Indeed, of all the nobilities who attended the Grand Martial Hall, this boy does have the assets to stand out among the rest. Fair skin with handsome features, every part of his outer appearance was pleasing to the eye.
Then aside him, thereâs also another who tagged along which didnât quite match up to that standard.
Dressed in an ink black robe with wavy patterns, the second man may appear easy going on the outside, but those eyes were bottomless when screening the crowd.
In response to their arrival, the audience had all become restless with only Ling Yue being the exception. Forming a grin, she tightly grips her hand into a fist until a small layer of sweat was quickly forming. This was not due to nervousness though, nay, rather its due to the boiling anticipation inside.
The people of the Hong House is finally hereâ¦
For a while there she was honestly worried about not figuring out how to locate their whereabouts. Now it seems her worries are for not.
Through the investigation of her Ghost Sect she founded, most of the information regarding the members of the Hong House have been handed to herm. The only exception being the old Marquise thatâs always in secluded training.
Of those who still attended the Grand Martial Hall from that hateful family, thereâs only the eldest son and daughter of Hong Fang â the bastard son of the old marquise. As for the youngest daughter Hong Ming Yue, Ling Yueâs half-sister, that girl was never here to begin with. Sheâs been drafted into a martial sect due to her exceptional talent and remains perennially away from home.
Based on the accuserâs face who had similar featuers with herself, Ling Yue figured this boy must be Hong Yu Long, the younger half-brother of hers.
Unlike Yu Zhao whoâs only a lackey in this place, Hong Yu Long was more commonly known as one of the âFour Gentlemenâ in the school due to his background. As nice as that naming scheme sounded, anyone can see thereâs nothing like that in those eyes. Thereâs too much contempt and disdain for those around himself.
Furthermore, its common to find Hong Yu Long out and about framing the other students of the school not hailing from noble lineages. Take this incident for example, he knew from the start that Yu Zhao was setting up Liu Cheng with the coin purse and even gave his approval by doing nothing.
In his view, this form of harassment was just deserved until his own people gets bitten back.
âSir Qing, Big Brother Hong, you must get justice for Younger Brother here.â The favor currying attitude was self-evident here with Yu Zhao.
In truth, if they went back and looked at their roots, Hong Yu Long had not a single right to inherit anything within his House due to the bastard status of his father. In that case, it would mean Yu Zhao and the boy was equal in status, niether high or lower. Just that, thanks to Hong Fangâs achievement in being the tutor of the crown prince and favored by his father and the king, plus his youngest daughterâs been scripted by a powerful sect, Hong Fangâs status have gradually exceeded the main son of their family in recent years. Thatâs how Hong Yu Long can be so outrageous in his actions.
âDonât panic Yu Zhao, as long as Iâm here then I will have your back,â he shoots a glare over to nosy wench thatâs interfering. âYou just said only the sheriff and the garrison can search his body? Well then, let me teach you something special: that only applies to those outside the Grand Martial Hall. Here, we have our own rules. Even if you bring the matter up with the Court of Justice, the results will be the same.â
âBrother Hong is right, we have our own rules here. The strong rules the weak. I am a lower celestial martialist, far superior to this Liu Cheng. If I want to search his body then itâs justified.â Hearing the argument swinging his way, Yu Zhaoâs face immediately brightened up.
Whether or not they find any evidence of the crime matters not at this point, the humiliation alone will be enough to make this Liu Cheng never return again due to shame.
âI didnât steal it. You people are slandering me!â Even for an honest person like himself, Liu Cheng simply couldnât take it anymore. Out of anger, he cleanly strips his outer wear for all to see.
Naturally this left Yu Zhao dumbfounded because the expected coin purse was nowhere to be found.
âBrother Yu, no need to be impatient, donât you see thereâs another one here? Maybe they are in cahoots and hid it on her body instead.â Those feminine eyes of his swept then shifted over to Ling Yueâs presence, sending the audience into an outcry.
Itâs one thing to search Liu Cheng for heâs a man, but to search a clean young girl was another matter. Sheâs a lady and the second miss of General Lanâs family. The implication will be huge if not properly taken care of afterwards.
Even so, this fact didnât stop the group of thugs that supported the bastards from surrounding the girl in a circling formation. As a man, thereâs no way these boys would say no to molesting a fine beauty in front of their face.
âYou people are going too far. Sheâs a woman, how can you people search her body! Sir Qing, please help us and say something.â By now Feng Xue was ready to lose it due to her own anger. Never in her life have she witnessed something so outlandishly shameless.
The man she calls Sir Qing was the companion that came with Hong Yu Long. From the beginning till now, this individual had never once said a word; instead, his slender eyes only had playfulness in them when watching the scene.
Sir Qing was the son of Marquise Qing, a title that originated from one of the founding officials of the kingdom. Whether it be the king himself or the four leading Marquises leading the noble faction, they all have to show some face to this clan due to their vast influences and control over the waterways.
Though Feng Xue was pleading earnestly here, she nevertheless knew there were little hope of aid from that end. The Qing Clan was a neautral party in the kingdom, abstaining themselves from any form of political strife. Less a force deliberately confronts them, its very hard to make a member of that House into action.
Sure enough, just as Sir Qing was about to refuse the request, thatâs when he noticed Ling Yueâs expression.
This woman, is she laughing?
That smug smile was but momentary; however, its more than enough to dazzle those who manages to catch a glimpse of it.
âSo its Sir Qing is it? Iâm assuming your status is the highest here.â Ling Yueâs pair of deep dark eyes were powerful, wrestling a nod from the young man like a unspeakable force.
âThen Iâll have to trouble you to be the judge over this. As someone over there said, the Grand Martial Hall has its own rules. If you want to search my body then come, thatâs if you got the skills to do so!â Her voice was so cold that it felt like the air itself had frozen over.