The incident at the Ancestral Hall of a Hundred Families passed without danger. Following it, Griffith Squire hosted a grand banquet, inviting social elites, formally establishing himself as a member of the South Sea aristocracy.
At the same time, the usually low-profile Cloud Family suddenly sent out invitations to the Leclair Estate, announcing a birthday banquet for their eldest daughter, Melody Cloud, who was turning twenty-two.
In name, it was a birthday banquet, but in reality, it was an announcement—Melody, who had been studying at Cambridge, had completed her education and officially returned to reenter the South Sea socialite circle.
The news stirred excitement among the younger generation of aristocrats.