After the door to the Lamp Flower Tower closed, the citizens were almost on the verge of breaking down.
There were no words to describe their feelings.
One by one, they stood anxiously at various spots along the long street, their clothing work temporarily halted.
Now, they desperately wanted to rush inside Lamp Flower Tower to see what was happening!
Please.
Don't be so quiet in there.
The quieter it is, the more terrifying it becomes.
However, the more they wanted to enter Lamp Flower Tower, the more they realized how tightly guarded it was.
People from the yamen, people from the Twelve Linked Huts, members of the six great families themselves.
There were probably three to four hundred people surrounding it, truly enclosing Lamp Flower Tower tightly.
And not to mention the citizens.
Even the family guards standing outside Lamp Flower Tower were unsure of the situation now.
Yet, no one spoke; the family guards opposite them stood straight, so they stood even straighter.
Everyone was keeping up appearances.
The six great families, to truly say any family submits to another, is impossible.
"Why is this gathering taking place? Who requested this meeting?"
"Who knows?"
"Even heaven doesn't know."
Outside, the occasional cautious whispers could be heard.
Xufu Town had a different kind of quietness.
...
Time crawled by with difficulty.
An hour had passed arduously!
No matter how one dined, after two hours, it couldn't continue.
No matter how good the meal, there would come a day when it comes to an end.
In the hall of Lamp Flower Tower, however, no one put down their chopsticks, using them to occasionally pick up peanuts to eat.
A peanut, placed in their mouths and slowly chewed.
Everyone tacitly didn't speak, yet felt they were sitting on pins and needles.
Nearly everyone's gaze had drifted to the second floor; they were desperate to know what was happening upstairs.
Oh, father!
It's the first time one felt so difficult to eat a meal.
Eating for an hour!
When will this end, I want to go home.
"Yuchi!"
"You're really going to make people die of anxiety!"
"What's in your mind?"
"Can it please be quicker?"
"Give us a quick end."
They thought so.
Everyone continued to move their chopsticks with a bitter expression.
Compared to the citizens outside on the long street, those in the hall of Lamp Flower Tower were truly anxious.
It truly felt like years dragged by in a day.
Many male family members.
They thought to themselves that they'd rather sleep with a pig in a pen than sit in Lamp Flower Tower.
Too unsettling.
A few from the Twelve Linked Huts quietly moved together.
They were whispering about some matters.
"The longer the time, the deeper the discussion upstairs."
"Yes, so we just need to wait patiently."
"At least the most dangerous incense stick's worth of time has passed."
Whether things can proceed depends mainly on the initial incense stick's discussion.
If Yuchi couldn't hold the other side down, things would end within an incense stick's time.
That would be an absolutely dangerous situation.
Qian Wenshi sighed, looking at the food on the table, "So Yuchi is truly powerful."
"So young, and can subdue these old hands?"
"Yes, we don't know how he's done it, but given the current situation, he's opened my eyes!"
"These are all competitors, to put it bluntly, at night, everyone is afraid to go alone."
"Yet they're able to sit in the same room and eat, isn't it bizarre?"
"Yes."
"And look at these family people, they clearly haven't grasped this principle yet, worried about what's happening upstairs."
"Hmm, but if it were you, you'd be anxious too."
"Haha, fortunately, I'm not one of these family members, forced to eat in a hall full of competitors."
"Eating for an hour, really something."
"I'll tell you, the person most concerned now is the shopkeeper of Lamp Flower Tower, right?"
"If you were the shopkeeper now, what would you do?"
"Haha, no idea."
...
The shopkeeper of Lamp Flower Tower really felt like dying.
Earning silver wasn't easy!
Even though the Wei Family directly took out a thousand taels to ensure tonight's banquet was grand.
That's a huge amount.
But they didn't want to take it on, preferring to earn some young noble's and young lady's money, not wanting to get involved with families.
But when they come to your door to say this, can you refuse?
This is a Foundation Establishment Realm counselor, and also a large clothing family.
No choice.
"I really am doing wrong!"
"Little Ancestor Yuchi, please bless us, nothing goes wrong now."
The shopkeeper secretly observed the situation in the hall, with a frowning face, completely devoid of the joy of making money.
"Chief Shopkeeper, what do we do? Continue serving dishes, or?"
"Serve what? Can't you see they can't eat anymore? Do you want to shove chopsticks down their throats?"
"I don't dare… so what do we do? Just watch?"
"What to do?"
Rubbing his nose, the shopkeeper smiled bitterly, "Serve more peanuts, fruits, and the like, slowly."
"Every incense stick's worth of time."
"Tell the chefs to keep their guard up, stay flexible, the six people upstairs haven't had a bite to eat."
"They're the main characters of this banquet."
"We're just waiting for that door to open; we must serve all the dishes within the time of a tea break as soon as it opens!"
The accountant understood and nervously moved on tiptoe.
Just then, the situation suddenly changed.
It wasn't the upstairs door opening, but a young man standing up.
He was from the Li Family, named Li Minran.
He said to everyone, "It's been an hour since the Patriarch went up."
"There's been no news; shouldn't we go check?"
His eyes scanned everyone present.
Everyone's eyes agreed, but no one spoke.
Li Minran held back from swearing, and said again, "Shouldn't we send someone up to take a look?"
And still everyone was silent.
Their thoughts were the same as Li Minran's; go up and see the situation, at least check if they're alive or dead.
But thinking is one thing; who dares to act on it?
Not one dared!
The six people in the upstairs room were all very mysterious, disturbing them now would be suicide.
Li Minran couldn't hold back.
"I'm relatively young."
"I'll do this wrong task; I'll go knock and ask if they need help."
"If none of the seniors speak, I'll go request a look?"
Everyone remained silent.
Pretending not to hear.
Li Minran gave up.
He stood up, heading towards the stairs step by step.
Changsun Mei rested her cheek on her hand, looking at Li Minran's fierce demeanor, truly helpless, "What a fool."
She thought to herself.
"Yuchi said there would be a result after an hour."
"It's already been an hour."
"What's happening upstairs?"