"Why did your sister marry a Kang?" Lu Xing asked seriously.
Hearing this, Lu Shuya's face twisted. Such things were not something Lu Xing usually asked or needed to know. Knowing him well, Lu Shuya knew that, if he wasn't guilty of something that he would have just said, 'congratulations'.
So this reply, caused Lu Shuya's heart to sink. She was extremely disappointed.
"Why do you ask?" Lu Shuya said coldly.
"I... just want to know." Lu Xing said slowly, and then he looked towards Kang Liang, who had also been frowning, and said, "Was she blackmailed, was she threatened?"
Hearing this, and how it was being directed at him, Kang Liang, who hadn't been experiencing the best year, felt his sanity snap.
"Who the hell do you think my brother is? A scum?!" Kang Liang sneered. The boy looked seconds away from punching Lu Xing in the face.
Seeing the protective instincts that had just arisen from Kang Liang, Lu Xing backed away slowly, and then he said, "It's not that... I just know that the two had slept together that day and so..."
"You knew..." Lu Shuya said as her face paled, then suddenly her eyes became piercing and full of anger. " You knew what was happening and you didn't save her? She's your niece!"
Lu Xing shook his head.
"I only found out what had happened after the fact. A friend of mine who was one of the people who created the illegal gambling ring, told me about it..." Lu Xing said as his eyes began to turn dark. "He and some others knew about it after. They'd seen things.. you know, but a man had come and paid them a lot of hush money in order for them not to spread it..."
Remembering how he had been so furious when he had found out about it, Lu Xing clenched his teeth.
"I just assumed that if she forgot about it she would be better off... they'd been drugged. Not everyone remembers..." Lu Xing said softly.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Lu Shuya looked down to the floor boards. "So you're telling me that if she was raped, you wouldn't try to get justice for her? You'd just run away, and pray she forgets?"
Lu Shuya felt extremely bad. Before coming here, she had not wanted to suspect Lu Xing had been involved and she was partially glad he wasn't guilty of anything worse but this didn't save him from being part of the problem...
Hearing this, Lu Xing's face twisted and then anger slowly swept in. "I said I didn't mention it to her. I just didn't want to ruin her happiness because of something that she didn't remember but, I never said I wasn't doing anything."
As he said this, Lu Xing felt his fists tighten.
Seeing this, Kang Liang's distaste for the man faded slightly. It was obvious that there was more to the story than met the eye and so, Kang Liang said, "What have you been doing then? Planning revenge? Is that why you live here? Because you've been spending all your resources on it?"
Kang Liang's questioning was logical, but after hearing this, Lu Xing gave a dry laugh and said,
"I'm not planning revenge just yet, I'm gathering information. I'm sure this had something to do with the Kang family though." Lu Cing said with obsessive certainty. Then realizing he had forgotten to say something, he turned to Kang Liang and said, "Also, I live here because I'm broke."
***
As Lu Shuya and Kang Liang we're trying to get information out of Lu Xing, Trailblazers was about to start.
After their small confrontation, Tang Yiling had spent the whole night with Ning Jie and sometimes, Tang Luoyi and meanwhile, Lu AnLing had just been having some fun small talk with her family members and friends.
By then, most of the other members of the Kang, Lu and Tang family had gone their separate ways and so all was calm... And it remained calm until, Elder Tang walked onto the stage with grace and class. Showing no shame in the fact that he used a cane. And then, when he got to the top, he showed his most dignified expression.
Despite being Elder Tang's birthday party there were a lot of people who the old man didn't know, so as when he looked down into the crowd of people he felt disgusted.
"Honoured guests, I'm glad to have you all here at my celebration. These past few weeks have been hard. Many have been suspecting how the Tang Corporation and Trailblazers is run but there is no need to worry. Tang Corporation will always rise up stronger. Despite the mistakes made by my family members they will learn with time to be better more intelligent members of the entertainment world." Elder Tang said.
To his own ears, Elder Tang's words felt robotic. This was because they were not his words at all. Mostly the first part... He had memorized a speech written for him And added a bit of his own flair. If it was up to him, though, he wouldn't have spoken so calmly at all, but in the world of entertainment, appearances needed to be kept.
After he finished saying this, he was free to speak his mind and so he said,
"Tang Corporations has always been proud of our honour and fairness. I know many are concerned about the fact that my granddaughter, Tang Yiling, is participating in Trailblazers but, do not worry. Our panel of judges are some of the best in the industry. They should judge things fairly, and if they don't then, I have put a failsafe in place. Another panel of judges will be listening into this and they will also be making the decisions. If the two panels disagree, the second panels, which has not been chosen by anyone in the Tang Corporation, decision will be the one taken as final."
As Elder Tang spoke everyone listened. There was not a single sound in the room. The man's aura and dignity had silenced them. Even after he had ceased speaking, the room was still quiet, until he spoke once more.
"Now, let Trailblazers begin!"
After saying this, the room erupted in claps and Elder Tang walked offstage.
Seeing his father on stage, Tang Yian was mystified but when the man had walked off and passed him without a second glance, Tang Yian felt every hair on his body stand on end.
He had to do well. He had to judge fairly. Or else he would be sullying the honour of the Tang's and he wouldn't allow this.
Well I’m back.