Chapter 70: Inventory

Chu Zhongtian, who had been about to take a sip of tea, was startled by the sudden loud slam on the table, nearly spilling his cup. To cover his embarrassment, he cleared his throat and quickly chimed in, "Indeed, Zu'an, do you know your crime?"

While secretly despising the henpecked man, Zu'an sincerely replied, "I know I was wrong."

Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru were both taken aback. They had expected him to instinctively argue and had prepared their rebuttals. His immediate confession left them unsure how to proceed.

Chu Chuyan and Yue Shan, who were nearby, couldn't help but glance over. This guy now looked as honest and innocent as possible. Was this really the same sharp-tongued man who had verbally sparred with a crowd at the Silverhook Casino?

Qin Wanru paused, then continued with her planned reprimand: "Do you know that our Chu family has always had a household rule strictly prohibiting family members from gambling?"

"I didn't know," Zu'an lied brazenly, patting his chest. "I only found out now that you've told me, Mother-in-law. Please calm down and don't hurt yourself with anger. I promise I'll never set foot in such a filthy place again."

What a joke. How idiotic would Mei Chaofeng have to be to let him continue winning money at the casino? This promise was practically no promise at all.

Qin Wanru's breath hitched. His attitude rendered all her prepared arguments useless. She had no choice but to glare fiercely at Chu Chuyan: "Didn't you warn him? Were you messing around with him?"

Chu Chuyan hesitated, but did not expose his lie. "It was my oversight."

She was worried Zu'an would receive too severe a punishment, so she decided to take some of the blame herself.

Xue'er, standing nearby, seemed about to speak but ultimately said nothing, thinking that since the man would be killed that night anyway, how the Chu family punished him was irrelevant.

Qin Wanru could clearly see Chu Chuyan's protective intentions, wondering what kind of spell Zu'an had cast on her daughter to make her defend him so quickly.

Thinking her precious daughter might be led astray, she couldn't help but glare fiercely at Zu'an.

Anger value from Qin Wanru: 33!

Seeing this message, Zu'an was startled. "Chu Chuyan already said that, and you're still mad at me? That's just unreasonable."

However, he didn't mind more anger value; the more, the better.

Chu Zhongtian lightly coughed and said in a deep voice, "This incident has gotten too big; it almost caused a conflict with the local army. Ultimately, you're the main culprit..."

Before he could finish, Zu'an pulled out the IOU. "I'll hand over all 7.5 million taels to you, Mother-in-law and Father-in-law. Anyway, Chuyan is my wife now, so what's mine is hers, and naturally, it belongs to the Chu family."

Chu Chuyan, standing by, felt a vein throb. Although what he said was true, why did it sound so grating?

Qin Wanru let out a heavy snort. "We wouldn't dare accept this money. Our Chu family has maintained a clean reputation for generations, never touching illicit funds from gambling, prostitution, or drugs. If we were to accept your money, who knows what outsiders would say about us? They'd claim the Chu family has fallen so low as to rely on their son-in-law gambling for household expenses."

Chu Zhongtian also said, "Exactly. We cannot ruin the Chu family's centuries-old reputation over this. Keep that to yourself and never mention this matter again."

Xue'er, standing aside, breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had largely expected this outcome, she had been somewhat worried the IOU might actually fall into the Chu family's hands, which would have complicated things later. Now that everything was within the plan, it would be much easier.

Zu'an tucked the IOU into his robe, silently scoffing. Ultimately, it was just an IOU that would be difficult to collect. If 7.5 million taels of actual gold and silver were sitting there, he doubted they would be so virtuous.

Could the Chu family's annual net profit even amount to that much money?

Household rules meant nothing in the face of absolute profit.

"What a shame..." Zu'an felt a pang of regret. This IOU was a white elephant in his hands; he had no means of collecting from the Plum Blossom Gang. At most, he might receive some interest at the end of each year, but Mei Chaofeng didn't seem like the kind of person who would dutifully pay interest without trying some trick.

"Today's incident cannot go unpunished, or it will send the wrong message to other Chu family members, making them think gambling is no big deal," Qin Wanru said, slamming the table hard. "Go to the quiet room and copy the family rules ten thousand times!"

"Ten thousand times?" Zu'an's eyes widened. "How can I possibly copy that much?"

"You're not allowed to leave until you've finished, to prevent you from going out and causing trouble all day." A hint of smugness appeared in Qin Wanru's eyes. *Hmph, don't think I don't know you had Cheng Shoubing copy it for you last time. Ten thousand times today, even he can't finish it. You'll have to stay home quietly every night for days.* "Go on now, start copying."

Zu'an left with a bitter expression. Chu Chuyan remained in the room and couldn't help but say, "Mother, isn't ten thousand times too much? When will he ever finish?"

"What, even you're starting to feel sorry for him?" Qin Wanru scoffed.

"Of course not!" Chu Chuyan's face flushed slightly, thinking, *That shameless man, why would I feel sorry for him?*

Chu Zhongtian, standing by, chuckled and said, "Chuyan, don't worry. Your mother always speaks harshly but has a kind heart. On the surface, she's punishing Zu'an by making him copy so much, but she's actually protecting him. Think about it, how could the Plum Blossom Gang let such a huge loss go unpunished? If Zu'an continues to wander around, he might very well be attacked by them, and without evidence, we wouldn't be able to avenge him."

"Now that he's safely copying the family rules within the manor, no matter how resourceful the Plum Blossom Gang is, they won't be able to enter our Chu family's gates to harm him."

Chu Chuyan suddenly understood. "Father and Mother are truly far-sighted; I hadn't thought of that."

Qin Wanru's previously stern face softened into a gentle smile. "Chuyan, your talent surpasses ours. All you lack now is experience and time. In due course, your achievements will undoubtedly surpass your father's and mine."

Chu Chuyan offered a faint smile, but a hint of sadness lingered in her eyes. In a few decades, her youth would fade, and she would still be alone. As for Zu'an, he hadn't even crossed her mind...

On the other side, Zu'an rubbed his nose, wondering which young lady was thinking about him now.

"Young Master-in-law, you're finally back!" A childish voice piped up as Cheng Shoubing, with two buns tied to his head, waddled excitedly towards him. He had heard that his master-in-law had been with Xue'er this time and had hoped to coincidentally meet her. However, to his great disappointment, Zu'an was accompanied only by the butler, Hong Zhong.

Zu'an chuckled, grabbing his collar. "Perfect timing. Come copy the family rules with me."

"Huh? Again?" Cheng Shoubing's face immediately fell. "How many times this time?"

Zu'an waved his hand, smiling. "Not much, just ten thousand times."

"Ten thousand times?" Cheng Shoubing instantly jumped up. *Did Young Master-in-law misunderstand the number ten thousand? Is his math that bad?*

Hong Zhong led him to the quiet room and said, "Young Master-in-law, please do not leave until you've finished copying." After speaking, he turned and left, leaving Zu'an and Cheng Shoubing, master and servant, to stare at the wall covered in family rules, looking at each other in dismay.

"Young Master-in-law, please spare me! Even if my hands broke, I couldn't finish ten thousand copies," Cheng Shoubing pleaded, resolving that he wouldn't copy for him this time no matter what. He still felt a lingering fear recalling how he'd been tricked into copying all night last time.

"We're like brothers, aren't we? If you don't help me, who will?" Zu'an said with a chuckle, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"No, I won't copy!" Cheng Shoubing shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Zu'an sighed, took out a silver note, and flicked it. "Ah, I just made a little money, and I was planning to give you these 100 taels as a reward if you helped me copy. But since you're unwilling, I'll just find someone else."

While 7.5 million taels was an IOU, the other 150,000 taels were real cash. His trip to the Silverhook Casino today had truly been fruitful.

Cheng Shoubing's eyes lit up. He quickly reached out and snatched the silver note, his face immediately breaking into a fawning smile. "As Young Master-in-law's page, how could I let someone else do such a thing? Of course, I'll do it."

"Alright then, I'll leave it to you. I'm going back to sleep." Zu'an yawned. Wandering around today had been quite draining.

Cheng Shoubing, however, frowned deeply. "Young Master-in-law, I can't finish ten thousand copies by myself."

Zu'an rolled his eyes. "Otherwise, why do you think I gave you so much as 100 taels? Can't you use the money to find other pages in the manor to help you copy?"

Cheng Shoubing's eyes lit up again, but then he immediately said, "But then I'll have less money left!"

Zu'an waved his hand. "The funds are yours; I don't care if you copy it alone or hire people. Just get the ten thousand copies done." With that, he swaggered away, leaving Cheng Shoubing standing there, deeply conflicted.

On his way back to his room, Zu'an began tallying how much anger value he had earned from the trip: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...

A total of 60,224 anger points!

Zu'an grinned widely, unable to stop smiling. Recalling the day's events, it seemed he needed more antagonists.

Back in his room, he poured a basin of water, about to wash his face and start the lottery draw, when a voice suddenly came from behind him:

"How did you do it?"

Zu'an jumped in surprise and quickly turned around. Old Man Mi's trembling figure was standing behind him, having appeared silently.

It was truly baffling. The old man looked as if a gust of wind could knock him over, yet he walked without making a sound. Even with his improved cultivation, Zu'an couldn't sense his presence at all.

"How did I do what?" Zu'an asked quickly, not daring to be disrespectful. For some reason, while he could earn anger value brazenly from others, he felt an instinctive fear when facing this old man and dared not provoke him.

Why was that?

Zu'an pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

"The manor is abuzz with rumors that you won 7.5 million taels from the Silverhook Casino in two rounds. How exactly did you do that?" Old Man Mi's small eyes fixed on him, filled with curiosity.