The Tang Family’s Seven Os - Chapter 170

Ding Ou suddenly stood up, glaring angrily at Sheng Xi, and said in a hard tone: “In that case, I will not be in the way of the Eldest Highness.”

Sheng Xi looked indifferent, not even raising his head when he heard his words, and lowered his head to eat another cherry.

Ding Ou sneered, and when he passed by Sheng Xi, he looked up and saw Sheng Lian not far away, his expression suddenly moved, and he directly lurched to the side, pretending to trip and fall to the ground, as he fell, he tugged on Sheng Xi’s wheelchair, and the wheelchair fell over, Sheng Xi’s whole body involuntarily lurched forward.

The people around screamed immediately and Tang Qi Yuan’s complexion changed greatly. He was too far away from Sheng Xi and his fall was too sudden, when he tried to reach out to help, it was too late.

As he was about to fall to the ground, a pair of strong arms suddenly appeared and held Sheng Xi steady.

Tang Qi Yuan was stunned, and when he looked up and saw the man’s face, he was even more stunned. The young man had a cute baby face and looked sweet and white, but how could he be so strong? Not only could he hold Sheng Xi, but he could also hold Sheng Xi’s wheelchair together? What was even more surprising to Tang Qi Yuan was that he was an Alpha?

Alpha’s were usually strong and tall, and there were very few fair and lovely ones like him.

The teenager held Sheng Xi steady and looked at him and smiled, smiling out a pair of dimples, “Xi Ge, long time no see.”

Sheng Xi looked up and froze for a moment when he saw the teenager, his eyes were dazed and bright, his gaze was in a bit of a trance for a moment, as if he was looking at the teenager, and as if he was looking at something through the teenager.

He forgot to respond, and the teenager didn’t say anything, just looked at him with a smile and a tolerant gaze.

Sheng Cen heard the sound and hurried over, and was stunned for a moment when he saw the teenager, “Yan Fei? Why are you back?”

“Cen Ge!” Yan Fei called out loudly and smiled: “My grandmother is having her birthday soon, I came back to see the elderly.”

Sheng Cen curled his lips and reached out to stroke a handful of his hair like an older brother, “You’ve grown quite tall.”

Sheng Xi smiled back at the teenager and said softly: “Xiao Fei, long time no see.”

The smile on Yan Fei’s face widened and he reached out to hug Sheng Xi, his voice taking on a slightly petulant tone, “Xi Ge, I miss you so much!”

Sheng Xi’s movements stiffened for a moment, then tenderly stroked the back of Yan Fei’s head, his smile helpless and indulgent: “Why do you still like to be spoiled like you did when you were a child.”

Yan Fei let go of Sheng Xi and winked at him, smiling so much that his gums were exposed, looking lively and naive, but as Tang Qi Yuan stood by, he felt that the ends of his eyes looked sly, especially when he looked at Sheng Xi, his eyes were extraordinarily bright.

The Emperor stood at a distance and saw the commotion here, he walked over with an ugly face, took one look at Ding Ou who fell to the ground, frowned unhappily and ordered: “Help him up and send him home.”

Ding Ou got himself up from the ground. He had wanted to make a fool of Sheng Xi, but he had not expected to make a fool of himself, so he was chagrined.

He straightened his clothes and said in a somewhat wretched manner: “Your Majesty, I’m fine, I didn’t mean to……”

The Emperor, however, did not even look at him, but said to Sheng Lian beside him in disgust: “Hurry up and have someone send him back.”

The Emperor had always loved saving face, and after Ding Ou had made a mess at his charity auction, even though Ding Ou was the nephew of Madam Zhen Wei, the Emperor could not hide his anger and did not want to see him at all.

One can imagine that if Yan Fei had not caught Sheng Xie just now, and it had been Sheng Xi who had disgraced the Emperor, he would have looked even worse now.

Ding Ou was reluctantly pulled away by Sheng Lian, who had the same ugly look on his face as Ding Ou. This time Ding Ou did not manage to prank Sheng Xi, and he still looked very upset.

“Your Majesty!” Yan Fei walked up to the Emperor and called out crisply, his eyebrows arched and he looked delightful.

When the Emperor saw him, the anger on his face dispersed and he raised a smile, saying in a gentle tone: “Little Fei has returned ah.”

Yan Fei nodded, stood and exchanged a few words with the Emperor, who kept a smile on his face, and Tang Qi Yuan could tell that the Emperor liked him very much.

Sheng Cen looked at him lightly, slightly bowing his head and explaining to Tang Qi Yuan, “Xiao Fei is the grandson of Elder Yan of the Cabinet, you should know Elder Yan, Elder Yan is highly respected, he was the one who supported my father to the throne back then, so naturally, my father cares for Yan Fei.”

Tang Qi Yuan nodded, he had once heard his father say that Elder Yan acts with integrity, and that he had put the safety of the empire first in his life, and that the reason he had chosen to support the current emperor was because the Emperor’s other brothers were even worse, all of them were either spendthrifts or cruel and tyrannical, and all of them had failed to make it. The Emperor was now trying to look like an emperor for the sake of saving face.

The master of ceremonies went to the Emperor’s side, bowed his head respectfully, and whispered a few words in his ear. The Emperor smiled, reached out to straighten his clothes and his collar, looked up and said to everyone indifferently: “The auction is about to start, let’s go over now.”

Everyone moved together to the auction room, something that focused on glory and cameras, and something that the Emperor naturally enjoyed. He personally took to the stage and spoke with passion about his contribution and dedication to the empire, and everyone listened in silence, each with a face of admiration and delight, but with a wordless indifference in the corners of their eyes. People here were all about profit, and no one really cared about his so-called glorious deeds.

When the auction began, the first item was an antique donated by the Emperor, and those who wanted to curry favour with him immediately began to compete for it, showing their determination to win it.

When the emperor saw that his own item was being fought over, he was delighted and silently took note of all those who had been so active.

The second item, a green-glazed vase donated by Empress Xia, was finally won by a representative of the Xia family. In the end, this auction was all just a celebration of the Emperor’s birthday, and it was a good deed to fulfil his reputation, and the Xia family would show their sincerity at this time, meaning that the relationship between the Xia family and the Emperor had not yet fallen apart.

When the third item was released, everyone looked at Sheng Xi in surprise, as the name of the donor of this item had Sheng Xi’s name written on it, something that had never been done in previous years.

The auctioneer on the stage explained loudly and emotionally, “This painting was painted by the Eldest Highness himself and is worth a lot of money and has an important meaning, now the bidding begins!”

Tang Qi Yuan looked up at the painting on the big screen, the painting donated by Sheng Xi depicted the sunrise, the same scene he and Sheng Xi had seen that morning, the sunlight rising from the horizon, the golden light shining, eye-catching and gentle, the clear and cool yet full of warmth.

He unconsciously revealed a light smile of relief as the sound of people’s amazement grew around him. Most of the people here were regular visitors to painting exhibitions and various art auctions, and they could naturally see Sheng Xi’s skill in painting.

They were amazed by Sheng Xi’s talent, and even more so by his artistic flair, as it turned out that the Eldest Highness was not useless, but had an amazing talent.

Sheng Xi’s painting is bright and rich in colour, with delicate and soft lines, and anyone who knew how to paint could see from his paintings that he was not as gloomy as he was rumoured to be, but instead, he lived a sunny and transparent life, looking at the world with a gentle gaze.

Some people could not help but begin to pity him. If the Eldest Highness’ legs had not been injured, how radiant would he be today? As they thought this, they unconsciously began to think of the accident back then. Was the truth of what happened back then really as simple as they knew it to be?

The Emperor looked at everyone’s inquiring eyes and his face unconsciously turned ugly, he gave Sheng Xi a fierce look and asked in a cold voice: “Who gave you permission to donate the painting privately?”

He looked up at Sheng Cen and narrowed his eyes dangerously, “I clearly told you to take out something random and donate it, when did I tell you to give the spot to your brother?”

Sheng Cen looked at him and smiled coldly, his voice cold and piercing, “Since this is a charity auction, then there is no ground for blame for brother wanting to do charity, it is all good deeds anyway, what difference does it make if it is me or brother? Why are you unwilling, Imperial Father?”

The tone of Sheng Cen’s last sentence could not help but take on a sneer.

The Emperor had asked Sheng Cen to donate something in order to express to everyone that their father and son were of one mind, that the family was in harmony, and to save his own face, but not so that Sheng Xi could have the opportunity to show his edge, as he was doing now.

The Emperor’s anger was already building to a fever pitch as Sheng Xi and Sheng Cen repeatedly disobeyed his orders today, but the auction had already begun, so he could only suppress his anger for the moment and try to put on a decent smile on his face.

There were many bidders for Sheng Xi’s painting, and they were not there to curry favour or profit this time, but simply to admire, to appreciate Sheng Xi’s paintings, and to appreciate his tenacity.

Empress Xia stood in the crowd and secretly pressed the corners of her eyes, a soft light shining in her eyes, proud of her son and sad for him.

Her son would have had a great life if he hadn’t had a leg injury, it was her who had failed to protect him and because her son had a father with no conscience, she couldn’t help but look at the Emperor with a bit of resentment in her gaze. Her own life, she could live without hating, but she would certainly not allow this heartless man to ruin the lives of her two sons again.

Sheng Cen reached out and patted Empress Xia’s shoulder. Empress Xia glanced at her son, her tears hidden in her eyes and not falling down, and she braced her back and faintly kept a smile on her face, not letting the sourness in her heart continue to spread.

The bidding for the painting went on for a long time, ending with Yan Fei stating a staggering figure.

Sheng Xi’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard Yan Fei shouting the price, and he looked at Yan Fei at a loss, the auction price of this painting had long exceeded his expectation, he hurriedly said: “Fei Fei, you don’t have to……”

“Xi Ge, this painting of yours, I like it very much.” Yan Fei looked at him with arched eyebrows and a sincere tone, looking like he really liked the painting.

The Emperor stood aside and smiled faintly, a generous and graceful manner: “Xi Xi, Fei’Er1儿 (er): an endearment at the back of children’s names appreciates your work and is willing to do good deeds, so you should not say more.”

The price that Yan Fei had just bid was not too high or too low, exactly one hundred dollars less than the item that the Emperor had just auctioned off, leaving enough face for the Emperor and expressing his respect for him in passing, so to speak, and the Emperor was naturally very satisfied, even the bit of displeasure that Sheng Xi had donated the painting without permission had faded away.

Sheng Xi pursed his lips and did not object again, no matter what, it was always worth being happy that someone could appreciate his paintings.

melon: for those of you who are shipping Sheng Xi x Yan Fei, fret not because they have an extra chapter dedicated to them.