by Tinalynge
Many things went through his mind as he walked into the entrance hall of the Rong twin’s mansion, but as soon as he stepped into it, the crisp air cleared his mind. The thoughts which had been swirling around his mind, his thoughts about his friends, his family, and their situation all settled down, and his mind focused on the task at hand. He needed to impress the upper class of the city and show them he wasn’t to be taken lightly. Usually, nobles would never walk through town. They always rode in a carriage, but Hui Yue did not care. Deng Wu, who was walking by his side, had hair as blue as the summer sky and a matching robe. His robe had a beautiful silver dragon running from the lower back up and across to the top of his shoulder. While Cai Jie was on the other side with hair like the purest gold and skin as white as porcelain. He was clothed in a golden robe decorated with pearls and intricate patterns of the sun and stars. Between the two walked Hui Yue, white as the purest snow wearing a white robe with gold and silver inlays and phoenix embroideries.
Behind the three astonishingly good-looking young men were Gao Yan and Ma Kong. Both of them were wearing black robes of the finest quality with their family crest on their chests and at the far back was Xu Piao, a strong middle-aged man. Looking at these beautiful people, everyone felt as though they were celestial beings; angels who had descended from the heavens. The people who usually looked down upon them for being of mixed blood currently could not look down upon them because they were simply too radiant right now. Everyone was staring at them slack-jawed and amazed.
The two mansions were both located in the same part of the city. Although there were a few major differences between the two mansions, the one Hui Yue purchased was meant for a small family or an individual while the one the Rong twins owned was for a full family. It could easily house all the Rong family members if they were to enter the city.
Many of the houses and mansions were made to house over a thousand family members. Although both the mansion belonging to the Rong twins and the mansion Hui Yue had purchased were within the same district, the walk was longer than expected as the majority of the estates were massive. This was the reason everyone rode in carriages. Even if one were going to a place in the same district, the distance would not be short. Hui Yue though did not currently own a carriage and had no intention of arriving in a friend’s. Therefore he walked. This helped him focus his mind and let all the nobles sweat a little while waiting for him. He once more felt as if he were the Grand Marshall of the Siban Empire ready to talk to the masses. As he remembered the faces of the many beasts who had followed him, he felt himself become focused and calm.
Walking through town, the group was filled with excitement. They could not wait to reach the mansion so that they could announce their new faction. This was certain to shock all the nobles and merchants present, and as for how they would look upon the new faction only time could tell.
Chapter 312 - Welcome to the Banquet
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Chapter 312: Welcome to the Banquet
After the walk through town, they finally arrived at the mansion. Looking at it, it seemed familiar to Hui Yue. In the front was a beautiful staircase leading from the golden gate towards a pavilion-style mansion. Light shone through the open doors, and the windows as cheering sounds and clattering voices floated into the crisp evening air. Looking at the mansion it was clear that the banquet had already started and that the guests were enjoying the time. Ma Kong had spent the day and gotten help from his family to prepare the banquet, and currently, his father was standing in the castle welcoming everyone. He was their host and ensured that all glasses were filled, that the trays were always full, and that the many families were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Everyone was very curious when the owner of the mansion would appear, and while waiting they chatted with one another; everyone was in a great mood.
Arriving at the gates of the mansion Hui Yue nodded politely to the many guards standing outside, who all bowed deeply to Hui Yue. Although he had purchased the mansion only a short time ago, his appearance had already been etched into the mind of every servant in the mansion as they had been provided with a memory stone containing information about their new master. Seeing the white-haired young man in real life, they all instantly recognized him as their new employer and showed him due respect.
As Hui Yue walked closer and closer to his new mansion the many sounds of glass clattering, chatting, laughter became louder and louder, and as the sound rose so too did Hui Yue’s confidence. A small smile spread across his lips as a knot untangling itself inside his stomach, “How many have been invited?” He asked curiously as he listened to the many faint voices which became clearer as he neared the open doors.
“I invited anyone who has even the slightest influence in Muchuan City.” He said smilingly, “Including of course the third prince, the City Lord, and Zhan Weisheng.” Hearing the names of some very important people living in the capital, Hui Yue could not help but hope that they had accepted his invitation. The City Lord and Zhan Weisheng were two men he wanted to get closer to so they could eventually form an alliance, while for the third prince it was because he wished to see the man he had sworn to kill. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer was a saying he knew well from his old world. If he had a way to convince the third prince to offer him his friendship, Hui Yue would be elated. The butterflies within his stomach grew, and he was filled with expectation for the night.
Soon they reached the doors and inside was a servant waiting for guests to arrive who was surrounded by guards. This servant was the one who accepted invitations, and the guards were to ensure that no uninvited guests made their way to the banquet. Seeing Hui Yue, all of them bowed deeply while the servant rushed in front of them walking towards the banquet hall. Entering he cleared his throat, and the action caused everyone to look at him. The nobles and merchants within the hall were all curious to see who the next celebrity who made it to the castle was, but this time, they grew silent as they saw the group of people who were approaching the open double doors leading to the spacious banquet hall. In the middle was Hui Yue, a strikingly handsome young man with snow white hair, porcelain skin, and deep ice-blue eyes. At his side was the stunning Deng Wu with hair as blue as the clear sky., and on the other side walked the celestial Cai Jie.
Behind these three young men were Gao Yan and Ma Kong. Both had on black clothes. As everyone glanced over them, the Ma family crest was clear for all to see which made people take note of Ma Kong. The young genius of the Ma family was well known within the capital for his hard work and ability to gain the best deals for his family which made the nobles take focus on Ma Kong. On Gao Yan’s clothes was his family crest as well; a crest he fashioned himself for his family. Although he was not a noble, but instead a commoner, his emblem was in no way less known than the one of the Ma family renown for their Black Market Auction House. Everyone knew what the black lion on his chest symbolized. He was Gao Yan, the man who knew everything; the man who no matter what you needed to know could get you the answers. He was respected greatly because he knew secrets of many families, and while some of these secrets were not for sale, no one dared slight him as they feared that their darkest secrets would suddenly surface.
While these two experts were quite well known, Xu Piao, on the other hand, was entirely unknown to the guests present. No one had seen the man before who stayed in his office labeling and sorting sensitive information, but despite this, he was in no way less astounding than the rest. He walked at the back of this group of experts emitting a shocking aura. He was tall, and his entire stature was one which demanded respect from those around him. Having been the leader of the Merchant Guild back when he was in the Dungeons of the Divine had given him an aura he could not get rid of, an aura of authority and strength.
Seeing this group of cultivators all talk in the room stilled and no one dared say a word. The servant introducing the group cleared his throat a few times as he felt sweat spring forth on his forehead and he tightened his hands
to avoid them from shaking, “Let me introduce Lord Hui Yue, the owner of this mansion and host of tonight’s banquet. Along with Lord Deng Wu, Lord Cai Jie, Lord Ma Kong, Lord Gao Yan, and Lord Xu Piao.”
Having spoken all the names clearly, the servant bowed deeply to the room filled with guests, and he made his retreat to the front door where he hoped that no more prominent guests would appear. No one more guests who would leave him shocked and fearful. Thinking of how his new master looked there was unrest in the servant’s heart, but he quickly shook his head and pushed it down.
Within the banquet hall, Hui Yue noted the silence of everyone as they openly stared at him and his friends. This caused a wide but very polite smile to spread across his face as he took a step forward. “My dear guests! It is a pleasure to see that so many of you made your way to my humble mansion,” He began before he took yet another step forward, “I have invited everyone within Muchuan City on this fine night to get acquainted with you. I have traveled the world and seen various things, yet I have no place to call my home; no place where I truly belong.”
“I hope that this evening will allow me to become more familiar with the beautiful city of Muchuan, more familiar with the amazing people who help make this city as outstanding as the world knows it to be. Hopefully one day I can be as well known and renown as the esteemed guests who have honored me with their presence.”
“Today I want to thank my good friend and martial brother Ma Kong, along with his Ma family for helping to put together and host this banquet. They have been a great support, both for organizing this evening and for all their help to me in the past; something I will never forget and cherish in the years to come,” Hui Yue stated while praising his lifelong friend. His words and the obvious meaning behind them made the nobles within the hall all widen their eyes in surprise. Some guests became slack-jawed while others almost snorted in surprise. The Ma family had been supporting Zhan Weisheng for years now, but with the words spoken by Hui Yue alongside the fact that their young master was standing behind him was enough for everyone to know that this family had changed factions. What this implied was of enormous consequence, and even though it was known to all that Ma Kong was not going to inherit the patriarch’s position, he was still respected just as highly as his older brother, and his words would definitely move the whole Ma family into action.
“Ma Kong is not my only martial brother,” Hui Yue continued, “Gao Yan is also my childhood friend, and he has supported me greatly since I arrived at the capital. In the future, he will be one of my pillars of support.” Once more the words spoken caused turmoil to appear in the hearts of the many nobles present. Gao Yan had never supported anyone before; he had decided to trade to anyone who had coin and not discuss or participate in any particular faction, yet here he was, saying that he was backing the newly arrived Hui Yue.
“My martial brothers also include Deng Wu, of the Deng family, Wang Ju Long, of the Wang family alongside Xu Piao, an adventurer who has seen and experienced places that you cannot even dream of,” Hui Yue finished ending his speech but saying nothing about Cai Jie. The young man who stood silently by his side smiling widely the whole time. The lack of introduction made him seem even more mysterious than he already was.
Hui Yue nodded to his many guests and with his friends following behind the white haired young man entered the room. A genuine and very warm smile was on his lips, and he nodded politely to everyone they went past. The young man made his way towards the City Lord. Reaching the large burly man, Hui Yue clasped his hands and bowed fractionally before he straightened up. “It is a great honor to see that you accepted my invitation,” He said politely and to his relief, loud laughter escaped the large man’s body, “I will always attend an invitation to a banquet. A free meal, especially one with constantly replenished food such as yours, is a feast that I would rarely say no to, so for the invite thank you.” He laughed as he looked at the table filled with delicacies alongside the many servants moving around offering drinks to the guests. They served fresh glasses of wine to those who had finished theirs already, and in general behaved perfectly well.
“I was grateful for the invitation you extended us last time. I hope to be invited to any other dinners that you might feel like holding,” Hui Yue commented with cheerful laughter. At the same time, the other guests slowly resumed chatting once again. Some of them were whispering to one another, but soon the whispers became stronger and stronger and quickly clamoring voices could be heard once more.
The conversation within the mansion shifted from curiosity about the Grand Marshall of the beast army to shock and disbelief about how the Ma family, Gao Yan, and the Black Lion were supporting this young man who had appeared from the debris of the Siban Empire. A young man backed by the magical beasts of the world, backed by the Black Market Auction House, and backed by the Black Lion the biggest intelligence network in the Taiyang Kingdom. This man, whom they had dared not look down upon from the very start, had proven to be even more dangerous than they had expected.
This young man obviously did not just appeared within Muchuan City, the capital of Taiyang Kingdom, for the sake of living a peaceful life. His debut into the social life of the upper class had brought with it a new, powerful faction. This faction was backed by two incredibly strong forces from the city, not even mentioning the entire beast army of Shenyuan.
Chapter 313 - The Royal Family
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Chapter 313: The Royal Family
While everyone was finding small groups of friends where they could discuss the turn of events, Hui Yue was moving through the room smiling politely as he greeted every guest. He even greeted the ones he had never met before. He showed his thanks to his guest for having shown up to his party, especially considering the short notice he gave everyone.
Hui Yue memorized everyone’s names, their families, and their factions while moving through the room. His tried his utmost to learn every single person and their faction. Memorizing one person after another, Hui Yue’s mind was searching through the knowledge he gained from the memory stones. Greeting everyone had multiple reasons. First, he wished to give everyone a good impression of himself as most were extremely wary of him probably from the rumors that abounded about him. Secondly, he wanted to know who had chosen to come to his banquet. Finally, he wanted to see and meet the royal family. Hui Yue was looking to see whether or not any of the princes and princesses from the royal family or their nobles backers had arrived.
So far, Hui Yue was disappointed. Quite a few nobles who supported the royal family had arrived but everywhere he looked he only saw nobles and merchants, no royalty had shown up. This caused Hui Yue to be slightly disappointed. He wanted to meet the man he had sworn to kill for his friends; he wished to see the man who decided to execute two entire families in cold blood, not sparing their young or old, women nor men.
Although dissatisfaction was growing within Hui Yue, he said nothing about it, and no one could see his real feelings as he hid them deep inside. The only emotions visible were gratefulness and cheerfulness. Although Hui Yue was slightly disappointed, he reached the conclusion that even though he wished to see the prince, Deng Wu would not enjoy seeing the man whom he loathed more than death itself.
Having finished a trip around the banquet hall, Hui Yue greeted and thanked everyone who attended, and he finally returned to the group of friends he came with. Arriving by his friends the atmosphere was far different than the rest of the room. There was no relaxation, indulgence, or drunken behavior to be found; instead, they were all sharp, focused, and alert as they observed what was happening around them. They were watching to see if any of the guests would suddenly turn hostile, or were planning something against their friend Hui Yue. Although an attack at this moment was highly unlikely, neither Hui Yue nor his friends wished to take any chances. Although Hui Yue looked cheerful and carefree on the surface, he was as alert as his friends as he moved around when greeting the nobles he had never met before.
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There was currently not any bad blood between him and the nobles, but the merchants were a different story. Zhan Weisheng had not shown up to his banquet, but many of his supporters had. Knowing that the Ma family had chosen to support Hui Yue meant that they were no longer supporting Zhan Weisheng something which could easily cause a feud between the two. Due to this, Hui Yue wished to improve the relationship between him and the City Lord because this would indirectly improve his relationship with the merchants. He had no intention to go against someone as established as Zhan Weisheng. If the two of them were to butt heads, then Hui Yue would not be able to put his full focus on the third prince.
Just as Hui Yue returned to his own group, his servant appeared once more and cleared his throat. Everyone within the banquet hall looked towards curiously the man. For someone to come so late meant that the guest had a high status. Only guests with status would come late as the later one came, the more attention they would gain from their entry. Even Hui Yue had shown up late, and although he was new and the owner of the mansion, he was not the host of tonight’s banquet. The host was the Ma family, and it was customary for him to be the last to arrive.
Hui Yue’s face suddenly stiffened for a moment only to seem far more genuine moments later. His eyes were dark, and if one looked closely, they would tell that his blue eyes had turned a shade darker. His expression was impossible to read, but it was obvious that the young man was thinking about something important.
