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“Erosion of rationality
” Zheng Dan was rendered speechless.
Why doesn’t this fellow go with the flow? Other men would surely try their best to showcase their gentlemanly side, but this guy is acting as if he was afraid that others wouldn’t know about his perversion!
That being said, Zheng Dan still reacted fairly quickly. She put on a natural smile and replied, “Teacher Zu is a gentleman; you aren’t like any other men. You’ve saved my life, so there’s no way I would think of you in such a light.”
She felt queasy just to say those words. No matter which angle one looked at Zu An from, it was simply impossible to associate the word ‘gentleman’ with him.
“Oh? I never knew I had such a noble side to me.” Zu An touched his face delightedly, pleased with Zheng Dan’s words.
“Allow me to propose a toast to Teacher Zu for saving my life.” Zheng Dan raised her wine cup as she looked at him with a gentle smile.
On the other hand, Zu An hesitated at this point. Based on what Chu Huanzhao said, the Sang clan wasn’t on good terms with the Chu clan. Considering that the Zheng clan were going to be in-laws with the Sang clan, it should be safe to assume that they were on the same front.
If so, Zheng Dan’s purpose for approaching him was worth questioning. As narcissistic as Zu An was, he wasn’t utterly blind.
“You didn’t poison this wine, did you?” He had been assassinated multiple times ever since coming to this world, making him wary about everything. He decided to simply ask it outright since it was in line with his character anyway.
Zheng Dan replied with a smile, “Teacher Zu, you’re jesting with me. You’re a teacher of the academy, as well as my benefactor. How could I possibly dare to poison your wine? If you’re still worried, I can take a sip first.”
As she said those words, she lifted his cup and took a light sip before returning it back to him.
Looking at the slight lip imprint on the cup, Zu An narrowed his eyes.
She really is dropping a lot of hints here. This is obviously a beauty trap. But what is she aiming for? Does she want intelligence on the Chu clan from me? Or does she simply want to snatch me away from Chu Chuyan so that she can satisfy her sense of superiority?
After contemplating this question for a long time, his final conclusion was that he was simply too good-looking and that the other party simply lusted over his body. Yeap, that must be the case.
So, Zu An lifted his wine cup with a smile and said, “Miss Zheng, you’re jesting. How could I possibly suspect you of drugging the wine? Here, let’s have a drink.”
Zheng Dan rolled her eyes. You just said it out loud earlier. You sure are refreshingly shameless, huh?
In order to be safe, Zu An chose to eat the dishes which Zheng Dan had taken a bite of, but as soon as he got a taste, his eyes widened in wonderment. “Miss Zheng, your culinary skills are really top-notch! I’ve never eaten anything as delicious as this before!”
He had never eaten food as good as this before in his entire two lives. His previous world was indeed filled with delicacies, but as a keyboard warrior, how could he possibly have the time and money to grab anything good?
“Teacher Zu, you’re too humble. How could my culinary skills be a match for Chu First Miss?” replied Zheng Dan.
Zu An was aware that Zheng Dan was intentionally trying to stir conflict between the two of them, but he still went along with her anyway. “My wife? Hah, does she even know how to cook?”
After making the remark, he grabbed the wine cup and downed the alcohol.
The edges of Zheng Dan’s mouth curved up with a hint of glee. She knew that her plan was working. Hmph, it’s all because she’s the First Miss of a ducal estate that she’s able to one-up me for everything. Otherwise, how could she possibly be a match for me?
“With Miss Zheng’s culinary skills, anyone who marries you will truly be blessed for life,” remarked Zu An.
Zheng Dan replied with a smile, “If Teacher Zu is fond of my cooking, I’m more than happy to cook for you every day.”
Zu An was a little taken aback by that remark. Aren’t you getting a little too straightforward here? It looks like you’re quite an expert at playing romance, huh? Such words could easily stir the hearts of any man.
“You can’t possibly do it for a lifetime. General Sang is going to get jealous,” replied Zu An.
Zheng Dan nodded. “It’d indeed be inconvenient for me to continue cooking for you after my marriage. However, you can always drop by our estate whenever you’re having a craving. With your knowledge, I’m sure that you’d be able to become good friends with Sang Qian.
Zu An was impressed. This woman has been dropping hints, trying to seduce me, but so far, she has been making sure to toe within the line so as to not get overboard. By mentioning her engagement with the Sang clan right now, she makes herself look like a gentle and virtuous wife. This further stirs a man’s desire to conquer.
Zheng Dan understood that the key to romance wasn’t just charging ahead blindly; it was about keeping an appropriate distance and slowly hooking the other party in. So, she chose to change the topic. “Teacher Zu, I have some doubts about one of the questions you came up with during your competition with Teacher Yang. May I ask you to explain it to me once more?”
“You want me to explain it to you?” Zu An had a bizarre look on his face. A female student having one-to-one remedial lessons at her teacher’s house
 I feel like I’ve seen this plotline in adult films before.
“I know that it’s a little brash of me to make a request of you all of a sudden, but I’m quite interested in arithmetic as well. Whenever there’s a question that I’m unable to make sense of, it’d continue to linger in my mind for days. So, I can only trouble you on this.” Blinking her large eyes, Zheng Dan looked as innocent as she could get.
Interested in arithmetic? Wow, I’ve never heard anything more bullshit than that. I’d really feel bad exposing you if you're going to such an extent.
Despite his mental retorts, Zu An still kept an amiable expression on his face as he said, “Which question are you having difficulties with?”
“It’s the one about the red eyes and blue eyes. Why would all of five prisoners with red eyes commit suicide on the fifth day?” asked Zheng Dan.
Zu began to explain the question, “This question can be solved using inductive reasoning. Assuming that there’s only one red-eyed prisoner, he would see that everyone else around him has blue eyes, and through that, he would be able to confirm that the person with red eyes is him. As a result, he would commit suicide on the first night. That’s straightforward enough.
“Moving on, assuming that there are 2 red-eyed prisoners

“On the very first day, the red-eyed prisoners will see 1 red-eyed prisoner and 98 blue-eyed prisoners whereas the blue-eyed prisoners will see 2 red-eyed prisoners and 97 blue-eyed prisoners. At this point, no one can confirm whether they have red eyes or not, so no one commits suicide on the first night.
“However, this, in turn, tells everyone that there’s more than 1 red-eyed prisoner amongst them. So, on the second day, the red-eyed prisoners, who see 1 red-eyed prisoner and 98 blue-eyed prisoners from their perspective, would know that they have red eyes too and commit suicide. On the other hand, the blue-eyed prisoners who see 2 red-eyed prisoners and 97 blue-eyed prisoners are still unable to confirm whether they have red eyes or not, so they don’t make a move. As a result, the 2 red-eyed prisoners commit suicide on the second day.
“The same logic applies when there are 3 red-eyed prisoners too.
“On the first day, the red-eyed prisoners see 2 red-eyed prisoners and 97 blue-eyed prisoners whereas the blue-eyed prisoners see 3 red-eyed prisoners and 96 blue-eyed prisoners. No one is able to confirm if they have red eyes, so no one dies the first night.
“On the second day, everyone knows that there is more than 1 red-eyed prisoner. The red-eyed prisoners see 2 red-eyed prisoners and are unable to confirm if they have red eyes, and the same goes for the blue-eyed prisoners too. So, no one dies on the second night.
“On the third day, everyone knows that there are more than 2 red-eyed prisoners. The red-eyed prisoners, who only see 2 red-eyed prisoners, realize that they themselves have red eyes too whereas the blue-eyed prisoners, who see 3 red-eyed prisoners, are still unable to confirm if they have red eyes. As a result, the 3 red-eyed prisoners commit suicide on the third day.
“So, building on this reasoning we have developed, if there are 5 red-eyed prisoners, all five of them would realize that they have red eyes on the fifth day and commit suicided together.”
“I see!” Zheng Dan clapped her hands in realization. “I thought that the question was really tough, but now that you’ve explained it, it all makes sense now. You’re truly amazing!”
“You’re flattering me~” Zu An waved his hands humbly. Your compliment is quite fake, but I’ll take it.
Through creating a common topic between the two of them, the conversation flowed smoothly from thereon. The slight awkwardness in the air gradually dissipated as the two of them became more comfortable with one another. In the midst of their conversation, Zheng Dan stood up to refill Zu An’s wine cup, but she accidentally knocked the chopsticks onto the floor.
“Ah!” exclaimed Zheng Dan.
She quickly bent down to pick the chopsticks up.
Zu An was about to reach out to pick it up for her, only for his eyes to widen in the next moment. Due to her bending down, the fabric around her collar ended up hanging a little loosely, vaguely revealing a pair of enticing snowy ridges.
At the same time, her robe also slipped downward slightly, exposing her fair shoulders partially.
“This woman must be doing it on purpose!” Zu An gulped down his saliva.
You want to use your beauty to deal with me? Hah! You must not know that I’m very vulnerable to people like you!
Zheng Dan’s face also couldn’t help but redden a little. Such nifty tricks came naturally to her, but nevertheless, this was still the first time she was using it on a man. It was inevitable that she would feel embarrassed about it.
After this brief event, the two of them continued chatting for a while before Zheng Dan finally stood up and took her leave.
Zu An stood up as well and said, “I’ll walk you out.”
“Thank you, Teacher Zu.” Zheng Dan nodded in response. She flicked her wrist lightly, and her skirt immediately slipped right underneath Zu An’s feet. Then, she lurched forward.
Tzla~
The crisp sound of fabric tearing echoed loudly in the air as Zheng Dan crashed right to the ground. Half of her skirt was torn off, revealing her smooth legs. Flustered by the occurrence, she desperately tried to cover herself, but how could a pair of hands be able to cover a pair of legs?
Her timid reaction made her even more alluring. Any man standing in her presence would surely feel duty-bound to protect her.
However, Zu An simply blinked his eyes quietly at the beautiful pair of legs before him.
Does this woman think that I didn’t see her flicking her own skirt under my feet? I don’t know what she’s up to, but she really is going all out.