Chapter 67: Fiancée

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Volume 1: First Entry into a New World

Even the Chu family's Red Robe Army cast sideways glances at him, thinking their son-in-law was truly a bit shameless.

Mei Chaofeng retorted angrily, "Who charges interest as soon as the money is lent? You should at least wait a year!"

Rage +200 from Mei Chaofeng!

"Oh, is that not how it works?" Zu An looked around, feigning ignorance of the local rules.

Chu Chuyan felt an urge to press her hand to her forehead. How had she, after so much deliberation, ended up choosing such a rogue? "Generally, interest is indeed collected after a year. However, Gang Leader Mei's usual lending practices often follow the 'nine out, thirteen back' principle. So, collecting 750,000 taels in advance is justifiable."

The 'nine out, thirteen back' principle refers to usurious lending where, while nominally borrowing 10 units of money with 1 unit of monthly interest, the borrower actually only receives 9 units, yet must repay 13 units after three months. This is why many people in the world are often ruined by usurious loans.

Compared to the Plum Blossom Gang's usual monthly ten percent interest, their current collection of ten percent interest per year was already quite lenient. If the sum of 7.5 million taels hadn't been so enormous, she would never have agreed to such a repayment method. Of course, she could also tell that Mei Chaofeng intended to default on the debt. After all, even if the entire Plum Blossom Gang were sold, 7.5 million taels couldn't be raised. Therefore, collecting whatever they could now was crucial, lest complications arise over time.

Mei Chaofeng gritted his teeth, knowing he wouldn't get away without making a concession today. He waved to his subordinates, "Someone, bring 100,000 taels in banknotes!"

Then he said to Chu Chuyan, "Please forgive us, Miss Chu. We don't have that much cash readily available on such short notice. For now, we'll offer 100,000 taels as a show of sincerity. The remaining interest will be paid at the end of the year. What do you think, Miss Chu?"

He didn't ask Zu An at all this time; God knew what tricks that scoundrel might pull. Besides, Chu Chuyan was the one truly in charge here.

Chu Chuyan hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. 100,000 taels was likely the largest sum they could produce on such short notice, and pushing them too hard wouldn't be wise.

A trusted subordinate of the Plum Blossom Gang brought the banknotes. Mei Chaofeng originally intended to give them to Chu Chuyan, but then thought better of it and immediately handed them to Zu An instead. "Young Master, would you like to count them?"

After all, if the money was in Chu Chuyan's hands, it would be difficult to retrieve. But if it was in Zu An's hands... hmph, there would always be a way to make that brat cough it up.

"Yes, of course," Zu An replied. He took the banknotes, dipped his fingertips in saliva, and began counting them one by one. There were a full 1,000 banknotes, each worth 100 taels.

Mei Chaofeng choked on his breath, thinking, "I was just being polite! Who actually counts money in front of people?"

Rage +111 from Mei Chaofeng!

Seeing Zu An's money-grubbing manner as he counted, Sang Qian, who stood nearby, frowned. "How could a fairy-like Miss Chu choose such an unpresentable fellow as a husband?" he thought. "It's truly like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung. In what way am I not a hundred times better than him?"

Not a few people around shared this thought; even many of the Chu family's warriors felt the same, collectively contributing another wave of rage points.

"Huh, is there one missing?" Just then, Zu An suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention to him.

Mei Chaofeng's face darkened. "How is that possible? With so many eyes watching, how could there be one missing!"

Feeling everyone's gaze, Zu An shrugged. "I was just saying it casually, to see if you were trying to trick me."

Mei Chaofeng: "..."

So you were just trying to trick me?

Rage +211 from Mei Chaofeng!

Sang Qian, standing nearby, finally couldn't bear to watch the farce any longer. "Alright, alright," he said. "Since the problem has been satisfactorily resolved, everyone can disperse now."

He didn't want to stay here any longer. Watching a good-for-nothing jump around, flaunting others' power, while he could do nothing, was incredibly infuriating.

Pang Chun also chuckled happily. "Good, good, it's great that the matter is resolved. Everyone disperse, disperse."

His heart had been in his throat just now. What if the Chu family's army and the River Defense Camp clashed here, or if the Plum Blossom Gang decided to fight to the bitter end? A single misstep could lead to a massive disaster, and his position as county lieutenant would be lost.

Once the two influential figures on the scene had spoken, the gamblers who had been watching the spectacle felt as if they had received a great pardon and fled outside one after another. God knew if they would be caught in the crossfire by staying there.

Xie Xiu waved to Zu An. "Brother Zu, you've truly impressed me today," he said. "I'll treat you to a drink another day; there are many things I'd like to ask your advice on."

Zu An also smiled happily. "I also have many things I'd like to ask Brother Xie about," he said, "for example, how to be so dashingly elegant while frequenting pleasure quarters without getting entangled."

"We'll talk about it later, we'll talk about it later," Xie Xiu said, noticing Chu Chuyan's darkened expression nearby. He gave an awkward smile, thinking, "This guy is really something, saying such things right in front of his wife." Worried about suffering an undeserved calamity, he quickly made a few perfunctory remarks and fled.

Seeing everyone run outside, Zu An felt somewhat unfulfilled. "Still haven't earned enough rage points," he thought. So he turned back to Mei Chaofeng. "Gang Leader Mei," he asked, "will your gambling house still be open in the future? Can I still come to gamble?"

Mei Chaofeng: "..."

"If you dare to come again, I'll flay you alive!"

Rage +267 from Mei Chaofeng!

Chu Chuyan couldn't bear it any longer. "Let's go," she said. Even though her nature was always cool and aloof, she couldn't stand him constantly pulling new stunts.

Yue Shan came directly and escorted Zu An out. Having served the Chu family for so many years and being accustomed to various noble etiquettes, he truly couldn't stand Zu An's rogue-like behavior.

Mei Chaofeng stared darkly at their retreating figures, his fists clenched, cracking his knuckles.

"Gang Leader, are we really going to repay that fellow 7.5 million taels?" an ignorant subordinate asked, expressing his worry.

"Repay nothing!" Mei Chaofeng roared, slapping him to the ground where he couldn't get back up.

With a gloomy face, he ran back to the room prepared for him in the gambling house, where a charming and beautiful figure was already waiting.

"Miss Qiao, you made me write this enormous IOU," Mei Chaofeng said, closing the door, his tone already quite hostile. "How do you plan to handle this matter afterwards?"

"You weren't unaware of the situation at the time," the young girl, naturally Xue'er, replied. "Could we have gotten through it so smoothly without writing it?" Seeing the skin on Mei Chaofeng's face twitching, she turned to comfort him, "Don't worry, the IOU is in that good-for-nothing Zu An's hands. It'll be very easy to get it back."

Mei Chaofeng frowned. "I'm just afraid he'll hand the IOU over to the Chu family."

Xue'er shook her head. "No need to worry," she said. "Chu Chuyan has always been proud and aloof; she definitely won't take Zu An's money. As for Chu Zhongtian, he's upright, and the Chu family strictly forbids gambling, so he certainly won't want this gambling debt. In fact, when he returns this time, Zu An won't just fail to receive praise; he'll instead be severely punished by the Chu family, as he committed an act strictly forbidden by them."

"Even a severe punishment would just be family disciplinary action," Mei Chaofeng said discontentedly. "It's not as if they'd expel Zu An from the Chu family, is it?"

Xue'er sighed. "While 7.5 million taels is a lot," she said, "if we can successfully get Zu An expelled from the Chu family, it wouldn't be an unacceptable price."

Mei Chaofeng: "..."

He was speechless for a moment, thinking, "It's not your money, so you don't feel bad about it, right? Do you little wench even know what 7.5 million taels means? You could hire countless assassins with that, or even directly eliminate the Chu family head. Is it really necessary to spend so much money to deal with a mere good-for-nothing?"

Fortunately, Xue'er's next sentence diffused his anger. "Don't worry," she said, "I will personally take action tonight. Not only will I help you get the IOU back, but I'll also kill that brat and completely remove any future trouble."

Mei Chaofeng was overjoyed. "Thank you very much, Miss Qiao," he said. In fact, with his cultivation, killing Zu An would be easier than crushing an ant. But Zu An was always either in the City Lord's Mansion or the Chu family's estate, so Mei Chaofeng had no way to act. Now that Xue'er would act from within the Chu family, it would be much more convenient to deal with Zu An than for him to do it himself.

At this moment, in the Zheng family manor not far from the Silver Hook Gambling House, a beautiful woman in palace attire was brewing tea. Her fair and radiant face, with its soft profile lines seemingly drawn with a single stroke, conveyed an expression of intense focus. Her eyes, clear as a spring bubbling from a rock, coupled with her skin as fair as jade, truly made her dazzlingly beautiful with bright eyes and snow-white skin.

"What's wrong, Young Master Sang? You look upset," the beautiful woman said, offering a cup of tea to a man sitting opposite her. Her every movement throughout the process was extremely elegant, exuding classical beauty.

The man opposite her was none other than Sang Qian, who had just come from the Silver Hook Gambling House.

"Miss Zheng, your tea brewing skill is truly superb," Sang Qian said. Feeling her quiet and gentle demeanor, his agitated mood calmed down somewhat.

The beautiful woman smiled faintly. "After we're married," she said, "I can brew it for you every day."

This beautiful woman was, in fact, Zheng Dan, the esteemed daughter of the Zheng family, one of the four prominent clans of Brightmoon City. The Zheng family had already arranged a marriage contract with the Sang family, and she was now Sang Qian's fiancée.

Although it wasn't the first time he had seen her, a trace of awe still flashed in Sang Qian's eyes. Initially, when he heard his father wanted him to marry the daughter of a merchant in Brightmoon City, he was quite unwilling and had argued with his father about it countless times. But after meeting Zheng Dan, all his resistance and hesitation vanished, because this merchant's daughter, whom he had looked down upon, was truly too beautiful. Marrying such a woman seemed to be no great loss.

"Thank you, Miss Zheng," Sang Qian said. As he took the teacup, he tried to seize the opportunity to touch her hand, but she subtly avoided his touch.

Zheng Dan's crimson lips parted slightly. "Young Master Sang," she said, "after we're married, whatever you wish to do to me, I will naturally comply. But for now..." Her unspoken meaning was clear: he should not make any inappropriate advances towards her before their marriage.

A hint of annoyance flashed in Sang Qian's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. The more she acted like this, the more his heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat. He even wondered if men were simply perverse, often not cherishing what they easily obtained, and constantly longing for what was difficult to acquire.

"Just now, something happened at the Silver Hook Gambling House..." To mask his inner awkwardness, Sang Qian briefly recounted what had just occurred.

A hint of surprise appeared on Zheng Dan's fair and flawless cheeks. "Huh," she said, "the Silver Hook Gambling House actually let Zu An win 7.5 million taels? Rumor has it that this Chu family son-in-law is a good-for-nothing. It seems rumors are indeed unreliable."

Hearing the praise for another man in her tone, Sang Qian felt a pang of discomfort. "Hmph," he scoffed, "it was just dumb luck. He only gambled twice; who knows how a blind cat just happened to stumble upon a dead mouse."

Zheng Dan pressed her lips together and smiled, her rosy lips forming a beautiful line. She had guessed the man's thoughts and said nothing more to provoke him.

Sang Qian continued, "Oh, right, I came here this time because I need your help with something."

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