Chapter 123: Even a Pile of Feces Has Its Use

Seeing the enraged crowd and feeling that Yuan Wenji's defeat by such swordsmanship was utterly humiliating, Yuan Zhengchu grimly led his two injured brothers away, seething with resentment.

Wu Wei, realizing the situation was irreversible, also left, feeling some resentment towards Sang Hong for not having the decency to help, and not even bothering to greet him.

As Wu Qing followed his father away, he shot a furious glare at Zu An, thinking, "This guy ruined our Wu family's good fortune. I'll find Pan Long and Fu Feng later to brainstorm a way to get revenge and vent this frustration."

Seeing that the matter was settled, Jiang Luofu also stood up. She had some questions for Zu An but decided it wasn't appropriate in public, so she would wait until they were back at the academy.

Upon seeing Jiang Luofu rise, Ji Dengtu in the crowd guiltily lowered his head and quickly exited the training ground. He mused that since the Yuan family's young master had fractured his vital meridians and would surely need a doctor, he would receive another windfall. "Little Anzi, I'm really starting to like you more and more!" he thought.

As Jiang Luofu departed, a group of male spectators who had been intently gazing at her beautiful legs suddenly found the scene dull and left their seats one after another.

Xie Yi cupped his hands to Sang Hong, and after exchanging greetings, he too headed home. On the way, he asked Xie Xiu, "I heard you have a fairly good relationship with him?"

Xie Xiu nodded, "We established some good relations previously, so it should be fine."

Xie Yi grunted in affirmation, "From now on, at the academy, make an effort to get closer to him. This young man is not simple; even if you can't be friends, you must never be enemies. Perhaps in the future, our efforts to win over the Chu family will hinge on him."

Xie Xiu looked somewhat troubled, "Father, you know I'm good at charming women, but I'm really not as good at charming men."

Xie Yi's beard bristled in anger, "You have the nerve to say that? You spend your days idling among women! Just a few days ago, Minister Zhang came complaining about his daughter again. You've almost completely shamed your father!"

Xie Xiu looked embarrassed, thinking, "If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't. Why do those women always make such a fuss every time we break up?"

Xie Daoyun, standing nearby, gave her brother an exasperated look, then softly said, "Father, allow me to handle befriending Zu An. I happen to be quite curious about him."

Xie Xiu, startled, exclaimed, "Sister, that guy is a notorious mooch! Don't let him ruin you."

Xie Daoyun exasperatedly pinched her brother's ear, "Do you think all men in the world are like you? Besides, I'm merely seeking his advice on musical matters; why would I ever be interested in him?"

"That's true," Xie Xiu smiled. His sister had exceedingly high standards; she had once said her husband must possess both the literary talent to govern a nation and the martial prowess to stabilize it. Zu An, with his roguish demeanor, didn't fit any of those criteria. He had truly worried for nothing.

Seeing the City Lord and his entourage depart, Sang Qian anxiously rushed to his father's side, blurting out, "Father, how could you declare Zu An the winner? My side..."

He was interrupted by Sang Hong before he could finish, "Otherwise, what do you expect me to do? The Yuan family is so useless. With so many eyes on me, do you think I could defy public opinion and declare Zu An the loser? You must understand that while the one above wants to deal with the Chu family, he values the court's reputation even more!"

"Furthermore, I haven't yet settled accounts with you for your private involvement in the gambling house. Deal with the rest of the mess yourself."

After severely reprimanding his son, Sang Hong, with a grim face, departed with his subordinates. What had transpired today was clearly not pleasant for him.

Sang Qian's face fluctuated between gloom and clarity as he thought, "Although my father is very capable in officialdom, he doesn't pay attention to family matters. Relying solely on the court's meager salaries, if I don't find some extra income, won't we all starve?"

"Besides, which of these court officials doesn't operate this way? Each of them has their own businesses. Only Father remains such an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud."

Just then, a gentle, watery voice sounded in his ear, "Is the Prefect unwilling to help?"

Smelling the faint fragrance wafting through the air, Zheng Dan's beautiful figure appeared in Sang Qian's mind without him even needing to look. His agitated mood calmed slightly. "Hmm, you know my father's temperament. He's unwilling to get involved in these matters."

Zheng Dan's delicate brows furrowed slightly, "What do we do now? Are we really going to pay that 1 million taels?"

Although the Sang family led the gambling house operations, her Zheng family was the primary contributor of funds and effort. If compensation truly had to be made, the Zheng family would undoubtedly bear the greater loss.

"Of course not!" Sang Qian snorted. He had been planning to make money from the casino, yet he hadn't earned anything and had already lost 1 million taels. How could he possibly swallow such a loss?

Looking towards the Chu family's side, a thought suddenly struck him. He said, "You mentioned Zu An was scheduled to compete in the arena today, and he might get injured. Do you think, for safety, he might have left his betting slip with his page boy?"

"You mean we can take this opportunity to switch the betting slip back?" Zheng Dan's eyes lit up.

"Exactly, we must act quickly, or we'll lose our chance once he realizes," Sang Qian said urgently.

"Alright!" Zheng Dan quickly retrieved a new betting slip, swiftly filled in a few details, and then the two headed towards the Chu family's direction.

From a distance, Shi Kun observed their actions, unable to help but frown and ask, "What are those two scheming?"

Xue'er shook her head, clearly just as clueless.

Shi Kun snorted coldly, "Now that I think about it, they were the ones who provided false information yesterday. Could they be secretly colluding with the Chu family?"

The elder behind him, Shi Lezhi, spoke, "I don't think so. It seems they were most likely deceived as well; that kid is as cunning as a ghost, truly despicable."

"So what should we do next?" Shi Kun's face was grim. In his view, Zu An had rendered such a great service to the Chu family today, completely changing his former image as a good-for-nothing. The Chu family would certainly see him in a new light, and perhaps even Chu Chuyan would be deeply moved.

The mere thought of Zu An becoming the Chu family's true son-in-law, and his beloved woman possibly soon lying intimately in his arms, sent Shi Kun's heart into a frenzy of jealousy.

However, his plans had failed repeatedly, and judging by the abilities he displayed in the arena, killing him would not be easy.

Shi Lezhi smiled slightly, "Young Master, you're too anxious, always thinking of directly assassinating him, but you've overlooked another advantageous resource we possess."

"What?" Shi Kun quickly sat upright and looked at him.

Shi Lezhi replied, "We possess immense influence in official circles. We can entirely leverage the power of the government to eliminate him. No matter who it is, no matter how strong, they cannot contend with the might of the imperial court. We can proceed like this..."

Hearing his plan, Shi Kun's grim face gradually brightened, "Hahaha, indeed, old ginger is spicier! No wonder Father arranged for you to be by my side."

Xue'er, standing nearby, secretly clicked her tongue in amazement. "No wonder there are fewer and fewer rogue cultivators in this world. These powerful figures have so many tricks up their sleeves; if you offend them, there's no way to survive."

At that moment, Pei Mianman approached Zu An with a radiant smile, "Congratulations..."

Before she could finish, Zu An quickly moved away, saying, "Wait a moment."

Pei Mianman's smile instantly froze. She knew how many men would be thrilled just to exchange a single word with her. Even while just sitting there, despite her merciless rejections, dozens of people had approached her. Yet now, when she took the initiative to approach this guy, he actually brushed her off!

Is my chest not big enough, or am I not alluring enough?

Is there a woman more charming than me?

After much thought, the only explanation was that he was looking for Chu Chuyan—after all, she was his wife, which was somewhat understandable. Yet, her gaze followed his retreating figure, only to see him run off to hug a young page boy and whisper with him.

Pei Mianman: "???"

Could this guy not like women?

Zu An put his arm around Cheng Shoubing, "I was too busy earlier to ask, which gambling house did you place the bet at? A million taels, we've struck it rich this time!"

To his surprise, Cheng Shoubing said with a tearful face, "Young Master, I need to tell you something, but please don't get angry."

Zu An waved his hand and laughed heartily, "Don't worry, Young Master is happy today; I promise not to get angry."

Cheng Shoubing immediately turned from worry to joy, quickly pulling out the betting slip. "I was worried that Young Master would lose in the family competition, so I thought I could win some money to comfort your injured heart if you lost. So, I secretly changed the bet to Young Master losing. This way, even if Young Master lost, we'd still win money, and if Young Master won the competition, losing this small amount wouldn't matter. It's a win-win, wasn't I especially clever? Eh, Young Master, why are you holding a knife?"

"I'll f*cking kill you!" Zu An felt that if his rage could be quantified, it would be off the charts. How had this Cheng Shoubing managed to live this long?

Sang Qian and Zheng Dan, who were rushing over, overheard this and instantly felt a torrent of expletives welling up inside, unsure whether to utter them!

So, after all that, it was this blockhead page boy who had arbitrarily changed Zu An's betting plan, and then those two, thinking they were so clever, had changed it back?

Rage points from Sang Qian: +1024!Rage points from Zheng Dan: +1024!

Zu An was still chasing Cheng Shoubing, trying to hit him, when the sudden influx of "rage points" in his system startled him. "Why are those two so angry? Especially Zheng Dan; wasn't she just being so sweet to me?"

Just then, Cheng Shoubing's surprised voice suddenly rang out, "Eh, how did the writing on this betting slip change? Did I remember wrong? Hahaha, Young Master, look quickly! It says I bet on you to win!"

Cheng Shoubing, with a look of joyful surprise, handed the slip to Zu An.

Rage points from Sang Qian: +1024!Rage points from Zheng Dan: +1024!

Zu An glanced at the two of them suspiciously, took the slip, and saw that it indeed showed a bet on him to win, with odds of 1 to 100. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Rage points from Sang Qian: +66 +66 +66...Rage points from Zheng Dan: +66 +66 +66...

Seeing the continuous stream of "rage points" coming in from the system, and connecting it with what Cheng Shoubing had just said, a thought struck him. He asked, "You bet on me to lose yesterday?"

"No way," Cheng Shoubing chuckled, "Of course, I believed Young Master would win. Why would I bet on you to lose?"

*Like hell I do!*

Zu An automatically interpreted his words as the opposite, then smiled at Sang Qian and Zheng Dan, "Speaking of which, I should thank you two. If you hadn't helped me change it back, I would have been completely fleeced by this idiotic page boy." Having watched so many historical dramas, it wasn't hard for him to guess about self-fading ink and similar tricks.

Rage points from Sang Qian: +1024!Rage points from Zheng Dan: +1024!

On the surface, however, both of them wore beaming smiles. "Young Master Zu, what do you mean? We don't understand. We simply came to congratulate you on your victory."

Before, it had only been a guess, but seeing the "rage points" displayed in the system, Zu An was instantly certain. He couldn't help but glance at Cheng Shoubing, who stood nearby with a fawning expression.

Although this guy was a walking disaster, fools often have their luck. "Hmm, I should make good use of his jinx-like nature in the future; it might even yield unexpected results."

After all, in this world, even something as simple as toilet paper or as undesirable as dung has its purpose.

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The 5 o'clock chapter has been released early, so you don't have to wait.