Zu An stared blankly for a moment, then discreetly lowered his gaze. Only then did he notice that almost all of the water in the tub was gone because he had used the Blue Mallard technique.

Even the tub itself was in tatters, shattered by the tremendous force. He had taken his clothes off since he was bathing, and so he was completely naked.

Zu An’s face heated up. He quickly grabbed the clothes hanging on the screen to cover himself. This kid is getting more and more out of control.

You’re shouting at me, but why are the gaps between your fingers so big?

Feng Daniu and the other guards heard the activity and rushed over at once. “Young master, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. All of you can head back to your posts.” Zu An stepped in front of Chu Huanzhao to block her and shooed them away.

“Okay.” The guards withdrew when they received his order. However, they still began to whisper among themselves in private.

“Did you all see that? Even the door was broken! How could nothing have happened?”

“Exactly! Even the second miss was screaming.”

“Stop gossiping. If the young master says it’s nothing, then it’s nothing. Stop looking for trouble.”

“Don’t you think the two of them were a little too close?”

“Everyone knows that the second young miss and the young master have a good relationship. The young master really is a real man! He might really take the second young miss as his wife too! He is a role model for all of us.”

“Shush! I don’t think we should be gossiping so much about our Master’s family!”

…

Satisfied that the guards had left, Zu An patted Chu Huanzhao and said, “All right, stop screaming already. I’m already the one who’s losing out big time, right?”

Seeing him approaching, Chu Huanzhao covered her eyes firmly again. “Have you put on your clothes yet?”

It’s not like you couldn’t see for yourself! But out of consideration for her shyness, he didn’t expose her. “My clothes are on.”

Chu Huanzhao lowered her hands. Her face was completely red. Her eyes darted away. How could she meet his gaze after what she had just seen?

Zu An changed the topic. “Why did you come here?”

Chu Huanzhao finally snapped out of her daze. “Oh, I just wanted to call you over for dinner. I made you something myself today! You’d better eat a lot,” she said excitedly.

“Sounds good to me.” Zu An rubbed her head. What a cute and considerate kid.

Chu Huanzhao tidied her hair, clearly annoyed. “Don’t rub my head like I’m Cheng Shouping… achoo…”

She suddenly sneezed in the middle of her sentence.

Only then did the two of them remember that she was completely soaked.

“Don’t stand outside, you’ll catch a cold from the wind,” Zu An said.

“Oh yeah…” Chu Huanzhao subconsciously followed him inside.

After they had gone inside, Zu An was just about to tell her something when his eyes widened. It was getting dark outside so he hadn’t noticed earlier, but in the light of the room’s lamps, he could clearly see that Chu Huanzhao’s clothes were plastered to her skin.

They were already partially transparent after being drenched, and the outlines of her petite and attractive body were faintly visible.

Chu Huanzhao also noticed that something wasn’t right. She lowered her head to examine herself, and then she screamed even louder than before. “Stinky brother-in-law!”

How could Chu Huanzhao be shameless enough to continue to stay there? She turned around and ran.

Zu An was shocked. He quickly chased after her and stopped her.

“What… are you going to do…” Chu Huanzhao jumped in fright, and even her voice carried more than a hint of alarm.

Zu An hadn’t expected the normally carefree Chu Huanzhao to have such a bashful side. He quickly wrapped his own coat around her. “Cover yourself with this first so no one sees you along the way.”

Chu Huanzhao had a strange expression on her face. You don’t want others to see, but it’s perfectly okay for you to have seen it?

Her neck grew redder than ever before. “It’s all your fault!” She kicked Zu An in the shin and ran off with his coat around her.

Zu An grimaced in pain. He watched this young lady disappear into the darkness of the night. She really was a cute little pepper.

Just then, he heard a cold voice. “What happened?” Chu Chuyan was standing not far away.

“Oh, wife, you’re here.” Zu An felt rather guilty.

“Didn’t Huanzhao come to call you over for dinner? She didn’t return after so long, so I decided to have the food brought over instead.” Chu Chuyan ordered the servants to set out the food. However, she was shocked when she noticed the terrible state that the room was in. “What happened here?”

“I suddenly had a breakthrough and accidentally broke the door,” Zu An said in embarrassment.

Chu Chuyan smiled. “I didn’t expect you to be such a hard worker.”

Which woman didn’t wish for their husbands to earnestly improve themselves? Her own cultivation had come about not just because of her outstanding aptitude, but because of the hard work she had put in day after day. That was why her mood was naturally lifted when she learned that her husband was thinking about cultivation even when he was in the bath.

Zu An felt embarrassed by her compliment. What he did had nothing to do with diligence.

Chu Chuyan looked all around her. “So where did lil’ Huanzhao go?”

“The water blasted everywhere and ended up drenching her. I told her to go back and change her clothes so that she wouldn’t catch a cold.” Zu An said nonchalantly.

Wait, I’m clearly the victim here. Why do I have such a guilty conscience?

Chu Chuyan panicked at once. “Was she injured?”

“No, she’s fine. Only her clothes were soaked,” Zu An replied.

Chu Chuyan finally calmed down. “No wonder I saw someone running out on my way here. I called out to her several times but she didn’t reply.”

“Let’s eat first. Some of it was made by Huanzhao… and by me.” A tinge of expectation suddenly shone in Chu Chuyan’s eyes.

“Awesome!” Zu An’s heart softened. That brat made food for me herself, and even my wife cares for me. What a good life!

However, when he saw the charred food on the table, some of it even blackened beyond recognition, his smile instantly vanished.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Chu Chuyan was confused.

“I’m going to eat right now!” Zu An raised his chopsticks and put on a brave and heroic expression.

All of the dishes in front of him seemed to have been horrifically botched. His eyes jumped around, finally settling on the most ordinary-looking dish—eggs fried with tomatoes.[1] This is the easiest thing to make, so it can’t taste that bad no matter how much you suck at cooking, right?

His fate was sealed the instant he put it into his mouth.

“How is it? Does it taste bad?” Chu Chuyan asked with a nervous expression when she saw his change in expression.

“How is it just bad? It tastes absolutely disgusting!” Zu An said in assessment, “Who the hell puts vinegar in this dish? Don’t let Huanzhao into the kitchen again in the future. She’s just wasting ingredients!”

Chu Chuyan’s expression grew slightly discouraged. However, she still forced a smile and pointed at another dish. “Then what about this one?”

“What the heck is this black stuff that looks like sludge? Is it some sort of burnt river fish or something?” Zu An asked curiously.

Chu Chuyan stared at him, speechless.

“It’s stir-fried cabbage.”

Zu An felt his brain short-circuit.

He really couldn’t associate her words with the dish currently in front of him.

Zu An spat it back out immediately after putting it in his mouth. “Pui pui pui! Oh my goodness, I’m going to throw up. What sort of vegetable is this? Even pigs wouldn’t eat this if you fed it to them!”

“Don’t eat it if you don’t like it, then!” Chu Chuyan’s face was as cold and harsh as a winter storm. She got up to leave.

You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for 999 Rage points!

1. Eggs fried with tomatoes is a staple Chinese dish. It honestly tastes really good when done properly.