Chapter 33: Great Aspirations

Mei Chaofeng laughed heartily, "What did I just say? How could a mere Tan Wei be a match for Old Twelve?"

His wild, arrogant laughter was mixed with faint sobbing from under the desk. He slapped the person directly, saying, "Why are you crying? Tan Wei is dead. From now on, follow me, and I guarantee you'll have a more comfortable life."

Plum Blossom Thirteen couldn't help but swallow, thinking, *From now on, it would be safer for me to marry a plain-looking woman. If I want a beautiful one, I can always find her outside.*

"Report!" Just then, another gang member ran in, flustered. "Reporting to the Gang Leader, our brothers found Lord Twelve's blood-stained clothes near Jackal Valley."

"What?!" Mei Chaofeng shot up, slamming his palm on the table.

Plum Blossom Twelve subconsciously turned his face slightly away; the scene before him was truly an eyesore.

Mei Chaofeng adjusted his pants, strode to the doorway, and snatched the bloody, tattered clothes from the gang member's hand. Seeing the faintly visible embroidered character 'Twelve' on them, he exclaimed, "It really is Old Twelve's!"

"Could Zu An have done it? I'll go kill him!" Plum Blossom Thirteen exclaimed furiously, grabbing his knife and about to rush out.

"Nonsense! No matter how useless that guy is, he's still the Chu family's nominal son-in-law. Do you have a death wish, killing him inside the city?" Mei Chaofeng glared at him. "Besides, how could Old Twelve possibly be killed by that good-for-nothing?"

Plum Blossom Thirteen also calmed down a bit. If they openly killed Zu An in the city, even if the Chu family despised this live-in son-in-law, they would certainly retaliate for the sake of their family's reputation.

Let alone him, the entire Plum Blossom Gang would be buried along with him.

That's why their previous attempts had to be stealthy, using other methods. Like when Plum Blossom Twelve first tricked him outside the city and tied him to a tree to be struck by lightning—that was supposed to be a perfect plan. Who would have thought that guy didn't die?

He suddenly thought of a possibility and couldn't help but say, "Godfather, could Zu An have been feigning weakness all along to trick others? Otherwise, how can you explain why the Chu family's eldest daughter would take a liking to such a good-for-nothing?"

Mei Chaofeng waved his hand. "Impossible. I have insider information; that guy is a complete good-for-nothing. As for why Miss Chu took him as a son-in-law, the reasons are complex and can't be explained in a few words."

"If it wasn't him, then there's only one possibility left," Plum Blossom Thirteen said gravely.

"When did you pick up this bad habit of speaking in halves? Spit it out!" Mei Chaofeng roared.

Plum Blossom Thirteen quickly replied, "I think there's a mysterious master protecting Zu An. Brother Twelve's previous attempt to strike him with heavenly lightning failed, and this time, when he lured him out of the city, he ended up being killed instead. Someone must be secretly assisting him."

"A master helping him?" Mei Chaofeng frowned. "That's impossible. You and I both know the information about that good-for-nothing. How could he know any masters?"

"But today I saw him with someone from the academy..." He leaned close to Mei Chaofeng's ear and quietly described the woman he had seen today.

"Shang Liuyu isn't known for her cultivation, but you're right; she's backed by the academy after all, and this woman has always been somewhat mysterious, not to be easily provoked." Mei Chaofeng thought for a moment and still shook his head. "But given her nature, she shouldn't get involved in such matters."

"If it's not the academy, could the Chu family have arranged a guardian for him?" Plum Blossom Thirteen asked.

"What path does that good-for-nothing need protecting?" Mei Chaofeng snorted. "However, it's true the Chu family might have sent someone to secretly protect him. I'll find time to confirm it with that lord. Before that, we can only use strategy; we can't resort to brute force."

Plum Blossom Thirteen chuckled, taking out an IOU. "I thought this would be useless before, but who knew it would come in handy now? I've already given him an ultimatum. If he doesn't pay up in three days, not even the King of Heaven himself can stop us from cutting off his hands."

Mei Chaofeng's gloom vanished. "You truly are the boy I personally groomed; well done! The Chu family has always had strict family rules, strictly prohibiting their children from gambling. I'll see if Chu Zhongtian will embarrass himself for this good-for-nothing son-in-law."

Zu An had no idea that someone was meticulously plotting against him. He asked for directions along the way and finally found the Yu family's residence.

Looking at the large estate before him, the grandeur and scale of its gate were somewhat inferior to the Chu family's, but overall, it surpassed them in tranquility and seclusion.

"Is Second Master Jian in?" Zu An went to ask the guard at the gate.

He had already found out that Yu Yanluo's husband's family, the Duke of Yunzhong Commandery, was named Jian. Naturally, the young uncle who led the team to the valley earlier was also named Jian.

"Who are you?" the gatekeeper eyed him disdainfully.

Zu An immediately felt a headache. As the saying goes, even a seventh-rank official guards a prime minister's gate; are all these guys so difficult to deal with?

He rolled his eyes, then directly slipped over a piece of broken silver. Anyway, it was all scavenged from Plum Blossom Twelve earlier.

The man's expression softened considerably at the sight of the silver. His previously stern face also showed a hint of a smile as he leaned closer and whispered, "The Second Master is out; he's not at the residence."

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear the Yu family was also full of internal intrigues. That Second Master Jian and Yu Yanluo didn't seem to get along. Since he had saved Yu Yanluo earlier, if he inadvertently messed up Jian's plans, wouldn't he be walking right into a trap by coming here now?

So the first thing he did was inquire about Jian's whereabouts, and only after learning he was absent did he relax. "I want to see your madam."

The gatekeeper chuckled, "There are many men in the world who want to see our madam. Your money probably isn't enough, sir."

Zu An didn't waste words with him. He directly took out the jade pendant Yu Yanluo had given him. "Do you recognize this? I'm your madam's friend. Go announce me; she'll definitely see me."

Seeing the prominent character "Yu" on the jade pendant, the gatekeeper's eyes widened. "This humble one was blind to not recognize Mount Tai! How should I address you, sir?"

Zu An said impatiently, "What do you care what I'm called? Just go announce me." He didn't want to leave any information that Second Master Jian might trace.

"Unluckily, our madam has gone to the neighboring commandery to handle some business matters," the gatekeeper said with a wry smile.

Zu An was stunned. "When will she be back then?"

"At the very least, it'll be ten days to half a month," the gatekeeper said after thinking.

"What a waste of my time." Zu An turned and left, feeling a bit annoyed. Yu Yanluo wasn't here after all. Had she intentionally given him an empty promise before?

After a few steps, he felt something was amiss. He returned to the gatekeeper and held out his hand, "Give me my silver back!"

The gatekeeper immediately made a face as if he'd eaten dirt. Was there really such a petty person who would ask for money back after giving it away? If it were anyone else, he wouldn't have bothered, but this guy was clearly the madam's friend, so he dared not offend him.

He reluctantly returned the silver.

Rage value from the gatekeeper: +66!

Zu An thought to himself that this guy's rage value was so paltry, no wonder he didn't even deserve a name. He had once collected over twenty thousand rage points; now, these meager bits felt quite unaccustomed.

After leaving the Yu family, he spent half a day strolling through Brightmoon City, familiarizing himself with the city's environment. After all, many decisions had to be based on sufficient information, and he still knew too little about this world.

He walked and observed, spending most of the day traversing all the streets and alleys of Brightmoon City. Although he couldn't say he had visited every corner, he at least had a general idea of Brightmoon City's layout and the locations of some important landmarks. He was no longer completely in the dark about Brightmoon City as he was before.

As dusk gradually fell, Zu An estimated it was time and returned to the Chu residence.

He asked the servants and found that Chu Chuyan still hadn't returned, and it seemed she hadn't been home for days. He immediately felt a headache.

He had originally planned to ask her for some money to deal with the trouble from the Plum Blossom Gang, especially since she had been quite generous when lending him 300 taels in the ancestral hall before.

As for feeling embarrassed asking a woman for money? Not a chance. If you're going to be a kept man, you should be aware of it. Since he had received so many cold stares and discriminations because of his status as a live-in son-in-law, what was wrong with enjoying the rights that came with it?

In fact, in his previous life, when Zu An watched Animal Planet, he greatly envied the male lions on the African savanna. They did nothing all day except fight, had a large harem, and even the fighting was done by the lionesses in their harem.

"Hmm, I've decided. Living off just one woman is too unambitious. I'm going to be the King of Kept Men!"

However, he immediately thought of his uncooperative 'little brother,' and tears of bitterness welled up.

"Why are you crying?" an old voice sounded from behind him.

Zu An jumped in surprise, turned around, and saw Old Man Mi standing at the doorway. "How do you walk so silently?"

Old Man Mi ignored his question directly and asked instead, "Are you back from the academy?"

"Mm," Zu An replied, thinking that this wasn't exactly a lie; he had indeed gone to the academy today, just hadn't gone inside.

"So, have you made the acquaintance of Wei Hongde?" Old Man Mi stood hunched over, quietly watching him.

Zu An casually replied, "I just went today; I haven't had a chance to meet him yet."

Old Man Mi merely grunted and reminded him, "Then you should hurry up."

"I know," Zu An said, feeling a little embarrassed. He thought about finding a chance to inquire about that person named Feng, which would at least serve as an explanation to Old Man Mi.

"Then you can rest," Old Man Mi said, turning to leave.

Just as he reached the doorway, a fiery red figure ran over, like a beautiful flame spirit. "Zu, why didn't I see you at school today?"

It was, of course, Chu Huanzhao, the second young miss of the Chu family.

Hearing her words, Old Man Mi suddenly turned around, his gaze at Zu An filled with doubt.

"You rude child, can't you even call me 'Brother-in-law'?" Zu An's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly glared at Chu Huanzhao.

Rage value from Chu Huanzhao: +24!

Chu Huanzhao was about to retort but suddenly remembered the bet from that night. She reluctantly called out, "Brother-in-law, why didn't I see you at school today?"

Noticing Old Man Mi's gaze, Zu An gave an awkward smile. "The school's so big, it's normal you couldn't find me."

Chu Huanzhao shook her head. "No, that's not right. I checked all the freshman classes and didn't see you. You couldn't have joined an upper-class year right away, could you?"

Rage value from Mi Lianying: +99!

Noticing Old Man Mi's gloomy gaze, Zu An knew he had probably seen through the truth. Just as he was worried if Old Man Mi would hit him, a figure burst in tempestuously:

"You, Zu An! We sent you to the academy with good intentions for training, and you dare to skip classes!"