Chapter 6

As usual.

Tang Mingxi took two steps to the side and ordered the Bodyguard, "Come up here and hold my umbrella."

The Bodyguard grinned foolishly and came over at once. "Second Young Master, that trash wasn't fit to hold an umbrella for you in the first place! Let me do it!"

Tang Mingxi finally understood.

Were all these servants and bodyguards obsessed with the Second Young Master?! Why were they as happy about holding an umbrella for him as if they'd won the lottery?

With no need to hold an umbrella for Tang Mingxi, Ye Heng was actually better off than before. At least he no longer had to keep standing in the snow.

The two entered the resplendent banquet hall one after the other.

The five-hundred-square-meter banquet hall had already been set with seven or eight tables. The Tang Family's blood relatives, as well as relatives within three generations who worked for the family business, had all taken their seats.

Tang Mingxi and Ye Heng, who had arrived late, immediately became the center of attention.

Fortunately, Tang Mingxi had come from a fairly well-off family even before entering the novel. He had lived in Shanghai; his parents had been senior executives at foreign companies, his maternal grandparents were university professors, his grandfather was a famous Hollywood director, and his grandmother had been a movie star in the last century.

While studying at Harvard, he had often accompanied his grandfather to high-society gatherings throughout the United States.

So there was no need to panic :)

Tang Mingxi swept his gaze over the room and matched quite a few faces to the memories in his head, but he did not see his eldest brother, Tang Yun.

As the Tang Family's Second Young Master, he should naturally sit with the main family's relatives. Without a second thought, Tang Mingxi led Ye Heng over with him, overlooking the strange glint that flashed through Ye Heng's eyes.

Before they could sit down, a sharp, caustic sneer rang out. "Tang Er, it's one thing for you to sit here, but why should Ye Heng, a live-in son-in-law, sit on equal footing with our main family relatives?"

Tang Mingxi paused, speechless. Wake up. The Great Qing has been dead for a hundred years.

The speaker was Tang Mingxi's cousin, Tang Yu.

A memory of Tang Yu flashed through Tang Mingxi's mind. Like the original owner, Tang Yu was an idle, good-for-nothing playboy. But he played far harder and wilder than the original owner, and he even had several illicit ways of making money.

Back then, Tang Yu had wanted to trick the original owner into joining him to "find some thrilling fun." Though the original owner was scum, he had not crossed the line into breaking the law, so he refused Tang Yu. From then on, Tang Yu bore a grudge against Tang Mingxi.

Whenever they met at family gatherings, Tang Yu's every word was laced with barbs.

After speaking, Tang Yu's gaze traveled back and forth between Ye Heng and Tang Mingxi. Seeing that Ye Heng no longer looked as bedraggled as usual, but was instead wearing a brand-new, expensive suit—a suit Tang Yu himself had failed to have custom-made even after spending a fortune—now worn by a live-in son-in-law he looked down upon, Tang Yu's expression immediately darkened.

Tang Yu's face turned ugly. "Tang Mingxi, what do you mean by this? Bringing your useless husband here during the New Year to ruin everyone's mood?"

The Vicious Dog

As soon as Tang Yu finished speaking, the surrounding gazes fell on Tang Mingxi.

There was mockery, ridicule, and amusement at his expense, though all of it was carefully concealed.

It was clear that Tang Mingxi's personality had truly made him unpopular among the Tang Family's other relatives. Still, because of his status as Second Young Master Tang, even those who disliked him had to greet him with smiling faces.

The only person who dared challenge Tang Mingxi was Tang Yu. Tang Yu's biological father was Tang Youwei, who was currently fighting Tang Mingxi's elder brother Tang Yun for the inheritance.

The remark stirred up a great commotion, and the main family relatives at the table also showed some dissatisfaction with Ye Heng's presence.

"Second Young Master, Xiao Yu isn't entirely wrong. Ye Heng is an outsider by surname; it really is improper for him to dine at the same table as us."

"Didn't the Second Young Master always dislike Ye Heng? Why has he suddenly changed?"

"What else could he do even if he disliked him? The old master personally arranged the marriage. Even if it was a man, he had to grit his teeth and marry him."

A wave of malicious laughter rose from the table.

In the original novel, Tang Mingxi cared deeply about his pride. Marrying a man was practically the greatest humiliation of his life.

In the past, upon hearing such ridicule, Tang Mingxi would have lashed out at Ye Heng in public without a second thought.

A scolding would have been the least of it. Given the original owner's spoiled temper, he would most likely have kicked him.

Ye Heng had already prepared himself for Tang Mingxi's outburst. More accurately, the moment he stepped into this nauseating banquet hall, he had already guessed how things would end.

Yet after all that mockery, Ye Heng did not see Tang Mingxi fly into a rage.

He glanced over.

Tang Mingxi's expression was unreadable, almost smiling but not quite. It was impossible to tell whether he was angry or not.

Ye Heng curled his lips without drawing attention to it and thought coldly, This trash can endure more than I expected.

Tang Yu curled his lips into a smug smile and lifted his chin at Ye Heng. "Did you hear that? Why aren't you getting lost?"

Then he looked at Tang Mingxi, like a rooster that had won a fight. "Tang Er, your husband doesn't know his place. Your cousin is just teaching him a lesson. You won't be angry, will you?"

Tang Yu was not really teaching Ye Heng a lesson. He was plainly using Ye Heng to humiliate Tang Mingxi.

No matter what, Tang Mingxi and Ye Heng were a married couple in name today. They were family.

If Ye Heng was humiliated in public, it would also disgrace Tang Mingxi, the Second Young Master.

How could Tang Mingxi fail to see Tang Yu's attempt to put him in his place?

This cannon fodder really was rushing to his own death :)

Tang Mingxi sighed inwardly, but kept up his persona and said innocently, "Cousin is right. I failed to think this through."

Ye Heng's fingers curled slightly as he lowered his lashes.

Tang Yu wore an expression that said he had expected nothing less. Generously, he said, "Forget it."

Then he suddenly paused. Seeing Ye Heng's suit, he was clearly still not satisfied, so he said harshly, "I'll give Tang Er some face, but I can't let your husband off. How about this? Have Ye Heng apologize to me. My shoes got soaked on the way here, and as his elder, I'll have Ye Heng bring me a basin of water and wait on me while I wash my feet. How about that?"

The moment he finished speaking, Ye Heng's gaze also landed on Tang Mingxi's face.

Tang Mingxi remained silent for a long while, facing Ye Heng in a wordless standoff.

The air seemed to freeze. Tang Yu's vicious eyes shifted between Tang Mingxi and Ye Heng as he squeezed out, "What? Tang Er, can't bear to do it?"

"Why would I?" Tang Mingxi relented. He called over a waiter and said casually, "Go prepare a basin of water for Mr. Ye."

Under the fluorescent lights, his skin was nearly porcelain white, bathed in a warm glow that gave him an air of gentleness.

Judging by his face alone, he could be called breathtakingly beautiful. No one would have guessed what rotten scum lay beneath that appearance.

The private residence was fully equipped, and the foot-washing water Tang Mingxi requested was delivered in no time.

Tang Yu was thrilled. He sat up straighter, his whole body practically buzzing with excitement.

The thought of Second Young Master Tang's husband washing his feet made that vile, masculine vanity swell exponentially.

Seeing Ye Heng remain still, Tang Yu frowned. "What's going on, Ye Heng? Why haven't you brought the water over?"

Ye Heng did not move, but his grim expression betrayed him.

He had simply been humiliated too many times, and the young man had learned to restrain himself well.

Then Tang Mingxi suddenly spoke. "Wait."

Ye Heng looked at him. Tang Mingxi sighed, took the basin of water, and said sincerely, "Cousin, after thinking it over, I don't believe Ye Heng is worthy of apologizing to you. It would be more appropriate for me to apologize personally. That would also show my sincerity."

Ye Heng froze for a moment and looked at Tang Mingxi in astonishment.

The entire hall erupted in uproar at those words. The Second Young Master was carrying foot-washing water?!

Not only Tang Yu—even the Tang Family members who had been waiting to watch the show drew in sharp breaths.

Tang Yu was stunned as well, suddenly caught between a rock and a hard place.

Ye Heng was only a useless live-in son-in-law. Humiliating him was easy enough.

But Tang Mingxi was the Tang Family's true Second Young Master, raised in luxury since childhood and spoiled beyond measure by his elder brother Tang Yun. He had always run wild, arrogant and lawless.

No one had ever been born who could make Tang Mingxi carry foot-washing water!

But words once spoken were like water spilled on the ground.

Tang Yu could not take back his own words.