The entire main hall fell silent in an instant.
Hundreds of people turned toward the entrance at once, following the sound.
At the doorway, a tall, handsome young man strode in, carrying a little girl in his arms.
His face was flushed, the veins at his temples bulging. His eyes were tinged with red, and he looked to be in very poor shape.
Yet his steps were steady and forceful. Every footfall carried a murderous, oppressive weight.
Tang Jianguo’s expression darkened. He frowned as he sized up the newcomer.
“Who are you?”
Holding Tang Xiaolan, Lin Yan stopped in the center of the main hall. He glanced around at the guests’ varied expressions, then curled his lips into a smile.
“I’m the Eldest Young Master of the Lin Family, Lin Yan.”
Four words, crisp and decisive.
The main hall erupted at once.
“The Eldest Young Master of the Lin Family?!”
“He actually came? He’s really willing to marry into the family?”
“...”
Whispers rose and fell all around them.
On the stage, Tang Xuejian froze.
Through the veil, she stared blankly at the young man in the middle of the hall, her face filled with disbelief.
She had a facial tumor, and everyone knew how terrible her reputation was... Yet someone had actually come to marry her?
The moment Lin Yan stepped into the main hall, his whole body shuddered.
It’s here!
That Pure Yin Qi was so dense it had reached its absolute peak!
It was coming from the woman in the wedding dress on the stage!
The Nine Yang Dragons rampaging inside him seemed to sense something. At that very instant, they actually calmed down a little.
“Mom!!!”
Tang Xiaolan wriggled free of Lin Yan’s arms and dashed onto the stage, throwing herself into Tang Xuejian’s embrace.
“Mom! I found you a man! This uncle is willing to marry you! He even helped me beat up the bad guys!”
Tang Xuejian hugged her daughter, and her eyes instantly reddened.
She instinctively lowered her gaze to the scabbed blood on her daughter’s knees and the red marks on her arms where stones had struck her. Her heart ached so much that she trembled.
After holding her for a long while, Tang Xuejian slowly raised her head. Through her veil, she looked at Lin Yan, extremely nervous and embarrassed.
“You... are you really willing to marry me?”
Lin Yan smiled and nodded.
He cupped his hands slightly toward Tang Xuejian.
“Hello, Miss Tang. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m your husband. I hope we’ll get along.”
The main hall fell deathly silent.
Everyone stared at Lin Yan as if he were an idiot.
Tang Jianguo’s eyelid twitched. He turned to the middle-aged man in his forties beside him and asked in a low, cold voice.
“What’s going on? Weren’t you saying no one from the Lin Family would come?”
The middle-aged man was named Tang Huaili.
He was Tang Xuejian’s biological elder uncle.
He was also one of the co-directors of today’s little show.
Tang Huaili’s face turned livid. Gritting his teeth, he answered in a low voice.
“Dad, Lin Yan just got out of prison. He can’t stay in the Lin Family, so he had no choice but to come marry into ours.”
“Don’t worry. Leave it to me.”
After saying that, Tang Huaili gave his son, Tang Yifan, a meaningful look.
Tang Yifan understood immediately.
He slowly stood up, straightened his suit collar, and began clapping with a thoroughly insincere smile.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The applause was especially grating in the quiet main hall.
Tang Yifan beamed at Lin Yan and raised his voice so everyone present could hear.
“The Eldest Young Master of the Lin Family really is one of a kind!”
“You know my cousin had a child out of wedlock, supposedly caused her own husband’s death, and is horribly ugly, yet you’re still willing to put the past behind you and marry into her family.”
“As a man, I’m ashamed to say I can’t compare!”
Every word was like a knife stabbing Tang Xuejian.
A child out of wedlock, supposedly causing her husband’s death, being horribly ugly...
The gazes of the hundreds of people in the hall surged toward Tang Xuejian on the stage once more, like a tide.
Tang Xuejian trembled with rage.
They all knew the truth. They were deliberately shouting it out in a setting like this, just to disgust Lin Yan into leaving in front of everyone!
Tang Huaili stood up right after him, putting on the air of a generous elder. He smiled kindly at Lin Yan.
“Young Master Lin, you probably haven’t seen Xuejian’s face clearly yet.”
“She’s hideously ugly. She hardly even looks human.”
“Since you didn’t know, we won’t blame you if you want to call off the wedding now.”
Tang Yifan immediately added,
“Our Tang Family has always been generous.
If you find Xuejian too ugly and don’t want to marry into the family, we can give you some money to make up for your not knowing.”
Father and son played their parts in perfect harmony.
Tang Xuejian’s fingers clutched Tang Xiaolan’s shoulders tightly.
She was afraid.
Afraid to the very core.
This man named Lin Yan was the last lifeline for her and her daughter.
If he took the money and left, if he was scared away...
They would truly be finished.
Tang Xiaolan felt her mother trembling too. She rushed up to Lin Yan, tears and snot streaming down her face.
“Uncle, I... my mom is sick! She... she didn’t always look like this! Don’t go! Please don’t go!”
Lin Yan looked down at the little girl, her face streaked with tears, and gently stroked her head.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m not going anywhere.”
Then he looked at the father and son below the stage and smiled faintly.
“It’s true that I haven’t seen Miss Tang’s face.”
Tang Yifan and Tang Huaili exchanged a glance, the same smug, cold smile rising at the corners of their mouths.
He took the bait!
Once he saw that monster’s face, this poor man would be scared out of his wits!
Even if he wasn’t afraid of ugliness, what convict could resist a pile of money?
Lin Yan walked onto the stage and took Tang Xuejian’s cold, trembling hand.
“Would you come backstage with me? Let me take a close look.”
Tang Xuejian stiffened.
Head bowed, she didn’t dare look Lin Yan in the eyes. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s.
“All right...”
The two of them walked backstage, one after the other.
Tang Jianguo, Tang Huaili, and Tang Yifan, left in the main hall, all wore knowing, cold smiles.
In the corner of the third row, Tang Huairen didn’t even dare look toward the stage.
Li Xinru’s tears began to fall again as she murmured to herself,
“It’s over... Why has Xuejian had such a hard life...”
She thought so too.
The man she had finally managed to find was about to be scared away by the thing on her face.
Backstage.
The lighting was dim.
Lin Yan stood before Tang Xuejian, less than a step away.
He could clearly feel the Pure Yin Qi around Tang Xuejian, so close and so dense it was almost tangible.
The Yang Dragon rampaging inside him quieted down a little more.
That’s right. It was her!
Lin Yan softened his voice.
“Take off your veil. Let me see.”
Tang Xuejian trembled violently.
Head bowed, she gripped the edge of her veil with both hands until her knuckles turned white.
She was silent for a long time.
Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she slowly raised her hands and lifted the veil bit by bit.
Beneath the veil...
A tumor the size of a fist grew on her right cheek.
Its surface was mottled purple and blue. Something seemed to be writhing inside it, as if it were alive.
It was twisted and grotesque, like a shrunken human face growing out of her cheek.
A timid person might have fainted on the spot from a single glance.
Yet even so, the half of her face visible beside the tumor was still fair and delicate, with exquisite features.
It was clear that without this thing, she would have been a peerless beauty.
Tang Xuejian closed her eyes.
Two streams of tears slid down her cheeks.
She didn’t look at Lin Yan’s reaction, because she didn’t dare.
She knew all too well.
Over the past few years, everyone who had seen her face reacted with horror first. Then came disgust. Then they kept as far away from her as possible.
There had been no exceptions.
Her voice trembled, as if she had already prepared herself for the worst.
“Lin Yan, if you want to call off the wedding, I won’t blame you.”
“After all, I’m so ugly...”
When she finished, she kept her eyes tightly shut and stood motionless.
Like a prisoner awaiting the death sentence.
Silence.
A long silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Just as Tang Xuejian thought Lin Yan had already been scared away, a gentle yet resolute voice sounded beside her ear.
“Who said I was calling off the wedding?”