Lu De’s brow furrowed even deeper. His gut told him that something was amiss.

“Taking a thousand steps back, even if I did owe you money from gambling, where’s the promissory note then? Why don’t you bring it out and show everyone?” challenged Zu An.

Plum Blossom Thirteen shouted back in agitation, “I’ve already given you the promissory note!”

Zu An raised his hands up high and said innocently, “Teacher, so as to prove my innocence, I ask you to search my body to see if I have the note he speaks of!”

“You tore it up earlier!” Plum Blossom Thirteen finally understood why Zu An had done that. From the very start, he was already scheming to do him in!

Zu An sighed helplessly before answering, “Even if I tore it up, there should still be traces of it around, right?”

“You crushed it so thoroughly that it turned to dust and scattered with the wind earlier!” Plum Blossom Thirteen insisted.

Zu An shook his head. “Aren’t you trying a little too hard? Who in Brightmoon City doesn’t know that I’m notoriously useless? If I did have the power to crush a piece of paper to dust, would I have been assigned to the Yellow class in the first place?”

“But he really…” Plum Blossom Thirteen felt a chill run down his spine. He turned anxiously to Lu De, but the discipline master gave him no chance to explain.

“Enough!” Lu De roared furiously. “I don’t care what misdeeds your Plum Blossom Sect gets up to out there, but I won’t stand for you bullying our students! Today, I’ll break two of your legs. Go back and tell Mei Chaofeng, if his subordinates dare to mess with the academy once more, I will show no mercy.”

Lu De flicked his sleeves, and the ruler flew straight for Plum Blossom Thirteen’s knee joints. There were two resounding ‘thwacks’, and the assassin fell over with a yelp of agony.

From the unnatural angle at which Plum Blossom Thirteen’s legs were bent, Zu An could tell that he had suffered a complete fracture in both legs. He gasped in astonishment. He had heard from Wei Suo just how painful Lu De’s ruler could be, but judging from Plum Blossom Thirteen’s current state, it was apparent that Lu De had been going easy on the students he disciplined.

Even more shocking was how Lu De had used his ruler. He had not been holding on to it at all—the ruler had struck Plum Blossom Thirteen’s legs all on its own before flying back into Lu De’s hand.

That thing is an artifact! Zu An reminded himself never to fall into Lu De’s hands, lest he suffered the same fate!

You have successfully trolled Plum Blossom Thirteen for 567 Rage points!

As he groaned on the ground, Plum Blossom Thirteen shot a venomous glare at Zu An.

This was natural human behavior. Plum Blossom Thirteen dared not blame Lu De, who was far stronger than him, so he could only vent his emotions on the weaker Zu An instead. 

He swore to himself that he would snap off that scoundrel’s four limbs—no, five limbs!—once he recovered from his injuries. Then, he would slice him up slowly, piece by piece, and toss them all into Wolf Valley!

Lu De passed the ki stones back to Zu An. “Take care of them well. You’re too weak at the moment, so it’s even more important for you to learn how to conceal your own wealth.”

Zu An nodded his head vigorously and replied, “You’re right, teacher. Unfortunately, that fellow also stole my money as well. If you could help me get those back too…” He trailed off with a sheepish chuckle.

This fellow sure is trouble, Lu De thought to himself. However, since Zu An was indeed a student of the academy, he waved a hand toward Plum Blossom Thirteen. With a beckoning gesture, the money purse flew from Plum Blossom Thirteen’s waist and landed softly in his hand.

“How much money did he take from you?” asked Lu De.

Zu An took the entire money pouch and said, “This is all mine. Thank you, teacher, thank you.”

Lu De’s frown grew so deep his eyebrows almost touched. Although he was suspicious of Zu An’s claim, he was well aware that Plum Blossom Thirteen’s hands weren’t clean, and he probably came by his money through underhanded means. With that in mind, he decided to let it slide, and allowed Zu An to do as he pleased.

Plum Blossom Thirteen didn’t see it the same way. “Those taels are mine!” he cried indignantly.

You only gave me a hundred silver taels earlier on! The remaining eight hundred are all that I’ve managed to painstakingly save up over the last few years!

Plum Blossom Thirteen hadn’t expected Zu An to be so shameless as to stoop to petty thievery! He never trusted anyone but himself, so he always carried his money around with him no matter where he went. Who could have thought that his many years of savings would be stolen from him just like that?

You have successfully trolled Plum Blossom Thirteen for 999 Rage points!

“You’re saying that this is your money?” Zu An leisurely dangled the money pouch in front of the stricken Plum Blossom Thirteen. “Try calling for them then. Let’s see if they’ll respond to your call?”

That was the final blow. 

Unable to take it anymore, Plum Blossom Thirteen felt his heart convulse, and fresh blood spurted out from his mouth.

What the hell! Who in the world is the antagonist here?

You have successfully trolled Plum Blossom Thirteen for 999 Rage points!

Lu De shot a glance toward Plum Blossom Thirteen and Zu An, but chose not to interfere. He waved a hand toward the gathered crowd. “All right, show’s over. Stop loitering around and go home!” 

Zu An waved Plum Blossom Thirteen goodbye and left with Chu Huanzhao and the others.

“Just you wait, Zu scoundrel! Our Plum Blossom Sect will never let you off that easily!” The echoes of Plum Blossom Thirteen’s vile curses could be heard even from a distance away.

You have successfully trolled Plum Blossom Thirteen for 999 Rage points!

Zu An shook his head. This wasn’t the first time the Plum Blossom Sect had tried to deal with him, and it was naive to think that he would be able to survive every single assassination attempt of theirs. He would have to find a way to deal with them soon. 

They had made it a short distance when Cheng Shouping couldn’t hold himself back any further. He ran up to Zu An with a fawning smile. “Young master! My respect for you flourishes like the relentless tides of a river…”

“Flourishes? Pui!” Zu An shoved Cheng Shouping’s head aside. He fished out a silver ingot from Plum Blossom Thirteen’s money pouch and threw it at Cheng Shouping. “Here, your reward. You did well earlier.”

“Thanks, young master~” Cheng Shouping fondled the silver ingot delightfully.

“Where’s mine?” Chu Huanzhao demanded, stretching out her fair hands towards him. They were as smooth as jade.

Zu An also tossed a silver ingot to her, but this only made Chu Huanzhao arch her eyebrows. “So little? Are you trying to wave away a beggar?”

The smile on Cheng Shouping’s face froze instantly. He felt like he had just been offended.

Zu An massaged his temples. “How much do you want then?”

“At least half of it!” Chu Huanzhao exclaimed excitedly. She had never felt such a strong feeling of accomplishment before. While she often got her way in the Chu Estate, it never felt satisfying since no one dared to stand in the way of the Second Miss.

“Half of it? This is daylight robbery!” Zu An exclaimed in horror.

“Hmph! If I hadn’t backed you up there, do you think that Baldhead would have believed you so easily?” Chu Huanzhao stuck her small chest out proudly. “I put the reputation of our Chu clan on the line in order to help you! Don’t you think that that was at least worth half of the loot?”

“The highest I can go is a third,” Zu An replied sharply. He grabbed a few banknotes and shoved them over to her.

This seemed to satisfy Chu Huanzhao. She counted the few notes she had in her hands again and again, an excited gleam in her eyes. 

Zu An eyed her in disdain. “Say, do you really need to act like this? No matter what, you’re still the Second Miss of the Chu clan! Do you need to get so excited over just a few hundred silver taels?”

“This is different. This is money that I didn’t receive from my parents; money that I earned with my own hands. Isn’t that a cause for celebration?” Chu Huanzhao replied with a sweet smile.

Does this lass have some kind of misunderstanding as to what ‘earning money’ means? If her parents were to learn that I have led her astray, wouldn’t they skin me alive?!

Just thinking about that tigress Qin Wanru was more than enough to make Zu An shudder in fear. He grabbed hold of Chu Huanzhao’s arm and told her gravely, “Make sure not to speak a word of this matter to your parents.”

Chu Huanzhao blinked her eyes in confusion. “Why? This is the first time I’m earning money; they would be happy about it!”

“Errr…” Zu An pondered for a moment, then approached the matter from another perspective. “From what you know of them, do you think that they’d allow you to continue earning money through such a method?”

“Hmmm. Well, I guess that makes sense too. Fine, I won’t tell them.” Chu Huanzhao carefully slotted the banknotes into her robe before patting Zu An’s shoulders. “Make sure to call me the next time you encounter a good deal like this!”

Zu An was amused. Isn’t this lass a born tyrant?

Once they arrived at the Chu Estate, the two of them parted ways. After all, their residences were not located in the same direction.

Zu An returned to his little house and pulled Cheng Shouping over to one side. “Lil’ Pingping, do you know how much it costs to buy a small residence in the city?”

Not only was he tired of the disdain he continually received in the Chu Estate, there was also someone in the Chu clan who was out to kill him. Getting his own place of residence would make life much more comfortable, not to mention safer.

He would have suffered it if he didn’t have a choice, but now that he had hundreds of silver taels and seven ki stones that he could trade for money, he could be considered a ‘thousand-aire’.

Back in his previous world, countless men dreamt constantly of traveling back to the ancient era to live an easy and decadent life, surrounded by gorgeous wives and beautiful maids… And now that he was in this world, he finally had a chance to fulfill his dreams!

In his current state, ‘gorgeous wives’ was probably a pipe dream, but at the very least, he could aim for ‘beautiful maids’, right?

Cheng Shouping’s face fell instantly. His voice was that of a heartbroken suitor. “Young master, are you going to abandon me?”

“Cut that out! Stop portraying me as a heartless man trying to dump you!” Zu An snapped angrily. “I just want to get a small residence so that I’ll have somewhere to retreat to when things aren’t going well. If you wish to continue following me then, you’re more than welcome to. Also, do you know how much beautiful maids cost?”

The mention of ‘beautiful maids’ immediately sparked a gleam in Cheng Shouping’s eyes. He immediately began analyzing the costs for the young master. “Well, a small residence costs around several hundred silver taels, though some of the more rundown ones can probably be acquired at a hundred silver taels. As for beautiful maids though, they can get pretty pricey. Over at the market, their prices range from tens of silver taels to over a thousand silver taels.”

Zu An felt relieved that the housing prices here weren’t as ridiculous as in his previous world. His thousand silver taels was around 180,000 RMB, which was only enough for him to buy a toilet in the city.

“There’s such a huge price difference amongst the different maids?” Zu An was surprised. “How is it that some of them cost over a thousand silver taels?”

“I heard that those are skilled in the four arts, be it zither, chess, calligraphy, or painting. On top of that, they are also as beautiful as fairies from heaven…”

Before Cheng Shouping could finish his description, Zu An waved a hand impatiently. “Enough enough, I’m not planning to open a brothel here. Why would I need such multi-talented maids? We’ll just look for some more decent-looking ones with a gentle disposition. The other skills aren’t important.”

Cheng Shouping nodded quietly, but harbored very different thoughts on the inside. If you can’t afford it, just say so. There’s no need to insist that you don’t need them.