Chapter 3988 — The Little Senior Sister Arrives
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
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.