Along with the order from the Tenth Tier god, several Seventh and Eighth Tier gods naturally made a move and swept the two of them away.
Back in Zhang Gaoqiu’s room, time rewinds to after Zhang Gaoqiu left. Zhang Chen had inhaled the most of the smoke, sunk so deep into lust he couldn’t extricate himself. Jiang Nan had taken in less, so he was the first to wake. With a woman’s low moans and bursts of panting in his ears, and his body aching all over, Jiang Nan slowly opened his eyes—and saw Zhang Chen and Wang Xifeng "exercising."
Then he saw his own clothes scattered all over the floor. Jiang Nan sobered up and jolted upright, then, seeing the mess on his body, was so shocked he scrambled down from the table—only his arms and legs were so weak that he pitched straight off the table onto the floor. He couldn’t be bothered with the pain, hurriedly grabbed his clothes from the ground and threw them on any which way, then looked at Zhang Chen and Wang Xifeng, feeling that the sight was searing his eyes.
"Zhang Chen’s state is wrong! Auntie’s been plotted against too, she’s like a doll, frozen there. I... I... my chastity..." Jiang Nan’s face instantly went pale, his mind turning to mush. He bolted out in a panic, instinctively running outside.
"Something’s off! Something’s off! I’ve been set up! Little cousin’s been set up too! Auntie’s also been schemed against! What is that person in the dark trying to do?" Jiang Nan felt his heart sink into an abyss. He thought back to how, after entering the small courtyard, he’d been consumed by lust and lost all reason. Then he remembered this was Zhang Gaoqiu’s yard, and Jiang Nan seemed to realize something.
"Only it seems the other side’s scheme ran into an accident. Right now, whether in terms of sentiment or reason, they should have come out to clean up the mess and then put Zhang Chen to death. But they actually vanished..." Jiang Nan’s heart turned cold. "My coming here should have been an accident. The real targets of the scheme should have been my aunt and Zhang Gaoqiu. I just don’t know why they even sacrificed Auntie herself."
Jiang Nan knew many of the Shen Family’s inside stories—such as Zhang Gaoqiu and Shen Ling sleeping together, and Zhang Chen snatching Shen Qiu’s quota to enter the Academy. Stringing all the clues together, and then recalling how, when he woke, Zhang Chen was like a pile driver, mindlessly pounding into Wang Xifeng, Jiang Nan’s face went deathly white: "I accidentally got dragged into the mess."
"Bitter! I’ve carelessly lost my pure body, who can I go to for justice? I don’t even know if cousin Zhang Chen still remembers what happened before." Jiang Nan felt bitter to the core as he trembled and staggered his way back.
Another hour passed, and the panting in the room finally stopped. Zhang Chen awoke from his lust. Seeing Wang Xifeng beneath him, her cheeks flushed, eyes brimming with watery haze, Zhang Chen suddenly shuddered, yanked himself out, then quickly jumped down from the table to pull his clothes on. Looking at the utterly naked Wang Xifeng, Zhang Chen reached out and recalled the Body-Stabilizing Rune.
"Beast! I am your aunt, and you dare treat me like this? I’ll fight you to the death!" Wang Xifeng was now limp on the table, with not a shred of strength left, and glared at Zhang Chen in fury.
Zhang Chen’s mind was gradually clearing. He rapidly ran through all the clues, and from the faint traces already pieced together the thread: "There was nothing wrong with the food and wine. That blue smoke that appeared must have been the real problem. Wang Xifeng’s coming here was suspicious as hell... But is this woman really that ruthless? For the sake of a setup, she was willing to throw herself in?"
He didn’t know Zhang Gaoqiu had run into an accident that caused a flaw in the plan. He only took Wang Xifeng for a vicious woman who, for that Inner Courtyard quota, had sacrificed herself, stepping into the game of her own accord to drag him down with her.
"A scandal like this must absolutely never leak out. Otherwise I, Zhang Chen, will never again be able to raise my head before the world." The first thing Zhang Chen thought of after regaining his calm was how to suppress this matter.
"You should be clearer than anyone about what really happened. None of this can stand up to those old lordlings’ investigation. If you expose this, I’ll be ruined, and there will be no place for me anywhere under heaven in the future. You’ll probably be drowned in a pig cage, and your daughter will be dragged down with you. Once such a scandal explodes, the Shen Family will definitely want to slap a lid on it and silence everyone. The two of us likely won’t live..." Zhang Chen fixed his eyes on Wang Xifeng. "You’re the daughter-in-law who manages the Shen Mansion. You should know what it means to weigh light and heavy, and to look at the bigger picture. Even if you don’t think for yourself, you have to think for your son. If you let such a scandal out, your son will have people pointing at his spine for the rest of his life."
At this point, Zhang Chen looked at Wang Xifeng’s deathly pale face, afraid she really would go for mutual destruction with him. Once this kind of incest scandal blew up, wherever Zhang Chen went, people would jab fingers at his back.
He cared about his reputation, so seeing Wang Xifeng’s ashen face, he was afraid she would truly drag him down to die together. He took the initiative to speak and make concessions: "Your goal’s already achieved—you’ve dragged me into the water. Whatever terms you have, just lay them out. If it’s something I can agree to, I definitely will. Let’s part ways peacefully and settle this smoothly, all right? Of course, don’t go asking for something I can’t do. Otherwise, when the time comes, I can only go down with you."
Hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Wang Xifeng’s gaze slowly regained its spirit. She slowly sat up, not caring that her curvy figure was fully exposed. Her eyes locked onto Zhang Chen as she thought to herself, "I get it. The brat misunderstood. He thinks I sacrificed myself to drag him down, so he’s scared."
Thinking this, Wang Xifeng mused inwardly, "This is a chance to force him to compromise!"
Zhang Chen didn’t want to be ruined and die together; did she really want mutual destruction?
At the same time she was cursing Zhang Gaoqiu as unreliable in her heart. Before they acted, he had sworn up and down that everything was within his grasp, but at the critical moment he’d actually thrown her into the fire.
"Damn little bastard. Before the move he made such solemn promises, and in the end he screwed me over. I definitely won’t let him off!" Wang Xifeng fumed inside, and also secretly cursed Shen Ling. That girl had left her hanging for so long and still hadn’t come to the rescue—was she planning to just watch her get bullied?
Looking again at Zhang Chen across from her, Wang Xifeng let out a cold laugh. "I have two conditions. If you agree, then fine. If you don’t, I’ll start screaming right now and we’ll both be finished together."
"Use your words properly. Why do you have to jump straight to threats?" Zhang Chen said irritably. "State your conditions."
"First, I want you to go tell the old madam not to trade your mother’s relics for the quota to enter the Inner Courtyard of Chongzheng Academy, and to return my son’s quota." Wang Xifeng’s voice was firm and brooked no argument.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen hesitated slightly, then finally said, "I agree to this."
It was no loss to him; he could swap this condition for some other condition. Right now Wang Xifeng was in a burn-the-bridges state of mind, clearly not in a normal mental state, and Zhang Chen was wary of her.
When she heard Zhang Chen’s words, Wang Xifeng nodded. "Second, you are to break off your engagement with Shen Ling."
Zhang Chen agreed to this condition without even thinking about it. "I consent to that as well."
On hearing this, Wang Xifeng shifted her gaze away from Zhang Chen, hurriedly began getting dressed, then gave him a look and turned to disappear into the inner room.
Watching Wang Xifeng’s departing back, Zhang Chen secretly drew in a sharp breath. "This woman is vicious."
"In order to fight for a spot for her son to enter the Academy, she actually sacrificed herself. A woman like this is not someone you want to provoke." Zhang Chen muttered under his breath. Looking at the mess of cups and dishes on the floor, he rubbed his slightly weak legs and, feeling quite relaxed, walked out of the courtyard.
"Money gone, disaster avoided! Money gone, disaster avoided! I’m not even at a loss! Except, if I remember correctly, the first one who came was Cousin Jiang Nan, wasn’t it?" Zhang Chen’s steps faltered at this thought. After pondering for a moment, he confirmed that he hadn’t remembered wrong—it had indeed been Cousin Jiang Nan.
Though his later memories were a bit hazy due to the effects of the drug, Zhang Chen still had some impression: his little cousin’s waist was very supple and could twist into all kinds of shapes.
"Wang Xifeng is one thing, but did Jiang Nan also take part in scheming against me? That shouldn’t be it. Jiang Nan should have been unwittingly dragged into this." Zhang Chen shook his head, rejecting that suspicion. Jiang Nan was beautiful and kind; she shouldn’t be capable of something like that.
Zhang Chen halted, then turned and headed toward Jiang Nan’s residence. When he arrived, Rice Cake was in the courtyard doing embroidery. The gate was wide open. Zhang Chen stood at the threshold, leaning against the doorframe, and knocked on the door.
"Oh, so it’s Young Master Zhang." Seeing Zhang Chen, Rice Cake showed a hint of surprise on her face. "What brings you here?"
"Is your young lady in?" Zhang Chen asked.
"My young lady just got back. I’ll go announce you." Rice Cake put down the needle and thread in her hands, bounced to her feet, and ran into the house.
Not long after, Rice Cake returned, looking very surprised and a bit apologetic as she faced Zhang Chen. "Young Master Zhang, I’m sorry, my young lady is not feeling well and doesn’t wish to receive visitors today."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen thought to himself, "Your young lady was flogged by me for two hours; it’d be strange if her body did feel well."
But what had happened between the two of them had to be settled sooner or later. Zhang Chen did not move from where he stood, but spoke again. "Please go and announce me once more. Just say I have an extremely urgent matter, and I must see her today no matter what."
Rice Cake nodded and turned back into the house.
Zhang Chen stood in the courtyard, his face full of inner turmoil. For a moment he had no idea what to do. He only felt his mind in chaos, unsure how he would face this little cousin who had shown him kindness.
"What should I do? Do I have to take responsibility for her? Will she hit me? Scold me? Even if she stabs me once, as long as she leaves me one last breath, I’ll accept it." Zhang Chen muttered to himself, pacing back and forth at the door.
Just as Zhang Chen was tangled up in his thoughts, not knowing how he would face Jiang Nan later, the little maid soon came hurrying back and said to him, "My young lady has agreed. Sir, please follow me inside; my lady is waiting for you."