The Big Landlord - Chapter 89.2

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?”

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.