Chapter 37

Chu Zhongtian smiled bitterly and said, "My lady, you know our daughter's temperament. Once she has chosen someone, no matter how bad that person is, she will not change her mind. Do you want her to become a woman who remarries?"

Qin Wanru also had a bitter look on her face, "Although Chuyan has never said why she chose such a weakling, can we, as parents, not know? She is worried that if she brings in someone too strong and capable, they might have designs on our Chu family's business. In the future, she would find it very difficult to mediate between us. She has considered us so much, how can I, as her mother, not consider her? At the very least, I should try to make Zu'an more normal, which is why I am so strict with him every time."

Chu Zhongtian suddenly understood, "So, my lady, your strictness with him has this reason behind it."

"Of course," Qin Wanru rolled her eyes, "Otherwise, would I make him copy the family rules? Can just anyone copy our Chu family's rules? I want him to know that I already consider him part of the Chu family, to encourage him to reform and strive for improvement."

"But I heard you made Cheng Shouping copy them too. Do you consider him part of the family as well?" Chu Zhongtian asked.

"Spit, I just don't like him, so I made him do it as well," Qin Wanru thought of how Cheng Shouping had led a group of seductive women to her, asking her to help the master choose a concubine, and she couldn't help but feel angry, "Besides, a hundred copies are too many. Without help, Zu'an wouldn't finish even if he stayed up all night."

"I didn't expect you to be so considerate," Chu Zhongtian laughed, but after hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but say, "But Zu'an is rather foolish. With his abilities, he might not understand your good intentions."

Qin Wanru: "..."

She realized there was a high possibility—no, it was certain—that it would be like this; otherwise, he wouldn't have become the well-known weakling in the city.

"Should I help you play the good cop and give him a hint?" Chu Zhongtian suggested.

Qin Wanru pretended to hesitate for a moment before nodding, "You can bring some pastries with you to avoid seeming too abrupt."

"Alright." Chu Zhongtian smiled. The world said he had married a fierce woman and looked down on him for being afraid of his wife, but only he knew that his wife was a typical tough talker but soft-hearted person, far better than those seductive women outside.

He had a servant bring a pastry box and then went to the study. Seeing the figure writing diligently through the window, he nodded in satisfaction, "He is teachable."

"Are you tired from copying? Take a break, Chuyan's mother asked me to bring you some..." Chu Zhongtian pushed the door open, but his smile froze when he realized that only Cheng Shouping was in the study, and Zu'an was nowhere to be seen.

Cheng Shouping excitedly pounced on him, grabbing his leg and sobbing, "Master, you really didn't forget me! All those years of diligent service were not in vain. You even brought me food in the middle of the night. Master, I am so moved."

Chu Zhongtian barely resisted the urge to kick him away and asked, "Where is the groom?"

Cheng Shouping, as if reminded of a sad memory, burst into tears, "The groom came, saw how many words there were, and left it all to me. Master, my hands are about to fall off."

Since Zu'an wasn't there, he didn't hesitate to sell him out.

"What a scoundrel, how dare he!" Even Chu Zhongtian, the good-natured man, was angry, especially thinking about the effort his wife had put in, only for this guy to treat it like nothing, which made him even more upset.

He turned to leave to find Zu'an, but suddenly frowned and looked back at Cheng Shouping, "What are you following me for?"

"I... I'm leading you to the groom," Cheng Shouping was proud of his quick thinking, finding a perfect reason in a hurry. This way, he wouldn't have to copy the rules and could get closer to the master, a truly brilliant move.

Chu Zhongtian snorted, "No need, I'll go myself. You keep copying." Years ago, this guy had spread the news of him being scolded by his wife, which led to him being laughed at as a henpecked husband by the whole city. Seeing him, he couldn't help but feel angry.

Cheng Shouping's eyes widened, "???"

Master, are you really not favoring me anymore? Master, what did I do wrong? Master...

Fortunately, the master left the pastry box, which made him feel that the master still cared about him.

On the other side, Zu'an was in his room, enduring his injuries, when he noticed a message from the backend of the keyboard:

Anger value from Chu Zhongtian +283!

Hmm, what's up with my cheap father-in-law? Even he is angry?

Just as he was puzzled, an angry figure burst in, "There you are, you little brat!"

"Father-in-law," Zu'an struggled to get up from the bed, "Please forgive me, I am injured and cannot get up to greet you..."

Hearing "father-in-law," Chu Zhongtian's eyelids twitched, feeling uncomfortable with the term, but he quickly noticed the other part of the sentence and was startled, "You are injured?"

"Um~" Zu'an looked at him with a委屈 (grievance) expression.

Chu Zhongtian quickly examined him, "You are so badly hurt, how did this happen?"

"I don't know. I was walking on the road when a black-clothed person suddenly jumped out and beat me up. If it weren't for the guards, I would have been dead," Zu'an said half-truthfully. There was someone in the mansion who wanted to kill him, and he wanted Chu Zhongtian to investigate. If he found the person who had been trying to kill him, everything would be fine.

He had initially planned to frame the Thirteen Plums, using this opportunity to have the Chu family eliminate the Plum Gang. But he remembered that the Chu family was very strict about gambling. A cousin had once gambled and been found by the house, which made Chu Zhongtian furious and broke his legs.

Zu'an thought about the IOU the Plum Gang had on him and didn't want to risk it.

"Is there such a thing?" Chu Zhongtian frowned, clearly thinking of many possibilities, "Don't worry, I will strengthen the mansion's security to prevent this from happening again."

"Thank you, father-in-law!" Zu'an looked grateful.

Chu Zhongtian nodded and then ordered his attendant to summon the mansion's doctor. He then said, "Don't worry too much. Your injuries are not fatal. Rest well, and I will investigate who attacked you. Take care of yourself."

"But I still have the family rules to copy. I need to go back to work..." Zu'an struggled to get up, pretending to be diligent.

The guard beside Chu Zhongtian looked disdainful, thinking, "Who are you trying to fool? Everyone knows what you're like."

However, Chu Zhongtian didn't doubt him, "Don't worry, I'll have Cheng Shouping copy them. You don't need to worry about it." He then hurriedly left, suspecting that someone was targeting Zu'an and needing to discuss it with his wife.

Zu'an could only sympathize with Cheng Shouping, "Dead friend, not dead poor friend, you have it tough."

Not long after Chu Zhongtian left, a doctor was brought in to prescribe medicine and bandage his wounds.

Zu'an knew he didn't need this, as Ji Dantu's medicine was very effective and just needed time to heal. But he couldn't say this directly and had to let them do their work.

After a while, they left, and Zu'an finally had the chance to check his condition.

He hadn't had the energy to check before because of his severe injuries. Now, he noticed that all nine of the magic arrays on his skin were filled, and nine more had appeared in his muscles.

What's going on?

He clearly remembered that only six were full before.

Zu'an couldn't believe his eyes and rubbed them to confirm he wasn't mistaken.

Could it be because of the battle with Pei Mianman?

During the fight, he had taken countless blows, punches, and palm strikes, and his ribs had been broken by the woman's elbow strikes.

If it weren't for the "Rich Woman's Happy Ball," he would have died many times.

He knew that the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra's characteristic was that the more severe the injuries, the faster the cultivation improved, but he didn't expect it to be so fast.

According to his calculations, filling the seventh array required 13 Qi fruits, the eighth required 21, and the ninth required 34. The beating he received was equivalent to 68 Qi fruits!

Converted to anger value, even if he drew one fruit out of ten times, he would need at least 68,000 anger values.

In comparison, earning anger values to upgrade was much slower and less efficient than getting beaten up.

Should he go get beaten up more often?

Although the idea was a bit despicable, the high returns were irresistible.

However, after a brief excitement, Zu'an dismissed the idea. Today's high returns were based on the "Rich Woman's Happy Ball." Without it, he would have died many times.

Since the "Rich Woman's Happy Ball" could only be used once, what would he do afterward? Without its protection, getting beaten up would be very painful, and he might accidentally die. Zu'an didn't think his luck was good enough to survive and get enough injuries each time.

It seems this can only be an auxiliary method. The main focus should still be on Qi fruits, which, although slower, are more stable and long-term.

As he observed more closely, he noticed some lines between the nine magic arrays on his skin, forming a vague pattern of a strange bird.

It looked like it was about to fly, with a white body and red tail feathers with yellow spots, like eyes.

More striking was its head, which resembled a tiger but wasn't, and a demon but wasn't, making it look fierce and terrifying, causing his hair to stand on end.

"What is this?" Zu'an was startled and noticed a seal-like mark in the lower right corner of the bird pattern, with two characters in small seal script: "Great Wind."