Best actor

"Tang Ling, whether Tang Yan's dantian was destroyed or not, the fact remains that he harassed Miss Lin. Here in Cloud City, the City Lord's Residence has always been fair and impartial, favoring no lineage, but we will not tolerate provocation or insults from any lineage either. The Tang family owes the City Lord's Residence an explanation! Where exactly is Tang Yan? Stop hiding him, Tang Ling."

Inside the Tang family's main hall, a middle-aged man demanded answers in a loud voice.

"Was someone looking for me?" A warm, gentle voice rang out as Tang Yan strolled into the hall. Instantly, every gaze in the room fixed on him.

Old Master Tang glanced at his grandson, then at the helpless Uncle Mo behind Tang Yan. He secretly shot Uncle Mo a questioning look, and Uncle Mo quietly returned a message of helplessness and reassurance.

With matters having reached this point, Old Master Tang knew there was no use hiding him anymore. He sighed, his mind racing over how to protect his grandson this time.

Seven people had come: five men and two women. Two wore the uniforms of the City Lord's Residence guards, and another two were dressed as guards of the Wonderful Elixir Workshop. The remaining middle-aged man was Qin Changdao, a guest retainer of the City Lord's Residence.

Tang Yan studied Lin Dongxue closely. She had willow-leaf brows, lovely eyes, a cherry mouth with vermilion lips, and a tall, slender figure, her hair like a cascade of spilled ink. As she stood there, an innate air of nobility radiated from her.

Tang Yan sighed inwardly. Her beauty could indeed topple cities and kingdoms. No wonder the previous Tang Yan had dared to swallow a bear's heart and a leopard's gall and harass her.

The woman standing beside her had to be Wu Xuan of the Wonderful Elixir Workshop.

Wu Xuan had a different bearing from Lin Dongxue's nobility. Her eyes gleamed like lacquer, her teeth were white as gourd seeds, and she carried herself with natural grace. She stood there quietly, cool and aloof, revealing nothing of her depths, yet impossible to overlook-a true daughter of a distinguished household.

"Miss Lin, Miss Wu Xuan, it's been a while." Tang Yan greeted both women with a smile.

"Hmph, hardly. I believe this is my first meeting with Young Master Tang." Wu Xuan's voice was cool. "Mr. Qin, now that Tang Yan is here, you may state the purpose of our visit."

"Tang Yan, five days ago, you attempted to molest Miss Lin in the street, disgracing the prestige of the City Lord's Residence. Do you admit your guilt?" Qin Changdao pointed at Tang Yan as he questioned him.

Tang Yan immediately jumped up, pointed at Qin Changdao, and swore, "That's fucking bullshit! I've lived my whole life upright and honorable, open and honest, keeping myself pure and decent. Why would I harass Miss Lin in the street? How dare you ruin my reputation?"

Old Master Tang sucked in a breath. You're fucking upright and honorable? Pure and decent? I'm embarrassed just listening to you! How did you even get those words out?

Everyone else's expressions turned to stone, leaving them as stunned as wooden chickens. The foremost wastrel in Cloud City truly proved extraordinary the moment he opened his mouth.

"You... you dare insult me?" As a guest retainer of the City Lord's Residence, Qin Changdao held an esteemed position. He had no idea how many years it had been since anyone had insulted him, and for a moment, he was stunned.

"When did I insult you? You're a lofty guest retainer of the city lord, a Profound Tier expert. I'm an ordinary man with a ruined dantian. Would I dare insult you? I was merely refuting you. Miss Wu Xuan, I've often heard people speak of you, saying you're fair and always stand up against injustice. Please judge this for me. Is it only right for someone powerful to berate a nobody like me, but if I offer a couple of words in rebuttal, I've committed some outrageous offense?"

The Tang family members were shocked once again. Had this brat's sense of decency really been eaten by a dog?

Wu Xuan frowned slightly. She had long heard of Tang Yan's reputation as a wastrel, but she had never expected him to have such a sharp tongue. "That may be so, but we cannot simply take your word for it," she said evenly. "Let me ask you this: if you weren't trying to molest Dongxue that day, why did you approach her and speak so indecently? Why did you try to grab her?"

Tang Yan blinked, looking utterly innocent. "You've misunderstood, Miss Wu Xuan. There was more to what happened that day."

"Then please tell us what there was. I'd like to hear how else you can twist reason to suit yourself!" Lin Dongxue looked thoroughly disgusted. Though she had had little contact with Tang Yan, she had long heard of his reputation as a wastrel. After his indecent behavior toward her that day, she had not the slightest goodwill toward him.

Tang Yan hesitated for a moment, as though making a momentous decision. Then he abruptly raised his head and said earnestly:

"Everyone in Cloud City says I'm a wastrel, ignorant and unaccomplished, a scourge upon the city. But I truly had no intention of behaving indecently toward Miss Dongxue that day.

"It all began nine years ago.

"When I was seven, the city lord took Miss Dongxue out into the streets during a temple fair. The moment I saw her, I fell in love, and the seed of affection took root.

"I thought it was merely youthful ignorance, but as I grew older, I found that my longing for Miss Lin grew with each passing day. I also discovered that I had no talent whatsoever for martial cultivation. Even if I trained diligently and earnestly, I would still be nothing more than an ordinary martial artist. How could someone like me ever win Miss Lin's admiration?"

"After that, I sank into despair every day and lived as a wastrel, hoping to attract Miss Lin's attention that way. But I discovered that it only made her despise me more. Then, five days ago, I finally saw Miss Lin at such close range again. I had a thousand words, ten thousand words, that I wanted to tell her, but who could have known I'd become so nervous that my thoughts grew muddled, leading to that scene?"

"Actually... actually, I wanted to give Miss Lin a poem that day. It took me three years and five thousand two hundred and nine revisions to finish writing it."

At this point, an embarrassed, bashful look actually appeared on Tang Yan's face.

Old Master Tang was dumbfounded. I've watched this little bastard grow up for sixteen years, and this is the first time I've ever seen him blush! He can even write poetry? And he revised it five thousand two hundred and nine times? I have people watching you day and night, so how did I never hear about this?

Yet the brat's expression was so sincere, with no sign of pretense. Could it truly have happened as he claimed? Had he been trapped by love all these years, losing his drive to improve, then becoming so mentally confused that he had behaved indecently toward Lin Dongxue?

Even Old Master Tang had been fooled by this scoundrel Tang Yan, let alone the others. Every one of them was left reeling by his performance.

Lin Dongxue, the person at the center of it all, was especially affected. This was the first time anyone had been so bold with her. Could he be telling the truth? Had I wrongly blamed him? After all, she was only a seventeen-year-old girl, and at that moment, her heart was fluttering in confusion.

Beside her, a complicated expression appeared on Wu Xuan's face as well. She had never dealt with Tang Yan before; everything she had known about him came from various rumors.

Could all those vile deeds have been deliberate displays meant to attract Lin Dongxue's attention?

She had no shortage of admirers, but none had ever been as devoted as Tang Yan! For a moment, Wu Xuan actually felt a little envious of Lin Dongxue.

After that brief lapse, the ice-bright, snow-clever Wu Xuan immediately spotted a flaw and replied with a cold expression, "What you have said is indeed moving, Young Master Tang. You claim to have spent three years writing a poem. Would you recite it so everyone can judge it?"

Although Tang Yan's performance had been superb, the others were no fools. Hearing Wu Xuan's words, Qin Changdao also came to his senses and snorted coldly. "I advise you not to plagiarize anyone else's verses. I began reading at five, and I am now fifty-seven. I've read no fewer than ten thousand books. Moreover, the City Lord's Residence has countless scholars. Even if I fail to recognize it, once I take it back, if anyone remembers that you copied it, you certainly won't be spared!"