Chapter 106: Young Master Donghuang
Faced with Tang Zhanpeng’s questioning, Zhou Donghuang glanced at him and said calmly and slowly, “I’m not from any family.”
Hearing this, Tang Zhanpeng’s eyes widened menacingly.
The young lady beside Zhou Donghuang then piped up, “Elder Tang, my Brother Zhou may not be from any grand family in the Chu royal city, but he does have an invite. Otherwise, we would not have been able to enter.”
Tang Zhanpeng looked at Zhou Donghuang with a smirk, asking, “Is that so? That means you forged an invite?” His lips raised into a menacing smile as his eyes flashed coldly.
“Forging an invite?” Hearing Tang Zhanpeng’s words, the grand family disciples surrounding him murmured as they looked at Zhou Donghuang with a mix of pity and gloating.
“If he really sneaked into the Tang family, he would at most be kicked out… but if he forged an invite, that is no small matter.”
“What is this young man thinking? Unless he is trying to show off in front of Yang Zixi, that’s why he forged an invite to bring her to the Tang family banquet?”
“The elders were right; beauty really is the cause of trouble.”
…
The chatter from the crowd made the young girl’s expression darken. She turned to Tang Zhanpeng and said firmly, “Elder Tang, my Brother Zhou would never forge an invite!”
She then looked at Zhou Donghuang and said anxiously, “Brother Zhou, tell him who gave you this invite.”
“Hmph!” Before Zhou Donghuang could speak, Tang Zhanpeng laughed and said, “Our chief had already ordered that only people from grand families and above in the Chu royal city would be invited. That means that every person here is all from grand families and above, except for the Tang family benefactor. Are you trying to tell me… you are representing that benefactor?” Tang Zhanpeng asked as he stared at Zhou Donghuang.
“No,” replied Zhou Donghuang calmly. From the start, he had not revealed any nervousness at all. Then, before Tang Zhanpeng could respond, Zhou Donghuang’s eyes flashed as he said, “Tang Liunian, is this how your Tang family treats its guests?” His voice was filled with coldness and loud enough to be heard over all the chatter in the courtyard.
Tang Liunian?! Hearing this, everyone was first shocked, then realized… Tang Liunian was none other than today’s host, the chief of the tyc.o.o.n Tang family.
“Not only did you forge an invite, but even dare to call our chief by name, are you tired of living?” He Lin asked, her eyes gloating.
However, hearing Zhou Donghuang’s raised voice, the expression of the He family chief He Wuyi turned serious.
Even Tang Zhanpeng’s face could not help but change slightly as a sense of foreboding rose.
“Indeed.” Not only First Young Master of the grand Wei family, Wei Hongtao, Third Young Master of the grand Tan family, Tan Li, or the chief of the grand Zhang family had thought that Zhou Donghuang had entered by forging an invite. Now, seeing him call the Tang family chief by name without any form of courtesy, they immediately knew that their suspicions had been correct.
“Hm?” As Zhou Donghuang’s voice was raised over the chatter in the courtyard, the whole place turned silent as all eyes landed on him. The young man had only attracted the attention of those from the grand families previously, but now, even those from the tyc.o.o.n families were staring at him.
“Who is this young man? He dares to call the Tang family chief by name.” Many of those from tyc.o.o.n families looked at him with surprise as they gossiped among themselves.
“It’s him!” Just then, First Young Master of the tyc.o.o.n s.h.i.+ family, s.h.i.+ Yu, finally noticed Zhou Donghuang.
“Yu, that is Zhou Donghuang?” Noticing the expression on s.h.i.+ Yu’s face, Second Master of the s.h.i.+ family, s.h.i.+ Yan, also seemed to guess something as his expression darkened.
“It is him,” confirmed s.h.i.+ Yu as he nodded seriously.
“Young Master Donghuang?” At that point, the host of tonight’s banquet, Tang Liunian, heard his voice and his eyes lit up. However, upon realizing the unfriendly tone in his voice, his expression changed again.
“Elders, our benefactor is here… please excuse me.” After hurriedly bidding farewell to the representatives from the three premier tyc.o.o.n families, Tang Liunian rushed towards the young man. The Tang head elder, Tang Yuxin, and the second elder, Tang Yong also followed Tang Liunian.
In the quiet courtyard, their hurried footsteps rang through the night. As everybody watched on, the three rushed to the young man and bowed deeply to the young man as they greeted him earnestly, “Young Master Donghuang!”
…
At that moment, everyone’s expression changed drastically.
Seeing the scene before her, Zheng Qiuhe could not help but stagger backward. Looking at the young man, she shook her head as she screamed internally.
Im… impossible… impossible… it can’t be him!
That day, before heading to the banquet, she had spent a long time dressing herself up just to meet the young man who had been invited by the Tang family. Although she did not know who the young man would be, with his strength, it was clear that he would be of no simple background or even come from the Valley of Medicine Masters. Such a young man would surely carry her and her family to great heights. In the future, even the king of Yunyang country would have to treat her respectfully.
But Zheng Qiuhe would never have imagined that the young man whom the Tang family had invited would be someone that she had met before, and someone who knew Yang Zixi. Now, no matter how slow her response, Zheng Qiuhe could also understand that this young man standing beside Yang Zixi was precisely the man for whom this grand banquet had been thrown. She did not dare to believe it, nor did she want to, but she had to believe what was before her eyes. The behavior of the three big figures in the tang family was enough to explain everything.
“What… what is going on?”
“Isn’t this young man a n.o.body? Why are the Tang family chief and the two elders bowing to him so respectfully?”
“Who is he exactly?”
“Someone like him forging an invite? That Tang tenth elder must be joking?”
…
The scene before them had all the grand family disciples shocked. They now looked upon the young man differently. Previously, their gaze had been filled with disdain, but now, not a single one dared to look down on this young man in white. What a joke! Even the three biggest figures in the Tang family were bowing to this young man.
“Hm?” Tang Liunian had been wondering what had angered the young man, but hearing the chatter around him, his eyes sharpened as his expression changed instantly.
“Tenth elder, what is going on?” Tang Liunian looked at Tang Zhanpeng as he asked, his tone cold enough to make one s.h.i.+ver.
Seeing the three of them come over and bow to the young man, Tang Zhanpeng knew that he had made a huge mistake, his face turning pale. Now, faced with the wrath of Chief Tang, he pointed at He Lin and said, “Chief, she was the one who told me that Young Master Zhou had come in without an invite.” Tang Zhanpeng just wanted to s.h.i.+ft the blame off himself. At that point, the magnitude of this matter was far beyond what his small position could cover.
As for He Lin, seeing Tang Zhanpeng accuse her, her expression changed. “Uncle Zhanpeng, I indeed told you that he may have entered without an invite. But I never said that he forged an invite. Just now, from the start, it was you who claimed that he forged an invite to enter!” He Lin could see that Tang Zhanpeng was just trying to absolve himself of blame. She would take the blame for simple matters in order to suck up to Tang Zhanpeng, but this was far beyond what she could handle.
Just as Tang Zhanpeng looked at He Lin menacingly as if he wanted to slap her, Tang Liunian raised his brows as he asked, “Who are you?” Clearly, he did not recognize He Lin.
“Chief Tang, this is lady He Lin.” Just then, He Wuyi, chief of the grand He family, stepped forward nervously and replied with a bow.
“And who are you?” Tang Liunian’s brows furrowed further.