The Attack of the Wastrel

Chapter 264 – Gu Rong’s Arrival

Translator: Coca5156

Editor: Drea

The North Qiu Kingdom’s envoy? How could the North Qiu Kingdom dare to send men over at this moment?

Such questions popped into everyone’s minds. Rong Yuan narrowed his eyes at the guard who reported the matter and motioned for him to let the envoy in.

Regardless of the North Qiu Kingdom’s objective, they had used the excuse of sending wedding gifts and Rong Yuan had no choice but to invite them in. However, the expression of the guard was strange. Rong Yuan did not know which courageous men the North Qiu Kingdom sent over as envoy, was he not afraid of death? He should know that in the Ronghua Palace, there were more than enough enemies of the North Qiu Kingdom.

Rong Yuan’s suspicions mirrored the crowds. The North Qiu Kingdom was considered a villain among many kingdoms and they wondered who would be so bold to dare to interrupt the wedding at that moment.

Yet, all suspicions were dispelled when they saw the figure that appeared at the next moment. It was Gu Rong!

No wonder he dared to appear at that point. With his status, even if the two kingdoms went to war, the Xia Kingdom would not dare to do anything to him. At the very most, they could only imprison him and the North Qiu Kingdom had made the right move in sending him.

The red veil covered Gu Lingzhi’s face, covering her view of the outside. She did not know that Gu Rong had arrived. However, the reaction of the crowd made her frown deep.

Was Gu Rong there?

“With me around, everything will be fine.” Rong Yuan could sense Gu Lingzhi tense up and he walked over and grabbed her hand. In actual fact, his words seemed to psyche himself up more than it did for Gu Lingzhi. His voice had deepened considerably and Gu Lingzhi almost broke into a smile at Rong Yuan’s protective stance.

Was he afraid that she would regret marrying him with Gu Rong’s arrival? Or was he scared that she would be upset with Gu Rong’s arrival?

“Don’t worry, I am not that weak.” Gu Lingzhi reassured. Rong Yuan did not have to worry that she would be upset with Gu Rong’s arrival.

Rong Yuan seemed to relax at Gu Lingzhi’s assurance and he focused his eyes on Gu Rong again.

At that point, Rong Han’s strong voice boomed through the hall, “The envoy of the North Qiu Kingdom? Leave the gifts for the wedding here and wait at the side palace. I will attend to you when the wedding is over.”

Rong Han’s words were an implicit command for the wedding to continue and it showed that he did not care about Gu Rong. His words cut off the ties between Gu Rong and Gu Lignzhi and it showed that Gu Rong was not welcome to sit on the chair reserved for the bride’s parents.

The smug look on Gu Rong’s face instantly fell at Rong Han’s words and he was stunned for a moment. He had not expected Rong Han to disregard him like that and this spoiled his plans.

By that point, guards had surrounded him and the group of men from the North Qiu Kingdom that had followed him. Gu Rong observed a young man who looked similar to Pan En gritting his teeth tightly among the guards. The proud expression he had instantly changed into sorrow and his voice softened as he lamented, “Lingzhi, I am your father. How could you not inform your father about your wedding?”

Gu Rong continued with a fake sadness in his voice, “Even if I did things that upsetted you in the past, you cannot disregard me entirely for your wedding! Your poor mother waited anxiously for your wedding invitation every day, crying herself to sleep every night. How can you be so unfilial? Your mother and I have wasted our efforts on raising you all these years... you have completely forgotten about us...”

Gu Lingzhi silently took Gu Rong’ words in and she formulated a reply in her head. However, she had not expected Gu Rong to burst into tears all of a sudden. The tears and sadness in his voice touched the hearts of many parents in the crowd and many people started to glare at Gu Lingzhi with disapproval.

Even if her parents were in the wrong, they had raised her for so many years. How could they not be invited to her wedding? She was simply too unfilial.

As Gu Rong weeped, the envoy from the North Qiu Kingdom behind him glared at Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi with such hatred, as though the couple were their arch enemies. Amidst their glares, some even tried to comfort the bawling Gu Rong. In that instant, many people started to pity Gu Rong and painted Gu Lingzhi as the vicious person in the hall.

“Shut up! What are you trying to do by crying on a wedding day?” Just as many people were touched by Gu Rong, Mei Ying snapped furiously at Gu Rong, “Why don’t you look at yourself? Even with such a sorry state, your daughter is brilliant. Don’t think I don’t know about what Lingzhi went through before she awakened her Spiritual Roots. If you really thought of Lingzhi as your daughter, you would not have brought your family over to the North Qiu Kingdom after she exposed them! You do not have a pure heart by coming to her wedding today. Stop acting like you are close to her.”

Mei Ying’s string of accusations shot Gu Rong down and he seemed to have erupted like a volcano. Gu Rong struggled for breath and he rebutted, “Lingzhi is my daughter. Why is it your concern about how I treat her?”

“Wow, so now you are admitting you neglected her as a daughter?” Mei Ying’s eyes widened open and he deliberately turned towards the crowd. “Look, don’t be fooled by his act. This person is a vicious man, he is using his blood relation to crush his daughter and make her do things that she does not want to. How can such a man be a good father?”

Mei Ying’s words successfully changed many people’s opinions again and slowly, they started to take Gu Lingzhi’s side again.

Just then, the mysterious hoarse voice rang out again, “Even if Leader Gu did some wrong things, he had raised his daughter. He had made choices for the family and neglecting her in cultivation was sensible at that point. How would an outsider like you know whether Gu Lingzhi had been filial or not? After Leader Gu went to the North Qiu Kingdom, his daughter cut off all ties with him in fear of bringing trouble to herself.”

It was clear that the mysterious man was a person on Gu Rong’s side. He must have spoken out previously to buy time for Gu Rong.

After all, Rong Yuan had shocked everyone with his actions that morning by carrying Gu Lingzhi and riding all the way to the palace. That must have disrupted the plans for Gu Rong and hence he had to rush for time.

Gu Lingzhi had been silent all this while but her lips quivered with anger and if she had not been held back by Rong Yuan, she would have wanted to peel off the veil on her head to deal with Gu Rong.

However, Rong Yuan stepped forward before she could, his deep voice accused, “Elder Gu, I remembered that the king sent you an invitation letter half a month ago. What do you mean when you said we did not inform you? Furthermore...if I did not remember wrongly, the person who passed the letter to you said that you ripped it apart angrily upon reading it. It is ridiculous that you are questioning us now.”

Rong Yuan ignored Gu Rong’s black face and continued, “Elder Gu, did you become the North Qiu Kingdom’s envoy to come here and act? Now that the play is over, you can voluntarily head to the side palace and wait.”

“You!” Gu Rong almost cursed at Rong Yuan. Rong Yuan had purposely addressed him as ‘Elder Gu’ and not ‘Father’, thus showing that Rong Yuan did not acknowledge him as a father-in-law. Gu Rong was so angry, he almost passed out.

At that point, the young man who looked like Pan En stood up. After cupping his fists towards Rong Han, he said, “I am Pan Wen, the First Prince of the North Qiu Kingdom and I am here as Elder Gu’s assistant for this affair. I hope that the king would talk things through officially with us instead of shifting us to the side palace.”

Pan Wen spoke with respect and seemed courteous, however, his tone and voice highlighted the high status of the prince he was. Rong Han’s eyes narrowed, he noticed that Pan Wen had used the word ‘shifting’ instead of ‘inviting’. The special use of the word ‘official’ also hinted that the king was not respecting him by turning him down to discuss official matters. Pan Wen was bold!

“If I refuse?” Rong Han stifled a laughter, “I do not think that there is anything more important than my son’s wedding. If you can’t wait then please return. Your envoy will have to learn about patience if you wish to discuss things with me.”

As he said that, Rong Han waved his hand dismissively. He called out to the wedding assistant beside him, “Continue with the wedding. Don’t let these people interrupt us.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the assistant stammered out of nervousness.

As the wedding assistant that Rong Yuan invited at the last minute, he was in a tough position. He had thought that the wedding would proceed smoothly and had not expected such a situation to turn up. Thinking back, he had called out the phrase ‘bow’ three times already, in which all had been interrupted.

The wedding assistant turned towards Rong Yuan for confirmation before staring at Pan Wen nervously. Clearing his throat, he was just about to say ‘second bow to parents’ a fourth time when Pan Wen interrupted him, “Your Majesty, are you sure you do not want to listen to what I have for you first? I am here with my utmost sincerity. As long as you cancel the wedding today, the North Qiu Kingdom is willing to stop all our plans and call back all our spies in the different kingdoms to live peacefully with everyone.”

Pan Wen’s declaration turned the entire palace silent for a long moment.

Did they mishear? The North Qiu Kingdom was actually willing to stop their work from a few thousand years ago and live peacefully with the other kingdoms?