Chapter 653: Bright Elegance Fills the Capital

Zu An felt a chill down his spine. He quickly helped Qiu Honglei sit up straight. “Honglei, why are you joking at a time like this? The priority is to figure out how to clean up this mess.”

The Left Guard General’s only son had been incapacitated here; it would certainly cause a huge uproar.

Qiu Honglei naturally knew this would be very troublesome, so she didn't dare to tease him further. “I just put the two Qin young masters to sleep. They won’t be coming over for a while.”

Zu An realized why there had been such a ruckus without any reaction from those two. He had thought they were too preoccupied with their ‘hard work’ to notice anything outside their rooms.

Chu Chuyan frowned, evidently puzzled as to how Qiu Honglei had so silently put her two cousins to sleep, especially since they were considered outstanding among their peers.

However, that wasn’t the main point now. She glanced at Cheng Gang and said calmly, “Just say I did it. No matter how powerful the Left Guard General is, he can’t touch our Chu clan.”

After all, the Chu clan held hereditary ducal titles, dominated their region, and commanded military power. They naturally had no reason to fear a mere Left Guard General.

As Zu An pondered the pros and cons of this approach, Qiu Honglei scoffed, “Everyone says Miss Chu is incredibly clever, but I don’t see it.”

Chu Chuyan’s face hardened. “Speak properly if you have something to say. Don’t be so sarcastic.”

Qiu Honglei explained, “Has Miss Chu forgotten where we are? This is the Pleasure Quarter! If it gets out that you incapacitated Cheng Gang here, what will be left of your reputation?”

Chu Chuyan’s expression subtly changed as she grasped the implication. If word got out, the public, unaware of the full story, would instinctively assume she had been shamed by Cheng Gang in the Pleasure Quarter and then, in a fit of rage, severely harmed him.

“Thank you for the reminder.” Though somewhat reluctant, she always distinguished clearly between favors and grudges and was grateful for Qiu Honglei’s advice.

Qiu Honglei let out a delicate laugh. “Don’t thank me. I just don’t want Azu to be sad in the future.”

Chu Chuyan gritted her teeth in annoyance. She had just begun to have a slightly better impression of Qiu Honglei, but it turned out this vixen was still just as irritating.

Zu An pondered for a moment. “Let’s say Youzhao did it. She’s ‘a man’ anyway, so people won’t think anything strange. Moreover, given her status in the Qin clan, they’ll protect her, so she won’t have to fear Cheng Xiong’s retaliation.”

There was another reason for this: it would completely sever Cheng Xiong’s ties with the Qin clan, or at least create a rift. That way, if something happened to Cheng Xiong later, the Qin clan wouldn’t fully come to his aid.

Chu Chuyan hesitated, clearly aware of the implications. However, she didn’t want Zu An to make a powerful enemy like the Cheng clan, especially since he was helping her sister. So, she nodded and said, “Alright.”

Chu Youzhao, having learned the full story, already detested Cheng Gang and naturally had no objections.

The group then began discussing the details until late into the night before dispersing, each having their own tasks to arrange.

Recalling how Chu Chuyan had several times seemed on the verge of speaking her mind before leaving, Zu An secretly wiped away a cold sweat. Fortunately, the incident with Cheng Gang had diverted attention; otherwise, the meeting between the two women would have been like a collision between Mars and Earth.

*I need to be careful in the future. Having multiple women is great, but I absolutely cannot let them meet!*

After returning to the palace, he summoned the silver and copper embroidered-uniform guards temporarily assigned to him by Zhuxie Chixin and gave them precise instructions.

The next day, the capital was abuzz with talk of a particular case. If this era had social media, the case would undoubtedly have been the top trending topic.

Cheng Gang, the Left Guard General’s only son, had been incapacitated in the Pleasure Quarter the previous night!

The Left Guard General was a high-ranking general who also commanded the imperial palace guards; his position was crucial. Cheng Gang could be considered a top-tier "princeling" in the capital. For someone of his status to be incapacitated, how could it not cause a huge uproar?

Everyone expected the Left Guard General to be absolutely furious, to tear the culprit limb from limb to vent his hatred. After all, Cheng Gang was his only son, and he had always doted on him. Now, with him rendered infertile, what a profound grudge this was!

Surprisingly, Cheng Xiong remained silent and did not retaliate.

Officials in the imperial court gradually sensed something was amiss and discreetly inquired about what had happened.

There are no impenetrable walls in the world, and soon someone uncovered that Cheng Gang had not gone to the Pleasure Quarter alone that night; the Qin clan’s young masters had accompanied him.

“Could it be the Qin young masters who did it?”

“In a place like the Pleasure Quarter, it’s most likely a rivalry over women.”

“No wonder Cheng Xiong didn’t dare retaliate. The Qin clan is far more powerful than the Cheng clan. Cheng Xiong was even a subordinate of Old Master Qin in his early years.”

A group of people thought they had uncovered the truth, but soon another sensational piece of news broke: it wasn’t the Qin young master who did it, but the Duke of Cheng’s grandson, the Chu clan’s heir apparent.

At first, people didn’t understand why the Chu clan’s heir would strike so severely, but soon another piece of news spread: it turned out that Cheng Gang, blinded by lust, had made improper advances toward the Chu clan’s heir that night, resulting in him being incapacitated by the heir.

“Cheng Gang, that guy, actually likes men?”

“I knew there was a reason Cheng Xiong was always staring at my backside. Turns out their whole family is like that.”

“Pfft, why don’t you take a look in the mirror? The Chu clan’s heir is peerlessly handsome with rosy lips and white teeth; that’s what made Cheng Gang unable to resist.”

“Tsk, tsk, Miss Chu is widely acknowledged as a fairy-like figure. Who knew her ‘brother’ was also such a ‘beauty’? If someone could have both siblings, they’d be ecstatic beyond belief!”

Chu Youzhao never imagined she would become famous in such a way. Previously, her handsomeness was only known within the small circle of young masters in the capital. Now, the entire capital was curious about her appearance, wondering what she looked like to make Cheng Gang so uncontrollably drawn to her.

To some extent, her current “notoriety” even overshadowed her sister’s reputation.

“It was all that scoundrel brother-in-law’s idea! How am I supposed to face anyone now?” Chu Youzhao irritably kicked her feet in her room. The rumors circulating outside these past few days had made her so embarrassed she felt like she could dig a three-bedroom, one-living room apartment into the floor with her toes.

Chu Chuyan suppressed a laugh. “Who told you to go running to a place like the Pleasure Quarter? Is that where you should be? If your brother-in-law hadn’t saved you, what happened to you would have been a thousand, ten thousand times worse than it is now.”

Chu Youzhao’s face flushed crimson. “That may be true, but after all this commotion, how will I ever go out and face people again…?”

It was truly a social death.

Thinking of how even that girl Murong Qinghe had looked at her with a strange expression when she visited, she couldn’t take it anymore. “This is so annoying!”

She burrowed directly under her covers, burying herself completely, as if that would make her feel less embarrassed.

Watching her roll around on the bed, Chu Chuyan couldn’t help but chuckle. Her gaze drifted to the window, feeling somewhat curious about what Zu An planned to do next.

She soon found out!

After learning of the incident, the imperial court dispatched the Capital Prefect to investigate the case. After all, the victim’s identity was unusual, and an explanation was still required.

The Capital Prefect was also in a tough spot. On one side was the Left Guard General’s only son, and on the other, the heir to a duke. What could he do? He felt helpless.

However, as a city administrator in a capital teeming with powerful aristocrats, he wasn’t a rigid pedant. He quickly came up with an idea.

The Qin and Chu clans were difficult to offend, but surely the Pleasure Quarter wasn’t?

So, he sent constables to the Pleasure Quarter to arrest people, taking the courtesan and everyone in her courtyard into custody. His plan was to extract confessions and then pin the blame on them, thus providing an explanation for the case and giving both influential families an easy way out.

Whether the women of the Pleasure Quarter were innocent and pitiable held no significance for these officials in the political arena.

In any case, they were already pitiful enough in the Pleasure Quarter. Sending them to reincarnation sooner, so they could lead pure lives in their next existence, might even earn him their thanks.

Unfortunately, the plan was sound, but an unexpected turn of events soon occurred.

When the constables arrived, Courtesan Frost Moon had already vanished, and even her maidservants had left her courtyard, leaving it empty.

Even more strangely, many items in the courtyard had been deliberately destroyed, seemingly to conceal some secret.

Their professional instincts immediately sharpened the constables’ focus. Finally, among a pile of ashes, they found a crucial clue: a letter, only a small portion of which remained unburnt. It was likely that the occupants of the courtyard had evacuated in too much haste, failing to ensure its complete destruction and inadvertently leaving this evidence behind.

The constables saw that the content seemed related to a recent assassination case and immediately reported it to the Capital Prefect.

The Capital Prefect immediately realized that a major case was involved and promptly reported the matter to the imperial court.

Upon learning of this, the imperial court was shaken. The Emperor flew into a rage and ordered the embroidered-uniform guards to conduct a thorough investigation.