Chapter 105: Provocation
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ten days ago, Wei Hongtao had paid a visit to the grand Tan family to see First Young Master Tan Zhi. He had been wondering why s.h.i.+ Yu had not come over on the day of the gathering of the scions of the grand families and wanted to find out the reason why.
At first, Tan Zhi attempted to evade the question, but later, he revealed something: s.h.i.+ Yu did not dare offend the youth who had been with Yang Zixi.
At that moment, he received confirmation: First Young Mistress Ren Jiapei of the Ren family had not deceived him.
Because of this, when he heard the group of scions of the grand families talking among themselves, he looked at them as though they were idiots and with a sense of intellectual superiority welling up in him.
“Yang Zixi!”
A gaudily dressed young lady stepped out of the group. It was Third Young Mistress of the Zheng family, Zheng Qiuhe. She had already scanned the surroundings, that First Young Mistress Ren Jiapei of the Ren family was not around.
With Ren Jiapei’s absence, she did not have to be concerned that someone would stand up for Yang Zixi.
Although s.h.i.+ Yu was present, Yang Zixi had brought a man along with her, and with s.h.i.+ Yu’s temper, he wouldn’t be of any help to Yang Zixi.
Zhen Qiuhe looked at Yang Zixi with a mocking smile. “How did you get in?”
“Today, the Tang family invited the grand families of the Chu royal city and above to the banquet… I’m very curious how you, as someone who was expelled from the Yang family, managed to sneak in?”
Right from the start, Zheng Qiuhe had not spared the young man with Yang Zixi a glance. In her opinion, someone surnamed Zhou in the country of Yunyang could not possibly have any background.
At most, he could only be the son of a preeminent family.
Zheng Qiuhe considered someone like that below her notice.
“Zheng Qiuhe.”
The young lady swept a glance over Zheng Qiuhe. “I don’t think that I, Yang Zixi, have ever offended you before. That day at the Wei family mansion, you behaved in such an overbearing manner, and here today at the Tang family mansion, you are still behaving in this way. Are you trying to tell me that I’m an easy target to bully?”
At this, an angry expression began to show on the young lady’s beautiful features.
In the past, she had treated Zheng Qiuhe as a sister and had given much without expecting anything in return.
It would not have mattered if Zheng Qiuhe did not give anything in return. But now, seeing that she had been expelled from the Yang family and repeatedly adding insult to injury, she could no longer stand it no matter how good her temper was.
“Hehe… our Young Mistress Zixi seems to be getting angry.”
Accompanied by the sound of mocking laughter, another young lady of similar age as Zhen Qiuhe walked over slowly.
“That’s not right… I almost forgot. Yang Zixi, you have already been expelled from the Yang family and are no longer fit to be called Young Mistress Zixi.”
The young lady was wearing an orange dress and could be considered elegant-looking. But now, there was a mocking smile on her face, and there was a look of delight in her eyes.
“Xie Tingting?”
Yang Zixi’s already angry expression grew darker. “As I recall, I also treated you well in the past.”
“So, what of it?”
Xie Tingting smiled coldly and took several steps forward to stand beside Yang Zixi and said in a low voice, “If you must blame someone, it is your own fault for looking like a fox spirit!”
Xie Tingting spoke in a tone full of jealousy.
“Yang Zixi, while most of the guests have yet to be seated, I advise you to leave quickly… when the guest of honor arrives and the banquet is about to begin, you will have nowhere to hide once everyone is seated. When you are shooed away by the Tang family, it will be far more shameful for you than if you leave now,” another young lady stepped forward and said with a voice full of malicious delight.
She looked at Yang Zixi with eyes full of the same kind of jealousy.
“He Lin.”
Seeing this young lady, Yang Zixi’s expression grew even darker.
Zheng Qiuhe and Xie Tingting were a small matter. Although she had helped them out before, those were just small favors… but He Lin, she had done her a big favor.
And now, He Lin was also stepping forward to add insult to injury?
On the previous occasion at the Wei family mansion, Xie Tingting and He Lin had ignored her, and she had thought nothing of it. She really did not care if they did not reciprocate even though she had treated them so well.
But she could not tolerate the way they added insult to injury even though she had treated them so well.
“Zixi, they’re just three little clowns… why take them so seriously?”
Zhou Donghuang, who had been standing silently beside the young lady all along, spoke up quietly as he detected the young lady’s anger.
He could feel the jealousy the three young ladies felt towards Yang Zixi as they were clearly trying to provoke her.
With this statement, Zhou Donghuang kicked the hornet’s nest. With a sudden change of expression, the three young ladies stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang in unison with chilly gazes.
“Zhou, do you really think that since you have some martial talent, you can compete with the grand families?” Xie Tingting asked coldly.
“Zhou, the Tang family only invited the grand families and above of the Chu royal city to the banquet… from what I know, there is no grand family and above with the surname Zhou. It seems that you sneaked in, just like Yang Zixi.”
Zheng Qiuhe put on a mocking expression. “You’ve got some guts!”
He Lin swept a cold glance over Zhou Donghuang, then turned and walked hurriedly towards the two people engaged in conversation nearby.
“Patriarch He is chatting with the tenth elder of the Tang family… He Lin is surely going over to inform the tenth elder of the Tang family that someone has sneaked into the Tang family,” one of the scions of the grand families guessed.
“I never expected that even before the banquet begins that there would be a show to enjoy.”
Many scions of the grand families prepared to get in on the excitement.
“Patriarch Zhang, I believe this youth maimed your son Zhang Yongshan’s arm? Now that he is right before your eyes, won’t you avenge your son?”
An elder of a grand family standing beside the patriarch of the Zhang family could not resist asking him after hearing the conversation between the young people.
“Revenge?”
The patriarch of the Zhang family was a thin middle-aged man, and hearing the old man beside him, he shook his head, a self-deprecating smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
That day, when his son Zhang Yongshan had been sent home, his anger had been sky-high, and his first thought was of taking revenge.
However, before he had even left the Zhang family mansion, someone from the s.h.i.+ family had arrived.
First Young Master s.h.i.+ Yu of the s.h.i.+ family, seeing that his son was injured in his cause, had sent someone to warn him not to provoke the youth who had maimed his son…
Because even the s.h.i.+ family dared not provoke that youth.
The s.h.i.+ family was a tyc.o.o.n family, and even though it was an inferior-level tyc.o.o.n family at the bottom of the hierarchy, the Zhang family could not compare to them. The Zhang family could not afford to provoke someone that even the s.h.i.+ family dared not provoke!
Therefore, he completely aborted any thoughts of revenge.
It was to the extent that now, seeing the three girls from the Zheng, Xie, and He families come into conflict with the youth, he could not help but mourn them silently in his heart.
In his view, if someone who even the s.h.i.+ family did not dare offend showed up at the Tang family’s banquet, he had surely received an invitation from the Tang family.
Fortunately, he was not calculative with me… if not, even if I had been killed by him, it would have been for nothing.
Tan Li, the third young master of the grand Tan family, was sitting beside his father, the patriarch of the Tan family, looking with fear and dread at the youth in white standing not far off.
That day, it was only after he had returned to the Tan family mansion that he found out that this person was someone who even his cousin, s.h.i.+ Yu, did not dare offend!
Although Zhou Donghuang had caused a fair bit of commotion, Tang Liunian and the other two Tang family members had not noticed him because of the distance between them and the general cacophony.
If the three Tang family members had realized what was happening here, they would definitely have come forward to welcome Zhou Donghuang as soon as they had seen him.
After all, the star of the show, and the benefactor of the Tang family was Zhou Donghuang.
“Big Brother Zhou, although He Lin’s father is only the patriarch of a grand family, he is very close to the tenth elder of the Tang family… aren’t you concerned that she is going to make a scene?” the young lady asked Zhou Donghuang softly.
Yang Zixi did not know that the star of the Tang family’s banquet was her Big Brother Zhou.
She merely a.s.sumed that her Big Brother Zhou had only received the invitation from the Tang family and was here to soak in the atmosphere, just like how Ren Jiapei had brought them along to the Wei family mansion ten days ago.
However, even though she spoke very softly, Zheng Qiuhe and Xie Tingting were standing nearby and managed to overhear her.
In an instant, a mocking smile surfaced on both their lips.
“When the tenth elder of the Tang family comes over, I’ll see what fate you suffer!”
The mocking smile on Xie Tingting’s face grew more p.r.o.nounced.
“Don’t think of leaving now… even if you leave, the tenth elder of the Tang family will still catch you and bring you back in a rage!” Zheng Qiuhe threatened.
At this moment, He Lin returned with two middle-aged men.
One of the middle-aged men had similar features to He Lin. He was obviously the patriarch of the grand He family, He Wuyi.
The other middle-aged man wore a blue robe and was of average build, and he followed He Lin over with barely contained anger.
“Uncle Zhanpeng, it’s them!”
After He Lin returned, she swept a gaze over Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi as though to flaunt her power; then, her gaze turned serious as she spoke to the middle-aged man in the blue robe beside her.
“Do you have invitations?” Tang Zhanpeng lowered his voice and asked as he gazed coldly at them, obviously controlling his anger.”
“How could I have entered without an invitation?”
Zhou Donghuang returned his gaze casually and countered.
“You mean… you have an invitation?”
Tang Zhanpeng’s eyes narrowed, and he continued with a cold smile, “Only grand families and above of the Chu royal city received invitations to tonight’s banquet by the Tang family. So, which family are you from?”
Tang Zhanpeng’s eyes had narrowed to a slit, and a cold look flashed through his eyes.
Although he had just returned to the Tang family half a day ago, he knew that besides the benefactor, only the grand families and above of the Chu royal city were invited to the Tang family’s banquet.
But this youth before him surnamed Zhou could not possibly be from any grand family and above of the Chu royal city.
Besides, when he had just arrived, he had heard right from the mouth of the third elder of the Tang family: either this benefactor would not turn up, or he would turn up in person.
Therefore, this youth before him could not be representing the benefactor at the banquet.
All in all, he deduced that this youth before him definitely did not have an invitation.
Even if he did, it must surely be forged!
Of course, Tang Zhanpeng made this deduction also because he arrived back late, and was not in time to learn from the Tang family members in the know that the benefactor whom the Tang family was putting on such a show for, was a youth.