Chapter 57: Putting on Airs

Keyboard Immortal

Chu Zhongtian also got to his feet and said, “Zu An, I understand your desire to stand up for the Chu clan. You have good intentions in mind, but… Haa, you shouldn’t think too much about this matter. Don’t worry, we’ll settle the Clans Tournament.”

After saying his piece, he also turned around and left as well. Judging by his hurried footsteps, he seemed to be chasing after his wife.

My father-in-law is really the typical example of a henpecked husband, but he’s indeed a good person at heart. He does treat me well even though I’m a wastrel. I just wonder if he’s actually a sly, old fox who puts on a kind face…

Chu Huanzhao skipped over to Zu An’s side to talk to him, only for Chu Zhongtian’s voice to sound from outside the hall at the next moment. “Zhao’er, your mother is looking for you!”

“Oh~” Chu Huanzhao’s excited face immediately collapsed. She helplessly waved Zu An goodbye before dragging her feet out reluctantly.

“You’re on good terms with Huanzhao?” Chu Chuyan asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

Zu An replied with a gleeful smile, “I’m quite a likable person after all.”

“…” Chu Chuyan.

She stared at him for a moment before turning around to leave the hall. “Right, I should give you a reminder. A man shouldn’t make promises that he isn’t able to fulfill.”

Zu An felt a little wistful as to how there was not a single person here who was willing to trust him. He sure led quite the tragic life.

All of a sudden, he recalled one matter and hurriedly rushed out of the hall, chasing after Chu Chuyan. “Honey, honey~”

Chu Chuyan immediately turned around and exclaimed, “Shut up! I told you not to call me that!”

“You only told me not to call me your wife.” Zu An noticed that Chu Chuyan’s eyebrows had shot up, and it looked like she was on the verge of exploding at any moment, so he quickly changed his words. “Then, should I call you Yan’er instead?”

“…” Chu Chuyan.

It sounds weird hearing him call me the same way my father and mother call me. But if I don’t allow him to call me that, he might just keep calling me honey or darling!

“If you still have any sense of shame, you should stop buzzing around the young miss’ side like a fly!” Snow leaped forward and cut right in between the two of them. As she spoke, she lowered her gaze toward his crotch disdainfully.

“What business is it of yours when I call out to my own wife?” Zu An rolled her eyes. “You have also displayed yourself bare before me, but you still continue prancing around me all day long. Just which of us is the one who doesn’t have a sense of shame here?”

“You!” Snow’s face immediately turned as red as an apple. That incident was the greatest blemish in her life, but this fellow still dared to raise it! Her rage hit the roof right away, and she was just a second away from drawing her sword to decapitate that darned man standing before her.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for +999 Rage!

“Enough, the two of you should stop messing around.” Chu Chuyan was worried that Zu An might really be sliced apart if she didn’t intervene. “So, what did you call me for?”

Zu An shot a glance at Snow and swiftly estimated the length of her sword before taking a few steps back to keep out of her attack radius. Then, he turned to Chu Chuyan and said, “There’s someone who’s out for your hubby’s life. Are you going to get involved?”

Snow’s heart skipped a beat, such that even her rage also subsided significantly as well. She stared at Zu An with a wavering expression as many thoughts flashed across her mind.

On the other hand, Chu Chuyan couldn’t help notice that Zu An had stopped calling her ‘honey’ but ended up addressing himself as her hubby. “Who’s out for your life?”

Zu An first shot a glance at Snow and took her worried expression into sight before unveiling the mystery, “The Plum Blossom Sect.”

“The Plum Blossom Sect?” Chu Chuyan was surprised. “How did you get involved with them?”

Zu An shrugged helplessly as he said, “I don’t know either. Typically speaking, someone who’s as handsome and dashing as me shouldn’t have any enemies, but those from the Plum Blossom Sect keep making attempts on my life. The last time I was struck by lightning was also the doing of Plum Blossom Twelve.”

“Are you certain about it?” Chu Chuyan’s usual composed expression had collapsed to reveal hints of astonishment.

Zu An nodded. “Would I lie to my own wife?”

That remark immediately brought about a retort from Snow, “Go to the streets and ask around; the lies you have spouted are enough to craft out a story. Lying to your own wife…” A glare from Chu Chuyan prompted Snow to quickly correct herself. “… Lying to the young miss doesn’t pose any challenge to you at all!”

Zu An stared at Snow deeply. “Say, why do you keep trying to get in my way every single time? Are you trying to use this sort of lowly method to attract my attention?”

“I…” Snow nearly choked on her breath and fainted on the spot. “Young miss, don’t stop me. I must slaughter this darned scoundrel today!”

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for +725 Rage!

Zu An immediately ran to seek cover behind Chu Chuyan while Snow relentlessly pursued him with her sword in hand. Just like that, the two of them ran circles around Chu Chuyan, with neither being able to catch up or shake away the other.

“Yan’er, aren’t you going to stop her? She’s trying to kill your hubby!” Zu An cried out in desperation while dodging Snow’s attacks.

Chu Chuyan shot a cold look at Zu An. “If you dare touch my body with those hands of yours once more, I’ll be the one to slaughter you instead.”

Zu An sheepishly released his grips. While he was dodging Snow’s attacks, he didn’t hesitate to come into physical contact with Chu Chuyan. It was just that he didn’t expect Chu Chuyan to see through his intentions so quickly.

But speaking of which, his wife’s body felt surprisingly cold, almost like an ice sculpture.

“You said that Plum Blossom Twelve was the one who caused you to get struck by lightning, but do you have any evidence?” Chu Chuyan asked.

“He confessed to it himself.” Seeing that Chu Chuyan really had no intention of stopping Snow, he began to worry if she was really trying to get rid of him using Snow’s hands this time around.

“Where’s he?”

“He’s dead. He got eaten by wolves.”

“…”

“You don’t even have any evidence on hand. How can you expect the young miss to believe your words?”

Chu Chuyan finally stopped Snow from pursuing Zu An any further before saying, “Snow is right. Even though the Plum Blossom Sect has done many vile deeds over the years, they have quite a few connections around, making them hard to deal with. Without concrete evidence, we can’t do anything much to them.”

“Young miss, I think that fellow is just spouting bullshit! Why would the Plum Blossom Sect risk offending our Chu clan to deal with him?” Snow panted for air as her chest expanded and contracted rhythmically. She was surprised to see that Zu An’s stamina was much better than she had imagined.

Chu Chuyan nodded slightly in response, expressing her agreement with Snow’s view. If they were to confront the Plum Blossom Sect right now, the latter would only claim that there was no evidence to incriminate them, and that would be the end of things.

Hearing those words, Zu An regretted having killed Plum Blossom Twelve so quickly back then, He should have gotten the latter to write a will or something, though to be fair, he couldn’t have possibly thought that far ahead then, and the circumstances didn’t allow for it either.

“Even if I don’t have any evidence on Plum Blossom Twelve, just earlier in the day at the academy’s entrance, Plum Blossom Thirteen threatened to sever my limbs and cut my meat slice by slice till I’m finally dead. There are many people who heard that, so I couldn’t possibly have falsified that, right?”

A moocher should solve problems through his mooching ways.

Zu An looked down on those who could have easily resolved some problems through their connections but had to act all high and mighty and insist on solving them with their own strength. In the first place, weren’t connections part of a person’s strength too?

“Why would Plum Blossom Thirteen suddenly head to the academy to threaten you? In my view, they must be holding some kind of leverage over you!” Snow grabbed Chu Chuyan’s arm as she sneered at Zu An.

Zu An looked at Snow with an unreadable smile as he remarked, “I realized that you have been speaking up for the Plum Blossom Sect for quite a while now. It can’t be that you have some ties with them, do you?”

Snow jerked in shock. She subconsciously shot a glance at Chu Chuyan as she hurriedly explained the matter, “How could I possibly be related to the Plum Blossom Sect? I just can’t stand people like you spreading lies and falsehoods around!”

“There are many people who witnessed the incident today. If you don’t believe me, you can call the Second Miss over to verify the matter. She witnessed the matter with her own eyes. Is the Chu clan really going to take this insult lying?” Zu An exclaimed indignantly.

Chu Chuyan was really impressed by how Zu An was willing to readily include himself as a family member of the Chu clan, speaking in its name without showing the slightest awkwardness at all.

She pondered for a moment before answering, “The Plum Blossom Sect isn’t as simple as it appears to be. So far, we still haven’t managed to get a grasp as to which power is behind it yet. Besides, even though my father is a duke, he has no official roles in the royal court. It would be overstretching his boundaries if he attempts to take things into his own hands. So, there’s very little we can do against a threat.”

Zu An clicked his tongue in annoyance. “You can’t deal with a mere underworld organization despite being a ducal clan. Even I feel ashamed for you!”

“…” Chu Chuyan.

Snow put her hands on her hip and berated, “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? Do you even know anything about court politics at all? Don’t you know that those who are in a high position are often treading on thin ice? Stop spouting all of this nonsense if you don’t know anything at all!”

Zu An shot a glance at her and said, “Yes yes, you know everything. But what a pity it is that you’re just a maid.”

A vein popped out from Snow’s temple. She turned to Chu Chuyan and asked with pleading eyes, “Young miss, I really want to beat him up!”

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for +367 Rage!

Chu Chuyan chuckled softly. “I understand how you feel, but you have to show some respect to him. He’s the son-in-law of the Chu clan after all. The way you two keep bickering with one another looks almost like an old couple.”

Snow jolted in horror, and she cried out indignantly, “Who’s an old couple with him! Young miss, you shouldn’t crack such jokes!”

Completely disregarding Snow, Zu An turned to Chu Chuyan and said, “Forget it, I knew that the Chu clan can’t be relied on. I have my own way of dealing with this matter, but I need you to back me up.”

The Plum Blossom Sect had already sent Plum Blossom Twelve and Plum Blossom Thirteen after his life; Zu An wasn’t the type of person to swallow down the grudge and forgive them. Besides, it was not as if they would let him off just because he was willing to forgive them. Since things had already come down to this, he might as well take the initiative to destroy the Plum Blossom Sect first.

“Back you up?” Chu Chuyan frowned.

“I’m asking you to support me,” Zu An explained. “I’ll be making a trip to the Plum Blossom Sect later on. I don’t need you to do anything; you just have to ensure my safety.”

Snow harrumphed coldly. “Aren’t you just using our young miss’ name to do as you please?”

Zu An paid no heed to Snow’s mockery. “I don’t mind doing it myself either. I’m just worried that I’d screw with the Plum Blossom Sect too hard that they end up resorting to desperate measures.”

“You screw the Plum Blossom Sect too hard? What a joke!” Snow laughed at Zu An derisively, not bothering to hide the fact that she thought nothing of the latter at all.

Chu Chuyan, however, nodded her head in agreement. “Very well, I shall accompany you. However, I’ll first make things clear that I’m following you in my capacity as an individual. You won’t have the backing of the Chu clan for this matter.”

“I don’t need it.”

The boulder in Zu An’s heart was finally released. With Chu Chuyan around, he wouldn’t have to worry for his own life anymore.”

“What are you up to?” Snow asked with a deep frown.

Zu An’s confident look had sparked her curiosity.

“It won’t be fun if I tell you beforehand.” Zu An wagged her finger at her before turning toward Chu Chuyan with an inviting gesture. “Yan’er, this way.”

A slight knit formed between Chu Chuyan’s brows. She was clearly uncomfortable with the way he was addressing her. However, considering how the shameless Zu An might come up with even worse ways to address her, she decided to let it slip in the end.

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