淫欲的代价

Ding Weimin stood as still as a rod with his hands clasped behind his back and his head slightly lowered. He honestly had no idea how to answer his grandfather. He\'d been absolutely horrified, and a little scared, when he had first found the news on the Federation Network.

To him, nothing mattered more than his reputation and the damage this was causing was killing him inside. It would have been easier to deny everything but then he didn\'t know where the operator had found that picture of him and Yang Xue being engrossed in each other.

Ding Weimin\'s silence caused a vein to pop on the Third marshal\'s forehead.

SMACK!

He hit the table violently. "Still not talking?!" He was someone who prided himself in his ability to control his emotions but this was just too much! He had only one grandson. There was no way he could comfortably sit back and watch as the young man walked on a stray path.

Ding Weimin\'s father ran a hand over his face in frustration but said nothing, knowing fully well that whatever he said would just make his father angrier. The old man had always been a little displeased about the fact that he hadn\'t been talented enough in the army and had to quit.

On the other hand, Ding Weimin\'s mother, Xia Yueyu, bunched up her floral skirt in her fists as her heart raged. Everything had been going wonderfully well. She had gotten that debauched Yang Xue out of the Ding family without negatively affecting her son\'s reputation and she\'d also found a daughter-in-law that she was extremely satisfied with.

Just who decided that now was the perfect time to mess with her?! The Ding family forces had tried to suppress the news at first but since this was the first time ever that her son had been involved in such a scandal, the issue was too difficult to manage so they\'d decided to change tactics and instead try to locate the source of the news.

With how vast the Federation Network was, this would naturally take some time but she was patient. She would love to see what kind of person was desperate enough to act against her son so openly!

After taking a deep breath, Xia Yueyu stepped forward. She knew that her husband was a very passive man so waiting on him was pointless. She looked to her father-in-law with an aggrieved expression. "Father, you shouldn\'t get too angry. Min\'er is innocent in all this. It\'s all that mandron\'s fault for trying to seduce Min\'er in the first place!"

The Third marshal stilled as a sneer settled on his face. The mandron had tried to seduce his grandson? Why wasn\'t he made aware of this?! He eyed his son, then his grandson before moving his eyes back to his daughter-in-law. The anger he\'d initially felt lessened considerably as he leaned back against his chair. "Explain."

Xia Yueyu went on to give a warped description of events and at the end, the Third marshal nodded solemnly, clicked on his bracelet and curtly said to the person on the other end, "Arrange for a press conference immediately."

Naturally, he didn\'t bother to verify the words Xia Yueyu had spoken. Why should he waste his time by going to question a mandron? Things had already gotten to this stage and he was certain that his grandson was not that kind of person so since some external force was trying to use this mandron boy to pull his grandson down then he might as well let the mandron take the fall completely.

He Yuan had just finished his second bowl of cereal when he received a notification from his bracelet. He\'d been following the news for the past hour and at the moment, it had gathered even more attention than the video of Ding Weimin sacrificing himself for his soldiers. Which was saying a lot.Looking at the content of the notification, he raised an eyebrow. The Dings were going to hold to hold a press conference?

Thirty minutes later, He Yuan walked over to the living room and sat right in front of the plasma with the news channel tuned in.

The press conference venue was full to the brim with both reporters ready to question and hundreds of civilians who had gone to watch and \'support\' their General.

There were rows of stern looking soldiers surrounding the venue and doing a great job at maintaining order. He Yuan crossed one leg over the other supported his chin with a fist as boredom began to seep in.

After waiting for over ten minutes, Ding Weimin finally walked into the conference venue looking as prim and proper as ever. On his left stood his ever beautiful fiance, Jin Qi, and on his right stood the his father Ding Wang, holding hands with his mother, Xia Yueyu. That split second when the curtain was opened, a few reporters had been able to catch a glimpse of the Third marshal backstage.

[[ Murmurs rang out in the hall, beginning from the reporters at the front row. Just what did the Ding family have to say that required the entire family, the fiance and even the mighty Third marshal being present?

Ding Weimin and his parents each took a seat on the platform whilst Jin Qi moved to seat at the side, showing that she was just there to offer her fiance emotional support. Words of praise rang in the hearts of the people present at her admirable attitude. Most women would fume if they realized that their soon to be husband was involved in such a scandal but she chose to remain composed and trust her partner.

As expected of the woman the General had chosen! The evaluation of Jin Qi in the hearts of the people rose up even more.

With the star of the rumours fully seated, the press conference officially began. Contrary to the expectations of everyone, Ding Weimin remained silent. Instead, Xia Yueyu drew the mic before her a little bit closer.

The well maintained middle aged woman cleared her throat before beginning. "Good evening everyone, I\'m very flattered that you were all able to make it on such shot notice and I would like to thank you on behalf of the Ding family. Since every single person seated is fully aware of the reason for this press conference, I would go straight to the point.

-The Ding family hereby debunks all rumours and claims of my son, General Ding Weimin, being in any sort of entanglement with the mandron, Mr. Yang Xue."

Whispers rang out in the hall and a reporter was given the go ahead to speak. The dainty looking human female leaned forward as she asked, "General Ding, are the words of Mrs. Xia true?"

Ding Weimin stilled subconsciously and the entire hall become so silent as every single person waited, with bated breath, for him to speak.

Jin Qi\'s eyes narrowed but a second later, Ding Weimin lowered his head to the mic and said, "Yes."

Collective sighs rang out from the civilian section of the conference hall but the reporter wasn\'t finished. She went on to ask, "General Ding, how do you explain the climax photo of the article then?"

This time, he didn\'t take much longer to reply. "The angling of the camera was misleading."]]

888 materialized next to his host with a sneer. "Although the two of them had been in the background of the photo, they were both facing the direction of the camera. What does angles have to do with such a clear picture?

He Yuan leaned back on the sofa with a thin lipped smile. "That\'s the thing. Every single person seated there already has a preconceived notion of what their beloved General is like so even if the truth smacked them in the face, they would still see, hear and understand what they wished to based on their preconceived notion."

They both turned silent as the press conference continued.

[[ The little reporter had gotten the answers she needed so she leaned back and a different person took the stage. It was a slightly lanky andronian male with huge glasses seated on his nose. He was also a reputable reporter for the MAA.

"The mandron, Mr. Yang Xue had been the general\'s only companion during a really rough period," He began and Jin Qi\'s face twisted subtly. "It had been reported then that the General and Mr. Yang Xue got along fairly well during that period but after General Ding\'s miraculous recovery, we never expected that the Dings would unceremoniously send Mr. Yang Xue off. Does this having anything with the young man being a mandron?"

"No," Ding Weimin replied calmly.

"Then why had Mr. Yang been sent off?" The reporter countered.

Ding Weimin remained silent this time.Seeing this, Xia Yueye quickly brought the attention to herself with a strained laughter. "We all forget that, just like seasons, people tend to out grow each other. Mutually."

Although her words sounded reasonable, it could hardly apply in this situation. Also, her expression was very off. It was very rare for two people who had stood together during a tough period to outgrow each other so it was very clear that she was hiding something! ]]

As the reporters and civilians at the press conference came to the conclusion that Xia Yueyu was hiding something, He Yuan shook his head with a soft laughter whilst 888 narrowed his eyes.

This was because they already had a clear view of what the Dings were trying to do so they knew Xia Yueyu was not hiding anything but pretending to hide something in order to gather support for whatever she was about to say.