Chapter 107: Small Fry!

The coming-of-age ceremony for the Princess of the Phoenix Empire was the most sensational and highly anticipated event in Phoenix City. Countless royal relatives, high-ranking officials, nobles, and socialites exhausted every possible means to secure an invitation to the evening banquet.

Who wouldn't want to show their face and snap a photo at the Princess’s coming-of-age ceremony? It would be even more marvelous to have a solo photograph with Her Highness. Who wouldn't want to present expensive birthday gifts and offer their sincerest blessings to the monarch’s most beloved youngest daughter right under his watchful eye? If one could be pulled aside by Zhong Daolong for a few intimate words, that would be an unexpected windfall, a task completed well beyond expectations.

The banquet was held at the Phoenix Palace. The royal family had specially opened the "Liufang Garden," the favorite spot of the late Empress Yu Sining, to host the guests. It is said that Yu Sining, longing for the magnificent landscapes of blooming flowers and lush greenery that existed on Blue Star before the Great Catastrophe, had dispatched dozens of star-discs to the Old Earth to search for rare flora. She brought them back to Liufang Garden for cultivation, intending to promote their seeds and seedlings throughout the country once they had matured.

Through her tireless efforts to rescue and preserve them, many endangered plants and trees were brought to the New Star, where they tenaciously grew and blossomed in a different form or ecosystem. Thus, the people of the Phoenix Empire named the garden "Liufang," meaning both "to leave behind the spring" and "to praise the Empress’s immeasurable virtue that will leave a fragrance for thousands of years."

Yu Sining did not care for such vanity; she continued to plant flowers and tend to the garden every day. As a botany expert, she constantly conducted scientific analysis, research, grafting, and seedling cultivation to ensure these delicate guests from the Old Earth could survive in the environment of the New Star. It was only after her passing that the royal family officially renamed it. From then on, Liufang Garden was closed to the public and no longer open for viewing.

After Yu Sining’s death, her vision did not cease. A large number of botanists and cultivation workers continued to work in Liufang Garden, upholding her philosophy, day after day, year after year, transplanting and cultivating plants, and subsequently promoting them nationwide to provide the public with more botanical variety and beauty.

When Tang Fei and Little Fatty arrived at the Phoenix Palace by car, the entrance was already bustling with a continuous stream of traffic and crowds. Countless people, dressed in finery and behaving with elegance, headed toward the inspection gates in front of the main entrance. Each invitation contained a special chip; one could only enter after passing through the machine’s verification. It was said that His Majesty the King would also attend tonight’s ceremony, and if any illegal criminals were to break into the gathering, heaven knows what crazy things they might do. Therefore, today’s security checks were extremely rigorous and stringent.

Tang Fei and Little Fatty walked to the security gate and handed the invitation Phoenix had personally sent them to the Royal Guard. The guard member took the invitation and scanned it on the machine; the screen immediately displayed Tang Fei and Little Fatty’s personal information. The guard made an inviting gesture, followed by a second gate for weapon disarmament, and a third for genetic agent detection... By the time Tang Fei and Little Fatty finally passed through, Little Fatty’s undershirt was already soaked with sweat.

"Brother, Sister Phoenix has it so tough," Little Fatty said. Living in a place with such heavy protection and checkpoints everywhere was a grueling experience for him. He felt his own small courtyard was better—come and go as he pleased...

"It’s not like this every day," Tang Fei said with a smile. "Usually, how could so many people enter the palace? Even those who can get in are familiar faces... Today is a special case. Otherwise, how could she go to school or go shopping every day?"

"That’s true," Little Fatty nodded, adding, "It’s just that Sister Phoenix’s house is too big; it’s easy to get lost."

"Don't worry about things like that..." Tang Fei said. "It makes it seem like we didn't want to live here because we weren't invited."

"Oh," Little Fatty nodded, then asked, "Where is Sister Phoenix? When should we give her the gift?"

He was attending someone else’s birthday party for the first time, especially one of this scale, which made him a little nervous. He didn't know what the upcoming procedures were.

"I don't know," Tang Fei said. "Didn't you say you were hungry on the way here? I see a lot of good food over there. Let’s go fill our stomachs first."

As soon as Little Fatty heard about food, he immediately became excited, his eyes glowing as he said, "Then let's go eat something first. I didn't even eat dinner to attend this party..."

The hall was bustling with moving crowds. People gathered in twos and threes or groups, clinking glasses and laughing. It looked very lively and happy. However, this had nothing to do with Tang Fei and Little Fatty. They didn't know anyone, so they headed straight for the food table in the corner of the hall.

It was their first time eating this way, and they didn't know the protocol. It wasn't until they saw a young girl take a plate and use tongs to place pieces of pastry and food into it that they followed suit, mimicking her movements. Whatever she took, they took. The girl soon left, and they filled their plates.

"Brother, I’m going to get another plate," Little Fatty said.

"Don't be in such a hurry," Tang Fei cautioned. "Let’s finish one plate first, then go get another." One should be elegant and composed when eating, not too greedy, which would look unseemly.

"Okay," Little Fatty agreed.

The two carried their plates around and found that there wasn't a single chair in the enormous palace.

"Brother, there are no tables or chairs. Where are we supposed to eat?" Little Fatty asked, looking anxious.

Tang Fei thought for a moment and said, "Let's go outside... I saw a pavilion over there. Let’s go sit in the pavilion and eat."

"Okay." Little Fatty followed Tang Fei’s lead; whatever his big brother said was right.

They each carried a plate piled high with food toward the octagonal pavilion next to the main hall. There were no tables in the pavilion, but there was a circle of chairs around the perimeter. So, they placed their plates on the chairs and squatted on the ground, devouring the food. The pastries were delicious, and they were genuinely hungry, so they ate with abandon and great satisfaction.

While Tang Fei was buried in his food, he felt lights flashing nearby. He turned to see a young man holding a smartphone, filming them. Upon seeing that Tang Fei and Little Fatty had noticed, the young man immediately laughed and shouted, "Come look at this, everyone..."

"Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter... Such a huge plate of food, and it’s gone in the blink of an eye, just like two pigs..."

"Do they look like two beggars to you? I’ve recorded them eating..."

At his shouting, quite a few young people gathered around the octagonal pavilion. They seemed familiar with the young man and, under his direction, began projecting the image of Tang Fei and Little Fatty squatting on the ground eating pastries for everyone to see using multi-dimensional imaging.

"Hahaha, this is just too funny..."

"Look at that little fat one, swallowing one after another without even chewing."

"Have they not eaten for eight hundred years? It’s absolutely disgraceful..."

Little Fatty’s mouth was still stuffed with food, and he looked at the crowd in bewilderment. He couldn't understand why, when just eating a meal, they had to be secretly filmed and broadcast to the public.

Tang Fei’s expression remained unchanged as he shoved the remaining half of a donut into his mouth, chewed carefully, and then rose to walk toward the young man. The boy looked to be sixteen or seventeen, about the same age as him. Tang Fei stood before him and said, "Do you know that what you’re doing is very rude?"

"Rude?" The boy laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, pointing at Tang Fei and saying, "You’re talking to me about politeness? Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter..."

"Did you hear that? He’s talking to me about politeness!" The boy turned to his companions, saying, "Isn't that hilarious?"

"It certainly is hilarious. Do they even know how to write the word 'polite'?"

"I heard that people from the Old Earth have no morals, don't follow the law, kill on sight, and grab whatever they see... Do such people even have the face to talk to others about politeness?"

"I don't know about politeness, but I heard that people from the Old Earth don't bathe for years on end..."

"If they can't even get enough to eat, why bother bathing?"

Tang Fei watched them expressionlessly. When they finally ran out of insults and fell into a brief silence, he looked at the boy and said, "Today is Her Highness Xiuxue’s birthday party; I don't want to cause trouble... Delete the video, and we will treat this as if it never happened."

"You don't want to cause trouble?" The boy was amused by Tang Fei’s attitude again, chuckling, "What? Are you threatening me? You don't want to cause trouble, so we pretend it never happened... If you *do* want to cause trouble, what can you possibly do to me?"

"Why bother?" Tang Fei looked at the boy and said, "We are strangers. We were both invited by the Princess to attend the ceremony... Present the gift, say a few words of blessing, and when the banquet ends, we might never see each other again. Why make things so awkward?"

"You don't know me, but I know you," the boy said, eyeing Tang Fei with a smirk. "The 'Light of the Old Earth,' right? A rising star on the Blue Ranking who defeated Shen Qingping of the Tongyou Realm with Qi-controlling skills, forcing him to guard the Ghost Mountain at the border..."

"Oh," Tang Fei nodded. "I see. You are here to pick a fight on purpose."

"Pick a fight on purpose? Do you deserve that?" The boy stared at Tang Fei and Little Fatty with disdain. "I don't really care about bottom-feeders like you. I just wanted to get some air, saw you squatting on the ground like beggars, and filmed it to give everyone a laugh..." He looked at his companions and asked, "Isn't it hilarious?"

"Hilarious," the group of men and women shouted in response.

Tang Fei also squinted and smiled. He turned to Little Fatty and asked, "Do you remember what I told you before? What should you do if someone bullies us?"

*Smack!*

Little Fatty’s palm, as large as a fan, slammed across the boy’s face, and he roared, "I am the master of Shang Xiulin..."