Chapter 145: "The Good-Oh Step Brother"
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, there's also another who tagged along which didn't 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.
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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 here...
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 that's always in secluded training.
Of those who still attended the Grand Martial Hall from that hateful family, there's only the eldest son and daughter of Hong Fang - the bastard son of the old marquise. As for the youngest daughter Hong Ming Yue, Ling Yue's half-sister, that girl was never here to begin with. She's been drafted into a martial sect due to her exceptional talent and remains perennially away from home.
Based on the accuser's 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 who's only a lackey in this place, Hong Yu Long was more commonly known as one of the "Four Gentlemen" in the school due to his background. As nice as that naming scheme sounded, anyone can see there's nothing like that in those eyes. There's 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.
"Sir Qing, Big Brother Hong, you must get justice for Younger Brother here." 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 Fang's achievement in being the tutor of the crown prince and favored by his father and the king, plus his youngest daughter's been scripted by a powerful sect, Hong Fang's status have gradually exceeded the main son of their family in recent years. That's how Hong Yu Long can be so outrageous in his actions.
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"Don't panic Yu Zhao, as long as I'm here then I will have your back," he shoots a glare over to nosy wench that's interfering. "You 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."
"Brother 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 it's justified." Hearing the argument swinging his way, Yu Zhao's 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.
"I didn't steal it. You people are slandering me!" Even for an honest person like himself, Liu Cheng simply couldn't 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.
"Brother Yu, no need to be impatient, don't you see there's another one here? Maybe they are in cahoots and hid it on her body instead." Those feminine eyes of his swept then shifted over to Ling Yue's presence, sending the audience into an outcry.
It's one thing to search Liu Cheng for he's a man, but to search a clean young girl was another matter. She's a lady and the second miss of General Lan's family. The implication will be huge if not properly taken care of afterwards.
Even so, this fact didn't stop the group of thugs that supported the bastards from surrounding the girl in a circling formation. As a man, there's no way these boys would say no to molesting a fine beauty in front of their face.
"You people are going too far. She's a woman, how can you people search her body! Sir Qing, please help us and say something." 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, that's when he noticed Ling Yue's 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.
"So its Sir Qing is it? I'm assuming your status is the highest here." Ling Yue's pair of deep dark eyes were powerful, wrestling a nod from the young man like a unspeakable force.
"Then I'll 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, that's if you got the skills to do so!" Her voice was so cold that it felt like the air itself had frozen over.