Chapter 3988 — The Little Senior Sister Arrives

Shangguan Lan'er might be the young miss of the house, but once the interests of the powerful figures present came into play, her word was not necessarily worth so much—unless her grandfather Shangguan Tianxia appeared in person. Yet Shangguan Tianxia was the master of the Chongtian Pavilion; how could he possibly step forward for the sake of Wei Zhao, a nameless newcomer of common stock from the Qingyun Pavilion?

If there was truly no other way, then the only option left was to create chaos and flee. Compared with having every secret of his laid bare by a soul-searching art, that at least offered a chance of clawing out a sliver of survival.

Just then, a girl's voice, familiar to the ear, suddenly rang out from behind the group: "Wei Zhao is my life-saving benefactor. Which of you dares lay a soul-searching art on him?"

With the arrival of the newcomer, every gaze in the hall snapped to her in an instant—even a legendary figure of gossip and intrigue like Gongyang Jun paled a little by comparison. The one who had come was none other than the star of this birthday banquet, Shangguan Lan'er.

Wei Zhao's heart instantly eased. So long as the soul-searching art had not yet been used on him, Shangguan Lan'er stepping forward to break the impasse could still make a difference. However much Nantian Ba and the others might wish to deal with him, surely they would not dare defy the will of the young Miss Shangguan on a day like this.

Yet the reaction of Nantian Ba and the others exceeded every expectation Wei Zhao had.

"Miss Shangguan, even if this Wei Zhao is your life-saving benefactor, he may also be the true killer of my third brother. The two are not in conflict. Pavilion Master Shangguan personally issued the order to investigate this matter thoroughly—does the young miss mean to turn your grandfather's command into empty words?" Nantian Ba said, every argument falling neatly into place.

Having joined hands with the Xu Yuanzheng faction behind Xu Lingchong, their side had already been chosen with perfect clarity. Since their backing had nothing to do with Shangguan Tianxia, there was naturally no need to hold a little girl like Shangguan Lan'er in much regard.

"That... Wei Zhao..." Caught short, Shangguan Lan'er did not know what to say for a moment.

She could only cast Wei Zhao a helpless glance. She wanted to break the siege for him, but this was not like last time in the Law Enforcement Hall, facing ordinary enforcement officers—this was the extraordinary Nantian Ba. If she could not stand firm on principle, then even as the young Miss Shangguan, she was at her wits' end.

Though at times she behaved like a willful girl ignorant of the world, where matters concerning her grandfather Shangguan Tianxia were involved, she was never careless. A single wrong word at a moment like this could be seized upon by others and used to drag down her grandfather's image and standing—and such things had happened often enough in the past.

Wei Zhao gave Shangguan Lan'er a slight shake of the head, signaling her to say no more. She was, after all, still only a young girl; at a time like this the more she said, the more she erred. Rather than let herself be targeted and cornered for nothing, it was better to watch and wait.

Seeing a single sentence leave Shangguan Lan'er without a word to answer, Nantian Ba and the others exchanged faintly smug glances, then turned to Gongyang Jun. "Hall Master Gongyang, you are the foremost authority over punishments in the Sandie Pavilion. Now that Wei Zhao, the suspected true killer, stands right before us, to simply ignore him—I humbly submit that this is hardly proper. What say you?"

In a few short sentences, Nantian Ba had seized complete control of the scene. Plainly this fellow was not nearly so crude and hot-headed as he appeared on the surface.

Wei Zhao could only steel himself in secret vigilance. The situation had suddenly come to this—even Shangguan Lan'er appearing in person could not break the siege for him. He was truly riding a tiger now, and could only take one step and see what the next brought.

Yet at that very moment, Gongyang Jun glanced at Nantian Ba and said coolly, "Nantian Ba. What this seat needs to do—since when is it your place to teach me?"

One simple sentence. Nantian Ba and the others, who had been so pleased with themselves, saw their faces collapse in an instant.

Damn it—for a moment they had been so angered by this contemptuous brat that they had clean forgotten Gongyang Jun was not a man they could order about at will. If they truly started pointing fingers and offended Gongyang Jun's sensibilities, that little wretch Wei Zhao would likely come out unscathed, while disaster fell on their own heads instead.

And when it came down to it, the reason Nantian Yong's case had made no progress at all was in fact that Gongyang Jun had willed it so. He deemed the case of no consequence, and so no one went to investigate it—and naturally no result ever came.

Thus Nantian Ba's words just now had landed in Gongyang Jun's ears as nothing less than a face-to-face accusation of dereliction. Given Gongyang Jun's pride and domineering temper, there was no chance he would ever nod in agreement.

"Uh... no..." Nantian Ba hurried to explain, but before he could, Gongyang Jun suddenly rose to his full height without the slightest warning, and a vast, overbearing aura instantly bore down upon his head.

Caught off guard, Nantian Ba's knees buckled and he nearly dropped to his knees before the whole crowd. Gritting his teeth, he barely held his stance—but Nantian Guan and Yu Jiang behind him had no such strength. With a thud, both dropped flat, knees slamming onto the stone tiles in unison, coughing up blood in utter disgrace.

"No? Is it your 'no,' or this seat's 'no'?" Gongyang Jun gave him a cold look, then said with heavy meaning, "This is only a small warning. This seat has not such good patience, and cannot be bothered with these wretched, trifling affairs. The question I asked you before—give me your answer within three days. Otherwise, what the consequences will be, you should know well enough."

With that, Gongyang Jun rose and strode off, leaving the crowd the retreating silhouette of a man wild, overbearing, and utterly unrestrained.

This man was truly extraordinary! Even Wei Zhao could not help but feel a stir of admiration. To speak plainly, a man as forceful and arrogant as Gongyang Jun was truly rare in this world.

Yet what made Wei Zhao more curious still was this: what exactly was the matter between Gongyang Jun and Nantian Ba? In the space of a few short moments, it seemed to have been raised for the second time.

"Hee hee, so you've kicked the iron plate of the cold-faced ghost this time—serves you right!" Shangguan Lan'er gloated gleefully off to the side, and little Curly, who had come along with her and now hung about Wei Zhao's neck, also waved its paws at Nantian Ba and the others in a grand show of menace.

Nantian Ba was livid, his face the color of iron, yet for the moment he could not vent his fury. He could only give a cold snort and silently haul Nantian Guan and Yu Jiang up from where they knelt on the ground.

After all, this was Shangguan Lan'er's birthday banquet. A moment ago, because he had held the moral high ground, withholding courtesy from the young miss had been blameless enough—but to dare pull a sour face to her face now would be far too much of taking a mile after being given an inch. Should word of this reach Shangguan Tianxia's ears, there would surely be hell to pay.

"Let's go, little junior brother. Standing beside people who are handed face and only throw it back makes this young miss sick!" Without another word, Shangguan Lan'er promptly waved Wei Zhao along to leave. (To be continued) R752