Chapter 1670 — Have You Considered It? Though It Was Partly to Shore Up the Hidden You Family's Face, and the Envoys Had Come Only on Account of the Ice Palace, the Star of This Banquet Was, After All, Old Master Tang—and So Old Master Tang Was Thoroughly Pleased
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"That old man Tang certainly knows how to put on airs. What is the hold-up? I am starving and they still have not served a thing!" Feng Xiaoxiao's face was a picture of misery. She had not the slightest notion of how one was meant to behave at a festive occasion like this—no sooner had she arrived than she began hunting for something good to eat.
Her words immediately drew furious glares from several of the Tang youngsters—but those who knew who she was hurried to hold back the ones spoiling for trouble, warning them: "That is the Ice Palace Master's junior sister. If you have a death wish, go ahead!"
And so those Tang youngsters quieted down. The Ice Palace Master's junior sister—was she not the future mistress of the Ice Palace? Who would dare provoke a personage of that standing?
Sure enough, the birthday feast was set for nine o'clock, and it was eight-fifty when Old Master Tang, flanked by Tang Lingtou, Tang the Second, and the rest, made his way to the seat of honor. Once the old master was settled, Tang Lingtou stepped onto the raised platform at the very front of the hall. He did not, like an ordinary man, pick up a microphone; instead, in a full and vigorous voice, he declared: "Welcome, honored guests, and welcome, all you clansmen of the Tang family, to the celebration of my father's eightieth birthday!"
Tang Lingtou was a martial cultivator; even without a microphone his voice carried far. The moment he finished, wave upon wave of applause rose from below—though of course the ones clapping were the Tang family's own sycophants, eager to curry favor. Wei Zhao, Feng Xiaoxiao, and Tang Zhi looked on as though they saw nothing at all.
"Today is the day of my father's eightieth birthday. We are honored that several distinguished guests have come, lending glory to our humble Tang house. Now, if you please—the Master of the Ice Palace, and the envoy of the Xuandan Sect!" With that, Tang Lingtou gestured in invitation...
Once more thunderous applause rose from the floor. Those able to attend this feast were all clansmen and dependents of the Hidden Tang family; people like Tang Zhi's household were not among them at all. Every one of them lived off the Tang family's favor, so how exalted in their eyes was the arrival of the Ice Palace Master and the envoy of the Xuandan Sect?
The guests, too, suddenly felt themselves greatly honored. When an old master of a hidden family celebrated a birthday, it was rare enough for anyone of the ancient tier to come with congratulations—even the personal arrival of another hidden family's head was already thought a great face. For the Hidden Tang family to have this—it was a face as vast as heaven itself, unmatched by any other!
Bing Tang was the first to drift in. She did not go up to the platform to speak, but took a seat beside the head table where Old Master Tang sat; and Xiao Qing, bringing Xiao Ming, Tang Zhi's mother, and Tang Jucheng with her, seated herself at Bing Tang's side.
The Xuandan Sect's envoy was a young man of about thirty, with a hooked nose and sharp eyes and a somewhat soft, effeminate cast of face—yet he was exceedingly arrogant, as though he might sit as an equal beside Bing Tang. On entering, he slouched down at the head table without ceremony.
Though he was not the young master of the Xuandan Sect, he was a direct disciple of its master, and thus in a manner of speaking the junior fellow disciple of the young master—reason enough to carry himself with pride. Beyond that, he was already a second-grade Yellow-rank alchemist, something very rarely seen at his age!
He had not taken any Youth-Preserving Pill; he really was only a little over thirty!
He had come this time with two purposes: one was to lend the Hidden You family the weight of his presence; the other was to carry a message from the young master to Bing Tang—to ask whether she still wanted the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill at all!