In a panic, Zu An quickly pulled her back. “It’s all my fault! I can’t help that I’m still a part of the Chu clan. If they go down, I’ll be screwed as well. I have to try to help them through this difficult situation. It’s not what you think! I’m not just trying to help her…”

Even he himself couldn’t get over how trashy his behavior was. He had just been part of an emotional family farewell, and here he was, jumping straight into the arms of another woman. Not to mention, these two clans even hated each other.

Zheng Dan snorted. “You can just leave the Chu clan, then. Why do you have to stay there?”

Zu An sighed. “If I leave the Chu clan, could I just join your Zheng clan, then?”

Zheng Dan opened her mouth, but she was reminded of her own situation, and she didn’t know what to say.

Zu An continued, “I won’t ask you to help me for nothing. I’ll give this back to you if you tell me where those salt permits are.”

He pulled out a promissory note for five hundred thousand taels of silver, which he had won during the Clans Tournament. Back then, the gambling den that he’d placed his bet with had paid out five hundred thousand taels, and had given him this note for another five hundred thousand.

Zheng Dan’s expression grew uncomfortable. “What does this debt note have to do with me?”

Zu An said with a smile, “Miss Zheng, do we still need to keep up this pretense? We’ve already been together for so long. I already know that that gambling den has ties to your Zheng clan.”

Zheng Dan snatched the note from him with an angry snort. “So what is this? Fees for a whore?”

Zu An was utterly stunned.

“Couldn’t you phrase it in a nicer way? We are clearly in love!”

“Love?” Zheng Dan sneered. “Do you truly believe that yourself?”

Zu An held her hands and looked into her eyes. “I do!”

Zheng Dan’s face went red. “Look at this guy, always trying to seduce me!”

Zu An sighed. “I don’t want to become enemies with your Zheng clan either! Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to harm the Zheng clan’s interests.”

“Hmph! Helping the Chu clan is the same thing as harming the Zheng clan.” Zheng Dan was extremely unhappy. However, she still said, “I don’t know where those salt permits are either. Chen Xuan wasn’t stupid enough to give us the salt permits upfront. You know what happened afterwards.

“Based on my suspicions, those salt permits should be in the hands of the Blackwind Stockade.”

Zu An was taken aback. He thought of the people that had been with Chen Xuan in the Immortal Abode.

“Do you know anything about them?” Zu An asked. Zheng Dan had been a gang boss at one point in time, after all. Even though the Whale Gang had been destroyed, surely she still maintained her own information channels.

“Nothing at all.” Zheng Dan laughed coldly. “What? Do you feel like you’ve wasted your five hundred thousand taels of silver now?”

“Of course not!” Zu An pulled her into his embrace. “Even if I had given it to you for free, it wouldn’t have been a waste. At least now I know that the salt permits are with the Blackwind Stockade.”

“Hmph! Just empty words.” Despite this, Zheng Dan’s expression softened.

Zu An showered her in another round of honeyed words. Only then did Zheng Dan smile again.

...

When the school day came to a close, Zu An waited around for Chu Huanzhao to accompany her home.

When she saw him, Chu Huanzhao immediately said, “I heard you went looking for that Zheng Dan today.”

Zu An was shocked. “News gets around to you pretty fast, huh?”

“Of course! Don’t you know what standing I have in class?” Chu Huanzhao had a cocky look on her face. However, her expression quickly collapsed. “Why are you looking for her? Everyone in the academy is calling you a Chikan.”[1]

Zu An was speechless for a while.

How did such a word even exist in this world?

Chu Huanzhao only grew angrier. “Is big sis not enough for you? Why do you have to fawn all over this woman? Big sis only just left today!”

You have successfully trolled Chu Huanzhao for 33… 33… 33…

Zu An felt a headache coming on. “I needed to talk to her about something important. It was to help the Chu clan through these troubled times.”

“The Zheng clan hates our Chu clan. Why would she help us?” Chu Huanzhao clearly didn’t believe him. “Stinky brother-in-law, at least cook up a good excuse if you’re going to use one!”

“Of course, she usually wouldn’t lift a finger to help, but your brother-in-law is just too handsome!” Zu An scoffed.

“Shameless!” Chu Huanzhao cursed. However, his interruption made her forget the words she was going to use to berate him.

When they returned to the Chu Estate, Zu An told her to head inside on her own.

“Where are you going?” Chu Huanzhao grew curious when she saw that he wasn’t planning to head back to his own room.

“I…” Zu An was just about to reply when a thought struck him. His expression grew rigid. “Don’t ask me so many questions! If I’m going out, I definitely have some important matters to take care of.”

“You’re probably going to drink with girls!" Chu Huanzhao shot back. "Hmph!"

She stormed into the estate, purposely stomping her feet along the way. Her face was a dark cloud.

Speechless, Zu An could only stare at her as she departed.

A woman’s intuition truly was terrifyingly sharp!

He was really planning to go to the Immortal Abode. However, it wasn’t to drink, but to see if he could get some intelligence from Qiu Honglei.

After all, she was the one who had first given him the news about Chen Xuan. She might know something about the whereabouts of the salt permits too.

...

He arrived at the Immortal Abode. News of his arrival traveled quickly, and a maid came out to lead Zu An to Qiu Honglei’s room.

When his gaze fell upon the ravishing woman, Zu An couldn’t contain his surprise. “Honglei seems to have quite a few matters on her mind.”

Qiu Honglei stared blankly for a moment. She said with a smile, “Young master Zu has sharp eyes. I didn’t expect you to be able to see through me.”

Zu An couldn’t hold back a sigh. “Honglei, we’ve drifted apart. You used to call me Ah Zu.”

Qiu Honglei was speechless for a moment.

Why is this guy always so unpredictable?

Thankfully, she was already used to his nature. She said with a smile, “Ah Zu, you might not see me again in two days’ time.”

Zu An was surprised. “You’re leaving?”

To be fair, the last time they’d met, her voice had already taken on a strange tone.

Qiu Honglei nodded. “That’s right.”

“Where are you going?” Even though he knew that her affection for him was completely fake, he still felt a sense of regret when he learned that she was leaving.

Qiu Honglei shook her head, but said nothing.

Seeing her unwillingness to tell him anything, Zu An didn’t continue to press her further.

Silence quickly descended on the room.

Qiu Honglei was the first one to break it. “So, why did you come here today?”

“Can’t I come looking for you without any particular reason?” Zu An couldn’t stop looking at her. She was just as beautiful as before, but now, she would soon slip out of his grasp.

Sigh, men are all trash. You know that everything she showed you was fake—why do you have to feel disappointed?

Qiu Honglei said with a smile, “I’ve been here for so long, but I don’t think you’ve ever taken the initiative to meet with me.”

Zu An smiled awkwardly. He could only reveal his true reason for coming.

Qiu Honglei couldn’t help but sigh. “You really do share a deep relationship with first miss Chu. You’re searching for help everywhere for her sake.”

Zu An stared deeply into her eyes. “Is Honglei getting jealous?”

Qiu Honglei met his gaze. “Ah Zu, do you want me to feel jealous?”

Zu An laughed. “Which man in this world wouldn’t want a beauty like Honglei to feel jealous over them?”

Qiu Honglei smiled. “Your lips are always so sweet. No wonder first miss Chu has fallen so hard for you.”

After a pause, she added. “I just happen to know a thing or two about where the salt permits are. However, I cannot tell you.”

“Why?” Zu An was stunned.

“I have my reasons.” After a slight hesitation, she said, “I advise you to stop looking for them. You’ll only bring a huge disaster upon yourself.”

1. A Japanese slang term that means sexual harasser. The literal translation of the Chinese phrase is ‘foolish man’, and the phrase is itself a transliteration of the original Japanese phrase.