Chapter 129: Who Exactly Did They Come For?
Chapter 129: Who Exactly Did They Come For?
Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Who Exactly Did They Come For?
Bo Rongrong: "Have you picked out your formal gown? We should go together."
"A gown?" Feng Si didn’t even look up. Her eyes were fixed on the stream of milk as she slowly raised the bottle. "I don’t have anything like that in my wardrobe."
Bo Rongrong was stunned. "Then what will you do? I have a few spares. I can bring them over for you to choose from."
Feng Si shook her head, unconcerned. "If I don’t have a gown, I just won’t go."
Just then, Hu Fei, who had come looking for Feng Si, overheard the conversation at the dining table. She interjected, "Please rest assured. I have had your attire and jewelry custom-made since you moved in. Shall I bring the gowns from the walk-in closet for your inspection?"
Feng Si’s reply was blunt. "No need. I don’t plan on going."
Bo Rongrong gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief. ’But that’s the pre-ceremony banquet for the Rite of Passage, hosted by the Imperial Palace!’
Hu Fei, on the other hand, was long accustomed to Lady Feng Si’s unusual way of thinking.
She walked to the side of the dining room and presented a printed bill. "Regarding the wild grain you tasked me with acquiring, we have purchased a total of 12 tons so far, at a cost of 120,000 coins. The dried grain has been stored in the warehouse in your house’s basement."
Twelve tons was equal to 24,000 jin. By that calculation, it came out to about five coins per jin, and that was for the unprocessed, wet grain. This was much more expensive than modern prices.
However, in this Beastman World where wheat wasn’t a staple food and thus had no large-scale harvesters, Feng Si found the price acceptable.
Although Hu Fei had her doubts about Feng Si’s acquisition of wild grain, she still carried out the assigned task flawlessly.
"You’ve done a good job. Continue the acquisitions." With so much wheat collected, Feng Si felt it was time to start processing a batch.
While contemplating the series of tasks ahead—hiring staff, buying a factory workshop, securing a storefront, and so on—she gathered Yun Duo, who had just finished his milk, back into her arms. She placed the little one on her shoulder to rest.
After settling the cub, Feng Si began to eat. There was so much to do, and so little time, that for a moment she completely forgot about the dumbfounded Bo Rongrong sitting beside her.
It wasn’t until Bo Rongrong spoke up again that she was pulled from her thoughts. "Why don’t you want to go?"
"Hm? Isn’t the banquet just a matchmaking party for males and females in disguise?" Feng Si blurted out subconsciously. "I’m not planning to just casually find some male beast, so of course I don’t want to waste my time going."
Bo Rongrong was speechless. "..."
’Now that you’ve put it so bluntly, I actually think it makes a lot of sense. What do I do?’
...
On the day of the banquet held at the Imperial Palace, a proper smile graced Feng Lian’s face, but inwardly, she felt a flicker of panic and unease.
She was sure she hadn’t left a single shred of incriminating evidence; the affair with Hu Ya would absolutely not be traced back to her. What she worried about was another female.
Feng Si had successively broken the thousand-year-old rules of Boman Gate Island. ’Just how noble must her status be? Why has no one ever heard of this black-haired female before?’
While Feng Lian was in a side hall contemplating Feng Si, a series of gasps broke through the elegant music in the main hall, which was a magnificent scene of gold and floral splendor:
"Fei Yan, you look absolutely beautiful today!"
"Wow, is that a Venus Gemstone you’re wearing? It’s the same color as the eyes of the imperial family! I heard they come from the eyes of deep-sea whales and are incredibly rare."
Feng Lian pursed her lips inwardly.
’Of course I know who Ran Feiyan is—the Special-level Female who came of age this year. The only reason everyone’s fawning over her is because she’s the daughter of the Minister of Imperial Finance.’
Feng Lian walked through an archway toward Ran Feiyan in the main hall. Ran Feiyan was dressed in a strapless, light purple mermaid gown that shimmered like a meteor shower. A set of glittering gold jewelry accentuated her fair skin. Her flaxen hair was meticulously styled and cascaded down her back, and her upturned, almond-shaped eyes naturally gave off an air of looking down on others.
’Her looks are just so-so,’ Feng Lian scoffed internally. Outwardly, however, she quickened her pace with a delighted smile. "Fei Yan, you’re finally back! I missed you so much."
Ran Feiyan waved away the females crowding around her and turned to see Feng Lian, who lived below her temporary manor and often came to chat.
Ran Feiyan’s family lived in Pantian City, and she had gone home for a few days because her mother missed her. Today, she had come directly from her home to the banquet at Emperor West Mountain Palace, so she was unaware of the events that had transpired on Boman Gate Island.
She glanced at Feng Lun, who was trailing behind Feng Lian, and asked, "I don’t see Hu Ya. Didn’t she come?"
As soon as she said this, the surroundings fell silent for a moment. Only the fluid, stream-like music continued to play.
Feng Lian’s expression became fraught with emotion, as if she had suffered a terrible injustice with no one to confide in. Her eyes filled with an unspoken story.
Just then, a commotion erupted at the very front of the main hall.
Ran Feiyan immediately lost interest in Hu Ya, whom she had only asked about casually, and turned her head toward the new focal point of the hall.
At the entrance, a tall, slender, black-haired male beast walked in unhurriedly against the light. Behind him, Great Sacrificial Rite Ran Qi led a group of people, following one step behind with a reverent expression.
The brilliant white light created a faint halo around the leading figure. At the same time, they heard the title the Great Sacrificial Rite used for him as he led the way.
Almost every female in the hall couldn’t help but let out a shocked gasp.
They could hardly believe it. That legendary, ferocious, tyrannical, and cold-blooded figure was actually here! This warm-up party for the females coming of age this year had actually managed to draw him out!
In an instant, all the females in the hall were both frantic and thrilled. After all, this was the first time they had seen the legendary and most powerful male beast who ruled the South Desolate Continent up close.
Chi Jie took the sole seat on the high platform in the main hall. He nonchalantly lifted his gaze and swept it across the flustered and excited females in the hall.
Feng Lian snapped out of her shock, only to hear the females gathered nearby turn to Ran Feiyan and say in hushed tones:
"Oh my heavens, the King, who never attends any banquets, actually came! I heard your father is a vassal of the Queen Mother Clan. Could it be that he came specifically for you?"
A confident smile lifted the corners of Ran Feiyan’s lips. "Is that so?" ’I think so, too.’
’She’s the only Special Rank Female here. Who else would he have come for?’
Another female whispered excitedly, "It’s true, the King is looking this way! He’s so handsome! AHHHH..."
Listening to this, Feng Lian clenched her jaw and dug her nails into her palm. She forced a false smile onto her face using the pain, and only when her palm stung fiercely did the smile appear somewhat genuine.
’—Special-level Females are all so detestable!’
’Feng Si is one, and so is Ran Feiyan.’
’Feng Si managed to escape the crisis Hu Ya arranged for her unscathed, and now even Ran Feiyan has managed to catch the King’s eye.’
’They were all just lucky enough to be born as Special Rank Females.’
Dark thoughts swirled in Feng Lian’s mind, and she was filled with resentment for the two people who lorded their superior fertility over her.