Chapter 2005: Subst.i.tution
Meanwhile, Zu An was talking to Zhang Zitong. He suddenly sensed something and made a shushing motion toward her.
Soon after, someone spoke up outside. “Second bro, did you come to bully third bro again?”
The moment those words were spoken, a young man appeared by the door. His looks were decent, and everything he did exuded a feeling of confidence. Compared to Fang Hu and Fang Biao, he did seem more impressive. However, his aquiline nose paired with his malicious expression clearly told a different story, betraying his unkind nature.
At first, he seemed to have come to watch something fun, but when he saw what was going on inside, he was stunned. He asked, “Where is second brother?”
Zhang Zitong’s heart began beating madly. Judging from his tone, it seemed this was the Yin Yang Path’s oldest son, Fang Long.
Zu An had just burned away Fang Hu’s corpse. Why had this guy suddenly come knocking on his door?
Do these brothers have some kind of device that lets each other know if something happened to one of them?
Zhang Zitong was really alarmed, but Zu An seemed completely unfazed as he replied, “He suddenly remembered something just now and hurriedly left. He seemed to be in a bit of a rush too.”
This is the toad who wants to marry Qiu Honglei?
He secretly glanced at the people outside. It wouldn"t be too difficult for him to deal with all of them. Even so, he still gave up on the thought in the end. He had to use the wedding to draw out all the rebels in one go.
This guy’s life is better off being spared for now.
“He left?” Fang Long asked; he couldn"t help but frown.
What kind of important business could that kid Fang Hu have?
He had no idea that he had almost lost his life right then and there.
Even so, he didn’t pay the answer much heed, because everyone had some small secrets. He knew about Fang Hu’s smuggling of Yin Yang Path drugs to outsiders, and figured his brother had most likely gone to sell drugs to his pack of scoundrels.
His gaze then landed on Zhang Zitong. A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
That Embroidered Envoy was this pretty? More importantly, her legs are so long and straight! Just what kind of blasted luck did third bro experience?
Is there something wrong with second bro’s head? He didn’t want such a hot chick and decided to occupy himself with that stupid business?
When she saw the desire in his eyes, Zhang Zitong’s expression changed. For the first time, she was getting a bit annoyed at her own beauty and her long legs, which she had previously been immensely proud of. Why were they bringing her so much trouble?
A hint of coldness flickered across Zu An’s eyes. As expected, the Yin Yang Path really was hiding endless corruption. Even brothers willfully stole women from each other, and all that mattered was who was stronger.
Fang Long took a deep breath and slightly eased his raging emotions before saying, “Third bro, this woman is a silver token envoy who definitely has many secrets. You should take good care of her and not let anything happen to even a single hair on her head. Once I’ve finished dealing with things in the next few days, I’ll come to interrogate her personally.”
His reason still won out in the end. He was going to marry the saintess soon, and was the target of countless disciples’ jealousy. If he caused trouble now and ended up being denounced in public, that could just add more variables to the marriage. It was still best to wait until after he married the saintess. Then, he would play with this silver token envoy. Either way, there was no way this trash third bro would ever disobey him.
When he thought about Qiu Honglei’s usual aloof and proud appearance, he started to get a bit worked up again. In order to leave the saintess with a good impression on the night of their marriage, he had already given up on his l.u.s.t for half a month. He"d been drinking oyster and bull p.e.n.i.s soup day after day, so it was as if there were a lump of fire building up in his abdomen, and yet he couldn"t let it out ahead of time.
When he thought of that, he didn’t dare to stay here for a moment longer, because he was worried that he wouldn"t be able to hold it in if he continued to stare at those long legs.
When she saw him leave in a hurry, Zhang Zitong moved over to Zu An’s side, saying, “This Yin Yang Path really is full of despicable sc.u.m!”
Zu An said indifferently, “Don’t worry; they don’t have many good days left to live.”
Zhang Zitong was surprised. She said, “Master’s relationship with that Devil Sect saintess seems to be quite special.”
“Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t ask about,” Zu An said, then turned around and left impatiently.
Zhang Zitong excitedly followed behind him and pleaded, “Come on, master, tell me about it! I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Remember your ident.i.ty; obeying orders is your duty. The more secrets you know, the more dangerous it will be for you," Zu An replied.
“I’m just your female slave now though; I’m not even an Embroidered Envoy anymore," Zhang Zitong said.
Zu An was speechless.
“It’s okay if master doesn’t tell me, but can you let me see what you look like?”
“Do you want to die?”
“If I could see what you really look like, I’d be willing even if I have to die right now.”
“Did you get drugged by an aphrodisiac again?”
“You’re so annoying! I"m really curious here...”
...
In the end, Zu An ended up being pestered to the point that he just struck her acupoint to make her sleep. Only then did it quiet down a bit. He sat down on the bed and began to meditate. At the same time, he continued to control the living creatures around the Lake of Hatred to find out Yun Jianyue’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, this was the Devil Sect General Headquarters, and it simply had too many defensive formations and restrictions. There were many areas that the smaller creatures couldn"t enter, so he could only note those places down for now.
...
A night pa.s.sed without any more talking. The next morning, Zhang Zitong woke up. When she looked at her intact clothing, she was in a bit of a daze.
“It’s good that you’re awake now. I’m going out for a bit, so be careful on your own,” Zu An said before leaving the room.
Zhang Zitong touched her cheeks. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but there was a grin on her face as she muttered, “Who would have thought that the honorable Embroidered Envoy"s Chief Commander would be a true gentleman who wouldn’t be swayed at all?”
..
Meanwhile, when Zu An left the room and arrived at the Heavenly Devil School, he prepared to meet with Pan Qiaoqiao.
The Yin Yang Path and Heavenly Devil School were usually on good terms, and since Fang Biao was, for better or for worse, the Yin Yang Path’s third young master, a female disciple of the Heavenly Devil School soon brought him in.
Pan Qiaoqiao waved for the others to leave first. Then, she looked at Zu An and asked with a frown, “Why did you come looking for me at a time like this? Be careful not to expose our plan.” She had already recovered her usual charming yet prideful appearance; it was nothing like the lowly appearance she"d displayed in front of her master the previous day.
Zu An said, “I have a way to let you replace the saintess as the new bride ahead of time, letting you experience the feeling of Fang Long escorting the bride to the wedding ceremony.”
“You"re becoming braver and braver, aren’t you? You don’t even call him big brother anymore. Aren’t you scared that I’ll tell on you?” Pan Qiaoqiao asked with a lovely laugh.
Zu An smiled and said, “We’re all among our own people here. In the future, I’ll need sister-in-law to take good care of me, so why would you expose me?”
“That little mouth of yours has honey slathered all over it,” Pan Qiaoqiao said, rocking back and forth in laughter. “But I don’t believe you have the ability to switch me with the saintess. According to what I know, she"s currently...” She stopped midway through her sentence and changed the topic. “Either way, it"s impossible. We should just patiently wait to perform the switch in the bridal room.”
“The two servants who are watching over her have some connection with me,” Zu An said quietly. “So that"s why I have a way of switching the two of you ahead of time.”
Pan Qiaoqiao was stunned and couldn"t help but give him a second look, saying, “Everyone says the Yin Yang Path’s men are playboys. I didn’t expect you to be more formidable than I thought.”
“Do you want to give the feeling of being a proper bride a shot?” Zu An asked, continuing to tempt her.
“Still, even if you have a connection to those two servants, it still doesn’t seem possible, right?” Pan Qiaoqiao asked skeptically. After all, this was an extremely important affair. Why would two maids be willing to do tha?
“Don’t worry, I have a way, but I can’t tell you the exact details. It touches upon some of my own secrets,” Zu An said with a hushed voice.
Pan Qiaoqiao was a bit moved.
Could there really be some other people I don’t know about that have gotten involved too?
Alright, this is a good chance to look into it. If I can get any useful information, master will definitely reward me properly.
It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but a flush of redness appeared on Pan Qiaoqiao’s cheeks. She said, “We can give it a try. Should we have Li Feiqing come with us?”
“Of course not,” Zu An said. When he saw her raise her brows, he continued, “Big sister Pan must be wondering why I"m taking such a risk to do this kind of thing, right?”
Pan Qiaoqiao couldn"t help but laugh, saying, I am indeed a bit curious.” Indeed, the subject had drawn her curiosity for a while. Such a thing didn’t seem to match Fang Biao’s personality.
“It’s because I want the saintess!” Zu An exclaimed, sounding excited.
Pan Qiaoqiao burst into laughter and immediately explained, “It’s not that I’m deliberately making fun of you, it’s just that this really is a bit... funny.”
Zu An was speechless.
This Fang Biao really is pretty unfortunate... He might be the respected third young master of the Yin Yang Path in the eyes of ordinary disciples, but in the eyes of others, just what do they see him as?
Pan Qiaoqiao endured her laughter with a lot of difficulty, then continued, “Are you trying to steal Fang Long"s beloved woman because of how he normally bullies you?” She had heard a bit about the Yin Yang Path’s affairs.
Zu An figured that explanation would actually save him a bit of trouble and said, “That’s right. He ran all the way over to my place to demand my silver token envoy. He went too far!”
A strange look flickered across Pan Qiaoqiao’s eyes.
That woman is indeed pretty; no wonder she became the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Even so, if this matter is exposed, your big bro will kill you," she said.
“That"s why I’ll need sister-in-law to help me put in a good word. Of course, I hope he"ll never find out that the saintess is with me,” Zu An said with an apologetic smile.
“I guess it’s fine; I’ll help you out later,” Pan Qiaoqiao said. Despite that, she actually sneered inwardly.
Does this idiot really think I’ll help him?
...
Then, Zu An took Pan Qiaoqiao to the courtyard Qiu Honglei was being held in. When she saw the layers of guards all around, Pan Qiaoqiao smiled ambiguously and asked, “Just what kind of method do you have to swap the two of us in this situation?”
Zu An chuckled and immediately summoned Daji.
Pan Qiaoqiao narrowed her eyes. How could there be a woman this beautiful? She"d thought that Qiu Honglei was already her greatest rival, but why had another one appeared?
She saw the white-clad woman walk into the courtyard; then, Zu An said, “Alright, follow me in.”
Pan Qiaoqiao reflexively followed. When she entered, she noticed that the guards seemed to have not even seen her, and didn’t even react. She couldn"t help but ask, “Who is that woman? Why do you know such an exceptional person?”
Zu An replied, “I’ll tell you later.”
Pan Qiaoqiao was in a bit of a daze and unwittingly followed him inside. The first thing she saw was a sweet and graceful figure. She had viewed Qiu Honglei as her compet.i.tor for so many years, so she was able to recognize her immediately. Qiu Honglei was dressed in red bridal clothes, their color serving as a great contrast to her beautiful skin. She really was beautiful.
In that instant, Pan Qiaoqiao couldn"t help but feel ashamed of her own inferiority. She"d wanted to compete against this woman all her life, and yet now, she felt that the very idea was a complete joke.
Qiu Honglei turned around and smiled at Zu An, saying, “You came! How do I look today?”
Zu An was briefly dazed, replying, “You’re as beautiful as a heavenly immortal!”
Pan Qiaoqiao finally realized that something wasn’t right and reflexively rushed out, crying, “Guards!”