Chapter 398: Seeing People Accurately

A lot has happened recently, with various upheavals for the Chu family, and Zu An himself was entangled in a huge conspiracy, nearly losing his life. He had been living in constant tension these past few days; his mind had been strung tight. Even after things settled yesterday, he still woke up in the middle of the night while sleeping at the Chu family's residence, dreaming he was still being hunted.

It wasn't until today, when Zheng Dan's gentleness and charm gradually dispelled the negative emotions in his heart, that Zu An slowly began to recover. Seeing her like a red flower after a storm, Zu An couldn't help but feel a little apologetic. "I'm sorry, I was too rough just now," he said.

"You're only realizing that now?" Zheng Dan said, giving him a resentful glare. After quickly putting on her clothes, her legs immediately gave out as soon as she stepped onto the floor.

Zu An smiled and reached out to pull her back. "Don't go yet," he said, "there's still a long time until classes are dismissed."

Zheng Dan tidied her messy hair and said, "Many people just saw me coming to find you. If I stay too long, who knows what gossip will spread."

Having been together for so long, Zu An knew her temperament. She was fine with acting wild in private, but she cared deeply about her reputation in the eyes of the world and her family's honor. She definitely wouldn't want any blemish on her name, so he didn't force her to stay.

"The medicine Sang Hong asked for, I'll give it to you another day," Zu An said, as he certainly didn't want Sang Qian to recover so quickly.

Zheng Dan smiled sweetly. "As you wish," she said. "I really have to go." After saying that, she leaned in and kissed his face, and then left with a beaming smile.

After stepping out the door, the flirtatious look in her eyes quickly vanished, replaced by her usual classical elegance. It was impossible to tell what kind of intense activity she had just experienced.

Zu An took a short nap in the room. Then, unable to wait until class was dismissed, he went to find Ji Dengtu. Originally, it would have been more convenient to ask Ji Xiaoxi directly, but he always felt it was awkward to ask such a question to a young girl.

Hearing his request, Ji Dengtu's eyes widened. "I've heard of men buying aphrodisiacs or kidney tonics," he said, "but I've never seen a man buy medicine to cause impotence. Do you have some special fetish, you scoundrel?"

Zu An's face was unamused. "Cut the nonsense," he said, "do you have it or not?"

Ji Dengtu lounged in his armchair, swaying leisurely. He waved his hand dismissively. "No," he said, "I, Ji, am a healer who saves lives. How could I possibly concoct such a medicine?"

"I'll pay more!" Zu An said in a deep voice.

Ji Dengtu's eyes lit up, and he instinctively straightened up, but after a moment's hesitation, he lay back down in the chair. "Don't try to tempt me," he said. "The education I received since childhood doesn't support me doing such things. You've got the wrong person."

Zu An silently pulled out a storybook. "The sequel to the last story," he said.

Ji Dengtu's pupils contracted slightly, and his entire expression became quite serious. Just when Zu An thought he was about to get angry, his entire face suddenly broke into a wide smile. He snatched the storybook from Zu An's hand. "You're truly a good judge of character!" he exclaimed.

Zu An was speechless.

Ji Dengtu eagerly flipped through the storybook. At the same time, he tossed a small green bottle from his sleeve. "Take three drops," he said, "and it will achieve your purpose."

Zu An thought to himself, *This color is really festive.* "Is this medicine permanent?" he asked. "It won't wear off after a while, will it?"

Ji Dengtu said displeased, "Are you doubting my professional expertise? How could medicine concocted by me, Ji, ever fail? Of course, it's permanent! If I want someone to be impotent by the third watch, they won't last until the fifth."

Zu An couldn't help but look at him suspiciously. "What exactly do you intend to do by concocting such malicious medicine?" he asked.

Ji Dengtu's old face flushed, and he bristled. "Of course, it's for academic research!" he exclaimed. "Do you think I'd take it myself?"

Zu An's expression became strange. "You're not concocting it to use against my father-in-law, are you?" Thinking of this guy's intentions towards Qin Wanru, he had good reason to be suspicious.

"Am I that kind of person?" Ji Dengtu said, clearly a little uneasy. "Go on, get out, don't disturb my reading!"

"Huh," Zu An mused, "why do you need paper to read a storybook?"

"Don't you realize what you've written yourself?!"

After leaving the Ji family, Zu An rushed back to the Chu family without stopping to report the deal with Sang Hong to Qin Wanru. Qin Wanru was initially a little flustered when she saw him, but after hearing what he said, she couldn't help but become agitated. "That despicable Sang Hong," she exclaimed, "he actually planned to harm Zhong Tian even while in prison!"

"That's right," Zu An said in a deep voice. "We submitted the salt vouchers so long ago. Logically, they should have released father-in-law by now. The delay for so long clearly means Sang Hong is interfering, so I couldn't treat his threat lightly. I naturally had to agree. Everything else can wait until father-in-law is out."

"Ah Zu, thank you for everything you've done for the Chu family," Qin Wanru said, her expression quite complex. "I... I don't know how to thank you enough."

"It's what I should do," Zu An said with a chuckle. "Of course, if Madam truly wants to thank me, why not give Xiao Zhao to me? I find her quite adorable."

Qin Wanru was stunned at first, then her face flushed crimson. She picked up a feather duster nearby and was about to hit him. "You scoundrel!" she exclaimed. "I knew you had that idea!"

Anger points from Qin Wanru +66, +66, +66…

Zu An dodged while pleading for mercy. "Ouch," he cried, "I was just kidding! Why are you taking it seriously, Madam?"

The two continued to chase and tussle around the central pillar, while the guards outside exchanged glances.

"What's going on?" one whispered.

"Why is Madam trying to hit the son-in-law?" another asked.

"You wouldn't understand," a third replied. "This is how she acts when she considers someone family—without restraint."

"I see," the first guard murmured. "Brother, you truly have clear insight."

After a while, the two chasing each other in the room finally stopped. Qin Wanru leaned against the pillar, panting, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Clearly, having just recovered from severe injuries, she was completely exhausted from the exertion.

"Madam, you're still injured," Zu An quickly said. "Please don't overexert yourself."

Not knowing what she thought of, Qin Wanru's face flushed slightly, and she huffed. *This guy's movements are really fast,* she thought. *Even though I'm weak, I'm still a sixth-rank master, after all. Yet in this small space, I couldn't catch him. No wonder he was able to escape from a grandmaster.*

Worried that she would continue to interrogate him, Zu An quickly changed the subject. "The most pressing concern now," he said, "is what if, even after agreeing to Sang Hong's terms, he goes back on his word and harms father-in-law?"

"I'll go grease some palms and pull some strings," Qin Wanru said. "Over the years, our Chu family still has some connections. Additionally, I'll send Yue Shan there personally to provide discreet protection throughout."

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'm relieved," he said.

Qin Wanru hesitated slightly. "That spiritual medicine of yours must be very precious, right?" she asked. "After all, it has the effect of bringing people back from the dead."

Earlier, she had initially misunderstood that Zu An had saved her in *that* way, but after calming down, she quickly realized. After all, as someone who had experienced it, she could distinguish from her body's condition whether she had been intimate with a man. When she heard him mention it today, she became even more certain that it was the spiritual medicine that had truly saved her that day.

*This fellow is truly disrespectful,* she thought. *To actually make such a joke! It made me worry for so long...*

Anger points from Qin Wanru +3, +3, +3…

Zu An was startled. *You're clearly thanking me, so why are you getting angry now? Besides, if you're going to get angry, can't you get more angry? What good are these scattered points? Where was the energy you used to have, constantly giving hundreds of points at the slightest provocation?*

Despite his internal grumbling, Zu An still replied, "As long as it can save father-in-law, everything is worth it."

Qin Wanru opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. After a long moment, it only turned into three words: "Thank you."

A few more days passed. After Qin Wanru had arranged everything concerning the prison, Zu An finally informed Zheng Dan. On this day, Zheng Dan personally came to pick up Zu An.

Seeing the carriage before him, Zu An unceremoniously climbed in. "You didn't take a sedan chair today," he remarked, "is it because a carriage makes it easier for me to get in?"

Zheng Dan's face flushed. She pulled down the carriage curtain and quickly said, "We're going to the Sang family soon, so don't you dare cause trouble."