“Remember not to mention this matter to anyone in the estate,” Zu An reminded him sternly.
Cheng Shouping thumped his own chest. “Young master, have you forgotten my name? I am the man who keeps secrets like a cork on a bottle, Cheng Shouping!”
Somehow, his confident assurances only stoked Zu An’s unease. He felt like he had just made a terrible mistake.
“I’ll leave you to look into the matter. I’m feeling a bit tired right now, so I think I’ll rest for a while. Ah right, get me a bucket of water to wash my face first.” Zu An dismissed Cheng Shouping with a wave of his hand.
His plan was to wash his hands and face, then use the Rage points he had just earned from Plum Blossom Thirteen to draw the lottery. For now, his future looked very bright.
“Looks like you’re in a good mood,” an old, hoarse voice rasped in his ear.
Zu An leaped up in shock. He spun around and saw Old Mi standing behind him. With his heart still pounding, he yelled, “Why do you always walk around without making any sound? You’ll really scare me to death one of these days!”
Old Mi ignored Zu An’s remark and posed a question of his own. “You didn’t play truant today, right?”
“You’d already warned me beforehand, so how would I dare?” Looking deeply into the eyes that were hidden by layers of skin folds, Zu An felt subconsciously that he would have suffered the same fate as Plum Blossom Thirteen had he dared to play truant today.
“That’s good.” Old Mi laughed eerily. “Did you meet Wei Hongde?”
Old Mi’s smile caused Zu An to break out in goosebumps all over.
“Not yet.” Old Mi’s forehead began to crease further in a frown, which prompted Zu An to add quickly, “However, I managed to become friends with his younger brother.”
“He has a younger brother?” Old Mi was confused.
“Yes, his name is Wei Suo…” Zu An briefly explained the situation.
“I didn’t think that he would have another son. Heh, it looks like he’s living quite a good life, hm?” Old Mi muttered under his breath.
Zu An was stunned for a moment. “What did you say?”
“Nothing.” Old Mi shook his head. He tossed a pouch of silver taels to Zu An and said, “Take this money. Treat those two brothers to a meal and hang out with them more. I need you to get closer to them.”
Zu An probed a little. “May I know why? Can you let me in on whatever it is too so that I can prepare myself beforehand?”
Another chillingly eerie smile split Old Mi’s face in two. “You’ll know in due time.” With that, he began to totter away.
Zu An was left puzzled. You can’t be trying to get me to steal some kind of secret treasure in the royal treasury, are you?
He quickly counted the money in the pouch he had just received from Old Mi. There were a hundred silver taels in total. He wondered how an old farmer inside the Chu Estate had managed to save up so much money.
With a deep sigh, Zu An decided to let the matter rest. He turned his attention to the Keyboard and checked his Rage points. After his spending spree that afternoon, he’d been left with 54 Rage points, but his balance had risen back up to 8,305.
It was just a short encounter, but Plum Blossom Thirteen had single handedly provided him with more than eight thousand Rage points!
Despite this outcome, Zu An was dissatisfied. Once again, the result had proven that it was much more efficient to farm using AOE skills rather than single target skills. He could only hope that more enemies like Plum Blossom Thirteen would appear.
He proceeded with his ritual of washing his hands and face with practiced movements, then turned his attention to the lottery. However, just as he was about to start, a servant rushed in. “Young master, Master and Madam are calling you over right now!”
Zu An widened his eyes in shock. It can’t be that they already know about me leading Chu Huanzhao astray, can it?
With a growing feeling of unease, he followed the servant around the estate. The servant led him from corridor to corridor, navigating an incredibly complicated route. Zu An grew suspicious that the servant was leading him into some sort of trap.
It was only when the two of them finally arrived before a hall with plenty of maids standing at the doorway that he finally heaved a sigh of relief. With so many people around, I doubt that my enemies would try to pull anything.
His eyes fell on one particular lass with a slender waist and a delicate ponytail, dressed in a green robe. He was a little alarmed by her appearance, but he maintained a brilliant smile on his face as he walked over and said, “Oh? It has only been a few days since we last met, Snow, but your waist has gotten even slimmer. Are you not eating well outside? Aw. Come, I’ll help you massage it a little.”
As he spoke, his hands darted forth to encircle her waist.
You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 256 Rage points!
Zu An was surprised. He didn’t know that Snow wasn’t her real name. It was quite rare for maids to have a proper surname and name these days, and even rarer to possess such an eloquent one. It seems she has quite the mysterious background.
Even though he managed to infuriate Snow before, he hadn’t awakened the Rage system back then. This was the first time he was seeing her true name.
The young lass easily dodged his hands. She glared at him frostily. “It has been a few days, but you’re still as detestable as ever.”
Zu An’s face immediately turned grim. “You’re going a little overboard. Whatever the case, we did spend a night with one another. Are you going to shirk your responsibilities now that you’ve got your clothes back on?”
“You!!!” Snow’s face flushed red right away.
The trauma she’d suffered by having her pure, maidenly body ravaged by this dirty scoundrel’s lecherous gaze would never go away.
You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 999 Rage points!
“Are you angry? Hit me then. Hit me then~” Zu An taunted like a little rascal. Back when she had kicked him into the pond, he wasn’t a cultivator yet, so he wasn’t able to discern her level of strength. It was high time for him to check her out.
You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 999 Rage points!
Snow’s rage was so strong that she was feeling faint. She never thought that such a shameless person could exist in the world. She seriously considered throwing propriety out the window and pummeling the man before her.
“Stop messing around and come in!” Chu Chuyan’s unique cold, melodious voice sounded from the hall.
Snow took a deep breath as she forced herself to calm down. Her voice was as chilly as her name. “Master and Madam are waiting for you inside. You should get going.”
Zu An shook his head in regret. He smoothed out his clothes and strode into the hall.
Chu Zhongtian, Qin Wanru, Chu Chuyan and Chu Huanzhao were seated at a round table filled with all sorts of exquisite dishes. Chu Huanzhao shot him a glance in silent warning.
This lass is still quite loyal after all. Looks like I didn’t dote on her for nothing.
“Zu An, how audacious of you to seduce a maid of the estate in our presence. What do you take Chuyan for? What do you take our Chu clan for?” Qin Wanru bellowed, her face a dark cloud of anger.
You have successfully trolled Qin Wanru for 447 Rage points!
Her anger was fully justified. She was already dissatisfied with having her precious daughter marry such a wastrel, and yet, he still went around seducing the maidservants of the estate. This was preposterous!
“I didn’t seduce her!” Zu An cried out as though wronged.