Chapter 4033 — All the Better
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
So though doubt still gnawed at Zhang Lifeng's heart, he did not voice it before the crowd.
"Enough. This matter ends here. Everyone, disperse." Zhang Lifeng waved a hand, dismissing them all.
With him speaking in person, Zheng Dongjue could hold all the objections he liked—he could only swallow them and not dare let out so much as half a fart. The death of Zheng Tianjie was, as of this moment, officially closed.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Zhang Lifeng, right before everyone's eyes, vanished with a *swish*, coming and going without a trace—the very picture of a master.
In keeping with his lifelong habit, once he disappeared this time he was most likely off wandering the four corners of the world again, and who knew how many years it would be before he showed himself before a crowd once more.
Yet even if Zhang Lifeng was a dragon that showed its head but never its tail, he had left those words in public, and no one would dare defy them in the slightest. Even if Zheng Dongjue harbored thoughts of outward compliance and inward betrayal, he absolutely lacked the nerve.
Zheng Dongjue fixed Lianxin and her disciple Tianchan with a venomous glare and said viciously, "Fine. Since the Hall Master has opened his golden mouth and pardoned your crimes, I can let the matter drop. But Tianchan is betrothed to my grandson Tianjie. The man may be gone, but the betrothal still stands—I will hold a ghost marriage for them!"
The moment the words fell, every soul in the hall, high and low, was struck dumb with shock.
That so-called betrothal was in truth nothing but Zheng Tianjie pestering Tianchan endlessly and wanting Zheng Dongjue to arrange the match for them. To this day it had never been anything but a one-sided claim bandied about by word of mouth. No actual ceremony had ever been held—and he had the gall to call that a betrothal?
Zheng Tianjie had now met his retribution and died in a furnace explosion, and yet Tianchan, a girl in the bloom of her beauty, was to be bound for no reason at all in ghost marriage to a dead man. Zhang Lifeng had barely left, and already Zheng Dongjue dared to tyrannize so brazenly—was this not overbearing in the extreme?
"No! This is Chan'er's lifelong happiness—Deputy Hall Master, do not push people too far!" Lianxin rushed forward to block him.
Given her station and strength, she was far from able to stand against Zheng Dongjue, but as Tianchan's master, she could not bring herself to stand by and say nothing.
"Hmph. Is this a place for you to speak? Get out of this Hall Master's sight!" A savage, ruthless light flashed through Zheng Dongjue's eyes.
Zhang Lifeng had declared in public that these two master and disciple were not to be punished, but if Zheng Dongjue truly set his mind to tormenting them, he had no fewer than a hundred ways to make these two wretched women wish they were dead—and no one could find fault with any of it.
Lianxin was about to hold her ground, but just then Tianchan, behind her, gave her sleeve a gentle tug. "Master, there is no need. Your disciple will agree to him."
"What?" The whole hall was startled anew—even Zheng Dongjue could not help but be slightly taken aback.
A ghost marriage to a dead man—no normal girl could possibly agree to such a thing so readily, could she? And what was more, the so-called betrothal Tianchan carried was from first to last a thing that had never existed at all.
"In that case, make your preparations. The day of the burial shall be the day of the wedding. Originally, this Hall Master's intention was that you should be buried alive alongside Tianjie to keep him company. But to keep the Hall Master from misunderstanding, I will let you live and keep vigil for him instead." Zheng Dongjue gave Tianchan a long, deep look.