There Will Always Be Protagonists With Delusions of Starting a Harem

An Chengjie : protagonist

An Chengsen : harem member (eldest son)

Lei Baofei : harem member

Yan Mingli : harem member (7th Prince)

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Edited by

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With the help of the servants, Ye Zhizhou readied his hair and clothes. He valiantly walked up to the gate, catching sight of a horse. Looking at the young man who was currently holding the reins to the horse, Zhizhou paused and said, "This horse..."

The little servant, Chang Shun, quivered - quickly rushing forward to win the young master\'s favour. "Young master, we can only get Ta Xue after two days. Zhui Feng is an old horse, but he truly is fast. He is steady and is also very formidable. How about... you give him a try?"

...what was he meant to do now? He didn\'t even know how to ride a horse in the first place!

Silently swallowing the words down, he threw his sleeve, pretending to look at Zhui Feng in disdain. "What is the meaning of riding on such an old horse. Not even a little bit of fierce. Scram, and give this master a carriage."

{T/N: A term used to describe an action usually used by arrogant people when they\'re upset}

Seeing that the young master was not going to throw a fit at not being able to ride Ta Xue, Chang Shun heaved in a breath in his heart. Hurriedly, he rushed forward to hold Zhui Feng, saying, "Young master, please wait - I will bring the carriage over." After bowing, he led the horse away.

Chang Fu suffered a hard time after receiving his assignment; remembering the Madam\'s warning that morning, he could only step forward and carefully ask. "Young master, the Master will be back tonight, your homework..."

The Zhen Guogong, An Wenhua, was the current Minister of Revenue. Before he was sent out to settle a corruption case by the Emperor, he had arranged a lot of homework for An Chengle. The minister had said that he would check and test him after returning. However, in the month that Zhen Guogong was away, it couldn\'t be said that An Chengle did any studying - he didn\'t even set a foot in the study room, let alone write a line or two! Not only that, Chengle also went out and made mischief. The extremely violent horse named Ta Xue that was bought a few days ago was just one of the ironclad proofs.

The system data in his brain turned like cogs - and while maintaining a disdainful expression, Ye Zhizhou stiffened for three seconds, then quickly recomposed to let out a noise of arrogant disagreement. "What are you trying to say with all these long-winded and sweetened words? What homework? I won\'t do it - my dad won\'t kill me anyway. By the way, why can I only get Ta Xue after two days? I want to ride it now!"

Chang Fu simply wanted to cry, weakly explaining the reason. "The horse was first set aside for another - so the dealer has to explain the situation to the other buyer before he can give you the horse..."

"Simply dawdling! Even buying a mere horse is so troublesome, I don\'t want it! Just you wait, I\'m giving that horse back!" An Chengle interrupted Chang Fu\'s words in an impatient manner. Seeing Chang Shun park the carriage in front of him, he walked up the few steps and climbed in. "Go to West Street, I want to go to that newly opened Treasure Pavilion!"

The two servants looked at each other in dismay. Chang Shun took a quick glance at the dim-witted Chang Fu - thinking about what he had heard as he was returning, he very carefully asked, "Young master, do you really not want Ta Xue?"

"I don\'t want it! Just go!" Lei Baofei was really set on this horse - even if it was a very good buy, he must not buy it!

The carriage stopped in front of a small shop on the corner of West Street. Ye Zhizhou lifted the curtain of the carriage and hopped off - glancing at the tiny store and blinking. Treasure Pavilion, the first store opened by the protagonist after he came to the capital; it sold rare items that this world didn\'t have, and it was very much liked and sought after by the wealthy. The shop quickly became an important way for the protagonist to accumulate wealth in the early stages of the story.

Treasure? Humph, it was just some little gadgets and the like.

Ye Zhizhou stepped in and glanced at the second floor - hooking up his lips and turning to look at the waiter who had come to greet him. In a tone of \'this young master doesn\'t lack money\', he said, "Bring out all the best and rarest items you have. If I really have never seen it, I will buy it for double the price."

The other guests in the shop were askance.

Chang Shun and Chang Fu were extremely frightened at hearing these arrogant words. This Treasure Pavilion had only recently opened, but all its items were as expensive as expensive could get, and as rare as rare could get. Everyone who had entered whilst thinking the shop a joke was ultimately slapped in the face at the end. The young master had so much money to burn, ah!

The smile on the waiter\'s face froze for a moment, then returned with even more brilliance. "Valued guest, please wait a minute - I will go and collect the goods for you."

"Young master." After the waiter left, Chang Shun glanced at other guests and stepped forward, speaking in a low voice. "All your money has already been spent to buy Ta Xue. The items from Treasure Pavilion are even more expensive. You see..."

"Didn\'t I say I wanted to return Ta Xue?" Ye Zhizhou pretended to be impatient and just waved his hand, walking to the visitor\'s chair and sitting down. "Gentleman do not take other people\'s loved ones. Ta Xue and I have no fate together, return it."

Chang Shun was taken aback by his young master. Turning to look at Chang Fu, he actually couldn\'t process the idea in his head.

The waiter quickly returned with a tray, confidently putting it in front of Ye Zhizhou. He smiled, speaking, "Valued guests, these are actually new items that had just arrived this morning. The owner has said that if anyone can identify these items, they will be free for the person."

Ye Zhizhou blew a whistle in his heart - An Chengjie really was here today. This trip suddenly became worthwhile! Hooking his lips, he smiled. Glancing at the tray, he picked up a cylindrical object, twisting it for a while then dismissing it with a scoff. "Isn\'t this something children play with in the Foreign Land? This young master believes they call it a kaleidoscope - they twist it to see a flower-like thing - how boring."

The smile on the waiter\'s face froze.

Ye Zhizhou then picked up a wooden box that was inlaid with various precious stones. Opening it up, he looked at it - then unscrewed the clockwork that was carved into a flower shape under the box. Pouting, he said, "It\'s also another Foreign Land\'s toy. After twisting this part, music is played - but it\'s just a few monotonous sounds. Boring."

The guests who were waiting to see a joke gradually crowded around the youth, whispering. The waiter swallowed his saliva, feeling somewhat panicked.

"Oh, and did you burn the transparent glass at home? This color only exists in the Foreign Land." Ye Zhizhou poked the ugly glass vial in the corner of the tray, then picked up the ancient version of the magnifying glass. With disgusted eyes, he spoke. "This glass can magnify things, but it\'s easy to produce. All one needs to do it curve the glass into this angle."

After putting the item down, he pointed at the remaining ones - naming each product. "That\'s soap, which can be extracted from heated pig oil; it\'s normally used for bathing. The item beside it is used to clean teeth. The rest are pencils, which also originates from the Foreign Land. It\'s used for writing and is erasable."

The waiter already felt foolish, and the guests were astonished.

"I say," He pushed away the tray and sneered, "You are a scamming, black shop, aren\'t you? You just use some toys from the Foreign Land to con our people. You sell a few coins worth of items for hundreds of thousands. Your heart is really black." After saying this, he straightened his back and patted his sleeves - snorting coldly. "Really, all businessmen are evil. Chang Shun, Chang Fu, let\'s go! What Treasure Pavilion, it should be called the Black Heart Pavilion instead!"

Chang Shun and Chang Fu were stunned at this reversal, immediately looked at their younger master and quickly followed.

The trio drove away, leaving the waiter to face the skeptical customers. He couldn\'t help but take a step back, heart panicking. "Ladies and gentlemen, please don\'t listen to that nonsense. Everything in our shop is fairly priced..."

"Black hearted shop, return our money!" No one knew who had shouted first, but the angry demand incited the other guests. Shedding their hesitation, they all surrounded the waiter - enquiringly, questioning and roaring, all kinds of angry screams filling the air.

On the second floor of the store, An Chengjie stiffened - his hands stilling and his mind filling with shock. Lei Baofei, who was sitting in the opposite chair, slowly put down his cup. The friendly smile on the handsome face faded away, and he scrutinised An Chengjie with a glint in his eyes.

[The love probability of Lei Baofei and the protagonist has dropped to 70%. Please make persistent effort, Host]

Ye Zhizhou, who was once again analysing the plot in the carriage, was stunned. However, the shock quickly turned to enthusiasm. "Was Lei Baofei also upstairs in the shop?"

This was really a pleasant surprise. He had thought that Lei Baofei\'s soul flag would be the hardest pull out - and that he would need a long-term plan to get rid of it. But now, it seemed that this flag was actually the easiest!

When Ye Zhizhou read over the data, he discovered that Lei Baofei\'s romantic feelings for the protagonist were all based on the latter\'s holy light. After realising this, what was there to not understand! What Lei Baofei liked was the \'truthfulness, goodness, and beauty\' of the protagonist. As long as Zhizhou tore apart the protagonist\'s layer of \'truthfulness, goodness, and beauty\'.... well, pulling out the soul flag would be just around the corner!

In the evening, the Madam accompanied him at dinner. Inquiring for news about An Chengsheng, he was told that the elder son and his friends had gone out to sightsee. Learning of this, Ye Zhizhou returned to his courtyard - satisfied and tired.

The next day, he was awakened by Chang Shun. Meticulously dressed up, Ye Zhizhou was sent to the Madam\'s courtyard in a daze.

"Unfortunately, your father has gotten delayed on the road and can only arrive in the afternoon." The beautiful woman took a jade pendant from the box, her eyes full with worry. "After you enter the palace, behave yourself - put away your short temper. The eighth prince might not necessarily choose you, so don\'t make any trouble, okay?"

Even after staying in three worlds, this was the first time Ye Zhizhou had felt a mother\'s love. He couldn\'t help but soften his heart whenever he saw the beautiful woman. "I understand, mother."

Finally, she picked up a small exquisite jade, hanging the pendant on her son\'s neck. After arranging it nicely, she sighed. "You must blame me for spoiling you too much... well, the imperial carriage is already waiting at the door for you. Go quickly, it\'s not good to delay these kinds of matters."

He meekly and respectfully bid his farewell. With a trace of warmth in his heart, he set foot in the carriage.

The emperor had summoned all youths who were known to have intellectual knowledge or scholarly inclinations to enter the palace. Therefore, all the candidates had brought a few pieces of their most famous works with them. In the garden where the feast was held, only Ye Zhizhou entered with a rattle drum in his hand. Swaying it around, he practically exuded the words \'ignorant\' and \'incompetent\'.

{T/N: A drum-shaped rattle mostly used by peddlers or as a children\'s toy}

"Pst, I think it\'s the An family\'s rubbish - so disgraceful, that one; always making a show of himself." An unrestrained sneer rose up on Ye Zhizhou\'s face. Looking in passing, he searched for information in the original\'s memory on the person who just spoke. Carelessly shaking the rattle-drum, he coldly said, "I also don\'t know which one of the Jun Jie was driven out from the Yihong Courtyard last night because he couldn\'t afford the cost. Tsk, tsk, talking out about someone else when even his own pants aren\'t properly worn.

{T/N: Jun Jie refers to a genius or an elite}

{T/N: Yihong Courtyard is the name of a brothel}

A strange silence spread in the garden. All the people who were talking about literature and the arts stopped to looked at Ye Zhizhou. The person in question merely grinned, \'bashfully\' speaking. "I still have a lot of stories like the one I just told. Do you want to hear them?"

The crowd all turned and continued their prior actions, acting as if nothing had happened. The young boy whose scandal was exposed, pointed at Ye Zhizhou in a furious manner. His mouth just opened and closed, no words escaping. Eventually, he ran away - tail tucked in between his legs.

"I want to hear your stories." The light voice of a youth was suddenly heard from a corner of the garden. Ye Zhizhou turned his head around, seeing a pale young man in a black robe; the man was sitting in a wheelchair that was being carefully pushed by a eunuch. His facial features were exquisite and gorgeous - yet held no expression; his eyes were especially dark, and those who fell under his gaze would feel like the prey of a snake. "Your surname is An?" The man in question focused an intense look at Ye Zhizhou, emotions still yet to appear on the handsome face. He looked at the other, and stretched out a pale thin finger. "I like your eyes... give them to me."

"What?!"

[T/N: Written in English in the raw lol]