護花近衛 - 第3997章 賠禮道歉 - 翰墨軒

With Xu Lingchong's flag of attack lowered, the others naturally had no reason to keep snapping at Wei Zhao's heels. At last, Wei Zhao could breathe a little easier—this tribulation had been weathered.

Yet Wei Zhao knew well enough in his own heart that after being singled out by Xu Lingchong, he had inevitably drawn the eye of certain interested parties. To name but one, Yu Jiang's gaze upon him at this moment had already taken on a faintly ominous cast.

Back when he had contested the Starmist Stone with Yu Jiang under the identity of Lin Er, Hong Zhong had treated him with the utmost courtesy, and afterward had shielded him time and again—all of which Yu Jiang had witnessed from first to last.

Yu Jiang had harbored doubts about Wei Zhao from the start, and Hong Zhong's conduct today furnished a rare piece of corroboration. It would not be surprising if, from this day forward, suspicion of Wei Zhao once more leapt past Kang Jingming's to make him their foremost suspect.

Wei Zhao could only laugh bitterly to himself. This trip to the birthday banquet had broadened his horizons, but it had also left a great many hidden pitfalls and troubles for the days to come. Enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road—that saying was indeed not the least bit false.

Just then Shangguan Lan'er came trotting over with Little Curly Bear in her arms and, drawing close to Wei Zhao, proposed, "Junior Brother, there are far too many blind, blundering nincompoops here to spoil the mood. Let's go up to the third floor, shall we?"

However simple her mind, Shangguan Lan'er had seen enough in the preceding events to understand: for Wei Zhao, attending such a high-end gathering of great personages in so awkward an identity meant that a little targeting from any quarter made him an easy scapegoat for all.

And in a place like this, though Shangguan Lan'er was the first young miss of the Chongtian Pavilion, the others were no weaklings either; their backgrounds would not lose to hers by much—she was not Shangguan Tianxia himself, after all. To shield Wei Zhao by browbeating others with her power, as she might outside, simply would not work so well here.

Only if her grandfather Shangguan Tianxia spoke in person could that be possible. But Shangguan Tianxia had never even heard of Wei Zhao before, and given his special position—every gesture of his in a setting like this would be variously interpreted—how could he rashly step forward for a man of unknown roots and unknown depths?

So for Wei Zhao this place was a veritable den of trouble. Even having just escaped disaster, staying on meant that sooner or later fresh trouble would come. Better to quickly find somewhere out of the public eye.

Wei Zhao clearly understood Shangguan Lan'er's kindness, though he still asked, "Would that be all right? You're the guest of honor today, Little Senior Sister—the banquet is only halfway through, and slipping away midway doesn't seem quite proper."

Shangguan Lan'er giggled. "What's so improper about it? Clearly you don't know, Junior Brother—this birthday banquet of mine is really nothing but a pretext. Those lofty great personages only ever care about taking sides and about power; why would they care whether a little girl like me is here or not?"

Wei Zhao could not help laughing at that, though on reflection her words did fall well within reason. In a setting like this, crowded with great personages, the guest of honor could only ever be one thing—power.

"Well then, many thanks for your kindness, Little Senior Sister," Wei Zhao said with a nod after a moment's thought.

Though slipping away with Shangguan Lan'er like this might invite gossip, might even stir up a wind of rumors, it was still better than staying on, taking their contempt for nothing, and bearing risks none could foresee.

The two agreed, and at once set out with Little Curly Bear, rising to head upstairs—yet no sooner had they reached the stairhead than they were barred.