Chapter 364: Out of Trouble

“But…” the man in green hesitated. “Even if I control the Chu family, I still won’t be able to deal with Chu Zhongtian when he returns.”

Chu Zhongtian was a formidable eighth-rank master; schemes and tricks would be useless against such an overwhelming power difference.

Sang Hong said gravely, “You don’t need to worry about that. As long as you can gain complete control of the Chu family, Chu Zhongtian won’t need to come back.”

The man in green was startled. “Prefect, are you implying…”

Sang Hong raised a hand to stop him. “The opportunity has been given to you. Whether you seize it or not is up to you.”

A flicker of joy appeared in the man’s eyes. “Good, I’ll do it!”

Sang Hong walked to the window, looked towards the Chu Residence, and asked in a low voice, “Are you sure the Chu family has no connection with that black market?”

The man in green shook his head. “I haven’t heard of any connection between them for years. You know Chu Zhongtian fancies himself as upright and wouldn’t touch such illicit businesses. Of course, it’s not impossible that he’s a hypocrite with private dealings, but the likelihood is small.”

“Then where did Qin Wanru get those salt permits?” A stern glint flashed in Sang Hong’s eyes. Especially recalling that this was the same batch snatched from his son by men in black, he found it hard to believe there was no connection between the two parties.

Therefore, for both public and private reasons, he had to deal with the Chu family. With his only son’s fate unknown, he was driven by rage and prepared to use drastic measures.

“I… I’m not sure either,” the man in green rubbed his head. “The other members of the Chu family are also clueless about this. When they asked Qin Wanru, she was very evasive.”

“Heh, she’ll talk sooner or later,” Sang Hong scoffed. “Today, I’ll give you a hand. You’ll do this…”

The man in green leaned closer, nodding repeatedly, his eyes filled with delight. “Your Excellency is truly far-sighted!”

Meanwhile, Zu An was intimately entangled with Zheng Dan in the teachers’ dormitory when suddenly, an urgent knocking sounded at the door. It was Chu Huanzhao. “Huh, why won’t this key open the door? Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, open up quickly!”

Startled by the sudden interruption, Zheng Dan shivered involuntarily and clung tightly to Zu An.

Provoked by her, Zu An also couldn’t resist…

“Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, what are you doing? Come out, something’s happened!” The knocking grew more frantic, and Chu Huanzhao’s voice was filled with anxiety.

A moment later, Zu An partially opened the door, blocking the entrance with his body. “What’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked.

“Why won’t my key open the door?” Chu Huanzhao pouted.

Rage value from Chu Huanzhao +233!

Zu An chuckled awkwardly. “The defensive array for this courtyard had some issues a while ago, so the academy gave me a new key.”

“Really? Why is your face so red, and you seem to have a lot of sweat on your forehead?” Chu Huanzhao said, standing on tiptoe and peering suspiciously into the courtyard. “Are you doing something bad in there?”

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat, but his face showed no trace of guilt. “I was just exercising in there, that’s why I’m a bit sweaty.”

Hiding behind the door, Zheng Dan spat lightly, her face flushed. *Exercising? He was exercising *on* me just now…*

Worried about being questioned further, Zu An quickly counter-asked, “Xiaozhao, why are you rushing to find me? I heard you say something happened?”

Chu Huanzhao then seemed to snap out of it. “Right, right! Something happened at home. You need to come back with me quickly!”

With that, she grabbed his hand and ran out.

“What exactly happened?” Zu An asked, throwing the key to Zheng Dan and signaling her to rest well.

Zheng Dan’s face flushed. She thought, *My maid is still waiting at the school gate, how can I stay here any longer?*

Watching their receding figures, a hint of envy flickered in Zheng Dan’s eyes. She truly envied Chu Huanzhao’s carefree nature.

She adjusted her clothes, about to follow them, but as soon as she took a step, her brows furrowed. She quickly clutched her leg and leaned against the door, taking a long time to catch her breath.

*That guy always torments people like this…*

Zu An and Chu Huanzhao hurried out of the school. On the way, as she explained, he finally understood what had happened.

Apparently, a large group of soldiers had just gone to search the Chu residence. Seeing that something was amiss, the Chu family members immediately sent someone to the academy to inform the Second Miss and the son-in-law.

The Second Miss was easy to find, but the son-in-law was nowhere to be found.

Chu Huanzhao guessed he might be in the dormitory, so she volunteered to run and inform him, almost stumbling upon him and Zheng Dan.

Zu An could only be thankful for his foresight; having learned from the last incident, he had specially changed the door lock.

“How dare anyone search the residence of the esteemed Duke Mingyue?” Zu An was somewhat surprised. Even if Chu Zhongtian was detained over the salt permits, his residence shouldn’t be subjected to a military search.

“I heard Sang Hong personally led the men,” Chu Huanzhao said with a worried expression.

“Sang Hong?” Zu An was taken aback. Was this a complete severance of ties? “What excuse are they using?”

“They said they were searching for imperial fugitives,” Chu Huanzhao replied.

“Imperial fugitives?” Zu An was stunned.

By this point, they had reached the school gate. Hearing his question, a Chu family guard nearby replied, “Sang Qian is an imperial official, and his subordinates are regular military officers of the River Defense Battalion. They were ambushed on the street in the city, wiped out, and even Sang Qian was near death. This is undoubtedly a colossal case that would be thoroughly investigated anywhere. So, the Prefect is using this as an excuse to thoroughly search every household in the city, and our Chu family is one of them.”

Another guard chimed in, “I heard that the City Lord was the first to respond, allowing the Prefect to bring men to inspect his own residence. Furthermore, the Zheng and Yuan families also actively cooperated and allowed their search.”

Zu An scoffed, “Sang Hong is pretending this is for all families, but in reality, it’s targeted at the Chu family.”

The Zheng and Yuan families were already in league with the Sang family, so their cooperation was merely a show.

As for the Xie family, Xie Yi, that old fox, most likely hoped to use Sang Hong to further pressure the Chu family, forcing them to submit and align with Prince Qi’s faction.

When the group hurriedly returned to the Chu Residence, they found it swarming with soldiers led by Sang Hong, conducting searches everywhere.

Seeing many areas turned upside down, Zu An secretly felt relieved that all his illicit items were safely stored in the Lapis Lazuli Orb; otherwise, it would have been troublesome if they were found.

“Mother!” Chu Huanzhao had already spotted Qin Wanru and rushed to embrace her.

“There, there, Xiaozhao,” Qin Wanru gently patted her daughter’s shoulder to comfort her, then coldly looked at Sang Hong. “Prefect Sang, have you finished your search?”

“The Chu residence is quite large, so it might take a bit more time. I hope Madam won’t mind,” Sang Hong said with an apologetic expression.

Qin Wanru’s face grew colder. “Prefect Sang, are you taking advantage of my husband’s absence to bully a mere woman?”

“Madam, why would you say that? This is a city-wide search for bandits; every household is being searched, not just yours,” Sang Hong replied nonchalantly.

But the more nonchalant he was, the angrier Qin Wanru became. “Fine, I’ll remember this.”

Sang Hong merely smiled, offering no further explanation. Since their true intentions were already laid bare, he saw no point in maintaining pretenses.

Just then, some commotion came from the back of the residence. Sang Hong asked gravely, “What’s going on? Have you found something?”

Soon, a subordinate reported, “Reporting, Your Excellency, we’ve searched everywhere else, but there are three places they won’t let us search.”

A Chu family guard quickly added, “Those are the master and madam’s rooms, and also the chambers of the First and Second Misses. How can we let so many men enter them?”

Qin Wanru’s brows were furrowed with anger. “Prefect Sang, aren’t you taking this a bit too far?”

Sang Hong chuckled, “This is merely routine procedure, and also for your safety. What if a villain happens to be hiding there? Wouldn’t that endanger you? Besides, these same areas in all other families’ residences have been searched. If we don’t search yours, wouldn’t it seem like I, Sang, am playing favorites and bending the law?”

Qin Wanru was furious, but the other party used official business to pressure her at every turn, making it difficult for her to erupt.

Zu An stepped forward and asked, “Excuse me, Prefect Sang, are you looking for people or items?”

Sang Hong frowned. “Of course, we’re looking for people.”

“But just now, I saw many rooms turned upside down, and even places where a person clearly couldn’t hide were searched,” Zu An chuckled twice. “An outsider might think that Prefect Sang is using the pretext of searching for people to look for something else in the Chu family, like account books, perhaps?”

Hearing his words, Sang Hong’s expression subtly changed. The Chu family members nearby looked at him with suspicious eyes.

Sensing that the Chu family members were like a suppressed volcano about to erupt, Sang Hong also smiled. “I didn’t expect this trip to cause such a misunderstanding. Very well, considering the Chu family’s strict defenses, those culprits wouldn’t have been able to get in anyway. There’s no need to search the remaining areas. Let’s withdraw.”

He had been able to brazenly search the duke’s residence only because he held a righteous pretext. Now that this pretext was flawed, it gave the Chu family an excuse to resist. He dared not take that risk, as his objective for the day was mostly achieved anyway; those three places were the only ones where account books could be hidden.

The rest would be handled by that person.