"Sir, whoever you may be, would you mind introducing yourself?" Ye Tiancheng asked politely, looking at Mo Huaifeng.
Mo Huaifeng's entire face flushed as if he had suffered an unimaginable humiliation, his redness extending all the way to his neck. He remained silent.
To introduce himself in such a situation? Hadn't he embarrassed himself enough already?
Helian Yi clearly knew Mo Huaifeng's identity. As the patriarch of the Helian family, he was well aware of his daughter's suitors and their backgrounds.
This was precisely why he was so bewildered. How had Mo Huaifeng gotten entangled with Ye Tiancheng, and in such a bizarre manner?
"There's no need for introductions."
Helian Yi also knew that this matter couldn't escalate further. If it did, resolving it would likely not be beneficial for any party involved.
Ye Tiancheng was indifferent. As the victim, he was certainly the least embarrassed.
Helian Yi began to recall why he had come to this place at this particular time.
He remembered that Elder Helian Sheng had instructed him to lead people to barge into Ye Tiancheng's room and witness something. Helian Yi felt this was improper, and such an order might lead him to suspect what arrangements Helian Sheng had made.
However, Helian Sheng gave Helian Yi no opportunity to hesitate. Under Helian Sheng's urging, Helian Yi had no choice but to comply.
Concurrently, Helian Yi couldn't help but worry about his daughter.
Helian Sheng's methods were too crude and direct. But if such an incident were to occur in a public setting and be witnessed by others, it would force Ye Tiancheng to take responsibility for his daughter out of desperation. This would undoubtedly be detrimental to Helian Yue, and the harm inflicted upon her would be significant.
With this uneasy feeling, Helian Yi inquired of a servant which room Ye Tiancheng had been assigned to, and then led his group towards the resting quarters, all the while contemplating what excuse he could use to barge in.
Unexpectedly, as they neared the door, he discovered another group of people with the same objective as him.
At this point, Helian Yi no longer had to agonize over it, as someone else had already taken care of it before he could even speak.
Helian Yi even suspected that perhaps Helian Sheng, worried about his half-hearted compliance, had arranged for a large group of people to prevent him from backing out at the last moment and ruining Helian Sheng's plan.
However, upon entering the room and seeing Mo Huaifeng inside, Helian Yi vaguely guessed that this other group likely had no connection to Helian Sheng. They were probably related to Mo Huaifeng, or perhaps even targeting his daughter, Helian Yue.
This made Helian Yi unable to suppress his indignation.
Regarding the matter of betrothing his daughter to Ye Tiancheng, on one hand, Ye Tiancheng was not lacking in qualities, and if Helian Yue were truly married to Ye Tiancheng, she would not be at a disadvantage. On the other hand, Helian Yi had no choice but to sacrifice his daughter for the Helian family out of necessity.
For these reasons, Helian Yi was not entirely averse to Ye Tiancheng.
However, Mo Huaifeng was entirely different. Let alone Helian Yue disliking Mo Huaifeng, even Helian Yi found Mo Huaifeng utterly unimpressive and had never considered him as a son-in-law.
Helian Yi held no good feelings for those who came to the Helian family to freeload, drain their resources to strengthen their own families, obsessively pursued unorthodox methods, desperately sought to marry his daughter, and yet possessed little ability.
People are so hypocritical. At this juncture, Helian Yi did not feel that their attempt to forcibly betroth Helian Yue to Ye Tiancheng was of the same nature.
Suddenly, Ye Tiancheng turned to Helian Yi and asked, "Speaking of which, Patriarch Helian, why did you suddenly bring people to barge into my room?"
Given what had happened, Ye Tiancheng would eventually have to confront Helian Yi. After all, no matter how much Mo Huaifeng had offended him, if Ye Tiancheng were to deal with him, he would still need to inform the host of the domain, otherwise, it would be too arrogant.
But this was entirely different from the host himself suddenly barging into his room and witnessing this scene.
Such a situation made it difficult not to suspect some conspiracy.
However, upon further thought, Ye Tiancheng felt something was not quite right. If the other party in such a conspiracy were Mo Huaifeng, wouldn't that be too bizarre? The Helian family wouldn't be that foolish, would they?
They were already indebted to him and had offended him. Even if they were to employ such underhanded tactics, they would at least send a gentle and beautiful woman to his bed. Why would it be Mo Huaifeng climbing into his bed?
There were likely other misunderstandings at play. He just didn't know what went wrong to lead to the current situation.
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's question, although Ye Tiancheng's tone was not aggressive and was quite calm, as if he were merely asking a mundane question, akin to asking "How is the weather today?", Helian Yi knew very well that Ye Tiancheng's question was not without deeper implications.
The most troublesome aspect was that with everyone in the room, if the matter wasn't clarified, it would bring even greater trouble to Helian Yi. He had to resolve it.
Helian Yi's mind raced, and in the blink of an eye, he quickly reacted and explained to Ye Tiancheng, "I was merely escorting some guests who needed lodging and rest, arranging their rooms and ensuring their proper accommodation. As I walked by, I happened to see another group of people barging into your room."
This explanation was plausible.
It was indeed true that some guests chose to rest on Helian family territory temporarily after the banquet.
Normally, arranging guests did not require Helian Yi's personal attention. However, considering Helian Sheng's order, Helian Yi had gathered everyone and also called upon some servants who were responsible for hosting throughout the event.
After all, the stage Helian Sheng had set for him required more people, and relying solely on the Helian family members would not suffice.
Helian Sheng's intention was to force Ye Tiancheng to marry Helian Yue, whether he wanted to or not. Therefore, witnesses were essential, and they couldn't just be from the Helian family, as this would give Ye Tiancheng opportunities to settle the matter privately and refuse.
Even so, there were some improprieties. However, the emergence of another group during this process, namely the group arranged by Mo Huaifeng, provided Helian Yi with the best excuse to absolve himself of responsibility.
As Helian Yi spoke, the group brought by Mo Huaifeng were the easily bribed sort. At this critical juncture, they were naturally looking out for themselves and only wanted to ensure their own safety. Upon hearing Helian Yi's explanation, they all began thinking about how to quietly exit the room and pretend they were never there.
Unfortunately, Helian Yi's entourage was complete. Some with sharp eyes and capabilities, without needing explicit instructions from Helian Yi, sensed the unusual movements of those people and secured the doorway, giving none of them an opportunity to escape.
Ye Tiancheng listened to Helian Yi's words, neither confirming nor denying whether he believed him, but merely nodded slightly.
Given the current situation, Ye Tiancheng certainly could not remain on the same bed with Mo Huaifeng while everyone watched. Thus, Ye Tiancheng pulled Mo Huaifeng off the bed.
Mo Huaifeng struggled in defiance, but his resistance was futile.
If he had possessed the ability to resist successfully, he wouldn't have been caught red-handed in such a pathetic state.
Ye Tiancheng asked Helian Yi, "This is, after all, Helian family territory. I cannot overstep my bounds. How this person should be dealt with is up to the Helian family."
"I believe that on Helian family territory, after such an incident, the Helian family will give me an explanation, won't they?"
Helian Yi's forehead was almost breaking out in cold sweat. With the situation having developed to this point and such a huge misunderstanding occurring, he was somewhat at a loss.
He quickly replied, "Indeed, that is only natural."
After speaking, Helian Yi signaled the accompanying security personnel to escort Mo Huaifeng away. Regardless of what Mo Huaifeng said, even if he tried to beg for mercy, stating how much he had done for the Helian family over the years, Helian Yi paid no attention.
From Helian Yi's perspective, he cared less about what Mo Huaifeng had done and more about how much blood Mo Huaifeng had drained from the Helian family and how much trouble he had caused him now.
"I will certainly provide a reasonable explanation for this matter. Please rest assured," Helian Yi assured Ye Tiancheng once more.
Although Ye Tiancheng did not intend to let the matter rest, and under the cover of unseen eyes, he openly manipulated his cultivation to subtly tamper with Mo Huaifeng, no one would notice, including Mo Huaifeng himself. Over time, when Mo Huaifeng discovered problems with his body, he wouldn't be able to suspect Ye Tiancheng.
However, being on Helian family territory and facing so many people, Ye Tiancheng knew he couldn't completely disregard Helian Yi's face. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng smiled and replied to Helian Yi, "Of course, I believe what Patriarch Helian says."
There were few fools present. Knowing that there was nothing more to see at this point, and that lingering would only lead to more trouble or animosity, they decided it was best not to get involved and began to leave the room, no longer gathering in Ye Tiancheng's room.
Helian Yi offered Ye Tiancheng a series of assurances, promising to provide a satisfactory explanation, and then finally departed.
Ye Tiancheng watched Helian Yi's retreating back until the door to his room was quietly closed by the last departing servant. Only then did he return to his bed, sit down, bend one leg, rest his arm on his knee, and lower his head slightly.
Suddenly, he let out a soft chuckle, "Heh, old fox."
As for Helian Yi, he was truly in a state of panic. After taking over Mo Huaifeng's servants from Ye Tiancheng and bringing them to question him about how to deal with Mo Huaifeng, Helian Yi impatiently waved his hand, telling them to lock Mo Huaifeng up first.
He was annoyed just seeing the man now. He had caused such a huge mess, and he didn't know how to account for Helian Sheng's instructions.
Thinking of this, Helian Yi suddenly realized another very important matter.
According to his original assumption, Helian Sheng had made these arrangements to force Ye Tiancheng and his daughter Helian Yue into a fait accompli, or at least create such an illusion. Therefore, when he led people to barge into Ye Tiancheng's room, he should have seen Ye Tiancheng and Helian Yue.
However, the people in the room were now Ye Tiancheng and Mo Huaifeng. Based on Helian Yi's understanding of Mo Huaifeng, it was likely that Mo Huaifeng mistook the person in the room for Helian Yue, which led him to do such a thing.
As a result, a blunder occurred, and Mo Huaifeng climbed into Ye Tiancheng's bed.
However, this raised a new question. With this misunderstanding, and Helian Yue absent from Ye Tiancheng's bed, replaced by the mistaken Mo Huaifeng, where was his daughter Helian Yue?
Where had Helian Yue gone?
Mo Huaifeng's sense of unease grew stronger. He excused himself from the other guests and quickly ordered people to find the young lady as soon as possible. Instantly, the servants in the vicinity sprang into action, conducting a thorough search for Helian Yue's whereabouts.