Chapter 127: You Got Yourself Into Trouble

Cheng Shoubing was dumbfounded. He had eagerly rushed over to collect his reward, fully expecting his master to be pleased and grant him a generous sum of money. To his dismay, he had completely botched it.

One million taels!

Cheng Shoubing's eyes instantly turned red. Roaring, he scrambled over the counter and lunged at the manager, but was quickly dragged away by the guards of the Four Seas Gambling House.

"Where did this madman come from? Beat him until his own mother doesn't recognize him!" the manager snarled, clutching his bruised and swollen eye and pointing at Cheng Shoubing.

"Oh, so this is the hospitality of the Four Seas Gambling House? Not paying out when you lose, but instead falsely accusing customers and beating them half to death," a mocking voice echoed as Zu An leisurely walked in.

Beside him, Chu Chuyan's expression turned cold upon seeing Cheng Shoubing so badly beaten. Though the man was not particularly likable, he was still a member of the Chu family, and she would not tolerate outsiders bullying him in such a manner.

Several Chu family guards nearby, having understood the unspoken command, swiftly rushed forward, knocking down the Four Seas Gambling House guards and rescuing Cheng Shoubing.

"Wow, that woman is so beautiful!""Are you blind? You don't even recognize the Eldest Miss of the Mingyue Ducal Household!""She truly lives up to her reputation as the most beautiful woman in Mingyue City.""But what are they doing here? Isn't gambling forbidden for the Chu family?"Other guests in the gambling house, and even passersby, quickly gathered to watch the commotion.

Bruised and swollen, Cheng Shoubing came to Zu An's side, clutching his leg and weeping bitterly. "Master," he wailed, "those bastards tore up the betting slip!"

Zu An's eyelid twitched. "Say what you need to say," he retorted, "but don't wipe your snot on my clothes."

Seeing Chu Chuyan had also arrived, the manager of the Four Seas Gambling House dared not neglect them. He approached with a smile, though his eye was black and swollen from a punch, making his grin appear utterly comical. "Miss Chu," he stammered, "what an unexpected pleasure! I am Du Laosan, the humble manager here. My deepest apologies for not welcoming you sooner."

Chu Chuyan snorted. "If I hadn't come," she retorted, "I wouldn't have witnessed your establishment's impressive display of bullying against members of my Chu family."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," Du Laosan chuckled apologetically. "I truly didn't know he was from the Chu family. My deepest apologies."

Zu An, standing nearby, grew impatient. "Alright, alright, enough with the pleasantries," he cut in. "Just pay the one million taels you owe."

Du Laosan's expression subtly changed. "Young Master, I don't understand what you mean," he quickly replied. "Your household servant just tried to cheat us with a forged betting slip. There's no one million taels here."

"Whether the betting slip is real or fake, everyone should be allowed to bear witness and determine its authenticity," Zu An said coldly. "How can you just tear it up like that? Isn't that a clear sign of a guilty conscience?"

Hearing his words, the surrounding crowd nodded in agreement. The actions of the Four Seas Gambling House were indeed suspicious.

Du Laosan, who had anticipated this, spoke up. "When your household's page boy came earlier," he explained, "I thought it was his personal action. To save your household face, I tore up the betting slip to prevent any gossip. But now, it seems this was instigated by you, Young Master."

With the betting slip already torn, there was no proof, allowing him to say whatever he pleased. Moreover, the reason he provided was quite plausible.

Sure enough, upon hearing his explanation, some people in the crowd cast doubtful glances at Zu An.

"Oh, so you're turning the tables now," Zu An said, immediately smiling. "I already expected you'd do this, so I came prepared. The real betting slip is right here with me."

Zu An took out the real betting slip from his sleeve and displayed it before everyone. "It's a pity that your guilty conscience made you tear up that slip without even looking closely," he remarked. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake."

Du Laosan was speechless.

Du Laosan's Rage value +666!Zheng Dan's Rage value +666!Sang Hong's Rage value +666!

Zu An instinctively glanced at the closed doors in the back of the gambling house. So Zheng Dan and Sang Hong were hiding back there. It seemed this gambling house was indeed their property.

I had wondered why Zheng Dan had been so enthusiastic and proactive towards me before. Now it seemed there was indeed a purpose; most likely, she was after the 7.5 million taels IOU from the Silver Hook Gambling House, waiting to use that IOU to completely annex its assets in the future.

I have to say, this person surnamed Sang truly went all out. He didn't hesitate to let his fiancée use a honey trap, even letting me casually hug and touch her.

Hmm, I wonder if this guy has a peculiar fetish?

I'm definitely going to be friends with him!

It seems they still don't know that the 7.5 million taels IOU is no longer with me. When I return, I must inform the beautiful headmistress and tell her not to reveal this. I'm still waiting for them to lose everything.

At this moment, Chu Chuyan also spoke. "The authenticity of a betting slip is actually very easy to discern," she stated. "The paper material, font, handwriting, and ink quality are all specially made, impossible for ordinary people to forge. Moreover, each one is registered and filed at the yamen, so a simple comparison will reveal everything. Furthermore, every betting slip has a corresponding stub here in the gambling house. I will immediately petition the county yamen and ask the County Magistrate to bring people to your establishment to inspect your accounts and stubs from previous years. The truth will quickly come to light."

"Please calm your anger, Miss Chu, please calm your anger!" Just then, a man rushed in. "I am Zheng Guanxi, the humble owner of the Four Seas Gambling House," he announced. "Greetings, Miss, and Young Master."

It was a ridiculous situation; they were clearly in the wrong. If the matter were truly investigated, how could they hide it? Moreover, if government officials came to audit their accounts, the overall losses would be far greater than a mere one million taels.

"You are the owner of the Four Seas Gambling House?" Zu An asked, subtly glancing at several rooms in the distance. It seemed Zheng Dan and Sang Qian had no intention of coming out, which was understandable. Given their status, they naturally wouldn't openly involve themselves in gambling house affairs; they would certainly need agents.

"Yes, yes, that would be me," Zheng Guanxi replied, his face beaming with an exceptionally amiable expression.

"Surnamed Zheng," Zu An said with a half-smile, "are you from the Zheng family in the city?"

"No, no, no, I have no relation to the Zheng family," Zheng Guanxi immediately denied, inwardly regretting that he should have changed his name, as it was too easy to guess. Yet, he often needed to leverage the Zheng family's influence in his daily life, which put him in a dilemma.

"I don't care if you're from the Zheng family or the Jia family," Zu An stated. "There needs to be a clear resolution for today's matter, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Zheng Guanxi said, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the fine sweat from his forehead. "Everything that just happened was Du Laosan's personal behavior. Our gambling house management had no idea; it seems he's been accustomed to embezzling over the years and wanted to personally pocket this huge sum."

Du Laosan, standing nearby, looked utterly bewildered.

Zheng Guanxi gave him no chance to explain. "Guards!" he shouted. "Drag him away and hand him over to the authorities!"

Du Laosan immediately panicked. "You can't just burn your bridges like this!" he cried. "This was all Miss..."

The thugs nearby were already prepared. With one punch, his jaw was dislocated, and he could only moan indistinctly, unable to speak clearly.

Zu An snorted. "You don't need to play the 'fall guy' charade in front of me," he said. "Just tell me directly: are you going to pay this money or not?"

"Yes, yes, yes, of course we'll pay," Zheng Guanxi stammered. Though he was smiling, his heart was trembling. One million taels! Had the Zheng family's gambling house even earned that much since its establishment? "It's just that this amount is truly enormous," he continued. "I wonder if it could be repaid in the form of an IOU?"

Zu An nodded. "Yes," he said, "but with a four percent interest rate."

Zheng Guanxi was immediately shocked. "But last time at the Silver Hook Gambling House," he exclaimed, "you only asked for one percent interest!"

"Can it be the same?" Zu An snorted. "That was a debt of 7.5 million taels, which obviously couldn't be paid back anytime soon. But you only owe one million taels; don't tell me a gambling house like yours can't afford that." He was secretly glad he had only bet 10,000 taels; otherwise, it would have been another messy account destined to be irrecoverable.

"Exactly, if a gambling house can't even afford to pay out, what's the point of running it?""I think that Du Laosan's actions just now were clearly the Four Seas Gambling House trying to default on their debt.""I think this Chu family son-in-law is truly a bane to gambling houses.""From now on, we should all follow his bets! He's definitely a guiding light!"

Hearing the whispers and pointing fingers of the surrounding crowd, Zheng Guanxi was sweating profusely. Suddenly, he stiffened, as if he had heard something, and then said to Zu An, "How about this: we'll pay half, 500,000 taels in cash, and the rest as an IOU, settled with two percent interest later. What do you think?"

Zu An laughed heartily. "Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier? Hand over the money." He hadn't expected to get it all back this time; receiving 500,000 taels in cash was already unexpected, considering he had only received 150,000 taels from the Silver Hook Gambling House last time.

Meanwhile, in a secret room, Sang Qian's face was grim. "That guy just makes me want to punch him," he muttered.

Zheng Dan smiled faintly. "He's protected by Eldest Miss Chu," she said. "You can't punch him."

Sang Qian stared at her suspiciously. "Why do you seem not very angry?" he asked.

"Why should I be angry?" Zheng Dan replied, looking at Zu An in the distance through a crack. "Our original plan was to approach him and get the money back anyway. This money is merely temporarily with him. Later, I will not only get our own money back but also much more."

Sang Qian grunted. "From now on, it's all up to you," he said. "You must protect yourself and not let him truly take advantage of you."

Zheng Dan hummed in acknowledgment. "I know," she replied.

"Also, some of the gambling house rules need to change," Sang Qian said sullenly. "The odds can't be set so high, and for high odds, there must be a limit on the betting amount. Otherwise, if this happens a few more times, we won't be able to bear it." He couldn't possibly let his wife go out and deal with this every time; he just felt like his head was constantly turning green these days.

The Chu family members returned home. Zu An counted the banknotes in his hand and casually tossed one to Cheng Shoubing, who was so overjoyed he nearly burst out laughing.

Zu An then distributed some banknotes to the guards. The guards hesitated for a moment, but seeing Chu Chuyan didn't object, they happily accepted them one by one. Everyone had a family to support; who wouldn't want more money?

"Young Master is so handsome today!""I didn't think so before, but now I see he and Eldest Miss are becoming more and more well-matched.""Alright, on account of the banknotes, I'll reluctantly agree with you this once."

Zu An then stuffed a stack of banknotes into Chu Chuyan's arms. "These are yours," he said.

Chu Chuyan didn't take them. "No thank you," she said.

"Don't be modest," Zu An said with a hearty laugh. "You deserve some credit for getting the money back today. Your husband is getting richer and richer now; from now on, I'll be the one supporting you."

Chu Chuyan was speechless.

Seeing how smug he was, she truly felt an itch in her hands.

Back at the Chu manor, Zu An was so happy he almost couldn't sleep that night. He woke up the next day feeling refreshed, as if the sky was bluer, the clouds whiter, and the air sweeter.

Just as he was happily leaving for the academy, a group of yamen runners suddenly appeared at his doorstep. "Zu An," they announced, "you're in trouble. Come with us!"