Chapter 1909: Setting Up a Trap
King Dai was also observing the situation from the other side of the area. When he heard what was happening, he asked his subordinates, and one of them replied, "The family crest on that carriage belongs to Brightmoon Duke. That is probably Madam Chu and Chu Second Miss.”
“A sister-in-law?” King Dai remarked, feeling a bit unhappy.
What right does this brat have to have such a pretty sister-in-law? More importantly, she's that close to him?
He thought about how his own wife didn’t have any younger sisters, but she did have some cousins. However, they were all ordinary-looking. The Meng clan’s looks seemed to have all gone to Chan’er, resulting in all of her cousins having ordinary looks. It could even be said that they were a bit ugly. But then he had heard that Zu An’s wife, Chu First Miss, was a famous beauty who had left countless young masters infatuated. There were people who even claimed that it was comparable to when Yu Yanluo had entered the palace before. And yet her little sister was also so beautiful!
How can the heavens be this unfair?
“What are you looking at?” Meng Yi asked, suddenly arriving at his side. It was clear that today’s events in the morning court session had sounded a lot of alarms for him that he had to discuss properly with his son-in-law.
“It’s nothing,” King Dai said, retracting his gaze. He couldn't just say that he was looking down on their Meng clan’s women for being ugly, right? He said, “Sir father-in-law, that Zu An really is a lustful demon. His relationship with his sister-in-law is so ambiguous! Why don't we use this chance to accuse him of misconduct?”
“You’re acting willfully and making a scene again!” Meng Yi snapped in annoyance. “Among our civil and military officials, unless they married a princess, who would criticize another due to mere matters involving women? Furthermore, there isn’t even any reliable evidence of anything between him and his sister-in-law.”
Which member of this court didn’t have any problems with women? Who would want to find faults with another on that basis? Wouldn’t that be the same as inviting a disaster onto themselves?
“But there were clearly some officials who were investigated and removed from duty because of women…” King Dai said, feeling a bit upset. He immediately brought up several instances of important ministers in the past few years being castigated.
Meng Yi shot him an intimidating look, saying, “Those crimes are just named for the common people to hear; do you even believe that crap? Take some time to properly think about what really got those people into trouble in the first place!”
King Dai chuckled in embarrassment. He finally realized that trying to bring down Zu An from that angle was really too naive. Still, he grumbled, “But I don’t feel good at all right now. I wasn’t able to get rid of Zu An even with such a perfect plan, and he was allowed to act all high and mighty in front of me instead! I can’t swallow down this resentment.”
King Dai had been infuriated by what had happened with Madam Dai, bottling up his resentment. He recalled the earlier court session, and how Zu An actually dared to treat him with disrespect, before even shielding Madam Jin. He was furious without anywhere to vent it. He was already almost the freaking emperor! Why did he have to put up with this guy?
Furthermore, as long as Zu An was eliminated, the entire Eastern Palace would have been dealt a massive blow to their prestige. Now, all of their plans had failed and even dealt a blow to his own dignity. He had to find a way to quickly reclaim it.
Meng Yi nodded, saying, “We do indeed need a proper counterattack. Otherwise, those opportunistic neutral people might choose to side with the Eastern Palace.”
King Dai suddenly thought of something, saying, “This Chu clan madam likely came to the capital to visit her parents. How about we use this chance to properly discipline the Qin clan and let others realize our might?"
“Hm? They do say that even the wise might make an error after a thousand considerations, while a thousand considerations from the fool might instead…” Meng Yi muttered, but he immediately changed his tone and said, “That’s not a bad idea, and from how that brat acted against King Jin, he definitely wouldn’t let it pass and would retaliate like a madman. What we need to do is push him over the edge. Then, not even the empress or the crown princess could shield him, even if they acted together!”
When he recalled Zu An’s fierceness, King Dai felt a chill run down his back. He asked, “You won’t make that kid try to kill me, right?”
Meng Yi was speechless. Just why had his daughter married such an idiot? He replied, “You are my only son-in-law; who would I support if you died?
“Don’t worry. That foolish youngster King Jin was too rash. He only brought with him a single guardian and a couple of guards, and thought that no one would ever dare touch him. Now that we're already prepared, all we need to do is to teach Zu An that there are some actions that have irreconcilable consequences. We can just kill him on the spot then. Not only will the crown princess be unable to criticize us, she'll even have to apologize to us!” After saying that, he added with a sneer, “What a great clan like ours lacks the least is strong subordinates.”
…
Meanwhile, Zu An and Chu Huanzhao were tightly tangled around each other.
“Stinky brother-in-law, bad brother-in-law, why haven’t you even written a single letter to me in so long? You really are a bad, bad person who caused trouble and then abandoned me!” Chu Huanzhao said with a pout. She hit his chest with her little fists.
Zu An’s forehead darkened when he heard that. He said, “Huanzhao, don’t use idioms if you don’t know how to properly. Won’t people who don’t know anything think I did something inappropriate to you?”
“Hmph, did I say something wrong? You didn’t tell us a thing after you came to the capital. Meanwhile, I’ve been the one worrying about you day after day, thinking that something happened to you. And yet you were living better than anyone else here!” Chu Huanzhao complained angrily.
Zu An felt a bit apologetic when he felt the energetic young lady in his arms. He had been busy with too many things over the years, but not writing a single letter to her was a bit too much. This lass really had treated him well in the past.
“Ahem!” Someone loudly cleared their throat from the nearby carriage.
Only then did Chu Youzhao realize that she was wrapped around her brother-in-law like an octopus! The ministers nearby were all casting surprised and curious looks, making her blush. She quickly let him go, then took the chance to grab his hand and pull him toward the carriage. She said, “Brother-in-law, my mom came this time too.”
Zu An was pulled over to the carriage. When he saw the mature madam inside, he immediately greeted her respectfully. “I pay my respects to honorable mother-in-law.”
This woman had abused him quite severely in the past, and it was always little Huanzhao who had come to make him feel better. But after what they had gone through together, their relationship had gradually improved.
Then, he chuckled and said to the robust man at the front of the carriage with a smile, “Long time no see. Commander Yue is still as impressive-looking as ever.”
This man was the captain of the Chu clan’s guards, Yue Shan. He had probably come with some of their personal troops to escort the mother and daughter to the capital.
“The young master has become more and more handsome as well,” Yue Shan said, smiling in a simple and honest manner. Everything was as it had always been.
Qin Wanru felt a bit conflicted at first because this youngster had already divorced Chuyan in name. He technically didn’t have anything to do with the Chu clan anymore. And when she heard that he was actually doing quite well for himself, even becoming a popular person in the Eastern Palace with his authority now exceeding the Chu clan, she was a bit worried that he would have a falling-out with them. After all, he had suffered quite a bit of mistreatment back in the Chu clan. Even though they had compensated him a bit for it, for some reason, she just felt a bit guilty somehow.
She had even started to look down on herself for a bit. In the past, she had looked down on this son-in-law for being useless, and yet this man had now achieved meteoric success while becoming more and more capable, making her feel worried about her past choices. But when he greeted her respectfully just as he had in the past, and even called her mother-in-law, she really ended up bursting with joy. The way he conversed with Yue Shan and the others was also exactly the same as before, making her fully feel at ease. She no longer felt conflicted over whether or not she really was his mother-in-law.
“Ah Zu, hurry and come in. It’s more comfortable inside," Qin Wanru said with a big smile and invited him enthusiastically.
Zu An was a bit hesitant. He replied, “That might not be too appropriate, right?”
This was his mother-in-law and sister-in-law’s carriage. It was a bit improper for him to go in himself.
Qin Wanru harrumphed. “What could be inappropriate about that? A martial clan like ours doesn’t have so many convoluted rules. Hurry and come in already!”
Chu Huanzhao was also pushing his butt inside, saying, “Right, right! Brother-in-law, hurry and go in. Mom misses you a lot, you know?”
Qin Wanru’s face reddened. She shot her daughter an annoyed look, saying, “What kind of nonsense is this? It’s clearly you who…”
Halfway through her sentence, she was too embarrassed to continue. Was she going to say that her daughter was always thinking about her brother-in-law, and that she had been talking about him the entire time on the way here? Wouldn’t this kid’s tail point straight at the sky if he found out?
Ah!! It’s so infuriating! He was clearly just a drafted son-in-law back in Brightmoon City, and Chuyan was Brightmoon City’s number one beauty, the goddess of countless men. The fact that he ended up marrying her was already enough for his ancestors to be smiling in their graves!
And yet this kid wasn’t satisfied and wanted his sister-in-law in the same pot? No, he practically didn’t even let the pot go!
Perhaps because of anger, Qin Wanru’s cheeks became a bit red.
Even though this brat has now risen up and become formidable, there’s no way in hell I’ll allow him to take both of my precious daughters without having a clan of his own!
She was suddenly stunned. She looked at Zu An in a stupor, asking, “Ah Zu, why is your cultivation…?”
She was too embarrassed to continue because she couldn't sense the slightest bit of aura from Zu An’s body. He seemed no different from an ordinary person.
Don’t tell me that something happened to him and he became a cripple?
She couldn't help but feel a bit of pity when she thought of that.
This youngster’s life really is full of bitterness… He didn’t have any parents since he was young, and he was known as being a good-for-nothing in Brightmoon City. He finally managed to defy his fate and become a strong cultivator and managed to make a good living for himself in the capital, and yet he accidentally became a cripple again…
Even though he has received the crown princess’ favor, this is a world of cultivation, after all. Without strength, even if you obtain any authority, it can only be nothing more than smoke and clouds.
And women are fickle! The crown princess might just stop favoring him. At that point, he might just collapse and turn to dust.
Sigh, it seems as if I should be a bit better to him so he can feel a bit of a family’s warmth.
I should just turn a blind eye to it even if Huanzhao acts a bit closer to him…
Hm? Why do I feel that something isn’t quite right? I didn’t even let him have both sisters when he was rising to the heavens in his career, and yet I'm giving them to him after he's become a cripple?
How can I let that happen?
Chuyan and Huanzhao are so pretty, so there will definitely be countless jealous people chasing them. How could he protect them as a cripple? He’d only bring them trouble!
Sigh, what a pity. He doesn’t have any cultivation left though. Letting Huanzhao follow him is still letting them be happy.
She didn’t understand why she changed her mind so quickly too. She had clearly been absolutely unwilling to do such a thing before, and yet now, she felt regretful.
Lord of the heavens, if you can recover Ah Zu’s cultivation, then even if I have to give both sisters to him, I’ll still be willing…
Zu An would never be able to imagine that Qin Wanru had already thought of so many things in just that brief span of time. When he saw Huanzhao’s worried expression, he said with a smile, “Mother-in-law, don’t worry, I’m okay. I'm cultivating a special method, so no one else can sense my ki aura.”
“You’re really okay?” Qin Wanru replied, feeling a bit confused. Why had she never heard about a technique like that before?
“I’m really alright. If you don’t believe me, you can ask around. I even got into a fight a few days ago,” Zu An said with a smile.
Qin Wanru sighed in relief when she heard his confident reply.
Her expression suddenly changed, though. She suddenly murmured to herself, “Lord of the heavens, I was speaking blindly earlier. Please don’t treat it as anything serious, your majesty.”
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