A Ruckus at the Wedding Banquet

Two days later.

Gongs and drums shook the heavens, and red silk hung like waterfalls. The coiling-dragon stone carvings on either side of the Dragon Family estate's vermilion gates were draped in bright red silk today, and the azure spirit pearls held in the dragons' mouths had been replaced with red coral beads symbolizing celebration. A brand-new red carpet stretched over the several-hundred-zhang bluestone path from the main gate to the main hall. Along the way, every coral-stone lantern had been fitted with a red gauze cover, and candlelight spilled through the gauze onto the smiling faces of the arriving guests, dyeing the entire Dragon estate into a joyous red sea.

Today was the day the Dragon Family Ancestor, Long Xiaotian, took a concubine. The Dragon Family had stood on Dragon Snake Island for thousands of years, a hegemon-level power ranked among the thirty-six islands. Though this was only the taking of a concubine and not the marrying of a principal wife, Long Xiaotian had still sent invitations far and wide, inviting every reputable force on Dragon Snake Island and dozens of surrounding islands.

The auspicious hour had yet to arrive, but carriages outside the Dragon estate already stretched to the end of the street. Guests from every power, dressed in brocade and finery and carrying congratulatory gifts, streamed endlessly through the Dragon estate's gates. At the entrance, the master of ceremonies called out one illustrious name after another in a ringing voice—the Sea Snake Race's patriarch brought a pair of thousand-year coral jade disks as a gift; the branch master of Azure Wave Palace stationed on Dragon Snake Island presented ten deep-sea spirit pearls; the deputy leader of the Sea Shark Gang brought a stalk of blood-jade coral... Both sides of the path were piled high with all kinds