The hotel’s main hall.
The magnificent crystal chandeliers cast a warm golden glow over the lone figure onstage.
Tang Xuejian stood motionless at the center of the stage, dressed in a snow-white wedding gown.
A thin veil gently covered half her face.
Her hands hung at her sides, trembling slightly.
Below the stage, the seats were packed with people.
Hundreds of gazes raked over her again and again like knives.
A few elderly women wore faintly sympathetic, regretful expressions.
But most people made no effort to hide their mockery and glee at her misfortune.
“Tsk, tsk. And she still thinks she can get married?”
“I heard she’s got a tumor on her face. She looks like a ghost…”
“Forget getting married. With a face like that, I wouldn’t want her either!”
“A child out of wedlock, widowed her husband, and now she can’t even find a live-in son-in-law… Tsk, tsk. What a reputation!”
“Heh. What engagement ceremony? This is clearly just the Tang Family using the occasion to put on a show while kicking her out.”
Whispers rose and fell all around the hall. No one bothered to keep their voices down.
Everyone knew that this so-called engagement ceremony was, in plain terms, a Hongmen Banquet arranged by the Tang Family to force Tang Xuejian out.
The Tang Family’s collateral branches had long since spread Tang Xuejian’s scandals throughout the city.
They said she was hideous, that she’d had a child out of wedlock, that she was cursed to kill her husband…
The stories grew more outrageous and more vicious with every telling.
At the Head Table in the center of the front row, a man in his sixties slowly rose to his feet.
He wore a crisp Zhongshan suit, his hair combed neatly into place. His face was filled with deliberately contrived regret and apology.
His name was Tang Jianguo.
Tang Xuejian’s Second Grandpa.
And the true director of today’s little drama.
Tang Jianguo picked up the microphone, cleared his throat twice, then gave the hundreds of guests below a slight bow.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today was supposed to be my granddaughter Tang Xuejian’s engagement ceremony. I’m deeply grateful that you’ve all honored us with your presence.”
“Unfortunately…”
Tang Jianguo’s voice turned somber. He shook his head, his face full of sorrow.
“My granddaughter is hideous, and she had a child out of wedlock, bringing shame upon the Tang Family.”
“Now she can’t even find a live-in son-in-law. It’s a terrible disgrace to the Tang Family!”
As soon as he finished speaking, an uproar broke out below.
Some people feigned surprise, others whispered among themselves, but most wore knowing, mocking smiles.
Everyone could see that the old man wasn’t expressing regret for his granddaughter.
He was clearly using this as an excuse to condemn Tang Xuejian in public!
Tang Jianguo looked around, pleased with the crowd’s reaction, then raised his voice.
“I hereby announce that if no one from the Lin Family comes to marry into the Tang Family today, Tang Xuejian will be expelled from the Tang Family as a warning to others!!!”
“I apologize for putting you all through this.”
His final words sounded perfectly courteous, but everyone could hear the malice and smugness beneath them.
Onstage, Tang Xuejian trembled all over.
She raised her head and looked through her veil at Tang Jianguo, whose face was twisted in a cold smile.
Her heart was so full of grievance that it felt ready to burst.
She bit down hard on her red lips until blood seeped from them.
🟡Grandpa, I miss you so much…🟨
If her grandfather, Tang Jianshe, were still alive, how could this old bastard get away with acting so high and mighty here?!
She understood it all.
Tang Jianguo had made such a grand spectacle of this, putting on a show for outsiders piece by piece, because he was afraid that kicking her out outright would affect the Tang Group’s stock price.
That was why he was using today’s engagement banquet to make sure everyone “saw with their own eyes” that Tang Xuejian was a woman who had brought shame upon the Tang Family, so he could throw her out and make it seem entirely justified.
What a fine show!
In a corner of the third row below, a middle-aged woman in a plain dress had a livid expression. Her hands were clenched into fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.
She was Tang Xuejian’s mother, Li Xinru.
“That fucking Tang Jianguo!!!”
Li Xinru trembled with rage, wishing she could rush up and tear that hypocrite’s old face to pieces.
She had barely started to rise when a hand beside her pressed her firmly back down.
Tang Huairen.
Tang Xuejian’s biological father.
He turned his head slightly and lowered his voice, his tone carrying an unmistakable warning.
“Sit down! Don’t make a scene!”
“Right now, only Xuejian is being kicked out. If you speak up, they’ll kick us out of the Tang Family too!”
Li Xinru stared at him in disbelief.
“Our daughter is being bullied like this onstage, and you, her father, can’t even say a word?!”
“Are you even a man?! You’re such a coward!!!”
Tang Huairen’s face flushed bright red. His lips quivered a few times, but in the end, he couldn’t get a single word out.
He lowered his head and stared fixedly at the teacup on the table, not daring to look toward his daughter onstage.
After scolding him, Li Xinru drew a deep breath.
Her eyes were red, and tears welled in them.
In the end… she held it in.
The main hall fell quiet for a short while.
Everyone was waiting.
Waiting for the so-called “Eldest Young Master of the Lin Family” to show up.
Five minutes passed.
No one came.
Ten minutes passed.
Still, no one came.
Tang Jianguo’s cold smile grew more and more pronounced. He couldn’t even be bothered to keep up the act anymore.
A middle-aged woman decked out in finery leaned toward him and said with a quiet laugh:
“Second Uncle, I don’t think we need to wait anymore. The Eldest Young Master of the Lin Family never intended to come.”
“That’s right, Second Uncle. Let’s not waste everyone’s time.” Another middle-aged man in a suit raised his wineglass, his face alight with glee at her misfortune. “Throw out this disgrace as soon as possible, and then we can divide up the shares.”
Tang Jianguo nodded slightly, curled his lips, and slowly rose to his feet.
He picked up the microphone and sighed, his regretful tone so theatrical it sounded thoroughly rehearsed.
“Sigh, I’ve already given you every chance I could.”
“It seems no one is coming to marry you today.”
“Tang Xuejian, I’ll let you keep your dignity. Get out on your own!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Tang Family relatives around the hall immediately chimed in as if they’d been injected with stimulants.
“That’s right! Get out!”
“Stop hanging around here and making a spectacle of yourself!”
“A shameless woman like her doesn’t deserve the Tang name!”
“And that bastard daughter of hers—throw her out too! The Tang Family can’t afford this disgrace!”
The abuse grew louder and louder, surging toward Tang Xuejian onstage like a tide.
A few of the guests from outside the family couldn’t bear to watch and frowned, but soon looked away.
No one was willing to offend the entire Tang Family for a woman who had nothing to do with them.
Tang Xuejian’s body shook violently.
She bit her lip and took one last look at the faces below, all shouting abuse.
Every face was filled with indifference, disgust, and impatient anticipation.
She turned and looked to her parents in the corner of the third row below, as if begging them to save her.
They were her last hope.
But Tang Huairen kept his head lowered, staring fixedly at his teacup without moving.
Li Xinru’s face was wet with tears, but she bit her lip and lowered her head too.
She didn’t dare look at her.
She refused to look at her.
Tang Xuejian’s tears finally spilled over.
No one saw them through the thin veil.
Her heart turned to ash.
The last glimmer in her eyes went out.
She slowly closed her eyes, about to nod and accept.
Just then, a voice rang out across the entire hall.
“Who says no one will marry her?”