In truth, the mask did not make Qin Wanru look ugly—her face was just plain. However, her impressive curves had made their minds go wild, and the contrast between expectation and reality had left them hugely disappointed. That was why they subconsciously felt that she was ugly.

As a duchess, everyone took extra care to be respectful around her, fearful of offending her.

No ordinary man would be able to get close to her. The few who could wouldn’t even dare to stare at her for too long. When had she ever been criticized by a group of men like this?

Not only that, they had even dared to call her ugly! Even though she knew it was because of the mask she was wearing, she found it difficult to endure such humiliation.

Just then, someone else spoke up.

“I think she looks all right—at least, she’s not as bad as you say. I can sense a certain noble temperament from her as well. I appreciate that in a woman..”

“How could you even call this type of shit ‘noble’? Are you blind?”

“You may be right… She does seem to carry herself slightly differently from other women.”

“Screw it man! With that body, who gives a crap about her face? I’ll definitely hit it!”

…

Zu An could see that Qin Wanru was so angry, her entire body was shaking. He was surprised that she hadn’t blown up yet, given her personality. She was probably controlling herself so that they wouldn’t end up scaring their targets away.

However, these dudes were surely taking things a little too far. Zu An coughed and stood in front of her. “Fellas, did you eat shit today before coming here? Why are your mouths so disgusting?”

When had those people ever heard such destructive words before? All of them erupted simultaneously.

You have successfully trolled Ji Wuli for 765 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Chen Bo for 765 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Jin Zhu for 765 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Long Zi for 765 Rage points!

Qin Wanru was so angry that smoke seemed to be coming out of her nose and ears, but she smiled when she heard this. She’d always felt like Zu An ran his mouth too often, but it seemed quite adorable today.

“Screw you, brat! Do you know who we are?!” The four furious hooligans leaned towards the two of them hatefully.

“Please enlighten us,” Qin Wanru said coldly. These four definitely seemed easy enough to provoke.

“We are East Cheapo, West Lewd, South Pervert, and North Wastrel!” Each of them assumed a pose after introducing themselves. They had definitely spent a lot of time practicing this.

Qin Wanru was stunned speechless.

Even Zu An stared at them in a daze.

He hadn’t expected this world to have such silly but amusing characters.

“I can tell that these names really do suit the four of you.” Zu An’s sigh was full of admiration.

“Now that you know who we are, just leave the woman and walk away quietly! Even though she is a little ugly, she’s got a perfect body. We brothers will reluctantly accept it,” Ji Wuli said.

Qin Wanru was about to explode. She really wanted to chop these people up and feed them to the dogs.

Zu An turned their question back on them. “Do you four know who I am?” he asked coldly.

They were taken aback by his sudden domineering tone. “We do not. Your distinguished one is?”

“I guess there’s no need to worry then, since you all don’t know me.” Zu An moved before he even finished his sentence. His figure split into several afterimages. All four of them were smacked in the face.

After Mi Li’s modification, his Sunflower Phantasm had become even more formidable. He could now move even faster.

How could an ordinary person possibly react in time? The most that any of them saw was a blur, and then their mouths suddenly hurt. All four flew through the air and fell to the ground.

Qin Wanru’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. Not even she could see how Zu An had accomplished this in that split second.

She hadn’t expected him to make a move so quickly as either. Didn’t they just agree to maintain a low profile, to avoid attracting any attention?

The four louts were all stunned, their heads ringing. They worked their jaws individually, and each of them spat out a few teeth.

“You… you… actually dare to provoke the four of us brothers? Aren’t you afraid we will retaliate?!” All four of them pointed at Zu An and showered him with curses. They tried to climb to their feet, but they were still slightly dizzy from getting smacked.

Zu An laughed loudly. “You don’t even know who I am! How are you going to retaliate?” With that, he grabbed Qin Wanru and ran inside.

The four of them were left lying on the ground, questioning the meaning of life. This guy made so much sense! There was nothing they could say to rebut him.

This only fueled their anger further.

You have successfully trolled Ji Wuli for 888 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Chen Bo for 888 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Jin Zhu for 888 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Long Zi for 888 Rage points!

Qin Wanru followed Zu An inside. They quickly found a place within the crowd to sit. She couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you say that we should keep a low profile, and not cause any sort of trouble?”

Zu An sighed. “I couldn’t just stand by and let them bully you like that, could I?”

Qin Wanru was stunned. She found herself lost in her own thoughts. She remembered times gone by, when Chu Zhongtian had protected her like this as well, in their younger days.

After she had become a duchess, there had been no need for her to take any risks. She hadn’t experienced being protected like this for many years.

She quickly cleared her mind, and pulled her hand out of his without batting an eyelid. “Wouldn’t this draw attention to us?”

Zu An said, “Don’t worry. There weren’t many others present, and we managed to leave quickly. I don’t think we drew too much attention.”

Qin Wanru exhaled in relief.

More guests began to enter the auction hall, and the four louts who had accosted them came in as well, searching all over for them.

However, this was a special auction, and so every guest was granted their own independent space. The actions of those four quickly drew the attention of the staff, who were clearly displeased. Some guards stepped forward to restrain the four of them and led them away. They were either brought to a different section of the hall, or escorted out of the residence completely.

Soon afterwards, a slender and pretty young woman walked on stage to declare the start of the auction. Quite a few people whistled when they saw her.

Zu An hardly batted an eyelid. After all, there were always beauties at his side. Even though this woman wasn’t bad at all, she still paled in comparison to the gorgeous women that he was used to.

Even her figure couldn’t match up to Qin Wanru’s.

Huh? Something feels strange…

The auction began, and a large variety of goods were brought out. The crowd grew heated as they bid against each other. Even Zu An felt tempted to bid on some of the items. However, he forced himself to focus on the reason why they had come in the first place.

The item they were waiting for finally appeared. When the crowd learned that it was a huge batch of salt permits, gasps were heard from all directions.

The crowd was clearly aware of the difficulties that were facing the Chu clan. To secure these permits would be to offend the Chu clan.

However, those who had been invited to participate in the auction all had considerable powers backing them. Some had even been notified in advance that these permits would be up for auction.

Within moments, someone called out a price. A second soon followed, and soon, the bidding had kicked into full swing.

In this age, salt represented money. With these salt permits, anyone who controlled them could legally sell illicit salt. They could make a killing without incurring much cost!

The price slowly climbed higher and higher.

Even Qin Wanru couldn’t resist the urge to throw out a bid. After all, buying back the salt permits would definitely be cheaper than paying out the sixteen million taels of silver that they owed. The costs would still be justified.

Zu An stopped her. “These are ours to begin with—why do we have to spend money to acquire them? Don’t worry, someone will give them to us soon.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a group of large men stormed in from outside, led by none other than Sang Qian. He looked around him and spoke with a clear, ringing voice. “I’ve received a report that an illegal transaction is being carried out here. I’ve come here to seize these illegal goods. Those uninvolved, please step aside immediately.”