Chapter 11: Crisis All Around

If Chu Chuyan were the mastermind behind all this, he would simply admit defeat. At worst, he’d expose his own flaws to prove his innocence. Fortunately, it didn't come to that.

Zu'an composed himself and said to Chunhua, "Take your relocation fee. You've come at just the right time. The last woman who was taken into the mansion is now screaming in the army camp that she can't take it anymore. You can go and take her place."

"Relocation fee?" Chunhua finally caught on. "Wait, why is she in the army camp?"

"You don't know?" Zu'an feigned surprise. "My wife is wonderful in every way; she just loves me too much and is a bit jealous. The last woman who entered the household, just like you, was given as a reward to the soldiers in the army on some pretext. Ah, being a bride every night, it must be quite difficult for her."

Rage points from Chu Chuyan: 433!

Chu Chuyan hadn't expected him to pin such a reputation on her. Facing the strange looks from everyone, she felt like killing Zu'an. However, she knew that the events of the past two days were truly peculiar, and this man generally met her requirements. If they were to recruit a new son-in-law, it would involve various factions again.

So, despite her frosty expression, she didn't refute him.

"To the army camp?" Chunhua's face instantly changed. There was a hierarchy within their profession: the highest were the courtesans of the brothels, followed by regular women in brothels, then cheaper prostitutes like herself from smaller establishments. But the lowest of all were definitely those peers sent to the army camps for crimes.

The army was full of lustful, strong men, and no woman could endure that intensity. Basically, after half a year, a person would be completely ruined.

Thinking of the horror stories circulating in their circle, Chunhua's entire face turned deathly pale.

Zu'an nodded, "Don't worry, they are our family's private army. They'll take good care of you. They're actually looking for something fresh."

Madam Chu could no longer hold back. "Nonsense! Our Chu family..."

She was about to say that their Chu family's private army would never engage in such sordid affairs, but Chunhua couldn't take it anymore. She frantically waved her hands and shrieked, "I don't want to go to the army camp! Everything I just said was a lie! I don't know you at all!"

As she spoke, she pulled at Diao Yang beside her. "Diao Yang, this is completely different from what you told me! Come out and say something! I don't want to go to the army camp!"

Diao Yang's face changed drastically. He kicked her away. "You crazy woman, don't accuse people recklessly! Our Chu family runs a strict army; how could there be such chaos..."

He tried to say more, but suddenly, a powerful aura enveloped him, and he couldn't utter another sound.

Chu Zhongtian's face was grim as he looked at Chunhua. "Did he ask you to come and say those things?"

Chunhua nodded vigorously, "He found me and gave me twenty taels of silver. He also said there would be even greater benefits once I got to the mansion. I thought, 'This is the Duke's residence, and any big shot here could casually drop enough dirt for me to live on for a lifetime,' so I was led astray and came here. Please, Milord, spare my life!"

Only then did Chu Zhongtian lift the restriction on Diao Yang. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Diao Yang's face was ashen. He immediately knelt and kowtowed, begging for mercy. "Please, Master, spare my life! I was also instructed by someone to do this."

"Who instructed you?" Chu Zhongtian demanded.

"I... I don't know," Diao Yang swallowed, quickly adding, "That person met me through a wall and gave me some benefits. Plus, I've always disapproved of Young Miss marrying a good-for-nothing like Zu'an, so I was confused for a moment. Please, Master, show mercy, considering my many years of hard work."

Hearing him say this, Xue'er, who had been tightly holding her braid, finally relaxed her hand.

Chu Zhongtian snorted and waved his hand, signaling for Diao Yang to be taken away. Then his gaze swept across everyone present like lightning. "Since the truth has come to light, Zu'an was wrongly accused. Given that he has already been punished by Huanzhao, the previous incident will no longer be pursued. From now on, no one is allowed to mention it again. Does anyone have any objections?"

Chu Tiesheng gently fanned himself, and Chu Yuepo lightly tapped his abacus beads. Both kept their gazes down, minding their own business. Since the mastermind hadn't been found, who would dare to speak up at this point? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

Zu'an let out a long sigh of relief, thinking this hurdle was finally over. To his surprise, Madam Chu seemed displeased. "Are we just going to let him off like that?"

"Of course not," Chu Zhongtian immediately replied with a smile. "Given Zu'an's constant mischievous behavior, and to prevent him from causing greater trouble in the future, once his injuries heal, he will be sent to Brightmoon Academy for cultivation..." He initially thought of sending him to cultivate and temper his character, but then he paused, remembering Zu'an's aptitude, and quickly corrected himself: "Never mind. He'll be sent to Brightmoon Academy to study literature. Even if he can only become an accountant for the family in the future, that would still be good."

"Brightmoon Academy?" Zu'an was a bit stunned. However, thinking that Chu Zhongtian was the Duke of Brightmoon City, this "Brightmoon Academy" was probably something like a family private school.

His current focus was entirely on the rage points he had collected. From just now until then, he had accumulated a total of 1646 rage points, which he could use for a lottery draw.

He was carried back to his room. Just as he was about to start the lottery draw, a graceful red figure burst in.

After realizing it was the Second Young Miss of the Chu family, Zu'an's face became wary. "What are you doing here?" He wondered if this girl had discovered his injuries were fake.

Chu Huanzhao jumped directly onto a nearby table and sat, her two slender legs swinging easily in the air. "I just came to apologize to you."

"Apologize?" Zu'an didn't react for a moment.

A hint of awkwardness appeared on Chu Huanzhao's face. "Didn't I promise during our bet not to pursue what happened that night? I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to protect you today, and you still ended up being punished."

Zu'an chuckled, realizing this girl was a bit naive. He was eager to draw the lottery, so he didn't have time to chat idly with her. He simply waved his hand dismissively, "It's fine. It's normal for a child like you not to be able to make decisions in the household."

Rage points from Chu Huanzhao: 66!

Zu'an was startled, only then noticing Chu Huanzhao's rather displeased expression. She snorted, jumped off the table, and said as she left, "In the academy, I'll have your back. If anyone dares to bully you, just mention my name."

Zu'an rolled his eyes behind her back, thinking, *Who are you trying to fool, acting like some big shot when you're just a little girl? Besides, I'm the son-in-law of this manor, and after what happened today, who in the family's private school would really dare to bully me?*

He didn't take it too seriously. After looking around and confirming everyone had left, he quickly scrambled out of bed.

He very solemnly washed his face and hands, then, finding an incense stick from somewhere, lit it and continuously prayed: "All gods and Buddhas, God, Allah, please bless me, bless me to draw something good."

With the 66 rage points Chu Huanzhao just contributed, he now had 1712 rage points.

Summoning the keyboard, he moved the cursor to the "Lottery Draw" section and cautiously pressed the Enter key. The cursor quickly flickered between the number and space keys.

The result, as expected, was nothing.

This was within his expectations. After all, the probability of winning was low, and he was quite aware of his own luck; he had bought so many lottery tickets since childhood and only ever won a washbasin.

He pressed Enter again to start the draw, and... nothing.

That's too much!

Zu'an's face darkened. "Is it my bad luck or is the winning probability really that low?"

It wasn't until the 13th draw that the cursor finally stopped not on a blank space, but on the number "8" key. He felt a jolt of excitement. This was a new key; he wondered what it was.

Immediately afterward, he saw a small bottle appear before his eyes, containing a sparkling green liquid. Below it was a small line of text: "Poison Bottle, throwable. Causes paralysis and weakness in targets within a small range. Ignores defense for those below Fifth Rank."

Zu'an's heart swelled with joy. No matter where, the "ignores defense" attribute was incredibly powerful. The only pity was that it was only effective against those below Fifth Rank. Still, he probably wouldn't provoke any Fifth Rank masters for now, right?

Probably...

With another trump card for survival, Zu'an happily put the small green bottle back into the keyboard space. His only gripe was that the color was a bit ominous.

He then drew four more times, and as expected, all were "Thank you for participating."

This winning probability is a bit of a rip-off.

Zu'an was glad that earning rage points seemed quite easy, but collecting rage points was destined to create enemies everywhere. In this world of cultivation, would he be slapped to death by a powerful master?

Hmm, he definitely had to keep his eyes peeled in the future!

Alas, he also wanted to be like the North Profound Heavenly Venerable, destroying anyone he met. Unfortunately, his strength didn't allow it. He could only learn to be a bit more cautious, like the Prudent Senior Brother.

Rage points from Qin Wanru: "2222..."

A string of messages made Zu'an a bit dizzy. What was going on with that cheap mother-in-law? Where had he provoked her again?

Meanwhile, after Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru returned to their room, Qin Wanru was still indignant. "That scoundrel infuriates me! My poor Yan'er, her lifelong happiness is ruined by a man like that!"

Chu Zhongtian quickly poured his wife a cup of tea and handed it to her. "After all, this was Chuyan's own choice."

Qin Wanru took a sip of tea, still not appeased. "And wasn't it all for your Chu family?"

Chu Zhongtian gave a wry smile and quickly diverted his wife's attention. "Compared to all that, I'm actually more curious about who is secretly targeting Zu'an."

Seeing him bring up serious matters, Qin Wanru's brows also furrowed. "Indeed. Before, when you mentioned it, I was somewhat skeptical, but what happened in the ancestral hall today truly suggests someone is secretly targeting him."

Chu Zhongtian nodded, "On the wedding night, Zu'an inexplicably ended up in Huanzhao's bed. While that fellow is a scoundrel, I don't think he'd be so bold."

Qin Wanru snorted dismissively, "His audacity didn't seem small in the ancestral hall today."

Chu Zhongtian said, "Huanzhao was knocked unconscious that night; otherwise, how could he have gotten into her bed? You don't think he has that kind of ability, do you?"

"If that good-for-nothing truly possessed such ability, I wouldn't be so angry," Qin Wanru said bitterly, clearly resentful that her daughter had married such a husband.

Chu Zhongtian sighed. "There's something I haven't had a chance to tell you: our Spirit Spring was polluted that night."

"What!" Qin Wanru abruptly stood up. The Chu family's two major industries, essential for their foundation, were salt and weaponry. The Chu family's weapons held such a large market share because, in addition to their ingenious rune formations, they also relied on the nourishment and tempering from the family's Spirit Spring, which made their quality significantly superior to their competitors.

It was known that every family possessed rune formations, and other families' rune formations might not be inferior to the Chu family's. However, this Spirit Spring was unique to the Chu family and could be considered the lifeblood of their weapon industry.

"You were furious with Zu'an that night, so I didn't dare tell you about this," Chu Zhongtian said, carefully observing his wife's expression before continuing. "Now that I think about it, on the wedding night, someone probably moved Zu'an to Huanzhao's bed to create chaos in the household and distract everyone, then secretly sent someone to pollute the Spirit Spring."

Qin Wanru quickly asked, "Can the Spirit Spring recover?"

Chu Zhongtian shook his head. "That person dropped Devil's Saliva into the Spirit Spring. It probably won't recover within twenty years. Fortunately, the amount they had wasn't much, so perhaps after a few more decades, the Spirit Spring will slowly regain its spiritual energy."

"After a few more decades, it's uncertain if our Chu family will even still exist," Qin Wanru said, knowing that Devil's Saliva was the most evil and defiling substance in the world, and there was truly no way to fix a Spirit Spring polluted by it. "Do you think it was someone from the Emperor's side or Prince Qi's side?"