284 Fatty Passes the Tes (1/2)
Tang Yuan was terrified. His grandfather had brought him to the entrance and gone back. He had left him to face the great Emperor on his own. So, the Fatty was extremely nervous.
”Stand up. Come; have a seat,” The Emperor could not help but chuckle a smile after he saw Fatty cut such a sorry figure. His voice was affable as he waved his hand.
”Many thanks, Your Majesty.” Tang Yuan used his plump hands to support himself as he crawled and stood up. He carefully wiped-away the sweat and cautiously moved to take a seat.
He didn't know whether it was intentional or not… but the court eunuch had moved a circular chair for him. Fatty found that the chair wasn't very big. A regular-sized person would've easily fit into the chair and would've sat in a relaxed manner. In fact, he would've had plenty of space left to spare. In case of Fatty on the other hand… fitting into that chair had become a very difficult task.
Tang Yuan recalled his grandfather's instructions, ”When facing the Emperor — don't sit arrogantly if he asks you to take a seat. Always sit with only half of your butt on the chair. Remember this by heart!” However, that chair would become a problem if he were to sit with half of his butt on it. [I doubt that even the half-of-my butt can fit into this. This chair is too small. No wonder people can only place half of their butts in it.]
He huffed and puffed until half of his butt went in. But that part was large enough to fill the entire chair. A circle of fat hung all-around the chair. His fat had overflowed the chair's dimensions and had come out.
”Ha Ha…” the Emperor couldn't bear it anymore, and started to laugh. Tang Yuan felt his sweat seeping out as he accompanied that laugh.
”Tang Yuan, I've heard that you were the head auctioneer of the Aristocratic Hall?” The Emperor, intentionally or otherwise, stopped laughing and asked the question. A cold light flashed from the depths of his eyes.
”Yes Your Majesty… young official… common person… I…” Fatty Tang stammered before he become speechless. He wanted to call himself 'young official', but that was improper since he didn't have an official position. Then, he tried calling himself 'common' but that wasn't true. He then tried to refer to himself as 'I'… but then talking like that would be very disrespectful in this situation…
He unexpectedly started to choke…
”Never mind the courtesy; speak your mind,” the Emperor spoke in a mild manner. ”Tang Yuan, can you tell me whose idea it was to conduct this auction at the Aristocratic Hall in such a manner?”
”This… that… Your Majesty… he he… that is, this way…” Tang Yuan's mind raced. [Crap! No wonder Elder Brother solemnly exhorted me again and again. It seems that this old man knows that there's high-end person behind this entire arrangement…!]
”Your Majesty, I was ahem, ahem, very young at that time… and not quite sensible… I had made a huge mistake. My grandfather evicted me from the house for it. So… I decided to do something which would make the old man wonder that expelling me from the house wasn't the right thing to do.” Tang Yuan embarrassingly scratched his head. ”But what can I do? I'm only interested in making money…”
”You… are you telling me that this idea was yours?” The Emperor's expression sank. Then, some kind of an invisible power came down to put pressure on Tang Yuan.
This was not the Qi from a Xuan Qi expert… it was in fact the pure force of the Emperor's personality.
This was something that even the Young Master Jun or even the 'Eight Great Masters' could not imitate.
”Yes! Your Majesty… it was nothing; just a small business transaction… and nothing else!” Tang Yuan's clothes were seeped in sweat within seconds. He could feel sweat-rashes over his entire body. His mouth was somewhat parched, his red mouth and ivory teeth managed to utter these words still.
”It's nothing? Just a small business transaction? Tang Yuan, do you know the sin you've committed?” The Emperor narrowed his eyes to a small crack as he keenly observed Fatty Tang's expression.
”Insignificant, this insignificant… guilty… I… was unaware… made a mistake… I invited, invited my grandfather to make…” Tang Yuan became even more nervous. In fact, he still didn't know how to address himself. Then, he recalled what that small boy at the brothel had called himself when he had visited. He pondered on it for a while, and decided that it was appropriate for use.
He only remembered the boy's words since he has panicking in this moment. He hadn't taken the boy's tone into account. He couldn't figure that the boy would use this tone with the brothel's customers since he only wished to avoid provoking their arrogance in case he unknowingly made a mistake.
Suddenly, it seemed like Fatty was a street-seller who held two teapots, while the Emperor was a careless patron…
”Are you guilty of it? Your auction resulted in widespread disorder in the city, and everything has been drawn into turmoil. It's a hideous mess!” His Majesty the Emperor snorted as he continued to exert his power. The Emperor was a learned man. He had understood that this unfathomable mystery was done for since this guy had caught up.
”I didn't think that much at the time. I just wanted to stand on my own two feet. I had planned to earn some money from the guests in order to scrape a living. That was it. I didn't think on such matters. I didn't force anyone to buy those jars; they did it by their free will, Sir.” Tang Yuan's sweat flowed down in a single stream.