When she saw Chu Chuyan’s ambiguous smile, Xie Daoyun immediately panicked. She quickly moved away from Zu An. Then, she punched her little brother to get rid of her embarrassment. She pulled on his ears and dragged him off to the side, saying, “The capital isn’t Brightmoon City! Stop messing around.”

Their father was in charge of Brightmoon City, so they could always scrape by somehow no matter what he did to girls. However, the capital was different. Any random person might have a higher rank than their father! If something happened, then there would be no saving the situation.

“Aaaah! Sis, please let go! I didn’t do anything bad!” Xie Xiu screamed. Who wouldn’t be embarrassed by having their ears pulled in public?

Zu An was just about to laugh at him when Chu Chuyan quietly moved to his side and pinched his waist without anyone noticing.

Zu An inhaled sharply through his teeth. In the past, when Chu Chuyan hadn’t immediately lashed out from jealousy, he had actually felt a bit upset. He had felt that perhaps she didn’t care that much about him. But now that she acted jealous, he realized that she had been a bit cuter before. Sigh, am I not just a piece of shit…?

The group chatted for a while before heading to Zu An’s residence. Xie Xiu and Xie Daoyun looked around his house with curiosity, and even Jiang Luofu gave it a few looks.

“Haha, looks like we have a base in the capital now. We’ll come over to play whenever there’s some free time,” Xie Xiu said with a laugh.

For the sake of properly fostering these two, their father had deliberately chosen not to purchase any property here. He had made them live in the academy dormitory so they could study properly. But even though the academy dormitory wasn’t so bad, how could it compare to a house outside?

Zu An said with a smile, “You’re welcome anytime.” He looked at Xie Daoyun as he spoke.

Xie Daoyun felt her heart jump. Why am I like this? Don’t tell me he said that specially to me? This guy is a pervert after all! Even though she was unhappy, she didn’t show any anger. Instead, her cheeks were flushed red, making her look even more charming than usual.

Chu Chuyan had been ordering some servants to set up a fire pan by the entrance and didn’t notice what was going on. “Everyone, please cross over this fire pan to burn away bad luck,” she urged everyone.

Zu An couldn’t help but chuckle. He didn’t expect this different world to have so many customs too. He crossed the fire pan, but right when he was about to enter the room, Chu Chuyan stopped him.

Chu Chuyan said, “Remove all of your clothes and burn them in the fire pan. Don’t bring the imperial prison’s bad luck back home.”

Zu An frowned. “We don’t need to go that far, right?”

“Absolutely not; you must do this.” Chu Chuyan was extremely stubborn on this matter.

Jiang Luofu smiled and said, “Even though this thing called luck is a bit vague, it indeed exists. There’s no harm in being more careful.”

Helpless to resist, Zu An could only remove his clothes and toss them into the fire pan.

“Ah!” Murong Qinghe blushed. She quickly covered her eyes with her hands. However, there were small gaps between her fingers.

Chu Youzhao told herself that she was a man right now, so she couldn’t act like a little girl in front of everyone. However, if someone looked at her from behind, they would notice a ring of bright red around her neck.

Jiang Luofu was the one who acted the most naturally. As a mature woman, she obviously wouldn’t be as shy as these little girls. She looked at Zu An’s body with appreciative eyes.

Xie Daoyun was the most ladylike person in the group. She immediately turned around and refused to look at Zu An. However, the image of his masculine body was already imprinted in her mind.

Xie Xiu looked at Zu An’s muscles enviously and remarked, “Brother Zu, how do you train your body? I didn’t expect you to be so big!”

Zu An’s muscles weren’t only robust; they didn’t bulge like other people’s. His body’s lines were flowing and smooth, yet the group could all feel the explosive power contained with them.

As a pretty boy, even though Xie Xiu believed that he was unmatched in terms of facial features, he still felt his build was a bit lacking. For example, he felt his abs had already been developed to the highest level possible. Even though he normally mocked more muscular men, he still couldn’t help but admire someone like Zu An who had both looks and strength.

Zu An said proudly, “It’s not something you can learn. This is called having strong genes!” He couldn’t just say that those muscles had been obtained by getting beaten up, right? That would be way too embarrassing.

Chu Chuyan then said, “Take off your pants,” leaving Zu An speechless.

Jiang Luofu’s expression also became a bit unnatural. She subconsciously turned to the side and pretended to be looking somewhere else.

Xie Xiu felt even more pained and humiliated. He had finally freed himself from what he had seen that day in the dungeon. Did he really have to see it again? I don’t want to!

Xie Daoyun sighed inside. There had been rumors that Chu First Miss and Zu An were husband and wife only in name. But judging from how things looked, they were clearly already a proper couple!

Chu Youzhao turned Murong Qinghe around, saying, “Little Qinghe, you can’t look at something like that.” However, that scene of Zu An and Chu Chuyan appeared in her head, and her heart rate immediately quickened.

Zu An laughed in embarrassment. “That wouldn’t be too good, right?”

“I’m not telling you to take them off in front of everyone.” Chu Chuyan rolled her eyes. She ordered a servant to set up a makeshift changing room.

Zu An sighed in admiration. His wife really was meticulous! For the sake of preventing awkwardness, he changed behind cover while asking, “Huh? Where did all of these maids come from?”

Chu Chuyan replied, “Did you forget already? I said I was going to help you with that. You were worried about the people here, so I found some of the clan’s servants to bring here. They finally arrived, so there are people to help you with your everyday life now.”

Zu An felt warm inside. “I was going to say that these fellows looked familiar. Right, why don’t I see that brat Cheng Shouping?” he asked.

Chu Chuyan replied, “I don’t know either. My mom said that even the Reader Elder doesn’t like him, that he’s the most annoying person. That’s why she didn’t send him. Now that we’re on the topic, who is Reader Elder?”

Zu An was stunned and said, “I have no idea. But even though that kid is a bit slow, he’s quite the lucky star.” However, he didn’t argue.

After changing into new clothes, he invited Jiang Luofu and the others inside. A feast had already been prepared. Now that these fellow townsfolk had gathered together, the atmosphere became more and more lively.

Zu An took the opportunity to pour a glass for Jiang Luofu. “Big sis principal, I really have to thank you this time. It’s all because of your esteemed father that I was able to safely make it through this matter.”

Jiang Luofu thought to herself that this kid was too embarrassed to call her ‘gorgeous principal’ in front of his wife’s face. She replied, “My father has always been an upright and plainspoken man. He wouldn’t act out of selfish intentions just because of me. He must have taken care of you because he felt that you were innocent.”

Zu An said with a smile, “Your father’s moral integrity is truly worthy of admiration. However, I still have to thank you. You tried to help me when I was captured by the Embroidered Envoy before as well.”

Jiang Luofu felt her cheeks grow warm. “I don't dare to claim credit for that. Even though I tried to do what I could, it wasn’t of any use.”

Zu An shook his head. “Just the intent alone is already something I’m extremely grateful for.”

Chu Chuyan was incredibly shocked and also raised her cup. “I didn’t expect Principal Jiang to have helped us so much. I’ll also drink a glass out of respect.”

When Jiang Luofu looked at Chu Chuyan’s clear and cold, but smiling eyes, she couldn’t help but feel like there was more behind her gaze. Her own expression became a bit unnatural. “What do you mean ‘intent’? It was mainly because Liuyu wanted to save you. I was so annoyed that I finally couldn’t take it anymore and asked my father for help.”

Jiang Luofu ended up selling her friend out in the end. But she wasn’t even here anyway, so it didn’t really matter.

“Teacher Shang…” The woman in that gazebo appeared in Zu An’s head again, and he entered a momentary daze.

Chu Chuyan had an ambiguous smile on her face. “Ah Zu, I didn’t expect your network to be that wide. Even the academy’s mysterious Teacher Shang views you favorably?” She had chosen him as a drafted husband mainly because of his ordinary and slow personality. Yet in the end, he had ended up being a womanizer! She had been completely fooled.

Zu An was alarmed and said, “Teacher Shang is kind-hearted by nature. She couldn’t bear to see her student be wronged. Please ask father and mother-in-law to help me express my thanks.”

“Sure.” Chu Chuyan’s expression immediately softened considerably.

The already tipsy Xie Xiu moved over. “Ah Zu, do you have a little sister or someone like that?”

Zu An was stunned. “No, why would you ask that?”

Xie Xiu looked disappointed. He gave his older sister a look and said dejectedly, “I feel like I’m really losing out here…”