âSir Zu, congratulations!â Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun looked envious. Even though they had both risen up three ranks themselves, that was only an official position. They hadnât gone up an order of nobility.
Zu An had risen from being a baron to a viscount, and heâd even had his territory increased substantially! He now had practically three hundred more households to collect tax from, transforming him from a second-rate noble to a true noble in the social circles.
For example, the great clans in the capital would never consider a commoner for marriage. No matter how high oneâs official post was, they wouldnât even consider a baron. However, a viscount was already enough, let alone one that had climbed up to this position properly.
Piao Duandiao asked, âRight, what is big bro Zuâs new noble titleâ¦â
âI think itâs called âGreenââ¦â Jiao Sigun was about to reply when Zu An cut him off.
âEnough already, donât say that name.â Zu Anâs eyelids twitched. He had given the emperor the Hat of Forgiveness last time. Even though the emperor didnât know what it signified, he had picked up that Zu Anâs expression was a bit off.
Together with the fact that Zu An had given Sang Qian a green hat as a present, the emperor had felt as if that thing might have some deeper meaning. Now that Zu An was a viscount, he had decided to just give him the title Green Hat.[1]
Zu An had almost exploded when he heard that name. What the hell? Why does the world keep messing with me like this? This name is even worse than Phoenix Man!
âI feel like âPhoenix Manâ from before sounded a bit better,â Piao Duandiao said sympathetically.
Jiao Sigun immediately argued, âI feel like âGreen Hatâ sounds a bit more majestic. Just like how those Embroidered Envoys are always dressed in red, leaving the people in terror wherever they go, a color can deliver subliminal messages. Big bro Zu will just wear a green hat when he sets out in the future to match this title. That way, everyone will think of big bro Zu as soon as they hear the words âgreen hatâ.â
Zu An was speechless. If that really happens, my reputation will go to shit for all of eternity! He quickly changed the topic when he saw that the two of them werenât finished yet. âRight, what kind of post is that of Armed Escort Division Commander?â
Apart from being promoted from baron to viscount, he had also been granted the post of Armed Escort Division Commander. The guard system in the palace was extremely complicated, so he wasnât too sure what that role was.
Piao Duandiao explained, âThe palaceâs imperial guards are separated into many squads. These squads are called divisions, and the Armed Escort Division Commander is the senior officer of the Armed Escort Division. The Armed Escort Division Commander is mainly in charge of defending the various palace gates.â
Zu An was stunned. He hadnât expected the emperor to give him such a vital position!
After thinking about it for a bit, he guessed at the emperorâs intentions. On the surface, he was an outer subject, so he had to leave the palace promptly every day, but his status as an Embroidered Envoy made it so that he had to remain in the palace. He had to leave the palace first and change into the Embroidered Envoy identity before coming back in.
If anyone deliberately investigated that, they might discover some holes. Then, they would deduce his connection to Golden Token Eleven. But now that he had the Armed Escort Division Commander rank, it would be much more convenient for him to enter and exit the palace. He didnât have to put on that act daily anymore.
But doesnât this post also let me pass through the palace gates more easily? That dog emperor gave me the title âGreen Hatâ to embarrass me, so Iâll make sure to pay him back properly for this! Zu An had a strange expression as his face heated up. Hmph, Iâm an upstanding and upright person; would I do something like that?
âBig bro Zu, why are you drooling?â Jiao Sigun asked curiously.
âWas I? Haha, I think youâre seeing things.â Zu An quickly wiped the corner of his lips and chuckled in embarrassment.
âAnyways, big bro Zu, I still canât accept this result!â Piao Duandiao couldnât help but blurt out after some hesitation. âItâs one thing that those King Qi Manor people werenât exposed, but why was even that Meng Pan given a posthumous title? He was just a shameless bastard who ran in the middle of battle, and yet heâs being recognized as a hero and praised for countless generations?â
Zu An patted Piao Duandiaoâs shoulder to console him when he saw how upset he was. âIt canât be helped; heâs the Meng clanâs heir. The crown prince still needs the Meng clanâs support, so the court can only do this for the greater situation.â
âBut itâs not fair! So many of our brave companions died while sacrificing themselves, and yet theyâre being treated the same as that despicable bastard!â Piao Duandiao drew his blade and hacked at a wooden plank off to the side. He used so much strength that his blade snapped. It was easy to see just how angry he was.
Jiao Sigun said indifferently, âThatâs how the world works. Those who understand understand, and those who donât wonât even if you explain it to them.â
âI understand your fucking mom!â Piao Duandiao had already been furious. Now that he was being taunted like this, he couldnât take it anymore. The two of them began to wrestle with each other.
Zu An couldnât help but chuckle. He knew that these two were close, and that little fights like this were normal. As such, he chuckled and left the palace. There were still many more people to meet outside.
â¦
Zu An was stunned when he left through the palace gates, because there wasnât a large group waiting to welcome him the way he had imagined, let alone any pretty girls jumping into his arms while crying. He quickly realized that they had just decided to let him out. Those outside obviously hadnât known when he would be able to leave.
He shook his head. He didnât really mind, and so decided to go home first. It had been so long since he went home that he wondered if the maids and servants had run away. Soon after he returned, he saw that there was a servant sweeping the ground.
When he saw Zu An, the servant couldnât help but shout, âThe master has returned!â
The entire courtyard became lively soon afterward. The maids, cooks, and boy servants all rushed out and surrounded Zu An excitedly. Even though there werenât many of them, it filled the courtyard with a feeling of liveliness.
Zu An felt warm inside. All of this had been brought to him because of Chuyan. All of them had been carefully selected from the Chu clan. She hadnât sent anyone like Cheng Shouping.
He greeted the servants while heading inside. Suddenly, he stopped and raised his head toward the entrance. He saw a placard above the main gate. The placard was a lush green color, and written in large golden characters were the wordsâGreen Hat Manor.
Zu An felt the world spin around him. He almost fainted on the spot.
The little servant boy spoke as if he were presenting a great treasure, âWhen we learned that master was given the title of viscount, all of us felt that the baron placard wasnât suitable. Thatâs why we worked through the night to make a new one. What do you think; doesnât it look great?â
Zu Anâs eyes twitched. âAre you Cheng Shoupingâs brother?â
âIâm notâ¦?â The little servant boy was confused.
Zu An took a deep breath. âLetâs swap out the placard and replace it with just the title of Viscount. Also, I donât want to see any green colors.â
The servant boy replied, âBut that doesnât make sense! A title makes you more honorable than those inferior nobles; of course we have to write it on the placard!â
The others all voiced their agreement. They felt that this was better, and that the title couldnât be removed. Otherwise, their manor would look much worse.
Zu An was getting a headache from all of their chattering. He finally couldnât take it and roared, âAre you all the master or am I the master? Change it, or else Iâll send all of you back to take care of pigs!â He stormed off in a huff and slammed the door behind him. He didnât want to see it anymore.
F*ck, you really reap what you sow⦠Zu An was still furious for quite some time. Out of helplessness, he could only use something else to distract himself.
He had collected a total of 432,022 Rage points, so he could pull the lottery a total of 4,320 times. He hoped that even though the world was disappointing, his gacha results wouldnât be.
After praying for a long time, he pressed the pull button. He had already used this lottery system many times, so he didnât feel like worshiping Buddha and begging the deities like before. Heâd just let nature take its course.
Even though he made that choice, his eyes twitched when he saw the pull results. Out of 4,320 pulls, he had only gotten 349 Ki Fruits. Compared to the usual one to ten ratio, that result was absolutely terrible. That made him think it might be better to just buy things properly from the Shop in the future.
He continued to scroll through his pulls and saw that he had gotten a single tiger talisman. He had a few more saved up from before, so he would test his luck later to see if he could pull a valkyrie.
But his attention was quickly drawn to the last pull. The keyboardâs light indicator stopped over the G key. Then, a row of text appeared on the holographic screen.
Congratulations, you have successfully won Pin Ruâs Wardrobe!
1. Green hat = cuckold. â