Chapter 143: Call Me Grandpa Xu

But it did not matter; she had no need to curry favor with anyone.

The meal was held on a lawn beneath the green shade of the trees. It was Western cuisine, served at a long table where everyone was seated.

Xu Shanyi laughed cheerfully. It was obvious that he was in exceptionally high spirits today.

Just then, Carina’s phone rang. She picked it up, glanced at the screen, and said to Xu Shanyi, “Grandpa Xu, I invited a friend over. You won’t mind, will you...?”

Jiang Yue’s entire face was marked with displeasure. The soup had been cooked with wine and slices of ginger; before her lips even touched the rim of the bowl, the sharp odors of alcohol and ginger assailed her nose.

The Song family had raised her, yes—but that Song Yanqing... It was bad enough that Song Yanqing presumed to order her around. What did Song Jingyu amount to?

Regardless of everything else, as long as Miao Qingzhi was safe, that was the best possible outcome for him. As for whether anyone else lived or died, he did not care in the slightest.

Zhongli watched the guards stationed at the bow and stern. If he boarded so rashly, there was a high chance he would be discovered. He wondered whether pressing his ear against the side of the ship might allow him to hear something. Tilting his ear and concentrating his mind, Zhongli listened. At that moment, a warm current flowed from his dantian into his limbs, and his ears clearly picked up the voices coming from inside the cabin.

Xiao Jingjue had grown impatient long ago. He wanted to see the people from his own courtyard, yet he had been made to wait this long. When footsteps sounded, he assumed it was Xiang Yu’an.

Wang Siyuan laughed, then took out another cigarette and lit it. After a moment’s thought, he pulled out a second one and tossed it to Xu Jin.

After hearing this, Miao Qingzhi felt not the slightest sympathy for Du Ruoxi’s plight. If she had not greedily coveted what did not belong to her, she would never have ended up in such a situation.

This man was not merely difficult to keep; he was talented in every conceivable way, cruel in temperament, and both scheming and ruthless. In short, he was no good person.

She looked at the diagram Nan Li had indicated. Though she could not understand a single stroke of its bizarre symbols or unfamiliar script, she believed that whatever Nan Li intended to do, she would accomplish smoothly.

Before her hand could even touch the switch, Song Yanqing seized it. His powerful fingers clamped around Yu Qing’s wrist as though he meant to crush it.

“Volunteering to hand over money—and the money’s genuine too. Could there be some kind of trap?” Zhang Kuang said, stroking his chin.

“You are committing a crime! This is Imperial territory!” The ambassador, dragged from his bed, was clearly consumed by loathing for such treatment and screamed himself hoarse. He even managed to hit notes worthy of a dolphin. Unfortunately, the grim-faced soldiers surrounding him appeared to have no musical sensibility whatsoever, leaving that history-making performance with no audience.

Unlike the feeble roar of a tiger at the zoo, this roar was filled with domineering majesty. It shook the blades of grass until they trembled and sent chills crawling across everyone’s scalp. Li Zhong and the spoiled cat were not afraid, of course, but Li Zhong did not want to make too much of a show. So long as the tiger made no move to attack, he had no intention of striking first.

Ding Jun and another veteran soldier named Zhang Heng agreed as well. They found some ropes and bound the three men together, hanging them up to await delivery to the authorities the following day.

Seeing the dignified master of the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion reduced to trembling all over by nothing more than a name, Lin Chong could not help letting out a long sigh.

Lu Bu rose to his feet. His burly frame was towering and fearsome, his imposing body grand beyond compare, like an iron pagoda radiating overwhelming authority.

Once Qingyun appeared, the Vermilion Bird could no longer keep crushing down. It seemed as though a force of the Five Elements had risen beneath its body and held it aloft.

As his senior, he was naturally unwilling to admit that his own strength was inferior to that of this junior, who had not yet even entered the Eastern Profound Spirit Academy to cultivate. Besides, today he intended to use Liang Lingfeng as a stepping stone, displaying his might before Chen Xuexin. Perhaps that beautiful woman, who had yet to see much of the world, would fall for him.

The wait went on and on, until Qin Yuefeng’s eyelids had grown sore. Only then did he finally see Qin Yuerong silently open her eyes.

Sure enough, Durant could not withstand the temptation. The instant Zhang Feng retreated, he abruptly straightened his back, raised his head, and sighted along the hoop before lifting his hand to attempt a two-point shot from an extraordinary distance.