Volume One The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter Eleven Stealing Credit

Inside the prison cell, Chen Chang’an asked again, just to be sure, “Really… I can really leave?”

“Go… go on, get out!” Li Shu waved his hand dazedly.

“Alright then!” Chen Chang’an couldn’t be more eager to leave. He hurried out, crossing the threshold in two strides. Outside the wall, Hua Mulan was leaning against it, absentmindedly holding her blade and questioning the use of her own eyes. When she saw him, she made a sound, nervous, and stammered, “You… you’re blind. You didn’t see anything.”

Chen Chang’an perked his ears and turned his head to where she stood. “What did you do?”

She sheathed her blade. “N-nothing!”

He knew this heroic woman didn’t think much of him, so he didn’t waste time with idle chatter. Instead, he listened carefully, found his direction, and walked out.

His stomach suddenly growled in protest.

Realizing he hadn’t brought any silver with him, he turned and trotted back into the prison, grinning sheepishly. “Lord Li… could I trouble you for a meal before I go?”

Li Shu, afraid to hurt his feelings, replied gently, “No, you must leave immediately!”

Tears welled up in Chen Chang’an’s eyes as he put on a touching show. “Lord Li, it’s not just for me! I wanted to bring some food to my father-in-law. He’s nearly fifty, collapsed from heatstroke, and hasn’t woken up. I…”

Li Shu nudged aside the wood shavings left by Wu Yuanheng’s earlier commotion and clicked his tongue. “Strange, Wang Wenbo said you were the one who knocked Su Qingtang unconscious.”

Chen Chang’an’s tears dried up instantly. “Ah, well… he had heatstroke first, didn’t quite pass out. I just finished the job.”

Finishing the last stroke on his memorial for the Chief Justice Wen Changming, Li Shu waved him off. “Fine! I’ll have someone take you. But Su Qingtang is still unconscious.”

“No problem!” Chen Chang’an nodded eagerly. “I just want to see how he’s doing. Doesn’t matter if he’s awake or not.”

Li Shu returned to his work and ordered a guard to escort him to Su Qingtang’s cell. Upon arrival, Chen Chang’an hurried in and immediately collapsed to the ground, wailing, “Oh, Father-in-law! Why haven’t you woken up? Don’t leave me here!”

While crying, his hands found Su Qingtang’s mouth. With a practiced motion, he pried out two gold teeth and slipped them into his pocket.

“The Prison Division doesn’t provide meals, and I have no money. I can’t starve to death after escaping the executioner’s blade! Please understand, Father-in-law!”

The guards waiting outside were moved by his heart-wrenching cries.

“To think, even though Young Master Chen is blind, his heart is so bright. He came to visit his father-in-law!”

“Indeed. And I heard it was Young Master Chen who rescued Princess Changning and saved the entire Su family.”

“What a dutiful son-in-law! With such a man, what more could Su Fu wish for?”

Half an hour later, Chen Chang’an, his face and hair smeared with mud for disguise, slapped a gold tooth onto the counter of a tavern. “Waiter, bring me a menu.”

“Right away, sir!” The server rushed off.

When handed the menu, Chen Chang’an smacked his lips, then waved it away. “Never mind, just bring whatever you have. I’m blind—I can’t read the names anyway.”

The server was momentarily speechless.

After a hearty meal, Chen Chang’an pondered his next steps. Since he had already crossed into this world, he had no choice but to accept his fate. Given the turbulent times—the Imperial capital, the Great Min dynasty’s border skirmishes, and restless undercurrents across the Nine Provinces—cultivation was essential. Otherwise, he would waste the resources of his seven sisters, and, as his memories told him, one could not survive long without strength.

Besides, his scene-scanning cheat only worked at the Fragrant Pavilion. Blind for years, he had no clear image of the Su family’s third daughter from his memories—only scattered praise about her stunning beauty, mostly from the servants at the Su residence, which he took with a grain of salt.

He wondered about the woman who had signed the contract for a fake marriage with him. Was she truly beautiful? How did she compare to Sister Peach Blossom?

“Should I break off the engagement… or should I wait until I return?”

…

At the Su family estate, nearly a hundred soldiers stood in formation outside, brandishing broadswords, ready to seize all the women inside.

Before sending them to the border as camp women, their household registration would be erased at the Ministry of Revenue.

Inside the courtyard, dozens of servant girls huddled together, clutching their knees and weeping, tears streaming down their faces.

On the stone steps, three women sat on the ground, faces unadorned, their complexions wan. One sighed, another forced a bitter smile, and the third rested her head in her hands.

The woman in the pale blue jacket was Su Wanqing, the second daughter, with a striking oval face, a sharp chin, elegant brows, and a curvaceous figure that drew the eye from head to toe.

The one in the pink and white robe was Su Wanqiu, the youngest daughter and Chen Chang’an’s nominal wife. She had a gentle oval face, crescent brows, her hair styled in a graceful knot with a pearl hairpin, her eyes downcast in quiet melancholy, a natural air of demureness about her.

The slightly plumper woman, her cheeks full and well-maintained, exuded a mature, intellectual beauty. She was their mother, Qin Fulou.

“What do we do now? With Father beheaded, Brother about to be made a eunuch, we… we’re doomed…” Su Wanqing sobbed.

Su Wanqiu replied with a sigh, “What can we do? The Su family is at the end of its rope.”

“How did it come to this? The master shouldn’t have died. He shouldn’t have left us women to fend for ourselves… Oh, how will we survive?” Qin Fulou dabbed at her tears, unable to envision the future.

Just then, the sound of armor shifting outside reached their ears as the soldiers at the gate dispersed.

“What’s happened? Have they left?”

“Wait here. I’ll take a look!” Qin Fulou rose, but before she could reach the door, a young nobleman appeared, dressed in fine white silk, his face smooth and fair, his bearing noble and refined. He entered with a hearty laugh.

This was Yuan Yunfei, the only son of General Yuan Bingzhong. He had admired Su Wanqiu for years, proposing multiple times only to be refused.

He had just heard, while at the general’s mansion betting on cricket fights, that Princess Changning had returned safely to the palace and the Su family had been pardoned. He rushed over at once.

Qin Fulou, teary-eyed, hurried to greet him. “Oh, Young Master Yuan, what brings you here?”

Yuan Yunfei lifted his chin, his brows proud. “Madam Su, you may not know, but when I heard about the Su family’s trouble, I was so worried. For the past two days, I’ve been pulling strings and searching for Princess Changning.”

“Finally, the heavens rewarded my efforts! After all my hard work, the princess returned safely, and the Su family was pardoned.”

His words were vivid and impassioned, skillfully claiming credit for what he had not done, yet not going so far as to expose himself.

“What? Young Master Yuan, are you saying the Su family is pardoned?” Qin Fulou gripped his shoulders, shaking him in excitement.

Su Wanqing hiked up her skirt and ran over.

Su Wanqiu stood up, but then, uncertain, sat back down, though her attention was wholly fixed on the conversation.

Yuan Yunfei nodded with certainty. “That’s right! Thanks to my tireless efforts, the princess was found, and Her Majesty pardoned the Su family.”

“Wonderful, wonderful! I knew our Su family would be alright!” Su Wanqing’s eyes sparkled with joy.

A glimmer of brightness broke through Su Wanqiu’s usual gloom, though only faintly.

Qin Fulou breathed a long sigh of relief. “The Su family is truly fortunate. This time… this time, we owe you so much, Young Master Yuan.”

“No, no, it was my duty!” Yuan Yunfei replied politely, then sighed. “Madam Su, to be honest, I did all this out of my love for Wanqiu. But alas, she is already married.”

“Ah, from time immemorial, love has known only sorrow!”

Qin Fulou immediately caught his meaning, rolling her eyes toward her youngest daughter. “Wanqiu, divorce that Chen fellow at once and marry Young Master Yuan. I really don’t understand why you were so determined to marry that blind man in the first place!”

Su Wanqiu had her reasons for marrying Chen Chang’an. Lifting her crescent brows, she replied stubbornly, “I won’t!”

Qin Fulou stamped her foot in anger. “Say ‘no’ one more time! If not for Young Master Yuan’s efforts, our family would be finished. Besides, he’s the son of a general—countless noble ladies dream of marrying him. This is your good fortune. In comparison, what can that blind man do?”

Qin Fulou had always wanted Yuan Yunfei as a son-in-law, but Su Wanqiu’s stubbornness had foiled her plans. Now, with the family’s fortune in decline, they needed a strong ally to maintain their standing in Chang’an.

Chen Chang’an, blind and otherwise talentless, was nothing compared to Yuan Yunfei, the general’s heir. In Chang’an, every noble house would give him face—the difference was as great as the sky and the earth.

Su Wanqing, meanwhile, grinned at Yuan Yunfei in reassurance. “Don’t worry, Young Master Yuan, my sister hasn’t even shared a room with that blind man. She’s as pure as ever.”

“Well, isn’t this a lively scene!” At that moment, Chen Chang’an appeared at the Su family’s gate, a jar of Daughter’s Red wine and a plate of peanuts in hand, his blind eyes gazing ahead.