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Not to mention Su Tianrui, even Xia Zheng had never seen Xia Yuan like this. He clearly wanted to interact with the officials but just didn’t know what to say.

This awkward and helpless appearance was probably only seen when he got married himself.

"Ha ha, your dad is really too funny, I don’t know why he—ouch, my ear!" Su Tianrui hadn’t finished his sentence when he felt someone harshly pulling on his ear, causing him such pain that he almost burst into tears.

Xia Zheng’s eyes widened, and his first reaction was to run away, but his legs weren’t as fast as Xia Yuan’s hands!

"Ouch, my ear!"

Different voices, same pig-slaughtering tone. Xia Zheng covered his ears and grimaced at his dad, who looked grim but also clearly a bit excited, stubbornly refusing to beg for mercy.

Xia Yuan hummed twice, grabbing an ear of each person and dragging them into the hall.

He didn’t care that among the male guests were Su Tianrui’s father and older brother.

Without any mercy, he sternly reprimanded them, "You little brats!

Disrespecting your elders one by one! Daring to talk behind my back? Huh?"

Su Tianrui had been as close as brothers with Xia Zheng since childhood, bright yet not as sly and cunning as his old man, so Xia Yuan had long considered him almost a son.

When he scolded him, even Su Zhe didn’t intervene, as if the person being scolded wasn’t his son at all.

Born defiant, especially against his own father, Xia Zheng would never beg for mercy. But Su Tianrui was different, immediately putting on a pained smile and starting to plead for forgiveness.

Xia Yuan narrowed his eyes, loosening his grip with one hand and tightening with the other, causing Xia Zheng’s frown to deepen.

A wise man does not eat losses in front of him. Xia Zheng sniffled and made a pitiful face.

Xia Yuan, feeling victorious, finally loosened his grip, but he didn’t let them off verbally, righteously declaring, "Since you both admit your mistakes, redeem yourselves by serving our guests! Make it as lively as going into battle. If it looks like you’ve been defeated, I’ll have you both court-martialed! "

Both Xia Zheng and Su Tianrui were lively characters, and soon they had enlivened the atmosphere in the hall.

Xia Yuan, holding his drink, toasted each of the male guests who came to his son’s wedding banquet, his usually stern face unusually joyful.

The female guests were naturally tended to by Princess Anle, and Lady Liu had also come over early to help. As for the younger ones, they all gathered at Tian Mansion to help Tian Hui with her makeup.

Lin Yuan and others did the same. When they arrived at Tian Mansion, Tian Hui’s room was already packed with people.

Seeing familiar and unfamiliar faces inside, Lin Yuan blinked and wisely waited at the door without squeezing in.

Adding makeup was usually for the bride’s close friends, but she noticed that many in the room were merely acquaintances, like Tang Ruyan.

She had been in Yecheng before and only came to the Capital city at the end of last year.

Far from being close friends, they probably hadn’t even seen each other a few times.

Yet she also came today, probably eyeing the fact that Tian Hui’s family-in-law was the influential General Mansion in Dayong!

The four sisters were quietly chatting when Tian Xuan suddenly appeared beside them. Since being taken away by Madam Tian at the Red Smoke Pavilion’s competition, they hadn’t seen her, and today, her face looked noticeably thinner, evidently having had a rough time.

But although her face was thinner, her spirits were as high as ever. As soon as she saw Lin Wei, she grabbed her hand excitedly and bombarded her with questions, of course, all about Cheng Haoxuan.

Lin Wei awkwardly smiled and made some perfunctory replies before quickly running to her elder sister’s side.

Tian Xuan, knowing Lin Wei quite well, saw her unusual expression today and immediately grabbed her hand both shocked and puzzled, "Weiwei! You couldn’t possibly, possibly like Young Master Cheng, could you?"

"Of course not!" Lin Wei’s eyes widened as she quickly waved her hands in denial, but her overreaction only raised Tian Xuan’s suspicions more.