The crowd was getting riled up, and Yuan Wenji’s loss had been deeply embarrassing. With the tides against him, Yuan Zhengchu had no choice but to retreat. His face remained livid as he marched off, the rest of the Yuan clan trailing behind him.

Knowing that there was no way to salvage the situation anymore, Wu Wei swiftly left the scene as well. He was frustrated by how Sang Hong had refused to help them, and didn’t even bother bidding him farewell.

Wu Qing shot Zu An a sharp glare before leaving with her father. 

This fellow has foiled our Wu clan’s plans. Hmph! I’ll get Pan Long and Fu Feng to think up something to settle this grudge!

Jiang Luofu stood up as well. She had planned to question Zu An, but the crowd of spectators dissuaded her from it. There would be plenty of time to do so when they were back at Brightmoon Academy.

Seeing Jiang Luofu stand up, Ji Dengtu quickly lowered his head guiltily and walked away. As he did so, he thought about how that lad from the Yuan clan had broken his ki meridian and would surely require treatment. 

Another tidy sum flowing into my pockets then. Heh, little Zu An, I’m liking you more and more!

After Jiang Luofu took her leave, most of the men who had been ogling at her quickly lost interest in the Clans Tournament and dispersed.

Xie Yi clasped his fist toward Sang Hong, bidding him farewell before returning to the City Lord Estate. Along the way, he asked Xie Xiu, “I heard that you’re on good terms with that fellow?”

Xie Xiu nodded. “We’ve had some pleasant encounters with one another.”

“Try to get close to him in the academy. There’s more to this child than meets the eye. Even if you aren’t able to befriend him, you must make sure not to make an enemy out of him. Perhaps he could be the one to bring the Chu clan over to our side.”

Xie Xiu was put in a spot. “Father, surely you know my nature. I can win over women with ease, but getting close to a man… That’s really not my specialty.”

Xie Yi’s eyes immediately widened angrily. “You still dare to say it aloud! You squander your time on women and cause loads of trouble everywhere you go. Just a few days ago, Lord Zhang approached me on behalf of his daughter to complain. Do you know how embarrassed I was?”

Xie Xiu responded with a sheepish smile. 

I mean, if we aren’t meant to be, what’s the point of holding on? Why do those women always act as if it’s the end of the world whenever we break up?

Xie Daoyun glared at her younger brother before speaking gently, “Father, please leave the matter of Zu An to me. It just so happens that I'm curious about him too.”

Xie Xiu nearly lost his wits. “Big sis, that fellow is a renowned moocher! You mustn’t get fooled by him!”

Xie Daoyun grabbed her younger brother’s ear and twisted it angrily. “Do you think that everyone in the world is like you? Besides, I’m just going to consult him on music-related matters. How could that lead to anything?”

“I guess so,” replied Xie Xiu in pained agreement.

My big sister has high standards. She once said that her husband must be wise enough to govern a city and strong enough to bring stability to the country. A street urchin like Zu An doesn’t fit that criteria at all. It looks like I was worrying in vain.

After the City Lord’s contingent had departed, Sang Qian rushed to his father’s side and exclaimed anxiously, “Father, how could you declare a victory for Zu An? What about—”

Before he could finish, Sang Hong snapped, “What else did you expect me to do, then? That Yuan clan is useless! How could I possibly have ruled Zu An the loser with so many eyes on me? You should know that while the man above me wishes to deal with the Chu clan, he values the reputation and image of the royal court even more!

“Besides, I have yet to take you to task for getting involved in the creation of a gambling den of your own accord. You had better clean up that mess properly!”

After berating his son, Sang Hong departed together with his subordinates, his face a livid mask. Naturally, he was none too pleased by the results of today’s tournament.

Sang Qian’s face darkened as well. 

Even though my father is a formidable figure in the royal court, he doesn’t seem to care much about our clan. If he only relies on the stipends of the royal court without looking for additional income, what’ll happen to the rest of us?

Besides, isn’t this common practice for most officials? They all have their own businesses out there. My father is simply too old-fashioned and inflexible!

A gentle voice interrupted his thoughts. “Is Governor Sang unwilling to help?”

The light fragrance drifting through the air was more than enough to bring Zheng Dan’s beautiful face to mind. Her presence helped soothe his irritation slightly. “Yeah, you know what my father is like too. He isn’t willing to get involved in such matters.”

Zheng Dan frowned. “What do we do then? Are we really going to pay out the one million taels of silver?”

While the Sang clan were partners in the gambling den, most of the financial backing came from the Zheng clan, who would bear the brunt of any losses that they suffered.

“Of course not!” exclaimed Sang Qian.

The gambling den had yet to turn a profit, and yet, they had already incurred a loss of one million taels of silver! There was no way he could swallow that down!

He turned his gaze toward the Chu clan contingent, and a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. “Say, since Zu An had to step onto the dueling ring today, don’t you think that he would have entrusted the betting slip to his study companion for safekeeping?”

Zheng Dan’s eyes lit up. “You’re saying that we can make use of this opportunity right now to snatch the betting slip back?” 

“Indeed. We have to act quickly. We’ll have no chance once they get wise to our plans,” said Sang Qian.

“All right!” Zheng Dan quickly wrote down another betting slip, and the two of them began to make their way toward the Chu clan’s camp. 

Not too far away, Shi Kun noticed their strange movements and frowned. “What are those two up to?”

Snow shook her head, unable to provide any insight.

Shi Kun gave an angry sniff. “Come to think of it, they were the ones who provided us with inaccurate intelligence yesterday. They couldn’t be colluding with the Chu clan in secret, could they?”

The old man behind Shi Kun, Shi Lezhi, said, “I don’t think so. It’s more likely that they were duped. That brat is extremely cunning.”

“What should we do from now on then?” remarked Shi Kun with an awful look on his face. 

Now that Zu An had made such a huge contribution to the Chu clan and reversed his ‘good-for-nothing’ image, the Chu clan would surely view him in a different light. Chu Chuyan might even fall for him!

Just thinking of Zu An becoming the Chu clan’s real son-in-law and holding his beloved woman in his embrace was enough to bring on a haze of jealousy.

To make things worse, the previous few assassination attempts had been foiled, which meant that the Chu clan was already on their guard. Killing him would be extremely difficult.

“Young master, your mind is flustered, which is why you keep thinking of killing him directly. You’ve neglected the fact that we have an advantage over him,” said Shi Lezhi with a smile.

“Hm?” Shi Kun quickly turned to him with a look of interest.

Shi Lezhi carried on, “Right now, we wield great political power, which grants us firm authority. We can simply use our political strength to get rid of him. Regardless of how powerful the Chu clan might be, they don’t have the strength to openly oppose the royal court. We can simply do this…”

As he laid out his plan, Shi Kun’s distress morphed into unfettered delight. “Hahaha! It looks like wisdom does come with age! No wonder my father appointed you to my side.”

Snow was also amazed by what she had heard. 

This explains why the number of unaffiliated cultivators is on the decline. Those in power sure know how to play their cards well. Those who offend them would eventually be cornered by their ploys before being picked off.

… 

Meanwhile, Pei Mianman walked toward Zu An with a smile. “Congratula…”

Before she could finish, Zu An rushed off. “Give me a moment!” he said over his shoulder.

Pei Mianman’s smile froze immediately. Most men would wet themselves when given the opportunity to say even a single word to her. Even though she had mercilessly rejected the men who had tried to approach her earlier, there were still many who couldn’t resist giving it a try anyway. Now, she was taking the initiative to approach Zu An, but he was actually ignoring her!

Is it because I’m not charming enough? Or could there be someone more attractive than me here?

The only reason she could think of was that Zu An had gone to look for Chu Chuyan. Since she was his wife, it would still be acceptable. However, to her surprise, Zu An actually strode over to his study companion. Wrapped his arm around him, he led him to a corner and started whispering.

Pei Mianman was bewildered.

Wait a moment, could it be he doesn’t like women?

In their little corner, Zu An was anxiously interrogating his companion. “I was so busy preparing for the tournament that I had no time to ask about this earlier. Which gambling den did you place my bet with? That’s a million taels of silver we’re talking about here! I’m going to strike it rich!”

Unexpectedly, Cheng Shouping looked at him tearfully as he spoke, “Young master, I have to tell you something. Please don’t get angry.”

Zu An waved his hands and laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, I’m in a good mood today! I won’t get angry.”

Cheng Shouping immediately broke out in a smile as he took out the betting slip. “I was worried that you would lose in the Clans Tournament, so I thought that it would be good if I could earn some money to console your broken soul when that happened. Thus, I secretly bet on you losing instead. Anyway, now that we won the Clans Tournament, this small loss is hardly worth mentioning, isn’t it? Aren’t I sharp-witted? Ah? Young master, why are you picking up your sword?”

“I’ll bloody hack you to death!” If the keyboard could gather his own Rage points, they would surely be over 9000. How in the world had someone like Cheng Shouping managed to survive to this day?

Sang Qian and Zheng Dan, who had just made it to the scene, overheard them. They stiffened immediately.

It was this idiot of a study companion who had changed Zu An’s bet on his own accord, and the two of them had foolishly changed it back for him?

You have successfully trolled Sang Qian for 1024 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Zheng Dan for 1024 Rage points!

Zu An was in the midst of chasing down Cheng Shouping when he noticed the inflow of Rage points. 

Why are those two getting so angry for, especially Zheng Dan? Wasn’t she heads-over-heels for me just a moment ago?

It was then that Cheng Shouping’s delighted exclamation rang out. “Eh? How did the bet suddenly change? Did I remember it wrongly? Hahaha! Young master, quick, take a look! It turns out that I bet on your victory instead!”

Cheng Shouping passed the betting slip to Zu An excitedly.

You have successfully trolled Sang Qian for 1024 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Zheng Dan for 1024 Rage points!

Zu An glanced at the two of them before taking the betting slip from Cheng Shouping’s hand. The bet was indeed on his victory, with odds of a hundred-to-one. Seeing this, he heaved a sigh of relief.

You have successfully trolled Sang Qian for 66… 66… 66… 

You have successfully trolled Zheng Dan for 66… 66… 66…

He considered the Rage points flowing in, and added that to what Cheng Shouping had said earlier. A thought arose in Zu An’s mind, and he hurriedly asked, “You said you betted on my loss yesterday?”

“I didn’t.” Cheng Shouping tried to laugh it off. “Of course I believed that you would win right from the start! Why would I bet on your loss?”

Like hell you believed in me!

Zu An instinctively reversed the words of the Cheng Shouping, and the truth of the matter struck him. He turned around to look at Sang Qian and Zheng Dan with a smile and said, “It looks like I have the two of you to thank for this. If you hadn’t changed his bet, I would have been done in by this idiot of a study companion!”

He was well aware of tricks involving special inks, papers and other such tools. They were staples of the drama serials in his previous life, after all.

You have successfully trolled Sang Qian for 1024 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Zheng Dan for 1024 Rage points!

Despite their inner fury, the two of them maintained perfect smiles on their faces as they said, “Young master Zu, we’re afraid we don’t understand you. We’re just here to congratulate you on your victory.”

It had only been a guess on Zu An’s part, but the inflow of Rage points confirmed his hypothesis. He shot a sharp glare at Cheng Shouping, who was looking at him with a fawning smile.

This fellow is really untrustworthy, but his dumbness is compensated for by his good luck. It would be good if I could somehow take advantage of that. He would be like a wild card I could use to throw my opponents off guard, just like what happened this time around.

After all, even a sheet of toilet paper or a pile of dogshit have their own uses in this world.