I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 162: A Prick of Loneliness

With a wine cup in his hand, Feng Haoran was currently discussing the new resources which they were going to receive soon and how they would allocate them in the initial stages with a bunch of elders.

The next instant, his attention was attracted by Yi Chen, who was making his way towards them.

"Ah, he’s finally here!" Feng Haoran exclaimed with a joyous smile while completing the rest of his thought in his mind.

’My gold-laying crane that is...’

Hearing the Patriarch’s exclamation, Yi Chen politely bowed towards him and greeted.

"Haha, you’re looking dashing in those robes. Good! That’s how young men should be," Feng Haoran said while patting Yi Chen on his shoulders and continued.

"Come, there are many elders who wish to meet you after hearing about your actions," Feng Haoran said with a grin and continued, "...let me introduce you to all of them one by one."

Grabbing a fresh cup of wine from a catering staff’s tray, the patriarch handed it to Yi Chen.

"Let’s go then,"

The Patriarch nodded, and the next moment, Yi Chen was led around to meet one elder after another and got to know them better.

Along with the ten main elders, the clan also had fifty support elders. They were also in the Qi Absorption Stage, but unlike the main elders were below the Seventh Qi Absorption Stage.

Therefore, the number of elders Yi Chen had to greet wasn’t small and realising that he had no way out of this, he decided to make the most of the situation.

One elder after another, he made sure to analyse everyone’s status to understand their condition.

’Thankfully, it looks like the clan is still redeemable...’

While there were many corrupt elders, there were also many honest and sincere elders.

Feng Yu’s father was one among them, and it would not be wrong to say that it was all because of these very elders that the clan was still able to hold on to what little it had despite being so heavily infested by termites.

After exchanging drinks with several Elders and tasting the starters, Yi Chen finally took leave of them.

However, this wasn’t the end of his plight, as now that all the elders were taken care of, it was time for him to give attention to the several clansmen who had been waiting to meet and talk with him all this while.

Sigh...

With an exhausted sigh, he grabbed a half-filled wine cup from one of the trays and, after gulping it all down to wet his parched throat, walked towards them.

"Brother Chen’s coming! Brother Chen’s coming!"

Hearing their murmurs, an amused expression formed on his face, which allowed him to feel a little more energetic as he began engaging with them.

"Yes, I’ve been cultivating under the guidance of Elder Lei for the last three months," Yi Chen answered.

"No, I’m not his disciple. Although he had nominated me for the spot, he still hasn’t acknowledged me as his disciple."

"I like all types of food, so there’s really no particular preference."

"Huh? My undergarment’s size?...you don’t need to know that."

"I train for more than six hours every day,"

.

.

.

He answered all their queries one after the other.

Some of those questions were quite silly, so he just shrugged them off before proceeding to answer the more genuine ones.

This session of questions and answers went on for almost an hour before everyone finally got satisfied and let him be.

"It’s finally finished..." Yi Chen sighed while placing his hand over his belly.

An hour ago, he was worried about whether he would be able to make space for the main course or not because of how full he felt after filling himself with just the starters.

However, interacting with the clansmen for so long had made him use a large portion of his mental faculties, which ended up making him feel hungry once again.

"Well...every cloud indeed has a silver lining," Yi Chen shook his head in amusement as he went towards the serving tables where the food items were neatly arranged and ready to be picked.

The area was filled with fellow clansmen.

Some were sitting in seats and eating, while many others were standing with plates in their hands, eating and conversing at the same time.

Responding to their smiles, Yi Chen soon took a plate from the table and began taking a portion of all the dishes that were present.

Meat, Rice, Noodles, Bread and various side dishes, almost everything was available on the table, and Yi Chen placed them on his plate with an anticipatory expression.

After ensuring that there was literally no space left on his plate, he turned around and finally looked for a place to eat in peace

’Now that I think of it, where’s Qin Yao? Not only him, but I also haven’t seen Feng Ning and Feng Min during this period.’

Yi Chen thought in curiosity as his eyes scanned the crowd around him. However, with so many faces in sight, he was unable to pinpoint them.

"Whatever, I’ll first fill my stomach," Yi Chen muttered to himself and, making his way past the fellow clansmen, soon found a secluded place, and ate everything there with great relish.

It was only when he was done with the food and was about to go and take the dessert that he finally saw Qin Yao sitting in one corner. However, unlike Yi Chen, there was also someone else sitting alongside him.

"Oh?" Yi Chen muttered with an amused expression as he saw the intimate actions between Feng Min and him.

With a chopstick in his hand, he was sharing the dessert with Feng Min, who was sitting right next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

"Looks like confession was a success." Yi Chen nodded in a pleased manner and soon left to claim his dessert.

With two chopsticks containing sweet dumplings in his hand, he enjoyed their sweet flavours while observing everyone else who was either doing the same or just chatting and enjoying with one another.

Just then, his eyes caught sight of two familiar figures sitting together.

One of them had a bandage around his forehead, and one of his arms was supported by an arm sling. It was apparent that it was fractured.

"So that’s where she has been," Yi Chen nodded in understanding as he observed Feng Ning, who was sitting next to Wei Tian and was carefully helping him with eating the food.

At first, genuine joy welled up in his heart, but the smile on his face soon became pursed.

Glancing back at his dumplings, he began focusing on them while turning his head away.

However, since the banquet was entering its last phase, several such romantic encounters were already happening around the plaza, and with Qin Yao and Feng Ning as stimuli, Yi Chen’s eyes were able to notice these love birds more prominently.

With their stomach full and music playing in the background, it was a very memorable time for couples to spend time with each other.

By the time Yi Chen was finished with those dumplings, the pursed smile on his face had widened considerably. He discarded the sticky chopsticks and soon left for a secluded place.

’After seeing them all act like that...I can’t help but feel lonely now,’ he softly chuckled with a bitter expression on his face.

Along the way, he picked up a wine cup from one of the servers and gulped it all down.

"Thanks," he said while placing the cup back on the tray and continued moving to one of the secluded and open corners of the Plaza.

Finding a bench nearby, he sat on it and let his body relax a little. The next second, he tilted his head up a little to glance at the vibrant night sky.

A few stars were visible as usual, but what stood out among them was the full moon.

Admiring its brilliance, Yi Chen’s thoughts began to drift slowly but steadily.

"Yu’er...Are you also feeling lonely like me?"

A few moments later, he muttered to himself with his eyes still plastered on the moon. The next instant, Feng Yu’s face appeared in his mind and soon superimposed itself over the moon’s surface.

The mental image smiled back towards him, just the way he remembered, which brought a warm smile to his face as well.

A few minutes later, Yi Chen finally stood up from the bench. The loneliness which his heart carried was no longer visible on his face, and its place was taken over by determination and conviction.

’Since I’ve already fulfilled my obligation by coming here, it’s time for me to leave.’

Yi Chen thought to himself. In his mind, he knew that he couldn’t afford to waste much of his time.

’Only then will I be able to meet her soon...’

With those thoughts, Yi Chen turned towards the exit gate and, with firm and steady steps, left the plaza without informing anyone.