Chapter 1670 — Have You Considered It? Though It Was Partly to Shore Up the Hidden You Family's Face, and the Envoys Had Come Only on Account of the Ice Palace, the Star of This Banquet Was, After All, Old Master Tang—and So Old Master Tang Was Thoroughly Pleased

"Everything is ready... Ah, yes—yesterday Xiaoxin spoke to me about betrothing my daughter to You Panhu of the You family. What do you make of the matter...?" The night before, You Xiaoxin had spent the whole evening whispering pillow talk in his ear, urging that Tang Yun be married to You Panhu!

To begin with, Tang Lingtou had never much wanted to acknowledge Tang Yun as his daughter; and even if he did, he could never bring her back into the Tang household—chiefly out of regard for You Xiaoxin's feelings. But now that the Ice Palace could no longer be counted on, he needed the You family's backing if he was to hold the seat of Hidden Tang family head securely.

What he had not expected, however, was that You Xiaoxin herself should raise the matter, pressing him to take this daughter back into the Tang family and marry her to You Panhu, second young master of the Hidden You family! Beyond his astonishment, Tang Lingtou found himself quietly reckoning up the bargain, and the more he turned it over, the more profitable it looked.

A daughter come by for nothing—acknowledge her, and she was married straight into the Hidden You family as the second young master's bride. True, he was not the eldest son of the principal wife, but even so it was nothing to sneer at! A son of You Zhentian could never have taken a Tang Yun of such murky, dubious origin into his house.

So Tang Lingtou, after only a moment's musing, agreed. Xiao Ming, he supposed, would raise no objection; to have her daughter restored to the ancestral line ought to delight her. And as for Tang Yun—a common girl raised among ordinary folk, suddenly wed to the second young master of the Hidden You family—it was a pheasant turning into a phoenix. Fortune had truly smiled on her!

But Tang Lingtou's consent alone counted for nothing; Old Master Tang had to give his nod. Family head though he was, a matter of such weight as restoring a child to the ancestral line still required Old Master Tang's final word—he dared not presume to decide it on his own.

"Oh? Your daughter? You mean Xiao Ming's girl?" Old Master Tang blinked, then looked puzzled. "You have always been against acknowledging her, haven't you? For fear of what Xiaoxin might think. Why is it Xiaoxin herself who brings the matter up this time?"

"I hear You Panhu first met Tang Yun back in Songshan City, and that he made his feelings known even then. So this time he means to use the birthday feast to have me betroth Tang Yun to him. Xiaoxin dotes on her nephew, and that is why she came to me. For my part, I think the match does our house good—but I still wished to hear your wishes, Father!" said Tang Lingtou.

"Just as you say, it is a good thing! In this way we shall have found a decent home for Xiao Ming's girl as well. The second young master of the Hidden You family—they say his skill in alchemy is no small matter, that he has real ability. The child will not be badly off, married into that house!" Old Master Tang nodded and gave his consent.

These people had settled Tang Yun's whole life between them as a matter of course. It never once occurred to them to ask whether she would agree, nor did anyone seek her opinion. To their minds, a pheasant turned phoenix ought to be too delighted for words; and judging by the sort of woman her mother was, the family's circumstances could only be ordinary. To marry into the Hidden You family—what greater good fortune could there be?

Wei Zhao brought Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Yun to the banquet hall only when the birthday feast was about to begin. Wei Zhao had no fondness for the Hidden Tang family, and once inside he simply took the first seat he came across. Old Master Tang, Bing Tang, and the others had naturally not yet appeared—such distinguished guests, one supposed, would not show themselves until a few minutes before the banquet started.

"That old man Tang certainly knows how to put on airs. What is the hold-up? I am starving and they still have not served a thing!" Feng Xiaoxiao's face was a picture of misery. She had not the slightest notion of how one was meant to behave at a festive occasion like this—no sooner had she arrived than she began hunting for something good to eat.

Her words immediately drew furious glares from several of the Tang youngsters—but those who knew who she was hurried to hold back the ones spoiling for trouble, warning them: "That is the Ice Palace Master's junior sister. If you have a death wish, go ahead!"

And so those Tang youngsters quieted down. The Ice Palace Master's junior sister—was she not the future mistress of the Ice Palace? Who would dare provoke a personage of that standing?

Sure enough, the birthday feast was set for nine o'clock, and it was eight-fifty when Old Master Tang, flanked by Tang Lingtou, Tang the Second, and the rest, made his way to the seat of honor. Once the old master was settled, Tang Lingtou stepped onto the raised platform at the very front of the hall. He did not, like an ordinary man, pick up a microphone; instead, in a full and vigorous voice, he declared: "Welcome, honored guests, and welcome, all you clansmen of the Tang family, to the celebration of my father's eightieth birthday!"

Tang Lingtou was a martial cultivator; even without a microphone his voice carried far. The moment he finished, wave upon wave of applause rose from below—though of course the ones clapping were the Tang family's own sycophants, eager to curry favor. Wei Zhao, Feng Xiaoxiao, and Tang Yun looked on as though they saw nothing at all.

"Today is the day of my father's eightieth birthday. We are honored that several distinguished guests have come, lending glory to our humble Tang house. Now, if you please—the Master of the Ice Palace, and the envoy of the Xuandan Sect!" With that, Tang Lingtou gestured in invitation...

Once more thunderous applause rose from the floor. Those able to attend this feast were all clansmen and dependents of the Hidden Tang family; people like Tang Yun's household were not among them at all. Every one of them lived off the Tang family's favor, so how exalted in their eyes was the arrival of the Ice Palace Master and the envoy of the Xuandan Sect?

The guests, too, suddenly felt themselves greatly honored. When an old master of a hidden family celebrated a birthday, it was rare enough for anyone of the ancient tier to come with congratulations—even the personal arrival of another hidden family's head was already thought a great face. For the Hidden Tang family to have this—it was a face as vast as heaven itself, unmatched by any other!

Bing Tang was the first to drift in. She did not go up to the platform to speak, but took a seat beside the head table where Old Master Tang sat; and Xiao Qing, bringing Xiao Ming, Tang Yun's mother, and Tang Jucheng with her, seated herself at Bing Tang's side.

The Xuandan Sect's envoy was a young man of about thirty, with a hooked nose and sharp eyes and a somewhat soft, effeminate cast of face—yet he was exceedingly arrogant, as though he might sit as an equal beside Bing Tang. On entering, he slouched down at the head table without ceremony.

Though he was not the young master of the Xuandan Sect, he was a direct disciple of its master, and thus in a manner of speaking the junior fellow disciple of the young master—reason enough to carry himself with pride. Beyond that, he was already a second-grade Yellow-rank alchemist, something very rarely seen at his age!

He had not taken any Youth-Preserving Pill; he really was only a little over thirty!

He had come this time with two purposes: one was to lend the Hidden You family the weight of his presence; the other was to carry a message from the young master to Bing Tang—to ask whether she still wanted the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill at all!