Chapter 125: I Rewarded You to Me

Zu An's recent words left even Chu Zhongtian utterly bewildered. How brazen did one have to be to ask for beautiful maids in front of his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and wife? Are we supposed to give you these to compete with our daughter for your affection? What kind of parents would do such a thing?

"I wanted several beautiful maids back in my day too," he thought. "But look at me now, am I not still alone?" This thought made him glance plaintively at his wife beside him.

Zu An was startled himself, and a strange expression crossed his face as he asked, "Are you perhaps being stingy with the reward and trying to back out?"

Qin Wanru was left speechless.

Chu Chuyan, standing nearby, interjected, "Have you not grasped the situation yet? We want to know who is behind you, and what your purpose is for painstakingly infiltrating our Chu family? Cough, cough."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but cough. Chu Zhongtian, beside her, asked worriedly, "You seem to be quite badly injured?"

"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious," Chu Chuyan said, shaking her head slightly, her gaze remaining fixed on Zu An.

"I infiltrated the Chu family?" Zu An replied instinctively. "Didn't you personally choose me as your son-in-law and bring me in?"

An unnatural blush spread across Chu Chuyan's cheeks. "I only wanted to choose an ordinary person, someone without ambition. I used to think you were that kind of person; even though everyone called you useless, I didn't care about their opinions. But now I realize I've been completely in the dark about you."

At this point, Qin Wanru interjected, "Precisely. You've hidden yourself so deeply. Clearly, you painstakingly pretended to be harmless to approach us. To orchestrate such a grand scheme and even evade our previous investigations, there must be a powerful force assisting you. Tell us, are you an envoy from the Empress or from Prince Qi?"

Zu An finally understood the reason for their anger. He responded, "Then, Mother-in-law, who do you think sent me?"

"Silence! Don't call me mother-in-law anymore!" Qin Wanru's slender eyebrows shot up in anger. "You are clearly..."

Suddenly, she paused. Who exactly sent this man? He didn't seem to fit either side.

"If I truly harbored ill intentions," Zu An seized the opportunity to say, "why would I risk exposing myself today to help your Chu family win the grand family competition? You know how many people's interests are tied to this competition."

"Hmph," Qin Wanru scoffed. "Perhaps you were not valued in the Chu family before, so you wanted to seize this opportunity to make a spectacular debut, gain our favor, and truly... with Chuyan, *cough cough*." Qin Wanru gave a slight cough, as the fact that her daughter and son-in-law did not share a room was certainly no secret to her.

"Alright, let me put it another way," Zu An said. "If I were sent by the Empress, why would I have conflicted with the Shi family before? And how could Xue'er, their spy in the Chu family, have wanted to kill me? If I were from Prince Qi's faction... hmm, that might actually be possible."

He pondered for a long time but couldn't find any reason to disassociate himself from Prince Qi's faction.

Qin Wanru sneered, "What's the matter? Nothing left to say?"

But such a predicament could hardly stump Zu An. Quick-witted, he immediately conceived an idea: "Actually, it's very simple to prove I have no connection with Prince Qi."

"How will you prove it?" Chu Chuyan asked, frowning. For some reason, she subconsciously wished for him to clarify everything. Of course, she didn't believe she had fallen for him; rather, she had grown accustomed to his presence during this time. He was quite suitable for her son-in-law requirements in many aspects, and finding another suitable person wouldn't be easy.

Zu An swore to heaven, "Alright, how about this: May Prince Qi's sons be born without anuses, and may all his daughters become my concubines! You surely won't think I'm from Prince Qi's side now, will you?"

Qin Wanru's delicate frame trembled, and she let out a huff. Chu Chuyan, too, turned away, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Chu Zhongtian reprimanded him, "Nonsense! How can you just blurt out such words? If that reaches Prince Qi's ears, you won't live to see another day!"

Zu An said with a grin, "Isn't this proving to you that I have no connection with Prince Qi? So, do you believe me now?"

"Even if you have no connection with Prince Qi, you could still be from the Empress's side," Qin Wanru snorted. "Who knows if you and Shi Kun were merely putting on an act."

"That's simple," Zu An said, again raising a finger to swear. "Then I'll prove it again: May the Empress in the future..."

Chu Zhongtian hastily covered his mouth. "That's enough! Is the Empress someone you can just casually criticize behind her back? Sooner or later, your unrestrained mouth will land you in deep trouble."

Zu An thought, *I'm afraid I'll disappoint you, as the improvement of my strength relies precisely on this mouth.*

"Then why do you possess such cultivation?" Chu Chuyan asked, staring into his eyes. "From your performance in the arena, you should be at least a third-rank cultivator, shouldn't you?"

"Finding out your husband isn't the good-for-nothing everyone always thought, isn't that a special surprise?" Zu An asked, grinning as he leaned closer.

Chu Chuyan took a step back, widening the distance between them. "No pleasant surprise, but plenty of shock, yes. You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh," Zu An said after a moment's thought, "Actually, I was exceptionally gifted from a young age. It's just that I'm a low-key person and don't like to show off, which is why the world misunderstood me. Alas, geniuses are always so out of sync with the world."

"Do you take us for fools?" Qin Wanru finally couldn't hold back. "When we chose you as the Chu family son-in-law, it's not as if we didn't investigate you. For the past decade or so, you were utterly useless from beginning to end. What's more, your deceased uncle had no cultivation at all. Who could have taught you?"

"Well, you see, many years ago, I encountered an old beggar who was almost starving to death. I felt sorry for him and shared a steamed bun with him. Afterwards, he was very grateful and taught me a cultivation method. So I practiced and practiced until I reached my current level," Zu An said with a laugh. Such plots were common in TV dramas; he could conjure them up effortlessly.

"A cultivator, nearly starving to death, needed a steamed bun from you to be saved?" Qin Wanru asked, a suspicious look on her face. "Do you think I'll believe that?"

"Cultivators can fall on hard times too!" Zu An retorted quickly, immediately adding, "Who knows what he went through at the time."

Qin Wanru and Chu Zhongtian exchanged a glance, both nodding subtly. If he had explained the details perfectly, they might have grown even more suspicious. But his current confident and righteous demeanor made him seem anything but guilty.

"Alright, we'll temporarily believe your explanation, but," Qin Wanru's tone shifted, "if we discover you've been lying to us in the future, don't blame us for being ruthless."

Zu An hastily asked, "But what if by then, Chuyan and I have already had children? Won't you be a bit more lenient for the sake of your grandchildren?"

Chu Zhongtian was speechless.

Qin Wanru was speechless.

Chu Chuyan, both embarrassed and angry, exclaimed, "Shut up! Who would have children with you!"

Zu An shrugged, "We're husband and wife, having children is perfectly normal, isn't it?"

"Bah!" No matter how cold Chu Chuyan's demeanor, she was still a young woman and couldn't withstand such teasing. She turned away, her face burning.

*This man, he deliberately said such things to tease me!*

Chu Zhongtian coughed to clear the awkwardness in the room. "Um, Xiao An..."

Before he finished, Zu An interrupted him, "Father-in-law, please don't call me Xiao An anymore. Call me A'Zu."

*The name Xiao An sounds like someone submissive; it just doesn't suit my temperament.*

"A'Zu?" Chu Zhongtian was taken aback. "Why is that name so strange?"

Zu An said with a smile, "Where I come from, 'A'Zu' is a synonym for a handsome man."

Chu Zhongtian rolled his eyes, knowing Zu An's thought process was somewhat unconventional, and was too lazy to argue with him. "A'Zu, you crippled the two most outstanding young members of the Qin family today. Be careful when you go out; I will also assign more guards to protect you."

Qin Wanru added, "Don't get complacent just because you managed a lucky win in the arena today. After all, your true cultivation is only third rank. If Yuan Dong hadn't been possessed and distracted at a critical moment, you would probably have been the one crippled. It's best to remain low-key from now on."

Zu An spread his hands. "But what can I do? A dashing man like me is always the center of attention wherever I go. I can't be low-key even if I want to."

The Chu couple could tolerate him no longer and simply ushered him out.

After he left, Chu Zhongtian looked at his daughter. "Chuyan, what's your take on this?"

Chu Chuyan slightly furrowed her delicate eyebrows. "He probably isn't a spy sent by another family. After all, no one would send someone with such a personality to be a spy."

Remembering Zu An's devil-may-care attitude, Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru nodded in profound agreement.

"Moreover, he's only a mere third rank," Qin Wanru said in a low voice. "Even if there's something amiss, it's within our control."

Chu Chuyan murmured an acknowledgment. "I will pay more attention to him from now on."

Meanwhile, just as Zu An emerged from the room, Chu Huanzhao and a group of people rushed forward to greet him. "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, how was it? What did Father and Mother reward you with?"

The others also looked at him with eager expressions. He was already the Chu family's son-in-law, and today he had shone brilliantly. It was clear he was about to become a rising star.

Zu An paused, then suddenly realized a serious problem. "Damn, where are my rewards? What about the beautiful maids I was promised?" He had been so intimidated by them inside that he completely forgot about it.

"No rewards?" Seeing his silence, Chu Huanzhao felt indignant on his behalf. "How could Father and Mother be like this? And sister too!"

"Who said there were no rewards?" A faint smile played on Zu An's lips. "They rewarded me with you."

"Huh?" Chu Huanzhao was momentarily stunned. When she grasped the meaning of his words, her pretty face instantly flushed red. "They really...?"

At that moment, she noticed the teasing look in his eyes and finally understood. She grabbed a nearby crutch, which she used for temporary support, and swung it at him. "You wretched brother-in-law, you stinky brother-in-law! How dare you intentionally deceive me! I'll beat you to death!"

"It was just a joke! Hey, aren't you injured? How can you run so fast?" Zu An yelled as he dashed away, with Chu Huanzhao desperately chasing him from behind.

The remaining group exchanged bewildered glances. Chu Hongcai, from the second branch, let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me! I actually thought Uncle had betrothed Xiao Zhao to him."

Nearby, the plump Chu Yucheng's eyes narrowed in a smile. "It's not impossible, you know."

Chu Hongcai snorted, "What nonsense are you talking about? What are Chuyan and Xiao Zhao's statuses? How could two sisters possibly share one husband, especially when he's a live-in son-in-law?"

Chu Yucheng did not argue. Instead, he watched their departing figures thoughtfully. Xiao Zhao's momentary shy reaction just now, and how, even when she was so angry later, she instinctively used a crutch to hit him instead of her Wailing Whip—this son-in-law was quite interesting indeed.

Zu An and Chu Huanzhao joked and bickered all the way back to his courtyard. Unexpectedly, just as he opened the door, he ran into Old Man Mi. Zu An's heart skipped a beat; for some reason, he always felt uneasy whenever he saw him.

Seeing that others were present, Chu Huanzhao realized it was unseemly for a second young lady of the manor to be playing around with her brother-in-law like this. Her face flushed, and she snorted, "Hmph, I'll settle with you later." With that, she fled as if escaping.

After Chu Huanzhao's figure vanished, Old Man Mi's shriveled, withered face turned to him, and he asked coldly, "Why has your cultivation improved so quickly?"

My thanks to book friends 57449220, Low Hand Mojie, Imposter Song Qingshu, Arc Arrow of Hong, Ge Bi as Female Lead, Man with His Own BGM, 141 Bearded Price, book friend 58771603, soushine, Mousse, book friend 56660827, Freeloading Pervert Salty Fish, Heavenly Dynasty Men, Zi Wu An Zuan, book friend 58769853, Second-in-Command of Yunzhan Cave, and many other book friends for their generous tips and support.