As a result of Ding Weimin's and Jin Qi's engagement party being in four days, the spaceship dock had even more people coming into Earth than usual so it was very crowded. So much so that people had to form several lines in order to successfully leave the dock.
He Yuan was in one of such lines. With his bigger suitcase by his side, the smaller suitcase slung over his shoulder and his arms folded across his chest to prevent people from crowding in on him due to Yang Xue's smaller frame.
It took him over an hour before he was able to leave the dock. Right before he entered the hover car he'd booked, he spotted a group of young human and andronians girls pointing at him and having a heated argument. He thought nothing of it and proceeded to get into the hover car.
"Ah~" He let out a breath of relief as he relaxed on the comfy seat of the moving car only to choke on air when he turned to stare out the window.
Every single 3D billboard in the entire city was full of pictures of Ding Weimin and Jin Qi. Every single one of them. He Yuan began to feel a faint vibration coming from Yang Xue's soul thread.
Ding Weimin looked as awe inspiring as ever in his pictures whilst Jin Qi was literally as breathtaking as a goddess... but the naughty kind. She had this seductive and adventurous air around her that complemented Ding Weimin's stern sophistication perfectly.
888 scoffed and rolled his eyes. [It's all oohs and aaahs until you remember it's going to be a lavender marriage.]
He Yuan eyes widened and he laughed. Thinking about it.... That really was the case. He looked away from the billboards and Yang Xue's soul thread immediately stopped throbbing.
An hour and thirty minutes later, the hover car arrived at the Yang mansion. As soon as He Yuan stepped into the mansion, he began receiving weird looks from the servants around. Some of them directly walked away from his presence with a glare. His eyes narrowed. Normally, they all completely ignored Yang Xue's existence but now... The faces staring at him had looks of disgust and discomfort at the same time.
At that moment Wei Xiaoqing walked in from the garden, holding a potted plant. Her eyes lit up when she saw He Yuan. "Xue'er!"
He Yuan turned and offered her a smile. "Miss Wei. How have you been?
"Good." She answered with a slight nod and then her eyes trailed to his legs with a bright smile. "You're okay again!" She hadn't seen the sweet boy for so long and she'd been so worried but there was no way to reach him.
"Hm." He Yuan answered and once the rest of the servants cleared out completely, he took his hand off his bigger suitcase and softly asked Wei Xiaoqing, "Did something happen?"
Wei Xiaoqing froze immediately and he became certain something had indeed happened. The mandron woman looked hesitant for a couple of seconds before biting her lips and slowly asking, "You love general Ding?"
He Yuan's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What?"
Wei Xiaoqing pointed at the kitchen. "I heard them. They said you love general Ding and it's on the Federation network so Master Yang is very angry." Then she pointed at He Yuan and said sternly, "You can't love general Ding. They said he's engaged. That's very bad."
He Yuan's left eye twitched as his mind chose that moment to present him with an image of the group of girls who had been pointing at him earlier. This was the reason? He calmly clicked on Yang Xue's bracelet and logged onto the Federation Network.
Contrary to his expectations, there was no such news at the top three trending spots so he moved farther down until he got to the 15th most trending news.
[[#Scandalous Affair Exposed! The Steamy Love Affair Between Interstellar Hero, General Ding Weimin, And Former Mandron 'Companion' Yang Xue!
DISCLAIMER: NSFW Content; Not for those Under the age of 18.]]
888 bit back a smile. [Wow. Just looking at the title alone makes me blush. Why is such juicy gossip at the 15th spot?]
As 888 spoke, the news moved up five spots only to fall back to the 15th spot in the next minute. It was very obvious that it was actively being supressed with great difficulty.
He Yuan ran a hand over his face in exasperation. The news had been released at eight in the morning which was about ten hours ago and he had a very strong feeling that it was Yang Zhi's doing.It was so obvious. The man had promised to help get Yang Xue's 'love' back. Who else could it be if not him? The information about Yang Zhi being angry must be an act. As he came to this conclusion, the news moved up seven spots this time and stood firmly at the 8th spot.
He Yuan quickly skimmed over the contents of the article.Basically all it spoke about was Ding Weimin and Yang Xue being in an 'unspeakable' relationship. There were attached pictures that contained both of them. The funny thing was, these pictures were pictures that were already public and no one had seen a problem with them before but now all of them inexplicably managed to look suggestive.
The climax of the article was a 'scandalous picture' that showed the two men standing side by side with Ding Weimin's hand firmly on Yang Xue's waist and Yang Xue sneakily smiling up at Ding Weimin in a shaded corner. The thing was, it was actually a picture of an average looking middle aged man but the two had unknowingly been captured in that person's background frame.The writer of the article proceeded to end the article with a heart felt story of how Yang Xue had been unfairly sent away after being the only one who had stood by Ding Weimin when the man had been diagnosed to die.
He Yuan tsked in disappointment once he was done reading. "Where's the NSFW content they promised?"
Wei Xiaoqing frowned. "What?"
He Yuan's head snapped up at the speed of light. He'd totally forgotten Wei Xiaoqing was standing at the side. He picked up his luggage and waved casually. "It's nothing. I'll go rest now." Then he made his escape.
888 chuckled in frustration. [Each passing day, you find new ways to both amuse and let me down simultaneously.]
Wei Xiaoqing was left alone in the living room in with her potted plant. She stared at the hallway leading to Yang Xue's room in confusion. The sweet boy hadn't confirmed or denied the accusations so did he or did he not love the general?
As soon as He Yuan was in the comfort of his room, his embarrassment wore off quite quickly and he looked to the bracelet once more.
888 materialized and shook his head at his host. The man kept acting like he wasn't residing in the body of the person involved in the major scandal.
Surprisingly, the news had moved up five spots again and was now at the 3rd spot on the trending list. It seemed the Dings had given up on suppressing the news.
This was the awful thing about big news in this era. They were so hard to suppress. The Federation network had users from all over the galaxy which amounted to tens of billions of people. They could effectively suppress it on Earth but once users from other Planets picked up on the news, it would rise in the ranks once more.
Even if they managed to suppress it on Earth, Andron and Cladis, they were still tons of other minor Planets that they would be unable to reach in such a short time so it was pointless.
The comment section of the main article was bombarded and they were users posting and tagging the main article by the second.
[[ #User25738o2oo: My Eyes! What Did I Just See?!
#FengGong: This Is Why You Should Never Believe Everything You See On The Federation Network. How Can General Ding Be Involved In Such A Relationship? Lies!
#SkyBlanket: It's A Conspiracy! Try To Prove Me Wrong. The Ding and Jin families Announced News Of The Engagement Just Four Days Ago and Now Such A Thing Is Spreading Three Days To The Engagement Party. This Has The Words UNDERHANDED SCHEMES Written All Over It!
#Leo: Upstairs, I totally Agree With You But How Do You Explain The Climax Picture Then?
#SkyBlanket: Upstairs, I already figured Out One Problem. In Order Not To Show Off Too Much, I Shall Give Others The Chance To Answer Your Question.
#JiuCongUncover: @Originalposter, You Better Come And Explain Clearly. What Is Your Source? ]]
They were also others showing their support but those ones were quickly drowned out.
[[ #LavaOfFruityFlowers: Why Is Everyone Making Such A Fuss Anyways? It's Just Two Men Being Together.
#TheOneAboveMeIsAnIdiot: Upstairs Have You Gone Stupid? Have You Forgotten What Happened When Our Human Ancestors Decided To Be Involved In Same *** Relationships? It Ended Up In Severe Underpopulation!
#User783929488: Upstairs, I Thought The Underpopulation Was Due To The Pollution Problem Of Earth All Those Years Ago?
#ThePurger: Who Are These Users Showing Support Anyways? No Matter Your reason, Your Words Are Utter Nonsense!
#LilyOfHanMountain: They Must Be Involved In Such Relationships Themselves And Are Trying To Drag My Beloved General In. DISGRACEFUL! ]]
He Yuan looked away from the bracelet when the news finally reached the No. 1 spot. All the words of rebuke were giving him a headache. He stood up and walked out of the room in search of something to eat.
888 raised a brow. "You're not going to do anything about it?"
He Yuan shrugged. "What could be done? Even the Dings were unable to suppress the news with all their power. What can little me do?" 888 laughed softly as he continued, "I'm very interested in seeing where Yang Zhi is going with all these though."
Meanwhile in the Ding home;
CRACK!
One of the most powerful men on all of the Plexar Federation, the Third marshal, threw his jade teacup against the wall angrily as he stared from Ding Weimin to the Ding parents. "What is all this nonsense?!"