Chapter 69: Honey Trap  

Pika

Zheng Dan smiled and said, “We’re going to be a family soon. Any problem you’re facing is naturally my problem too. Feel free to speak.”

Sang Qian quietly clicked his tongue. You speak such beautiful words, but you wouldn’t even allow me to hold your hands.

“Zu An has a promissory note for seven-and-a-half million silver taels at the Silverhook Casino at the moment. He’s under the protection of the Chu clan, and he spends the rest of his time at Brightmoon Academy. As you know, I’m not in a good position to interfere in the affairs of the academy. May I ask you to get close to him and ‘borrow’ the note from him?”

“How should I get close to him?” Zheng Dan frowned, an ominous premonition growing in her heart.

“All men in the world are vulnerable to the ensnarement of a beauty, and trash like him even more so. With your looks, you’ll surely be able to enchant him easily and make him do your bidding.” Sang Qian made a confident gesture as the corners of his lips crept up in a cold sneer.

Zheng Dan’s expression immediately turned frosty. She stood up and demanded hotly, “Just what kind of person do you take me for?”

Sang Qian quickly explained himself. “I know that I’m putting you in a tight spot, but you’re the only one I can trust. That’s why I came to seek your help.”

His excuses did little to placate Zheng Dan’s rage. “So, the idea you came up with is to have your fiancée seduce another man?” she snarled angrily.

Sang Qian frowned. “Don’t phrase it so awfully. I just want you to find an opportunity to get close to him. It’s not like I’m asking you to get in bed with him. I reckon a lowlife like him barely has any experience with women. With your looks, all you have to do is whisper some sweet nothings at him, and you’ll have him dancing to your tune.”

“His wife is the number one beauty of Brightmoon City, Chu Chuyan! With someone like that by his side, can he really be considered as someone who has no experience with women?” retorted Zheng Dan.

“I’ve never thought of you as inferior to Chu Chuyan in any way. In terms of appearance, each of you has your own charms. The only reason people see her as the number one beauty is in deference to her position as the daughter of the Brightmoon Duke. Haven’t you thought that stealing her man would help to vent the frustrations you’ve pent up all these years?” Sang Qian’s keen senses had noticed the slight fluctuation in Zheng Dan’s tone, so he decided to push a little harder.

He was aware that, despite his fiancée’s gentle exterior, she had always viewed Chu Chuyan as her rival. She would easily lose her composure whenever it came to affairs involving Chu Chuyan.

As expected, Zheng Dan’s eyes immediately lit up. She was intrigued by Sang Qian’s proposal. “Since you don’t mind, I’ll give it a try. However, if Zu An manages to take advantage of me, the one that’ll lose out is you.”

Sang Qian burst out laughing. “Others might not know better, but I know that beneath your gentle exterior lies a proud soul. Trash of Zu An’s level could never catch your eye, so how could you possibly allow him to take advantage of you?”

“It’s too early to say that. Since you want me to lay a honey trap for him, I’ll have to offer him some benefits in order to hook him. We should prepare for the worst. How much would you be willing to tolerate?”

“The limit of my tolerance... at most, a hug. No, that won’t do as well. Just holding hands, that's the most I can accept!” Just the thought of Zu An taking advantage of his fiancée made Sang Qian itch all over. “Once the matter is done, I’ll make sure to cut off his hands.”

Zheng Dan chuckled softly at Sang Qian’s display of jealousy. What’s the big deal about holding hands? I just have to wash them afterward. It’s merely his ego that makes him overly obsessed with such trivialities.

“Speaking of which, why did you all settle for the promissory note? You can’t possibly believe the Plum Blossom Sect has the resources to fork over all those silver taels, right?” asked Zheng Dan.

“The Plum Blossom Sect alone doesn’t have the ability to raise that much money, but it’s a different story if we consider the master they’re serving,” Sang Qian said with a scheming laugh.

While they were currently partners, ultimately, their goals still differed from one another. If they ever had a falling out in the future, this note would prove an invaluable weapon.

Zheng Dan merely nodded in response. She couldn’t be bothered with the details of such lowly schemes. The higher a person’s standing, the more they scorned such despicable and dirty tricks. “Tell me more about this Zu An. I’ve only heard rumors about him thus far. Since you met him today, the information you have should be more accurate.”

Thinking about his encounter in the casino, Sang Qian began speaking hatefully, “He’s a minor character who let his arrogance get ahead of his ability just because he managed to climb up to the high branches of the Chu clan. He’s an incredibly shameless and despicable person...”

...

“Achoo!”

Zu An rubbed his nose and wondered who was talking about him behind his back.

Beside him, Chu Chuyan glanced over and said, “You must be very happy right now.”

Zu An replied with a chuckle, “Anyone would feel happy after winning seven and a half million silver taels.”

“With how the incident has blown up, I reckon my parents are already aware of it by now. Let’s see how you deal with them then,” Chu Chuyan scoffed in response.

Zu An was taken aback. “It’s still an issue even if I won?”

“This isn’t about the money. My parents care a lot about the reputation of the Chu clan, and it’s a known fact that our Chu clan strictly forbids its clan members from gambling. You went a bit too far this time, nearly stirring up a conflict between our private army and the local guards. There’s no way they’ll turn a blind eye to that,” replied Chu Chuyan.

Zu An was displeased. “But that’s seven-and-a-half million silver taels we’re talking about here! Does the annual profit of the Chu clan even come close to that number? Why am I going to get punished after earning so much money?”

“Are the seven-and-a-half million silver taels in your hands right now?” Chu Chuyan silenced him with a sharp jab. “We all know there’s no way the Plum Blossom Sect will repay its debt. We’re putting ourselves at risk for a blank promise of repayment. It’s only natural that my parents would get angry.”

“But can’t we still collect interest from them every year?” asked Zu An weakly.

“That’s just mere words. There’s bound to be complications later on,” Chu Chuyan sighed.

She knew the Plum Blossom Sect would renege on its promise, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t possibly order the Red Cloak Army to massacre the Plum Blossom Sect, after all—that would be falling right into the enemy’s trap. If that happened, the royal court would have all the justification it needed to deal with the Chu clan.

“Young miss, young miss~”

Snow ran toward them, gasping for breath.

“Where did you go? What took you so long?” asked Chu Chuyan with a frown.

Snow quickly explained, “I also don’t know what’s up today, but my stomach feels unwell....”

Zu An waved his hand before his nose in disdain. “In other words, you went to take a shit, right? You must’ve filled up the entire lavatory if you took so long.”

Snow was struck dumb.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 444 Rage points!

She had rushed over after meeting with Mei Chaofeng, and she was just making an excuse to satisfy Chu Chuyan. A normal person would have let the matter rest without further comment. Who knew Zu An would actually dig deeper, and even scorn her? It was almost as if there was a stench coming from her!

“Young miss, look at him!” Snow stomped her feet angrily as she tugged Chu Chuyan’s sleeves in protest.

I’m going to kill this vile fellow later in the night, so we can’t get into a conflict right now. I’ll make myself the prime suspect, otherwise.

Chu Chuyan glared at Zu An. “Could you stop being so disgusting?”

It was worth noting that, even though she had berated Zu An, she had still subconsciously shaken off Snow’s hand. Clearly, Zu An’s remark had affected her perception of Snow, too.

This minor gesture was a critical blow to Snow.

This scoundrel...

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 300 Rage points!

Zu An shrugged casually and said, “If anyone here is disgusting, it should be that human-shaped shit-maker over there, not me.”

“Shit-maker?!” Snow felt blood rushing to her head, and nearly fainted on the spot. For a split second, she was willing to throw everything away just to obliterate that bastard in front of her. She had never felt such extreme hatred for anyone. If she could, she would have diced up his body from head to toe.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 888 Rage points!

Even Yue Shan, who was walking silently ahead of them, shuddered a little at that insult. Our young master might be trash in every other aspect, but his ability to provoke rage is really top-notch. I doubt there’s anyone in the whole of Brightmoon City who can hold a candle to him. To safeguard my mental health, I should really try not to cross him in the future.

“Enough! Stop messing around, both of you. Don’t either of you feel embarrassed, causing a public spectacle here?” Chu Chuyan could almost see smoke rising from Snow’s head, so she quickly separated the two.

Snow huffed impatiently and turned her head away. If I don’t make this fellow beg for a quick death tonight, I’ll renounce my own name!

An old man stood by the entrance of the Chu clan. His clothes were prim and proper, with not a single wrinkle in sight. His white hair was combed neatly. His appearance reflected his austere personality.

Zu An recognized the old man. He was the butler of the Chu Estate, Hong Zhong.

Hong Zhong greeted Chu Chuyan with a bow, and she quickly greeted him in kind. The old man had loyally served the Chu clan for decades now, and he had earned the respect of everyone in the estate.

After exchanging greetings, Hong Zhong informed them, “Master has ordered me to bring the young master to the study once he returns.”

Then he turned around and led the way forward. Chu Chuyan shot an I-told-you-so glance at Zu An and followed Hong Zhong to the study.

Zu An was surprised that Hong Zhong’s attitude and tone were no different than before. By now, the old man should have heard about the conflict he’d had with Hong Xingying earlier in the day. So why did he seem completely unfazed?

Hong Zhong seemed to have guessed Zu An’s thoughts. “Young miss, young master, I already heard about what happened with Xingying. That child has always been proud and reckless, and it was in a moment of folly that he crossed the young master. Allow me to apologize to the young master on his behalf. Young master, I hope you won’t take this matter to heart. I’ll teach him a lesson once he comes back.”

“Uncle Zhong, you’re taking this matter too seriously. Zu An has his faults, too,” Chu Chuyan quickly replied.

Zu An was obviously displeased by that response. What does this have to do with me? It’s that proud fellow who keeps trying to mess around with me.

He was just about to say something when Chu Chuyan shot him a piercing glare, leaving him no choice but to swallow his words. It seemed Hong Zhong had a high standing in the Chu Estate.

Fine. I’ll let this go, since you’re my wife.

Hong Zhong shook his head and added, “I know that child well. He harbors some grandiose thoughts, so it’s inevitable that he feels a little frustrated at the moment. Without a doubt, he was the one who started this conflict. Even though Master and Madam haven’t said anything about this matter, I’ve been feeling deeply guilty about it.”

His words carried a deep sincerity. Zu An couldn’t fathom how someone as upright and honest as Hong Zhong could possibly have raised such a narrow-minded son. Out of consideration for the old butler, he decided that he wouldn’t exact vengeance on Hong Xingying, as long as he didn’t mess with him anymore.

Chu Chuyan responded with her own heartfelt reassurance, and with just a few words, she was able to quickly alleviate Hong Zhong’s awkwardness. She smoothly transitioned the conversation over to the Chu clan’s businesses, and it didn’t take long for the atmosphere to lighten.

Zu An had wondered how someone as cold as Chu Chuyan could properly manage the Chu clan’s businesses. Now, he was starting to see why.

It wasn’t long before the group arrived at the study, where Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru were waiting for them.

“Zu An! The gall! The audacity! How dare you visit the casino so publicly? Not only that, you even brought Chuyan with you!” Qin Wanru slammed a palm on the table and glared at him angrily.

You have successfully trolled Qin Wanru for 77 Rage points!