Chapter 168
The first time he came to the hall, he was late, and the Emperor was discussing with the officials at the time. Therefore, he had to accept his fate when it came to being the center of attention at that time.
This time, he did not come late to the hall, and the Emperor had not even entered the hall today. However, his fate was still the same as he once again became the center of attention right after he set foot in the spacious hall.
Those people’s gazes were still the same, and Bai Chen was used to receiving such gazes ever since he transmigrated into this world. So, he simply wore a cold look on his face, not caring that those pair of eyes continued to follow his every move until he finally stood beside Bai Renshu.
It was like deja vu as he once again stood beside the white-haired man in the Zuigao Hall, but he knew that the situation was not the same today. Even if it was the same between then and now when the older man ignored him, Bai Chen could see that Bai Renshu didn’t proudly lift his chin today, and instead, the man chose to look at the boring wooden tiles in the large hall.
When Bai Chen took a closer look at the man’s appearance, he could also see how the man was still wearing a white hanfu today, but instead of having a little blue pattern on it like the one he was wearing, the man’s white hanfu had no pattern and looked very blank, and it was probably enough to represent the man’s empty heart at this time.
‘He also looks pale and lost. I believe he is like this because of Shao Meihui’s death. I just didn’t expect that a man who looked as hard as a rock like Bai Renshu would be able to love someone so deeply,’ thought Bai Chen as he kept glancing at the taller man.
Bai Renshu did look tough in his eyes. The man had always looked confident and arrogant, but the scene that greeted his blue eyes today was different. Bai Renshu looked frail as if his heart was made of thin glass that had been shattered into pieces and would never be able to return to its perfect pieces again.
Bai Chen could only glance at the taller man without being able to do anything, and he finally turned his gaze towards the other person standing across from him and Bai Renshu.
.....
There was Shao Yaoting, and the man was still wearing the patternless black hanfu like Bai Renshu as if the man wanted to show that he was still mourning the death of his daughter.
‘But his face isn’t as bad as Bai Renshu’s. Unlike Bai Renshu, his eyes and complexion look fine this morning. Is it because he is able to hide his sadness so well?’ Bai Chen couldn’t help comparing the two men standing opposite each other with a distance of about six to seven feet between them.
Bai Renshu did look very bad this morning. His eyes were puffy, and his complexion didn’t look good either. However, Shao Yaoting’s countenance looked quite good in Bai Chen’s eyes, and that was why he was a little curious about the difference.
Standing beside Shao Yaoting was the Emperor of Wu Li, and the man was wearing a white hanfu today. It was probably his way of showing respect for the deaths caused by the incident in the Forbidden Forest, and his face also looked so serious that it couldn’t even be said that the man looked sad.
‘After all, he’s an Emperor, so he has to control his facial expressions even at a time like this,’ Bai Chen thought again as he glanced at the ruler of the human empire.
The human didn’t even notice his gaze, and Bai Chen turned his gaze slightly to look at the person standing beside the man. Unfortunately, he only frowned when he saw that the person standing beside the man was just a man he didn’t know.
‘Wu Jinhai didn’t come to the meeting today?’ He once again wondered in his heart as he cast his eyes to scan the area within the hall. He didn’t see a man with a golden mask covering his face, and for some reason, he felt a little disappointed in his heart when he couldn’t find the man.
He still had some things he wanted to ask the masked man, and he expected to meet the man today because the meeting was attended not only by werewolves but also by humans, but he had to swallow a bitter pill because the masked man was not present.
While he was still thinking about Wu Jinhai, the great door of the hall was finally opened from the outside as the palace guard announced the Emperor’s arrival. It was indeed Bai Guowei who had just arrived in the hall, and the man was still wearing the white hanfu even though it wasn’t adorned with the usual golden pattern.
It was clear that the man also wanted to show that he was still grieving over the tragedy in the Forbidden Forest, and even his face was expressionless and tense as he carried his feet to walk toward the throne.
All the officials immediately saluted the Emperor, and Bai Chen did the same. However, neither Bai Renshu nor Shao Yaoting did the same, and Bai Chen easily assumed that the two men still believed that the tragedy that occurred during the Beast Hunting Event was Bai Guowei’s fault.
The white-haired emperor finally sat down on his throne, and he immediately said, “I can see that everyone has been present in this hall, so we can start the meeting now.”