Chapter 1 The Nuptial Procession

From a distance, Jiang Cheng spotted two familiar figures.

One fat and one thin, one sitting and one standing, next to a conspicuous earthen slope by the roadside.

At the same time, Fatty and Du Moyu heard the sound of hooves and turned around, craning their necks to look at the road. At first, they didn't notice Jiang Cheng, only the ghost bride blocking his way.

Fatty's face instantly turned white, and Du Moyu very realistically took off, ready to run.

"Cough, cough..."

It wasn't until Jiang Cheng's voice came that the two of them came back to their senses.

Jiang Cheng rode closer, and seeing the gentle and lovely ghost bride nestled in Jiang Cheng's arms, Du Moyu couldn't help but swallow.

Fatty, on the other hand, was not surprised. Doctor is the top card of the high-end group, a ruthless man who wiped out 5 or 6 competitors. As long as he doesn't consummate the marriage, Doctor won't show any timidity.

According to the village chief, after the wedding ceremony, the grievances of the Dahe Niangniang (River Goddess) would be almost resolved, so there was no need to consider the problem of consummating the marriage.

Jiang Cheng confirmed again and again, asking him if he was sure. The old village chief pursed his lips, revealing a few missing front teeth, and said with a smile, "Absolutely, don't worry."

Seeing the village chief so certain, Jiang Cheng didn't ask any more questions. Anyway, he had made it very clear to the village chief that he didn't have the bad habit of respecting the old and cherishing the young. If anything happened tonight that was different from what the latter said, then he should prepare to spend the rest of his life drinking porridge.

"What are you doing here?" Jiang Cheng asked from high on his horse, holding the ghost bride in his arms, his confidence greatly increased.

Du Moyu reacted quickly, immediately putting on a smiling face, and said obsequiously, "Reporting to Tanhua Lang (Third Scholar), the two of us were assigned by the village chief to go one *li* ahead to act as sentries and help Tanhua Lang carry gifts."

Fatty immediately understood, nodding his big head, his face beaming with smiles, "Tanhua Lang, the village chief knows that you have traveled a long distance and rushed back here from the capital to marry Miss Wu as soon as you got the news of your successful examination."

"The village chief is worried that you are too eager to see your sweetheart and neglect the etiquette, so he specially ordered the two of us to wait here. The elders in the village have prepared a small gift, and I hope Tanhua Lang will not decline."

These high-sounding words were all taught by Du Moyu in advance. They had prepared two plans in total, intending to act according to the situation.

The first was that Doctor would take care of the Dahe Niangniang and return to the village for the wedding ceremony. This would naturally be a happy occasion for everyone, corresponding to what they had just said.

The second was that Doctor would be seen through by the Dahe Niangniang and chased all the way here. They would use the second plan, beating gongs and drums to scold the village chief, shifting all the blame to the village chief, and trying to get Doctor out of the situation.

Of course, they didn't tell the old village chief about the second plan, mainly because they were worried that he would feel bad about it.

"It's rare for the village chief to be so considerate." Jiang Cheng pondered slightly for a moment, then leaned closer to the ghost bride and teased, "I wonder what my wife thinks?"

The ghost bride shook her head gently, snuggling closer to Jiang Cheng, looking shy, as if to say that everything was up to her husband.

"Okay, take the gifts, let's... enter the village!" As soon as Jiang Cheng finished speaking, the white horse under his crotch seemed to be frightened, raising its two front legs and neighing, almost throwing Jiang Cheng off the horse.

But a moment later, the white horse was forcibly suppressed by a huge force. A black figure appeared in front of the horse, pressing down on the horse's head with one hand, with a long knife on his back.

The moment Wu appeared, the ghost bride's body couldn't help but suddenly tense up, but immediately her slender waist was encircled by an arm. "Madam, don't worry, he is... my little brother," Jiang Cheng said confidently.

Before he finished speaking, there was a "swoosh" sound in his ear, a knife was unsheathed, the blade was as bright as snow, instantly cutting through the night. Wu gripped the hilt of the knife, his head lowered, and Jiang Cheng couldn't see his face clearly.

"He is my little brother's big brother, we are of the same generation, ha... ha..." Jiang Cheng laughed dryly, his expression very unnatural. "We are good brothers, he takes good care of me."

Jiang Cheng originally planned to use the name of the Dahe Niangniang to regain some face for himself, but he didn't expect Wu to be so uncooperative.

Fortunately, after Wu glanced at him, he turned around and took the white horse's reins, first tapping the white horse's head with the back of the knife, and then staring into the white horse's eyes.

The next moment, the white horse seemed to understand, nodding at Wu repeatedly, looking well-behaved and obedient.

Wu also nodded, sheathed his knife, expressing his satisfaction with the white horse's cooperation.

Then, Wu led the white horse, and the white horse carried Jiang Cheng and the ghost bride.

Fatty asked Du Moyu to carry the gifts. After Du Moyu grunted and carried a shoulder pole of gifts over, he looked at Fatty with dissatisfaction, "I said, Brother Fugui, why aren't you working?"

Fatty put his hands in his pockets, following not far behind the white horse, leisurely, and said without turning his head, "I have other things to carry. You... don't compare with me, my position is more important."

"Are you waiting for your Nine-toothed Rake?" Du Moyu asked with a shoulder pole, in a mean tone.

The group maintained this formation, all the way to the entrance of the village. As soon as they turned a corner, they saw dozens of red lanterns hanging on the trees at the entrance of the village, with big "囍" (double happiness) characters pasted on the lanterns.

Led by the village chief, hundreds of villagers saw Jiang Cheng approaching on a white horse, with the Dahe Niangniang on the horse. They suddenly knelt down in unison, kowtowing to the ground, "Welcome Tanhua Lang!"

"Congratulations to Tanhua Lang!"

……

The shouts rose one after another. Some of the old people in the village cried heartbreakingly. Originally a very festive occasion, they made it a bit miserable and desolate.

But Jiang Cheng felt that when he first met these villagers, the ghost bride in his arms was dissatisfied. This was understandable, after all, they had also been involved in the sacrifice.

But with this kneeling, that resentment was also resolved a lot.

Jiang Cheng gathered a breath and announced to the villagers, "Today, I, the newly appointed Tanhua Lu Jianli, am marrying Miss Wu. Thank you all for coming to congratulate us!"

"Congratulations to Tanhua Lang!"

"Congratulations to Miss Wu!"

……

After the villagers had shouted enough, the old village chief, his forehead covered with dirt, stood up tremblingly and said respectfully, "Folks, everyone make way, let Tanhua Lang and Miss Wu enter the village first, and don't delay the auspicious time for the wedding ceremony."

The crowd gradually dispersed to both sides. Wu led the horse expressionlessly, and under the guidance of the villagers, they came to the Wu family's mansion.

At this moment, the Wu family's mansion had also been simply decorated, with lanterns and decorations everywhere. The stone lions in front of the door were also pasted with bright red "囍" paper. As Jiang Cheng led the ghost bride into the door, the band that had been waiting began to play.

Hearing this, Fatty smacked his teeth and said to Du Moyu in a low voice, "I say, where did these people come from? They're not as good as the two of us. The tune is all over the place."

Du Moyu deeply agreed, "If I had played like this in the subway station back then, not only would I not have been able to make money, but my erhu would have been smashed and I would have had to pay a fine."

Entering the hall, it had been cleaned and renovated. Judging from the scene, the wedding ceremony would be held here.

Because there were no elders in the Wu family anymore, the two chairs representing the elders were empty.

Just as the village chief was about to give a speech on behalf of the villagers, his eyes suddenly paused, and then he was stunned. He saw a young man holding a knife in his arms walking up and swaggering sitting on the chair.

When he discovered that the village chief and many others were staring at him with surprised eyes, Wu waved his hand, signaling everyone not to mind him, just let everything proceed normally, and just kowtow if you need to, he didn't care.

"This is a joyous day, don't wait for me to slap you!" Jiang Cheng pointed at him, saying in a tone that tried not to spoil the atmosphere.