Qin Wanru panicked when she heard what he said. “No! I don’t want to get rid of the poison, I don’t want…”

“Relax, I’m not going to use the method you’re thinking of,” Zu An explained.

Soon, however, even his own expression grew strange. Qin Wanru kept squirming around in his arms, which made him start to burn up as well.

Zu An shivered. He put her firmly out of his mind and stopped looking at her anymore. He focused all of his attention on heading to his destination.

…

The Chu Estate was in complete chaos. All of the important members of the Chu clan had gathered together.

Chu Hongcai led a detachment of guards to secure the area. Chu Yuepo was still the same chubby, harmless-looking man. However, he lacked his characteristic smile, which had been replaced by a slightly serious expression.

He tried to talk to Chu Tiesheng several times, but the latter merely shook his head and stopped him.

“Brother-in-law isn’t here either!” Chu Huanzhao ran over in panic. She had been resting in her room when the chaos in the estate had awakened her. Frightened, she had gone looking for her mother. When she couldn’t find her mother, she looked for Zu An instead, but he wasn’t in his room either. She even saw a bunch of guards searching his room thoroughly, making a mess.

She ran to Hong Zhong and Chu Tiesheng and demanded, “What happened? Where did my mom go? Why are you all searching brother-in-law’s room?”

Chu Tiesheng’s expression was ashen. “I am about to tell everyone a great secret that you absolutely cannot reveal to anyone outside the clan. Otherwise, our Chu clan will be embroiled in a huge scandal.”

Even Chu Yuepo gave him a curious look when he heard how serious he was. He tried to guess what the matter was.

From nowhere, an ominous feeling began to grow within Chu Huanzhao.

When he saw everyone quiet down, Chu Tiesheng continued with a grave expression, “Zu An, that brute, was actually despicable enough to use that sort of drug on sister-in-law. He wanted to defile sister-in-law!”

A great uproar broke out when everyone gathered there heard these words.

Chu Yucheng and his father Chu Yuepo exchanged looks of doubt and astonishment. Chu Yucheng was about to ask his father about it, when he caught a glimpse of something deep within the other’s eyes. He swallowed the words he had been about to say.

Chu Hongcai’s head whipped around. His many interactions with Zu An had led him to believe that the man was all sorts of strange, but he never expected that he would ever do something as brazen as this.

Before he could say anything, Chu Huanzhao cried out, “Nonsense! That’s impossible!”

There was no way she would believe that her beloved mother and brother-in-law would ever engage in something like that. There was absolutely no way.

“Huanzhao, I know you are close to Zu An, so it’s hard for you to accept this. However, this is the truth,” Chu Tiesheng said, his voice full of sorrow. “There are maids here who have personally witnessed it. When Zu An realized that he had been exposed, he grabbed sister-in-law and ran. Unfortunately, none of the maids are cultivators, so they couldn’t stop that brute. Several of them were even ruthlessly dispatched by him. You can ask her if you don’t believe me.”

“Qiu Ju, is what he says true?” Chu Huanzhao immediately directed her gaze at a servant girl nearby, who was visibly shaking. Everyone knew that this girl served in her mother’s residence.

“True… it’s true…” That servant girl—Qiu Ju—trembled violently. Chu Tiesheng had rounded up all the maids in the residence and ordered them to say this. The others were unwilling to do this, so he killed them all. She was the only one who buckled under the pressure and agreed.

Chu Huanzhao’s face paled instantly. She tottered backwards weakly, and her entire body fell limply into a chair. “How is this possible…” she muttered to herself.

At that moment, Feng Daniu and the other guards came to Zu An’s defense. “That’s impossible! The young master would never do such a thing!”

They had followed Zu An around for so long. Aside from Chu Huanzhao, they were probably the ones who were in the most disbelief over this matter.

Chu Tiesheng was furious. “Are you all accusing me of lying? Even Qiu Ju has provided her testimony!”

Feng Daniu and the others look at each other in dismay. They didn’t know what to say.

Hong Zhong coughed softly and stepped forward. “Actually, quite a few people saw Zu An heading westward with Madam.”

“Indeed, we saw Zu An carrying... carrying Madam fleeing in that direction in a panic,” several guards offered hesitantly.

Feng Daniu and the others knew that these brothers guarded the western gate of the Chu Estate. They had served together as guards in the Chu Estate for so many years, and they were all familiar with each others’ personalities. These brothers would never lie. Zu An’s supporters grew conflicted.

Hong Zhong twitched his eye, and a servant girl said weakly, “Actually, I saw the young master seek out Madam a few days ago, early in the morning. Madam had woken up earlier than usual that day.”

Another servant girl said, “I remember seeing Madam leaving the estate with Zu An a few days ago too…”

Before she could finish, Hong Zhong cut her off. “What nonsense are you all spouting? Zu An clearly tried to force himself on Madam today, and then kidnapped her. The top priority right now should be catching this despicable scum. Do not discuss anything else. Do you understand me?!”

“We understand!” Everyone shivered when they saw the threatening look in his eyes. They agreed at once.

However, there was still a strange disquiet in each of their hearts. Based on what that servant girl had said, it seemed as though Madam and the young master were having an affair.

The young master was quite handsome—the first miss wouldn’t have fallen for him otherwise. Now that both Master and First Miss were away, it wasn’t entirely impossible that the two of them had started something out of loneliness.

No wonder the Madam had begun to treat the young master better recently! This was clearly the reason why.

Man’s imagination was boundless, and so was his desire for gossip. Hong Zhong looked as though he was trying to hide the truth as well, which only gave more credibility to their thoughts.

Feng Daniu and the others panicked. However, at that moment, Cheng Shouping tugged their sleeves and gave them each a warning glance.

Hong Zhong and Chu Tiesheng began sending men out to capture Zu An. They even gave the order to kill him on the spot if he tried to resist.

When those tasked with this order had left, Feng Daniu and the others rounded on Cheng Shouping with cold looks. “Cheng brat, I believe the young master has always treated you quite well. Now that things have gone south for him, not only did you not help him, you even stopped us from speaking up for him! What is the meaning of this?!

“You too, Jiao Shanhe! You’re always blabbering about something—why are you freezing up when it matters? You’re gutless!”

Cheng Shouping replied, “Didn’t you guys notice? Hong Zhong was acting all buddy-buddy with Second Master. If you had continued arguing, it would have cost you your life!”

Feng Daniu and Zhou Lujun both sneered. “You might be scared of death, but we’re not!”

Cheng Shouping panicked. “It’s not a matter of fear. We need to bear in mind that the young master escaped in a panic! He definitely needs help, now that so many people are after him. He only has enemies around him right now. Who will be around to help him if we die as well?”

Only then did the expressions of Feng Daniu and the others ease up. What he’d said made sense to them.

Jiao Shanhe sounded surprised. “Not bad, little Ping! You’ve shown us a whole new side of you today! That was exactly what I wanted to say.”

“But of course! Do you think I’m dumb?” Cheng Shouping rubbed his own chin, a smug look on his face. “Wait, are you making fun of me?”

Jiao Shanhe laughed. “Of course not! First, we need to locate young master. We don’t even know where he is right now.”

…

Zu An hurried into a courtyard, Qin Wanru in his arms. Someone had just come out from inside, and they ended up bumping into each other.

“Ah!” A clear and delicate cry rang out.