Above the Galaxy
Chapter 142 - 107: Small Fry!

Chapter 142: Chapter 107: Small Fry!

The Empire Princess’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony in the Phoenix Empire was the most sensational and attention-grabbing event in Phoenix City.

Countless royal relatives, high-ranking officials, nobles, and members of the general public tried every means to obtain an invitation to the evening banquet...

Who wouldn’t want to show their face at the Princess’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony and snap a photo? It would be even more wonderful to have a solo picture with the Princess.

Who wouldn’t want to present an expensive birthday gift and the sincerest blessings to his Majesty’s most beloved younger daughter right under his nose? It would be an unexpected joy and a mission exceeding expectations if one could be pulled aside by Zhong Daolong for a few personal words.

The banquet was held at the Phoenix Palace, where the Royal Family specially opened up the Hundred Herbs Garden, the late Empress Yu Sineng’s favorite, to entertain the guests.

It was said that Yu Sineng greatly admired the magnificent scenes on Blue Star before the great disaster—where flowers blossomed for spring and grasses flourished in greenery—so she dispatched dozens of Star Discs to the Old Land to seek out exotic flowers and plants, bringing them back to the garden to cultivate. Once they matured, their seeds and saplings were promoted throughout the nation.

Thanks to her devoted efforts to save them, many flowers, plants, and trees on the verge of extinction were brought to New Star to thrive and bloom in a different form or ecology.

Hence, the people of the Phoenix Empire called this garden the ’Hundred Herbs Garden,’ both as a place to retain the beauty of spring and as a compliment to the Empress’s immense virtue, a deed that would leave a fragrant legacy for eons.

Yu Sineng didn’t care about these honorary titles; she still spent her days tending to plants. As a botanical expert, she painstakingly carried out scientific analyses, research, and grafting to enable these delicate guests from the Old Land to survive in the environment of New Star.

Only after her passing did the Royal Family officially rename the ’Hundred Herbs Garden’ to the ’Hundred Herbs Garden.’

From that point onwards, the garden closed its doors to the public, no longer open for viewing.

After Yu Sineng’s death, her ideals did not cease. A large number of botanists and cultivation workers continued to work in the garden, keeping to her vision of ’preserving spring,’ transplanting and nurturing plants day after day, year after year, further promoting them nationwide and providing the people a broader choice and appreciation of plant species.

When Tang Fei and Little Fatty arrived at the Phoenix Palace, the entrance already bustled like a marketplace, filled with streams of carriages and horses.

Numerous elegantly dressed people with graceful manners moved toward the security checkpoint at the main entrance of the Phoenix Palace. Each invitation contained a special chip, which only allowed entry after passing the machine’s check.

It was said that His Majesty the King would attend the ceremony tonight, and should any illegal criminals infiltrate the event, who knows what acts of madness they might commit.

Therefore, security checks today were extremely strict.

When Tang Fei and Little Fatty reached the security gate, they handed over the invitations personally given to them by the Phoenix to the Royal Guard.

The Royal Guard member took the invitations, swiped them through the machine, and immediately Tang Fei and Little Fatty’s personal information was displayed on the screen.

The guard gestured for them to proceed, followed by the second checkpoint for weapon disarming, and then the third for Genetic Potion Detection...

By the time Tang Fei and Little Fatty finally cleared the checkpoints, Little Fatty’s undershirt was already soaked with sweat.

"Brother, Sister Phoenix has it too tough," Little Fatty said.

Living in a place fortified with layers of protection and checkpoints was a torment for Little Fatty.

He thought his own little courtyard was so much better, free to enter and leave as one wished...

"It’s not like this every day," Tang Fei said with a smile. "Usually, how many people can enter the palace? Only familiar faces... Today is a special occasion, otherwise, how would she go to school or shop every day?"

"That’s true," Little Fatty nodded and said, "It’s just that Sister Phoenix’s house is too big, easy to get lost in."

"Don’t worry about that sort of thing... it makes it seem as if we wouldn’t want to live here if we had the chance," Tang Fei said.

"Oh," Little Fatty nodded and then asked aloud, "Where’s Sister Phoenix? When do we give her the gift?"

It was his first time attending someone else’s birthday party, let alone one of such scale, which made him a bit anxious, unsure of what the next steps in the event were.

"I don’t know," Tang Fei said. "Didn’t you say you were hungry on the way here? I see there are lots of treats over there, let’s go fill our stomachs first."

On hearing about food, Little Fatty immediately lit up with excitement and said, "Then let’s go eat something first. I didn’t even eat tonight to come to this gathering..."

The hall was bustling with people coming and going, teeming with guests.

Groups of people gathered together, their cups clinking against one another, amidst cheerful laughter. It looked very lively and joyful.

However, Tang Fei and Little Fatty had nothing to do with it; they didn’t know a single person and straightforwardly headed for the food stands tucked away at the edge of the hall.

It was their first time having "buffet," and they didn’t know how it worked.

Not until they saw a little girl take a plate and use tongs to place various cakes and foods on it did they follow suit, mimicking the girl as she picked up each item.

The little girl moved on quickly, while they filled their plates.

"Bro, I’m going to grab another plate," Little Fatty said.

"Not so fast," Tang Fei said, stopping him. "Let’s eat one plate first, then come back for another."

Eating was about being elegant and composed, not being too greedy and losing face.

"Okay," Little Fatty complied.

The pair walked around with their plates and realized that there wasn’t even a single chair in the massive palace.

"Bro, we’ve got no table, no chairs. Where are we gonna eat?" Little Fatty asked anxiously.

After giving it some thought, Tang Fei said, "Let’s go, let’s eat outside... I saw a pavilion over there; let’s sit in there and eat."

"Okay." Little Fatty revered Tang Fei like the leader of the pack, whatever big bro said was the law; big bro could do no wrong.

Both of them, each holding a plate piled high with food, headed towards the Octagonal Pavilion next to the great hall. There were no tables in the pavilion, but there were chairs all around, so they put their plates on the chairs and squatted on the ground, wolfing down their food.

The pastries were delicious, and the two of them were indeed quite hungry, so they ate with wild abandon and great satisfaction.

As Tang Fei was diligently devouring his food, he noticed flickering lights and shadows to the side.

He turned around and saw a young guy holding a smartphone and filming them.

When the guy noticed that Tang Fei and Little Fatty had seen him, he immediately burst into laughter and shouted, "You guys have to see this..."

"Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter... Such a huge plate of food disappearing in the blink of an eye, like two pigs..."

"Do they look like beggars or what? I’ve got the whole thing of them eating on camera..."

-----

At his shout, quite a few youngsters started to gather around the Octagonal Pavilion.

They seemed to be familiar with the guy, and under his operation, the scene of Tang Fei and Little Fatty squatting on the ground eating pastries was displayed for all to see with multidimensional imagery.

"Hahaha, this is seriously hilarious..."

"Look at that Little Fatty, one mouthful after another, without even chewing, just swallowing them down."

"They must not have eaten food in eight hundred years, right? It’s so embarrassing..."

------

Little Fatty, with his mouth still full of food, looked bewilderedly at the people.

He couldn’t understand why someone would secretly film them while eating and publicly broadcast it?

Tang Fei’s expression remained unchanged, he stuffed the half donut in his hand into his mouth, chewed it carefully, and then stood up and walked over to the young guy.

The guy appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old, looking to be about the same age as him.

Tang Fei stood in front of the guy and said, "Do you know? What you’re doing is very impolite."

"Polite?" The young man laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, bending over laughing and pointing at Tang Fei, he said, "You’re talking to me about politeness? Hahaha, it’s hilarious..."

"Did you hear that? He’s telling me about politeness!" The guy turned to his companions and said, "Isn’t this too funny?"

"Indeed too funny, they probably don’t even know how to spell ’politeness,’ do they?"

"I heard people from the Old Land have no morals, no adherence to laws, kill on sight, and rob whatever they see... And such people have the nerve to talk about politeness?"

"Whether it’s polite or not, I don’t know, but I’ve heard that people from the Old Land don’t bathe for months on end..."

"If they can’t even get enough to eat, why would they take a bath?"

-----

Tang Fei looked at them impassively, waiting until they really could find no more words to mock with and fell into brief silence. He then looked at the guy and said, "Today is Princess Xiu Xue’s birthday party, and I don’t want any trouble... Delete the video, and let’s pretend this never happened."

"You don’t want to cause trouble?" The guy was again amused by Tang Fei’s attitude, chuckling he said, "What? Is this a threat? ’You don’t want to cause trouble, let’s pretend this never happened.’ If you wanted to cause trouble, what could you possibly do to me?"

"Why bother?" Tang Fei said to the guy, "We are strangers; both of us are invited by the Empire Princess to attend her coming of age celebration... We give our gifts, say our wishes, and after the banquet ends, we may never see each other again. Why make things so awkward?"

"You don’t know me, but I know you." The guy looked Tang Fei up and down with a smile, "The Pride of the Old Land, a rising star on the Blue List, who defeated Shen Qingping of the Tongyou Realm and forced him to the border to guard Ghost Mountain..."

"Oh." Tang Fei nodded, saying, "I get it, you’re here just to pick a fight."

"Picking a fight? Are you worth it?" The guy looked disdainfully at Tang Fei and Little Fatty, saying, "I don’t even take the likes of you seriously. I just wanted to come out and get some fresh air when I saw you two squatting on the ground like beggars eating, so I filmed it for a laugh, that’s all..."

He looked at his friends and asked, "Isn’t that hilarious?"

"Hilarious," the group of young men and women responded loudly.

Tang Fei also squinted and smiled, turning to look at Little Fatty beside him and asking, "Do you remember what I told you before? If someone bullies us, what should you do?"

Slap!

Little Fatty’s huge palm slapped the guy’s face hard, and he bellowed, "I am the master of Shang Xiulin..."