Chapter 3997 — An Apology

With Xu Lingchong's flag of attack lowered, the others naturally had no reason to keep snapping at Wei Zhao's heels. At last, Wei Zhao could breathe a little easier—this tribulation had been weathered.

Yet Wei Zhao knew well enough in his own heart that after being singled out by Xu Lingchong, he had inevitably drawn the eye of certain interested parties. To name but one, Yu Jiang's gaze upon him at this moment had already taken on a faintly ominous cast.

Back when he had contested the Starmist Stone with Yu Jiang under the identity of Lin Er, Hong Zhong had treated him with the utmost courtesy, and afterward had shielded him time and again—all of which Yu Jiang had witnessed from first to last.

Yu Jiang had harbored doubts about Wei Zhao from the start, and Hong Zhong's conduct today furnished a rare piece of corroboration. It would not be surprising if, from this day forward, suspicion of Wei Zhao once more leapt past Kang Jingming's to make him their foremost suspect.

Wei Zhao could only laugh bitterly to himself. This trip to the birthday banquet had broadened his horizons, but it had also left a great many hidden pitfalls and troubles for the days to come. Enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road—that saying was indeed not the least bit false.

Just then Shangguan Lan'er came trotting over with Little Curly Bear in her arms and, drawing close to Wei Zhao, proposed, "Junior Brother, there are far too many blind, blundering nincompoops here to spoil the mood. Let's go up to the third floor, shall we?"

However simple her mind, Shangguan Lan'er had seen enough in the preceding events to understand: for Wei Zhao, attending such a high-end gathering of great personages in so awkward an identity meant that a little targeting from any quarter made him an easy scapegoat for all.

And in a place like this, though Shangguan Lan'er was the first young miss of the Chongtian Pavilion, the others were no weaklings either; their backgrounds would not lose to hers by much—she was not Shangguan Tianxia himself, after all. To shield Wei Zhao by browbeating others with her power, as she might outside, simply would not work so well here.

Only if her grandfather Shangguan Tianxia spoke in person could that be possible. But Shangguan Tianxia had never even heard of Wei Zhao before, and given his special position—every gesture of his in a setting like this would be variously interpreted—how could he rashly step forward for a man of unknown roots and unknown depths?

So for Wei Zhao this place was a veritable den of trouble. Even having just escaped disaster, staying on meant that sooner or later fresh trouble would come. Better to quickly find somewhere out of the public eye.

Wei Zhao clearly understood Shangguan Lan'er's kindness, though he still asked, "Would that be all right? You're the guest of honor today, Little Senior Sister—the banquet is only halfway through, and slipping away midway doesn't seem quite proper."

Shangguan Lan'er giggled. "What's so improper about it? Clearly you don't know, Junior Brother—this birthday banquet of mine is really nothing but a pretext. Those lofty great personages only ever care about taking sides and about power; why would they care whether a little girl like me is here or not?"

Wei Zhao could not help laughing at that, though on reflection her words did fall well within reason. In a setting like this, crowded with great personages, the guest of honor could only ever be one thing—power.

"Well then, many thanks for your kindness, Little Senior Sister," Wei Zhao said with a nod after a moment's thought.

Though slipping away with Shangguan Lan'er like this might invite gossip, might even stir up a wind of rumors, it was still better than staying on, taking their contempt for nothing, and bearing risks none could foresee.

The two agreed, and at once set out with Little Curly Bear, rising to head upstairs—yet no sooner had they reached the stairhead than they were barred.

Given Shangguan Lan'er's standing, ordinary men would naturally not dare stop her. But the one now blocking their path was the host of this very birthday banquet: Xu Lingchong.

"Little Junior Sister Lan'er, wherever are you off to? The banquet is only half over." A hollow smile hung on Xu Lingchong's face.

Xu Yuanzheng had just reminded him to hold tight to this key figure, so naturally he could not allow Shangguan Lan'er and Wei Zhao to slip quietly away. A lone man and a lone woman—if any scandalous business came of it, then Xu Lingchong's prospects would be finished.

"Where I go is none of your concern!" Shangguan Lan'er shot him a glare and snorted in displeasure.

She had loathed Xu Lingchong before this, yet out of regard for her elders' face she had forced herself to keep up a pretense of courtesy, pinching her nose to it. But having now witnessed firsthand the hateful face Xu Lingchong showed in making things difficult for Wei Zhao, she found even that pretense sickening. Better to tear off all disguise at once than to keep turning her stomach hereafter.

"Er—" Xu Lingchong choked on his words. Never before had he been so openly disdained to his face. Curses welled up in his heart: Damn it, this woman's found herself a wild man, and even her tone of voice has changed—what a cheap slut!

Were it not for regard for Shangguan Lan'er's standing, Xu Lingchong would right now have been of a mind to drag this pair of filthy dogs outside and hack them to pieces. But he could not—not only could he not, he must also patiently play the good host to this young miss. Otherwise, should his grandfather Xu Yuanzheng learn that he had fallen from this young miss's favor, then any hope of one day inheriting the Xu family would be a pipe dream.

"Er what? I hate your sort above all—a belly full of rot, a belly full of schemes and plots! Now hurry up and get out of my way!" Shangguan Lan'er huffed furiously, ordering Xu Lingchong aside.

Xu Lingchong's mouth twitched; he forcibly suppressed the fury in his heart and, with a forced smile, said, "Little Junior Sister, you truly misunderstand me. When I doubted Wei Zhao just now, it was all out of wholehearted concern for you—I feared you might be deceived! Very well, I was misled by that wretch Kang Jingming and was indeed somewhat rash; I gave no small offense to Young Hero Lin. Let me take this chance to toast Young Hero Lin and thereby offer my apologies!"

With that, Xu Lingchong signaled a servant at his side to pass over wine cups, and personally poured a cup each for Wei Zhao and himself, then held one out to Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao watched coldly, making no move to reach for it. He did not believe this wretch Xu Lingchong had such good intentions at heart as to sincerely drink and apologize to him.

"Young Hero Lin, I, your humble servant, am apologizing to you in person—surely you won't refuse me even this small face? We men can't be so lacking in magnanimity, can we?" Xu Lingchong gave a sneering laugh, then seemed to catch himself, and with a sidelong, condescending glance said, "By the way, Young Hero Lin, don't tell me you're afraid the wine is poisoned—do you truly think our Cloud Terrace Isle is as filthy and base as your secular world? So petty-minded—truly unfit for the sight of decent company!"

At this Wei Zhao remained unmoved, but Shangguan Lan'er spoke up for him in indignation: "Hmph, with a sinister sort like you, how could Junior Brother not be on his guard? If you want to make amends, fine—the two of you swap cups first!"