Chapter 125: I Am Rew arded with You

Upon hearing Zu An's words, even Chu Zhongtian was utterly stunned. How brazen must one be to ask for beautiful maids in front of one's parents-in-law and wife?

"We give you this to compete with our daughter for favor? Are there any parents in the world who would do such a thing?"

"Speaking of which, I wanted a few beautiful maids back in my day. But look at me now, aren't I still alone?" He thought, casting a resentful glance at his wife beside him.

Zu An was also startled and couldn't help but say with a strange expression, "You're not being stingy with the reward, trying to welch on it, are you?"

Qin Wanru: "..."

Chu Chuyan, who was standing by, spoke up. "Have you not grasped the current situation? We want to know who is behind you. What is your meticulously planned purpose for infiltrating our Chu family? Cough, cough~"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but cough. Chu Zhongtian, standing nearby, asked with concern, "You seem to be quite injured?"

"Just a minor injury, it's nothing," Chu Chuyan slightly shook her head, her gaze remaining fixed on Zu An.

"I infiltrated the Chu family?" Zu An instinctively replied. "Didn't you personally choose me as your son-in-law and bring me in?"

A faint, unnatural blush flashed across Chu Chuyan's cheeks. "I just wanted to choose someone... someone ordinary, without any ambition. Before, I thought you were that kind of person. Although everyone called you useless... I didn't care about that. But now I realize that I've been kept in the dark by you all along."

At this point, Qin Wanru took over from her daughter. "Exactly. You've hidden yourself so well. Clearly, you deliberately feigned an innocent appearance to get close to us. To set up such a big scheme and evade our previous investigations, there must definitely be a powerful force assisting you from behind. Tell us, are you sent by the Empress or by Prince Qi?"

Zu An finally understood the reason for their anger at this moment. He replied, "Then, Mother-in-law, who do you think sent me?"

"Silence! Don't call me Mother-in-law again!" Qin Wanru's willow-like eyebrows furrowed. "Of course you are..."

Suddenly, she paused. Who exactly sent this guy? He doesn't seem to fit any side.

"If I truly harbored ill intentions, why would I risk exposing myself today to help your Chu family win the Family Grand Competition? You also know how many people's interests are tied to this competition," Zu An seized the opportunity to say this.

"Hmph, perhaps you were previously overlooked in the Chu family, so you wanted to seize this opportunity to make a name for yourself and gain our favor. And at the same time, truly become intimate with Chuyan... *cough, cough*." Qin Wanru lightly coughed. How could the fact that her daughter and son-in-law didn't share a room be hidden from her?

"Alright, let me put it another way. If I were sent by the Empress, why would I have clashed with the Shi family before? And why would Xuel, their operative in the Chu family, try to kill me?" Zu An said. "If I were from Prince Qi's faction... hmm, that actually seems possible."

He pondered for a long time but genuinely couldn't find any reason to distance himself from Prince Qi's lineage.

Qin Wanru sneered. "Well? Nothing to say now, is there?"

But such a situation was hardly difficult for Zu An. He was quick-witted and immediately thought of an idea. "Actually, proving that I have no connection to Prince Qi is quite simple."

"How will you prove it?" Chu Chuyan asked with a frown. For some reason, subconsciously, she really wanted him to clarify everything. Of course, she wouldn't think it was because she had fallen for him or anything; it was just that she had grown accustomed to being with him during this time. He quite met her requirements for a prospective son-in-law in many ways, and finding another suitable person wouldn't be so easy.

Zu An swore to the heavens. "How about this: if Prince Qi has a son, he'll have no anus, and if he has a daughter, they'll all become my concubines. Surely now you won't think I'm from Prince Qi's side, right?"

Qin Wanru's delicate body trembled, and she let out a huff. Chu Chuyan also turned away, her face flushed.

Chu Zhongtian reprimanded him. "Nonsense! How can you say such outrageous things? If Prince Qi hears this, you won't have a life left!"

Zu An said with a grin, "Isn't this proving to you that I have no connection to Prince Qi? Well? Do you believe me now?"

"Even if you have no connection to Prince Qi, you could still be from the Empress's side," Qin Wanru huffed. "Who knows if you and Shi Kun were playing a trick to gain sympathy?"

"That's simple," Zu An again held up a finger to swear. "Then I'll prove it again. The Empress in the future will..."

Chu Zhongtian hastily clapped a hand over his mouth. "Alright, alright, is the Empress someone you can casually disparage behind her back? Sooner or later, you'll bring great disaster upon yourself because of this unbridled mouth of yours."

Zu An thought to himself, 'I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. My strength actually relies on this mouth.'

"Then why do you possess such cultivation?" Chu Chuyan stared into his eyes. "Judging from your performance on the arena, you must be at least a third-rank cultivator, right?"

"Isn't it a special surprise, a huge shock, to find out your husband isn't the good-for-nothing everyone thought he was?" Zu An leaned in with a cheeky grin.

Chu Chuyan took a step back, widening the distance between them. "No surprise, but plenty of shock. You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh," Zu An thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I've been gifted since childhood, but I'm a low-key person and don't like to show off. That's why the world misunderstood me. Alas, geniuses are always so out of sync with the world."

"Do you take us for idiots?" Qin Wanru finally couldn't hold back. "When we chose you as the Chu family's son-in-law, it's not like we didn't investigate you. For the past decade or so, you were utterly useless from beginning to end. Furthermore, your deceased uncle had no cultivation whatsoever. Who could have taught you to cultivate?"

"Well, it's like this: many years ago, I encountered an old beggar. Seeing how pitiful he was, on the verge of starvation, I shared a steamed bun with him. He was very grateful afterward and taught me a cultivation method. Then I just kept practicing until I reached my current level." Zu An chuckled. Such plots are everywhere in TV dramas; he could conjure one up effortlessly.

"A cultivator on the verge of starvation needed your single steamed bun to be saved?" Qin Wanru's face was full of suspicion. "Do you think I'd believe that?"

"Cultivators can fall on hard times too! Who knows what he went through at that time?" Zu An was quick to react and immediately added.

Qin Wanru and Chu Zhongtian exchanged glances and secretly nodded. If he had explained the details perfectly, they might have grown more suspicious. But with his current self-assured demeanor, he didn't seem guilty at all.

"Alright, we'll provisionally believe your explanation, but..." Qin Wanru's tone shifted. "If we discover you've been deceiving us in the future, don't blame us for being impolite."

Zu An hastily asked, "Then what if by that time, Chuyan and I have children? Won't you be a little more lenient for the sake of your grandchildren?"

Chu Zhongtian: "..."

Qin Wanru: "..."

Chu Chuyan was both embarrassed and furious. "Shut up! Who would have children with you!"

Zu An shrugged. "We're husband and wife, it's normal to have children, isn't it?"

"Hmph~" No matter how cold Chu Chuyan's temperament was, she was still a young woman and couldn't withstand such teasing. She turned away, her face flushed.

This guy truly is something. Even though he himself... he still says things like that to tease me.

Chu Zhongtian cleared his throat, dispelling the awkwardness in the room. "Well, Xiao An..."

Before he could finish, Zu An interrupted him. "Father-in-law, please don't call me Xiao An anymore. Please call me A'Zu."

The name Xiao An sounds like a pushover, and he always felt it didn't suit his temperament.

"A'Zu?" Chu Zhongtian was stunned. "Why is that name so strange?"

Zu An said with a smile, "Where I come from, A'Zu is a synonym for a handsome man."

Chu Zhongtian rolled his eyes upon hearing this. Knowing that Zu An's way of thinking was a bit unusual, he couldn't be bothered to argue. "A'Zu, today you crippled two of the most outstanding young talents from the Qin family. Be careful when you go out from now on. I'll also send more people to protect you."

Qin Wanru also said, "Don't get cocky just because you managed to win by a fluke on the arena today. After all, your true cultivation is only third-rank. If Yuan Wendong hadn't been momentarily distracted by some delusion at a crucial moment, you might have been the one crippled. It's better to be more low-key in the future."

Zu An spread his hands. "But there's nothing I can do! A cool man like me is always the center of attention wherever I go. I can't be low-key even if I want to."

The Chu couple couldn't stand him anymore and directly kicked him out.

After he left, Chu Zhongtian looked at his daughter. "Chuyan, what do you think?"

Chu Chuyan slightly furrowed her delicate brows. "He shouldn't be a spy sent by another family. After all, no one would send someone with such a temperament to be a spy."

Thinking of Zu An's frivolous demeanor, Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru nodded in deep agreement.

"Besides, he's only a mere third-rank cultivator. Even if there's something, it's within our control," Qin Wanru said in a deep voice.

Chu Chuyan hummed in affirmation. "I will pay more attention to him from now on."

Meanwhile, just as Zu An came out of the room, Chu Hanzhao and a group of people immediately came forward to greet him. "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, how was it? What did Father and Mother reward you with?"

The others also looked at him with eager faces. He was already the Chu family's son-in-law, and today he had shone brilliantly. It was foreseeable that he would soon be a rising star.

Zu An was stunned. He suddenly realized a serious problem—*Darn it*, where's my reward? What about the promised beautiful maids?

He had just been scared silly by them inside, and he had completely forgotten about this matter himself.

"No reward?" Chu Hanzhao saw that he remained silent and felt indignant on his behalf. "How could Father and Mother be like this? And even Sister!"

"Who said there was no reward?" A faint smile appeared at the corner of Zu An's mouth. "They rewarded me with you."

"Huh?" Chu Hanzhao was startled at first. When she realized the meaning of his words, her pretty face instantly flushed. "They really..."

At this moment, she noticed the teasing look in his eyes. She finally understood, grabbed the crutch she was using to support herself, and started hitting him with it. "You awful brother-in-law, you stinky brother-in-law! How dare you deliberately trick me! I'll beat you to death!"

"Just kidding, come on! Aren't you injured? How are you running so fast?" Zu An shouted as he ran into the distance, and Chu Hanzhao chased desperately after him.

The remaining group of people exchanged bewildered glances. Chu Hongcai, from the second branch, let out a sigh of relief. "You startled me! I thought Uncle had really betrothed Xiaozhao to him."

The chubby Chu Yucheng, standing nearby, squinted his eyes with a smile. "It's not entirely impossible, you know."

Chu Hongcai huffed. "What nonsense are you talking about? What is Chuyan and Xiaozhao's status? How could two sisters share one husband, especially when he's a live-in son-in-law?"

Chu Yucheng didn't argue. Instead, he watched the retreating figures of the two, lost in thought. Xiaozhao's momentary shy reaction just now, and later, even when she was so angry, she didn't grab her "Wailing Whip" but instinctively hit him with the crutch instead. This son-in-law is quite interesting.

***

Zu An and Chu Hanzhao playfully bumbled along. Unknowingly, they returned to his courtyard. Who knew that as soon as he opened the door, he bumped into Old Man Mi? Zu An's heart skipped a beat. For some reason, he always felt a bit uneasy whenever he saw him.

Chu Hanzhao saw there were other people present and also realized that it was improper for the second young lady of the manor to play around like that with her brother-in-law. Her face flushed, and she huffed. "Hmph, I'll settle with you later."

With that, she scurried away as if fleeing.

After Chu Hanzhao's figure disappeared, Old Man Mi's shriveled, withered face turned to him, and he asked coldly, "Why has your cultivation improved so rapidly?"