Chapter 240 (Part 2): Ya Zi’s Report [1]
[1] Ya Zi’s Report – Petty vengeance. The word Ya Zi is actually the name of the second son of the dragon. A dragon son that is most famous for his ferociousness. Therefore, a Ya Zi’s Report is kind of like an incredibly annoying ancient China Karen reporting every tiny problem that may or may not exist. Lol!
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Onionpi
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com
Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuan Nuan were speechless. Was this Li Qiushan the reincarnation of Fan Li [2], the great politician and businessman? To think he was able to come up with this kind of idea?
Though the dozen or so judges had lost face and their gentlemen’s dignities trashed to pieces, one could imagine that they would not be able to forget this deliciousness anytime soon. Where would they go and eat this delicacy, but back at An Le Lou?
What if they can restrain themselves and never set foot into An Le Lou? So what? These living signboards already did their jobs admirably as advertisements for An Le Lou. In fact, let’s hope there aren’t too many rich tycoons residing at Lin Qing now. Otherwise, once word on the result of this competition got out, An Le Lou’s threshold might collapse under the thundering feet of people coming over to try this legendary dish. Not to mention Li Qiushan’s idea of selling Buddha Jumps over the Wall by the bowl, though the profits might by thin, the turnover would be incredibly fast.
“This fellow, for the sake of turning them into advertisement boards for your restaurant, you’ve caused those noblemen and officials to stuff themselves silly?” Long Pingzhang sniffed coolly at this sneaky manager.
Li Qiushan was not at all offended. Instead, he said with a smile, “So, what if I had? I’ve only arrived here recently, and have made no connections with the upper crust here. Therefore, there’s no fear of really offending anyone personally. Moreover, they were the ones backing up Fu Sheng Xiang to make a move against us. If they dared to kick other people’s hall, they had better be ready to be kicked in the teeth later. However, the only thing I did was give them a delicious meal for free. As a businessman, I’d say they got a very good deal out of this little scuffle.”
“What was that? That is contrary to what you’ve been saying earlier. So, in the end it is all about revenge.” Duan Tingxuan’s lips twisted into a sneer. “You were clearly not sincere.”
“Oh, no. The most important goal is still the advertisement we get from those stuffed upper crust, revenge comes second. A far, far second.” Li Qiushan smiled craftily.
By now, even Su Nuan Nuan could not stand his sneakiness anymore. She was about to say something when they all heard rapid hoof beats coming up from behind them. A loud hoarse voice cried out, “My lord heir, my lord heir, the emperor has issued an imperial decree.”
Duan Tingxuan immediately turned around and stared disbelievingly at the horsemen riding towards them. Still in shock, he said, “My heavens, just how did… just when did those people turn up? How did they find me? This is Lin Qing, right? I’m not back at the Capital?”
Before he could get over his shock, the horsemen had already stopped in front of him. A middle-aged man, dressed in the armour of a deputy general of the Imperial Army, got off his saddle and came forward to stand before Duan Tingxuan. He reached into his armour and took out the secret decree. In a low voice, the deputy general said, “There had been unceasing rain at Liaodong, Jinzhou and Haizhou these past few weeks, causing flood and other natural disasters to follow. The emperor has received lord heir’s letter. With the understanding that you are heading for Niu Tou Mountain, his majesty has decreed for this official to pursue my lord heir’s tracks in order to hand over this secret decree.”
Duan Tingxuan received the secret decree, opened it and glanced over its contents before nodding, “Very well, I understand. You may go back.”
The deputy general and the rest gave him another salute, and left. The little marquis frowned, and was about to just turn and leave when he spotted his wife’s wide-eyed look. “You… you’re just shooing them away like this? You’re not even going to offer them a bit of tea or water? They had to have travelled over a thousand li to get here, just to send this decree to you, ah. I’m sure they’ve suffered much, and still they left immediately when you ordered them to, nothing at all like your petty self.”
Duan Tingxuan’s face was black as he said, “By not kicking them a hundred li away, I’ve already shown great benevolence. Still want me to serve them tea? We’re not even in a proper building anyway.”
Before Su Nuan Nuan could retort, Long Pingzhang sniffed coldly and said, “Is that you being benevolent? Isn’t that just you being afraid? After all, if you kick them, it will be like kicking the emperor’s own face.”
“Say anything more and I will have you silenced for good.” Duan Tingxuan glared viciously at Long Pingzhang, before slapping the secret decree against Long Pingzhang’s chest. “Don’t think I’m the only one troubled this time. The emperor knows that you are with me, do you think you can escape your fate?”
Long Pingzhang spread out the decree and read it quickly, his face went pale with fright and he shoved the decree back at Duan Tingxuan. Now, his face was black too as he said, “You blackguard, did you not tell the emperor that I have lost my memory?”
“If I did not tell him that, do you think you’d still be able to gallivant all over the place with me? The emperor would have had your sorry carcass dragged back and worked you to death. Being an emperor is a busy job, you know? If the Son of Heaven wishes to have you work, no matter how far you think you’ve escaped his grasp, you’d still have to work. Let’s go, haven’t you already recovered about half of your memories? You’ve already recovered your ability to read, write, play chess and paint. That’s more or less fine, just stay out of serious political mind games for now. The emperor says that he understands, so all you need to do is assist me.”
“Wei, wei, wei! Even if you can’t tell us what the secret decree is, shouldn’t you at least give us a bit of information?” Su Nuan Nuan’s unhappy voice chimed in from the side.
Here, the little marquis understood that he had committed the sin of neglecting his wife and immediately soothed the offended tigress, “Nothing much. It’s just that Liaodong, Jinzhou and Haizhou area suffered from floods due to weeks of torrential rains. The disaster relief officials sent by the emperor are currently collecting grain and other resources. His majesty told us to go there first in order to assist the local officials in disaster relief.”
“What? You call this nothing much? Duan Tingxuan, how dare you still call yourself an imperial official? It’s a flood disaster, ah. From your way of speaking, did you just dismissed the plight of those poor victims who had become homeless from natural disasters?”
Su Nuan Nuan was really anxious now. The disaster relief of the ancient era is nothing like the ones in the modern era. In the modern times, if there is a flood or earthquake, one could rest assured that you’d be rescued by sharp, handsome military brothers on speedboats or helicopters. In ancient times, those living furthest away from the Capital suffered the most. By the time urgent missive from the local magistrates reached the emperor’s desk, 10 days would have passed. Even if the emperor immediately ordered people to send disaster relief, the act of collecting grain and other materials meant that by the time aid reached the disaster area, nearly 20 days would have passed.
[Gumihou: Woah, what’s this? The plot thickens!]
However, DTX had just shown the world just what kind of petty man he is, to assign such low intentions to my favourite Li Qiushan’s actions. Tsk, tsk, tsk…
What I like about this novel is that the author allowed people to shine, even the villains. DTX is a bastard and a man slut, but he clearly displayed intelligence and superior martial arts.
LFY is denounced as evil and treacherous and brilliant, it took the combined power of SNN, DTX and SDL to take him down. In the end, it was still a very near thing.
Concubine Jiang displayed great loyalty, and an ability to change. Which is wonderful since a lot of novels just face slap people and kick them when they’re down.
Intelligence and innovations don’t belong to the transmigrated character alone, Duan Tingye and Li Qiushan’s ability is clearly displayed in the restaurant and his business innovations. Su Nuan Nuan might be credited for some random, throwaway remarks about the future industry, but the people who make the ideas happened are DTY and LQS. Also, the employees reflected a boss’ conduct. So, clearly LQS is given the green light by DTY to act as he saw fit.]
[2] Fan Li – considered the wealthiest citizen through the five thousand years of Chinese history. He famously became extremely wealthy three times, and each time he gave away everything he had. What an incredible man, let us all bow down to him in respect.
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Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.
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