Old Dragon King's voice grew sharper as he reached the end of his speech.
After listening to him, Su Zijin's face turned somewhat pale, her body trembling a few times. Then, she lifted her head and looked stubbornly at the Old Dragon King, saying, "That's right, I do want to provoke Mu Jinyu to come here, so what? Don't you want to see your grandson?"
"I... *cough* *cough*..."
Just as the Old Dragon King was about to say something, he suddenly started to wheeze and cough several times. It was only after he caught his breath that he angrily said, "But do you know what consequences your actions might bring?"
"Will Shen Cangsheng be able to swallow his pride?!"
Su Zijin looked directly at the Old Dragon King, her lips pressed stubbornly together, then said, "So what? I don't care about what happens afterward. All I want is for my son to recognize me as his mother as soon as possible!"
"You?!"
The Old Dragon King was so angered he trembled all over!
Su Zijin turned away, no longer looking at the Old Dragon King, her tone tinged with a bit of reproach, "If it weren't for you arranging this marriage in secret all those years ago, would I have been separated from my child for so many years?!"
"Ah..." Hearing this, the Old Dragon King's right hand trembled slightly and he sighed deeply. He stood up from the dining table and left behind a remark, "Forget it, I'll stop meddling in your affairs. Take care of yourself."
Su Zijin turned her head back, her eyes slightly red as she listened to the Old Dragon King's aged sigh. Watching his stooped silhouette, she pursed her lips and whispered softly, "Thank you..."
...
Elsewhere.
Shen Cangsheng's villa.
Shen Cangsheng was in his room, slipping into a freshly tailored suit and adjusting it in front of a full-length mirror.
"This time, Brother, you'll finally get the beauty and fulfill your long-standing wish. You can even seize the position of Tiance True Dragon—two birds with one stone. Congratulations are in order!"
In the room, besides Shen Cangsheng, there were two other men, one in his thirties and the other in his twenties.
Both were Shen Cangsheng's junior brothers from their sect in the Kunlun Ruins.
Shen Cangsheng, upon learning from Xiang Mantang that the position of Tiance True Dragon seemed to have been decided, felt a bit panicked. He quickly contacted his sect, preparing to pressure the Old Dragon King into reconsideration.
But before his junior brothers could arrive in the Capital City, Su Zijin took the initiative to seek him out, proposing an engagement.
He surmised that it must have been the Old Dragon King reevaluating the influence of his sect behind him that made Su Zijin marry him and then pass the position of Tiance True Dragon to him, so he readily agreed.
After that, his two junior brothers came from the Kunlun Ruins to the Capital City. Upon learning of his matrimonial affairs, they decided to watch the excitement before returning.
Hearing one of his junior brothers' remarks, Shen Cangsheng paused in his adjustment of his collar and then sneered, "She's nothing but an old shoe, who more than a decade ago bore a bastard child. Do you really think I hold her in high esteem?"
With a scoff, he continued disdainfully, "If I truly esteemed her, I would not have broken off our engagement back then. My acquiescence to her proposal is nothing more than feigning compliance. Once I become the Tiance True Dragon, I'll naturally kick her out!"
One of his junior brothers laughed sinisterly, "Although she is an old shoe and has borne a bastard child, her beauty is truly extraordinary. Brother, don't you want a taste?"
Shen Cangsheng glanced back at him, knowing full well what he was insinuating, and said indifferently, "We'll see when the time comes. If you, Junior Brother, fancy her, wait until I've annulled our marriage, and I'll hand her over to you!"
He knew this junior brother had peculiar tastes, but he had no wish to play the pimp. Despite his disregard for Su Zijin, if she were to be passed to his junior brother while still married to him, he felt as if he was being cuckolded, which was naturally unpleasant. He would wait until he had kicked Su Zijin to the curb.
After all, by then he would be the Tiance True Dragon, Master of the Dragon King Hall, with no need to fear the Old Dragon King, who would be about to breathe his last!
"Heh heh, thank you, Brother," said the junior brother with a lewd smile at Shen Cangsheng's words.
The other, more silent junior brother then spoke, "Brother, her sudden proposal and the hasty arrangements, without notifying many relatives or friends—could there be a deception?"
"What deception? What kind of storm could she possibly stir? What benefit would there be for her?"
Shen Cangsheng responded, his mouth curling in disdain, entirely unconcerned about any schemes Su Zijin might be plotting.
After all, in his mind, Su Zijin's child was long since dead, and in the intervening time, he had been too preoccupied with vying for the position of Tiance True Dragon to pay any attention to her movements and was naturally unaware of Mu Jinyu's appearance.
Otherwise, he might have suspected something.
Upon hearing his response, the junior brother lowered his head slightly, nodding and said, "In that case, it seems I've been overthinking."
...
Time gradually approached five in the evening.
The engagement banquet was about to begin.
Su Zijin looked at her phone, her expression anxious. It had been the whole day, and Mu Jinyu had not appeared. Would he come to save his mother?!
Or had Xiang Mantang guessed wrong?
"Miss, it's time to get dressed and ready to attend."
At that moment, Su Zijin's maidservant came into the room and reminded her softly.
Su Zijin was still wearing homely attire, clearly unsuitable for an engagement banquet.
"I know, you go out first," she said to the maidservant, pressing down her restlessness and speaking gently.
The maidservant then left.
Su Zijin stood up and paced the room before clapping her hands decisively and muttering to herself, "No, I can't give up before the final moment. Perhaps Jinyu is waiting for the banquet to start before coming to save me?"
With that, Su Zijin subdued her agitation, hope welling up in her heart again. She began to put on the cocktail dress she had prepared in advance, applied some light makeup, and then left the room.
Upon arriving at the banquet venue, some relatives of the Su Family congratulated Su Zijin with smiles:
"Congratulations, Zijin, you're finally getting married. I thought I'd never get to drink your wedding wine in this lifetime."
"Haha, congratulations, congratulations..."
"..."
Su Zijin nodded to them perfunctorily, her mind elsewhere as she looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mu Jinyu hiding somewhere nearby.
But to her disappointment, she did not see Mu Jinyu's figure.
Soon, Shen Cangsheng also arrived, stepping down from a Maybach. He was dressed in a neatly tailored suit, looking handsome and energetic, his eyes shining with sharpness that made people afraid to stare directly at him!
He walked into the courtyard and saw Su Zijin, merely nodding slightly at her with an expression cold and distant, showing no sign of affection.
The guests attending the engagement banquet felt something odd about this scene but dared not say anything.
Soon, the banquet began.
The emcee stood in front of the stage and, after rambling on pointlessly for a while, finally called for Su Zijin and Shen Cangsheng to come up on stage to exchange wedding rings and carry out other ceremonies.
'He hasn't come after all this time. Could he really have given up on his mom?'
Su Zijin's eyes were dim as, her lips pursed and her heart in turmoil, she took a deep breath and started walking on the red carpet toward the stage.
As she walked, she kept glancing back frequently, looking at the open gates of the courtyard, hoping that Mu Jinyu would appear at the last moment.
However, when she reached the stage and stood next to Shen Cangsheng, Mu Jinyu still hadn't appeared.
Su Zijin's heart sank.
The emcee spoke a few more words, then instructed Shen Cangsheng to place the wedding ring on her finger.
Su Zijin's brow furrowed, ready to confront the situation!
"Boom boom boom!"
Suddenly, a roaring noise came from outside the courtyard.
Su Zijin's eyes sparkled with a glimmer of hope as she quickly turned to look towards the entrance.
Then she saw a large truck slowly driving past their gates.
Seeing this, Su Zijin felt disappointed again.
But at that moment...
The large truck suddenly came to a stop.
Then, a young man opened the passenger door, jumped down from the truck, and went to the back of the vehicle. He pulled open the door and dragged out a thin wooden coffin, tossing it into the courtyard!
"Bang!"
The loud noise startled the people who were eating and drinking at the banquet, causing them to stop in their actions and look back in astonishment at the coffin thrown into the yard.
"Whoa, who's got the guts to throw a coffin during the Su family's engagement party?"
"This is causing trouble!"
"..."
The crowd murmured among themselves.
However, when Su Zijin saw the coffin, she quickly looked back at the entrance where the young man stood, defiant. Tears of excitement immediately filled her eyes.
She covered her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from crying out loud.
The person who had arrived was none other than Mu Jinyu.
"Hmm?! How dare you!"
Shen Cangsheng's brows knitted tightly as evil Qi surged in his eyes at the sight of the coffin.
Though he didn't know who was causing the disruption, in his heart, that person was as good as dead!
Mu Jinyu, having dragged the thin wooden coffin he had bought for several hundred yuan into the courtyard, glanced at Su Zijin standing on the stage and then shifted his gaze away. Standing at the entrance, he spoke in a rebellious tone:
"The ninth day of the ninth month, the evil of the year is to the east, the chicken clashes with the rabbit;
The stars, the northern constellation of Danger with its unlucky month of Ying, portends misfortune;
The five elements point to the Earth of the Grand Transport;
Avoid: engagement, marriage, accepting a son-in-law...
But it is a good time: to break ground, to bury, to move graves..."
While speaking, Mu Jinyu entered the courtyard, slapped the thin wooden coffin, looked up coldly at Shen Cangsheng with a corner of his lips curled into a cold smirk, and finally said in a deep voice:
"Conduct a funeral!"
As his voice fell.
The entire place erupted into chaos!