Su'Er's Birthday Banquet
Translator: Greengrass
Editor: Allenwa
The Su family had been around in Beijing for more than 300 years. They had great authority and power not only in Beijing province, but also around the whole China region. The Su family had always invested both in business and politics. Until around 60 years ago, the year of the Isrock Disease pandemic, they suffered heavily from the disasters brought by the Isrock Disease. When the epidemic situation finally settled down, the Su family had decided to give up on their business to devote everything into politics. Despite all this, their years of savings and wealth were more than enough for their whole family to squander for another ten lifetimes.
However, the damages from the Isrock Disease had almost destroyed the whole generation of this prosperous Su family. The last generation only had two boys, Su Hong Cheng and Su Yi Cheng. Although both of them hadn't reached their 50s yet, they already possessed the highest power and authority in China. Su Hong Cheng was now the Mayor of Beijing while Su Yi Cheng was China's third highest Senior Official, and had major military power.
Su Yi Cheng lost his ability to have children during one of the assassinations in his younger years. Su Hong Cheng only had one daughter on the other hand. Thus, the Su family now only had one girl to inherit everything they had. Su Hong Cheng treated this only child so gently, but at the same time, was forced to discipline her a little bit stricter than others. After all, their entire family's future depended on her. On the other hand, Su Yi Cheng spoilt her more than her own father did. No matter how terrible Su Yi Cheng felt on that day, he would be smiling in no time as long as he could see her again. He even fought with Su Hong Cheng a few times just for her.
Today was the 16th birthday of the Su family's only daughter, and at the same time, it was also her official engagement date with a handsome young man. This was considered to be one of biggest events to the Su family. Considering how much love they had for her, her partner would have to be the best man in the whole world or the best out of everyone…. No, he had to be the best of the best. The fact that they agreed to make the engagement public when she was sixteen showed how much they approved of him.
This birthday was considered as the biggest event for the Su family this year. They had started preparing for this very early. They didn't send out many invitations, and most of them were delivered to those rich and powerful families all over China. The place was at their private manor.
The Su family didn't have many family members, and it could be said that their numbers were declining. However, the size of their manor was about a few thousand acres. The fact that everywhere looked so elegant and luxurious suggested how wealthy the family was. At night, the Su family's garden had all the lights on and fireworks filling in the sky, welcoming each guest's arrival.
"I can't believe that Su'Er's family is that big!" Ling Chen stared at the manor and said. The scale of this manor was enough to compete with the size of a normal village.
"Not many families could have lasted over 300 years in China. Since the Su family was one of them, it's not weird for them to have so much wealth like this, even if all of them only worked in politics instead of business." Chao Ying explained as she pursed up her lips and smiled, "The Su family only has Su'Er. Thus, anyone who can marry their little princess will surely inherit the whole family's assets."
"Since master has personally come, will he allow the Su family's princess to fall into someone else's hands?" Chao Xi smirked and winked at Ling Chen as she replied. They knew Su'Er was the reason why Ling Chen would take the risk of returning to Beijing. However, they were not jealous at all. For girls like them who came from the "Hell", they had drastically different beliefs and thinking with those girls in modern days.
"You two…" Ling Chen laughed, and his attention then drifted to somewhere else. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"Today is not only Su'Er's 16th birthday, but also her engagement with Xuanyuan Xue Yi, the successor to the Xuanyuan family. Thus, the Su family will greatly value this event, and will sent out many invitations to have many people bear witness to this and give their well-wishes. This is also a way to give the Xuanyuan family a bit of pressure. After all, their family is flourishing with much power and authority. On the other hand, the Su family only has one daughter, so they are afraid that Su'Er would get bullied after joining their family.
"People who received invitations from the Su family are all rich and powerful families. Without an invitation, there's no way to get in. After all, their safety is the priority."
" How many invitations did Li Xiao Xue receive?" Ling Chen asked.
"Two, and both of them are in my hands." Chao Ying replied.
As they were speaking, they arrived at the front door of the Su family's manor. The guards at the door approached them and asked for their invitations as instructed. He was able to see clearly the two girls standing in front of him under the bright light. Their beauty had stunned him, and his eyes were like magnets drawing towards them. He seemed to have lost his soul, and he forgot what to say or the things he was supposed to do earlier.
Their jadelike eyes were clear as fountain water. Their facial lines were impeccably soft and beautiful. Their lips were red as cherries. Their noses were delicate and their jawlines were beautiful. It was beauty with charm that could draw people's souls away. This kind of female beauty was breathtakingly beautiful and showered out the moon and put the flowers to shame. He was sure that he had never seen girls like this in his life before. And now there were two of them standing in front of him….The soft light had accentuated their fairy-like looks from heaven.
The two girls were already used to this kind of reaction. But this was just again showing Ling Chen how charming they were, which made them feel a bit happy. Chao Xi hooked her lips and handed over two invitations, gently saying to the man, "These are our invitations, big brother. Are we allowed to go in now?"
Their soft and beautiful voices had awoken him from being so absent-minded. He realised how terrible he looked, and drooped down his head immediately without any guts to stare into those two girls' eyes and looks. His face had become red. Looking embarrassed, he looked over the invitations in his hands and was shocked by the names he saw. He bowed down, and stuttered as he spoke, "So it's the special guests from the Li family….please….please go in…"
He greeted them in an awkward way as he spoke. Chao Xi and Chao Ying both said "thank you" to him at the same time and the "bodyguard" behind them followed them into the Su family's manor.
The guard didn't come to his senses for a long time. He didn't dare to look back at Chao Xi and Chao Ying. Instead, he touched his forehead and mumbled, "the Li family… Could they be the legendary Li Yun Ze's twin adoptive daughters?... No wonder why there are so many rich and powerful young masters who fought hard to get them…"
Su'Er's father, Su Hong Cheng, greeted every guest himself. Everyone on the list were all bigwigs, so it was important for him to greet them in person as the Mayor of Beijing.
Su Hong Cheng eyed Chao Xi and Chao Ying as they slowly walked closer. His heart beat sped up when he saw them even though he had devoted all his attention into politics rather than in women. He even thought that he had lost interests in women, but now those two girls' beauty overwhelmed him. He tried to remain steady as the girls walked closer and greeted him with a smile, "Uncle Su, long time no see!"
"This must be Chao Xi and Chao Ying! It is such a surprise to see you two coming!" Su Hong Cheng laughed as he softened his look at those two girls. It was about 2 years ago that while travelling to south, he was stunned at those two girls' beauty during his visit to the Li Family. He even joked with Li Yun Ze, saying that how those two girls' beauty was enough to destroy the peace among the younger ones. Li Yun Ze smiled in silence….. It was because that they had already stirred up so many fights among the young men already.
Chao Ying smiled and said, "My foster father and Xiao Xue couldn't come because of some business, leaving us two to represent them instead. They wanted us to apologise to you on their behalf…. Of course, they didn't forget to let us give princess Su'Er her birthday present"
"Hahaha!" Su Hong Cheng had a hearty burst of laughter and said, "Brother Li is too polite, please, do come in! Yes… if our Su'Er could grow up and become like you two, I would be laughing in my dreams! Haha!"
It was obvious that Su Hong Cheng was in a good mood. Normally he looked very serious, but tonight, he was laughing very often. The Li family was indeed the richest family in Beijing, thus the invites had to be sent to them. Normally, he wouldn't expect Li Yun Ze and Li Xiao Xue to arrive in person. The engagement between princess Su'Er and the eldest son of the Xuanyuan family did not concern the Li family. It would not be normal if both of the most important members in the Li family showed up to a birthday event that provided them no benefits at all.
"Our little sister Su'Er is as beautiful as lotus and flawless like bright pearls. She will most surely become devastatingly beautiful when she grows up…. Better than both of us….. By the way, can we bring our bodyguard in?" Chao Ying smiled as she turned around and cast a glance at Ling Chen behind her back.
"Of course." Su Hong Cheng casually shot a glance at the bodyguard behind them as he replied. The bodyguard was wearing a black suit. He seemed to be in his 30s or 40s, and had an ordinary look which most people would forget easily within a second. His face was hard as rocks and had eagle-like eyes. If one looked closely, you would see how his eyes were slightly moving, clearly showing how attentive and cautious he was about his surroundings.
Su Hong Cheng was impressed deep down. No doubt that it was a Li family's bodyguard, as he looked so different to the others.
Sneaking bodyguards in was surely not a problem considering the fact those rich and powerful families always had some groups of people as bodyguards following whenever they went out. Only the minority of people like Chao Xi and Chao Ying would bring one bodyguard to the event. Normally, they brought at least 3 or 4, sometimes even more. If they didn't allow those people to take their bodyguards in, they would not feel at ease. In fact, the richer they were and the higher their position was, the more scared they were of dying.
Seeing Chao Ying and Chao Xi step gracefully into the hall, Su Hong Cheng smiled wryly. He hoped that there won't be any problems allowing those two girls in to meet those young masters…