Chapter 1309: Chaos

“What are you making such a huge fuss for? What happened?” Sang Hong asked with a frown.

“A large group of smaller clans banded together, demanding to see the duke. There are also some merchant groups who have merchant slips that they wish to convert ahead of time. The Duke Manor’s guards explained that the duke was currently in seclusion, but they did not listen at all. Just who is leading this mess? They barged straight in, and for some reason, those guards did not stop them,” his subordinate quickly replied.

Sang Hong said seriously, “That is normal. Such a major event happened in the Duke Manor, and yet the duke never appeared. He never showed himself even after so many people asked to see him, so they all suspect that he is already dead. Now, the loyalty of the entire Duke Manor is divided. It is to be expected that those guards are not putting up much effort.”

Zu An was alarmed. Looks like I left for too long, I’ve already caused many people to become suspicious.

After his subordinate left, Sang Hong said to Zu An, “Either way, no matter how out of control things are on the duke’s end, it has nothing to do with us. Cloudcenter Commandery’s stability is Xu Yu’s responsibility, so he can deal with that headache. You don’t have to bother with this matter.”

Zu An smiled bitterly. He couldn't ignore the situation, because he was Cloudcenter Duke at the moment. Yu Yanluo had no intention to completely give up on Cloudcenter Commandery’s industries, and neither did he. Thus, he still needed to use the identity of Cloudcenter Duke to get things done.

Thus, he quickly excused himself and said, “Respected uncle, I’ll be heading back to get some rest.”

“You should take some time to properly recover. Let me know when you’re about to leave, and don’t vanish again without a sound like last time,” Sang Hong said.

Zu An was a bit embarrassed as he replied, “Alright. I’ve made respected uncle worry.”

Sang Hong nodded inwardly when he saw that even though Zu An was now a count with higher cultivation than his own, he still treated him with respect.

It seems I didn’t choose the wrong person after all. Qien’er won’t be wronged by following him. Apart from that, there’s Zheng Dan as well. Sigh, I wonder if they’ve become pregnant or not.

After Zu An returned to the room, he initially tried to head over to Pei You to activate his Kawaii Waifu Voice Changer, but that guy was gone. He had likely gone to Jasper Lane with Gao Ying. Zu An thought, Sigh, hoes before bros, huh? Didn’t you say you were going to help me wash away my bad luck?

As such, Zu An could only look for Xiao Jianren. He decided to change back into his Golden Token Eleven outfit to meet him.

Xiao Jianren was startled and happy to see him, exclaiming, “Sir Eleven, you’ve finally returned! I thought that something might have happened to you.”

Zu An replied indifferently, “What could possibly happen to me?”

Xiao Jianren thought to himself that it made sense. Every Golden Token Envoy had extraordinary abilities. I really was fretting for nothing. However, he soon remembered something else and quickly said, “Sir Eleven, someone was impersonating you before, and she was a woman, no less. Should I try to find out who dared to impersonate a Golden Token Envoy?”

Zu An replied, “That was one of my people. I sent her over. Otherwise, where do you think she would have gotten her uniform and waist token from?”

Xiao Jianren had felt that those details were strange to begin with. Apart from being the wrong person, the other pieces had all been in order, leaving him puzzled as to where the woman had gotten the outfit. When he heard Zu An’s explanation, he released a long sigh of relief and said, “That’s good then.”

At the same time, he wondered what kind of a relationship that woman had with Sir Eleven, for him to even entrust his Golden Token Envoy uniform to her. Furthermore, Chief Commander Zhuxie hadn’t even looked into the situation, which meant he must have known about it. Xiao Jianren’s inner gossipy soul began to burn passionately.

Zu An thought to himself, This is a good opportunity. He didn’t even change and circled back, but as he returned, he used the Kawaii Waifu Voice Changer.

Xiao Jianren just assumed it was Golden Token Eleven’s female body double. After carefully waiting upon him, he made inquiries about her relationship with Zu An.

Zu An said, “After one becomes a Golden Token Envoy, the organization will assign a female double. Apart from helping with professional matters, they can also take care of everyday life, and even warm your bed.”

“What?!” Xiao Jianren exclaimed, his tired eyes almost seeming to radiate rays of hope. He had already been quite satisfied with being a Silver Token Envoy. Golden Token Envoys had too many responsibilities, and they even encountered a lot of danger. He had thought there was no way that could be better than just staying in the archives and reading to his heart’s content.

But the organization actually assigns Golden Token Envoys their own women?!

She wouldn’t be an ordinary woman, but an Embroidered Envoy woman! They would naturally have all kinds of skills. Not only would they be comrades in battle, they would also be one’s most intimate companion. Xiao Jianren began breathing heavily when he thought of the possibilities. Motivation seemed to enter his monotonous lifestyle once more.

When he saw that, Zu An thought to himself, Old Xiao really is an honest person. He even believed this kind of thing?

If Xiao Jianren finally worked his way up to a Golden Token Envoy and asked Zhuxie Chixin for a female companion… That would definitely be an interesting scene.

Now that he had successfully activated the voice changer, Zu An found a random excuse to leave. Then, he used ‘Face of a Thousand Identities’ to change into Jian Yanyou. After that, he quickly hurried to the Duke Manor.

…

The entire Duke Manor was a mess. Many disciples from different clans and representatives of merchant groups were busy grabbing rare and valuable furniture from the Duke Manor as repayment for debts or compensation for their losses. There were even some guards and servants who were moving things away.

After Jian Taiding and the butler had died, only the women—Liu Ji, Chu Ji, and Zhang Ji— were left. Even though they tried to stop it, who would listen to them in such a situation? There were even some who coveted their beauty. As the duke’s concubines, the three women had previously been untouchable. However, their identity was extremely stimulating to many men, who wanted to take advantage of the crisis.

The three women were embarrassed and furious. While they were trying to avoid such situations, they had even less opportunity to deal with the chaos. Helpless to do anything else, they could only head to the place where the duke was supposed to be resting in seclusion.

However, the looters eventually entered deeper into the manor. When they saw what the women weer doing, they roared with laughter.

“Back then, Jian Yanyou didn’t do a thing even when something happened to Yu Yanluo, the main wife. Do you think he’ll care about you concubines at all?”

“So many things have happened since then. If that bastard Jian still hadn’t died, he would have come out a long time ago. Now, things are already so chaotic, and yet he still hasn’t shown himself. That means he really has died already!”

“If you all know what’s good for you, just remarry. We big brothers won’t turn our backs on you just because you aren’t virgins anymore.”

“What do you know? It’s these married women who know how to best serve others.”

…

They roared with laughter, their conversation growing coarser over time as they continued to eye the three women.

The women’s faces grew redder as they heard the lewd comments. However, the other side had greater numbers, and there were quite a few cultivators. The manor’s guard system was a complete mess and would be of no help at all. They had no other choice left.

Zhang Ji was different from the others because she didn’t know the truth, and thought that the duke was still in seclusion. Chu Ji and Liu Ji, however, felt ice-cold inside. They knew that the duke had really died, and that the replacement had left with Madam Yu as well. They really had been left behind.

A few months prior, they had lived wonderful and impressive lives; now, however, they had fallen from the sky down into the dust, simply because they had lost their backer. In this world where the strong ruled, beautiful women were like duckweeds. If they lost their backers, they would inevitably meet miserable ends.

Meanwhile, the men grew unsatisfied with just teasing the women. They all stepped forward to seize the one they liked. After all, there were only three women, and the situation was completely stacked against them. The one who moved first would get them first. The three women screamed in fear when they saw the men’s grasping claws approaching them.

Suddenly, the stone door exploded, sending countless shards of rubble outward. Those men with weaker cultivations were immediately blasted full of holes, while the stronger ones barely managed to keep their lives.

Afterward, a human figure quickly emerged. The cultivators in front didn’t have time to react at all before a palm that seemed as light as a feather smashed into their bodies. However, they felt as if their strength had been completely sucked out of their bodies, and they died on the spot.

“Master rank!”

The ones in the back withdrew in horror when they sensed the figure’s powerful pressure. As the smoke and dust scattered, they finally saw who it was. Who else could it be but Cloudcenter Duke, Jian Yanyou?!

“You are all truly bold. You dare to cause trouble in this duke’s manor?!”

Of course, the one who had appeared was Zu An. However, he hadn’t expected such great chaos to have unfolded. It seemed that, whether it was Sang Hong or Xu Yu’s faction, they had been hoping for something big to happen in the Duke Manor. That was why they had tacitly allowed such a thing.

“Sir Duke, please spare us! We don’t know anything! We were just acting on orders!”

The looters were immediately scared witless. Not only had Jian Yanyou not died, he even seemed to have fully recovered from his injuries. Who in Cloudcenter Commandery could be his match? Thus, they all began to push the responsibility onto the dead.

“Sir Duke!”

Many scattered guards rushed over when they heard the news. When they saw the duke, they were all extremely moved. Those who could bear to remain for so long were clearly the truly loyal guards.

Zu An was about to say something when Zhang Ji quickly jumped into his arms, sobbing miserably and calling out, “Duke…”

Chu Yi and Liu Ji were both moved and excited. However, they knew this person wasn’t the real duke, so they didn’t act as naturally as Zhang Ji. They only moved a bit closer to him.

Even though he had beauties at his side, Zu An just felt a bit awkward. He hadn’t come back because he wanted to have fun with someone else’s women, but how could he have expected how passionate Zhang Ji would be?

Just then, a flurry of footsteps rang out, and Xu Yu arrived with a group of subordinates. His complexion was pale; he clearly still hadn't recovered from his previous anger.

“Sir Xu came at the perfect time. These people have barged into the Duke Manor. As for what kind of crime this is, I will leave the details to Sir Xu,” Zu An said coldly. He didn’t have the patience to deal with the mess, so he’d just leave it to Xu Yu to deal with.

Sure enough, Xu Yu’s eyelids twitched. He clearly knew that in order to properly deal with things according to the law, he would likely have to offend a bunch of Cloudcenter City’s local powers.

He was about to do something when he saw that many cultivators from the great clans had been killed. He also felt the aura of the master rank ‘Jian Yanyou’. His expression immediately changed and he said, “The disturbance of the duke was due to my negligence. Just leave the follow-up to this official; I will definitely provide the duke with a satisfactory result.”

“I hope that will be the case,” Zu An said.

He didn’t feel like sparing Xu Yu another word, however, so he took the women with him and left. The event had drawn his attention to the fact that the women’s cultivation wasn’t that high, so they couldn't really keep things under control. Thus, he had to help them raise their cultivation.

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