“My apologies, Miss Zheng. I didn’t do it on purpose.” Zu An belatedly rushed forward to help her up, feigning panic. He decided to go along with her act to see what she was up to. Since you want to put on a show, it would be rude of me not to play my part, right?

Zheng Dan bit her lips in distress and accused him, “Teacher Zu, you sure are mean. You tore my skirt.”

Her coy tone was fatal. Zu An’s heart thumped furiously, despite knowing that she was putting on an act. He finally understood that the most formidable person in Journey to the West wasn’t Sun Wukong, but Tripitaka. He was able to stay true to himself in the face of the many temptresses that attempted to seduce him along the way. He was truly a formidable man.

“I apologize for my misstep. Come, allow me to help you up.” Zu An reached out to support her.

“Ouch!” Zheng Dan yelped in pain. Tears brimmed in her reddened eyes. “I-I think I sprained my ankle.”

Zu An was impressed. What a waste that she isn’t an actress. She would have surely won an Oscar by now. It’s one thing to perform a tripping scene, but to sprain her leg as well?

“Teacher Zu, can you help me take a look?” Zheng Dan stared at Zu An, her eyes glistening with tears. It was hard not to feel pity for her.

Zu An squatted down beside her and gently wrapped his hands around her legs. Her skin was smooth as the finest silk. “Is it here?”

“No, it’s a bit higher.” Zheng Dan bit her lips tightly. Her cheeks were tinted with a light blush, giving her a seductive vibe yet still retaining the innocence and shyness a young girl should have.

“Is the pain here?” Zu An slowly moved his hands up her ankles. Her legs were really small, and his hands wrapped around them nicely. The sensation of them under his hands, so warm and so smooth, was enough to send any men bonkers.

“No, not there… A little higher, a little higher.” Zheng Dan’s face reddened. All of a sudden, she found herself regretting her decision. It was a terrible idea to let him take advantage of her in such a manner. Forget it. I’ll teach this fellow a lesson once I obtain the promissory note!

Zu An was amused. Since you’re going to such lengths to ensnare me, it’d be too rude of me to turn you down, right? His hands slowly crept up her ankles and toward her smooth calves.

Zheng Dan’s heart drummed out a frenzied beat as she felt Zu An’s rough, hot palms on her. It was not a sensation that she had ever experienced before, and it made her realize that she was playing with fire. She quickly grabbed his hand to stop him from moving any higher. Then, she wrapped her arms around him, saying, “Big brother Zu, I suddenly feel really cold.”

Zu An swallowed as he replied, “That’s odd. I’m feeling terribly hot.”

A victorious smile crept onto Zheng Dan’s lips. Even with a wife as beautiful as Chu Chuyan, he’s still unable to resist my charms.

“Big brother Zu, can you hug me tight? I’m feeling really cold,” said Zheng Dan pitifully as her hands quickly fumbled around his robe. 

She took care to make it seem as if she were teasing him with her hands, concealing the fact that she was actually searching for something.

Hm? Why is it not here? 

She had done a quick search of his body earlier this morning, but hadn’t found the promissory note. She had intentionally planned this scheme to get more intimate with him this time, yet it seemed she would come up empty-handed again.

Where in the world is this fellow hiding the note?

Zheng Dan belatedly glanced between Zu An’s legs. Could he be hiding it in his pants?

Zu An, on the other hand, felt his mouth turning dry. This woman’s powers of seduction sure are incredible. Even a slight touch from her is enough to stoke such intense desire.

However, as she slowly moved her hand downward, Zu An immediately snapped out of it. He was reminded of a pitiful reality—’little Zu An’ was still sealed off!

Even now, when such a beauty had leaped willingly into his embrace, he could be no more than a mere spectator.

Who in the world planted such a seal on me? Goddamnit! Zu An was on the verge of tears. He dared not let her continue touching him. If she were to notice that he wasn’t reacting at all, his dysfunction would be exposed right away!

He dared not imagine what it would be like with everyone in the city looking at him with eyes filled with aversion.

As a man, he couldn’t allow that to happen!

He shoved the woman out of his embrace and hurriedly backed off. “That… Miss Zheng, you should rest here for a while. I’ll bring a physician over to check on you!”

Watching as Zu An fled in a fluster, Zheng Dan was stunned for a moment, then burst out in sudden laughter. At the same time, her eyes betrayed the conflicting thoughts in her mind. Everyone said that Zu An was a perverted good-for-nothing, and yet he had ended up behaving in such a gentlemanly way. On top of that, he also won seven-and-a-half million silver taels from the casino, and defeated a teacher in a duel.

Just which one is the real you?

The more Zheng Dan thought about it, the more curious she became. However, she hadn’t forgotten her objective. She picked herself up off the floor. Making sure that Zu An was really gone, she closed the door and began searching the room.

However, no matter how hard she looked, the promissory note was nowhere to be found. Her forehead creased in dismay as she murmured, “Just where did that fellow hide the promissory note?”

Since the note wasn’t in the residence, she decided it was past time to leave. She couldn’t possibly wait for Zu An to return with the physician—if so, her lies about being injured would be exposed. On top of that, if rumors were to spread that she had visited another man’s residence alone, her reputation would surely suffer.

She didn’t mind seducing Zu An privately, but no one else needed to know what went on between them.

Zu An, on the other hand, ran all the way into the forest and hid himself. He knew that Zheng Dan was faking her injury, and he wasn’t foolish enough to really find a physician. He waited until she was gone before heaving a sigh of relief. 

It looks like I need to find the Evanescent Lotus as soon as possible. I can’t allow something like this to happen a third time!

Just thinking about that incident between him and Snow made him look up into the sky wistfully, his eyes slowly tearing up.

He returned to his residence and double-checked that nothing was missing before locking his door and trudging listlessly back to the classroom. 

His mood remained low for the rest of the day, and soon, classes were dismissed.

“Brother-in-law, brother-in-law~”

As Zu An dragged himself out of the classroom, he suddenly heard an energetic voice calling for him. When he turned around to take a look, he saw Chu Huanzhao waving at him happily.

A warm glow spread out from his heart. My sister-in-law is still the best of all. However, he swiftly remembered the seal on his body, and his mood darkened again.

“What’s wrong with you? Why do you look so downcast?” Chu Huanzhao had skipped her way over to him when she noticed his strange mood.

“Nothing much. I just want some quiet time to myself. Life has been too hard recently.” Zu An sighed deeply. The gloom around him was almost tangible.

“What’s wrong? You defeated Yang Wei, and Principal Jiang even appointed you as the new arithmetic teacher. Shouldn’t you be happy about it?” Chu Huanzhao found his mood incomprehensible.

“I’m just a relief teacher. It’s not as if I’ve been officially hired,” remarked Zu An disconsolately.

“A relief teacher is still a teacher. If my father were to learn about it, he’d surely see you in a new light!” Just imagining the sight made Chu Huanzhao tingle in excitement. “Also, if my older sister learns that you became her teacher, her face is sure to take on all manner of interesting expressions. In the future, when you hold lessons in the Sky class, you should make sure to pick her to answer your questions. She always acts as if she’s the best! I really want to see her getting embarrassed at least once.”

The scenarios painted by Chu Huanzhao did much to lift Zu An’s gloomy mind. He especially savored the thought of having Chu Chuyan call him ‘Teacher Zu’ in public. That would surely be an interesting sight.

“Speaking of which, where did you go earlier in the afternoon? I came over to ask you to join me for lunch, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.” Chu Huanzhao sounded a little sullen. “Confess! Were you hooking up with some girl?”

Zu An was shocked by how sharp Chu Huanzhao’s sixth sense was. “How is that even possible? One of the academy’s staff members brought me to take a look at the teacher’s housing.” 

“Teacher’s housing?” Chu Huanzhao’s eyes lit up. “Oooooh! Give me the key!”

“What are you going to do?” Zu An had intended to show off his residence in the first place, so he didn’t hesitate to hand her the key.

“Waaaa, it really is the key to the academy’s residences!” Chu Huanzhao fondly  examined the key in her hands. A moment later, she explained, “To be frank with you, I have always wanted a residence in the academy. However, my father and mother are very strict with me, and they say that it’s a waste of money. Hmph! Even Zheng Dan has a residence, so why don’t I, a daughter of a ducal clan, have one as well?”

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing Zheng Dan’s name. He quickly tried to divert the conversation away from her. “If you want, you can drop by whenever you want to.”

“That sounds great!” Chu Huanzhao slipped the key into her pocket. “That’ll be my new afternoon nap spot then. Ahhhh, it sure is great to have my own residence. I can lie down however I want to. I don't have to lie awkwardly on the classroom desk like the other brats in my class anymore, heh.”

“You’re intending to have afternoon naps over at my place?” Zu An nearly spurted blood. “I don’t think that’s convenient.”

“What’s inconvenient about that?” Chu Huanzhao eyed Zu An in suspicion. “You can’t be hiding a vixen there, can you?”

“No no, of course not!” Zu An’s heart skipped another beat. He quickly clarified, “I mean, we are of the opposite gender after all. I think there’s a need to keep some distance between us…”

Chu Huanzhao’s face immediately turned red. “Brother-in-law, what’s going on in that mind of yours! It’s not like I’m planning to share a room with you in the residence!”

Zu An belatedly realized that he hadn’t checked out the layout of the residence, due to Zheng Dan’s sudden arrival. Now that he thought about it, there were indeed several bedrooms. The residence was probably spacious enough to house a whole family, let alone two people!

To disperse the sudden awkwardness, he quickly continued, “Come by if you want to, but at least return me my key. How am I supposed to enter my residence without it?”

“No can do!” replied Chu Huanzhao firmly. “Isn’t it weird for me to have to look for you in order to have my afternoon nap? If I have a key with me, I can head over whenever I want to. You can just apply for a spare key with the academy’s quartermaster later on.”

“Ah? The key can be duplicated?” Zu An was surprised to hear that. From the novels he had read in his previous life, he had imagined the key to be one-of-a-kind.

“Of course it can be duplicated!” exclaimed Chu Huanzhao. “You keep trying to turn me down for some reason. You can’t really be intending to hide a vixen in your residence, are you?”

She leaned toward him and began sniffing his body. Then, her face immediately warped in shock. “Woah, woah, woah, I smell the scent of another woman on you! Wait a minute, why does this fragrance seem so familiar? Isn’t this the one Zheng Dan uses?”