Chapter 3997 — An Apology
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
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!"