"You're all so great, I wish Tang Zhongcheng a bright future."
Tang Xiaomin scoffed and tossed the microphone aside.
Tang Yiyi, also subjected to pointing fingers, retorted defiantly.
"Aren't you just jealous that my brothers like me, so you're here to slander us?"
"Tang Xiaomin, you wicked woman..."
*Slap!*
Without a second thought, Tang Xiaomin slapped Tang Yiyi across the face.
She hit someone.
She actually hit someone!
The murmuring crowd, shocked by this turn of events, fell silent.
Everyone knew Tang Xiaomin had a fiery temper.
She was notorious for causing trouble at banquets.
Now, she was openly disrupting even Tang Zhongcheng's birthday banquet, her "old father's."
However, her rampage today brought immense satisfaction.
Tang Yiyi once again activated her passive skill as a pitiable damsel.
Cupping her face, tears streamed down her cheeks.
She looked at Tang Xiaomin with a piteous gaze, sobbing.
"Why?"
"Why do you have to bully me like this?"
"I didn't get to choose my birth, what did I do wrong?"
"Is it just because Dad and my brothers all like me, that you can't stand it and have to bully me like this?"
Hearing this, Tang Xiaomin arrogantly replied.
"You've enjoyed a good life of nearly twenty years that should have been mine, what's wrong with a few slaps?"
A few slaps in exchange for twenty years as a pampered daughter of a wealthy family.
This trade was more than fair.
Tang Yiyi cried and glared at Tang Xiaomin.
She no longer dared to speak.
She was terrified Tang Xiaomin would hit her again.
Having made her scene, Tang Xiaomin was in no mood to linger.
With the same unhurried pace as her arrival, she slowly left Tang Zhongcheng's birthday banquet.
With Tang Xiaomin's disruption, Tang Zhongcheng was now the target of widespread condemnation.
His back was so thoroughly scrutinized, he couldn't hold his head up any longer.
Pan Peter stealthily glanced at the departing Tang Xiaomin.
Then, with a half-smile, he looked at Tang Yan.
"The lady from earlier, she's your sister too, right?"
Tang Yan replied sheepishly, "Mr. Pan, she's already severed ties with the Tang family, so she's no longer my sister."
Pan Peter coldly laughed, "In that case, I won't be staying."
...
"Mr. Pan..."
Tang Yan wanted to say more, but Mr. Pan had already left the banquet in haste.
Judging by his actions, he was clearly going after Tang Xiaomin.
Originally, many guests at the banquet had come specifically to see Mr. Pan.
Now that he was leaving, and Tang Zhongcheng's character was so egregious, with the Tang Corporation in peril,
everyone began to depart, unwilling to waste their time here.
The banquet suddenly became deserted.
Tang Yiyi said to Tang Zhongcheng with a wronged expression.
"Dad, Tang Xiaomin ruined your birthday banquet. She's truly going too far, she just can't stand to see us doing well."
Tang Yiyi's words only made matters worse.
Upon hearing them, Tang Zhongcheng was instantly enraged.
"You still have the nerve to say that!"
"If it wasn't for you insisting on coming to the banquet, insisting on revealing your true identity in front of everyone, how would Tang Xiaomin have had the chance to come here and expose my secrets!"
At this moment, Tang Zhongcheng was filled with regret.
If he hadn't acknowledged Tang Yiyi's identity earlier, no one would have believed Tang Xiaomin's words.
Tang Zhongcheng had meticulously prepared his birthday banquet, inviting so many guests.
Not only did he fail to curry favor, but he also became a laughingstock.
Not only was it a net loss, but his reputation was thoroughly ruined.
Tang Yiyi, suddenly yelled at by Tang Zhongcheng, replied indignantly.
"Am I that displeasing?"
"Is it really that difficult to acknowledge me as your daughter?"
"It was clearly Tang Xiaomin who wanted to ruin your banquet, and yet you're blaming me."
*Slap!*
In his rage, Tang Zhongcheng slapped Tang Yiyi across the face.
"You are so foolish, how could I have given birth to such an idiot. I truly regret having you!"
"If it weren't for you, how would my family have ended up like this!"
"It's all because of you!"
...
Tang Yiyi had been hit, and her brothers looked at her with concern.
Tang Yu couldn't help but interject.
"Dad, Yiyi is innocent. The fault lies entirely with Tang Xiaomin, why are you troubling Yiyi?"
Tang Yu's words only fanned the flames, making Tang Zhongcheng even more furious.
"Just now, it was you who insisted on proving Tang Yiyi's identity in front of everyone. You forced me to acknowledge her identity."
"Do you guys have any brains at all? Or are you in cahoots with Tang Yiyi!"
Although these four had not colluded with Tang Yiyi.
However, they had indeed spoken up for Tang Yiyi earlier.
At this moment, all of them lowered their heads in silence.
Seeing their reaction, Tang Zhongcheng's head buzzed with anger.
"You fools, you've disappointed me immensely!"
"I don't care about the Tang Corporation anymore, I can't manage it! Do whatever you want!"
They say it's better to have no opponents than to have useless teammates.
Tang Zhongcheng's reputation was ruined by his own sons and Tang Yiyi, who had "fanned the flames."
Thinking of Zhang Meiyu, who bore all her hardships silently.
Even after the divorce, she endured without revealing Tang Yiyi's matter.
Now, it was too late for anything.
Some things, as long as they are not brought into the open, can be tolerated.
But once they are exposed, they become unbearable.
Tang Zhongcheng did not return to the Qing Shui Wan Villa, nor did he intend to.
He went to the hospital and looked through the glass at Zhang Meiyu, who was on the brink of death in the ICU.
Shamefully, he lowered his head.
Facing Zhang Meiyu, Tang Zhongcheng was filled with self-reproach and pain.
"The Tang Corporation is in crisis. I had intended to give my all to protect the Tang Corporation for you."
"But in the end, it was still ruined by my own mistakes."
"Meiyu, I'm so sorry."
"Perhaps this is heaven's punishment for me, preventing me from even having the right to protect the Tang Corporation for you."
"I'm not afraid of being gossiped about. As long as you wake up, I'll do anything."
"Even, give up my own life."
...
Tang Zhongcheng truly loved Zhang Meiyu.
He genuinely hoped Zhang Meiyu would wake up.
But life and death are not decided by mere will.
"Since Mr. Tang so wishes for his wife to wake up, why not travel to Mount Tian Shan? Prostrate yourself three times and kowtow nine times, walking all the way to the summit. Perhaps you'll move the gods, and they might awaken your wife."
The one speaking was Steward Wang, holding a vase.
Tang Zhongcheng turned his head, his eyes filled with confusion.
Steward Wang said, "This flower is from Miss Xiaomin for Madam. Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Tang."
After a moment of thought, Steward Wang added.
"Going to Mount Tian Shan to prostrate oneself three times and kowtow nine times to pray for Madam, this was also Miss Xiaomin's idea."
"If Mr. Tang finds it absurd, just treat it as a joke and don't take it seriously."