Chapter 22  : Tian Heng and Master Xu Panicked, Xu Qianqian Attends the Wedding 2

“Since the Palace of the Earl wants them, I won’t dare to stop. I will report this to the City Lord,” said Tian Thirteen.

Jin Zhong was emotionless but still said courteously, “Sorry to trouble you.”

“Invite Mr. and Mrs. Shen and their son to the carriage,” Jin Zhong ordered.

Then, ten warriors appeared from behind him. However, none of them were holding onto any weapons. Instead, they were holding on to a stretcher.

The Earl was remarkably against Shen Lang but respected Shen Lang’s parents. He instructed everything.

The warriors carefully brought Shen Lang’s parents and brother onto the stretcher before settling them down in the large carriage.

The carriage was so huge that one could lie down in it.

Then, six warriors carried the three carriages and left without making a noise, as though the transport was as light as a feather.

“Goodbye,” said Jin Zhong.

“Have a great journey.” Tian Thirteen bowed and sent them off.

From the very beginning, Jin Zhong did not threaten anyone since Tian Thirteen was doing something completely legal. He even had the notice of arrest from the City Lord.

Shen Lang’s father had indeed created land from the mountains and did not pay taxes.

However, everyone in Xuanwu City had done this, and the City Lord did not bother. As the saying went, if nobody reported it, the officials would not pursue the matter.

Moreover, Jin Zhong only had the responsibility to protect Shen Lang’s family. The Earl did not give him any other instructions.

***

When Jin Zhong and the warriors of the Palace of the Earl left, Tian Thirteen panicked.

One of the warriors went up to him and said, “Sir, what happened? If we let them go, the boss would definitely rage at us.”

Tian Thirteen said, “Do you have any idea who those people are?”

The warrior from the Black Clothes Gang shook his head and said, “No.”

“Jin Zhong, the trusted servant of the Earl of Xuanwu,” said Tian Thirteen.

Instantly, the expressions on the warriors changed.

“Who did Shen Lang make connections with from the Palace of the Earl?” the warrior asked.

Tian Thirteen said, “Let’s just pray that their relationship isn’t very close. I hope it is just a servant from the Palace of the Earl and using it for his own benefit, or else…”

“Or else what, sir…” the warrior said worryingly.

Tian Thirteen said, “Or else, everyone better return to their families and bid farewell to their family members.”

“We will be arrested?” asked the warrior.

“You will die!” said Tian Thirteen.

Images of the short interactions he had with Shen Lang flashed back in his memory. The beautiful face was calm and always full of smiles.

However, now, Tian Thirteen realized that the smile was filled with hidden danger.

“Let’s go back and tell this to our foster father. If something bad is about to happen, we have to be prepared. We are helping them; they can’t possibly leave us in the lurch!” said Tian Thirteen. 1

Then, he rode the horse immediately and rushed to the Black Clothes Gang.

To save himself, he had to be fast. If Shen Lang had really gotten himself involved with the Palace of the Earl, it would be too late for him to take action.

Shen Lang was an incredibly sly person. He could feel it through the interaction they had for a day. 1

Tian Thirteen rushed like crazy and reached the Black Clothes Gang in less than an hour.

***

The Black Clothes Gang was not in Xuanwu City. It was located more than ten kilometers away from the city, and it was a small castle.

Of course, the castle was called the campsite of the civilian army of the Xuanwu City. There were several hundreds of people inside the castle.

Because of the new governance, the local officials tried their best to use their powers to go against the traditional power of the aristocrats. Therefore, Tian Heng’s gang took up the banner of a local campsite.

Tian Thirteen rushed into the castle.

Usually, he would definitely greet his brothers in the castle. Tian Heng had many disciples, and it was not easy for one to stand out and obtain the highest power. Not only must they suck up to Tian Heng, but they also had to persuade others.

However, Tian Thirteen did not care about this at all. He charged into the castle. Without giving any notice, he rushed into Tian Heng’s room.

Tian Heng was about to throw a cup over at him. However, after seeing that he was Tian Thirteen, he stopped and said coldly, “If you don’t have a good reason to do this, I will dig one of your eyes out.”

Tian Thirteen immediately fell to his knees. “Please forgive me, I screwed up and was unable to kill Shen Lang’s family.”

Tian Heng looked at him coldly. The person whom he regarded highly could not even accomplish such a small task? He had already taken his cash, 1500 gold coins.

Tian Thirteen said, “Jin Zhong from the Palace of the Earl brought ten warriors to Shen Lang’s house and picked up his parents and brother for a wedding in the Palace of the Earl. They left with three huge carriages.”

Instantly, Tian Heng stood up, and his expression changed drastically!

“Ah…” A lady shouted in agony, and blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. She said in misery, “Sir.” 1

“Scram!” Tian Heng roared.

Instantly, the lady scrambled out of the room.

Men were like this. On regular occasions, they would dote on their loved ones. However, now, they chased their loved ones out mercilessly. 1

Tian Thirteen said, “Father, who is getting married in the Palace of the Earl? Is it the Earl’s son? Could Shen Lang have gotten connections with him? I heard that the Earl’s son was also a useless person. Both useless individuals might get along well.”

Tian Heng said, “Do you think Shen Lang is useless?”

Tian Thirteen thought about it and shook his head.

Tian Heng said, “The wedding in the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu is not for the Earl’s son; it is for his daughter!”

When Tian Thirteen heard that, his expression changed drastically, and he shook his head. “No way, it can’t be it.”

Tian Heng said, “I don’t think it’s possible too.”

Tian Thirteen said, “Who is Shen Lang? A poor villager who is not even worth that of grass. What about Miss Jin? She is excellent in all aspects, be it martial arts, military rule, looks, and figure. She is the daughter of a wealthy family. Shen Lang would never match up to her. If the Xu Family does not view Shen Lang as worthy, how would the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu, which has a much higher status, view him in favor?”

Tian Heng nodded too. Nobody would be able to match Shen Lang and Jin Mulan together. Both of them were like heaven and earth, and it was impossible to relate both of them together.

However, Jin Zhong from the Palace of the Earl invited Shen Lang and his family to the wedding. That was really strange.

Tian Heng stood up and walked around with a worried look.

“I will make a trip to the city; we better be prepared for this,” said Tian Heng.

***

After about an hour, Master Xu, Master Lin, and Tian Heng gathered in the secret room.

After hearing what Tian Heng said, both of them said in unison, “Impossible, definitely impossible!”

Master Xu was shocked beyond words.

Tian Heng said, “Yesterday, soon after Shen Lang left the Silk Pavilion, he was knocked down by the cavalry of the Palace of the Earl and was brought over there. Today, we received the news of the Earl’s daughter’s wedding. Moreover, Jin Zhong sent people over to fetch Silk Pavilion’s family members.” 2

When Master Xu took a quick glance at the rest, he continued, “If Shen Lang, this useless man, managed to make some connections with the son of the Duke, it is understandable since both of them are useless. However, Miss Jin Mulan has a superior status, and it’s impossible for her to fall in love with Shen Lang. Moreover, I just chased Shen Lang out of his house. How would someone who was chased away become the Earl’s son-in-law? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Lin Mo, the boss of the Silk Pavilion, said, “Brother Xu, Shen Lang is probably not a useless person. If he is, I don’t think he can come up with the new golden dye formula.”

Xu Guangyun said, “Brother Lin, you must be overthinking. The new formula depends on luck, and it also requires those silly fools to invent it.” 2

Lin Mo thought about it, and it made sense. However, from the short interaction they had last night, he knew that Shen Lang was definitely not a fool. 1

Xu Guangyun said, “The most important thing is that when Shen Lang was chased away by me, we framed him for theft and indecency. How could the Earl be so shameless to accept someone with such a bad reputation as his son-in-law?”

After that statement, the three of them felt relieved.

Many people could be shameless in the Xuanwu City except for the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu.

Tian Heng said, “Master Xu, the Earl suddenly sent out wedding invitations today; do you know who the groom is?”

Xu Guangyun shook his head. “No, but it definitely won’t be Shen Lang. It is impossible.”

Lin Mo said, “Even if it is not Shen Lang, it will be best if we figure out. How about we send someone to attend tonight’s wedding?”

Instantly, the three of them looked at each other. None received the invitation from the Palace of the Earl.

Many invitations were sent out, for example, to the military officials of Xuanwu City, formal officials, scholars, and famous celebrities.

Although the three of them were reputable, both of them were businessmen, and one was a gang leader.

Tian Heng suddenly said, “I will attend the wedding.”

Of course, he would not be chased out if he attended the wedding without an invitation since the Earl of Xuanwu was not so mean. However, it still required some courage to do that.

Lin Mo said, “Thank you, Tian Heng, as for the present, I will get it.”

Xu Guangyun said, “After all, the Earl of Xuanwu is considered the owner of Xuanwu City. Even if we don’t attend the wedding, we have to prepare an expensive gift. I am not stingy enough not to do that.”

Tian Heng said, “Alright, please prepare the gifts as soon as possible. I will head to the Palace of the Earl.”

Lin Mo said, “I will go ahead and prepare now.”

Then, he went to the storeroom to pick an expensive gift. He continued to recall the scenes of interactions between him and Shen Lang and shuddered.

Not only did he betray Shen Lang, but he also said many immoral words to him.

For example, things like ‘Shen Lang, a useless brat who doesn’t know where you stand, you will be the first to die.’

If heaven really made Shen Lang the son-in-law of the Palace of the Earl, then… things would be disastrous.

He could only pray that this would not come true. 2

However, such things would definitely not happen if one reasoned. How could the Earl of Xuanwu allow Shen Lang to become his son-in-law? Moreover, he was just kicked out of the Xu Family.

He was just scaring himself!

After half an hour, three of the parties prepared three carriages worth of gifts.

Tian Heng sat on one of the carriages and headed to the Palace of the Earl. He was about to attend Jin Mulan’s wedding without an invitation.

“Please, don’t let it be Shen Lang, please!”

Meanwhile, Xu Qianqian, the ex-wife of Shen Lang, went to the wedding righteously. That was because her fiancé was the son of the governor and the general of Xuanwu City. He had received an invitation.

Xu Qianqian asked Zhang Pu, “Zhang Pu, the Palace of the Earl is behaving so strangely. Who do you think the groom is? Which aristocrat’s son or some talented guy could marry Jin Mulan?”

***