Chapter 70: Inventory

Chu Zhongtian, who had been leisurely sipping tea, jolted at the sudden loud bang of the table, nearly spilling his teacup. To mask his embarrassment, he cleared his throat and immediately chimed in, "That's right, Zu'an, do you know your crime?"

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

Both Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru were taken aback. They had expected Zu'an to instinctively argue and had prepared their rebuttals. His direct confession left them at a loss for words.

Chu Chuyan and Yue Shan, standing nearby, couldn't help but glance at him. He looked utterly meek and innocent at that moment, a stark contrast to the sharp-tongued man who had dominated the Silverhook Casino.

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

"I didn't know," Zu'an lied, wide-eyed, patting his chest. "I only just found out now that you've told me, Mother-in-law. Please don't let this upset you too much; I promise I'll never step foot in such a filthy place again."

He thought to himself, "What a joke! How idiotic would Mei Chaofeng have to be to let me keep winning money at the casino? This promise means nothing."

Qin Wanru gasped, his attitude rendering 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 too?"

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

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

Xue'er, standing by, looked like she wanted to speak but held her tongue. She figured since the man would be dealt with that night, whatever punishment the Chu family gave him wouldn't matter.

Qin Wanru clearly saw Chu Chuyan's protective intent. She wondered what kind of spell Zu'an had cast on her daughter to make her defend him so quickly.

The thought of her precious daughter possibly being led astray made her glare fiercely at Zu'an.

Qin Wanru's Rage +33!

Seeing this message, Zu'an was surprised. He thought, "Chu Chuyan said what she did, and you're still mad at *me*? That's just unreasonable."

However, he never minded getting more rage points; the more, the better.

Chu Zhongtian cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "This incident has gotten too big, almost leading to a conflict with the local army. Ultimately, you're the 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. After all, Chuyan is my wife now, and what's mine is hers, so it naturally belongs to the Chu family."

Chu Chuyan's face darkened beside him. Even though he was telling the truth, his words grated on her ears.

Qin Wanru snorted heavily. "We wouldn't dare accept this money. Our Chu family has maintained a clean reputation for generations, never touching ill-gotten gains from gambling, prostitution, or drugs. If we were to take 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 to support the household."

Chu Zhongtian added, "That's right. We can't let this tarnish the Chu family's centuries-old reputation. You should put it away and never mention this matter again."

Xue'er, standing nearby, 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 complicate things later. Now, everything was going according to plan, making things much simpler.

Zu'an tucked the IOU into his robe, muttering to himself, "Ultimately, it's just an IOU that's almost impossible to collect. If 7.5 million taels of actual gold and silver were sitting here, I doubt you'd be so virtuous."

Could the Chu family even make that much money in a year's net profit?

What are family rules worth in the face of absolute profit?

"What a shame," Zu'an thought, feeling a bit frustrated. This IOU was useless in his hands; he had no way to collect from the Plum Blossom Gang. At best, he might receive some interest at the end of the year, but Mei Chaofeng didn't seem like the kind of person who would quietly pay him interest; he'd likely cause trouble.

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

"Ten thousand times?" Zu'an's eyes widened. "How am I supposed to finish that much?"

"You're not allowed out until you've finished, to prevent you from causing trouble all day," Qin Wanru said, a hint of smugness in her eyes. "Hmph, don't think I don't know you had Cheng Shoubing copy it for you last time. Ten thousand times, even if you ask him, he won't be able to finish it. You'll be staying home every night for a while. Go on, start copying now."

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, are you starting to feel sorry for him too?" Qin Wanru snorted.

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

Chu Zhongtian, standing by, chuckled and said, "Chuyan, you don't need to worry. Your mother always speaks harshly but has a kind heart. On the surface, making Zu'an copy so much is a punishment, but in reality, it's to protect him. Think about it: the Plum Blossom Gang suffered such a huge loss, how could they let it go? If Zu'an continues to wander around, there's no telling if they'll strike him down. Then, without any evidence, we wouldn't be able to avenge him."

"Now, with him safely copying the family rules in the mansion, no matter how powerful 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, whose face had been stern, now revealed a gentle smile. "Chuyan, your talent surpasses ours. All you lack now is experience and time. In due course, your achievements will surely exceed your father's and mine."

Chu Chuyan smiled faintly, but her eyes held a touch of melancholy. In a few decades, her prime would be gone, and she would still be alone. As for Zu'an, he wasn't even a consideration for her.

"Achoo!"

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

"Young master, you're finally back!" A young voice piped up as Cheng Shoubing, with his two round buns for a hairstyle, scurried over. He had heard that Zu'an was with Xue'er on this outing and had hoped to catch a glimpse of her, but to his disappointment, only Steward Hong Zhong was with Zu'an.

Zu'an chuckled and grabbed his collar. "Perfect timing! You can help me copy the family rules."

"Huh? Copying again?" Cheng Shoubing's face instantly fell. "How many times this time?"

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

"Ten thousand times?" Cheng Shoubing immediately jumped up. He wondered if his young master was bad at math or misunderstood the number ten thousand.

Hong Zhong led him to the quiet study and said, "Young master, please do not leave until you've finished copying." After speaking, he turned and left, leaving Zu'an and Cheng Shoubing, master and servant, staring at the wall full of family rules and at each other.

"Young master, spare me! My hand would break before I could finish ten thousand copies," Cheng Shoubing pleaded. He was determined not to copy for him this time; the memory of being tricked into copying all night last time still made him shudder.

"Who are we to each other? If you don't help me, who will?" Zu'an said, chuckling as he put an arm around his shoulder.

"Nuh-uh, I won't copy!" Cheng Shoubing shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Zu'an sighed and flicked a silver note. "Well, I just made a small fortune, and I was going to reward you with these 100 taels if you helped me copy. Since you're unwilling, I'll find someone else."

Although 7.5 million taels were an IOU, the other 150,000 taels were real money. His trip to the Silverhook Casino had indeed been quite profitable today.

Cheng Shoubing's eyes lit up. He quickly reached out and snatched the silver note, his face immediately breaking into a fawning smile. "As your young master's attendant, how could I let someone else do such a thing? Of course, I'll do it!"

"Alright, it's all yours. I'm going back to sleep," Zu'an yawned. His outing today had been quite draining.

Cheng Shoubing, however, frowned deeply. "But young master, I can't finish ten thousand copies all by myself."

Zu'an rolled his eyes. "Otherwise, why do you think I'd give you 100 taels? Can't you use the money to find other attendants in the mansion to help you copy?"

Cheng Shoubing's eyes brightened again, but he immediately said, "But then I'd have less money left over!"

Zu'an waved his hand dismissively. "The funds are yours. I don't care if you copy it alone or hire people; just make sure all ten thousand copies are done." With that, he swaggered away, leaving Cheng Shoubing in a dilemma.

On his way back to his room, Zu'an began tallying the rage points he had earned from his outing: tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...

Total rage points!

Zu'an grinned widely, recalling the day's encounters. It seemed having more antagonists was beneficial.

Back in his room, he drew a basin of water and was about to wash his face to begin his lottery draw when a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"How did you do it?"

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

It was uncanny. The old man looked like he'd fall over in a breeze, yet he made no sound when he walked. 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 careless. For some reason, while he could shamelessly earn rage points from others, he felt an instinctive fear toward 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 rumors in the mansion are that you won 7.5 million taels from the Silverhook Casino in just two rounds. How exactly did you do it?" Old Man Mi's small eyes fixed on him, filled with curiosity.