Chapter 123: Even a Pile of Feces Has Its Use

Yuan Zhengchu, seeing the agitated crowd and also feeling it was too humiliating for Yuan Wenji to lose to such swordsmanship, could only leave gloomily with his two injured brothers, crestfallen.

Wu Wei knew the situation was irreversible and followed them out. He secretly resented Sang Hong for not bringing himself to help, not even greeting him.

Wu Qing, following her father, shot a furious glare at Zu An as she left, thinking, "This guy ruined our Wu family's good fortune. Later, I'll ask Pan Long and Fu Feng for ideas. I must find a way to get my revenge and vent this anger."

Jiang Luofu stood up, seeing that the matter was concluded. She originally had some questions for Zu An, but realizing it wasn't convenient under everyone's watchful eyes, she decided to wait until they returned to the academy.

Seeing Jiang Luofu stand up, Ji Dengtu, who was in the crowd, lowered his head guiltily and quickly left the training ground. He thought to himself that since the Yuan family boy's energy meridians were severed, he would surely need a doctor. "That's another windfall for me. Little Anzi, I'm really growing to like you more and more."

With Jiang Luofu gone, the group of male spectators who had been fixated on her beautiful legs instantly lost interest and left their seats one after another.

Xie Yi cupped his hands in greeting to Sang Hong, who was nearby. After exchanging greetings, he also returned home. On the way, he asked Xie Xiu, "I heard you have a decent relationship with him?"

Xie Xiu nodded. "We had some positive interactions before, so it should be okay."

Xie Yi hummed in acknowledgment. "In the future, make an effort to get closer to him at the academy. This young man is extraordinary. Even if you can't be friends, you must never be enemies. Perhaps our efforts to win over the Chu family will depend on him in the future."

Xie Xiu looked a bit troubled. "Father, you know I'm good at getting close to women, but I'm not really good at getting close to men."

Xie Yi's beard bristled with anger. "How dare you say that! You spend all day idling away your time with women. Just a few days ago, Master Zhang came again to complain about his daughter's predicament. You've almost completely ruined your old man's reputation!"

Xie Xiu looked sheepish, thinking, "Relationships either work out or they don't. Why do those women always make such a fuss every time they break up?"

Xie Daoyun, standing nearby, shot her brother an annoyed look, then said softly, "Father, let me handle befriending Zu An. I'm quite curious about him anyway."

Xie Xiu, standing beside her, was startled. "Sister, that guy is a notorious man who lives off wealthy women! Don't let him take advantage of you."

Xie Daoyun irritably pinched her brother's ear. "Do you think all men in the world are like you? Besides, I'm only asking him for advice on musical matters. How could I ever be interested in him?"

"That's true," Xie Xiu chuckled. His sister had very high standards. She once said her husband must be capable of governing the nation with words and defending it with arms. Zu An, with his roguish demeanor, didn't fit any of those criteria. He had been worrying for nothing.

Seeing the City Lord's entourage leave, Sang Qian quickly rushed to his father's side and anxiously said, "Father, how could you rule in Zu An's favor? My side..."

He was interrupted by Sang Hong before he could finish. "What else was I supposed to do? The Yuan family members are so useless. With so many eyes watching, could I possibly defy public opinion and rule against Zu An? You must understand, even though the one above wants to deal with the Chu family, he values the court's reputation more!"

"And another thing, I haven't settled the score with you for secretly getting involved with the gambling den. Sort out the rest of the matter yourself."

After severely reprimanding his son, Sang Hong left with a dark expression, accompanied by his subordinates. What happened today was clearly not pleasant for him.

Sang Qian's expression was volatile. He thought, "Although Father is very capable in officialdom, he doesn't care much about family matters. If we only rely on the court's meager salaries and I don't find some extra income, we'll all starve! Moreover, which of the court officials doesn't do this? They all have their own businesses. Only Father is such an old-fashioned stickler."

Just then, a gentle voice sounded in his ear: "Is the Prefect unwilling to help?"

Smelling the faint fragrance in the air, Sang Qian didn't need to look to conjure Zheng Dan's beautiful figure in his mind. His irritable mood calmed down slightly. "Hmm, you know my father's personality. He doesn't like to get involved in these kinds of things."

Zheng Dan's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "What do we do now? Are we really going to have to pay out that one million taels?"

Although the Sang family took the lead in the gambling den, it was mainly her Zheng family that put in the money and effort. If they really had to pay, the Zheng family would certainly suffer the greater loss.

"Of course not!" Sang Qian snorted. He was planning to make money from the gambling den, but instead of earning, he was about to lose a million taels first. How could he possibly accept that loss?

Looking at the Chu family's side, an idea suddenly sparked in his mind. He said, "Zu An competed in the arena today, and there's no guarantee he isn't injured. Would he, for safety, have left the betting slip with his page boy?"

"Are you saying we can use this opportunity to swap the betting slip back?" Zheng Dan's eyes lit up.

"Exactly. We must be quick, or we'll lose our chance once he realizes," Sang Qian said hurriedly.

"Alright!" Zheng Dan quickly found a new betting slip and hastily filled it out. Then the two walked toward the Chu family's area.

Shi Kun, from a distance, saw everything the two were doing. He couldn't help but frown and say, "What are these two up to?"

Xue'er shook her head, clearly unaware.

Shi Kun scoffed. "Now that I think about it, they provided false information yesterday. Could they be secretly colluding with the Chu family?"

Shi Lezhi, the elder behind him, spoke up. "I don't think so. It seems they were probably deceived too. That boy is as cunning as a ghost; he's truly hateful."

"So what do we do next!" Shi Kun's face was as dark as a storm cloud. In his opinion, Zu An had rendered such a great service to the Chu family today, and he had completely changed his image as a good-for-nothing. The Chu family would certainly see him in a new light. Perhaps even Chu Chuyan would be deeply moved.

The thought of Zu An becoming the Chu family's true son-in-law, and his beloved woman possibly soon yielding to him in his arms, made Shi Kun's heart burn with insane jealousy.

But his plans had failed one after another. And judging by the abilities he displayed in the arena, it wouldn't be easy to kill him.

Shi Lezhi smiled faintly. "Young Master, your concern is clouding your judgment. You keep thinking of assassinating him directly, but you've forgotten another advantageous resource we possess."

"What?" Shi Kun quickly sat up straight and looked at him.

Shi Lezhi replied, "We have immense influence in official circles. We can completely use the power of officialdom to eliminate him. No matter who it is, no matter how strong, they cannot contend with the power of the imperial court. We can do this and that..."

Hearing his plan, Shi Kun's face gradually cleared. "Hahaha, indeed, the old are wiser! No wonder Father arranged for you to be by my side."

Xue'er, standing nearby, secretly clicked her tongue in amazement. "No wonder there are fewer and fewer rogue cultivators in this world. These powerful figures truly have many tricks up their sleeves. There's no way to survive if you offend them."

At this moment, Pei Mianman was walking towards Zu An with a radiant smile. "Congratulations..."

She hadn't finished speaking, but Zu An hurried to the other side. "Wait a moment."

Pei Mianman's smile instantly froze on her face. She knew how many men would be thrilled just to exchange a word with her. Just now, sitting there, even though she refused them without mercy, there were still over a dozen waves of men trying to strike up a conversation. Yet now, when she actively approached this guy, he actually brushed her off! Are my breasts not big enough or am I not seductive enough? Could there be a woman more charming than me?

After much thought, she could only conclude that he was going to find Chu Chuyan; after all, she was his wife, so it was somewhat understandable. But as her gaze followed him, she saw him run over and put his arm around a young page boy, whispering.

Pei Mianman: "???"

Could this guy not like women?

Zu An put his arm around Cheng Shoubing. "I was too busy to ask you earlier, which gambling den did you place the bet at? A million taels! We're going to make a fortune this time!"

To his surprise, Cheng Shoubing's face fell. "Young Master, I need to tell you something, but you mustn't get angry."

Zu An waved his hand and laughed heartily. "Don't worry, I'm happy today. I promise I won't get angry."

Cheng Shoubing immediately turned from worried to happy. He immediately took out the betting slip. "Before, I was worried you might lose in the family competition, so I thought I could win some money to comfort your wounded heart after losing. So I secretly changed the bet to you losing. That way, even if you lost, we'd still win money. And if you won the competition, losing this small amount wouldn't matter. It's a win-win situation, wasn't I clever? Huh, Young Master, what are you doing with that knife?"

"I'll f***ing kill you!" Zu An felt that if his system could collect his rage points, his rage meter would have exploded at that moment. How has this Cheng Shoubing managed to live this long?

Sang Qian and Zheng Dan, who were just arriving, heard these words. They instantly felt an urge to curse, but didn't know if it was appropriate! So, all this time, this idiot page boy had changed Zu An's betting plan on his own initiative, and then the two of them, thinking they were so clever, changed it back?

Rage points from Sang Qian: 1024!Rage points from Zheng Dan: 1024!

Zu An was chasing Cheng Shoubing, trying to "chop" him. Suddenly, the rage points appearing in his system backend made him pause. "Why are these two so angry? Especially Zheng Dan, wasn't she being all sweet and affectionate with him earlier?"

Just then, Cheng Shoubing's surprised voice rang out. "Huh, how did the words on this betting slip change? Did I remember it wrong? Hahaha, Young Master, look quickly! It says I bet on you to win!"

Cheng Shoubing, beaming with surprise, handed the slip to Zu An.

Rage points from Sang Qian: 1024!Rage points from Zheng Dan: 1024!

Zu An glanced at the two with suspicion. He took the slip and saw that it indeed showed a bet on him to win, with odds of 1 to 100. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Rage points from Sang Qian: 666666...Rage points from Zheng Dan: 666666...

Seeing the continuous influx of rage points in his system backend, and recalling what Cheng Shoubing had just said, an idea struck him, and he asked, "You bet on me to lose yesterday?"

"No," Cheng Shoubing chuckled awkwardly. "Of course, I believed Young Master would win! Why would I bet on you to lose?"

Like hell I believe you! Zu An automatically interpreted his words as the opposite. Then he smiled and said to Sang Qian and Zheng Dan, "Speaking of which, I should thank both of you. If you hadn't helped me change it back, this idiotic page boy would have ruined me." After watching so many historical dramas, it wasn't hard to guess about self-fading ink and similar tricks.

Rage points from Sang Qian: 1024!Rage points from Zheng Dan: 1024!

However, both of them put on a cheerful facade. "Master Zu, what do you mean? We don't understand. We simply came to congratulate you on your victory."

Before, it was just a guess, but seeing the rage points in his system backend, Zu An was instantly certain. He couldn't help but glance at Cheng Shoubing, who was standing nearby with a fawning expression. Although this guy was a liability, fortune favors fools. "Hmm, I should make good use of his troublemaker tendencies in the future. It might even produce unexpected results. After all, in this world, even a piece of toilet paper or a pile of feces has its use."

The 5 o'clock chapter was updated early to prevent everyone from waiting uncomfortably.

I also discovered something rather infuriating: many people get a newbie bonus when they first download the Zongheng app, allowing them to read one book for free for 7 days. But everyone defaulted to choosing my book... The main issue is that I've just started publishing VIP chapters, so using the free feature on my book is a huge loss. You can choose other books with more chapters when claiming the newbie bonus, like "Master of Stealing Fragrance," hahaha. Zongheng also has many other excellent authors and great books. Choosing books with more chapters to use the limited-free feature will be more cost-effective. It's all my fault for not remembering this earlier and not explaining it clearly.