Chu Zhongtian, who was drinking tea, was startled by the loud bang of her slamming her hand on the table. He almost spilled the tea. To cover his embarrassment, he cleared his throat and immediately chimed in, "That's right, Zu'an, do you know your crime?"

While expressing his disdain for this henpecked husband, Zu'an sincerely said, "I know I was wrong."

Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru were both taken aback. They had expected the other party to instinctively argue back, and they had prepared their subsequent statements. However, the other party confessed directly, which made it difficult for them to speak.

Chu Chuyan and Yue Shan, who were standing nearby, couldn't help but glance at him. This guy looked as honest and innocent as could be now. Was he still the same guy who was sharp-tongued and eloquent in the Silver Hook Gambling House?

Qin Wanru paused for a moment, then proceeded with her original reprimand: "Do you know that our Chu family has always had a family rule that strictly forbids any member of the household from participating in gambling?"

"I didn't know. I only found out now that my mother-in-law told me," Zu An lied through his teeth, while patting his chest and promising, "Mother-in-law, please calm down. Don't get sick from anger. I promise I will never set foot in that filthy place again."

What a joke! How brain-dead would Mei Chaofeng be to allow him to continue winning money at the gambling den? Such a promise is practically worthless.

Qin Wanru felt a tightness in her chest. The other party's attitude rendered all the arguments she had prepared useless. So she could only glare at Chu Chuyan fiercely: "Didn't you remind him? And you even joined in his nonsense?"

Chu Chuyan hesitated for a moment, but did not expose the other party's lie: "It was my momentary oversight."

He was worried that Zuan would be punished too harshly, so he decided to take the blame for him himself.

Xue'er hesitated to speak, but ultimately said nothing. She thought to herself that since that guy would be killed that night anyway, it didn't matter how the Chu family punished him.

Qin Wanru could easily see through Chu Chuyan's intention to protect him. She wondered what kind of spell Zu An had cast on her, that she would speak up for him so quickly.

The thought of her precious daughter being abducted made her glare fiercely at Zu'an.

Anger from Qin Wanru increased by 33!

Upon seeing this message, Zu An was stunned, thinking, "Even though Chu Chuyan said those things, you're still angry with me? That's so unreasonable."

However, he doesn't mind having too much anger; the more the better.

Chu Zhongtian coughed lightly and said in a deep voice, "This matter has escalated too much, almost leading to a conflict with the local army. In the end, the culprit is you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zu'an took out the IOU: "I'll hand over all 7.5 million taels to my father-in-law and mother-in-law. Anyway, Chu Yan is my wife now, so what's mine is hers, and naturally it belongs to the Chu family."

Chu Chuyan, standing to the side, was speechless. Even though what the other person said was the truth, why did it sound so grating?

Qin Wanru snorted heavily: "We dare not accept this money. Our Chu family has been honest and upright for generations, and we never touch dirty money such as gambling, prostitution, or drugs. If we really accept your money, who knows what outsiders will say about us, saying that our Chu family has fallen so low that we have to rely on our son-in-law to go out gambling to supplement our income."

Chu Zhongtian also said, "That's right. We can't ruin the Chu family's reputation of hundreds of years because of this. You should keep this safe and never mention it again."

Xue'er breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had guessed that this was the most likely outcome, she was still somewhat worried that if the IOU really fell into the hands of the Chu family, the consequences would be quite troublesome. Now that everything was within the plan, things would be much easier.

Zuan put the IOU into his pocket, secretly complaining to himself, "In the end, it's just because this is an IOU that's destined to be hard to recover. If it were 7.5 million taels of real gold and silver right here, I don't believe you would be so high and mighty."

Could the Chu family really have that much net profit in a year?

What do family rules matter when faced with absolute self-interest?

"What a pity..." Zu An was also a bit annoyed. This IOU was useless to him. He didn't have the ability to collect it from the Plum Blossom Gang. At most, he could see if he could get some interest at the end of each year. However, Mei Chaofeng didn't seem to be such a kind person. She would obediently give him the interest. She would probably cause some trouble.

“What happened today must be punished, otherwise it will send the wrong message to the other members of the Chu family, making them think that gambling is no big deal,” Qin Wanru slammed her hand on the table. “Go to the quiet room and copy the family rules ten thousand times!”

"Ten thousand times?" Zu An's eyes widened. "How am I supposed to copy that many times?"

"You're not allowed to leave the house until you finish copying this, lest you go out and cause trouble all day long." A smug look appeared in Qin Wanru's eyes. Hmph, don't think I don't know that you had Chu Shouping copy it for you last time. Today, even if you ask him to copy it for you, you still can't finish it. You'd better stay at home obediently when you come back at night these days. "You can go now. Start copying now."

Zu An could only leave with a bitter face, while Chu Chuyan stayed in the room and couldn't help but say, "Mother, isn't ten thousand times too much? When will we ever finish copying this?"

"What, even you're starting to feel sorry for him now?" Qin Wanru snorted.

"I didn't~" Chu Chuyan blushed slightly, thinking to herself, that shameless guy, how could I feel sorry for him?

Chu Zhongtian, standing to the side, chuckled and said, “Chu Yan, don’t worry. Your mother has always been sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. On the surface, she’s punishing Zu An by making him copy so much, but in reality, she’s protecting him. Think about it, the Plum Blossom Gang has suffered such a huge loss, how could they let it go? If Zu An continues to wander around, they might just kill him. Then, without any evidence, we won’t be able to avenge him.”

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