlord

T/N: I'm not sure if this is common in Chinese writing or if it's just a personal preference of this specific author, but the author often uses pronouns without specifying beforehand whom it is. At those times, it is up to the reader to interpret based on context. So if I think the text is getting too confusing, I will put the character I think is being referred to in parenthesis. I hope that helps.

Chapter 25 - Which Grandson

His eyes were like cold stars, chilly as the edge of a blade.

Even though An Zi Ran was mentally prepared he couldn't help the prickle that crept across his scalp. Out of all the people within that great hall, he could tell that the smell of blood was the strongest on this man. Seemed like this was the current lord of the Fu palace, Fu Wu Tian.

Fu Wu Tian, this was the man that was in charge of a hundred thousand troops. His imposing manner really lived up to his reputation. That gaze, it really looked like he did not put the law or the heavens in his eye*. From his body came an aura of killing intent that could not be ignored. Although he (ML?) tried his best to suppress it, he (MC?) could still feel it, and it was not far from the image in his (MC?) imagination.

[*T/N: There is a Chinese pun happening here. The ML's name is 傅无天 and the idiom that the MC then used to describe his gaze is 无法无天, which means "regardless of the law and of natural morality" or "maverick"]

[T/N: The author used the "he" pronoun a lot without distinguishing who is being talked about, so I'm just making my best guess here.]

The man's tall, upright body is like a poplar tree. Standing in the middle of the hall, his presence was impossible to ignore. His facial features were handsome and stalwart*. He had a pair of heroic sword eyebrows. There was not a single soft line on his entire body. His broad shoulders looked like they could hold up the heavens. Such a person really did lived up to the imagination one would have of a hero, if he were not stepping on a bloody person that is.

[*T/N: 五管英俊刚毅 "five sense organs of TCM (nose, eyes, lips, tongue, ears) are handsome and resolute/steadfast/stalwart"]

If An Yu Zhi saw this scene, An Zi Ran wasn't sure if she would still be willing to marry Fu Wu Tian.

He was unable to guess at a girl's heart. Although An Yu Zhi seemed soft and weak, her inner heart was not something that could be perceived based on her outer appearance. This he knew from experience.

Carelessly he had dropped his awareness, but An Zi Ran quickly regained his senses. In a flash, he realized that Fu Wu Tian and his men were all watching him. There was a hint of surprise in most of those gazes, as if they were seeing something inconceivable. An Zi Ran frowned slightly, but then he calmed down as if nothing had happened.

The man in the middle of the hall stared blankly at him (MC) for a moment. Then suddenly, to one of the young men on the side he said, "Take this person away."

Steward Su froze, thinking that the man was talking about them.

An Zi Ran was afraid that Steward Su was going to slip and fall down, so he patted him on the shoulder in a placating manner.

The young man didn't even look at them, and instead instructed two other men to lift the bloody person and drag him out of the great hall. Others simply cleared the blood on the ground and then withdrew.

The heavy smell of blood in the hall lightened a bit.

The man turned and walked over to sit on the main seat*. Then he leisurely** drank the hot tea that a servant poured for him. The man was not anxious or hurried, and gave other people the feeling of being pressured.

[*T/N: An elevated seat at one end of the hall that's for the host or head of the family.]

[**T/N: 不疾不徐 bu ji bu xu: neither too fast nor too slow (idiom)]

An Zi Ran did not feel anything. Before coming here, he was already mentally prepared. But Steward Su was different, and his expression revealed his inner consternation. After all, he was already at such an old age and the opponent was no ordinary wang ye. The fact that he did not crumple to the floor in desolation or flee from the hall was already a great show of courage on his part. If An Zi Ran knew that the situation would turn out like this, he would've had Steward Su wait outside.

Just as he was thinking this, the sound of the man's voice rang out in the hall.

"Where is the jade pendant?"

An Zi Ran looked up at the man to find that the man was watching him. There was not a single waver in those black eyes. They were excessively tranquil. An Zi Ran could not pick out any thoughts from those eyes. For the first time, he felt off kilter. An Zi Ran was used to observing other people's expressions first before coming up with a plan to react according.

He was not used to procrastinating, so he brought out the jade pendant, and said in a decisive manner*, "Does wang ye recognize this jade pendant?"

[*T/N: 快刀斩乱麻 lit. quick sword cuts through tangled hemp (idiom); decisive action in a complex situation / cutting the Gordian knot]

Fu Wu Tian saw him without a trace of fear. His deep eyes paused on An Zi Ran's face for a moment, and then flickered to the pendant. At one glance, he recognized that this piece of jade was indeed one half of his grandmother's pair of jade pendants.

This mandarin duck pendant was made from top quality white jade. This type of jade was extremely rare. Only the royal family could own it. And the person who carved this piece of jade was a very famous sculptor. But that sculptor passed away more than ten years ago. Thus, this mandarin duck jade pendant had become a unique treasure, and no one could forge it.

"You have a lot of nerve. You dare to steal the jade pendant of Fu palace?"

A voice of anger suddenly rang out. An Zi Ran's heart grew cold and thumped quickly once. Looking up, he saw that Fu Wu Tian's dark eyes were staring at him. A sense of oppression washed over him in a wave. An Zi Ran steadied himself, and then said, "Wang ye, ten years ago the old wang ye gave this jade pendant to the An family as a token of marriage. If you do not believe, you can go ask the old wang ye. I believe he will give you an answer.

He had just finished speaking, when he saw the corners of Fu Wu Tian's mouth turn down slightly. It was a short-lived illusion. Then he heard his honest voice ring out in the hall.

"Since An gong zi wants a confrontation, let's invite the old wang ye to come here."

Immediately outside the hall, the response of Steward Li Nuo Nuo was heard. His footsteps quickly hurried away.

An Zi Ran saw his (ML's) straightforward response, and instead felt a spark of doubt in his heart. No matter how one looked at it, it did not seem like he was aware of the situation concerning the jade pendant and the marriage contract. Could it be true that the old Fu wang ye did not talk to him about this matter? Before he could figure it out, a loud noise was heard outside the hall. Then a resounding and bold voice came in.

"Which grandson is looking for me?"

An Zi Ran turned around and saw a fat old man striding in from the outside. With his head held high, his chest pushed out*, and a dignified face, it was an awe-inspiring look. He walked with exaggerated steps, swinging his legs out left and right. An Zi Ran was tempted to laugh. Obviously, this was an old urchin with a ruddy face and an overstated character.

[*T/N: 昂首挺胸 head high, chest out (idiom)]

[T/N: Yes, the raws said "old urchin"… I can't tell if the description is supposed to be positive or negative anymore…]

This person can't possibly be the old Fu wang ye, right?

Old Fu wang ye entered through the door. His seemingly weird eyeballs passed over his own grandson and landed on An Zi Ran. Suddenly, he ran over and happily took An Zi Ran's hands. With his eyes bright, he said something shocking*, "Grandson, for what matter did you seek grandfather?"

[*T/N: 一鸣惊人 to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat (idiom)]

An Zi Ran: "…"

Steward Su fainted.

Support Vanilla Muse?

Hello Everyone!

If you enjoy what I do, and would like to support me, while also getting early access to chapters as an added perk, then I've set up two ways in which you can do so.

One way you can help is by becoming my patron on

. In exchange for a monthly donation of your choosing you will get early access to updates. Rewards will differ based on which support tier you choose. (Check the patreon page for more details.) As an added motivator, if reader support reaches the milestone of $300 per month, updates will increase to every Monday and every Friday.

Another way you can help is through a one-time donation on

. Whenever you donate a coffee, you will receive a thank you message in your email with a link and a code, which will give you early access to the next update of my main project.

As an extra incentive, for every 9 coffees donated there will be another update posted. This is in addition to the regular updating schedule. The extra chapter should be up within two days or less of reaching the benchmark, as time permits. The coffee counter rolls over every month until it hits 9 coffees. Then there will be a bonus update. Afterwards the counter resets for the next 9 coffees.

It would be super wonderful if you can afford to support me, but please don't feel pressure to do so. I don't want you to end up in a financial pinch because of me. My translations will always be for free on this site, but real life can be a huge hindrance to my updating speed, so I'm setting up this system to provide clear-cut goals for myself when stated incentives are met and also to give back to dedicated readers.

This information is also available in the

tab of the menu, and there are now links to

and

in the side bar. I'm including this information here in the body of this post for the convenience of mobile users.

If anything is unclear, please feel free to ask. As always, thank you for all your support!